Author: Laura

Following discussions with Hilltop School a young lady was identified who was interested in doing some community volunteer work. The young lady is due to leave school in July to go to Doncaster College in September, she has done some basic volunteering and is wanting to do something on her days off from college. Kirsty has down syndrome. It was agreed that Kirsty and her tutors would be introduced to a community group based at Bevan Crescent Neighbourhood Centre, having spoken to the residents in advance we arranged a visit. On the day Kirsty was joined by her tutors plus 2 other pupils. To be honest nobody knew how this visit was going to pan out, each of the girls has different needs and all find communication a challenge especially in new surroundings. What can I say though! from walking in the door the residents were so accommodating, instantly making the girls feel at ease, offering homemade cake was a deal breaker. It was obvious that they were nervous but as anxieties eased the girls relaxed, one of the tutors stated how amazing it was to see the interactions happening so quick and how nice it was to see the girls having two-way conversations with a variety of residents. The residents who are aged between early 50s to late 90s were in their element, Keith who is instrumental in the group even took the girls outside to see the garden and the things they were growing, with patience and a big smile he spoke to the girls, the girls responded by asking questions, again the tutors were amazed and one even had a tear in her eyes she said she had never seen anything so remarkable. As Kirsty and the girls made their plans to leave there was talk of a team from Hilltop versus the residents at indoor curling which really excited all involved. Kirsty is considering her options and we hope this is the start of something amazing for all.

The tutor commented, “The group were very warm and couldn’t do enough to make our students feel at ease. We felt incredibly welcome. It gave our students opportunity to practice their communication skills. Long term there are lots of opportunities for our students to develop their life skills and confidence.”

This month we have made links with 6th form pupils at Hilltop School at Maltby. Discussions have started to see if we can offer volunteering opportunities for the pupils to gain experience in the community, to build confidence. The pupils at the school have additional needs and the offers have to be carefully selected to meet individual needs. Talking with the 6th form tutor we are starting to put together an offer for the school to implement in September when the school returns for the new school year. We did want to try and do a test case before the start of the holidays if possible, so in the quickest turnaround (just 2 days) we matched an amazing young lady with a community group, with the possibility of the pupil volunteering on a regular basis in the future.

Ray came along to the S62 wellbeing walks this month. Ray is a gentleman in his 50s who suffered a stroke last year and has been living with mental health. Ray was a keen walker prior to the stroke and had become quite inactive. Ray reached out to the walking group as a way back to activities but needed to know that it was accessible and understanding off his needs. Sarah (the walk leader and S62 lead volunteer) spoke with him prior to the walk to ensure this was manageable to him, we adjusted the route to ensure his first walk with us was accessible and inclusive. Ray had a fantastic time; the group chatted the whole way round about anything and everything. Ray joined the group after for a cuppa, a biscuit, and another chat at the local library after the walk. Ray said “I’ve had a lovely time, I wasn’t sure I would be able to get back to activities following my stroke, but the compassion shown and the small changes that were made to enable me to participate really helped. I already feel part of something which is a feeling I haven’t had in a long time, just chatting and looking around at the beautiful surroundings made me feel 100% happier than I have in a long time.” Ray also spoke about tenancy problems he was having, which was picked up by Sarah and a referral was made into RotherFed to help him sort this, this was something he certainly wasn’t expecting as an outcome and he is very happy to receive the support to hopefully alleviate his concerns.

By Rob Gooding, Community Organiser

Woodsetts Neighbourhood Watch started pre covid, due to spate of burglaries in the area, during covid a lot of the elderly residents became anxious about leaving their homes made worse by the fact burglaries were happening in the daytime. The village asked what crime prevention measures could be implemented.

The group decided that it was time for them to act, after consulting with members and other residents of the area the group decided that they wanted CCTV cameras in the area to deter the burglars from the village and make residents feel safe again.

The group have had several meetings with RBMC’s (Rotherham Council’s) CCTV team and Neighbourhoods officers and identified locations where cameras would be most effective in capturing images of these crimes happening as well as being a deterrent for other issues in the area like offroad bikes. The decision was made that a network of nine cameras was needed to cover the area at a substantial cost for the group. Not deterred by this the group started planning how they could bring the community together and raise the funds needed to make their project happen.

The group decided the best way to raise money was a crowd funding page that local residents could donate to, this has been a massive success in the five weeks it has been active, the group have been working closely with all the community groups in the area as well parish councillors of Woodsetts to advertise the page bringing the community together with a common goal, the group didn’t want to stop there and also decided to put a collection box in the local post office and have a stall on a local event where they held a tombola and other fairground games to raise extra funds.

In the first five weeks of fundraising the group have almost raised half of the funds needed to have the system installed, showing what a community can achieve when they come together with a common interest.

By Yasmeen Ali, Community Engagement Officer

I have lived in Rotherham for the most of 35 years. I have got severe arthritis and have been very ill with this. I have been through a lot in my life and was very isolated and depressed and this made me house bound as a result. 

