Making a Difference

So this blog is more of a – summarised – round up of last year’s achievements in the world of Community Area Partnerships (CAPs).  Despite one of my previous blogs denouncing the increasing pressures put on small organisations to carry out endless impact measuring to ascertain their worth … needs must!  Autumn 2014 therefore, saw WfCAP collating reams of data (kindly supplied by the CAP workers and volunteers) as well as searching through our own work records, in order to compile a comprehensive presentation demonstrating the value that this model of working brings to Wiltshire’s communities.

The following statistics and examples will hopefully give you a snapshot of how CAPs connect, inform and engage communities; address local needs and ultimately make the place we live that much better.

Twelve of Wiltshire’s eighteen Community Areas have active, high-achieving CAPs or Networks, all of which are supported by WfCAP.  The CAPs manage to connect these wide and diverse community areas, by bringing together over 80% of the local parishes.  In addition to this the CAPs each average a network of 25 partners, including statutory & voluntary sector, businesses & clubs.

During last year alone the CAPs were having regular communication with over 5000 residents & organisations locally, plus a direct link to a further 15,000 people online.  For community groups, with a small number of volunteers coordinating their work and very limited capacity, this is phenomenal reach and secures a basis for enabling the CAPs to achieve such wide-ranging success on the ground.

WfCAP itself has in excess of 75 partners within our network and communicate to over 500 people through our email database. My colleague Dawn’s e-bulletin is read by 175 people every month, whilst our website attracted 3000 visitors last year.  We have over 1300 followers on Twitter and 500+ Linkedin connections.  This kind of social media reach enables us to promote the successes of CAPs, inform of local news and events and engage on various levels.  For instance in the past we’ve run a community writing competition and photomarathon which attracted 110 participants from across the county.  And last year we used this virtual presence to hold a fun Hallowe’en pumpkin-carving contest and also piggy-backed onto World Cup fever to create a project bank of 128 community project ideas from across the globe.  If you go onto Twitter and search under the hashtag #wfcapworldcup you’ll get links to all these amazing examples of community initiative which we’ve used to help inspire local action.  I have an aversion to the over-used phrase, but as they say, there’s no point reinventing the wheel.

So what does all this engagement mean?  Well, it enables communities to do more for themselves (an apparently ever-increasing demand).  422 volunteers are actively engaged with the twelve CAPs, contributing a massive 22,558 volunteer hours during 2014.  Every £1 invested in a CAP gives a value for money return of over 600% in volunteer effort & value (VIVA)

The CAPs also increase influence & participation at a local level.  In Wiltshire, much of the work prioritised is based on needs divulged from the Community Area JSAs and subsequent public consultation.  Since the latest publication last spring there are already 142 of these JSA priorities currently being addressed through CAP projects (or in many cases already successfully tackled).  Recent projects include everything from Devizes Means Business, to a Directory for Migrant Workers, a street art event for the Tour of Britain and a Great War Legacy project to name but a few.

As I said, this was merely a summary, we’ll publish the full presentation in pdf (and possibly video!) format soon but for now this should enforce that, 15 years on from the Community-Led Planning initiative for market towns, there is ever-increasing need for the outcomes that this way of working brings to our local communities.

Laura

Visiting community groups would surely offer more to funders than any impact measurement tool?

I’ve just spent an inspiring hour at the regular Tuesday morning get-together of the Bradford on Avon Community Network, Boacan.  They are currently creating a hub in an empty shop, which will provide a platform for the new food bank that they are assisting set-up of.  The hub will also provide computer access, Wi-Fi, digital learning plus local information; Boacan are talking to TCAF (the Trowbridge Community Area Partnership) about their newly published guide for migrant workers & families, as they wish to develop a similar resource for BoA residents.  The network is also working with partners to secure a new youth centre, creating a cooperative to administer volunteer Time Credits, supporting the Dementia friendly training and signing up to roll out the Safe Places scheme.  And that was just today’s meeting.

