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Community First Plan

Sutton North Ward

March 2013 – March 2015

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What is Community First?

Community First is an England-wide programme, funded by the Office for Civil Society, on behalf of the Government. It will run for four years, until March 2015.

A £30m Neighbourhood Match Fund has been created to encourage people to give time and expertise to local projects. Funding has been allocated at ward level across every local authority in England. Eligible wards were selected on the basis of high levels of deprivation and significant increases in benefits claimants. The amount of funding for each area is based on the concentration of these characteristics within a ward.

To access the funding each of the eligible wards needs a Community First Panel comprising of local people who represent the local community.

What does this mean for you?

Sutton North Ward has been selected as one of the 600 areas to receive Community First funding

A total of £33,910 has been made available to voluntary and community groups in the Sutton North Ward of Ashfield. With the help of Officers from Ashfield District Council, a local Panel of volunteers from the community has been set up to manage the programme.

The Panel will be involved in creating a Community Plan for the local area, guide local community groups on how to apply for funding grants of between £250 and £2500, receive applications and recommend to the Community Development Foundation those projects that meet the set priorities and criteria.

Why do we need a Community Plan?

The Community First Programme is not just to provide funding for projects now, but to support communities to plan long-term and prepare for the future.

As part of the programme the Sutton North Panel is required to create a plan that sets out what we will do to improve our local area.

By consulting with as many different people as possible in the ward and including all their views we will make sure that the plan represents different views form the community.

The Panel will use the Plan to ensure that funding in the last two years of the programme, 2013-2014 and 2014-2015, is targeted in areas that the community has identified and on projects and activities that address the priorities that are most important to people who live and work in the Sutton North Ward.

To stay informed on news and activities visit the Community First Panel Sutton North website: http://cfpsuttonnorth.btck.co.uk

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The People and the Place

The Sutton North Ward is situated on the Nottinghamshire / Derbyshire border close to the market town of Sutton-in-Ashfield and to the M1 motorway.

The ward incorporates the rural village of Old Teversal, the semi-rural villages of Teversal, Stanton Hill and Skegby and a suburban stretch of Sutton-in-Ashfield.

Sutton North covers an area of 1754 hectares, the second largest in the District. It has a population of 10937 with 5198 dwellings, the majority of which are located within the urban areas of the ward which accounts for just 15% of the ward area. 85% of the ward is classed as rural which indicates easy access to the countryside.

The ward suffers from multiple deprivation with over 3800 dwellings, 73% of homes within the ward, classified as suffering severe to significant levels of deprivation (Index of Multiple Deprivation 2010). Multiple deprivation relates to the occurrence of several forms of deprivation concurrently, in Sutton North there are particularly high levels unemployment, people on low incomes and people suffering from a disability or health problem. Over 33% of adults in the ward have no formal qualifications and crime rates in the ward are also relatively high at 78.7 crimes from March 2012 - November 2013 per 1000 of population.

(See Sutton North Ward map on page 4)

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Developing the Plan

How the plan fits with other strategic plans

A number of plans are already in place, these outline how each of the main organisations delivering services in the District will prioritise their work and how they deliver services.

These include:

• The Sustainable Community Strategy 2012-2020 – a plan which sets the overall strategic direction and long-term vision for the economic, social and environmental well being of the local area.

• Ashfield and Mansfield Strategic Partnership is currently refreshing their own overarching strategic vision and aims for the next three years.

• Ashfield District Council Corporate Plan 2012/2013 which supports the Councils long term vision for ‘a regenerated and empowered Ashfield’

• Safer Nottinghamshire Board – Nottinghamshire County Strategic Assessment –

which identifies the priorities which have a significant impact on crime. A holistic approach is taken to tackling the issues identified within specific wards within Ashfield where there is the greatest need. These are called ‘Partnership Plus’ areas, Sutton North was recommended as a one of the priority areas up until March 2013

The strategies seek to address many of the issues associated with multiple deprivation, which is prevalent across the Ashfield District, themes include: improving the local economy, improving the environment, developing a stronger and healthier community and improving community safety. The strategies outlined above give an indication of the priorities of Statutory Organisations working in Ashfield including Ashfield District Council, Nottinghamshire Police and Health Services.

