Celebration of the Successes of Our Friends!
 |
Perry Common celebrates the blooming successes of their friends
The Perry Common Guide Neighbourhood held a bloomin' special event on Wednesday 18th April as it shared the blossoming success of its friends amidst some celebrations of its own. Pupils from Perry Common Junior and Infants and Wilson Stuart School and Sports College mingled with residents from around Birmingham and local Councillors to hear about their recent achievements in making their communities better places to live.
Those attending were treated to a sharing of the diverse experiences of four local neighbourhoods that the Perry Common Guide Neighbourhood has supported through the administration of its seedcorn grant. Whereas Wyrley Birch and Kingstanding neighbours explained the positive impact on their communities from their large-scale bulb-planting and community consultation events and environmental improvements, Northfield described their innovative approach to engaging more residents in the decisions of their locality. Quinton Community Choir in contrast treated guests with a foretaste of their repetoire that will be part of a week-long singing festival in the summer.
As Mary Harvey, local resident said,
It is wonderful that there is so much to celebrate both here in our own community and in the neighbourhoods around us... we should all be so proud how young and old are coming together to make our communities better places to live!
Perry Common's own Street Level Project (outreach to young people by young people) was also officially launched by local Councillor, Zoe Hopkins, with each member receiving a warm hoodie for patrols on those chilly winter evenings. And all this was set against the back-drop of thousands of daffodil bulbs in bloom on Perry Common's Ring that were planted in a joint Guide Neighbourhood project last autumn with Wilson Stuart and Perry Common Junior and Infant pupils – all of whom received an ice-cream as a thank-you. Photograph albums were presented to each group as an official momento.
The whole event was topped off with a rousing rendition of 'Goodnight Sweetheart' by Quinton and Perry Common Choir, Ring of Sound that sent guests singing on their way home.
Contacts
Liisa Wiseman, 07865 083 312 Linda Hines, 07960 386 252
liisa.wiseman@btconnect.com linda.hines@blueyonder.co.uk
Ends.
Notes to Editors:
The Guide Neighbourhood Programme, originally funded by the Home Office, is in essence a network of strong, successful resident-led neighbourhood organisations sharing their knowledge and experience with other communities in order to enable them to tackle similar problems.
Recognising its unique and effective approach, the Home Office designated the Witton Lodge Community Association a Guide Neighbourhood in Feburary 2006.
The Perry Common Guide Neighbourhood aims to encourage, inspire and support others. Residents who have ‘been there and done it and come out the other side’ warmly offer to tell their story of living and experiencing first-hand the regeneration of their community and how they have been involved. Offering inspiration and support, they share honestly with clients some of the pitfalls and realities as well as the exciting parts of this journey. They offer a programme of support from one-off visits and telephone advice to help setting up specific projects to long-term mentoring and administration of seedcorn grants.
Perry Common's Street Level Scheme is outreach to young by young people. It recruits, trains and manages a team of local young volunteers to support their peers and is run through Urban Devotion, a registered charity that works with young people. Urban Devotion offers detached and centre-based relational activities and support to local children and young people. Prison visits, individual mentoring, regular community projects, schools sexual health education and an alternative education programme are some of its features.