Big Local Plan

Big Local Plan
July 2014 – June 2017
Making Catton Grove a better, brighter, more
harmonious place to live, work and volunteer
CONTENTS
Introduction
1
Part One – Forming our Big Local Plan
3
Part Two – Our Big Local Plan
10
Priority 1 Building an active and vibrant community
11
Priority 2 Access to community information and advice
17
Priority 3 Access to employment and training
22
Priority 4 Building a healthy community
26
Priority 5 Activities and services for young people
29
Priority 6 Activities and services for older people
32
Our Locally Trusted Organisation
34
Big Local Budget 2014 – 2017
35
Testimonials
36
Summary
37
Introduction
Welcome to our first Big Local Plan for Catton Grove. This plan sets out how we will start
using the £1million Big Local funding that has been awarded to the Catton Grove area.
What is Big Local ?
Big Local offers residents in 150 selected areas around England the opportunity to use at
least £1million each to make a massive and lasting positive difference to their community.
It’s about bringing together all the local talent, ambitions, skills and energy from
individuals, groups and statutory and voluntary organisations who will work together to
help make their community an even better place to live.
The four programme outcomes for Big Local are…
1. Communities will be better able to identify local needs and take action in response
to them.
2. People will have increased skills and confidence so that they continue to identify
and respond to needs in the community in future.
3. The community will make a difference to the needs it prioritises.
4. People will feel that their area is an even better place to live.
Big Local is not about…
It’s NOT about the Council, the government or outside organisations telling us what to do.
It’s NOT about individual groups fixing their favourite problems without talking to a wide
range of different people who live and work in the community. It’s NOT about short-term
thinking, we’ve got 10 years or more to plan and deliver the best options for our area. It’s
NOT about letting others in the community do all the work, everyone in the community has
a responsibility to help make Big Local in Catton Grove a success.
Our Big Local Plan
Our Big Local plan covers the first 3 years of a 10 year project. Our plan is divided into
two sections. In the first section we will show how we have consulted with the community
and how local residents have been involved in identifying community needs and selecting
which projects will receive Big Local funding. In the second section we will go into more
detail about the projects that will be developed and the positive impact this will have upon
our community.
1
2
Part One – Forming our Big Local Plan
The Big Local Bunch
In December 2012 we heard the good news that our area had been selected to receive Big
Local funding. Mark Bishop, our Big Local representative arrived in the area in January
2013. Quickly, a group of community representatives came together and began to discuss
how to get started. This group became known as the Big Local Bunch. The Bunch was
an informal group of people which included local residents and representatives from local
community groups, churches and schools plus some of our local Councillors. The Bunch
met on a regular basis, the main role for the Bunch was to promote Big Local within the
community and encourage everyone to feed their ideas and comments into the Big Local
Plan. Bunch members attended a number of Big Local training events and visited our Big
Local colleagues in Ipswich North.
Our Locally Trusted Organisation
One of the first tasks for the Big Local Bunch was to select a Locally Trusted Organisation
to work alongside us. We developed a brief which set out what we wanted our LTO to do
and we invited written applications from a range of local organisations.
Three
organisations applied to become our LTO. We invited these organisations to a selection
day and we chose to work with an organisation called People Shaped Solutions. People
Shaped Solutions, Angela Jefford and Linda Blakeway, were already based in the area
and had a strong track record for delivering community projects in the Catton Grove area.
Our LTO began working with us in July 2013.
Consultation
The Big Local Bunch have consulted with residents in a number of different ways to help
establish what people like about the Big Local area now and what they would like to see
change in future.
Big Local Outreach
To promote Big Local and to start encouraging people to get involved and sharing their
ideas we have attended a range of community events over the past 12 months. We have
attended school fetes and open days, community PlayDays in the local park and
community information sessions. We have talked to people about their experiences of
living in the area and what they would like to see Big Local achieve.
We found that people like the local schools, the parks and open spaces and also the
friendly nature of people who live in the area. Improvements people would like to see
included more activities for children and young people, more opportunities for adult
learning and more community events.
3
Pointers Field PlayDay
August 2013
The Big Local All-Household Survey
In addition to consulting at local community events the Bunch decided to design a survey
which would be delivered to every household within the Big Local area. This would ensure
that everyone would have a least one opportunity to share their views and ideas and have
a say in how Big Local develops.
Bunch members, assisted by our LTO, designed a
survey which was delivered in August 2013. The survey asked a range of questions that
would help us to know what people liked about the area and where improvements could be
made. To reduce postal costs we placed reply boxes in shops and community buildings
across the Big Local area for people to drop off their completed surveys. To increase the
return rate we went out in small teams of volunteers encouraging people to complete the
surveys on their doorsteps. We also placed the survey on-line for people to complete
electronically, this option was only taken up by a small percentage of people.
The survey gave us a lot of valuable data which has helped to form the Big Local plan.
We had just over 300 replies which gave us a return rate for the survey of 11.6%. We
asked what people liked most about the area now. We found that people liked the parks
and green spaces in the area and they liked the good range of shops. People felt that we
have a good bus service and that the area was a safe and friendly place to live. We
asked how long people had lived in the area, we found that 29% of people who replied had
lived in the area for 30 years or more, this shows that our community is a place where
people chose to settle and bring up their families. We also found that on the other end of
the scale 11% of people who replied had lived here for less than 2 years and a further 20%
had lived here for less than 5 years, this gives us a rather mixed community with longstanding residents living alongside ‘newcomers’. 82% of people responding to our survey
said that they enjoyed living in the area, 10% were undecided and only 8% of people said
the area was not a good a place to live. Lastly, we asked people what they would like to
see improved in the area. The most popular responses were more activities and services
for young people, more events to bring the community together, more employment
opportunities, more sports and leisure activities and more support for older people.
4
Stakeholder Interviews
We also wanted to know what the people who hold key roles in the local community felt
about our area. We interviewed a number of stakeholders to identify what issues they
were dealing with and how Big Local could help tackle some of these issues.
We
interviewed 18 stakeholders, these included local Councillors, Headteachers, GP Practice
Managers, Police Officers, our local MP, the Neighbourhood Manager, Library Manager
and Health Visitors.
We gained a vast amount of information from these interviews, many of the people we
interviewed focussed upon the effects of living in an area of deprivation and how this
impacts upon people’s lives. Issues that came up frequently included debt and money
management issues, lack of employment opportunities, poor health and lack of
aspirations.
Community Group Interviews
Alongside the stakeholder interviews we interviewed a number of community group
leaders. These interviews focused upon what services they were offering in the
community, how their groups were managed and what plans they had for the future.
