Looking Forward

 

This year we will be forming two separate neighbourhood boards, one for St Matthews and one for St Marks.  The elections for St Marks Neighbourhood Board were held in June and the election for St Matthews will follow closely. 

 

In April we were pleased to welcome Peter Oliver as our Assistant Neighbourhood Manager.  Peter brings with him a wealth of past experience from working in Beaumont Leys, Abbey Rise and Stocking Farm and will be launching the Be Informed programme in St Matthews and St Marks, a programme that has been hugely successful elsewhere and brings information about local services to residents’ doorsteps.  Peter is also working with local youth providers to set up a Young Peoples’ Neighbourhood Board.  Peter says,

 

“Involving young people is key to our work.  We had a successful open evening in July for young people who were interested in getting involved.  The response was fantastic with thirty young people in attendance.  The Young Peoples’ Neighbourhood Board will be led by young people themselves, and will aim to make life better for all of the young people living in the St Matthews and St Marks neighbourhoods.”

 

We are committed to supporting local community events and are proud to be contributing toward the forthcoming 08/08/08 Parks Day in St Matthews.  We are also in the process of planning a fun day and health event for St Marks later in the year alongside the community and local service providers – Both events have the potential to showcase local talent and celebrate the diversity that exists across the St Matthews and St Marks Neighbourhoods.

 

To bring new money in to the St Matthews and St Marks Neighbourhoods, we have formed a voluntary group.  The voluntary group will be working to support bottom up investment in local community groups, and hopes to increase the capacity of local organisations that are looking to obtain funding.

 

Over 700 Local residents in St Marks have been having their say about what should be improved in the neighbourhood as part of the Planning for Real process.  A model of the estate has been created by local schoolchildren and used to identify local issues with residents.  We eagerly anticipate the results of planning for real – the insight provided by the process will prove invaluable when working with local residents and service providers to identify our priorities for 2008/9 and beyond.