Boacan are just one of a dozen Community Area Partnerships operating across Wiltshire, and a visit to any of their meetings would inform you of a similar myriad of projects.

Of course, I realise it’s not realistic for grant-givers to sit-in on community meetings, but just the level of vibrancy, knowledge, passion and expertise, evident from one hour this morning, embraced everything about Community Area Partnerships at their best.  And that’s so hard to emulate on paper with just raw data.

By nature, community networks & partnerships tend to share the work, and therefore the credit, of success, which means often these endless lists of work and achievements go un-recognised, that is to say, the result is recognised but not necessarily the group behind the work.  And you can appreciate, from the breadth of initiatives listed above, that CAPs aren’t the easiest of organisations to promote and explain in a simple, tangible way, being somewhat all-encompassing in their output.  And for the group members, and the community at large, that doesn’t really matter, as long as a difference has been made, but for the increasing need for ‘impact measurement’.

WfCAP have recently become a charity which opens up a much larger range of grant funding which we’re hoping to tap into in order to continue to support the CAPs in their important work.  But with grant applications and annual reporting, funders, of course, want evidence of impact.  There’s some great toolkits online such as Measuring Up, or VIVA for calculating economic value.  In 2012 Phd Students from Bath University conducted an Impact Survey on behalf of Wiltshire’s Voluntary Sector.  But for small, volunteer-based groups like the CAPs, or even for us as WfCAP with just 60 hours of staff time a week, impact measuring is a resource-heavy undertaking.

Last year we compiled our Making a Difference report which collated as many statistics and case studies as we could gather on local engagement, volunteer hours, actions completed etc.  But it inevitably consumed time from the frontline work with the CAPs.  Was it worth it? Of course; 12 of the 14 CAPs continued to receive funding again this year, as did WfCAP.  Was it the best use of time?  Well that issue was something that many community organisations were debating at the recent Voluntary Sector Assembly.  Although everybody of course gets the need for rigorous accountability and transparency in public spending, and realises the need to ensure monies are having the best possible effect, there were inevitable frustrations.  As I’ve already mentioned the CAPs, like many other organisations, often work in partnerships, and so how do you calculate your slice of the impact?  They often kick-start a project and then pass it on, enabling someone else to grow and develop it – how then, on its completion, do they claim the value of their input?  Some of these projects are long-term, the benefits of which won’t be calculable for years and certainly not within a financial, reporting annual cycle.  And other projects don’t provide anything to calculate, they prevent.  How do you prove the ‘negatives’ that never occurred and evidence that your project was the reason behind them, not occurring!!

We also discussed the anomaly between being asked for evidence against KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) when being commissioned, but funders not having to evidence against KPIs when decommissioning?  i.e. you could deliver all and more on a contract but still other factors, out of your control, may take precedence in the ‘who to fund/who not to fund’ decision.  The Assembly also highlighted the recent Independence Panel report (produced in light of the Lobbying Bill) which is concerned with ensuring the third sector still has a voice.

So okay, my blog title is tongue-in-cheek, but seriously, just being part of a conversation with a community group really is a snapshot of the extent and value of what is happening locally.  And it’s a much more honest and efficient way of illustrating impact for those tiny organisations that just don’t have the time or resource to produce detailed, academic impact studies.

Yesterday the Community Development Foundation published Tailor Made: How community groups improve people’s lives illustrating the vital contribution of small community groups.  I think this quote, from a news article about the research, sums it up perfectly: “They are praised and thanked, but their true social and economic contribution is overlooked. Yet they are the glue holding our society together.”

Laura

Despite all the data, it’s still the story the counts.

So this last week, the work diary which on first appearance consisted of a conference, an Area Board meeting and a crowdfunding event, actually resulted in me eating chocolate whilst sat in an indoor tent; watching a ukulele band perform Elvis numbers; writing a letter to my 75-year old self and having a cholesterol test.  Not simultaneously I might add, but bizarre as it may seem there was a consistent thread: arts as an aid in health & wellbeing.