Groups interviewed included children’s groups, youth groups, church groups, older
people’s groups, the community centre, food bank and credit union.
We found that most groups relied on volunteers to support their work in the community and
in most cases groups did not have enough volunteers at the moment. Groups spoke
about ongoing funding concerns, many were finding it harder to obtain grants to keep their
services going. Groups also spoke about difficulties in promoting what they do in the
community to increase numbers of people using their services and the need to work
together to share resources.
Employer / Business Survey
We decided to ‘map’ the area to establish how many businesses and employers we have,
where they are and the type of businesses that can be found. We recorded details of over
185 local businesses and employers. Following the mapping exercise we developed a
survey to find out more about these businesses. We asked how long the businesses had
been based in the area, how many people they employed and how many employees lived
in the local area. We also asked the businesses if they had any plans to expand or take
on more employees in the future and how we could work together to secure more local
employment. The surveys were delivered to all businesses in the area, a copy of the
survey was also placed on-line to complete electronically. Unfortunately, the response
rate to our business survey was very low so we were unable to gather enough information
to get a clear picture about rates of local employment. Building more effective
partnerships with our local businesses is an area for future work.
5
Review Day 1 - Choosing Priorities
After 6 months of intensive community consultation everyone involved with Big Local met
on 26th September 2013 to review all of the ideas, comments and suggestions that we had
received to date. The day began with the Big Count where all of the data from the allhousehold survey was counted and analysed. We then went through all of the other
suggestions we had collected from community events, interviews and outreach activities.
Using all of this information we decided which areas of work would be our priorities for the
first few years of Big Local, these wereBuilding an Active and Vibrant Community
Access to Community Information and Advice
Access to Employment and Training
Building a Healthy Community
Activities and Services for Young People
Activities and Services for Older People
Focus Groups
Following the Review Day we set up a focus group for each of the six priorities chosen.
The task of each focus group was to explore their priority in more depth, establish what is
already happening in the area and potential areas for improvement.
The focus groups included local residents and representatives from local community
groups and organisations. We also invited a small number of external representatives
from organisations with expertise in the areas to be explored, we did this to help increase
our knowledge of the priorities and learn more about what has worked well in other areas.
External representatives came from organisations such as Job Centre Plus, Age UK,
Citizen’s Advice Bureau and the Prince’s Trust.
The focus groups met for 3 months between November 2013 and January 2014. Each
focus group developed a set of recommendations to be considered for the Big Local plan.
Further Consultation
Alongside the development of focus groups we also carried out further consultation in the
community. We attended a range of community events and meetings including Christmas
Fairs at each of the schools, an Older People’s Forum meeting and a Community Safety
meeting.
We asked local residents to comment on our six priorities, letting us know what they would
like to see improved in each priority area and suggest potential projects to be included in
the Big Local Plan.
6
Community Chest
We used £3000 of our Getting Started grant to set up a Community Chest which offered
small grants of up to £250 to local community organisations.
A group of Big Local
volunteers designed an application form and a set of funding guidelines for the grants
programme.
The Community Chest was launched in November 2013. To date six
applications for funding have been received and assessed by a local resident panel. We
have used the experience gained from setting up this small grants programme to help us
prepare for becoming a Partnership and making decisions about our Big Local Plan.
Oak Grove Chapel Drum Club with their
new drums purchased with a grant
from the Community Chest
March 2014
Discussing options during
Review Day 2 30th January 2014
Review Day 2 – Forming the Big Local Plan
After a further 4 months of consultation on our 6 priority areas we met again on 30th
January 2014 for a second review day.
The purpose of this day was to consider all of the recommendations that had been put
forward either through the focus groups or through local consultation events.
We
explored the recommendations for each priority area in depth, assessing each proposal for
positive impact on both individual residents and the community as a whole.
We also explored issues around accessibility and equal opportunities. Some of the
recommendations we received were for specific groups of people within the wider
community, for example children with disabilities, speakers of other languages, people with
depression and teenage parents. We felt that at this early stage developing projects for
specific groups in the community may exclude others in equal need. We decided that all
projects to be developed would need to give consideration to issues of accessibility and
would need to be inclusive to people with additional needs. We also agreed that as a
Partnership we would contact agencies who specialise in delivering projects or services for
people with additional needs and encourage them to deliver their services in the Catton
Grove area using our consultation data as evidence of need.
7
Finally, we considered how each proposal would impact upon our Big Local budget and
the amount of time each proposal would take to implement. After much discussion and
evaluation we agreed on a set of proposals which we felt would be of most benefit to the
area and which would help us to achieve our vision for the area.
We placed these proposals in order of priority as follows –
Must Do Now – these are the projects that will be started immediately
Will Do Next – these projects will start towards the end of year 1
Can Do Later – these projects will start later in years 2 or 3
A Good Idea But – these projects require more consultation or research and may be
included in a future Big Local Plan but not at this stage
Forming our Big Local Partnership
In January 2014 we started to move from an informal bunch to a more formal Big Local
Partnership. The role of the Partnership is to guide the overall direction of Big Local in
Catton Grove. We will be responsible for creating the Big Local Plan, overseeing its
delivery, collecting the evidence to show how the projects are progressing and reviewing
both the Big Local Plan and the Partnership at regular intervals to make sure they are
working in the best way possible for the benefit of the community.
Big Local must be a genuine, resident-led programme. We have decided that local
residents will be at the heart of our Partnership. Two non-residents have also been invited
to join the Partnership, these members are people who have strong connections to the
area and bring additional skills and resources into our Partnership. The membership of
the Partnership will be refreshed on an annual basis to enable more members of the
community to get involved. This will enable the Partnership to increase in numbers,
become more diverse and more representative of the community as a whole.
The Partnership members for 2014 are as follows, we hope to be welcoming more resident
members and partners from local organisations and groups as the year progresses –
Anne Dupon – I am 74 years young and have lived in the area for 26 years. I have a wide
variety of interests, before retiring I ran two successful businesses
Daniel Browne ( Vice Chair ) – Student, 21 years old. I am the current chair of Catton
Grove Residents Association. In 2012 I was an Olympic Torch Bearer for my commitment
to voluntary work in the local community and for overcoming my disabilities.
Ieuan Lawrence – Local resident, 22 years old. I am an active volunteer with Norwich
Credit Union and help run a local credit union collection day.
Jason Grisdale ( Finance Liaison ) – I have lived on Angel Road for 5 years, having
mobility issues volunteering locally in very important to me
John Appleby – I have lived in the area for over 35 years, since retiring I have been
looking for meaningful activities and to give something back to the community. My main
interests are health and well-being
Peter Young – Local resident and Community Youth Worker for Oak Grove Chapel. I am
passionate about young people being listened to and included in our Big Local.
