Fens LeAP LEADER+ Projects
The Fens LeAP Partnership have been funding projects in Fens LeAP area since July 2002. Below is a list of the projects that have funded to date.
Full Application Projects:
Voluntary Instructor Training Scheme - led by Mepal Outdoor Centre
FLAG Family House - led by Family Welfare Association (FWA)
G8Way - led by Fenland District Council
March Challenger - led by Fenland District Council
Chatteris Community Centre Feasibility Study - led by Fenland District Council
Club Schools - led by ADEC (Arts Development for East Cambs)
Active Communities - led by East Cambs District Council
Rural Youth Bus - led by Kings Lynn District Resource Base
Fenland CAB Form Completion - led by Fenland Citizens Advice Bureau
Fenland Young People Speaking Up - led by Speaking Up
Huntingdon Independent Advice Centre - led by Cambridge Independent Advice Centre
Fens Music (FM) - led by Norfolk Music Works
Ramsey Youth Arts Project - led by ACS Community Education
TranSPORT - led by Fenland District Council
Fenland Sports Coaches - led by Fenland District Council
Benefits Take Up Campaign - led by Ely Citizens Advice Bureau
Building Success Developing Networks -led by Norfolk Rural Community Council
LEADER+ Youth Development Worker - led by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Council for Voluntary Youth Services (CCVYS)
FastTrack Projects:
Downham Market Transport Feasibility Study - led by Downham Market Town Council
Christchurch Youth Club - led by Fenland District Council
Writing on the Waterways - led by ADEC
Ramsey Job Finder - led by Ramsey Town Centre Partnership
March Museum Enhancement of Learning Facilities - led by March Museum
Friday Club - led by Fenland and Marshland Alzheimer's Society
OffStreet Skills - led by Branching Out
The Heron - led by The Heron Newsletter
Future Projects:
Community Heritage Store - led by the Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council
Kickstart Fens - led by Kickstart
Fens Alive - led by ACT
Agricultural Ambassadors - led by ADAS
Chatteris Consortium Advice Service -
Huntingdonshire Sports Coaches - led by Huntingdonshire District Council
Youth Parish Plans - led by Cambridgeshire ACRE
XL Clubs - led by the Princes Trust
Access All Areas - led by Fenland District Council
FULL APPLICATION PROJECTS:
Voluntary Instructor Training Scheme
Mepal Outdoor Centre is built on an attractive twenty acre lake and offers facilities for watersports and adventurous activities to everyone whatever their age and ability. This project will provide men and women aged 55+ with the opportunity to experience and develop activity skills (sailing, canoeing, climbing and archery) to a basic coaching level; equipping them to then share this knowledge with young people within the target area. Thus enabling access to skills and experiences that otherwise are limited by cost and availability. The project is particularly interesting in that it effectively links both Leader + target groups-the 11-25 and 55+ age range.
FLAG (Families in Littleport Action Group) are a team of volunteers, managedby The Family Welfare Association (FWA), who are working together to improve the quality of life for families in Littleport. Their project is based on securing a rented house in Littleport which once refurbished will provide a 'Family House' environment for meeting the needs of specific community groups. Targeting the most disadvantaged population of Littleport, it will act as a base to encourage social inclusion amongst young single parents and help young people who are experiencing problems. Parenting skills are seen to be a critical factor affecting all members of the family and this will be the main theme that underpins all activities within the house.
A great example of a youth engagement project is Fenland District Council's G8WAY project using a communication method that already exists in the culture of young people-mobile phone text messaging. Young people will be given the opportunity to subscribe to be part of the G8WAY community through their mobile phones. G8WAY will provide a 'What's On?' service, informing young people of relevant events and activities provided by the G8WAY project and other agencies. The project includes a programme of literary challenges using mobile phone text messaging.
Project partners centrifugalforces will
devise a programme of workshops to explore SMS which are
enhanced messaging services allowing photographs and sound
for example to be sent to and from mobile phones. At the
same time dance workshops will be run by Cambsdance during
school holidays. By combining the dance workshops and the
SMS technology young people will start to document their
work using the pictures.
There will be a G8WAY website where photographs and literary
contributionscan be seen by the G8WAY community and where
young people can subscribe. An ongoing G8WAY community will
have been established into which new arts activity can be
slotted as funding allows. See www.g8way.org.uk
for more information on G8Way
To develop a series of 'out of school' initiatives developed specifically for the youth age groups. Initiatives will, in some cases be led by the older LEADER+ target age group. The objectives of the project are:the encouragement of a motivated and positive youth cultureto increase the confidence and aspirations of young people, enabling them to reach their full potential to facilitate social regeneration and limit social exclusion.
