The Exchange | Full Membership
The Exchange Full Membership is an annual programme hosted by Neighbourhood Toolbox CIC (NTB) that seeks to bring design and construction professionals in Bath & North East Somerset, Somerset and Wiltshire area together to curate and access high-quality training and discuss how we can overcome arising industry challenges. It will also provide members with opportunities for professional development whilst giving much-needed support to help our local community access good design and realise the change their neighbourhoods need. Through participating in The Exchange programme, NTB aims to facilitate our members to:
#1 Learn
Co-create 9 Workshop sessions a year comprised of expert invited speakers, site visits and creative workshops exploring themes set in response to topical industry challenges.
#2 Share
Join a cohort of design and construction professionals with access to an in-person and digital community to support knowledge sharing and overcome common challenges faced in day-to-day practice.
#3 Grow
Receive support with your practice development plan to identify priorities and find opportunities to gain experience, access training and collaborate to realise these aims.
#4 Support
Access opportunities to contribute your skills and experience to support local community initiatives and in so doing, widen your portfolio and expand your practice experience.
Where Is It?
The Exchange will be both an in person and online programme for those in the B&NES, Somerset and Wiltshire area.
All workshop days will be hosted in person in a rotation around different locations across Bath & North East Somerset, Somerset and Wiltshire.
When Is It?
Workshops will be typically hosted the third Monday of every month. There will be no workshop hosted in the months of April, August and December 2024.
Peer Review Sessions will be hosted on the second Monday of Every month. These will only go ahead if there are projects submitted.
What Does Full Membership Include?
The Exchange | Full Membership includes:
- Access for a named person in your practice to attend 9 Workshop Sessions in person.
- Access to participate in Monthly Peer Review Sessions to attain free-design review from cohort for projects your practice is working on.
- Access to join The Exchange WhatsApp Community to support knowledge & resource sharing.
- Provision of 9 Crib Sheets providing a record of learning and further links to enable you to help with further learning around topics.
- A practice listing as a ‘NTB Partner’ on our website and continued promotion through all outreach NTB undertake.
How much is Full Membership?
As a not-for-profit organisation, Neighbourhood Toolbox CIC seeks to bridge the gap between private practice and community need. To support this aim, the cost of participating in the Exchange programme combines an upfront financial cost alongside a commitment of time to the Neighbourhood Toolbox Time Bank.
Mindful we all have varied commitments and means, Neighbourhood Toolbox have identified three rates for you to determine the one that works best for you:
Rate 1:
£350 paid upfront
&
Donation of 20 hours of time to the NTB time bank
Rate 2:
£550 paid upfront
&
Donation of 10 hours of time to the NTB time bank
Rate 3:
£1000 paid upfront
&
Donation of 5 hours of time to the NTB time bank
Please note all the rates above are for an individual named person to join The Exchange 24/25 programme.
What Is A Workshop Day?
All workshops will be curated around a theme identified in discussion with the cohort to ensure they are relevant and address the common challenges faced. NTB are mindful that attendees will come from diverse sectors and scales of practice; so will ensure workshop days accommodate for this. We are aware that people’s lives are busy. With this in mind, the core portion of sessions will run from 10am to 2.30pm, with your lunch and refreshments throughout the day included.
Below are some examples of agendas from previous workshops hosted to give you a flavour of what they will entail:
The Exchange #1
Monday 22 April
CIRCULAR DESIGN
09:30 | Arrival, tea & coffee
09:45 | Introductions
EXPLORE
10:00 | Intro to the Circular Economy?
11:00 | The Local Need In Frome
11:30 | Break
DESIGN
11:45| How to use the Circular Economy Toolkit
12:45 | Lunch
REALISE
13:30 | Workshop Exploring Ways To Implement The Circular Economy Toolkit In Practice.
14:30| Session Close & Thanks
The Exchange #2
Monday 20 May
BUILDING SAFETY
09:30 | Arrival, tea & coffee
09:45 | Introductions
EXPLORE
10:00 | Changes to Building Safety Act For Designers
10:45 | Round Table Discussion
11:00 | Break
DESIGN
11:15 | Fire Safety for Designers Across Project Stages
12:45 | Lunch
REALISE
13:30 | Workshop Exploring Approaches to Fire Safety Strategies on Different Projects
14:30 | Session close & Thanks
NTB invite other interested industry professionals, the public sector and interested members of the community to join workshops to build opportunities for the cohort to also network at workshops.
After every workshop NTB will follow up and provide members with a summary log of the professional development attained across the day for your records. And should you be unable to attend a workshop we will ensure to collate a variety of resources and relevant information to share with you to learn in your own time.
How Do Peer Design Review Sessions Work?
Members of The Exchange programme will be invited to bring projects to monthly coordinated Peer Design Review sessions. These sessions will allow members to share projects their office is working on to get balanced and constructive design review feedback from other cohort members to help enrich their design process. All feedback provided at these sessions will be formalised and remain confidential unless the member decides to make them public; for example to demonstrate design engagement as a part of statutory approval processes.
Each peer review session will allow up to two projects to be reviewed. Should demand for these sessions increase, we will look to coordinate additional ones.
How Will My Volunteer Time Be Used?
Time volunteered by members will be used to support local community groups and those with limited means to ensure everyone can access design support at the idea stage of projects. Your time could be allocated to:
Providing Advice At Community Design Surgeries
You could be invited to join a local community design surgery to offer advice to those with limited means on how to approach and processes required to overcome problems they are facing with their homes, community and neighbourhoods.
Support Early Scoping Of Community Projects
Following a call out for community projects you may be matched with a community group looking for feasibility work – such as developing a project brief, programme, engagement plan and/or fundraising strategy – to support them attain realistic project expectations.
Knowledge Sharing With Local Community
You maybe invited to share expert knowledge, experience and/or give a tour of any completed projects with Community Groups to provide them context and inspiration to deliver similar exemplar projects for their area.
Please note, NTB will ensure all members of the cohort are comfortable prior to committing them to volunteer on any programmes. All members participating will be expected to ensure their practice has sufficient insurance to ensure they are personally covered for any advice their practice provides when volunteering.
Can A Practice Have More Than One Member?
Yes! We ask all full members to please complete a separate application form for each named member who intends to join.
Alternatively, we also offer a simple solution for practices with more than one employee who only wants to commit to one full membership. You can access Digital Membership, priced per additional person, for your other employees. This ensures they can access the CPD training from the workshop days. Just indicate the number of additional employees you want to add when completing the membership application form.
Digital members of the exchange will gain access to 9 Crib Sheets which will contain an array of resources and talks provided during the 9 Workshop Days to support you to undertake self learning across the year..
The Exchange Digital Membership rates are either:
- £75 & Donation of 2 hours of volunteer time to the NTB time bank per additional person added.
- £150 per additional person added.
If you want to add Digital Members for employees alongside your Full Membership, please indicate this when completing the membership application form.