Key facts
Area: South East
Grant recipient: Bognor Community Action Network
Project: Bognor CAN - develop & thrive
Programme: Reaching Communities
Date of award: March 2010
Amount awarded: £156,448
Local people in Bognor Regis have come together to run a series of activities that will help to improve the health and well being of all its residents thanks to a Big Lottery Fund grant of £146,448.
Bognor Community Action Network (Bognor CAN) had already spent two years working in the area, earning the trust of local people and finding out what services they really wanted and needed. Bognor CAN used the funding to put into action an ambitious plan to provide a series of activities that would engage the whole community.
To help tackle the increasing antisocial behaviour by young people in the area Bognor CAN started to provide daily activities throughout the school holidays. Youngsters went from having nothing to do to having the choice of activities such as football, indoor cricket, street dance, arts and crafts and cake baking. They were also encouraged to get involved in the cook and eat sessions for older people and with organising a street party for the whole community. The combination of all these activities helped keep children and young people off the streets and started to forge inter-generational relationships.
Meanwhile a new exercise group for the over 50s and a cook and eat group has provided a much needed social scene for some of the older residents in the area. Many of those attending the weekly cook and eat session live alone and either don’t know how to or don’t like to cook for one. The new cooking session provides them with a chance to come together, prepare and cook a healthy meal that they then eat together. The club has been a great success with many new friendships formed.
Bognor CAN has also started a Community Leaders scheme which trained volunteers to give them the skills and confidence to go out to consult the community and then devise activities that will meet what local people are asking for. The 11-week course resulted in an Open College Network accreditation which has given many of the volunteers the boost they needed to seek out more training and employment.
Bognor CAN prides itself on being the only organisation in the area that runs such a diverse programme of activities where everyone is welcome and there is a real chance for self improvement. The end result is a community that is working together to address some of the local problems it faces and to improve the health and wellbeing of everyone.