And just as prominent, at the same events, has been the thread of stories: people’s personal stories, and crucially, the importance of the listener.  We have the Joint Strategic Assessments, we have the Census data and excitingly now, we have a whole wealth of methodology to aid in evaluating the impact of the arts on people’s lives.  But we still need to hear people’s stories.

Last Friday evening I attended an ‘optimistic supper’; the culmination of the Pass It On project which has explored walking and mapping with the Corsham community around the new Springfield Campus. The supper itself centered on a crowdfunding activity that saw a new walking group receive seed funds to develop its governance and marketing, ensuring it can continue benefiting current and new users.  In the Open is aimed at people with dementia, and as the name suggests, focuses on the outdoors, as well as fitness and socialising, to improve wellbeing.  For the couple I shared a table with it, has made an invaluable difference to their lives.  Pat’s state of mind is markedly improved on days she attends walks, and consequently it improves how they cope together, living with her illness.  I think everyone in the room welled up on hearing Mike describe the importance of those walks to him and his wife.

And if that wasn’t enough of a tear-jerker I got sent this film clip on Twitter the following day, it’s a beautifully animated music video, again about Dementia, this time from the perspective of a son as his father’s illness advances.

Across Wiltshire, communities are aiming to become Dementia Friendly.  Many CAPs are supporting this initiative, linking it to the Safe Places project which they’re already leading on in many town centres.  The current round of Area Boards, combine a Health Fair with the usual public meeting.   We helped out at the Amesbury event yesterday which was packed with information stalls, free fruit for kids, healthy eating quizzes and a dance demo.  Local groups got the attendees involved in a sing-a-long (at which point I opted to take the Health MOT as the marginally preferable option!)

And this week was also the inaugural Arts & Health in Wiltshire Conference.  180 people filled the Corn Exchange that hosted a packed agenda that illustrated inspiring initiatives happening across the county’s creative sector as well as plans that the Council have to embrace arts as an aid to Health & Wellbeing.  Some of the projects being piloted, or in early stages of development, are an Arts on Prescription scheme, Nuture– an exhibition promoting breastfeeding, Healthy Schools and bursaries for artists working in hospitals, surgeries and care homes.

One of the catalysts for increased engagement in this field has been the scientific evidence behind the arts as therapeutic help, and refined methodology for proving its impact.  Dr Simon Opher from Gloucestershire, who has employed an artist in residence in his surgery for 15 years, explained how the transfer from left to right brain activity when engaging in the creative process, works the dopamine pathway, having the same effect as anti-depressants.  His own data proved a huge financial saving on medication for his surgery.

Theresa Hegarty (Head of Patient Experience at the RUH) talked about the See It My Way project which is a series of eight-minute films hearing the stories of different people (carers, patients, people facing end-of-life decisions) to gain empathy.  Empathy is key to change.  An earlier project giving patients disposable cameras drew attention to how, whether in their own house, in hospital or at a care home, patients will spend hours looking at the clock, at the ceiling or at their own feet. This kind of understanding of the basic issues and what people are missing from their lives when ill creates empathy which can improve services longer term.  And in a different way, a the Elevate project at Salisbury Hospital, evidenced more respect and dignity shown to patients from staff, due to empathy and engagement following regular music sessions in the wards.

There was also much focus on ’play’, with artist Becky Churchill explaining her role leading a multisensory arts project at Larkrise School and how she creates installations in a tent within the school hall that reflect art exhibitions at Roche Court.  And as Grayson Perry noted in the Reith Lectures this year: “Art is serious play…a chance for children to glimpse their own creative power.”

So arts, play and of course stories.  Everything looped around to listening to those stories and 2 Destination Language collaborative artists focusing on community, identity and memory, performed a piece of work, reading moving accounts of their grandparents and their memories.  And we watched a beautiful film ‘Finding Feedom’ created by Sue Austin, where she challenges the perception of the wheelchair through her own life experiences, of it being a vehicle of empowerment.  Do watch this, it’s stunning.