Social isolation and loneliness have an impact upon my life, my quality of life and health and wellbeing. It has an adverse effect on my health.  I have friends within the local area, but I haven’t seen them over 3 years due to the pandemic.  I don’t go out as I don’t feel comfortable or safe, I have little money so can’t afford busses or taxis, the language barrier also makes this difficult as I can’t explain to anyone where I want to be and how much help I need from them to get there.

When Yasmeen contacted me and told me about the session, she was doing at Tassibee, I was very hesitant to go as I have the fear of getting ill from catching covid. I don’t drive and am very scared to get public transport. Yasmeen kindly offered to pick me and drop me back off at home.

I was nervous to go but I can’t thank Yasmeen enough for taking me as I met some lovely ladies and felt part of a group. I also learnt about RotherFed, I didn’t even know it existed. I will benefit from some of the project as I am a single mum and struggle financially due to bills and being on benefits.

Since the session PA has contacted Yasmeen a few times and is looking forward to coming to the next session, she was very thankful and commented by saying “being isolated at home and not going out has really affected my mental health and wellbeing.  I felt at ease when attending the HRA session, I was worried and anxious, beforehand as I haven’t interacted with anyone for such a long time. Yasmeen made sure I was okay and checked upon me, I would like to go again”

By Rachel Cole, Senior projects officer

I have been supporting this group now since Summer 2021. The group originally got together to try and challenge Manvers Lake Trust about the yearly fees they all must pay to help towards the upkeep of the lake. Whilst they are still doing this, their main focus now is putting on events and activities for the local residents. They are now a constituted group and have approximately 12 committee members. The key members have attended various training sessions both through RotherFed and RMBC including, setting up a group, organising an event, first aid and safeguarding. 

They organised their first community litter pick in December, and these are now held on a regular basis. They also successfully applied for some CLF funding from the local Councillors and did a Christmas Elf hunt. They hid 50 elves around the estate and set up a treasure map. As this event was so well received, they decided to do it again for Easter this year.

The group met early January and decided they would like to put on an event for the Queen’s Jubilee weekend. They applied for some COMF funding to help cover the costs and were successful. The event took place on Thursday 3 June from 1pm until 4pm on the field in the middle of the estate, and what a successful event it was. There were over 30 stalls, children’s fairground rides, a circus workshop, fire engine and more. The group ran a raffle and tombola to raise funds to put back into the group for future events/activities. Over 500 people attended the event and positive feedback was received all-round. The residents are already asking when the next event will be! John Healey MP attended the event to show/give his support to the group and said how fantastic it was.

This was the groups’ first large event and although at times found it stressful, they really enjoyed organising it and running it on the day. They said it was so nice to hear the positive comments from the residents who really appreciated what they had done. It made all the hard work worthwhile. The group are now looking at other funding available for future events. They are also looking for funding to purchase a laptop for the group which will make life much easier. I will continue to support this group where required. 

I first visited Warreners Drive, Thrybergh in October 2021 when a group of residents contacted me to say they were interested in forming a constituted group to run from the Centre. The Centre had recently been redecorated and has now had new curtains and blinds fitted. I worked with this group, who called themselves UNIT (Uniting Neighbours in Thrybergh) for the next few months we helped to get them a constitution, bank account, etc.  In January 2022 we carried out a door knock around the area to find out if there was any interest from people who wanted to use the Centre and what activities they would like to see held there. A coffee morning was arranged for a couple of weeks later and since then things have gone from strength to strength.  A weekly coffee morning now takes place every Wednesday where the residents get together and have a cuppa, cake, and a chat.  As well as the coffee morning, we are working with RNN (Rotherham College) who have put on flower arranging sessions, which the ladies are loving, and some light exercise and mindfulness classes, these classes have been funded through the Councillor’s CLF funding. The group are also holding their first ‘real’ event on Friday 3 June, an afternoon tea for the Queen’s Jubilee. Over 30 people have already booked to attend this. 

Unfortunately, the group UNIT group decided in March that they no longer wished to continue, therefore, Friends of Dalton, East Herringthorpe & Thrybergh Green Spaces have kindly taken this new group under their wing and will support them until the group feels ready to be their own constituted group. One member of the Friends of Dalton group who has been learning flower arranging, recently applied for funding through Arnold Clark and was successful in getting £500. With this money she is making flower arrangements for the graves in the cemetery which are not tendered anymore, using the skills she has learnt at the flower class. Amazing!

The “previous” council warden who lives above the Centre said how nice it is that the Centre is being used again on a regular basis, she says it’s brought the life back into it.  She did say when we first did the door knocking that she hoped we could make a difference, but she doubted we would as people have tried before. It’s really nice to know that a difference has been made and the residents are once again enjoying the Centre and what it has to offer, and we hope this continues. I will continue to support the groups where needed and required.

The Engine Project has been a school led project that has been active for the last 7 years. The advertiser published a piece from them in the Young Tizer section of the paper in 2015.

