The Neighbourhood Alliance
What is NA?
The Neighbourhood Alliance (NA) is a long-established network of self-organised community activist groups operating throughout the Greater Craigmillar area. NA groups are made up of tenants and residents who live in the area and who have intimate knowledge of the sort of issues which affect the day to day lives of the population, including housing, community safety, environmental deficits, community cohesion and health and wellbeing.
Current meetings and groups
CAT's Role
Community Alliance Trust (CAT) provides the secretariat for NA and facilitates community development activity within and between the groups. In this way, CAT is able to support each group to identify issues which are particular to specific neighbourhoods as well as those that need to be addressed across the whole area.
Over the last few years, at the request of City of Edinburgh Council (CEC), CAT has incorporated the Neighbourhood Alliance into the formal structure of the organisation. This has meant that NA has effectively become the community engagement arm of CAT. As a consequence, CAT has been able – on behalf of the neighbourhood groups – to communicate specific issues of concern and unmet social infrastructure need to the relevant authorities, including CEC and the other RSLs.
A significant number of the people involved in the local groups are individual members of CAT, and representatives from the NA form part of the CAT Board. This provides formal scrutiny of the work of CAT and ensures that community engagement is at the heart of the work we do.
f you would like to have your say locally, and get involved with a local group, contact susan@communityalliancetrust.org.uk