It’s interesting in a time when everyone is discussing data, statistics and impact measurement that capturing people’s own stories is still the key  that makes those things real to people.

Re-inventing wheels for social progress.

So tomorrow morning Bradley Wiggins, et al, will be speeding through Trowbridge (est. 7 minutes, max – it’ll make the torch relay look positively languid), pedalling on kit that would put you back somewhere in the region of £10K.  But, if you’re not requiring an elite-spec vehicle, then just a few streets away from the gold-bike lined-route of the Tour of Britain is a newly opened business, where, for a fraction of that cost, you could bag yourself a lovingly restored bicycle, whilst also contributing to a worthy and innovative project that tackles half the county’s JSA priorities in one hit!

Yesterday afternoon, following a meeting at Selwood Housing to look into opportunities for collaboration, I was taken on a visit across town to an amazing new social enterprise called The Trowbridge Bike Workshop.  This is one of those perfect projects that, on the surface, appears to perform one very useful task (i.e. sell second-hand bikes), but underneath, there is layer upon layer of additional angles that address issues as complex as addiction, unemployment and waste management, to a name but a few.  And such a multi-faceted project, can’t fail to start your own mind racing and immediately considering another dozen possibilities that could link up with it!  It really is inspirational.

The Trowbridge Bike Workshop is the sister branch to the well-established cycle enterprise in Bath, both of which are initiatives of the city’s homeless charity: Julian House  Focusing on people who sleep rough, or are vulnerably housed, the charity aims to provide a long term support structure that empowers users to reach their potential and build sustainable living conditions for their own future.  A safe place to sleep is a basic human right and unquestionably important, but Julian House gives far more than just that initial, emergency help.  In essence, it gives the essential First Aid, but it also provides the after care and rehabilitation.

Opening in July this year, the new Trowbridge workshop gives homeless people an initiation into (or back into) the world of work.  Third-party funding allows for 6-week courses in Meaningful Occupation.  The clients get given a bike, which they strip down, and learn how to rebuild and restore.  At the end of the course they have a new skill, and they have a new bike.  So they have gained both a form of transport and an item of leisure equipment that aids in their own recuperation and wellbeing.  But in addition, they have also gained fundamental life skills.  For 6 weeks they have kept to a routine, shown commitment, been punctual, taken responsibilities and importantly, dealt with both professional and social interaction.  For many of them, they have been forced into a chaotic life for years and so this is very much a baby-step, with volunteer positions still some way off consideration and paid employment a much longer-term goal.  But they are vital baby-steps and in Bath it’s proved to have made a real difference to lives.

On top of all of that, the social enterprise is also:

• Providing employment (3 paid workers). 3% of the population currently claim Job Seekers’ Allowance.
• Improving the town centre (occupation and renovation of a disused garage). Trowbridge has 16% vacancy rates.
• Upskilling local people (through training and volunteer opportunities). The What Matter’s To You? this year made ‘Developing a skilled and competitive workforce’ a top priority.
• Helping the economy (essentially, it’s still a shop). The town is set on improving its retail health with the weekly street market having been a real catalyst.
• Enabling alternative transport (i.e. bicycling). Plans are underway to improve the cycle network through the town.
• Reducing landfill (see photo – this is just the current stock of donations at one branch!). Trowbridge sends more to landfill per household than all but one other area in the county.
• Encouraging healthier lifestyles (affordable fitness offer). Whilst there’s been some improvement, Trowbridge is still one of the worst in the county for obesity and heart disease.
• Improving wellbeing (fresh air, exercise, mental health). And you will just get a warm glow from simply visiting this place!)

And of course the tourism potential is huge with a number of Sustrans’ routes throughout Wiltshire including the beautiful National Route 4, crossing the width of the county along the towpath of the Kennet & Avon Canal, en route from London to St Davids.

