Grapevine Coventry and Warwickshire

Nature Towns and Cities is a partnership initiative between @naturalengland.bsky.social, the @nationaltrust.org.uk and The National Lottery Heritage Fund. This role is made possible by @heritagefunduk.bsky.social. 8/8

There are many more reasons why you should join our team building fairer futures and stronger communities, together. Find more in our advert and job description here: bit.ly/43i2pMO Closing 30 October at midday... 7/

5 💜 We are flexible and human-centred—our blended working, adjustable hours and family-friendly policies recognise that life is messy and people are whole. 6/

4 🌱 We offer a place to grow. From day one shadowing to changemaker training—personal development is a shared priority. 5/

3 💡 People-led change: We believe that those who face challenges are best positioned to lead the solutions. By placing individuals at the heart of our initiatives, we ensure that change is meaningful and sustainable. 4

2 💥 Your project will help people with least access to green spaces build their capacity to lead change of their own and to be at the heart of shaping neighbourhood plans. 3/

1 ✊ We are ambitious—alongside one-to-one and community organising projects, you’ll join colleagues in influencing public services and policy inside and outside of our place, so change lasts. 2/

A white hand holds a burgundy flower with a yellow centre (a hellebore) towards the camera lens. Green leaves are seen behind.

JOB VACANCY CLOSING THURSDAY! Work for us as a community organiser on Nature Towns and Cities, and nurture your career at the same time. Full-time role in Coventry—follow link for details and to apply: bit.ly/43i2pMO Here are five reasons why you should join our team 1/

Community Organiser for Nature in Towns and Cities at Grapevine Coventry and Warwickshire Work alongside communities to build greener, healthier Coventry neighbourhoods.

💼 Community Organiser for Nature in Towns and Cities at @grapevinecovwarks.bsky.social

Work alongside local communities to build greener, healthier Coventry neighbourhoods.

actbuildchange.com/opportunitie...

@esmeefairbairn.bsky.social @tnlcommunityfund.org.uk @actbuildchange.com @localtrust.org.uk @rshipsproject.bsky.social

A sketch by Coventry artist Paul Chokran of protestors with placards and megaphones. The placards say: protect the vulnerable, care not cuts, say no to cuts and take action now.

Now in the final weeks celebrating #GrapevineAt30, we’re revisiting three themes from our story of 30 years of deep social change. Today: Strengthening Democracy—a very relevant topic and never far from our thoughts, given how we started 2025 with a fight: bit.ly/47eV5mt

A cup of coffee in a blue china mug sits on a wooden serving board on a restaurant table next to a slice of cake and a heart-shaped cookie.

#AdvocacyAwarenessWeek #AAW25 💫 Shining a light on the powerful impact advocacy has on people's lives. To illustrate this year's theme of #AdvocacyWorks and how it works within our innovative ecosystem of other Grapevine support, we share Lilly’s story 💜 bit.ly/4qtrCyb @ndtihello.bsky.social

An image looking down on two pairs of feet, one adult and one child, wearing walking boots and standing on wood chippings ready to walk. Bold pink text across the image says We're hiring!

We're hiring for a full-time community organiser working on 'Nature in Towns and Cities' in Coventry, primarily in Hillfields. Do you want to work alongside communities, helping them come together to create greener, healthier urban areas? Join our team! bit.ly/43i2pMO

Please contact her to discuss how you could help make finding and keeping a good job easier for disabled people. Email kwright@grapevinecovandwarks.org or call Kitty on 07490 660479. We have the power to change things if we are willing to act. 5/5

Kitty continues: "Making small adjustments that open up the recruitment process and subsequently the day-to-day role itself, make a huge difference to disabled people who want to work, be able to." She would like to meet more employers willing to buck this trend locally. 4/

New data obtained by the BBC from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) backs up what these job coaches are saying—suggesting that the number of job seekers finding work each month is falling. 3/

Kitty says: "Hiring decisions in many organisations are now made at head office level—meaning a person-centred approach and opportunities for me to build relationships that help autistic people or people with a learning disability get a foot in the door are becoming rarer." 2/

Stretched job centre staff struggling to get disabled people into work The government wants work coaches to provide personalised support, but some have caseloads of up to 200 people.

