Examples of how we have been working with residents, businesses and our partners.
Community empowerment in Keyham
A short film that gives details of an Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) approach facilitated by Plymouth City Council in partnership with the Voluntary and Community Sector to support the communities of Keyham and surrounding areas following a tragic incident.
Watch the Community empowerment in Keyham video on Vimeo.
Manadon Warm Hub to Community Café
The Manadon Warm Hub derived from the Household Support Fund grant offered by Plymouth City Council as part of support needed to address the rising Cost of Living. Argyle Community Trust who run the Manadon Sports and Community Hub applied for funding and were successful and started the Warm Space on the last Monday before Christmas.
This first session saw no takers, probably due to the proximity with Christmas and the short timeline from activation of funding.
On returning from Christmas holiday leave, the local Community Builder for Honicknowle set about promoting the Warm Space with local groups and ensuring that posters were put up in the Community spaces. These included the popular ‘Knit and natter’ group, Timebank SW and the Blue Bus Coffee Stop run by St Pancras Church.
The Community Builder, Natalie, spent many Friday mornings supporting the Warm Space, as well as a few Monday mornings, ensuring information and activities were available, and making sure visitors were made to feel welcome.
Over the course of the Warm Space which ran until the end of March, Natalie arranged for a number of agencies to visit. This included the successful Slo-Cooker demonstration with ‘Food is Fun CIC’ in February, which saw 27 attend, as well as visits from Shelter and Charlotte the Creative Connector at Plymouth Scrapstore.
Timebank SW used the Warm Space when their usual location in Honicknowle suffered a fire.
The numbers attending the Warm Hub have grown and stabilised, so much so that Argyle Community Trust decided to continue the Friday morning session as a Community Cafe. This is now run in conjunction with the recently created Co-op Food Club, thus combining the purposes of social isolation and the reducing the cost of living impact.
At the beginning of June Natalie has arranged for Plymouth Energy Company (PEC) to attend so that they can share money saving tips and be available for anyone who needs energy support.
The introduction of this valuable daytime social space to the community has re-invigorated support for the evening Community events the Manadon Sports and Community Hub run, such as Bingo and Quiz nights. It has also fostered new friendships, with a buzz in the air from those attending.
Volunteering
The Community Empowerment team supports increased volunteering opportunities across the City. Volunteering is a great way to give to others and do something really worthwhile. You can build new social networks, use existing skills and develop new ones and build your experience too – all while having fun and meeting others.
“As a new Good Neighbour Support Volunteer I was recently matched up with an elderly resident and have been visiting her for a few weeks now. Helping someone else makes me feel good about myself and it also helps me get out of the house. I like talking to people and having a laugh, which makes me feel happy. For me the benefits of volunteering are that it keeps your mind active, doing the resident’s shopping keeps you fit and you get to meet interesting people. I feel looked after as I have safety and protection from the team and the coordinators. It’s great to meet other volunteers at our regular tea and cake socials and we support each other.”