The Social Planning Council of Cambridge and North Dumfries actively participates in building and strengthening our community through social change, innovation, research, analysis, and facilitation.

Current News & Events:

Click below for these publications:

OUR 3rd Annual DIRECTIONS DAY- Success Story

The Social Planning Council of Cambridge and North Dumfries (SPC-CND) held its annual DIRECTIONS DAY on June 12, 2008. The events of the day included our Annual General Meeting, the release of the 2008 Community Trends Report and the hosting of our third Poverty Symposium. The SPC-CND was pleased to welcome Aisling Gogan and Peggy Matchim to discuss the Newfoundland and Labrador Poverty Reduction Strategy. There were approximately 70 participants at the symposium including representatives from community organizations, municipal and regional government and interested individuals. The symposium provided an outlet for representatives to engage in ideas and solutions around poverty reduction, to raise awareness of local and national poverty initiatives and to find and utilize a forum for community collaboration. Discussion groups, relating to community engagement, responses to fair income and social enterprise, were held to gather viewpoints from various community partners.

To view the proceedings from the Poverty Symposium click here: 2008 Poverty Symposium Proceedings

The Community Trends Report was released and SPC-CND initiated discussions surrounding emerging trends within Cambridge and North Dumfries. We were pleased with the attendees’ active participation in the group discussion following the release. It was a great opportunity to meet and greet our partners, funders and other community agencies and share our research findings, views and opinions on Community Trends with the audience.

To view our Community Trends Report click here: 2008 Community Trends Report

Please take a moment to fill out the survey to give us your feed back on our 2008 Trends Repot

Click Here to take survey

Making Ends Meet- "Town Hall Meeting on April 3, 2008"- our success story

We were very pleased with the public participation in our Town Hall Meeting on April 3, 2008. Attendance was great! More than 85 people attended the event. The highlight was that the key players from our community such as MP Gary Goodyear, MPP Gerry Martiniuk, Regional Councillor Claudette Millar and City of Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig participated as members of a panel at the event, acknowledging that the prevalence of poverty is a growing concern in Cambridge.

Moderator Stephen Gross helped illuminate the need for governments, private sector businesses, non profit organizations and local citizens to work together to develop short and long term solutions that would ensure a decent standard of living for all Cambridge residents.

The event received local media coverage from The Cambridge Times, The Waterloo Region Record and Rogers TV's "First Local" newscast which helped to meet the event's objective of increasing awareness of local poverty issues and the need for a poverty reduction strategy.

Click to read 'Cambridge Times article on our event".

Information Cambridge and North Dumfries

The Social Planning Council of Cambridge and North Dumfries has assumed management of Information Cambridge and North Dumfries. Information Cambridge and North Dumfries provides a single point of access for information on community human services.

Click here for the link to Information Cambridge and North Dumfries.

Cambridge Neighbourhood Profiles - Resident Survey

Over the next few months the Social Planning Council will be preparing a profile of Cambridge neighbourhoods. Because living in a neighbourhood is really the only way to truly know it, we are looking for people to participate in a survey. We are interested in learning about neighbourhood strengths and assets, issues and concerns, needs and goals.

Click here to access an electronic version of the survey

Non-Profits G`O` G`REEN` Project

The Non-Profits GO GREEN Project provides awareness and practical tools for Cambridge non-profits to make the environment a priority in their agency.

Click here to view Environmental Toolkit a how-to guide for non-profits to become more environmentally friendly.

Click here for more information about the GO GREEN Project

Cambridge Community Access Program (CAP)

CAP is a program to offer free computer and Internet access to the community through a number of neighbourhood and non-profit organizations. The Social Planning Council has facilitated the development of this project. The Cambridge CAP program offers not only the physical tool but also the training necessary to make the most of this service thereby helping to heighten the collective base level of technological understanding. To find out more regarding training or a site nearest you contact us at jana@socialplanningcouncil-cnd.org for information.

Click here for more information about CAP

Healthy Communities and the Built Environment

The Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition is preparing a publication on the topic of Healthy Communities and the Built Environment. This publication will make facts available and increase awareness of the health impacts of the built environment. Written in a popular style, it will be aimed primarily at health promoters, planners, municipal elected officials, community organizations and environmental groups. It will include a collection of modules, each one relating to a particular aspect of how the built environment impacts on health, with a positive message of how communities can be designed to promote health. For more information please contact dina@socialplanningcouncil-cnd.org

For a copy of the Call for Papers,click here.