BARNSBURY HOUSING ASSOCIATION

COMMUNITY COHESION 2011

Community Development 2011

Since April 2011 there have been a lot of events and activities to report to the committee that have been arranged for all residents of Barnsbury Housing Association.

In the following information given I hope that you will see that although we are on the start of a long journey some progress has already been achieved within the local community.

May 2011

CHELSEA FLOWER SHOWThe first event arranged was a visit to the Chelsea Flower Show for the over 60’s on the 26th May 2011and was attended by 14 residents keen to experience the Royal flower show of the year. All who attended said that they were grateful to BHA and that they wouldn’t have been able to attend if this chance had not been given to them. One resident Robin Don, who lives in Pugin Court, Liverpool road commented via e mail: “Just a wee note from Winnie and myself to say what a delightful outing that was yesterday. Even the thunderstorm helped make it an invigorating experience!It was the first time that either of us had been and certainly would never have attempted it without your inspiration. Thank you very much”

THEATRE TRIP

We managed to get some theatre tickets to see the famous dance group Flawless at the Peacock Theatre on their world tour and various residents of all ages attended and had a fantastic evening of fun.

Mandy Sergeant a resident from 303 Upper Street who came along to the show sent in an email saying “It was great - thanks for everything!”

May - June 2011

MEET & GREET EVENT To enable me to get some idea of what the residents wanted from Community development I arranged a Meet

& Greet event, held at St. Mary’s Crypt, Upper Street on the 20 th May 2011 with refreshments available to everyone.

An afternoon session was attended by four residents and the evening sessions attracted 8 residents to come along.

Although the numbers were low the information gathered was very valuable to the future consultation on activities to be considered through the Community Development programme.

There were many suggestions of places of interest to visit and when asked about a Table top sale to help residents who may be struggling with the current economic climate everyone was in agreement that this not only could help residents but also be the start of bringing residents closer as a community which they felt was not happening at present.

This exercise was well worth the effort it took to arrange .

YOUNG PEOPLE’S MEETING Having held a meeting at St. Mary’s for residents I also wanted to get the ideas from the young

people of BHA and so on the 16th June at 6pm a young peoples meeting took place with 6 young residents attending at BHA offices in Morland Mews.

The young people had a lot to say for themselves and seemed really excited by the activities organised for the summer break and also they came up with some really good initiatives themselves for activities for the future.

Ideas included a trip to Legoland, a visit to Arsenal Football Club to watch a match and a request that perhaps a basketball net could be erected in the football pitch area.

Notes were taken during the meeting and all who attended received a copy of the minutes and will be kept updated with further meetings in the future.

July 2011

TABLE TOP SALE The table top sale was held on Saturday 2nd July 2011 and 12 stalls were hired by residents at £5 per table

with the proceeds going to The Stuart Low Trust, an Islington charity who’s mission is to ensure that local people affected by social isolation or mental distress have the support they need to manage their lives successfully.

Although the flow of people was slow throughout the afternoon all residents reported that they had made a small profit and I think for me the most important outcome from this event was that a group of residents afterwards stayed out in the Mews till late in the evening having a great time getting to know one another and having some fun together.

Hopefully the start of a renewed community spirit on Morland Mews.

The Stuart Low trust

HAMPTON COURT FLOWER SHOW Following on from the success of the Chelsea flower show tickets were bought for the Hampton Court flower

show and 40 residents from young children to some of the older residents of BHA attended.

A group travelled by train from to Hampton Court station and then boarded the boat along to the entrance to the show.

As you can see from the pictures below the day , with fantastic weather was a brilliant sight for all who attended.

July 2011

Every day we visited somewhere different including Tonbridge swimming pool, Penhurst gardens and adventure playground, Camber Sands and Hever Castle.

We also went to the local park and on the day before we left we al went to the Hop Farm adventure park where despite the awful weather everyone enjoyed themselves with pottery painting, karaoke , basket ball and having a great time in the soft play area.

HOPPERS RESIDENTIAL On the 29th July 2011 a mini bus and two cars

left London for Kent with 27 adults and children to have a weeks holiday at Hoppers residential in Five Oak green.

Although some had been before for most it was the first experience and for some of the children the first time they had been to the countryside in their lives.

Once settled in everyone was given daily chores to do which included laying the breakfast table, sandwich orders for the day trips, cleaning the communal toilets and washing up.

July 2011

During the week I had the opportunity to talk to the residents and find out more about what they would like to see achieved at Barnsbury for the benefit of all residents.

We spoke about the Tenants’ Association at length and some of the residents expressed an interest in getting involved with the TA, and came up with some very god suggestions and ideas to get the TA established as a positive asset for the organisation.

I have arranged to meet with these residents in September to take forward the actions that they would like to see happen.

This experience was important for all these residents, regardless of their ages to establish new relationships, have a break that they would not normally have been able to afford and in terms of value for money it was a great success.

Summer Sports/Arts Programme 2011

During the summer months it was agreed that a programme of activities would be arranged for the younger residents of BHA to give them a positive outlook during their holiday time.

Two sessions were arranged with a local artist to facilitate a glass painting and a face painting workshop which not only allowed residents to make a item with glass painting and have their faces painted but to learn the art at length and take their experience away with them to use elsewhere.

Both sessions were a success with around ten residents attending from very young to our older residents and a lot of fun was had by all.

We also facilitated football and crickets sessions on the football pitch at Morland Mews over a two week period and again all the young people who attended had a fantastic time. Approx. 8-10 young people attended each session.

Forthcoming Events

• Annual Fun Day

• Cinema Trip

• Legoland

• Thorpe Park visit

• Go Karting

• Xmas Shopping Trip

• Pantomime Trip