The recording of the meeting can be found here:
The group consists of 12-15 members and meets up 5 days a week, for which they book a room at the Cheetwood Community Centre (funded privately) for 2 hours from 16:00-18:00 with Tuesdays and Thursdays extended hours which they get for free. The majority live within the area, however some drive. The hours are restricted due to funds available and this does make an impact since the group compromises different age groups some of which are retired and some working, hence it is hard of all of them to be able to meet. Although the area is reviewed as deprived, the group feels genuinely a strong connection in between themselves. Most of them have known each other for 30 years and they have been using this Centre for gatherings for the last 4. They don’t seem separated from the community, they know their neighbours and they are open to mix with people from other backgrounds and age groups.
For the Caribbean group gathering is not just for undertaking certain activities but rather for socializing. They strive for a building or space of their own where they could take responsibility even to promote themselves or get involved in community activities such as cooking or other activities such as art, sewing and feasible sports(i.e. table tennis). They have tried getting involved with business networking and are generally enthusiastic about organizing things. They have mentioned they tend to book a coach and organize trips as well. Unfortunately the Centre is run by Big Life which is a private charity and certain restrictions from that matter have affected amount of freedom with regards to organization and use of the spaces.
Overall there is a good spirit of belonging and attachment to the community. They also mentioned that even though the area has changed in the last 30 years recently it hasn’t improved much. Some of the concerns expressed from the group where mainly aimed at:
* Availability of funding
* Potential for larger space where they could be trusted with the responsibility to manage the space, organize events and raise money. In this respect it would be nice if they had keys for these spaces so they could use them with a 24h live cycle depending on various group needs.
* Possibility for this space to accommodate for a kitchen/ bar area with more tables and chairs in order to attract new visitors and expand the group size
* Possibility for a learning space with computers since they are quite eager to expand their knowledge considering we live in the digital era
* Opportunity for a better resolved outdoor space: street furniture, sports facilities for children, allocated plot for cultivation of vegetables and other edible crops to be managed by the group
* Separation needed between children and elderly with respect to acts of vandalism
* Better communication with local authority needed since the people at the centre run the centre itself however they would need more personal communication towards resolving issues
* Need for adequate outdoor seating , considerate of weather conditions, possibly fixed due to security reasons
* With respect to more people visiting and connection to the city centre at the moment there are 2 bus services running (59, …). It would be good to elaborate on these to attract new visitors and further funding that would raise awareness of the area but also help improve conditions.
No comments:
Post a Comment