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Ideas to make things better • More activities for young

people • Introduction of traffic calming

measures on some roads • Better facilities for older

people • More dog bins

Community Research and Your Views The Community First Panel for Sutton North has undertaken consultation and research to inform the Plan using a number of different methods as follows:

Networking Event – 24 th February 2012

All groups and organisations (both voluntary and statutory) operating in the Sutton North area were invited to the event to share information about their activities and look at how they could work together in the provision of their services.

19 people attended representing 16 local groups/organisations who work in the area.

Community Fun Day – 9 th August 2012

Maps of the Sutton North ward were displayed at the event and people attending were asked to respond to the following questions:

A total of 56 responses were received.

What they liked about the area? People said that they most liked the local parks, green spaces and beautiful local countryside What they didn’t like about the

area? Issues of litter, dog faeces, speeding cars and empty shops on Stanton Hill, High Street

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Community Survey

Panel members and local partners agreed to go out into the ward and speak to all sections of the community on a one to one basis and at community meetings about their priorities and the changes they would like to see that will benefit all the community. The team gathered more than 200 responses. All the results were collated together and put into a graph to give a clearer picture of local concerns. The following diagram illustrates these results.

Results U Decide Surveys February 2013

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The Panel met on 18th March to agree future priorities and complete the draft plan ready for distribution around representatives from key groups in the area for final consultation.

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Panel Priorities

Community First Panel - Sutton North Priorities for 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 were agreed as follows:

1. Increasing activities for children and young people so that there are more opportunities for them to be engaged and involved

2. Improving the local environment by addressing issues of dog faeces and litter in the area leading to a cleaner and more attractive neighbourhood

3. Tackling Antisocial Behaviour so that people feel safer

4. Improving Road Safety so that people feel safer

5. Activities for older people so that elderly people are involved, stay active and do not feel isolated

Project proposals for future Community First funding will need to demonstrate how they will address one or more of these priorities.

Volunteer Audit

Over 100 people from within the community have offered their support to future Community First projects.

Volunteers offered the following skills:

• First aid • Baking • Football coaching • Computer Skills • Sewing • Gardening • Media Skills • Driving • Craft Skills • Work with children and young people • Life Skills training

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In-Kind Resources

The following items have been offered for use for community projects, either free or discounted:-

Examples:-

• Meeting rooms and community centres • Grass field in village and local recreation grounds for events • Marquee (available at discounted rates for community groups) • 20 trestle tables (for use at events) • Use of transit van • School kitchens (for weekend events)

Grant Funding Available in the Ward As well as the Community First Funding there are a number of local and national funding organisations working within the ward boundaries. These include.

• Big Lottery / Heritage Lottery

• Children in Need

• Coalfields Regeneration Trust (CRT) (East Midlands)

• Landfill Tax e.g. WREN

• Local Council Grants – Ashfield District Council and Nottinghamshire County Council

• Sport England

• Vine Tree Charity Shop

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Projects Agreed and Progress to Date

1. Stanton Hill & Teversal Community Association - £1945 – Community Together Fun Day 9 th August on the Little Big Rec (formally Healdswood Recreation Ground), Skegby

Sunshine, laughter, fun and games, free food & drinks & lots to see and do.

We were able to provide a special day that bought about 500 people of all ages together to celebrate what we believe is good about this area and to discuss what we want to see in the future.

The activities - Zorbs, climbing wall, slacklining, bouncy castles, the birds of prey display and crafts – bag designing, cairn building etc, plus displays from Meristems Gardening Club and Long Reign Allotments and the Vine Tree and much more were enjoyed by everyone who attended.

All in all, a jolly good time for all.

Contact: 07811 715841 for further information about future events.

2. Long Reign Allotment - £2250 – Indoor Classroom Project The Community First Funding will enable us to make further progress on our development plan to improve the site for the benefit of all the local community.

