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