Police and Crime Commissioner Rupert Matthews has welcomed the huge progress being made to reduce isolation and help residents thrive on a Leicester estate.
The Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland PCC has invested much-needed funding into the New Parks area of the city - one of three People Zones he supports in order to strengthen local communities and protect them from harm.
Volunteers and service providers have been working closely with Leicester City Council to engage residents living in the flats off Aikman Avenue, more locally known as the Burns Flats area of New Parks. The aim is to reduce their vulnerability and introduce them to the wide range of services and support sessions available to help them connect with the wider community.
Community workers initially brought some of the sessions held within the local community to the flats to create a safe and comfortable environment for the residents to meet their neighbours and support providers.
Their efforts were boosted by the opening of revamped community rooms at the flats earlier this month which has seen a variety of drop-in services developed for the local community including an after-school club, a housing surgery and volunteering opportunities.
Mr Matthews said: "Although it is still early days, I am really impressed with the progress being made to help these residents get to know each other and to try out some of the services and activities available to them. This is chiefly down to the perseverance of the dedicated community team on the ground who are working hard to build links and develop a rapport with the residents. They really care about their wellbeing.
"I have visited the area several times and have been out delivering Crimestoppers leaflets to residents this month. It is wonderful to see the transformation taking place and people taking advantage of all the community facilities being provided for their benefit.
"The community room has been a huge bonus to their work, becoming the focus for a wide range of services and activities that help people feel part of their community and importantly increase their awareness of how they can access support if needed. Since its launch, more people are popping in and bringing their families which is exactly what was intended.
"Small steps really do matter and already residents are engaging in local community projects, attending support sessions and the Neighbourhood Mental Health Café. There is still much more to do, but I am impressed and proud of the inroads already being made which emphasise the value of the People Zones project overall."
Jo Randall, Director of Team Hub, and leader of the project at the Burns Flats said:. "People Zones has been the driving force behind this project. We never looked at this area really before the People Zone - We actually found this room whilst out on a patch walk with the PCC, so it definitely highlighted an area of need."
"It made us look at the flats and see the lack of communication between all services. People Zones has helped to bring it all together, it's given us the contacts, helped us to build the relationships and now the community room has support from services such as the local beat team, ASB, Housing, local council etc.
"The community needed to band together and find someone to lead on this on this project, which Team Hub was happy to do. We have worked really hard to engage with hard-to-reach groups, provide them with the support they were lacking and empower the residents to play a more active role in their community - We are in the process of setting up multiple groups within the community room, such as coffee mornings and youth clubs and are planning to set up a tenant's association in future. With the community's support, the options are endless.
"We are already making a positive difference - within the first four weeks of opening, we have directly supported 17 families and 46 individuals."
Jo Johnson, New Parks Adventure Playground Manager, added: ‘'New Parks People Zone has been such a positive project for local projects and the wider community. Not only has it funded much needed projects which has benefited local people but it has brought community groups and other agencies together."
The community rooms have hosted beat surgeries with local neighbourhood police officers and meetings with councillors and housing providers to give residents a chance to have their say and raise their concerns.
The area used to benefit from a tenants' association many years ago and community workers are in early discussions about the possibility of setting up a new one to build further support platforms in the area and empower residents to take an active role in their area.
There are currently three People Zones across the force area: Bell Foundry, New Parks and Thringstone & Whitwick. People Zones is committed to tackling inequalities and building on the strengths of the local community. The project promotes inclusion and empowers people to play an active role in making their area safer.
Every year, the PCC holds funding rounds to enable organisations within the People Zones to apply for grants to invest into activities and projects that support the aims of the initiative and help build resilience within the communities.
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Editors Note:
Burns Flats is a group of seven blocks of Flats just off Aikman Avenue in New Parks.
The area is known as the ‘Burns Flats' by the community due to the name of each block - Auburn, Bentburn, Crayburn, Deansburn, Emburn, Fairburn and Gorseburn.