The classroom / learning centre has been planned and designed and a trawl of local suppliers has enabled us to source materials at good prices whilst also maintaining good quality. The actual build will take place over the winter when our shop is closed to minimise disruption and enable the new facility to be operational early in spring to take full advantage of the new season. The design will enable seating for up to 20 people and will enable us to set up an educational resource and information centre for allotment holders, schools and the community as a whole.

We have also put up the new notice board (see photo) outside the allotment main gate; the notice board details our new logo and website www.longreign.co.uk . The logo is interesting in its own right, we decided we needed a symbol for letter headings, web site, t shirts etc. to enable us to have a unique identity, however we could not decide on a suitable design and in any case we had no idea how to produce something usable in the various formats we needed. .

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A chance letter from our bank told us about a free service called 'Skillsbank', which resulted in our getting a class of design students in the USA to submit designs for our approval as a practical exercise. We chose a logo which was provided with the various electronic files, all for free! The notice board has proved successful already by enabling us to publicise both our own events and those of the Stanton Hill area, it has also resulted in various contacts as a direct result of us displaying our web site.

3. TAP Youth – £250- Willow Project On Saturday 16 February the young people from Tap Youth completed the “live” willow weaving project. We had a wonderful, sunny day, and although not many in number took part, everyone enjoyed themselves, learning new skills and the passing comments from dog walkers, runners, walkers, cyclists and horse riders were all positive as they stopped to examine our work, some even sat on our seat under the shelter when it was finished. It was a truly amazing day and Amy and Seb from the Forestry Commission were brilliant. Please be encouraged to go and see the new shelter, tall hedgehog and badger as soon as possible, they look fantastic ‘I think this could be a wonderful community event!’ Tap Youth provide activities for young people aged 10-19 years. They meet for Teen Brek on the 3rd Saturday of the month at the Scout Hut, Teversal (next to the Carnarvon Arms) from 10am – 12.30pm.

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4. Brierley Forest Park Trust - £500 – Landscaping Project To improve and enhance the Brand Lane entrance to Brierley Forest Park by creating a wildflower area. Ground preparation has been completed and the seeds will be planted in April /May with the help of local school children.

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5. Teversal Football Club - £2500 To support improvements to the small training pitch at Teversal Trust Recreation Ground, Carnarvon Street, off Fackley Road. Developments include new lighting, drainage and security fencing which will enable the club to make better use of the facilities which will be used for children’s football training. .For more information about his project, contact Tony Evans on 07837 768644.

6. ‘Holiday at Home’ - £1000 This project provides activity days for lonely, housebound and elderly people who either cannot afford to have a holiday or have no friends or family to go with. The Days will take place at the Anchor Centre in Skegby and involve a two course lunch and various activities and entertainment to interest and stimulate the people who attend. For more information contact Kathleen Bramwell (Co-ordinator). To get involved with project contact Kathleen on 01623 452505.

7. Teversal Flower Festival - £900 A community project aimed at promoting the beauty of the village in such a way to bring together various generations of residents to produce a public event displaying their work from 1st-8th Sept 2013. To get involved with this project contact Sue Goad on 01623 440291

8. Citizens’ Advice Bureau - £2500

This project will help support the provision and work of the Welfare Benefits Caseworker. This person will have responsibility for providing specialist training for the CAB’s team for current and newly recruited volunteer advisers from Sutton North which will ensure that more people from the ward receive help and support. For more information about this project, contact Sue Davis on 01623 555312.

Getting Involved If you have an idea for a project which will help us to address one of the communities priorities please get in touch with Richard Goad mailto:rgoad65@hotmail.co.uk or mailto:cfpsuttonnorth@mail.com / telephone number 07976 826293 or Dr Richard Kellett 01623 558800. Further information, including proposal forms and guidance notes on how to apply for this fund can be found on the Community First Panel Sutton North website: http://cfpsuttonnorth.btck.co.uk. Amounts requested should be a minimum of £250 / maximum £2,500. The total funding available for projects in year 3 is £8,488 and in year 4 £11,309 Completed forms should be submitted to Richard Goad (via email as above) or alternatively they can be handed in to Heather Webster at the Vine Tree Charity Shop, High Street, Stanton Hill. Proposals will be considered periodically at meetings of the Panel.