What you've told us
Our recent Community Investment review highlighted that our identified priorities were still relevant and needed within the community of Whitehill and Bordon, with 45 of the 47 responses agreeing with the identified focus areas which include:
- Work with partners to improve physical and mental health, specifically in young people.
- Promote community leadership
- Increase opportunities for training and development in the community space at Café 1759
Almost half of the respondents had taken part in an activity at cafe 1759, demonstrating the value of the projects, events and opportunities being offered here, but still giving scope to do more!
Your priorities
When we asked the community what they would like us to focus on going forward, encouragingly the feedback provided a variety of suggestions, the top three shared were:
- More activities for all ages of children
- Improve transport links in the area
- Improve access to amenities to accommodate the growth in housing and increasing population
Other suggestions made from customers included more activities and opportunities for neurodivergent people, green focused projects such as Plant Swap, better recycling and mental health activities for adults.
Based on the feedback from the survey and the area priorities looking ahead, we will focus on:
- Activities for young people (with a mental and physical health focus)
- Opportunities to develop and promote community empowerment
- Increasing and diversifying use of the community space – providing services and activities for the community
Who is your Community Development Officer?
Hi, I’m Jess and I'm the Community Development Officer for Whitehill & Bordon, Southampton. I started working for Abri in 2012 within Customer Services where I was able to understand the full array of support and services we provided and joined the Community Investment team in 2016.
In my role, I’ve set up a community pantry and worked on our Good Grub Clubs and the Buddy Club Social Isolation project. I'm currently working with the Café 1759 team in support of promoting our community space "The Room", and connecting with partners to provide projects linked to the areas priorities.
What we're working on in Whitehill & Bordon
We have several regular groups running projects from The Room, these include:
- Mums & Tots group – throughout the summer holidays there are Mums & Tots sessions held on Mondays 9.30-11.30am, delivered by Home Start. This group is open to all.
- Friendship Club – held on Tuesdays 10am-12pm. This weekly two-hour session is run by Agincare support workers for adults with learning disabilities.
- Serendipity – A fortnightly community group running on Thursdays 9:45am-12:15pm to engage with those adults with autism in the local community, delivered by Autism Hampshire.
- Opportunity Hub – The Opportunity Hub weekly sessions on Wednesdays 10am-12pm are delivered by Abri’s Employment Services Team as a drop-in service, in addition to pre-arranged appointments for support. The Hub provides the opportunity for Abri customers and local residents to take part in job searches, in addition to providing further support to Abri customers with support available from our Tenancy Sustainment Officers and members of the Welfare Benefits Team.
What's been happening in your area?
Love Parks Event
We held a Love Parks event on 31 July as part of the national Keep Britain Tidy Campaign. The aspiration of the event was to encourage and promote use of local open spaces and activities held in the parks. We were based outside Café 1759 to engage with local residents, promoting local green spaces and opportunities in addition to sharing some Keep Britain Clean information. We also offered children's activities to support families in the summer holidays, these included a "litter quiz trail", badge making, and a Love Parks Survey to find out what they would like to see in the future.
We were joined by Julie Reid, the Senior Community and Countryside Ranger from Deadwater Valley Trust, and the Abri Housing Officers. On the day of the event it was national Rangers Day; Julie organised a ‘Ranger’s walk’ to go past Cafe 1759 and shared information about future events taking place at Hogmoor Park and Bordon Inclosure, over the summer.
Overall the feedback we received about the local outdoor green spaces was positive, however the amount of litter was raised as a concern by many, with equal interest in supporting a local monthly litter pick. We also met a local resident who is already completing local litter picks, receiving positive mentions on local Facebook pages for his good works, therefore we will look to build on this alongside them and the community in the months to come.
Family Summer Sessions delivered in partnership with YPlus
We have funded YPlus, a well-known youth engagement service to provide some summer sessions in The Room, offering families a free activity during the summer holidays. Yplus have organised six weekly, two-hour sessions at The Room offering a range of activities like lego, board games, art and crafts and outside games.
Local families are still able to sign up to the last remaining session on Thursday 28 August in The Room.
What's coming up?
Free Summer Childrens Party
On Thursday 27 August, Abri will be hosting a Free Summer Children’s Party to showcase ‘The Room’ as a party venue. Families can show their interest in attending the party by following the QR on the poster.
