Ethos

Our Vision

Our vision is for a North East Inner City that is characterised by equality, inclusion, and wellbeing, where the community have capacity, voice, and power to shape their own future.

Our Mission

ICON works to address issues of poverty, disadvantage, social exclusion, and inequality affecting the North East Inner City community, advocating for systemic change. Underpinned by a community development approach, we seek to enable and amplify the collective voice of the community, and to mobilise and support collective community action, creating safe, inclusive, and participative spaces to support grass-roots community engagement.

Our Values

In delivering on our mission, ICON identifies these values as central to our work to:

-  promote equality and social inclusion;

-  promote and protect human rights;

-  address poverty;

-  and challenge the oppression and discrimination of individuals and groups.

ICON’s core values underpin a community development approach which is central to how we work.

Collective Action

Collective Action is about grass-roots mobilising, organising, educating, and agitating.  It involves mutual support and community collaboration.

Empowerment

Empowerment is about creating the conditions for people to step into their own power.

Inclusion

Inclusion is about meaningful participation, active engagement, and involvement of the diversity of individuals, families, and groups who experience social exclusion, poverty, inequality and discrimination.

Social Justice

Social Justice involves addressing poverty, protecting and promoting human rights, promoting equality, and challenging of all forms of oppression and discrimination that exclude individuals and groups.

Community Development

ICON operates to community development principles and a social inclusion ethos forms the basis for all its work. 

Community Development is a process that seeks to build strong, sustainable communities by bringing people and groups together for the good of the wider community and society. Based on principles of collectivity, equality, anti-discrimination, empowerment, participation, social justice, fairness and respect it sets out to influence power structures and remove barriers that prevent people from taking part in decisions that affect their lives. We work with local people and groups to be active participants in society. We believe that unless work in the most disadvantaged communities is underpinned by these approaches and this ethos, the most disadvantaged will lose out.