annual report 2010-2011
DESCRIPTION
Community at Heart Annual ReportTRANSCRIPT
Mike Pickering - Easton Elected March 2011
Terry Black - Elected March 2011 Sovereign South and West
“I have always been keen on having a
clean and tidy environment for
people to live and work in and I have
been a Neighbourhood Champion for
many years. I joined the Board to have wider input and I hope
residents will get to know that there is someone who cares about our local environment.”
Jo Curtis - Redfield Elected March 2011
“I’ve worked in the area for three years and feel passionately about supporting residents to help improve services. I’m really looking forward to bringing my professional skills to the Board. I’d like to assist community based organisations to develop their ideas on sustainability
and environmental issues, which I’m particularly interested in.”
“I am interested in
improving services for
Council tenants in Barton
Hill. I joined the Board so
that I could influence
decisions across the
area. It has been a good
year with a lot of change
as we have had to restructure the
way we work. Over the next year I
would like to see us working to
make sure our neighbourhoods
keep getting better.”
Tony Hicks - Barton Hill
Elected May 2009
These residents all give their time
and energy to improving our
neighbourhoods. They oversee the
running of Easton and Lawrence Hill
Neighbourhood Management and
help decide the priorities for the work
of the staff team. We are looking for
more volunteer trustees to join us
from Newtown, Easton and St Judes.
If you’d like to have a chat with us
about getting involved please contact
us on 377 3640.
Who are we?
Meet our resident Board
“It really has been a pleasure to chair the Board. Over the last year I think we have made huge strides both in taking forward the work of the past ten years and in developing our approach to putting local people in charge of their own neighbourhoods.”
Dominic Murphy - The Dings Elected May 2005
“I have been involved in the
community for ten years. I enjoy telling
people what’s happening locally. I
have been really pleased with the Forums and it’s great to see so many people attending and
speaking to officers. I’d like to see this grow over the next year.”
“I joined the Board as I was concerned about the state of parks for my daughter. Since joining I have become interested in improving the safety and cleanliness of the community. One challenge was letting the shops on Avonvale Road. I’d like to see residents who work hard get the recognition they deserve.”
“I am also Chair of
Church Road Action
Group. I joined the
Board to make sure
this groups’ views were
heard. I am particularly
keen to promote the
businesses in Church Road as I feel
this is the best shopping area in our
neighbourhood. I look forward to
working with the Board to keep our
local centre a vibrant and pleasant
place to shop.”
“One of my main
concerns is looking
after Netham Park. I
have been really
proud of our work on
Stapleton Road over
the past 12 months. I
feel that the forum
has done a lot to
address residents’ issues. I would
like us to focus on Church Road
next.”
Alex Milne - Redfield
Elected May 2007 J Austin - Barton Hill
Elected May 2009
“I have been involved in
my community for nine
years and I still enjoy it! I
am also a member of
Dings Community
Association. I think it’s
important that neighbours
look out for their
community and each
other. There have been some
challenging issues but we are ready
to get stuck in to sorting out real
issues for residents.”
Sally Caseley - The Dings
Elected 2002
Richard Curtis - Redfield
Elected March 2011 Manzoor Unar - Easton
Elected March 2011
Joyce Clarke - Redfield Elected May 2009
“I like working with people from all
different backgrounds. I think the Board is a
good way to keep track of what is
happening and I want to bring my
experience from living around the world to this area. I am particularly
interested in improving career opportunities for young people.”
“I joined the Board because I wanted to be actively involved in the community in
which I live and you can’t do that unless you have a voice to sing.”
Case Study 1 • • • • • • CALL TO ACTION Residents living around Cotton Mill Lane wanted to protect an area of green space that had been ear marked for development. • • • • • • OUR RESPONSE Together with Sovereign South and West, we arranged for the Council to lease the land to residents. The green space has now been turned into a garden which is being looked after by the local community.
What have we been up to?