Two job centre work coaches employed to help disabled people find employment have told the BBC they are "struggling" to find employers willing and able to make reasonable adjustments to get more people into work. Our project worker Kitty Wright agrees.. 1/ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A group of local people take part in an outdoor community consultation in a park in Coventry on a grey day. Notice boards with plans and drawings attached are seen displayed around a play area.

NEW BLOG #GrapevineAt30 | At the crux of a local issue was a community feeling powerless to change things. In our process of creating conversations, relationships and strategy, something deeper took root—an emerging sense of power, confidence, possibility: bit.ly/435nKcl

This Is Our Town, Don’t Let Us Down – Community Power Against Cuts

In our latest blog post we sat down with @grapevinecovwarks.bsky.social to discuss how they successfully organised against council budget cuts.

Read the full discussion here: actbuildchange.com/ideas/this-i...

View over a wooden slatted bridge with metal rails either side. At the end is a red lifebuoy and a path leading away into the trees.

NEW BLOG #GrapevineAt30 | Divides that keep people apart, a lack of genuine two-way connections and relationships that allow cruelty and harassment to flourish—the power of connection and relationships to overcome these divides flows through our work 👉 bit.ly/3KByV6n

This Is Our Town, Don’t Let Us Down – Community Power Against Cuts How Grapevine successfully fought back against local budget cuts and what they learned in the process.

"...too high and that removing the support we provide would plunge people into crisis," said our deputy CEO Mel Smith. Read the story of how we won our #Reference25 campaign and its impact on our community organising work now: bit.ly/4gDZ5kA 6/

Delivering a reality check for decision-makers on their perception of "low-level needs" as being quite the opposite was high on our list of priorities too.
"We needed to emphasise that the people we support aren’t low-need but that the threshold for state support is..." 5/

We needed an effective campaign plan, a timeline for council consultation opportunities, a strong narrative and clear asks for people's support. Urgently and loudly. 4/

Grapevine CEO Clare Wightman and deputy CEO Mel Smith share how when the news came in just before Christmas 2024, we had to act fast to mobilise the community and lobby local authority decision-makers to stop the cut within a three-week timeframe. 3/

We were proud to tell @actbuildchange.com the story of how we won the fight to overturn council proposals to cut funding to voluntary sector support for people with learning disabilities in #Coventry by almost half at the start of this year. 2/

A large group of protestors stand before Coventry council house on a cold, dark evening in January with handmade placards about stopping proposed cuts to funding for essential voluntary sector support for people with learning disabilities in the city. Among the messages is one saying: "Cuts today, struggles tomorrow. Coventry won't stand for it." Grapevine helped overturn the plan.

NEW BLOG | "THIS IS OUR TOWN, DON'T LET US DOWN—#Coventry community power against cuts: How Grapevine successfully fought back against local budget cuts and what we learned in the process."
Here's a bit of context on what we shared with @actbuildchange.com for this new blog... 1/

Funded by @tnlcommunityfund.org.uk and @esmeefairbairn.bsky.social 🙏

An illustration by artist and Grapevine community organiser Melissa Smith of an interwoven ecosystem, connected by vines and with illustrations of birds, hands, justice scales and a megaphone. Words include agency, collective power, action and CfG ecosystem.

Building trust, hope and agency in times of conflict and fearmongering—ambitions to bring communities together to form solutions on common ground can’t be realised without actively showing people they can shape the future. What we're doing in #Coventry: bit.ly/41YIIcw

A campaign plan on flipchart paper on a table next to a chalkboard sign reading, 'Need The Loo'. This campaign, part of our Connecting for Good ecosystem, wants better public toilet provision in Coventry city centre

#JOB #WorkWithUs | Just six days left to apply to join us as a community organiser turning ideas into action and helping #Coventry communities move from building their power to wielding it for a fairer, more equitable city. Closing 9am Monday 22 September! bit.ly/41tiuyE