We are a group of local people, residents of Whitby and District, concerned about the direction of the development of our area. We try to cover the whole of Whitby and District in terms of our campaigns. The group originated via a Facebook group in January 2022, starting to get organised around April 2022. We aim to constitute the groups status in the near future, be it as a CIO, CIC or other such structure.

Our work can be split into these categories

• Communication with residents. We hold public meetings, one per month (except August and December), and these meetings are regularly attended by representatives past and present from local councils, as well as residents groups from east and west of Whitby, and many more besides. Meetings usually have guest speakers on a topic. All meetings are apolitical, putting party politics to a side and concentrating on facts and what can be done to improve the district. If you are a Whitby and District resident, come along to one of our meetings and listen, or, better still, ask questions.
• Documenting the situation. Where something has an impact on the life of residents, as a basis for comment, we document the current situation. This is provided via a website, and via social media to draw attention to the website. All documentation of the current state is based against factual definitive public domain references. This serves as part of the process of communication with the resident, as well as the basis for making a proposal to improve the situation. Where we need to better understand the current situation and how people feel about it, we will perform consultation (such as the Vision for Whitby exercise in May 2023).
• Analysis and proposal generation. Where an aspect of life in our district is seen as problematic we utilise our understanding of the current situation, together with all available definitive data, and perform a level of analysis to try to determine a best way forward, to improve life for the resident. This will involve consultation with residents, as well as providers of services (e.g councils, transport providers, education providers, business etc). We welcome the involvement of residents in the analysis/proposal phase particularly if the person has essential skills / experience in that aspect of life.
• Campaigning for change. Our analysis and proposals inevitably requires campaigning for change, be it on a local, regional or national level. Campaigns can be as simple as email or social media interaction, or they can be more focussed. We welcome involvement of residents in this.

In terms of where Whitby Community Network (WCN) fits in relative to local councils, this figure aims to show the relationships