Fifers are being asked to share their experiences of living through the Covid-19 pandemic.
The stories of the last nine months will be used to improve voluntary and public services for the future.
The project, Your Story, Your Community, is the brainchild of Fife Voluntary Action.
It is working with Fife Council and the Third Sector Strategy group, using a software package called Sensemaker to capture and analyse the stories of the last eight months.
We’ve seen a huge number of positive stories about communities, volunteers and people coming together.”
Kenny Murphy, Fife Voluntary Action.
The move comes as organisations are again called to the fore as mainland Scotland goes back into lockdown.
An army of volunteers helped more than 5,000 vulnerable Fifers during the first lockdown last year.
‘Innovative ways of learning’
The work was invaluable, according to Fife Voluntary Action chief executive Kenny Murphy.
“We have been working with a number of partners in Fife to come up with an innovative way of learning from people about their experiences of dealing with the pandemic,” he said.
“We’ve seen a huge number of positive stories about communities, volunteers and people coming together, giving up their time to help others and making their communities stronger to deal with the pandemic crisis.
“We’re interested in how individuals and community groups working alongside public services found new solutions together.
“We’d like to understand how these connections formed and what impact it had.”
The stories will tell staff how public services can work better with – and for – people in Fife, Mr Murphy said.
The Your Story, Your Community project will provide a chance to understand where community service delivery worked well and where it mattered most.
Mr Murphy added: “By understanding what was important to people, finding out what worked well and what not so well, we can build a detailed and valuable picture of service delivery in Fife.
“The information will be plotted and displayed and will support a partnership and citizen-centred approach to monitoring evaluation, improvement and action.”
Last spring, around 2,500 volunteers joined the 90,000 Fifers already working for free to help with medication, food and friendship.
In addition, a crowdfunder raised £40,000 to buy essentials for those struggling to pay.
The form can be found on the FVA website www.fva.org until January 31.
