Community First is the brain child of two Angus women who are committed and passionate about their communities we sent a reporter out to meet them to find out what they do and why.
The two Angus women are Carol and Pauline. Both started life here in Angus following similar paths in community work, digital engagement and life generally - you could say that it was inevitable that Carol and Pauline would find themselves coming together to create an organisation like Community First, even if it has come a little later in life.
Pauline lives in Carnoustie and has done for over 22 years since moving to Carnoustie to bring up her family. “I’m originally from Kirriemuir" says Pauline "I took a bit of a detour to the US, then to Dundee but as soon as I moved to Carnoustie I felt a real connection. There’s a real community feeling here and being so close to a fabulous beach has always been a plus point for me".
One of the main reasons Pauline gives for her part in creating Community First is to help Carnoustie be the self-sufficient, forward thinking innovative town it has the potential to be. Pauline adds "With so many community groups and individuals doing so much for the town it's becoming quite entrepreneurial with lots of new businesses popping up all the time, I want to do my bit".
Carol adds “For us, life is all about people, community and connections. Family plays a significant part in that for us. My daughter Emily designed the Community First logo, Emily's just completed her Degree in Environment and Interior Design at Dundee".
Community First provides support to individuals, groups and organisations throughout Angus. This can come in all shapes and sizes with a significant emphasis on Digital Inclusion.
Community First's priority is to provide people with skills, encourage them with support and empower them with confidence to enable them to play a more active role in all aspects of their lives at home, at work and in their community. The team facilitate projects and initiatives that act locally to make the connections between personal experience and larger social context. This may be with a digital slant but can be as much about a group simply looking for advice and support.
Community First creates value for individuals and communities by generating, reinvesting, reusing or recycling its wealth and resources and in turn, this enables us to expand our programmes and projects so we can support as many people as possible.
Our vision is to “See a need, Meet That Need.” And that’s exactly what we aim do.
Community First can be contacted by email hello@communityfirstuk.com or online via http://www.communityfirstuk.com, or via social on twitter and facebook.