Bad News or Good News - which do you want first?

Sad news - no People's Millions for North Deal. Not even People's Hundreds!

One little bit of good news is that we can still install two little bits of play equipment, three trees and half a path with the match funding of £29k we have already raised. The installation starts next week, so, although it is going to look very measly,  the kids will still get something out of our efforts, in time for the summer holiday.

It's not all bad - although it took a lot of time, and some money, to go for this grant, I am pleased to say that there are more people interested in what we are doing as a result of the campaign. Plus we have gained a few new volunteers to come and work with us in the community centre. That's really good news.

So now it's back to the drawing board for us.Wonder if I need to rebrand my blog now?
WATCH THIS SPACE...

See www.northdealcommunity.co.uk to learn more about us

Hotting up? It certainly is!

I'm delighted at the response I am getting from all kinds of people who want to help us get the word out. Maybe it is because our project is very wide reaching. This is what we wrote in our application form for the Lottery....

"By improving this green space we will improve the lives of hundreds of people living in our neighbourhood. We know many people would like to use the space more and we know why they are reluctant to go there right now (not enough play equipment, too many dogs, too muddy, boring etc etc). This project will help us create a place that all kinds of people, old and young, will want to spend time in. 

Young people will benefit from having a more stimulating place to play and a safe place to meet their friends. Parents and carers will be able to go along and relax, stroll, and spend leisure time in the same place as their children.

Older people will benefit from strolling in the fresh air in a pleasant environment. This will improve their physical health. Having more opportunity to spend time with family or friends in a high quality environment will help reduce isolation for lots of people and may even keep them mentally healthy.

Finally, the local people working together on this project will benefit from the learning, the  stimulation and the satisfaction that volunteering brings."  

Thought for the Day - Is there life beyond 30th June?

I can only see four days ahead at the moment and as the pace hots up it is more exhausting than satisfying - but I guess we will be relaxed, one way or another, by Thursday evening.

See www.northdealcommunity.co.uk to learn more about us

Getting our young people on board

I'm heading for Castle Community School on Friday afternoon, to tell them about the Community Park. The young people selected the equipment for the play area, one part of the Community Park project, so it is good to be able to go back and speak to them about the next steps. Am hoping they will be keen to support our bid and will spread the word around amongst their friends and family.

Am also planning to promote our Play Day on August 3rd. Even if we don't get the People's Millions we can get out in the sunshine and have a good time. This is the only green space we have and it is time to start using it properly.

It's about building a neighbourhood, 
not a play area. 




See www.northdealcommunity.co.uk to learn more about us

Rain rain go away, don't come back..

It certainly rained on our parade today but we carried on regardless. The TV crew arrived and did their thing, interviewing lots of different people, including kids and teenagers.

We got a small crowd on the field and I was thrilled that local people cared enough to come out in the wind and the rain. Everybody got damp and only a few had a chance to tell the world how much this community park means to them. Sorry we couldn't get more in!

Sandown School and Castle Community Schools were both great, putting themselves out and helping us with the filming. Thanks Neil and Anne-Marie! Best of all, the kids were all great. Doesn't it make you proud?



See www.northdealcommunity.co.uk to learn more about us

Cameras, lights, community ACTION!

It's all getting a bit more real now - and things are hotting up.

The TV crew are coming down tomorrow so we have been talking nicely to schools - we want our young people to be a part of it. It was they who planned this community park and they who chose the equipment to go in it. They were also concerned enough about the rest of the population to add benches, paths and picnic areas too. So I am very pleased that Head Teachers are happy to release them from school for the afternoon.

This was our tree planting day a couple of years ago, when some very handy teenagers came and dug with us.We'll be adding a lot more if we get this grant. A park isn't a park without trees!

 See www.northdealcommunity.co.uk to learn more about us

Next Stop - Play Day 3rd August.

We're already into planning the next day of fun, which we will do in the summer holidays. We're joining in National Play Day on 3rd August.(and hoping for warm dry weather this time). Who knows, we may have a new play area by then.

We've bought some Giant Toys and some games stuff so we will have planty for kids to do, whatever size they are. We will put on some buns, I think, and we have sponsorship from the Co-op for our drinks - thank you Cooperative Food, West Street, Deal!