8
Ray Bass – Retired youth and community development manager, I worked in the Catton
Grove area for many years. I now volunteer as treasurer of Catton Grove Community
Centre and represent the Community Centre on the Partnership.
Sheila Hughes – I have lived in the area for over 30 years, I have been active in many
community groups, most recently I have been involved in the development of the
Neighbourhood Agreement and I am a PCC Committee Member of St Catherine’s Church.
Stuart Wetton ( Chair ) – Long-term resident. I have skills in project management and
software engineering. I am currently studying for a BA ( Hons ) in Humanities with the
Open University
Sue Browne ( Secretary ) – I work as a care assistant. In my spare time I volunteer in the
community, helping at the Community Centre, I have also volunteered with the Residents
Association for the last 7 years.
Wendy Alcock - Retired Headteacher of Catton Grove First and Nursery School, but still
fully committed to supporting and encouraging the community to take pride in and improve
their local area.
The Partnership will meet on a monthly basis, meetings will be open to the public. In the
first few months we are aiming to build links with our local Councillors and a range of
statutory and voluntary organisations who deliver services in the Catton Grove area. This
will help us to develop a more joined-up approach and ensure that Big Local reaches out
into all parts of the community.
Catton Grove Big Local Partnership
April 2014
9
Part Two – Our Big Local Plan
Our Big Local Vision
The first task for the Partnership has been to agree a Big Local Vision for the area. The
vision describes where we want to be at the end of 10 years of Big Local.
Our Big Local vision is to make Catton Grove ‘a better, brighter, more harmonious
place to live, work and volunteer’.
Our Big Local Plan
Building upon our vision for the area our Big Local Plan sets out how we are going to
achieve this, what projects we will be developing and the positive impact these projects will
have upon the community.
Our Plan has been developed to reflect the views, comments and ideas that we have
received during our extensive consultation with the community. We have also used
information gained from producing our community profile of the area.
Our Big Local plan is divided into 6 priority areas, these priorities will be our focus for the
first 3 years of Big Local. Under each priority area we will explain what we want to achieve
and how we will do this. Individual action plans have been included to give you more
detail.
Some of the priorities selected for this Plan may continue to feature in future Big Local
Plans and some may be replaced by other emerging priorities as the community changes
and improves. On-going consultation and engagement with the community will help us to
determine our future priorities, along with monitoring and evaluation of each Big Local
project as they develop.
Our Plan also suggests ways in which you can become involved in Big Local. These are
not the only ways in which you can be involved, whatever your skills or abilities there will
always be something that you can do to help make Catton Grove Big Local a success for
everyone.
10
Priority 1 – Building an Active and Vibrant Community
Big Local will not succeed without the active involvement of the local community. Through
consultation we found many people wanted to become more involved in their community
but felt opportunities to do this were limited. People also told us there was a lack of
information about what is happening in the community.
What we want to achieve…
We want to encourage more people to become actively involved in their community,
volunteering their time and skills for the benefit of others. We want to build a more
cohesive community where people work together to make improvements to their
community. We want to create a community that people are proud of and feel part of.
How we will do this…
We will be developing a number of projects to help build a more active and vibrant
community.
We will be appointing a part-time paid community worker / volunteer co-ordinator to
support community engagement and capacity building activities. The community worker
will be responsible for recruiting, training and supporting local volunteers, they will support
the Big Local Partnership to develop new community activities and will network with
existing community groups.
We will be looking to recruit someone, ideally a local
resident, who has experience of working in local communities and who has the skills to
encourage and support volunteers of all ages and abilities.
People need to know what is going on in their community. We will be producing a regular
community newsletter to help keep people informed about Big Local and promote
community groups and organisations. We have also started developing a Catton Grove
Big Local community website and will be re-launching our Big Local Twitter and Facebook
pages.
We will continue to support community groups, projects and organisations through our
Community Chest small grants programme.
Finally, we will be planning a range of community events to help bring the community
together starting with a large-scale family event to celebrate the first two years of Big
Local. The event will be held in May 2016.
Resources
We will be allocating £64,000 to this priority over the first 3 years of the Big Local project.
How you can get involved…
There are many ways in which you can be involved in helping to develop this priority, for
example you could become a Big Local Partnership member, you could help us to develop
new community activities, you could help us write the community newsletter or help deliver
the newsletter to your friends and neighbours, you can help us design our community
website or provide community information to keep the website up to date, you could help
us plan community events or volunteer on the day to help make it a great event for
everyone to enjoy.
11
Priority
Building an Active and Vibrant Community
Summary
Appoint a paid community worker / volunteer co-ordinator to support Big Local
community engagement and capacity building
Outcome
More residents will be actively involved in their community,
volunteering time and skills for the benefit of others. More residents
engaged and participating in Big Local. More opportunities for people
to become involved in community groups and activities.
Main
Actions
The main roles of the worker will be –
Community engagement and networking
Recruiting, training and supporting Big Local volunteers
Networking with existing community groups
Supporting the Partnership to develop new community activities
Supporting the Big Local Partnership to achieve its aims
Supporting Big Local community consultations
The worker will be –
Based in community
Be visible and accessible
Able to work with all ages and abilities
Employed for 20 hours per week
We will be looking for a person who –
A good communicator
Good people skills
Able to motivate and encourage others
Flexible
Experience of working in local communities
A good team worker
Timescale
August - September 2014 Pre-recruitment process
October - November 2014 Recruitment and appointment
January 2015
Worker starts in post
Resources Year 1 - £8,000 ( 6 months salary plus on-costs and recruitment )
Year 2 - £15,000 ( 12 months salary plus on-costs )
Year 3 - £15,000 ( 12 months salary plus on-costs )
Notes
The worker will be employed via our Locally Trusted Organisation
12
Priority
Building an Active and Vibrant Community
Summary
Produce a regular community newsletter
Outcome
Residents more informed about what Big Local is doing and how they
can get involved. Residents more informed about what is happening in
their community. Community groups and organisations more able to
promote what they do. Building a more cohesive community where
groups and organisations share information and work together for the
benefit of the wider community.
Main
Actions
Timescale
Partnership to form a publicity sub-group, invite members of the
community to join this group
Develop links with other community groups and organisations
Meet regularly to write and compile newsletter
Distribute the newsletter to all households in Big Local area
Produce 2 - 3 newsletters per year
Develop an on-line extended version of the newsletter
July 2014
October 2014
Form publicity sub-group
Produce first edition of newsletter
Newsletter continues to be produced every 4-6 months
Resources Year 1 - £2,000 to include printing and distribution
Year 2 - £1,500 to include printing and distribution
Year 3 - £1,500 to include printing and distribution
Notes
Publicity sub-group to explore options for sponsorship or in-kind match
funding to help reduce costs and work towards long-term sustainability.
