Introducing the Proud of our Towns Facebook Groups
“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress and working together is success.”
The world of social media did not yet exist when Henry Ford spoke these wise words. But many decades later, they still ring true – and today, we have the incredible opportunity to harness the power of social media to do just this:
To come together.
To stay together.
To work together.
And to achieve success.
Together.
Places Are Powerful – People Are Key
At Ranyaka Community Transformation, we believe that places are powerful. Physical spaces, through the way in which they function, their appearance and prevailing atmosphere, hold the potential to either instill hope or breed desperation, facilitate growth or stunt development. At the same time, places are home to people who have the power to do great things – together.
Whilst our towns and communities face tremendous challenges, they also hold great potential. To tackle these challenges and unlock this potential, we need gathering spaces where we can explore common ground, get to know one another and ultimately, work together to achieve success.
The world of social media provides such a space
We are excited to announce the launch of a series of ‘Proud of my Town’ Facebook groups. These groups will serve as welcoming, inclusive and neutral spaces. Here, anyone with a desire to promote positive social impact, build the local economy and create resilient communities can unite around a common goal.
We want to create online communities of change agents who are willing and able to stimulate, facilitate, and coordinate enduring change in their communities.
What these Facebook groups will offer
The Proud of my Town Facebook groups are all about:
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Celebrating what is strong, unique and special about our towns
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Featuring the work that local change agents are doing – whether it is the granny on the corner who feeds children every day, a local NGO doing great work or citizen-led initiatives making a difference
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Promoting a culture of volunteering and sharing
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Building local business
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Sharing information that equips local residents and civil society bodies to start and manage community transformation initiatives
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Encouraging network-building and collaboration among stakeholders working in the social impact arena
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Mobilising initiatives to create towns that are healthy, educated, active, safe, clean, productive, employed and socially cohesive.
Who should join?
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Local residents who would like to see their town flourish
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Local businesses who understand the importance of networking and investing local
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NGOs, NPOs, community-based organisations and community forums who would like to share their stories, expand their support base and grow their networks
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Citizen-led project teams (formal or informal)
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Schools, ECD centres and other educational institutions
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Faith-based organisations working to make a positive difference in their towns
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Community safety initiatives (e.g. neighbourhood watch groups and community policing forums)
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Sport and health clubs and initiatives
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Clubs and forums dedicated to all forms of art
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Local groups dedicated to promoting the culture and history of the town
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Local employers who understand that creating healthy eco-systems also creates an investor-friendly town and promotes employee well-being and productivity
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Local media looking to share stories about active citizens making a positive difference
Why Proud of my Town?
Ranyaka Community Transformation is an urban planning social enterprise working in the field of collaborative community transformation. Ranyaka is also the national implementation agent for Nedbank’s Proud of my Town (PoMT) initiative. Inspired by the Proud of my Town brand, each town where the Ranyaka initiative is being implemented, now has its own PROUD OF… Facebook group. The emphasis, however, is not on the work of Ranyaka, nor any of its funders. While we will share stories of any projects we undertake in the town, the main purpose of the group is to support local, engage local, equip local and mobilise local.
What about advertising?
Building flourishing local businesses is critical to the well-being of any town and the Proud of my Town Facebook groups strive to support local businesses. However, these are not primarily advertising platforms. There will be specific days on which local businesses can share their advertisements and special offers – and we will also be showcasing the inspiring stories of local entrepreneurs on a regular basis. Reach out to us and share your story!
Fundraising
Registered charitable organisations, faith-based organisations, educational institutions and citizen-led social impact projects will have the opportunity to advertise their fundraising drives on the group on specific days and in response to specific posts. These details will be communicated on the group and criteria will apply.
Our invitation to you
We would like to invite all residents and interested parties who would like to be actively involved in building strong, cohesive communities to join the PROUD OF Facebook group for their town. By joining hands and working together towards a common goal, we can create incredible places together.
For more information, contact Sonya at admin@ranyaka.co.za