Apologies for a slightly Trowbridge-centric blog, I do live here so it’s inevitable at times, but let me also highlight the wider Wiltshire cycling appetite.  I bought a bike last year at the excellent community venture: Spindles & Sprockets of Corsham, highly recommended.  With an emphasis on reducing carbon emissions Cycle Devizes – in partnership with Devizes CAP – has run a number of events & campaigns resulting in the creation of new cycle paths around the town and area.  Calne has an annual Bike & Hike, plus a couple years ago supported an excellent project sending bikes to Africa.  And in May this year British Cycling & Wiltshire Council brought an elite road race to Wilton.  The Cycle Wiltshire event also involved a sportive that attracted 500 participants (riding between 20 & 100 miles) and thousands of spectators.

And of course Friday 12^th September will see Stage 6 of the Tour of Britain going West to East across Wiltshire.  The riders will enter the county at Bradford on Avon – where a whole weekend of activity has been planned including film showings, stunt riders and a living bike sculpture – and leave via Pewsey where they’ll actually cycle across a road art project instigated by my colleague Dawn.

And back to the cycle-re-cycling, well Trowbridge Bike Workshop opened in good timing for tomorrow’s event – there were a stack of sprayed bikes there yesterday, ready to be shipped out along the rest of the route: a gold-plated celebration of the national event, of Wiltshire, of cycling and, of course, of social enterprise.

Laura

 

 

 

A Sense of Place (aka our very own cardboard utopia)

If, in the year 2034, ‘X’ Wiltshire town has a circular tram system, Higher Education establishment, social enterprise hub, a wind farm and wildflower verges, vertical gardens and allotments on every spare square-inch of space, then it sounds like it’ll be a pretty great place to live. Personally I’d quite fancy if the 3 storey, 5-person-wide, slide which exits the community centre also comes into fruition, but I’m not holding out on that one. If I too was made of cardboard, I would put my house on the market and move straight into the box town that was created at our summer forum this week.

On Tuesday evening WfCAP & RSA Wiltshire co-hosted a Creative Gathering. Two similar events had been held by RSAWilts with the attendees coming from across the county’s creative sector. The engagement events centred on Wiltshire’s Community Campus project. We decided to team up and develop the format further to bring together two different sectors: the CAPs plus key partners they work with, along with the creative attendees from the previous events, as a way of brokering new relationships and offering up potential for collaborating on projects. (Inevitably & excitingly, there is of course much overlap already, no one being binary in there interest/role, but people met new people which is always important.)

Focusing on ‘place’ we set-up for the event by filling half of Westbury Leigh Community Hall with empty cardboard boxes which we began to assemble, label and turn into local amenities, so as delegates began to arrive they entered a room reminiscent of a Blue Peter studio. If they stayed (which thankfully – gamble paying off! – they all did) they were asked to join in and help co-create a place we would all wish to live: a cardboard utopia.

So as people arrived, accepted (succumbed to) the format and got stuck in, so housing, work places and a myriad of art centres shot up around the room. Various transport links, from rail lines to canals, weaved between the buildings and in equal measures leisure spaces and car parks were squeezed into the remaining gaps. Then as the town looked in danger of needing green-field planning regs, we pulled everyone together to listen to a variety of scenarios and character descriptions: …. It’s 2034 ….. “I work in IT, commuting daily to Swindon, by chance, I sometimes see people in my street, but in the main I feel disconnected” …. “I am an active 85 year old, I like to walk but have trouble with steps and hills and have no car” …. We also shared facts and figures from the Wiltshire JSAs and other local data relating to climate change, population increase, transport etc. Through the evening we also heard about an arts collaborative: Create Gloucestershire, the Westbury Music & Arts Festival and the Wiltshire Youth Arts Charter lead by WYAP – all of this informed the attendees of stats, opinions, and ideas, problems and opportunities, bringing us back to our constant reference point for the evening: the boxes. So tower blocks were pulled down, enterprise centres were built on car parks, the arts centres merged within one building (box) and communal gardens were developed amongst the improved, low-cost, housing provision.

