What is Community Development?

If you’re looking for a job where you can help people and improve life in your local community, a career in community development could be an excellent choice.

People who can advocate for those who are most vulnerable are in high demand.

If you’re not sure what community development is, we’ve put together this short guide to explain more.

Community development: Empowerment

Community development is all about working with local communities and the people that live in them.

Those who are employed in community development work with people helping them access health and wellbeing services, as well as other opportunities they may not be aware of.

Community development workers typically work for the local council or a voluntary organisation, acting as the liaison between the organisation and the community.

Some of the tasks that people who work in community development are involved in include:

- Planning, running, facilitating and reporting on community projects

- Raising money and obtaining grants to help those in the local community

-  Advising people of their rights when it comes to issues like the law, benefits and education

- Helping people to have their say and putting them in touch with organisations that can support them; local council, police and charities

Community development workers support a wide range of different groups. These can include homeless people, families with young children, retired people, ethnic minorities, the LGBTQ+ community and the long-term unemployed.

Community development is all about empowerment; working people so they can make changes to the system, as well as take pride in their local community.

What is it like working in community development?

The great thing about a career in community development is that no two days are the same!

It’s essential to be able to get on with different people in this role as well as being able to listen. You also need to have good communication skills, as you will need to speak up for people who may not be able to speak up for themselves.

Most importantly, you need to be able to have patience and persevere. The work you do can often take a while to bring results, but when it does, it’s extremely rewarding.

Looking to start a career in youth and community work?

If the answer is yes, our community development and youth courses will help you learn the skills needed to make a real difference in people’s lives.

Find out more about our youth and community work courses today.

Located in Greater Manchester, the University of Bolton has a proud heritage of putting its students and their needs first. For the past four years, our students have voted us No.1 for Student Satisfaction*; welcome to #UniAsItShouldBe.

* Complete University Guide, North West Region – 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019