NEWS RELEASES
Local pride and a sense of belonging
24th February 2006
A HAPPY and healthy community is one in which everyone has a sense of belonging and where residents are justly proud of where they live.
One of the most rewarding parts of Council work is helping to achieve such goals and our Leisure and Community Development team is doing much to stimulate activity and bring people together.
Its work covers a wide range of subjects including promoting health, fighting anti-social activity, organising community events, art, music, drama, sport, and, perhaps most important of all, obtaining real cash to make things happen.
Our lottery and grants funding officer has in the past year obtained from lottery sources, trusts and other donors the remarkable sum of £865,214 which has been devoted to community events. Around a million pounds has been achieved in this way each year for the past three and that is our aim in the year ahead.
Thanks to people working together we are witnessing a series of new enterprises. For example, the launch of the Billingshurst Community Partnership has seen the arrival of new social activities for both young and old whilst the new Village Transport Scheme is giving people much better access in many outlying communities.
The Southwater Action Team is creating similar opportunities with a big resurgence of activities prior to the opening of the new community centre in the village. There are now three regular youth nights running, four local churches have got together to appoint their own full time youth worker and we are making a lottery bid to place a community developer worker there to further stimulate activities for the area’s 1,200 young people.
The Horsham District Live Music Alliance is currently pioneering a new project to encourage the skills of young musicians aged 12 to18 which will culminate with five bands performing at Horsham’s Drill Hall in the Spring. Our “This Is Art” project will result in many local people exhibiting work at The Capitol this year involving many different clubs, schools, youth clubs and residential homes.
The Horsham District Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership has made some big strides in tackling anti-social behaviour, especially in the area of criminal damage, and its latest move is a pilot scheme aimed at the problem of anti-social driving. This will involve an intensive one day course for selected drivers with training and meeting a volunteer family whose lives have been affected by a road traffic accident.
Local Action Teams, which are aimed at helping to cut anti-social behaviour, continue to spread across the District - the newest at Pulborough and The Bishopric in Horsham - whilst work continues with young offenders to ensure that they are required to put something back into the community as part of their court orders.
As you can see, our Community Development role is far reaching. For more information please call (01403) 215385 or email: community.development@horsham.gov.uk
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Congratulations to Horsham based business, 3aIT, which has been provided communications equipment to the GB Bobsleigh team at the Winter Olympics.
Ends
Councillor Jean Burnham, The Chairman, Horsham District Council, Park North, North Street, Horsham, RH12 1RL.
Email: contactchairman@horsham.gov.uk