13
Priority
Building an Active and Vibrant Community
Summary
Create a Big Local website and associated social media platforms
Outcome
Residents more informed about what Big Local is doing and how
they can get involved. Residents more informed about what is
happening in their community. Community groups and organisations
more able to promote what they do. Building a more cohesive
community where groups and organisations share information and
work together for the benefit of the wider community.
Main
Actions
Timescale
Partnership to form publicity sub-group, invite members of the
community to join this group
Work together to design a community website
Engage with wider community to encourage a variety of contributions
to the website
Offer social media training to Partnership members and community
volunteers
Keep website up-to-date and relevant to community needs
Develop regular on-line surveys via the website to inform on-going
consultation
Link website to a Big Local e-mail address so people can stay in touch
Re-launch our Facebook and Twitter accounts
Keep Facebook and Twitter up-to-date with regular posts promoting
Big Local and wider community news
May 2014
May 2014
July 2014
July 2014
Form publicity sub-group
Start to design community website
Social media training
Re-launch Facebook and Twitter account
Social media then continues to be updated on a regular basis
Resources Year 1 - £500 ( £250 website start-up costs + £250 training )
Year 2 - £250 ( on-going website costs )
Year 3 - £250 ( on-going website costs )
Notes
Social media will be directly managed by the Big Local Partnership
14
Priority
Building an Active and Vibrant Community
Summary
Continue the Community Chest small grants programme
Outcome
Community groups and organisations able to access small grants to
support delivery of projects to benefit local residents.
Community
Chest offers a simple, accessible route to funding in response to
changing local needs. Panel members develop decision-making skills
and can see the benefits of these decisions.
Main
Actions
Timescale
Formally establish a Community Chest grants panel consisting of
Partnership members and local residents
Evaluate the lessons learned from pilot programme
Re-launch programme with publicity campaign
Continue to build links with community groups / organisations to
encourage and support applications
Establish a standard process for reporting and monitoring
July 2014
July 2014
September 2014
Evaluate pilot project
Top up the Community Chest for year 1
Re-launch with new publicity campaign
Applications to community chest will be assessed by the grants panel as they
are received
Resources Year 1 £3,000 ( 12 grants of £250.00 )
Year 2 £3,000 ( 12 grants of £250.00 )
Year 3 £3,000 ( 12 grants of £250.00 )
Notes
Community Chest will be directly managed by the Big Local Partnership
15
Priority
Building an Active and Vibrant Community
Summary
Develop community events to bring people together
Outcome
The area starts to develop into a more cohesive community. People
have the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the first year of
Big Local and find out how they can be involved in future years.
Partnership members and local residents will work together and learn
new skills.
Main
Actions
Timescale
Partnership to form an events sub-group and invite members of the
community to join this group
Events sub-group to receive training in event management
Plan a large-scale community event to celebrate the first 2 years of Big
Local
Hold the event in Waterloo Park or on Pointers Field
Event to include workshops, activities and entertainers suitable for a family
audience
Use the event as a vehicle to promote and celebrate the work of Big Local,
undertake consultation and encourage others to get more involved
January 2016
February - March 2016
April 2016
Late May Bank Holiday 2016
June 2016
Form the events sub-group
Event management training
Event planning
The event
Post event evaluation
A follow-up event will be planned in Year 3
Resources Year 2 - £7,000 ( to include all event costs plus training )
Year 3 - £4,000
Notes
Community events will be directly managed by the Big Local Partnership
16
Priority 2 – Access to Community Information and Advice
Through consultation we found that the area lacked provision for people who needed to
access information and advice services. People told us that they would like to see support
for people who are in debt, support for people to access employment advice and training
and support for people who are experiencing difficulties in their lives.
What we want to achieve…
We want to ensure that residents are able to access a wide range of information and
advice services within their own community.
We want to create a central point for
information and advice services that is a welcoming, confidential space where people can
meet and access the services that they need. We also want to create a central point for
Big Local where people can meet and volunteer in Big Local activities.
How we will do this…
We are planning to develop the old Police Station on Woodcock Rd into a community hub
which will offer a wide range of information and support services. We feel that the Police
Station is an appropriate option as it is in a central location on a main road running through
the Big Local area and close to Woodcock Rd Surgery, the Library and Catton Grove
Primary School. The building has a number of small meeting rooms suitable for
confidential advice and counselling services, plus office accommodation and a large room
suitable for community meetings and training courses. The community hub will operate
alongside existing community facilities in the area that are unable to accommodate the
types of services that we will be offering at the hub. The building is owned by the Police
Authority who will be renting the building to Big Local. We will need to redecorate the
building and equip and furnish it throughout to make it a more welcoming place for the
community to use.
We will be developing partnerships with a range of organisations that offer advice and
guidance services. The range of services available via the hub will include money advice
and debt counselling, careers advice, welfare rights information and support to complete
application forms, relationship counselling, mentoring, health advice and information,
housing surgeries and information about local volunteering. We will also be offering
regular drop-in sessions for people to access IT provision. Local groups such as the
Credit Union will also be able to deliver their services from the community hub.
We will be employing a part-time co-ordinator to oversee the strategic development of the
hub, they will be responsible for the co-ordination of advice and information services and
will be recruiting and training volunteers to help manage the facility. We will be appointing
a delivery partner to manage this project on behalf of Big Local.
Resources
We will be allocating £143,500 to this priority over the first 3 years of the Big Local project.
How you can get involved…
There will be a range of volunteering opportunities associated with the development of the
community hub. We will be looking for people to meet and greet visitors, promote hub
services in the wider community, volunteers to train as community advisors and volunteers
to help people access the IT facilities.
17
18
19
Priority
Access to Community Information and Advice
Summary
Develop a community hub using vacant ex-Police Station building on
Woodcock Road as the venue
Outcome
Residents will be able to access a wide range of information, advice and
support services within their local community. The building will provide
residents with an accessible and welcoming place to meet and learn
together. The building will become the focal point for Big Local.
