About Us

The Community Support Unit is part of the Communities CLD Service in Moray Council.

The strategic direction of the Community Support Unit is to maintain and provide quality Community Capacity Building support to the communities of Moray in line with the aims and objectives as contained within the Moray 2026 a plan for the future report.

The Moray Single Outcome Agreement (SOA) is an agreement between the Moray Community Planning Partnership and the Scottish Government.

Its purpose is to detail strategic priorities, identify the outcomes which will be delivered by the partners either individually or jointly, and show how those outcomes will contribute to the Scottish Government's relevant national outcomes. 

We:

• Provide support in all aspects of community development and community engagement.  Provide support to organisations and community groups throughout Moray.
  
• Develop and deliver specific training programmes for community groups and organisations across Moray, based on the Community Support Unit Funding, Marketing, Membership and Community Halls Guides and Area Forum Handbooks that were produced in 2010.
  
• Work across Community Planning sectors with a wide range of professions to support community engagement and community capacity in any context and at strategic and practice level.
  
• Support Moray Council departments and Community Planning Partners to carry out and implement community consultations using Community Learning and Development practices.
  
• Tailor support to meet the individual needs of the organisations and partnerships we work with.

Groups requesting support from the Community Support Unit can contact us using a variety of means.  Some contact local Community Support Unit staff directly, others telephone or Email requesting a member of staff to contact them.  Some community planning partner staff contact us in the first instance to ascertain what support, if any, is available.  For some of these partners, it is to assist them in developing work with their groups on areas that they themselves do not have experience or skills in.

When Community Support Unit staff members receive a request for support, they will arrange an initial meeting to undertake a Needs Assessment to ascertain support needs.  If appropriate, a Community Support Agreement is drawn up that outlines the type and level of support on offer.  If the support is over a longer period, all support will be reviewed between the Community Support Unit and the community group after three months.  This allows the community group members to discuss where they are at and what continued support they may require in the longer term.  Community Support Unit staff will always work at a pace that the community group members are comfortable with.

If the Community Support Unit cannot offer direct support to a group or organisation, then staff may be in a position to point you in the right direction to someone who can.