At a meeting earlier this week there were 20 expressions of interest shown in facilities which will become available for local people to run. There is a presentation [pdf] which was presented at the meeting here
The meeting at Hucclecote was only the start of the conversation and there is hope that groups will develop interests further before February.
The fully subscribed event heard from Council Leader, Mark Hawthorne and Mark Parker, lead officer for the Big Community Offer project who were both suprised by the level of interest already being shown.
There are various support mechanisms for those wanting to take on one of the 24 facilities currently available including ‘peppercorn’ rents, matched funding and aid from the “Supporting Active Communities” grant.
If you couldn’t get to that event more info can be found by clicking the link at the bottom of the page (The full press release can be found here –>>big community offer)
the outline stages for the “Big Community Offer” are as follows, so there is still plenty of time before the end of January for you to get involved at the first stage
Big Community Offer steps
Let’s Talk (December 2010 to end of January 2011)
Let’s Agree to Work Together (December 2010 to February 2011)
Let’s Make a Plan (By 1st June 2011)
Let’s Decide (By 30th June 20110
Let’s Act
Together, we will act to deliver your new Big Community Offer.
Timelines to act on your Big Community Offer will vary, but together we will work to introduce new services and offers as quickly as possible for the benefit of our communities
From the links on the Council’s website you can also get more information about access to funding, insurance, volunteering and types of non profit organisations as well as examples of community projects elsewhere.
find out more
