Bognor Community Action Network - a brief history

Bognor CAN – Community Action Network was developed as a direct result of the successful work of the Pevensey Project which was funded through SEEDA (South East England Development Agency) from 2004 to 2006 and was awarded a SEEDA ‘Highest Achievement Award’.

The aim of the Pevensey project was to work in partnership with a wide range of organisations from the statutory and voluntary sector and community groups to develop projects and activities for children and young people, in the deprived ward of Pevensey, which was identified by the Government as being in the top 20% of the most deprived wards in the UK.

Below we have listed some (but not all) of the activities that have been delivered by our organisation since it started. We have always designed our activities using a ‘bottom-up’ approach, where needs are identified first, and then funding is sought. We have gained a reputation for good quality, relevant, popular activities; this has led to repeat requests from commissioning bodies. However, we always ensure that an element of user feedback is incorporated into our events, some of which has been formally recorded. We have used this report to present evidence of the wide consultation, feedback and overall community ownership of Bognor CAN.

In February 2006 and nearing the end of the Pevensey project, a survey was carried out by the Chair of the projects steering group, to establish the need for an independent organisation, to further develop what had been successfully achieved by the Pevensey project.

Nineteen organisations responded to the questionnaire expressing the need to develop an organisation that would continue to develop services for children and young people, to widen areas of work to other deprived wards in Bognor Regis, to work with a wider age range and to develop opportunities and skills for local people of all ages.

August 2006 a Pevensey Community Festival was delivered to promote community cohesion and to identify activity need. Questionnaires were given out at the Festival to 380 local people of varying ages and 110 were returned. This also supported the need to develop a new organisation to be called Bognor CAN who, would continue to work with organisations to promote community cohesion and meet the needs of the community.

February 2007 we were commissioned by the Children’s Fund to facilitate two consultation events to establish the needs of children and young people on the Trees Estate, in the deprived ward of Bersted. Through a Music and Arts day, we had an attendance of 48 children and young people of which 31 chose to fill in questionnaires. We then ran an Arts and Craft day and had an attendance of 78 children and young people of which 56 chose to fill in questionnaires.

March 2007 we were approached by the BBC Southern Counties Radio to facilitate a film project to consult with local young people about their town Bognor Regis. This was funded by the BBC and the films can be seen here >>

August 2007 we delivered a three day Community Festival ‘Family Fun Days’ to further consult with the community to establish activity need. This was funded by Awards for All.

September 2007 we delivered a Community Town Show promoting Health, Community Safety and the Environment. This was the first of its kind in Bognor Regis. The last Town Show that was held in Bognor Regis was at least twenty five years ago. This was funded through Arun District Council and Bognor Regis Town Council. We consulted with the community through participation in activities such as Emergency First Aid workshops delivered by WANT Medical Services, Health Checks delivered by Lloyds Pharmacy and the Community Health improvement Nurse, Healthy Eating Workshops delivered by Kitchen Academy, Bogus Callers delivered by Trading Standards and many diversionary activities were delivered aiming to identify what may reduce anti-social behaviour. In partnership with Bognor Regis Horticultural Society and Bognor Regis Town Council, we facilitated an opportunity for local people of all ages to demonstrate what they had achieved e.g. something they had grown or made.

Following the first event, we have repeated the Community Town Show in September 2008 and August 2009.

December 2007 we delivered a Christmas Community Event to promote community cohesion, provide opportunities for children and raise funds for Bognor CAN. We repeated the Christmas event in 2008 and 2009 raising almost £1500 over the three events.

March 2008 we worked with the BBC Southern Counties Radio to develop an informative film about the dangers of binge drinking. ‘Lashed But Not Crashed’ details of which can be found on the BBC web site here>>

The film was commissioned by the Primary Care Trust, Sussex Police and West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service and Arun District Council’s Crime & Reduction Partnership.

During 2008 and as a result of our 2007 Community Town Show, we were commissioned to deliver 25 Community Cook & Eat, and Basic Family First Aid, Paediatric First Aid and Defibrillation for families and First Aid at Work courses for small voluntary groups and volunteers, commissioned through Outcome 22 administered by Arun District Council and managed by the Arun Local Strategic Partnership. We delivered 15 two day cook and eat courses for families from the deprived wards of Bognor Regis.

The Basic First aid courses continue to run.

August 2008 we delivered a four week activity project for children and young people. This was commissioned by Sussex Police Authority, Arun Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnership, West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Arun Wellbeing and Health Partnership and Arun Local Strategic Partnership.
The scheme was to provide meaningful activities for children and young people of all ages in order to reduce anti-social behaviour during the holiday period, when there is no statutory youth provision and often a considerable increase in criminal damage and public nuisance.

September 2008 repeat of Community Town Show.