Main
Actions
To develop the building into a community hub we will –
Decorate and furnish / equip throughout to create a bright, colourful,
welcoming environment
Improve outside areas include bike racks and disabled parking
Create a meeting / training room
Create a chill-out space for informal meetings
Create one-to-one interview rooms for confidential advice services
Develop a resource centre with a wide range of information
Create an office space for use by Big Local employees and partnership
members
The community hub will support the following types of provision –
Credit Union, money / debt advice, money management courses
Job Centre Plus advisors, local vacancies boards, careers advice
Welfare rights and benefits information, support with form filling
Counselling services, parenting support, peer mentoring
Citizens Advice Bureau, housing advice, legal advice
Health advice and information, sexual health info, support for carers
Councillor surgeries, Council information days
General sign-posting and information services
Volunteering information, local volunteering opportunities
Big Local information contact point and drop-in service
Timescale
July 2014
July 2014
Sept. 2014
Oct. 2014
Acquire building, submit change of use application
Select an approved delivery partner
Refurbishment and service planning
Open to the public with launch day event
Services then continue on an on-going basis
Resources Year 1 Refurbishment £4,000
Annual Rent £6,500
Year 2 Annual Rent £6,500
Year 3 Annual Rent £6,500
Notes
Furnishings and Equipment £6,000
Running Costs £8,000
Running Costs £8,000
Running Costs £8,000
We aim to off-set some of the running costs through income generating
activities where appropriate with a view towards long-term sustainability.
20
Priority
Access to Community Information and Advice
Summary
Appoint a paid co-ordinator to manage the strategic development of the
community hub
Outcome
Residents will be able to access a wide range of information, advice
and support services appropriate to the identified needs of the local
community.
Main
Actions
The main role of the co-ordinator will be –
To organise the day-to-day management of the hub
Develop partnerships with a range of service providers and co-ordinate
the delivery of advice, information and guidance services
Recruit, train and support hub volunteers
Promote hub services within the wider community
Organise regular themed events / information days
Welcome visitors, book appointments, support drop-in sessions
Networking with community groups / organisations in the areas
Explore opportunities for income generation
The co-ordinator will be –
Based in community hub
Able to work with all ages and abilities
Employed for 20 hours per week
We will be looking for a person who –
A good communicator
Good management skills
Able to motivate and encourage others
Able to deliver first stage advice / sign-posting services
Experience of working in community advice setting
A good team worker
Timescale
July 2014
September 2014
October 2014
Select an approved delivery partner
Co-ordinator starts in post
Service delivery begins
Resources Year 1 £30,000 ( to include salary, on-costs, management fee, promotions
budget )
Year 2 £30,000 ( to include salary, on-costs, management fee, promotions
budget )
Year 3 £30,000 ( to include salary, on-costs, management fee, promotions
budget )
Notes
The co-ordinator will be employed via an approved delivery partner. Delivery
partner needs to demonstrate good track record delivering advice and
information services and also experience of working in local communities.
21
Priority 3 – Access to Employment and Training
Through consultation local residents told us that they were concerned about levels of
unemployment in the area. People told us they would like to see more support offered to
young people looking for work and more support for people who have been unemployed
for a long time.
What we want to achieve…
We want to offer local residents opportunities to increase their skills and improve their
employment prospects. We want to remove barriers to participation through the provision
of local accessible training opportunities. We want to improve levels of local employment
by building partnerships with employers to give them the confidence to employ local
residents.
How we will do this…
Using the community hub as a training venue we will be developing partnerships with
training providers to offer a range of accessible local training courses to help people
increase their skills and improve their employability. Courses will include basic literacy
and numeracy, IT training, first-aid training, basic food hygiene certificates, customer care
and retail training. We will also offer courses to help build confidence and self-esteem
and offer guidance on writing a CV, completing application forms and interview skills.
Courses will be open to people who are unemployed and people who are employed but
looking to improve their career prospects. The training programme will be managed by
the hub co-ordinator for an additional 10 hours per week.
We will be looking to build links with local businesses. We are planning to develop a local
business / employer network and will be encouraging local businesses to advertise their
employment opportunities via the community hub. As mentioned in our Community
Profile, Morrisons Supermarket are planning a large-scale development in the next few
years which will create up to 250 local jobs. We know from consultation that many local
residents who are currently unemployed are looking for retail positions. We have started
to build a relationship with Morrisons who are keen to work with Big Local to maximise
potential for local employment as part of this development.
We also know that going into employment for the first time, or going back to work after a
long period of unemployment can be a daunting prospect. We are looking to develop a
mentoring scheme which will support people through this period in their lives. Mentors will
be recruited from local businesses and from the community. Mentors will help to prepare
people for employment, help people to identify their skills, help build confidence and help
people to prepare for job interviews.
Resources
We will be allocating £63,500 to this priority over the first 3 years of the Big Local project.
How you can get involved…
If you are looking for work or looking to improve your career prospects let us know what
types of courses you need to improve your skills. We are also looking for volunteers to
become mentors to support others in the community. Finally we are looking for local
businesses to join our business / employer network and work together to help get more
local people into employment.
22
Priority
Access to Employment and Training
Summary
Bring employment and skills training into the local community.
Outcome
Residents have a range of opportunities to increase their skills and
improve their employability. Remove barriers to participation through
provision of local accessible training opportunities. Residents are
supported in their personal development.
Main
Actions
To provide a wide range of employment skills and personal development
training for local residents who are either unemployed or looking to improve
their career prospects, to include Basic literacy and numeracy courses
IT training / using IT for work
ESOL for work
Training for specific areas of employment such as retail training
Customer care
Confidence building and self-esteem workshops, goal setting
First-aid training, health and safety, basic food hygiene certificates
Writing a CV, completing application forms, interview skills
Timescale
Sept 2014 – Start to plan training programme for year 1, develop links with
training providers.
Continue developing partnership with Morrisons
Supermarket to ensure training programme reflects the range of jobs that will
be created in the area, timescale for this work is to be confirmed.
Resources Year 1 - £20,000 ( £10,000 training + £10,000 hub co-ordinator )
Year 2 - £20,000 ( £10,000 training + £10,000 hub co-ordinator )
Year 3 - £20,000 ( £10,000 training + £10,000 hub co-ordinator )
Notes
Hub co-ordinator will be employed via an approved delivery partner. Costs to
include salary for 10 hours per week plus on-costs.
Training courses will be delivered via a selection of approved delivery
partners who will need to demonstrate a strong track record of delivering
learning in community settings.
23
Priority
Access to Employment and Training
Summary
Build partnerships with existing and potential new employers in the area
Outcome
More local employers are engaged with Big Local. Residents able to
access local work experience opportunities. Employers have increased
confidence in employing local residents. Improved rates of local
employment.
