How A&C is organised

Power grows from the ground up.

A&C structures exist to help citizens organise, communicate and act. They do not replace the authority of citizens; they carry it.

View the Structure Explore Forums

Citizens The source of the mandate and the final authority on community priorities.

Ward Participation Citizens organise locally, identify needs and coordinate practical programmes.

Volunteers in Chief Volunteers support communication, organisation and delivery without taking power away from citizens.

Citizen Forums Forums bring together lived experience, professional knowledge and organised community voices.

Public Representatives Elected representatives carry citizen-shaped mandates and report openly on performance.

The organising rule

Structures coordinate. Citizens decide.

Accountability flows back down. Every level returns to citizens with information, progress and answers.

Five connected levels

An organisation built to carry the citizen mandate.

Each level has a different role, but none may take the final decision-making power away from citizens.

Citizens

The source of the mandate and the final authority on community priorities.

Ward Participation

Citizens organise locally, identify needs and coordinate practical programmes.

Volunteers in Chief

Volunteers support communication, organisation and delivery without taking power away from citizens.

Citizen Forums

Forums bring together lived experience, professional knowledge and organised community voices.

Public Representatives

Elected representatives carry citizen-shaped mandates and report openly on performance.

The ward as the engine room

Local participation turns concerns into action.

Citizens meet where they live, agree on priorities and organise practical work. Volunteers support the process, while representatives remain responsible for reporting on public decisions and delivery.

Organise in Your Ward

Listen

Citizens identify local needs, opportunities and urgent concerns.

Agree

The ward develops shared priorities through open participation.

Organise

Volunteers coordinate practical action and communication.

Report

Representatives and coordinators return to citizens with progress.

A&C members participating in practical community work

Structures must lead to action Organisation is meaningful when citizens can see service, progress and accountability.

Checks on authority

No structure stands above citizens.

The constitution and values of A&C place clear limits on organisational power.

Citizens approve priorities before structures act.

Volunteers coordinate but do not replace citizen authority.

Forums advise, organise and contribute specialist knowledge.

Representatives report back on decisions, budgets and delivery.

All structures remain subject to the constitution and values of A&C.

Participate where decisions begin.

Join a ward, contribute through a citizen forum and help keep every representative accountable.

Citizen Forums Constitution