John M's Report to Fairshare

 The following is extracted from the report I have to give to Fairshare every Quarter and I hope it gives readers a bit of clarity over the general direction of Community Development on the West Marsh and brings them up to date with things that have happened so far.

Activities undertaken: Community Development West Marsh

1. Children and Young People. A survey of needs is being undertaken for the young people of the West Marsh and we are starting to get a picture of young people’s aspirations which include better and more diverse public play activity areas and to build on the activities instigated by young people including dance, arts and sports groups currently started in the area with the help of VANEL workers input. There has also been a large increase in the uptake of Fairshare Youth awards with activities as wide ranging as, Fire Service Youth Training to Boxing Club membership, being undertaken by young people. John Mooney Jez O'Kane and Pete Holroyd have been working on these issues together. A separate panel has now been set up to direct funding applications which can now be done between WMF meetings.

2. People with Disabilities and Long Term Illness.  John Mooney has attended the initial Health Inequalities workshop for a project aimed at tackling inequality on the West Marsh and is now on the Working Group with the aim of implementing an Asset Based Community Development approach to make the reduction of inequality a reality. This also fits well with the approach VANEL are currently spearheading for the ABCD model to be adopted across North East Lincolnshire to integrate with Neigbourhood Management. John Mooney has also made a request to people to in the locality to Join a working group to look at widening participation of all the minority Interest groups in the area and a start has been made around the idea of a sustainable community publication initiative which includes both digital and print media. If successful this will enable individuals and groups to use social and print media to have their voices heard and influence ward based decision making.

3. Older People. Two Older Persons groups have been given advice and guidance around sustainability and potential funding sources. John Mooney is also working with the Neighbourhood Coordinator and the Older Peoples Collaborative coordinator to try and build a better partnership in the area.

4. West Marsh Forward. John Mooney has been attending all meetings of WMF and has offered help to all parties attending to assist in achieving their aims. The Forward has achieved the levels of competence required under the original terms of the funding and has got to the point where the Public Sector reps attending are doing their best to respond to the hot issues which residents are bringing forward. There has been a Transport Sub Group set up to deal with long term issues around parking, roadside car sales and long term public transport issues which now reports progress back to the WMF main meeting.
5. Friends of the Freshney. This group meets monthly on the Duke of York Gardens and is involved in the development of the Park as a public amenity and is currently being supported by John Mooney and Jez O'Kane with the issues they are wanting to address. These are long term environmental issues around the River Freshney which runs alongside the park and upgrading facilities in the park.

6. Ward Councillors. John Mooney is involved in supporting the Councillors in their capacity as Community Leaders and has been involved in Ward Walks and talks around funding. The ward councillors have now put £5000.00 of ward funding under the direction of the Forward to be allocated in £250.00 lots to local community groups and other ward initiatives. The Councillors are also part of the decision making panel for the Youth Funding so that we can be a bit more strategic in the allocation of funding.

7. Town Centre and Businesses. Karl Elliot has started to involve the Town Centre Forum in the process of Neighbourhood Management and Community Development. As a result of a Churches Together rep coming back to WMF and putting Town Centre Policing issues on the agenda for prioritisation a good partnership response to Town Centre crime issues has come about with a marked reduction in Anti-Social Behaviour as a result.

8. Wider Community Development. There are now regular Friday afternoon meetings of all the VANEL staff involved in Community Development alongside reps from the Neighbourhood Coordinators to look at hyper-local and whole borough initiatives to be clear that we are doing joined up working. This will be extended to include members of the Community Development Network as we progress.

 The above has helped us achieve real inroads into how to resolve the issues of representation of local people. The close mutual support of the two Ward Councillors has ensured that the West Marsh is responding to the changes in Neighbourhood Management and is heading towards the production of a resident led Neighbourhood Plan. This will take in to account the wider strategic issues that Public Sector organisations are looking to have an impact on despite reductions in resource, and will also mean that issues which are pertinent only to the ward will gain greater ownership amongst the community.

This will mean that over time the West Marsh Forward will broaden its capacity to take in to account the multiplicity of issues the ward faces and be able to use that capacity to direct public service input more effectively. The increase in the capacity

To plan will also increase the possibilities to generate community initiatives that public service delivery does not involve itself with.

The close association with Neighbourhood Management and the West Marsh being a primary focus for the Asset Based Community Development approach will mean that when the localism agenda really takes hold we will be in a position to take advantage of Central and Local Government initiatives when and if they arise.

The really ingrained issue of Health Inequality on the ward will start to see a radically different approach with the Asset Based Community Development approach being adopted by the service providers leading to true community partnership working.