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Principles met

  • Maximising social value

    We will support the development of a framework and criteria for social value, giving substance to the concept and supporting Councils with the tools to ensure better local social and economic outcomes.

  • Walking the talk

    As a membership organisation, we will make this statement of our principles operational by: • Co-operation among members: Our members work together to help each other implement our values, sharing experiences and learning. • Openness of membership: Full, Associate and Affiliate Membership is open to any qualifying Council, organisation or individual who shares our values and is committed to putting them into action. • Co-production of the Network’s work: Members help shape the Network’s work programme and the content of events and written products. • Action-focused: The network is a vehicle for helping councils translate co-operative values and principles into policy and practice. •Membership-based: The network is majority funded by modest membership subscriptions from its member Councils, Associates and Affiliates. •Non-party-political: Members share the belief that working co-operatively within and across communities holds the key to tackling today’s challenges.

In October 2022, the Home Office took over a hotel within North Herts to temporarily house approximately 70 Asylum Seekers. The residents were a mix of families, single men and single females and had recently made their way across the Channel to flee war and or persecution in their own countries. The original hotel location chosen was particularly unsuitable for families.

Following representations from local authorities, the MP, police, social services, and NHS the families were subsequently relocated to a more suitable location. When the families first arrived, we were approached by Herts Welcomes Refugees, a local charity who have been working in this field since 2015, when they formed to assist Syrian Refugees displaced by the civil war.

Herts Welcomes Refugees had been contacted by residents of the hotel asking for clothes.

They then emailed the Community team to ask if we could assist.

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