Community garden opens Cotton Mill Lane
Community at Heart Annual Report
2010 - 2011
• • • • • • CHAIR’S REPORT “This year has been very significant for all of us in Lawrence Hill and Easton – our first year as a neighbourhood management team and also the first real test of how two large inner city wards could work together and build a sustainable future. Perhaps the most impressive thing for me has been the positive way everyone has approached the challenges facing them; from how we will work together and make decisions across the two wards to the tough problems faced by residents and businesses around Stapleton Road. All this against a backdrop of uncertainty surrounding the future of the economy as a whole and defining exactly what is meant by Government jargon such as ‘localism’ and ‘community empowerment’. All in all I think we have made a really good start to our lives as a neighbourhood management partnership, there’s still a lot more to do and for that reason I believe we must work hard at getting more people involved in all aspects of our work.” Dominic Murphy, Chair of Community at Heart Other key events this year: We continued to offer free support to local people at our
drop-in Neighbourhood Shop on Church Road. The Shop saw an average of 250 clients a month.
We moved offices and relocated to The Old Bank, 108 Church Road.
We became the proud owner of four retail units in Barton Hill. One of these was leased to Costcutter.
We worked with Bristol City Council and residents in Ashley to set up the Ashley, Easton and Lawrence Hill Neighbourhood Partnership.
We produced four editions of Up Our Street which is delivered to 13,000 households.
We supported two Future Jobs Fund trainees. And much, much more.....!
Client Support Worker Mubarig Bodleh Client Support Worker Mandy Wachon Office & Finance Manager Tracy Parsons Admin Assistant Anne Marie Elliot Neighbourhood Facilitator François Jensen Communications Officer Stacy Yelland / Sorrel Parsons Neighbourhood Manager Penny Germon
OUR STAFF
Case Study 2 • • • • • CALL TO ACTION Traders and residents were worried about recent violent incidents on Stapleton Road. There was concern about the cause of this and the impact on people using the street. Traders in particular were upset about the negative coverage the street was getting in the press. • • • • • • OUR RESPONSE We carried out regular street surveys and walkabouts to talk to people. We supported the BBC to promote the positive side of the street. We worked closely with traders, residents, police and the Council to set up the Stapleton Road Working Group. The group meets regularly to come up with solutions and put these into action. This work is ongoing.
• • • • FINANCE REPORT This is the first year of operation without New Deal for Communities funding. In 2008, Community at Heart was required by Government to show how the work would be sustained beyond the life of New Deal. A legacy fund of £786,000 (not NDC money) was accrued for this purpose. It will contribute to the delivery of neighbourhood management over the next five years together with income from our assets. Community at Heart has a number of ‘fixed assets’; The Old Bank (Church Road), Wellspring Healthy Living Centre (land & buildings), four shop units on Avonvale Road and the ‘Safe Ouse’ youth space in The Dings. This year the Board agreed to transfer the freehold of the Wellspring to the Wellspring Healthy Living Centre Ltd after they successfully applied for charitable status. The Community at Heart Board and the Wellspring Board believe this will help Wellspring to continue delivering services to the community in the long term. We expect to be able to transfer the asset in 2011/2012. Buildings can generate an income but they can also be a drain on resources. Ensuring the assets work for the organisation is a major challenge and will continue to be a high priority for the Board. We received a number of small grants from Bristol City Council, Safer Bristol and Sovereign Housing Association which help to deliver the day to day work which makes a real difference to local people. Penny Germon, Neighbourhood Manager
Case Study 3 • • • • • • CALL TO ACTION Residents of Fox Road and Walton Street got together to raise concerns about drug dealing, fly
tipping and the impact of sex workers and non-resident parking in their neighbourhood.
• • • • • OUR RESPONSE We worked with residents and Safer Bristol to put up community signs, litter pick, repaint the playground, improve lighting, protect parking spaces with chains and bollards and clear shrubs that were used for sex work. Residents also decided to set up ‘Fox Watch’ Neighbourhood Watch group.
Surveying residents Stapleton Road
Community action
Fox Road
Thank you to our Board members. We appreciate all your hard work: Alan Dando - Resigned May 2010
Richard Leeming - Resigned July 2010 Mohammed Elsharif - Resigned July 2010
Ayannah Griffith - Resigned July 2010 Sue O’Donnell - Resigned March 2011