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News

Building Community

Harnessing the power of Leagues

How do we use the power of Community Leagues to continue to create spaces for neighbours to come together?

Listen to EFCL's Executive Director, Laura Cunningham-Shpeley, talk about how Leagues have navigated the pandemic and continue to build better communities.

Listen to the Podcast | Walking Alongside: Stories from YEG

Offer a Class For and In Your Community

Metro Continuing Education opportunities

The EFCL has teamed with Metro Continuing Education to help bring neighbours together and foster the power of community. Leagues can host a class, virtually or in-person, from the collection of courses Metro offers. Below are a few ideas of programs Metro can offer and adjust to best meet the needs of your community.

Land Acknowledgment Workshop
Discover Cross Country Skiing for Beginners (In Person)
Pickleball for Beginners and Intermediate
Stained Glass for Beginners (various classes)
Learn to Crochet or Knit (Online)
International Cooking Classes (Online)
Investing 101

If your Community League lacks physical space, Metro offers classes at the Bennet Centre.

How can your League get involved?
Contact Julia Dalman at julia.dalman@epsb.ca to set up an initial orientation meeting and discuss what is possible. There are no deadlines to sign up.

Check Out All the Programs Available to Leagues

Register for the WGM

Greetings from the Mayor

Our Winter General Meeting (WGM) on February 15 will be full of new ways Leagues can continue to change the conversation.

Networking and conversations: 5:30-6:20pm
Winter General Meeting: 6:30pm
Meeting Agenda

We’ll host break out rooms on the Zoom platform; you can move between rooms as you see fit. Room topics explore how Leagues:

Can use their rink facilities year round
Use social media platforms – common issues and solutions
Include unhoused neighbours in League life
Respond to the opioid crisis

Local Recreation Opportunities

Sign up for free skating and hockey lessons in your neighbourhood

Providing kids with sports programming in their community is the difference between impossible and fun. Get in on the fun with FREE sports programming in your neighbourhood.

All sessions for February's Start to Play offerings are now posted on the Free Play for Kids website. More Leagues will be hosting lessons in the spring. Reach out to Free Play for Kids to get involved.

Ages: 8-13
Equipment: Provided for those who need it
Cost: Free

Start to Play is a partnership between the EFCL, Free Play for Kids and the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation. Run by Free Play, the program sees Leagues offered a chance to derive revenue from their rink while offering their neighbourhood recreation opportunities.

Rink Accessibility

What's the situation at your League's rink? Let us know

Edmonton's Community League Movement is for all. To aid Leagues to create inclusive winter recreation spaces, the EFCL is working to understand the current accessibility of your ice rink. Findings will be compiled and used to advocate for appropriate funding and resources to enhance accessibility.

Fill Out Ice Rink Accessibility Survey

EFCL Programming

Changes to Operating Grant

We're here to walk you through it all

The way Leagues gather information for yearly reporting for the Community League Operating Grant (CLOG) is changing. Two Ask Me Anything sessions will offer Leagues answers to questions about the new procedure with EFCL Executive Director Laura Cunningham-Shpeley.

February 17 at 12pm
February 22 at 7pm

Here's a CHECKLIST of all the information you must gather to fill out the CLOG form.
Use this FORM to submit your annual report.

Tackling Islamophobia

A conversation with Sisters' Dialogue

Join us for an evening discussion with Wati Rahmat from Sisters’ Dialogue. We'll be talking about ways Leagues can support their Muslim neighbours in celebrating EID, tackling Islamophobia within the Community League Movement and introducing a new pilot Community Safe Walk program.

February 23 at 6:30pm

The last portion of the evening will be dedicated for networking. Leagues and community members are welcome to attend.

What does the City Plan Mean for Leagues?

We're here to answer your questions

You’ll hear from City of Edmonton staff and EFCL planning advisor, Jonathan Lawrence, about the many projects underway and how both organizations will engage with Leagues over the next few years.

February 24 at 6pm

What's a Community League?

Connect with Edmonton's original city builders

EFCL invites your organization to a short and interactive workshop to connect with and find ways to work effectively with Leagues.

March 1 at 12pm

EFCL Mentorship Program

Calling All New League Presidents

Connect with experienced volunteers

You’ve got questions? We’ve got answers. Sign up for EFCL’s One-on-One Mentorship Program to connect with an experienced president. We have a few experienced presidents who have signed up to be mentors and are waiting to be matched. We know you’re busy, so these connections can be as simple as a few online chats, some emails, or a phone call. Unlike Mentorship Cafes, the one-on-one program can be designed around your schedule and tailored to your needs.

Sign-up for One-on-One Mentorship

Group Mentorship Cafés

The Group Mentorship Cafés is a series of virtual spaces made available to Community League volunteers in a variety of board or volunteer positions. Get more information about EFCL’s Mentorship Program.

Sports Directors

February 7 at 6:30pm

We'll be talking about working with partner organizations and recruiting and managing volunteers.

Treasurers

February 28 at 6:30pm

In this session we'll be talking about going paperless with banking and developing your League's financial policies.

Green Leagues

March 10 at 6:30pm

In the first session of the Green League's Café, we'll be sharing ideas on what to do with your community and green initiatives.

Planning and Development

The Commons

Collaborative approach to city building

How can we listen to each other, preserve our stories and manage our existing needs while responding to a growing and changing city of the future?
Dive into this month's issue of The Commons and discover opportunities to get involved, stay connected and learn what's going on in Leagues, the EFCL and city-wide.

Read The Commons

Other Opportunities

Free Sports Equipment for Kids

Skates, helmets, sticks and more

Sport Central provides Community Leagues with FREE sports equipment for neighbourhood kids. They currently work with 17 Leagues and want to get more Leagues involved with their program.

To get involved, fill out the Community Application form, then submit it to thekid@sportcentral.org.

Sports Equipment Application Form

Rinkchecker

CBC wants to tell your rink stories

Calling all Community Leagues that run outdoor ice rinks: Despite COVID and rollercoaster temperatures, you're animating your community through ice rinks – and CBC Radio wants to profile your League.

Promote your rink on Edmonton AM with Mark Connolly by emailing mark.connolly@cbc.ca.

Listen to Previous Rinkchecker Segments

Free Tax Clinic

Share with your community

A free community tax clinic is available for low income community members from the Edmonton Community Foundation, LCCMedia Foundation and Africa Centre. The income tax filing service starts February 15 at the Africa Center (#106, 6770 129 Avenue).

Free Tax Clinic Registration Form

Living Local

We bid adieu to the E-News

The EFCL's newsletter has been in circulation for 10 years. We're giving it a refresh over the coming year, and the first change is the name. We're dropping the E-News name – everything's on the Internet in 2022 – and focusing in on the Living Local part. The focus hasn't changed: this newsletter is aimed at helping you and your League do more for your community.

We're always open to feedback. Send us a note.

Newsletter Feedback

We respectfully acknowledge the land upon which the EFCL operates is located on Treaty 6 Territory and has served a purpose as a traditional meeting ground for many First Nations groups. This territory has provided a traveling route and home to the Nakoda Sioux, and later, Blackfoot and Cree peoples, followed by Saulteaux and Métis and other Indigenous peoples.