During the evening people took a walk down the road to listen to a stranger, over conversation they shared the food they had all contributed and again and again they came back to transform the cardboard community to better meet the needs of the people they had learnt from. This activity, these conversations, can and will continue but after just one evening Wiltshire 2034 is looking pretty good. One person flipped the question, asking: “Where have we come from since 20 years ago” – the person replying simply said: “We would not have had an event like this in 1994.”

You can see more of the photos from the event on our WfCAP Facebook page and find out more about CAPs via our WfCAP website or contact me on laura.pictor@wfcap.org

Are Dogs the Unsung Heroes of Community Engagement?

Just imagine, two strangers, passing on a street.  It’s highly unlikely they’ll stop and begin a conversation.   Of course, there are exceptions to this rule often related to time, day, location etc.  For instance: town centre, Wednesday lunchtime – very small chance.  Whereas canal towpath, Bank Holiday weekend – it is regulation.  Nevertheless the ‘Sunday-afternoon in the countryside’ kind of conversations still only extend to a cheery hello and perhaps the obligatory British comment on the weather.  Now, add a dog, preferably two, into the equation and suddenly boom! – It’s like long-lost friends.  People stop for ten/fifteen minutes, even in the pouring rain.  The conversation rapidly moves on from the obvious choice of dogs, to family, jobs, hobbies, holidays.  Within minutes complete strangers are revealing where they live, names of children, places of work, even what they think about their job, their boss and so on.  The conversation literally flows.  Dogs break the taboo of speaking to strangers.

It’s not just dogs I suppose, years ago I knew a guy who had a pet Iguana, he’d carry it on his shoulder and that was definitely a talking point!  He’d bring it into the pub where I waitressed which horrified my boss who was attempting to turn the drinker’s hole that was the village Inn into a gastro pub with ambition of Michelin stars.  So I suppose an element of controversy or being different can also be a catalyst for conversation.  It’s those catalysts, like the dogs, that bring people together.  Initially over something of common interest (or perhaps opposing interests?) which then leads onto further conversation.  It’s basically the ‘networking’ that is scheduled into every meeting, event, conference we attend, but without the cringeworthy, text-book-style ice-breakers, games or forced questions.  It just happens.  Don’t they say life is what happens when you’re busy making plans? – maybe it should be networking is what happens when you’re busy living life?

So if it all happens of its own accord then what are we working towards in the world of community development?  Shouldn’t we just leave people to it?  I’m sure some would argue that case, but the other line of reasoning  goes that a) we need to ensure we live in a place where those natural catalysts can continue to happen, so it’s about maintaining and enabling the ‘natural networking’ specifically the places it occurs and b) we need to exploit those connections, so that initial conversation can develop into something more.  I could analogise about growing plants and providing sunshine & water and such like but I expect you get the point, so instead I’ll explore some of the examples further.  In broad terms we could break this down into: Place and People.  And the benefits will be awareness, information sharing and action.

So in terms of place, the first thing is to ensure we have these places in our communities.  Or ‘bumping spaces’ as Cormac Russell, founder of ABCD calls them.  I just love that terminology.  People collide and magical things happen!  So back to the dogs: think gates/stiles, the places where people pause.  I like the notion of pausing places too.  The school gate, post office, recycling centre, local pub, library or the bus stop.  Or on the bus, which generally I find a far more sociable form of public transport than the train. Saying that, if you introduce inanimate objects on the train they can also be catalysts i.e. replace the dog with a book.  I’ve had the, normally forbidden, conversations on trains with strangers, triggered by a book.  I distinctly remember a whole journey to London discussing Ted Hughes’ poetry with an enthusiast, it was almost like getting a free hours’ English Literature tuition, it was fascinating.  But when you think about it there’s a thread here.  The majority of these places are community assets that in recent years have been threatened with survival.  In Wiltshire the community campus project obviously aims to be a ‘bumping space’ and address this issue of vulnerable public services through co-location.  So there definitely is an element of needing to protect and preserve these places; not only could the service be lost but with it vast networks which make the community tick.  And in many cases its people’s only form of social contact.  An illustration of how change to the physical fabric of  a community can alter the cohesion of a community is the change from terraced to detached living.  I’d recommend 4ft fences to anyone! – I know half my street and its really sociable as well as beneficial and reassuring.

