Laura, Author at Rotherham Federation

Serenity Community Gardens

Laura/ 6th July 202131st August 2023/ Good News Stories

By Sam Dixon, Community Organiser

I was approached by one of our volunteers who wanted to support with putting together an allotment group. The group came out of an idea created by CGL (Change, Grow, Live) who support people in recovery from addiction. The idea is around having an allotment space where people can go to grow things, create a space that they can be proud of, and, most of all, be there without judgement. The focus for the group is to be around recovery, not only for those battling the issues that exist around addiction, but also those overcoming mental health illness.

There was already a group of previous CGL users eager to join the group so it seemed quite simple. The group would dig and start planting, and I would assist with the paperwork so that they could look to opening a bank account and look to applying for funding.

This group was my first!! I was a so eager to get them up and running, to be honest, in hindsight, a little too eager. Not all of the group were confident in the responsibility of taking on a formal community group, and as part of my job role I should have been more aware of their lack of experience and how that was going to play a factor. Individuals had put themselves forward to take on the committee roles. There had even been a donation made to the group that paid for the ground rent for the plot with a little left over to pay for other bits and pieces.

Very quickly there was a conflict between the key members of the group, and it seemed as though the group was doomed to never get started. Another of the group leads was also facing up to the fact that they needed to go back into rehab and therefore wouldn’t be able to give their time as they would have initially liked. This also became a bit of a trigger for other members as well and it made me realise that to move forward I would have to offer a lot of support to the committee, and check in with them all regularly.

Serenity Community Gardens are now at the stage where they have a signed constitution, with committee members planning on attending the training being offered by RotherFed and VAR. They are working closely together to research which bank account will suit their needs best, a risk assessment and a code of conduct have been drawn up, and the allotment plot is starting to take shape. The members involved so far are proud of what they have achieved and looking at the future and at being able to offer the support to others in their journey of recovery.

Ferham Community Group

Laura/ 6th July 202121st July 2021/ Good News Stories

By Dan Barron, Community Organiser

The Ferham Community Group started over a year ago at the beginning of the pandemic with roughly 50 members. Now the online community page hosts 357 members. Kadeer has preserved with a consistent message” be the change you want to see”. It has not always been smooth sailing with engagement on the page but Kadeer’s message is starting to get through to the community. By conversing with those who only have negative comments and speaking with services Kadeer is building a community to create positive change. This is because he leads by example and now the community are starting to take notice.

Rotherham Gaming Community

Laura/ 7th June 202121st July 2021/ Good News Stories

By Dan Barron, Community Organiser

The gaming group is now at 74 members on Facebook, and Dan is now posting for the group on Instagram. I will be speaking with Benji the group moderator and community lead about finalising the venue and plans for the May 17^th guidance change.

The group wants to get a physical meet up as soon as possible. We have created a poll to see what people want to do with the first tutorial painting and testing army models. We are also looking at buying some supplies and building the first gaming board to be created by the gaming group so that attendees can being to practice war gaming! We have spoken to the lanes to start confirming dates now we are out of lockdown. Benji has started a painting competition in members are taking part in. Each member will receive a model to paint, and they will be posted in a poll to the group to decide on which model is the winner.

Friendship Call Volunteer – Chelsea

Laura/ 3rd June 20213rd June 2021/ Friendship Calls

Chelsea approached us upon reaching her 18th birthday during March 2021. She had previously attended a talk at Thomas Rotherham College on how to become a friendship call volunteer but because of lockdown could not enrol back in November due to being under the age of 18. Chelsea started her first calls on 22nd March 2021 and has since shown so much potential as a young volunteer. She has been very consistent, taken on any extra calls when needed. During this month, she had been asked to take an elderly lady called Maureen on permanently as her usual volunteer had gone off sick. They immediately formed a very strong bond. Chelsea approached me to ask if she would be able to Skype Maureen in the future. After some discussion, Chelsea set up a new email account so that she could protect her personal details and will now proceed using Skype calls to Maureen (Maureen is very good on Skype). I asked Chelsea if she would be willing to become our first Digital Champion Volunteer and she has agreed, she would be supporting people with their preferred choice of social media, and she will be going out and about in the community after lockdown training both tenant voice and friendship volunteers as well as any participants that may be interested. Further to this, Chelsea is a very well-spoken young lady who also volunteers for St Johns Ambulance, and she has also agreed to become an ambassador for any other young volunteers or students wishing to become volunteers. We have reported back to Thomas Rotherham College on how Chelsea is expanding her role with us. She is an amazing young lady.

