On Monday 24th February, members of the East Coseley Core Group and local residents and volunteers came together to start preparing for the next phase in their Big Local journey once their plan had been formally endorsed by Local Trust. In particular, participants thought about how new projects and activities could be stimulated and supported by Big Local.
At the start of the meeting, chairman of the Core Group, Brian Guest, was able to announce that after Irene Evison’s visit last month, East Coseley’s Big Local plan had been officially endorsed by Local Trust. Brian himself had received the wonderful news not 30 minutes before and he revealed that he’d contemplated what might happen if the plan had been rejected. And what Brian said was inspirational: he and everyone else would still be here engaging with the community without the money.
I’m certain Brian was right. Having been privileged to work with East Coseley people over the past few years, I’ve found everyone utterly committed to making East Coseley even more vibrant and they are worth so much more than any amount of money for the dedication and support they’ve shown and will continue to show.
Equally, everyone was ecstatic that the plan had finally been endorsed. People feel like their hard work is paying off and things are now coming to fruition. And the announcement was just the tonic for a great meeting that contained much chatter about growing projects, identifying and nurturing community leaders, involving schools and young people, making the natural and built environment more appealing, Big Lunches, Black Country festivities… I could go on!
So work continues with renewed energy. On Monday, there will be a Core Group meeting that will look at how the plan can be delivered in a way that involves and engages the whole community. Watch this space!
Over the Summer, Just Straight Talk (JST) applied to the Heart of England Community Foundation Coronavirus Resilience Fund and received a grant to support the most vulnerable people and isolated people in the community. Part of this funding allowed the Just Start Talking’s Community Connectors (funded by East Coseley Big Local) to treat people shielding in Coseley to a free fish and chip supper.
Residents who would normally receive a friendly phone call from JST’s community connectors during the lockdown, instead enjoyed a doorstep visit and friendly chat, with the added excitement of feeling a little bit of normality with a delivery of fish and chips.
One of East Coseley Big Local’s plan priorities was to continue to organise Coseley community meals to help people who may be feeling lonely to come together to connect socially and build friendships. These meals took place four times a year but were cancelled due to lockdown restrictions.
When lockdown rules eased during the Summer months, JST’s Community Connectors organised an outdoor meet-up at Jack Newall Court for those feeling socially isolated and in need of non-virtual connection.
“As part of the recovery process for our community, we decided to help with their confidence in those steps to rejoining society by doing the chippy run meet up. Providing chairs placed at a sensible distance apart and hand sanitiser with optional extra PPE available we decided to give it a try. The importance of eating a meal together.”
Big Local workers are aware that many people will be experiencing new feelings of anxiety due to the pandemic. Part of our work in the recovery phase of Covid-19 may be to help isolated people to rebuild their confidence and feel safe to leave their homes.
“We understand that the recovery stage from Covid was for some is going to be harder and slower than others and we need to respect that in each other but for now, it was great to feel a little more normality” JST Community Connector
Looking back at 2017, it’s been another great year for East Coseley Big Local, developing successful partnerships with local groups and organisations, businesses and national organisations, working on collaborative projects and sharing resources to make East Coseley better place to live. We look back at a few of our most successful partnerships from last year!
A great partnership between East Coseley Big Local, Marston’s Brewery and the Apple Tree Inn, formed 4 years ago, enables Lunch and Chat events throughout the year for local people and families of all ages who often feel a little lonely and isolated in the community. Providing a safe space where local people can get to know each other over a hot meal. At this years Christmas lunch, we were joined by 55 members of the community of all ages ranges, from 22 years old all the way up to a staggering 101 year old! Volunteers, support workers, people and families from the community all enjoyed and shared a three-course Christmas meal together, with entertainment and a small gift. East Coseley Big Local Chair, Brian Guest said “The Apple Tree plays an important role in the community. It is the perfect environment for friendships to flourish.”
East Coseley is working in partnership with Beatfreeks, a youth organisation based in Birmingham, to unlock the potential of young people in the area. It started with a skateboarding party in the park, followed by a 16 week programme of Friday night activities at Clayton Park Youth Centre, which kicked off with an open-air pop-up cinema last September. The weekly events were rapidly co-designed and hosted with young people, in response to their ideas and interests. Activities including poetry, crafting, filmmaking, circus skills, singing and comedy were all enjoyed by young people in the area. A film was produced at one of the sessions themed on happiness, “What makes you happy”. One young person said, “I now look forward to Friday evenings”
Initially, the youth centre was under threat for under usage, it’s now thriving and occupied for most of the week, it’s now a safe place for young people to go in the evenings.
The East Coseley Skittles League has become a staple in people’s diaries. It started 3 years ago and takes place 4 times a year. One of the most amazing things about the evening is the community groups that attend are talking to each other about collaborating on projects. Neil Langford, Community Changemaker said, “The most wonderful part is that people enjoyed the evenings so much, they felt like they wanted to give something back. So we started a raffle, and this year (2017) we raised over £300 for the local food bank operating at Darkhouse Church. All the money donated by people in the community at the skittles night helps other people in the community.” Brian Guest, East Coseley Big Local Chair, said, “Grandparents, parents, children, friends, everybody of all age groups, all mix together and enjoy a great night of fun and games. In fact, sometimes the skittles becomes secondary, people are enjoying themselves so much!”