We formed the Year 10 student council earlier this year and we were all eager to find a project to get stuck into. The Old Engine Pond in front of the school was brought to our attention due to concerns from the community, and we wanted to make a positive change. Everyone within the local community knows the Engine Pond and at some point will have played around it and in some cases, weather permitting, played in it! However, over the last three years it has become extremely polluted, overgrown and dangerous, not to mention the big impact on innocent wildlife that live there.We immediately wanted to get down there and clean it ourselves but thought that we may have little impact just on our own. Therefore, we contacted Kevin Burke who works for RMBC and is head of green spaces.We needed his help and support in order for us to get this project under way. Of course, for him to take us seriously, we wanted to make sure we had a thorough plan of action, a clear set of objectives, and the right team. Also, we wanted to be a lead on this project and to personally contact all the necessary people that we would need for this project to progress. As a result, the Winterhill Year 11 school prefect events team and Year 11 environment prefect helped us organise a meeting for us all to meet. To ensure we did the right thing with the pond, we also contacted the science, history and geography departments to research the area so we can create information to put around the pond.We had one more meeting so that we could set a date and decide exactly what we were going to do. We decided on November 21 and 28 that it would run over the both Saturdays from 10am to 2pm. We realised the more people that knew about this project, the more people would come and help us, and obviously we would get more vital work done to support the community. To promote the project, we went and spoke in all the school’s assemblies to invite Winterhill students to join us as well as local councillors, Rother FM and the Rotherham Advertiser to further get the message out there.The whole of the Winterhill student council took an active part in this too. Some contacted the councillors, some contacted the radio station and some asked the questions in the meetings. It was my job, as head of the student council, to ensure that it was organised and done professionally. Overall, the team have learnt so much from this experience and it’s not even started yet! We would also like to rename the pond to something a little more appealing to show off all our hard work.We want to make it a place that primary schools can visit and learn from.  But ultimately, we want to create something that we can all access and enjoy, something that was created by Winterhill students for the community. Our aim is simple – to make a difference in the community.

By Leoni Hill (age 14), Year 10 Winterhill School, head of the student council

Dan and I have met with Simon Jeffrey, the safeguarding lead from Winterhill, to discuss how we can work together on our project. Simon explained that the Engine Pond project has been running for 7 years as part of the school’s project that snowballed. This project became the bedrock of the school prefects that take on extra responsibilities. Simon has explained that they have received funding in the form of grants from RMBC and The Rotherham Advertiser. These funds were able to provide the new pavement at engine pond, £300 food parcels that were distributed to those in need and loneliness visits to care homes. The school has a team of 50 prefects that the lead the extracurricular activities that the school undertakes throughout the year. They specifically have a community team that we could work with to enhance what they already aim to achieve.

Simon is excited about the prospect at working together and believes that it’s a perfect time to begin engaging with a new batch of students to carry on the prefects. Simon wants to continue to engage in with the community and is also keen about connecting with residents. We have spoken about how a potential committee would work in the form of an official representative of the school on the committee as well as other community leaders.

I supported the community engagement on the Engine Pond. There were more than 10 young people from the school helping as well as representatives from school, local councilors, RMBC Green Spaces workers and local residents. It was amazing to see the how much enthusiasm and hard work is going into the area to establish the site as a place where nature can thrive without the threat of pollution and litter.

I am looking forward to seeing how the relationship between the school and residents develops, and how we can work together to make a more cohesive community in the area.

Wafaa has been living in England about 10 years as she moved here from Saudi. Her first language is Arabic and when she came into this country, she couldn’t speak any English. Wafaa has got three young children and was invited to the Eid party. When she was invited, she was very excited but equally very worried about if there were going to be any men there. I did reassure her that if there were they would be sat to one side.

Wafaa has little confidence and is socially isolated as she doesn’t have any friends or family living in her surrounding area. Before coming Wafaa contacted me and said to me that if she feels anxious that she will be leaving the Eid party. I did check on Wafaa a few times throughout the event and she was happy to have been part of the Eid party. she commented saying that she was happy with the respect that was given to her and the rest of the ladies who attended were very friendly towards her.

Wafaa is also a council tenant, and the project outcomes were shared with her. She is very interested and is now wanting to be involved in the tenant meetings. With Wafaa coming to the Eid party she has also put her name down to do an ESOL class at Mowbray Gardens Library as one of the professionals who was invited to the Eid party currently tutors sessions there. Wafaa thanked me for looking out for her and has asked if she can attend any further events that are put on at RotherFed

When we were doing the engagement work around neighbourhood centres, we discovered that the group that used to run out of the centre had stopped pre covid and a lot of residents had missed the sessions that were happening there

Following on from the Neighbourhood centre engagement work Neelam has been doing the residents have started holding regular coffee mornings, bingo sessions and chair exercise classes. To build on this engagement I have started to attend some of the sessions and gotten to know the committee, as the sessions continue to grow the group have started to look at getting a constitution and bank account to expand on the activities they run. The group consists of around 12 regular members so far and three committee members but is growing slowly as news spreads.

The first draft of the constitution was made this month and the group are currently making alterations to this document ready for it being adopted. When the group have this and the bank account, they would like to investigate funding to hold luncheon clubs and day trips to expand on their regular activity and hopefully attract more members from the community.