3.0 Demonstrable Support from the Community
Consulting in Ivinghoe is an everyday experience! Since hearing that Bucks County Council were proposing to decommission the Ivinghoe Old Victorian School Building, a village flier, asking ‘Is the space valued? – Can you make Suggestions?’ was distributed. Immediately thirty emails / ten phone-calls were received, which led to forming the ‘Save Old School’ group in May 2011.
● At a Parish Council Meeting, our Group received a motion of support – see Appendix 10.3
● Raised awareness at village summer fete – free badge- logo’s – contact list created, petitions were signed.
● The Public were invited to chart-vote for up to twenty uses and activities for which the Old School building could be used.
● Steering group of fourteen villagers was formed, meeting weekly.
● We informed the County Council of our interest, to commence Community Asset Transfer (CAT) negotiation – support for the proposal has been given and affirmed by Avril Davies, County Councilor – see Appendix 10.3
● Village magazine articles were published in Ivinghoe and in neighbouring Pitstone, in the Bucks Herald newspaper, and on the two-village website, inviting suggestions and volunteers.
● Joined BIG Lottery Village SOS!
A Village Questionnaire was issued – local community members have been involved with questionnaire filling and delivery which all requires a great deal of support and coordination. Questionnaire correlation results are shown in the Appendices. Liaison with Local Societies, Parish / District / County Councils, Social Care Services, Local Area Forum was established. Results bolstered confidence: greater individual need awareness, leading to CAT negotiations, ‘Community Impact Bucks’ cooperation, joining ‘Community Matters’, gaining ‘Locality’ advice.
We have consulted with Community Partnerships – including The Church ‘family’, who have sent a fully supportive letter with the full weight of the Church family behind it – see Appendix 10.3; the Ivinghoe Old Town Hall Committee, working with the new Beacon Villages Community Library, are supportively working with us to achieve complimentary synergy between the two venues; and we are in correspondence with local clubs and societies, many of which use the adjacent village Lawn, who are supportively – as with the large local group Ivinghoe Entertainments – exploring avenues of mutual benefit and enhanced potential for the community.
We have also consulted Angie Williams of Age Concern; a variety of Older People’s Action Groups; Bucks ‘Over Fifties Forum’; RADAR – a campaigning group for Disabled People. Local Officers who have indicated support for the proposal, or with whom we have liaised in forming the proposal, are: Karen Groom, Chair Ivinghoe Parish Council;
Christabel Boersma, Vice-Chair Ivinghoe Parish Council; Lisa McArthey, Clerk Ivinghoe Parish Council; Avril Davies, Bucks County and Aylesbury Vale District
Councillor; Jackie Wesley, Community Support Officer, Bucks CC; Robert Ellis,
Landlord and Tenant Surveyor, Bucks CC; Bharti Quinn, Joint Commissioning
Manager, Bucks CC; Bev Frost, Communications Officer, Bucks CC; Stephanie
Moffat, Community Support Officer, Aylesbury Vale, DC; Lynne Maddocks,
Community Liaison Officer, Aylesbury Vale DC; Mark Aughterlony, Planning Officer,
Aylesbury Vale DC; Paul Hems, Planning Officer, Aylesbury Vale DC; Bucks CC
Central Access Team; Stephen Rolph and Neil Berry of ‘Locality’; Sarah Allwood and
Andrew Long of Community Impact Bucks.
In process towards application, we have consulted with potential funders, and applications made for potential grants to BIG Lottery Village SOS and SilverDreams BIG Lottery Fund; and underway are applications to Community Chest, Leader Fund, Vital Villages, Rural Enterprises Scheme and ‘Community Force’.
Because these proposals reflect our villager’s views
we are assured of their regular use and attendance! The ‘Work Hotel’ was suggested by entrepreneurial mums! Overwhelming numbers requested a community café, with activities to compliment it – table-top games – dominoes, arts, crafts, ‘memory lane’ photographs, stories, film-making – photography – skill-share. Tailored cookery workshops, some in collaboration with local /national businesses – promoting village ‘life-long learning’ have a great variety of tailored and specifically directed sessions on offer. Dance, keep-fit, more sedentary IT lessons and use – intergenerational costume/ prop-making supporting Community Theatre offer up a variety of imaginative skill-sharing.
However with that imagination and our stance to be reactive as well as pro-active we can adapt to follow the need, thus staying sustainable and current.