So as well as maintaining these places, it’s about utilising them.  So advertising meetings, events and community info or surveys on gate posts and such.  And then there’s the people.  The dog walkers.  Some years back I did get some work experience at a school and various other introductions through a fellow dog walker who was involved with local businesses.  Then there’s taxi drivers, tradesmen, hairdressers, landlords, postal workers – the people who meet other people and may pass on information.  And why not use this link, tell them something, if they pass it on, suddenly the word spreads.  It’s intervention without it being artificial or forced.

The RSA who are working in Wiltshire as a critical friend to the campus project are using many angles to analyse and enable community engagement.  You can follow them on Twitter @RSAWiltshire One project, which will run over the summer, called ‘In Common’ will see how civic decision-making and festivals could be joined up in practice to increase people’s sense of place and enable them to have a say and make a contribution to their local community.

So in conclusion: take your fences down, literally.  Use public transport more, go to the pub and read interesting books.  Oh and don’t forget to walk the dog.

Laura

A Legacy for Wiltshire.

The bunting may have long been consigned to a crate of miscellany in the loft, and the current weather makes sunny street parties rather difficult to recall, but those heady days of the Olympic Torch Relay and all that came with the Summer of 2012 are still very much underpinning the agenda in Wiltshire.

By sheer coincidence of history, Britain’s opportunity to host the Olympics fell within a decade already showered with significant occasions; the anniversaries of both great and tragic events. Wiltshire itself seems to have featured in them all, and consequently the county continues to be prominent as the time for celebrations and commemoration come to pass. Following on from the Jubilee festivities, 2013 then marked the centenary of a major year in the suffrage movement; the march from Lands end to London and the tragic death of Emily Wilding Davison. Corsham hosted a re-enactment last July, celebrating the welcome the town gave to those marchers back in 1913, and next year Trowbridge and Salisbury will honour their connections to the Magna Carta, as we reach the 800th anniversary of its signing.

But now it’s 2014 and the calendar of events is already growing. I focused my previous blog on Wiltshire’s Big Pledge, since then I’ve heard that two of the Area Boards have chosen pledges of their own: Tidworth aim to make their community Dementia-friendly, whilst Bradford-on-Avon are planning an organised holiday; giving an opportunity to those locally who wouldn’t wish to travel alone.

March 13th sees the Council host a Sporting Dinner to encourage businesses to sponsor the county’s young Paralympians & Olympians ahead of Rio2016 and a business breakfast in the atrium on 5th March will focus on Corporate Social Responsibility. I’m waiting to hear back on my request that community groups are allowed stands at this to advertise CSR opportunities and network with the employer’s that may supply staff time or support to local projects. In May the British Cycling national road race comes to Wilton as part of a 2-day event Cycle Wiltshire which enables all the community to get involved alongside the elite riders. It could be an opportune time to look at a cycle event in your Community; Calne have an annual Big Bike & Hike, this year it takes place on 8th September, and Cycle Devizes have run a number of events over the last 18 months. Malmesbury CAP are planning a repeat of their successful PHEW! Sports Festival, similarly Pewsey CAP are building on 2013’s Have a Go event.

Wiltshire is keen on continuing this Legacy from 2012 but with a really wide approach to encouraging and supporting all community initiatives. A new events site has just been launched where anyone can upload an event (anything posted will also automatically post to the relevant Our Community Matters Blog).