Friendship Call Participant – Mary

Laura/ 2nd June 20212nd June 2021/ Friendship Calls

Mary came to us as a referral from Social Prescribing in September 2020. This lady had not been very well and although active had found that her life had changed since lockdown and she had then become ill. Mary enjoys cooking and reading books and during the initial stages of her being with us she had been receiving calls from staff members up until end of January. In February she was then paired with volunteer Chantelle and they immediately began to build a rapport with conversations lasting sometimes in excess of an hour and a half. They had become firm friends over the weeks following. Social Prescribing did a follow up with Mary in April and we received an email from the referrer ‘Just wanted to let you know that I got some lovely feedback from a patient who Chantelle calls. She is very much enjoying her calls.’ This highlights how important the calls are for those receiving them and Mary never misses a call.

Tenant Voice Group – Facebook and Virtual Coffee Mornings

Laura/ 2nd June 20212nd June 2021/ In Your Community

The Tenant Voice group has continued to grow since it was started in January reaching 32 members all of whom are council tenants in the Rotherham area. This offers a community page for tenants to discuss meetings, mentor new tenants and grow relationships making tenants meetings more sociable and hopefully this will increase the uptake of tenants at these meetings it also allows people that cannot attend the meetings a chance to add their input and find out what has happened.

We are currently holding virtual coffee mornings once a month for the group to meet and as restrictions ease we will explore getting the group constituted and having meetings in person. The tenant voice group are a mix of existing tenant voice members who attend the tenant scrutiny and hip (housing involvement panel) meetings as well as new people who are interested in getting involved.

Most of the new tenants have previously been supported by RotherFed to put in Housing Hub Suggestion forms for projects that would improve the estates they live on. This has also offered a platform for our youngest Tenant Voice Volunteer to get involved. Ebony is a 17-year-old living in council housing, she is very eager to get involved in anything community based, she has already asked that when she turns 18 if she can start to attend meetings. We are currently supporting Ebony and other volunteers to gain the skills they need to attend virtual meetings and get more involved with RMBC services moving forward. We hope that as this group continues to grow, we can identify more tenants that are interested in making positive changes in the areas they live in and continue to support these going forward.

Rawmarsh & Parkgate Friends of Green Spaces

Laura/ 2nd June 20212nd June 2021/ In Your Community

By Rachel Cole, Projects Officer

As I now cover the Rawmarsh area this group now falls in my HRA work. A couple of weeks ago I had a walkabout in Rawmarsh and met a couple of people from the group. I’ve also met the two local councillors who are involved in this group and regularly attend the litter picks put on. This group have their own Facebook page with nearly 400 members.

The group holds weekly litter picks, however, due to Covid-19 these were put on hold. The group did however go out on an individual basis to help to keep the community as clean and tidy as possible.

Henley Resident Association

Laura/ 2nd June 20212nd June 2021/ In Your Community

By Rob Gooding, Community Organiser

This month I have had the pleasure of mentoring the newly formed Henley Residents Association. The group have formed due to the old group dissolving last month. Since then, they have organised proactive community members who want to pick up the gauntlet of supporting their local community.

The HRA plan is to reignite the community spirit through activities to improve their neighbourhood by hosting coffee mornings with board games, weekly bingo at community centre and garden projects for those who want to leave their mark on the community centre garden on Oates close. The group also want to be able to put on away days for the residents like the good old days.

Eggy The Eggsellent Eggsplorer

Laura/ 1st June 20212nd June 2021/ Good News Stories, In Your Community

By Sam Dixon, Community Organiser

Easter was around the corner and our project wanted a fun activity for families to engage with. We came up with the idea of having an Easter character joining the Rotherham Federation team, who would go out on an adventure during the Easter holidays.

We decided that the first part of our project would be a design competition, young people were given the incentive of receiving a free prize for submitting a design to us. We had 19 entries for our design competition.

Swinton Mobile Farm Visit

Laura/ 21st April 202121st April 2021/ Good News Stories, In Your Community, Swinton and Rockingham

Rotherfed worked with Councillor Wyatt, Councillor Sansome and Brookfield Junior Academy in Swinton to fund a Mobile Farm Visit, which was provided by Ian’s Mobile Farm (www.iansfarm.com). The aim was to provide a fun activity in what has been a difficult year for the pupils.

Lauren Moore, the Inclusion Manager at the school said ‘I just wanted to write to say a huge thank you on behalf of the whole Brookfield Junior Academy family – staff, pupils and their families for funding the mobile farm visit. The mobile farm visit yesterday and was a huge success. Thank you for making happy memories and experiences for our pupils.’