Main
Actions
Timescale
Partnership to form an employment sub-group and invite members of the
community to join this group
Plan a programme of face-to-face engagement with local employers to
introduce and raise awareness of Big Local
Explore potential for local work experience placements
Develop a local employer / business network
Encourage employers to advertise their vacancies locally via the hub
Work with employers to identify skills gaps in the community
Develop a working relationship with Morrisons Supermarket to ensure that
local residents have opportunities to access the jobs they are creating in
the area
October 2014 – form the employment sub-group
November 2014 – March 2015 – employer visits
April 2015 – review of information gathered
Resources Year 1 - £1,000 ( promotion, publicity, etc )
Year 2 - £1,000
Year 3 - £1,000
Notes
Several local employers are already engaging with Big Local, including
NORSE and Morrisons Supermarket plus a number of smaller independent
businesses.
24
Priority
Access to Employment and Training
Summary
Set up group and one-to-one mentoring schemes to help people become jobready
Outcome
People gain confidence through a programme tailored personal
development support via a community mentor. Increased employability,
people more able to make informed decisions about employment
options. Improving links between local employers and local residents.
Main
Actions
Timescale
Develop links with organisations who facilitate mentoring programmes
Encourage these organisations to bring their mentoring programmes into
the area
Develop links with a range of local employers
Encourage employers to nominate staff members to become volunteer
mentors, link mentors with local job-seekers
Recruit local residents to act as volunteer community mentors
Offer a short training course to prepare volunteers for their mentoring roles
Offer the community hub as a safe, secure, accessible venue for mentors
to use when meeting with their clients
The timescale for this project is flexible, we will begin when we have recruited
enough mentors to make the project viable; we anticipate that the project will
start in year 2.
Resources £500 for an introductory training course to prepare mentors for their role
Notes
Organisations to approach that may be able to offer mentoring training –
Princes Trust, St Edmunds Society, Job Centre Plus, Shaw Trust, LEAP
Businesses to approach for employee mentors to include NORSE and
Morrisons Supermarket.
25
Priority 4 – Building a Healthy Community
Through consultation we found that people were concerned about their health and the
health of their families. People said they would like to see more opportunities to exercise
and increase fitness and more support for people to develop cooking skills and eat
healthily.
What we want to achieve…
We want local residents have more opportunities to participate in a range of affordable,
accessible physical activities to improve their health and well-being. We want to encourage
people to take more responsibility for their own health and make small changes to lead
healthier lifestyles.
How we will do this…
We will be developing partnerships with sports and health organisations to deliver a range
of accessible, affordable activity sessions to encourage adults and families to take more
exercise. We will be using local community facilities, schools and local parks to
accommodate these activities. Activities will be selected following further consultation
with the community but may include activities such as Zumba classes, yoga, pilates,
fitness bootcamp / circuit training and football sessions. We will also look to develop low
impact / gentle exercise activities for people who are older or less physically able and
family activity sessions where parents can exercise alongside their children. We will be
looking to develop links with our local GP surgeries to help promote the activities on offer.
We will be developing a grow it, cook it, eat it project to enable local residents to develop
gardening and cooking skills. We will be approaching Norwich City Council to establish
some community gardening plots at the allotments site off Woodcock Road. We will be
creating a bank of garden tools for people to borrow to help maintain their own gardens
and start growing fruit and vegetables and we will be developing a range of community
cooking sessions to enable people to improve their cooking skills and eat healthily on a
budget.
Resources
We will be allocating £15,100 to this priority over the first 3 years of the Big Local project.
How you can get involved…
There will be a range of volunteering opportunities associated with the development of this
priority. We will be looking for people to become volunteer cooking mentors to support
others to develop their cooking skills and eat healthily on a budget. Cooking mentors
would either support people on a one-to-one basis or offer support to a small group of
people. We will be looking for volunteers to share their gardening skills with others and
help to get the community allotments established, we will also be looking for donations of
unwanted garden tools that can help establish the tool bank. Finally, we will be looking for
people who can become exercise buddies, supporting someone else in the community to
start exercising, offering mutual encouragement and friendship.
26
Priority
Building a Healthy Community
Summary
Encourage adults and families to take more exercise
Outcome
Residents have the opportunity to participate in a range of accessible,
affordable physical activities to improve their health and well-being.
Increase social opportunities, reducing isolation and supporting
improved mental health. Encouraging people to evaluate their lives and
make small changes to lead a healthier lifestyle, people taking more
responsibility for their own health.
Main
Actions
Timescale
Activities developed need to be accessible, affordable and local
Develop links with sports organisations, encourage these organisations to
include Catton Grove within their outreach / development programmes
Set-up a walking group, recruit a volunteer to lead local walks
Use Waterloo Park or Pointers Field for bootcamp training, recruit a fitness
instructor and subsidise fees to make it affordable
Offer a range of indoor exercise classes to include Zumba, yoga and
pilates, recruit fitness instructors and subsidise fees to make it more
affordable, use local venues such as Community Centre or Oak Grove
Chapel
Offer activities for older people or people with disabilities such as chairrobics, tea dances, carpet bowls
Explore options for creating an outdoor gym in Waterloo Park, consult with
park users, obtain quotes, look for grants or sponsorship to fund
equipment
October – November 2014 – plan programme of activities, recruit facilitators
December 2014 – Promotion campaign
January 2015 – Activity sessions begin
Resources Year 1 – £3000 ( 6 months only )
Year 2 - £6000
Year 3 - £4000
Notes
Explore developing links with Active Norfolk, Sport England, British Heart
Foundation, Healthy Norwich Project, Community Sport Foundation,
Community Health Trainers
Activities will be heavily subsidised but residents will be encouraged to make
affordable contributions to activities.
27
Priority
Building a Healthy Community
Summary
Develop a grow it, cook it, eat it project
Outcome
Residents have the opportunity to develop a range of new skills,
learning and working together in an informal social environment.
People develop healthier eating habits and a better understanding of
nutritional issues.
Improved well-being and feelings of satisfaction
from growing your own produce.
Main
Actions
Timescale
Offer healthy cooking on a budget courses
Recruit local residents to become community cooking mentors to support
others to develop their cooking skills on a one-to-one or small group basis
Develop links with health organisations to offer healthy eating talks and
workshops
Develop a community allotment to teach people how to grow fresh fruit
and vegetables
Recruit local residents to become community gardening mentors to
support others to develop gardening skills
Purchase a bank of tools to use for community gardening
Encourage a garden share scheme, link people who want to develop their
gardening skills with people who have spare garden space or are unable
to maintain their own gardens
Year 1 – preparation, join waiting list for an allotment. Cooking sessions
begin when community cooking mentors are recruited
Year 2 – gardening project starts subject to an allotment becoming available,
gardening mentors recruited, cooking sessions continue
Resources Year 1 - £700
Year 2 - £700
Year 3 - £700
Notes
Allotment allocations are managed by Norwich City Council. The Partnership
will contact the Council Allotments Officer to get their support for the project.