Chatteris Community Centre Feasibility Study
This project will produce a feasibility study to provide and improve the use of the King Edward Centre as a multi-purpose community facility. The project will also aim to work with the owners of the building to secure a long term lease and look at other options for community facilities in the town. This project will benefit the entire community.
In partnership with the Junction, Cambs County Council and Fenland District Council, "Club School" will promote four Club Schools in rural locations. Local young people will be guided over 6 weekly sessions on how to run their own club night in a local venue - including DJ mixing, Health and Safety issues. Marketing, Design and Décor. PRESS and PR, Security and Financial Planning. The objective is to skill up young people aged 15 -19 who live in isolated rural areas to enable them to provide their own entertainment close to home.
This projects aims to increase participation in sport by young people from the district's largest ethnic minority group (travellers) and people on low incomes. The projects also aims to use involvement in sport as a catalyst to draw participants into lifelong learning, health improvement, and community awareness activities.
The rural youth bus project will visit isolated rural communities to provide a programme of activities for young people. The initial target communities will be those without any current youth provision.
The project, staffed by 3 experienced youth workers and volunteers will stay in the village to work closely with the young people to develop a new youth initiative. Research has established this can be done in 12 weeks, therefore four communities a year and 12 in total will be visited. The programme offered will be based on the needs of the young people and involve all members of the community to ensure some form of provision is established. By the end the new provision should be self managed and will be supported by local statutory & voluntary agencies.
This project will deliver an outreach form-filling service to people who are unable to access help by visiting advice centres. These clients are mainly elderly, often disabled or living in rural areas where there is no transport. The forms that they will be completing are mainly those relating to Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance. Other statutory and voluntary agencies, such as Social Services, the Council, GPs, Community Nurses, Age Concern and Carers services regularly identify clients who are entitled to benefits but need help to complete the forms. These forms usually take 2 - 3 hours to complete and if done incorrectly, will either mean that clients are not receiving the benefits to which they are entitled or that the time and expense of an appeal is needed.
Fenland Young People Speaking Up
Based in the former Lloyds Bank Building in March, Fenland Young People Speaking Up! will be a specialist service offering one-to-one advocacy, information and advice to young people who have learning difficulties living in the rural Fenland area of Cambridgeshire (the area covered by Fenland District Council). Through the provision of these services, the project aims to:
a) Enable young learning disabled people to overcome the information barriers which prevent them from taking control over their own lives.
b) Provide advocacy support enabling them to make the vital choices which will determine the direction which their lives will take.
c) Advise young people in the process of transition from young people's to adult services.
Huntingdon Independent Advice Centre (HIAC) is a project of Cambridge Independent Advice Centre (CIAC) and was set up as a "pilot" project with funding from the LSC in 2001 to develop the provision of advice services in Huntingdon and the north of the Huntingdonshire and South of the Fenland District Council areas. The success of the project has resulted in the Learning Skills Council (LSC) providing a further contract for three years from April 2003 for one adviser and related costs to provide advice to "Legal Help" eligible clients . HIAC provides advice in the areas of Welfare Benefits, Housing and Debt and operates from an office in the Medway Centre in Huntingdon. The advisers also have access to specialist immigration and employment advisers in the Cambridge office.
Fens LeAP Leader+ are funding an additional worker for HIAC who will conduct monthly outreach sessions in Ramsey (in partnership with the local GP surgery), telephone advice and some home visiting.
Norfolk Music Works Fens Music Project
This project is aimed at getting young people living in the West Norfolk and Cambridgeshire Fens involved in making music. Project will deliver a progressive popular music development for young people in the Fens area creating links with previous work and participants. It will enable participants to develop music making and business skills alongside social skills through the development of ensemble playing and creative exploration. The project will have links to Young People March, young people from West Walton, Wisbech and Downham Market.
This project aims to increase participation in arts activities by young people living in Ramsey and Warboys, especially those who do not ordinarily participate. This will be achieved by appointing a full time youth worker who will be responsible for developing and delivering a programme of opportunities for young people over a two-year period.
The programme will comprise at least 6 taster sessions and 6 arts project for young people; training opportunities for adults working with young people and individual support for local young people and adults working with young people.
In addition the project will look to developing networks and data bases that will help to sustain an interest in the arts after the project has ended and in year 2 will explore the feasability of a further project to look at how young people could access adult art groups.
TranSPORT will enable the residents living in rural communities of Fenland District Council to access transportation to enable participation in a physical activity of their choice, with a specific remit to target young people (11-25 years of age) and older people (55+ years of age). TranSPORT will attempt to break down barriers to participating in physical activity by providing a return journey for a group or club from their living area to a leisure centre or organised activity at a sports or leisure club, or similarly a single journey to return home following an after-school event.
TranSPORT will maximise the potential for partnership working and increased community cohesion by recruiting tranSPORT coordinators from within the community, using existing transport providers, public and private, and using existing infrastructure, such as the G8way project.
