Our Partnerships

Our partnerships are an integral way for us to be an active member the community we serve across Brighton & Hove. From helping to organise local grass-roots campaigns to providing important seed funding for local initiatives, we are proud to be active collaborators with the incredible organisations outline below.

 

Citizens UK

We play a very active role in Brighton & Hove Citizens, a community organising group comprised of schools, colleges, universities, unions, faith and community organisations representing over 50,000 people across the city. It is a local chapter of a national movement called Citizens UK, which is the largest network of civil society institutions across Europe. 

Since 2022, we have been active in four campaigns: 

  • The living wage campaign, focusing on getting the real living wage for all council workers, and for local carer workers 
  • A local housing campaign, focusing on getting new housing developments to include more affordable, quality, and community-centred homes
  • Voter registration – ahead of the 2024 general election we ran an information campaign to improve access to registration and voting – you can access all the information here
  • Refugees and asylum seekers campaign – a developing campaign focussed on improving living conditions for local refugees and asylum seekers

Email reception or chat to Leo if you have any questions or would like to get involved! 

 

BrightonSoup

Brighton Soup winner Village Foodbank holds cheque.

Community Base is partnered with BrightonSoup. BrightonSoup run events where small local community projects pitch for seed funding. 

What is a ‘Soup’?

  • A very sociable and interactive occasion!
  • Audience members (local people) hear pitches from 4 small community groups.
  • After the pitches, the audience enjoys a selection of delicious home-made soups and breads, and buys tickets for a raffle of prizes. While votes are being counted, a local music act performs. Pitchers have the opportunity to talk to the audience and make connections.
  • At the end of the evening the ballots are counted and the winner is awarded the money raised (from the £5 entry tickets + raffle and extra donations) to fund their project – usually £500-£1,000.

BrightonSoup benefits more than just the winning project, however. Projects that apply to pitch are offered pitch training with feedback, social media training, and on the night runners up are often offered donations, given advice on where to get funding, and make new connections with local groups. Community Base host BrightonSoup events in the Conference Room 4 or more times a year.

 

Community Buildings Network

Community Base is a part of the Brighton & Hove Community Buildings Network, which has over 35 community buildings of all kinds in its membership.

CBN gives its members the opportunity to meet and share information and skills around running community spaces in the city, supporting each other to thrive. The website holds an archive of resources for managing community buildings.

CBN welcomes new applications for membership, see here for more information.