We will also speak to local allotment holders and explore the potential for
developing a local allotment holders association based upon the model
adopted by allotment holders based at Elm Grove Lane.
28
Priority 5 – Activities and Services for Young People
Through consultation people told us that they would like to see some of the Big Local
funding benefitting young people as they felt there was not enough youth provision in this
area. Young people living in the area told us that they would like more opportunities to
participate in sports and arts activities, they would also like the opportunity to do some
local volunteering.
What we want to achieve…
We want to offer young people aged 11-19 years old the opportunity to broaden their
horizons, try new activities, socialise and build their confidence. We want to remove
existing barriers to participation by bringing activities into the community, making them
accessible and affordable for all. We would like to see young people becoming more
involved in their community, volunteering their time and skills for benefit of others.
How we will do this…
We will be developing partnerships with youth arts and sports organisations to deliver a
range of accessible and affordable activities based upon the choices identified by young
people through further consultation. Activities will include taster sessions and longer
courses and will be held in local community facilities such as Oak Grove Chapel and the
Community Centre. We will also be looking to use facilities in local parks such as the
Pointers Field floodlit games area.
We will be looking to strengthen youth involvement in Big Local. In partnership with local
youth workers we will be encouraging young people to join a Big Local youth forum where
we can learn more about the issues that affect young people in the area and support
young people to develop projects to address these issues.
Through our community worker / volunteer co-ordinator we will be developing more
opportunities for young people to start volunteering in the community. Volunteering will
enable young people to use their spare time in positive ways and will help build selfesteem, it will also enable young people to feel more involved and connected to their
community. As a thank you for volunteering we will be working with young people to
develop a leisure-credits scheme where young volunteers can ‘earn’ credits towards
leisure activities such as bowling, roller-skating and trips to the cinema. We will be
looking to develop partnerships with local leisure providers, encouraging them to partsponsor the scheme.
Resources
We will be allocating £32,000 to this priority over the first 3 years of the Big Local project.
How you can get involved…
There will be a number of ways for young people to get involved with Big Local. Young
people can become part of the youth forum and help to consult on youth issues and
develop projects in the community. Young people can be involved in local volunteering
and can also help with the development of Big Local projects, for example helping to
develop our Big Local website, keeping our Twitter and FaceBook pages up to date,
delivering the community newsletter or helping at Big Local events.
29
Priority
Activities and Services for Young People
Summary
Provide opportunities for young people to be active in sports and arts
Outcome
More opportunities for young people to participate in sports and arts
activities in their own community. Offering young people the chance to
broaden horizons, try new activities, socialise and build friendships.
Removing existing barriers to participation.
Main
Actions
Timescale
Continue consultation with young people to identify which sports and arts
activities they would like to see developed
Build partnerships with youth sports and arts organisations
Plan a programme of affordable, accessible activities
Offer a wide range of activities to suit a diversity of skills, abilities and
interests
Base activities in the community using local parks, school buildings and
community spaces
Evaluate the programme as it develops
Explore potential for development of a local Youth Forum
July 2014 – consultation with young people
August 214 – build links with delivery partners
September 2014 – activities begin
September 2015 – start to explore development of Youth Forum
Resources Year 1 - £15,000
Year 2 - £10,000
Year 3 - £5,000
Notes
Potential delivery partners to include NCFC Community Sports Foundation,
The Garage, East Norwich Youth Project, Community Music East, Active
Norfolk, Blue Cat Initiative, Cultureworks East, Future Projects
Activities will be heavily subsidised but young people will be encouraged to
make affordable contributions to activities.
30
Priority
Activities and Services for Young People
Summary
Develop more opportunities for young people to volunteer in their community
Outcome
More young people will be actively involved in their community,
volunteering time and skills for the benefit of others. Young people
viewed in a positive way by the wider community. Young people gain
confidence, self-esteem and skills. Young people having more pride in
and connection with their community.
Main
Actions
Timescale
Increase and up-skill individual young people to lead and support other
young people through activities such as peer mentoring and youth
leadership programmes
Explore the potential to develop a leisure credits scheme where young
people who volunteer time to support their community can earn leisure
credits that can be spent in local area – funky monkeys, cinema, bowling,
quasar etc.
We expect this project to start in Year 2, although it can be brought forward if
volunteering opportunities become available in Year 1.
Resources Year 2 - £1000 ( leisure credits scheme )
Year 3 - £1000 ( leisure credits scheme )
Notes
Partnership to look for examples of successful youth volunteering projects
that have run elsewhere in the country and involve young people in the
development of the leisure credits scheme.
31
Priority 6 – Activities and Services for Older People
Through consultation people told us that they would also like to see some of the Big Local
funding benefitting older people in the community. Older residents told us they struggled
to find out what was happening in the community, the range of activities on offer where too
limited and for those with mobility problems it was difficult to access activities and services.
What we want to achieve…
We want older people aged 55 years and over to feel more supported and included in the
community. We want to raise awareness of existing opportunities for older people and
work with older people to identify gaps in local provision and respond to these needs with
the development of new projects.
How we will do this…
Through our community worker / volunteer co-ordinator we will be recruiting volunteer
older people’s champions. The role of the champions will be build links with older people
in the community, promote existing older peoples groups and activities to increase
membership of these groups and work with older people to develop new community
activities.
We will be encouraging organisations such as Age UK to bring their befriending schemes
into the area and offer advice and information services for older people using the
community hub.
We will also explore the issues which prevent some older people from accessing services
in the community, we will also explore the potential for a community transport scheme for
the area to benefit older people and people with disabilities.
Finally we will look to develop inter-generational projects which would link older people
with younger members of the community to share skills and build friendships.
Resources
We will be allocating £3,000 to this priority over the first 3 years of the Big Local project.
This may feel low in comparison to some of our other priorities, the majority of the work in
this priority area will be carried out by the local community worker / volunteer co-ordinator,
the funding for this post has been accounted for under Priority 1 in our Plan. The £3,000
allocated here will cover the development of new activities, training, promotional materials
etc.
How you can get involved…
Age should not be a barrier to participation. There are many ways in which older people
can be involved in Big Local, you can become a Big Local Partnership member, you can
help write articles for the community newsletter, you could participate in inter-generational
projects and share your skills with younger people or families, you could help develop new
projects for older people or you could volunteer to become an older people’s champion
and become a spokesperson for older people in the community.
32
Priority
Activities and Services for Older People
Summary
Recruit volunteer Older People’s Champions
Outcome
Older people in the community will feel more supported and included in
the community. Raised awareness of existing opportunities for older
people, leading to increased sustainability of these projects and
services. Identify gaps in local provision and respond to these with
development of new provision.
