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ALL TOGETHER FOR A STRONGER SOCIETY

belongnetwork.co.uk

Dr Jeni Vine,

Research and Development Manager

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    • About Belong
    • Vision and Mission
    • Our Network
    • What is social cohesion? 
    • Our Research on place, space and belonging
    • Manifesto
    • Contact details

belongnetwork.co.uk

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ABOUT BELONG

www.reallygreatsite.com

    •  UK‘s leading membership organisation on social cohesion 
    • Over 130 members from across local government, business and the civil society sector
    • Events, training, peer support, research and consultancy
    • Supporting leadership and disseminating best practice
    • Amplifying our members’ collective voice and building the evidence base to influence government policy

belongnetwork.co.uk

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OUR MISSION

OUR VISION

The Vision of Belong is a more integrated, less divided society.

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    • Connect people, places and organisations across all sectors and localities in the UK to disseminate knowledge and best practice
    • Support and develop all those delivering cohesion, integration and intercultural work, giving them the resources, skills, inspiration and confidence to lead and champion.
    • With our members raise the profile of social cohesion work, developing a shared voice, improving practice and influencing policy

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belongnetwork.co.uk

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Our members span over 130 local governments bodies, businesses and civil society organisations across the UK

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OUR NETWORK

belongnetwork.co.uk

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belongnetwork.co.uk

    • How people from different backgrounds meet, mix and get along
    • Resilient communities
    • Negotiating tensions safely
    • Feeling safe and connected to others
    • Developing neighbourhoods, workplaces and institutions where difference is welcomed and celebrated

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WHAT IS SOCIAL COHESION?

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belongnetwork.co.uk

RESEARCH – Beyond Us and Them

Conducted in partnership with University of Kent

​How is the COVID-19 pandemic affecting relations between individuals, communities and the state and what can we learn for the future?​

    • Surveys in 13 places, with boosts for Black and Muslim groups​
    • Repeated 3-8 times between May 2020 and July 2021 (39,000 respondents in total)
    • 61 focus groups and 256 one-to-one interviews

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Places researched:

- 3 contrasting national contexts

  • 6 Local Authority ‘social cohesion investment’ areas
  • 4 metropolitan areas (GLA, GMCA, WECA, WMCA)
  • via our community partners

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belongnetwork.co.uk

RESEARCH - Findings

The Social Cohesion Investment

    • Respondents in six local authority areas receiving Government funding for

social cohesion work reported:​

      • Higher levels of trust in national gov (+10%)​
      • More positive about local gov’s response (+8%)​
      • Closer relations with family, friends, colleagues & neighbours (+19%)​
      • Stronger sense of neighbourliness (+4%)​
      • Greater active social engagement (+18%)​

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Social engagement – e.g. volunteering

Percentage of respondents who reported volunteering during the past month May 2020 – June 2021

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RESEARCH – The Power of Connection

Commissioned by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, carried out in partnership with the University of Kent. Reviewing of a decade’s worth of evidence from across UK.

      • Individuals who volunteer feel they part of a more cohesive community and have a stronger sense of belonging
      • Evidence shows a ‘virtuous circle’ between volunteering and social cohesion

Findings published in two journals (2024) and used as evidence for the Power of Connection Toolkit launched in 2023

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In partnership with the University of Kent, Belong conducted a rapid review of social cohesion measurement frameworks for Dame Sara Khan’s Independent Review of Social Cohesion and Resilience (2024). Key recommendations included in her report:

  • Establish a national cohesion assessment framework
  • Support evidence-based local cohesion initiatives
  • Organise training, programmes and materials for local authorities on crisis management, conflict resolution and mediation and how to hold difficult conversations

 POLICY INFLUENCING

belongnetwork.co.uk

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MANIFESTO FOR CHANGE

www.reallygreatsite.com

    • Establishing a UK Social Cohesion Commission
    • Protecting our freedom to disagree well
    • Learning from crisis to tackle our shared challenges every day
    • Time, space and shared language to connect
    • A stronger British identity for all of us

belongnetwork.co.uk

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GET IN TOUCH

the-belong-network

jeni@belongnetwork.co.uk

@BelongNetwork

belongnetwork.co.uk