December 2008 repeat of Community Christmas Fair

December 2008 we also delivered a Christmas Lunch for older people at King George Court, Bognor Regis, sheltered housing for older people.

February 2009 we launched a Cook & Eat Jamie Oliver Style Project. This was commissioned by the Health & Well Being Partnership. Three community volunteers, who have experience of social deprivation and health inequalities, were trained by the Primary Care Trust to teach local families in similar situations to cook and eat on a budget. We are in the process of delivering ten five weekly Cook & Eat courses for up to 10 people per course, on £4 for a family of four. Since the launch in February, we have participated in community events to promote the project and to recruit local families to participate. We have engaged 22 families through six courses to date.

The PCT normally train professionals to deliver the courses across West Sussex, but Bognor CAN volunteers had the opportunity to train as trainers who, have proved to be extremely successful in engaging with deprived communities as they have first hand experience of social disadvantage and health inequalities. Bognor CAN trained volunteers, have given presentations to professional trainees attending courses delivered by the PCT across West Sussex.
Following our launch, the BBC Politics Show South filmed the project which appeared on the show on Sunday 15 February 2009.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/politics_show/7877577.stm

Following the success of the launch and the programme, they then filmed the project focussing on budget shopping on 5th May 2009.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/politics_show/8082949.stm
Since starting we have an additional three community volunteer, PCT trained trainers.
April 2009 we launched exercise classes for adults, commissioned by the Health & Well Being Partnership. The aim of the classes is to improve health and reduce obesity. After taster sessions, the community decided on boxercise and dance aerobics. Each class accommodates up to 20 participants at any one time.

May 2009 we launched a ‘grow your own fruit & veg’ project to encourage community families to grow their own vegetables in containers. Families grew tomatoes, herbs, strawberries, potatoes, peas, beans, lettuce and more. Children also learnt about how vegetables are good for them through fun activities. Some of the participants entered the produce they had grown in our 2009 Community Town Show.

June 2009 we worked with a local business Sime Darby who commissioned us to facilitate a community arts day to design hoardings for their land on the Shripney Road, Bognor Regis. ‘Community, Environment and Sea Front’. The idea of the project is that the community take ownership of the project. We engaged over 200 people of all ages from the deprived wards of Bognor Regis.

June 2009 by request of community volunteers, we entered the 2009 Bognor Regis Carnival, where Bognor CAN was the overall prize winner.

August 22nd 2009 we delivered our third Community Town Show.

August 25th 2009 Bognor CAN won a national competition with Dulux and the Sun newspaper to have part of the Youth & Community Centre where we are based painted. Members of the community joined in to lend a hand or just joined in on the day.

September 2009 we were commissioned by Arun District Crime & Disorder Partnership to deliver a 40 week football project for young people aged 9 to 16 years of age. We run this on Saturday afternoons, which aims to reduce anti-social behaviour by young people.

November 2009 we repeated our Community Christmas Fair.

November 2009 we secured funding to do a pilot project ‘Lunch Club for Older People’. This aims to work with older people to cook healthy winter warming recipes which is led by our trained cook and eat trainers.

December 2009 Bognor CAN was nominated by one of our community participants for a ‘Special Achievement Award’ for support to the community.
http://www.bognor.co.uk/community-awards/VIDEO-The-Community-Awards-2009.5920559.jp

In addition to the above, we manage and support a Martial Arts project for children aged three years of age and upwards over three hours on Friday afternoon and early evening.
We have facilitated training events including the First aid courses, volunteer management, PCT training for trainers and Food Hygiene Certificates for local people, volunteers and partner organisations. We have received numerous letters from participants who have benefitted from our activities.
We have worked with 22 volunteers of all ages since we became a charity. Many have remained with us and given many hours of their time and gained new skills, certificates and qualifications such as IT competence, cook & eat training for trainers, nutrition, Food Hygiene Certificate and First Aid.

Our aims for the future
We continue to work with the community and partner organisations from the voluntary and statutory sectors to identify gaps in services and aim to deliver activities that will meet local need.
From the needs analysis carried out by Arun Neighbourhood Network, it has been established that there is a need to deliver activities for older people who do not access mainstream services and who are socially isolated. We want to develop services to meet those needs.
West Sussex County Youth Service withdrew their service from the Bognor Regis Youth & Community Centre due to funding constraints. This has created a huge gap for young people in Pevensey, Orchard and Bersted Wards as the nearest youth centre is in the Town Centre, approximately a mile away from Pevensy Ward. Since the withdrawal of the Youth Service provision, there has been an increase in antisocial behaviour by young people. We aim to address anti-social behaviour issues by young people.
With our core costs covered Bognor CAN develop and thrive and meet the needs of the community and our partners.
Bognor CAN December 2009