East Coseley Big Local supported and funded Bayer Street Allotments to grow flowers and shrubs on the embankment and in window boxes at Coseley station. This year the allotments association joined the ‘adopt a station’ scheme, set up by London Midland, which has allowed volunteers to have better access to the station and have improved ties with the railway authorities. The partnership formed between East Coseley Big Local, Bayer Street Allotments, Network Rail and London Midland has been a great success.
Working in partnership with the allotments and Roseville School, for children with social, behavioural and emotional problems, has given young people an opportunity to learn how to grow and look after plants.
Residents have been cleaning up the area with regular litter picks and collaborated with the local Spar shop who now come along to help out. Local businesses are now working with the community.
The connections made at the Community Conservation Forum, Dudley Zoo, with wildlife experts, including the Birmingham Bat Group, lead to the discovery of two species of bat in Coseley’s canal tunnel. East Coseley is now working with Canal and River Trust to improve the canal towpaths and having conversations about creating a wildlife area on the canal.
East Coseley is bringing back events that people had missed in the area. Every year the Big Local funds The Big Event, which takes place at Clayton Park Youth Centre. At last years event, the community came out in the scorching heat to enjoy a fun day out with family and friends. Neil Langford said, “The main aim of the event is to bring families together so that they can enjoy a day out, they don’t have to pay entry, it gets people out who may not be able to afford to go to big events. We have now formed a great partnership with Dudley MBC who gave us permission to use the park and provided us with advice to get the event up and running.”
The Christmas Lights Switch On in Roseville is now a major event for the area which always has the support of East Coseley Big Local. This year families came out in the heavy snow to enjoy a market, entertainment and a performance from The Coseley Comets.
Last October we held the Big Local Big Chat in Coseley, which brought together Big Local partnership members, workers and reps from the Black Country, Birmingham, Shropshire, Solihull, Staffordshire, Worcestershire and the Wyre Forest. The theme of the event was ‘Collaboration and Partnerships’ It was clear when listening to other Big Local areas that building partnerships can help to kick-start projects, accomplish shared visions, and possibly open doors to new opportunities.
The collaborations we have seen in East Coseley prove that anything is possible if we work together.
We’re now looking forward to an exciting year ahead, building on, and creating new partnerships in 2018!
Have you been inspired by any of the stories in this post? Are you interested in starting a project to improve the Coseley area? It’s always lovely to hear your thoughts, the Big Local team would love to hear from you! hello@eastcoseleybiglocal.net
Last Monday members of the Big Local Core Group met with Irene Evison, who visited on behalf of Local Trust to find out more about the thinking behind our Big Local Plan.
Irene explained that a key part of approval process for Big Local plans is visiting the local partnership (we call ours the Core Group). After the meeting Irene would fill in an assessment form and send it to Local Trust. It includes her recommendation to Local Trust. They make the decision on whether to agree funding based on the plan. We should hear what their decision is in a month or so.
Irene had read our Big Local Plan thoroughly and said that she found it easy to read. She said it gave her a good feel for the area and a clear picture of the vision. She explained that she wanted to find out more about:
How the plan came to be what it is.
How did priorities were decided.
How it was agreed to split the funding in the ways shown in the budget.
Irene said she was impressed with how many people were around table (there were 12 Core Group members present).
The following gives a flavour of the discussion.
How did we get get from talking to people to having a plan?
Chris Cambell said “With food!” He was referring to all the great Jubilee celebrations and community events. He explained the collaboration with the Eden Project for Big Lunches. Chris explained that the event were used to fin out what people wanted Big Local investment to be used for. Phil Harris described the Community Forum meeting where we put 100 ideas on cards on the floor and sorted them in to themes. Hazel Broadhouse explained that at a later Community Forum meeting everyone looked at quick wins, longer term goals and what we could do ourselves, what we would need external support for – in relation to all the ideas. Carolyn Ball added that we had found some things people wanted that were already happening and we had to think about how to let them know that those things were running.
How was Dudley CVS chosen as a Locally Trusted Organisation to hold the Big Local money?
Phil explained that Dudley CVS was already known to people and groups in the area. Dudley CVS staff have helped and given guidance to local people on many projects. Why go elsewhere when it works? Chris added that he was confident that Dudley CVS will be clear if they aren’t the experts, they will come forward and suggest others, and seek advice from Local Trust.
Has there been any thinking about forms of social investment beyond credit unions?
Group members responded with a no, not yet. They will seek advice, but had picked up from discussions with local people that personal debt was an issue so that became the priority.
Gerry Clarke thanked Irene for raising questions that group need to think about, for example about evaluating and reviewing the plan every year.
Gerry asked if any other Big Local areas had experiences which East Coseley could learn from. Irene said there were no big issues yet, areas are feeling their way. There is lots of interest in social investment and keep the money working.
Reflections from Core Group group members on the discussion
I found it useful to focus on the outcome of our work over the last few years. You do tend to forget what you’re trying to achieve.
It was good to hear the questions and the ways we responded.
Having not been able to get to a meeting for ages, it is totally different now. Coming and seeing a plan, seeing everyone answer questions, I like the plan and that it isn’t too tied down, the beauty of it is the way it has been developed – the Coseley way.
I think Irene appreciated we were talking honestly, and what stood out was that we need to develop monitoring and evaluation.
I am extremely proud of everybody. I hope that the two things which stood out were how passionate we are and how much work we’ve put in.
Read more about East Coseley’s response to the pandemic here:
