Community champions

Community champions are members that are appointed to support the needs of:

• businesses
• commuters
• older people
• the voluntary sector

Community champions provide a positive focus for the group that they represent.

They carry out a number of tasks and activities in relation to their area including:

• liaising with local organisations to establish effective and regular consultation arrangements
• acting as an advocate on behalf of the community represented
• representing the views of the communities to the Council, Executive, overview and scrutiny and other committees and to council officers
• becoming familiar with the needs and priorities of the community to weigh up interests expressed and provide advice on the implications of action
• feeding back decisions of the council and explaining positions on specific issues of concern to representative organisations and to individuals involved
• publishing an annual report on work carried out

Who are the Community Champions?

• small business champion – Councillor Wade
• large business champion - Councillor Bhandari
• commuters’ champion – Councillor Atkinson
• older people's champion – Councillor Ms Gaw
• voluntary sector champion – Councillor Gibson