Do you ever look round on your street and think ‘I’d really like to do something about that?’ So did local resident Kim when it came to a few plants on a patch of ground near her house… “I first did something to this strip of garden because it looked so awful after the weeds […]
As a Community Builder, I was recently contacted by Action for Children. They were noticing a spike in referrals in one of the neighbourhoods I work and wanted to start a conversation around this to better understand the trend, to know what community assets (individuals, institutions, clubs & groups, local businesses, physical spaces, culture & […]
Residents from a residential home at Bodley Close have been keen to take care of their own green spaces around their flats, which are currently looked after by Exeter City Council. However, they have been uncertain what they can and can’t do in those grassy spaces. The result has been mainly plain grass that is […]
The Greening Heavitree Group started off as a conversation on community network Facebook pages about greening the area more. Anita, who was active in the discussion, offered to set up a WhatsApp Group where around 9 people started to post simple ideas for developing the area. “How about hanging baskets? Can we nurture unkempt spaces? […]
The Chantry Meadow Play Area Community Project is a wonderful example of what can be achieved when local residents take action. Over the past few months, Kirsty, an Alphington resident, has been working alongside myself, Exeter City Council, local councillors and local businesses to take action to improve the local play area at Chantry Meadow […]
Amy and her partner Tobias moved to Duryard soon after the lockdown started. They got in touch with me, their local Community Builder, to find out more about their neighbourhood and how they could use their skills to engage with their community. From reading my newsletter, Amy found out that the Northcott Theatre was doing […]
It’s a curious thing, a strange paradox. That in our towns and streets served with high tech infrastructure – email, Facebook, and infinite numbers of virtual meet-up opportunities – that many in our community are isolated, or are simply unaware, to varying degrees, of our localities’ assets. Admittedly, during Covid, things have been changing rapidly. […]