We are looking for four community councils to partner with their local primary or secondary school and take part in this exciting project.

Magic Torch Comics specialises in working with communities and young people to tell local stories through engaging comic books and graphic novels.

This project will bring together community councils and local school pupils to create a comic book that showcases the role of the community council and highlights a successful local project, campaign, or initiative that has made a positive difference in the community.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for four community councils that:

• Have an existing relationship with a local primary or secondary school, or would like to develop one, that are open to hosting four facilitated workshops during school hours with Magic Torch Comics
• Can identify community council representatives to take part.
• Have a local project, achievement, or success story they want to share

What will community councils be asked to do?

Liaise with local schools and Magic Torch Comics to help arrange and participate in four facilitated workshops with pupils (likely P5-S2) and Magic Torch during the school day to:

• Share information about the role of the community council and its work in the area.
• Discuss local projects, achievements, and success stories.
• Support the development of a story that reflects their community council's experiences and successes.

What will happen?

Magic Torch Comics will work with pupils and community council representatives to:

• Explore the role and impact of the community council.
• Gather stories and experiences from local community projects and initiatives.
• Co-produce storyboards and creative content with young people.
• Develop and publish a professionally illustrated comic book or graphic novel.

Benefits of taking part

• Strengthen links between the community council and local schools.
• Help young people understand community councils and the valuable work they do for the community.
• Encourage future participation in community life.
• Give pupils creative experience in storytelling, storyboarding, and content creation.
• Receive a professionally produced publication in both digital and printed formats that can be shared with residents, schools, and local partners

We are looking for four community councils to talk about their work via podcasts.

There is also potential for community councils in rural and islands areas to feature in a podcast series providing a platform to share their experiences, highlight successful projects and engage with community councils across the country.

What are we looking for?

Although not limited to, we would be particularly interested in community councils who are involved in projects that:

• tackle the climate emergency
• build and boost the economy
• support community-led initiatives
• improve access to opportunities and services

What will community councils be asked to do?

Community councils will be asked to identify representatives to be interviewed and talk about interesting projects the community council are involved in.  They will work with Community Councils Scotland to record the podcasts either on location or remotely.    They will provide feedback on the edited podcasts and be consulted at each stage prior to release of final recording.

What will happen?

The completed podcasts will be shared and hosted on podcast platforms with links on Community Councils Scotland website.   The recorded podcasts will be made available to the community councils to use in additional promotional and knowledge-sharing activities.

Benefits of taking part

• Raise the profile of your community council
• Reach a younger audience with weekly consumption of podcasts highest among 25-44 year-olds, with 30% of 35-44s listening weekly.  According to Ofcom, Scotland has the highest podcast listening rate in the UK at 23.3% of adults tuning in weekly.
• Content created can be included on community council’s website and social channels

We are looking for four community councils to talk about their work via webinar events.

We have previously featured the work of community councils in an occasional webinar series and this is a further opportunity for community councils from rural and islands areas to share their achievements and engage with community councils from across the country.

What are we looking for?

Although not limited to, we are particularly interested in hearing from four community councils that have a strong interest in:

• youth engagement
• community storytelling
• local democracy
• sharing examples of good practice

What will community councils be asked to do?

Community councils will be asked to either deliver a presentation or take part in an interview about their work in a recorded online event.  After the interview/presentation the community council will take questions from webinar participants and discuss their work.  Following the webinar they will be asked to approve the final recording for publication.

What will happen?

All administration and promotion of the webinars will be carried out by Community Councils Scotland.  The webinar recordings will be shared via Community Councils Scotland website and other relevant channels.

Benefits of taking part

• Raise the profile of your community council
• Engage with community councils across Scotland and share best practice and ideas
• Content created can be included on community council’s website and social channels