Alongside all the celebrations, this year is of course the centenary of the start of WWI and five years of ongoing remembrance. In Wiltshire, plans are being considered for a Beating the Retreat on Salisbury Plain, whilst across the county, communities are organising a multitude of events, exhibitions and memorials. A new website Heritage in Wiltshire is the perfect place to start if you’re looking for inspiration and the Heritage Lottery Fund has grants available. One of the Community Area Partnerships MVCAP launched their Great War Project with a beautiful living memorial; a thousand packets of seeds were sold in aid of the British Legion and will result in the fields, gardens and verges of Malmesbury being awash with poppies later this year.  Wiltshire is in a unique position with the History Centre holding many wartime records that were lost to other counties and subsequently it gives more insight into the lives and the time; details of court cases including those of conscientious objectors allow for us to consider a breadth of projects that remember those who were often forgotten. Projects are likely to range from personal stories to the social history of the era. Richard Broadhead, who has been leading on much of the WWI work in Wiltshire, and is the creator of the Wiltshire Soldiers website will be speaking at the WfCAP Spring Forum on 17th February. For more information please get in touch.

Laura.

New Year. New Blog.

So this is the first new addition to WfCAP’s 2014. A blog. In contrast to most resolutions, I’ll start off with some realism and only commit to blogging a couple times a month. The idea is that the blog should be a more interesting format for disseminating relevant information from the strategic meetings I attend, rather than the previous formal notes on website. (Caveat: please bear with me; I’m (relatively) new to this blogging lark).

For the first one, I’m going with the obvious – but classic – subject of: new year, new start etc. A new start can mean many things, from tiny to profound; often it’s something you put off, but once you’ve started you wonder what prevented you before. I was actually contemplating this, during a very cold, brisk walk back to Trowbridge from the Volkswagen garage in Bradford this morning; getting out from the duvet at 6.30am on a January morning when the heating timer is temperamental is difficult to say the least, but once up and out, walking along the Kennet & Avon canal on a beautiful frosty morning, hearing the echo of a woodpecker’s drill and smelling woodsmoke from the barges ….. it’s all worth it. And of course, it is another reminder of what incredible landscape is right on our doorstep here in Wiltshire.

Perhaps that sentiment is as good a new year’s intention as any? Simply: ‘To Value Where You Live’ which was of course the theme of our community fayre. This morning was the second time in recent weeks that I’ve noticed how often I take this county’s stunning scenery and fascinating history for granted, having lived here all but three years of my life. Taking a moment to appreciate those everyday things really does make you smile. And on that note, I’m going to share this – I know there’s so many of these quirky challenges and ideas floating about every January, but I do really, really like this one – #100HappyDays The opening page states 71% of people who tried to complete this challenge failed. They simply didn’t have time to be happy! The challenge seems simple: take a picture of something that makes you happy and post it online. The catch is, it’s one picture, every day, for 100 days. So I’m going to try and I started it with a photo of the canal this morning. If you give it a go too, do share, I’d be interested in Wiltshire happiness (and to know how far people get!) I’ll be posting mine on Twitter.

Or even better, why not try this: Wiltshire’s Big Pledge The linked document is just a briefing paper at this stage, but this is a Wiltshire Council/Public Health initiative which will launch on 2nd April 2014. The objective is to encourage communities, businesses, Councillors, residents to pledge a behaviour change for 12 weeks that’ll ultimately improve the health & wellbeing of themselves or those around them. The pledges are pretty open-ended but fall into the 3 categories of: Get Healthy, Make a Difference or Challenge Myself. For instance, people could pledge to volunteer to run a project, so with the forthcoming JSA events bringing new issues forward, this could be an opportunity to acquire yourself some new volunteers! More information and website to be published soon.

And talking of new starts, I’ve just been telling my WfCAP colleagues about how I started the year with a dip in the Bristol Challenge. If nothing else, I know 2014 can only get warmer! Happy New Year.

Laura.