This project will provide 2500 hours of sports coaching per year to the Fenland area. The project will employ two full time sports coaches (covering basketball, Hockey and netball) who will be strategically deployed by Fenland District Council's Sports Development Team to the areas of most need. One coach will focus upon delivering netball to the over 55+ age group and one coach will deliver basketball coaching to the 11-25 age range.
The aim of the project is to increase the number of over 55's living in rural areas to claim more benefits, in order to enable independent living and increase the quality of life for the elderly. The project staff will spend time at GP surgery's, over 60's community groups and clients homes. This outreach service aims to help those people living in rural isolation claim their rightful entitlements by removing barriers that may have prevented them from claiming.
Building Success Developing Networks
The BSDC project will employ a part-time officer for three years to work with communities, projects, and individuals in the Fens LEADER+ area in order to
Coordinate a plan of recording and celebrating progress through the 'added value' of LEADER+ funded projects in the Fens
Run a series of mini-seminars amongst community development workers and local community activists to explore the challenges of rural development in the Fens
Host workshops delivered by specialists, including those working with LEADER+ in other parts of England, to facilitate the exchange of information and good practice to feed into community development practice across the Fens
Use the LEADER+ website for discussion of project ideas and development tools and techniques as well as downloadable precedents for successful project management, with links to other key sites.
Provide specialists project management skills including best practice in rural development in order to support community projects
Produce a regular newsletter promoting developments in the Fens area highlighting achievement and evaluating success.
In addition there will be a number of workshops for:
Community activists to explore their development experience
Older persons' organizations to develop future actions addressing issues relating to that group
Younger persons' organizations to do the same
The wider community to help develop an understanding of the issues and their role in the local economy and development process.
The promotion of the Fens LeAP LEADER+ small grants scheme 'Fast track' will be an element of the work.
LEADER+ Youth Development Worker
CCVYS will appoint and manage a LEADER+ themed Youth Work Development Officer, who will promote, support and facilitate the development of programmes using the LEADER+ method, which benefit young people and their communities.
The Youth Work Development Officer will work through partnerships with partner agencies, communities and young people, to identify need, develop programmes and access funding, both Leader+ and other matched funding.
Specific objectives include:
Developing Young peoples participation within their communities
Development of a LAG Young Peoples Forum
UK and Transnational Exchanges.
FASTTRACK PROJECTS:
Downham Market Transport Feasibility Study
The DMTFS is a feasibility study which reviews current transport links into Downham Market by West Norfolk Community Transport Project (WNCTP) from the four villages of Wretton, Stoke Ferry, Wereham and Crimplesham. This route provided by WNCTP was chosen because of other development work being considered in the locality to make better use of provision.
Through an advertising campaign, the project will 'pump prime' the use of this service over a 4 week period and gather data from those using it to measure its appropriateness. In addition, Stoke Ferry will be the subject of door to door data collection to measure transport needs. Over the four week focus period, Age Concern will hold free coffee mornings and information sessions. Information will be provided on a number of different modes of transport.
This project aims to establish a youth group for the parish of Christchurch. The youth will organise general entertainment and become a voice for the young people of the village. The funding is needed to employ a youth worker for 6 months to train a volunteer leader and buy equipment.
A writing project which will encourage people to think about their connection to the land concentrating particularly on the waterways, resulting in an anthology of work and publication on ADEC's website. It will build on Tom Daly's work with residents of Anchor Court and introduce a creative writer in residence.
To set foundations in providing a job finding scheme that will provide information and matching service for job seekers and potential employers. Additionally, to promote local vacancies, training opportunities and give job seekers access to guidance that would improve their employability skills. The Ramsey Community Shop will be utilised as the job finding scheme base and initially this service would be run by volunteers, providing a 'signpost service'. The Huntingdon Job Centre and Connexions will be providing a support and back up service.
March Museum Enhancement of Learning Facilities
This project aims to use Fens LeAP LEADER+ funding to install a public computer terminal in the museum to assist with the learning opportunities the Museum already has in place.
A social group for people with dementia their careers and families. The group creates a stimulating and friendly environment helping people with dementia maintain independence and improve their quality of life and that of their carers.
This project will provide an Internet café facility which will provide an informal environment that will be attractive to young people. This facility will provide a programme of structured and supervised learning activities designed to extend and enhance their skills. One focus will be ICT, providing courses such as Computers Don't Bite and Work Experience programmes together with access to email and internet facilities. Branching Out will provide a qualified activity worker to lead this. This project will be a one year pilot project
'The Heron' is a local newsletter. Owing to the fact that the free newspapers do not reach this part of the Fens, 'The Heron' is an essential part of Christchuch, making sure that all villagers are aware of activities, and decisions made locally. Every household receives a copy each month.