Main
Actions
Recruit volunteer Older People’s Champions who will –
Build links with older people in the community
Promote existing groups and activities including support to build capacity
and increase membership
Work together to develop new community activities including intergenerational projects
Improving access to existing support services such as befriending
schemes where needs have been identified through referrals and signposting
Explore the need and potential for community transport scheme
Timescale
January 2015 – Community worker to begin recruiting volunteers to become
older peoples champions, the start date for this project could be brought
forward if people volunteer for these roles at an earlier stage.
Resources Year 1 - £1000
Year 2 - £1000
Year 3 - £1000
Notes
The Older People’s Champions will be supported by the community worker /
volunteer co-ordinator.
33
Our Locally Trusted Organisation
As a Partnership we are required to nominate a locally trusted organisation ( LTO ) to work
with us and manage the Big Local funding on our behalf. The LTO may also be asked to
provide a range of support services, training and resources to the Partnership to enable it
to deliver the Big Local Plan.
As the name suggests, we need to appoint an organisation which has a good
understanding of the local area and has the knowledge and skills to deliver the services
that we require. We have decided to appoint People Shaped Solutions CIC as our Locally
Trusted Organisation.
People Shaped Solutions have been supporting us as our LTO
through the Getting Started phase and we have been very happy with the levels of support
that we have received.
For the first 9 months of year 1 we have asked our LTO to provide us with 28 support
hours per week, this is because we have a very ambitious plan to deliver with a wide range
of projects starting in the first year. As the projects start to establish themselves and we
become more skilled as a Partnership our LTO support will reduce to 14 hours a week and
will concentrate on specific areas of support to the Partnership such as training,
consultation, monitoring and evaluation.
Resources
We will be allocating £29,502 in the first year to cover all LTO costs, in the second and
third years this will reduce to £18,411 per year.
Partnership Costs
As a Partnership we will also require some funding to cover the administrative costs of
running the Partnership such as consultation activities, monitoring and evaluation, room
hire for meetings, printing and photocopying, external training courses, stationary, postage
and travel expenses for volunteers.
Resources
We will be allocating £4,600 in the first year to cover our Partnership administrative costs,
in the second and third years this will reduce to £4,350 per year.
34
Big Local Budget July 2014 – June 2017
Over the first 3 years of Big Local we will be allocating funding as follows –
Priority
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Active and Vibrant Community
Community Worker
Community Newsletter
Website / Social Media
Community Chest
Community Events
SUB TOTAL
£8,000
£2,000
£500
£3,000
£0
£13,500
£15,000
£1,500
£250
£3,000
£7,000
£26,750
£15,000
£1,500
£250
£3,000
£4,000
£23,750
£38,000
£5,000
£1,000
£9,000
£11,000
£64,000
Information and Advice
Community Hub
Hub Co-ordinator
SUB TOTAL
£24,500
£30,000
£54,500
£14,500
£30,000
£44,500
£14,500
£30,000
£44,500
£53,500
£90,000
£143,500
Employment and Training
Training / Skills Development
Partnerships with Employers
Mentoring Schemes
SUB TOTAL
£20,000
£1,000
£0
£21,000
£20,000
£1,000
£500
£21,500
£20,000
£1,000
£0
£21,000
£60,000
£3,000
£500
£63,500
£3,000
£700
£3,700
£6,000
£700
£6,700
£4,000
£700
£4,700
£13,000
£2,100
£15,100
Activities for Young People
Sports / Arts Activities
Youth Volunteering
SUB TOTAL
£15,000
£0
£15,000
£10,000
£1,000
£11,000
£5,000
£1,000
£6,000
£30,000
£2,000
£32,000
Activities for Older People
Older Peoples Champions
SUB TOTAL
£1,000
£1,000
£1,000
£1,000
£1,000
£1,000
£3,000
£3,000
£29,502
£4,600
£18,411
£4,350
£18,411
£4,350
£66,324
£13,300
£141,802 £132,211 £122,211
£400,724
Healthy Community
Exercise Sessions
Cooking / Gardening
SUB TOTAL
LTO Costs
Partnership Costs
TOTAL SPEND
Total Years 1 - 3
35
Testimonials
“A really good report. Very thorough and gives us a lot of information. Looking forward to
seeing how it progresses. Thanks to those who put it together” Local Resident
“Thank you for sending me a copy of the plan, it was well written and proved an interesting
read. Well done on getting this far and for getting new people involved; Catton Grove has
historically had low levels of participation – a massive barrier in itself which is proving hard
to change, however the group has done very well to engage a large number of residents
through surveys and events and this is beginning to pay off with the partnership. These
projects / priorities should make a massive difference to the community and a really
positive step forward to achieving your vision.” Emma Penfold Community Engagement
Officer Norwich City Council
“In the two years we have been operating we have seen very few people from Catton
Grove and we believe one of the reasons is that we lack a convenient venue in that area to
see clients. Therefore we are very interested in the possibility of using the old police
building on Woodcock Road if that were turned into a community hub” Michael Lamb
Kings Money Advice
“I think it is an excellent submission. Norwich Credit Union, which already functions in the
area, is very enthusiastic about the chance to work with Catton Grove Big Local. The
opportunity to function from the new community hub is very welcomed by our volunteers in
the area.” Alan Camina Norwich Credit Union
“Thank you for the opportunity to look at your plan. Jobcentre Plus will be happy to
support you with any of your employer related activity.” Kim Wright Jobcentre Plus
“Your plan looks great and I am very excited to see the range of projects costed up and
prepared in a way that reads persuasively and simply. I sincerely hope you continue to
gain community support and will do all that I can do encourage this on your behalf. Please
let me know how I could further help you in the future.” Chloe Smith MP Norwich North
“For this first three year period the Big Local Plan needs to strike a fine balance between
being realistic and relevant to the community and being ambitious enough to challenge low
aspirations and encourage greater community participation. I support this plan because I
think it achieves that.” Steve Morphew County Councillor Catton Grove
“I approve of what has been written.” Paul Kendrick City Councillor Catton Grove
36
Summary
We hope that you have found our Big Local Plan interesting and inspiring. The success of
this Plan relies upon individuals, groups and statutory and voluntary organisations working
together, sharing their time, skills and resources for the benefit of the community as a
whole.
Everyone has a part to play in helping to make Catton Grove an even better place to live.
We invite you all to join us and get involved to make this plan a success.
To let us know how you will be helping Catton Grove
Big Local achieve its aims please contact –
Catton Grove Big Local c/o 62 Vicarage Road,
Norwich NR3 2HB
cattongrovebiglocal@yahoo.co.uk
01603 478061 / 07505 684740 / 07427 695160
You can also follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BigLocalCatton
37