We are hoping the local PTA will send us their  face Painting team then we can all have a laugh as puppies or pirates. 


See www.northdealcommunity.co.uk to learn more about us

An unexpected meeting

Amazing - I went to a social event last night and met a People's Millions winner from Herne Bay! She was very encouraging and told us how happy their group was with the way their project turned out.

We have had a call from our selected play equipment supplier who is keen to set a date for installation. The old play area, already defunct and about to be scrapped, could well be ripped out at the same time if the council can time it to coincide. It's going to be a busy summer, no matter what.



Thought for the day - Just how bad will we feel if we are not successful? Is Meridian-wide failure worse than local failure? Let's not go there yet...

See www.northdealcommunity.co.uk to learn more about us

Big WET Lunch!

Sadly, the weather was windy and wet for our Big Lunch but I am glad to say that rain did not stop play!  We still managed to celebrate our People's Millions selection and talk about what we aim to do to a few dozen folk who came with kids or with dogs or both. I was pleasantly surprised to see how many turned up, to have a juggle and get a bit of cake. One kind lady brought a cake herself to add to our stall.

Seems to me that lots of residents are really keen to see this Community Park happen as soon as possible. They don't necessarily join committees or go to annual meetings but people really do care and are interested in genuine community action

The greatest thing about this project is that it is entirely resident led. The council can't help us with this, other than allow us to use the land, so it is all up to us.

The first plans for the park were developed by primary school pupils - ten and eleven year olds who said what this park should look like and what it should have in it. (Consultants would call what they did a "Visioning Exercise"). After talking to the grown ups too, we turned for the final choice of equipment to local secondary school students. They made sure the swing and the spinning saucers were suitable for all children and young people, without any help from us. So then the design was set and it was just fund raising after that.

Just fund raising... yeah!



See www.northdealcommunity.co.uk to learn more about us

North Deal Big Lunch - our first promotional event for local people

We have a Big Lunch happening tomorrow on the very playing field we want to fix up. I am really looking forward to it. We going to have some giant toys, a Treasure Hunt and a Circus Skills ring. Glad to say that Joel from Kent Children's Fund Network is coming to lead that for us. I often say I can juggle five things as once if things get busy at work, but that's tasks not balls. Maybe I'll learn to twirl a plate or two?

Another partner - the social enterprise Whole School  Meals - will be bringing some free cake for everybody to enjoy.  This is a sampler of the yummy stuff they will be selling out of the Community Cafe soon to open in the community centre. Things are looking up for North Deal but we still have to work hard to make sure our kids have a green space which meets their needs. 

Hope everybody who comes for the free cake will agree with us that this space really needs a makeover. The small children's play area that is there at present is actually scheduled for removal soon, (half the equipment has already gone - it has to be taken out as it deteriorates and becomes unsafe). 

I'll put up a photo or two after the Big Lunch. In the meantime, here are a few people from the neighbourhood partnership which is behind the project, at one of our early consultation events.






Thought for the day...We all know we have to get into cyberspace, get Tweeting and Blogging if we want to make a difference but I can't help wondering just who is watching/ reading/ listening?  Is anybody out there?



See www.northdealcommunity.co.uk to learn more about us

Launch Day for North Deal Community Park

Day 1, captain's log 1st June 2011, and North Deal Community Park sets off into the blue.....  It's thrilling and scary at the same time. After what seems like years of work (well it is, six years, actually) we are in the running for a substantial grant from the Lottery.

I know we have a great project and that the people who live in our neighbourhood both need and deserve this Community Park. But can our community group convince other people that we need it more than the others? And is it good to be competitive anyway? Don't all these projects need the money just as badly??? Guess I need to put that thought out of my head and play the game.

It's quite a responsibility, actually. Having to put on a whizz bang campaign, with loads of new media, (and old media) to persuade strangers who don't know us or our place that we deserve this funding. We are just amateurs, after all. We are completely committed volunteers, and dedicated to our cause, but amateurs nevertheless. What if we don't get the money because we do a bad job of campaigning?

Well, let's give it a go and see what happens... Come back next week and see how it is going.