Community Partnerships
Joining In is the place to find out about all the local community groups and organisations in Westborough & Park Barn as well as learn all about the many great opportunities for you to join in!
By ‘joining in’ we mean ‘getting involved in your community in any way’: from going to a one hour meeting to, for example, helping in the Barn Youth Project twice a week for over 3 years.
Click here to view the Joining In Directory now!
What Westborough & Park Barn residents have said they gain from Joining In:
Click here to view a map of where the Joining In opportunities are located in Westborough & Park Barn. Visit the directory for more information on each opportunity.
Joining In is as easy as 1,2,3…
- Skim through the List. See what opportunities appeal to you and where they are on the map.
- Contact one or more of the opportunities that appeal to you and that you can get to (usually there’s a named person).
- Arrange to pop along and visit. You’re not committing yourself at this stage.
"We are four ladies from the Park Barn Centre, who started running Quiz events to raise monies for the local community and the Royal Surrey County Hospital. In the ten years we have been doing this it has been a pleasure knowing we have helped so many in this community."
Shirley, Sharon, Jill and Terrie
WHAT LOCAL GROUPS AND ORGANISATIONS CAN DO TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR PEOPLE JOINING IN
Advice given by Westborough / Park Barn residents at meetings in November 2010:
- Have a range of different opportunities; people like different things and are free at different times.
- Tell people what your opportunities are.
- Welcome people. Tell them what they need to know, including what you expect of them. Give them any training they need.
- Look after the people’s needs; offer them a coffee, for example.
- Look after people’s health and safety. Sort out insurance and Criminal Records Bureau checks where necessary.
- Value people who are joining in.
- Let people say ‘no’ or stop joining in altogether.
- Use language that doesn’t put people off.
- Make sure people joining in don’t have to pay money to do so. Try to pay any travel expenses, for example.
WHAT PEOPLE JOINING IN CAN DO TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR LOCAL GROUPS AND ORGANISATIONS
- Value other people joining in and employed by or using the group / organisation.
- Speak up if you feel you’re not being properly looked after.
- Be clear about the time you can give and try to stick to it.
WHY THE DIRECTORY WAS PUT TOGETHER
Many threads came together to create the Directory, the main ones coming from the Community in Westborough & Park Barn. Some years ago, it became clear that some residents had no knowledge of the activities of local groups and organisations. This was a loss to individual residents, to the groups, organisations, and to the whole community
The Park Barn & Westborough Community Association (see no 14 in the Directory) then added a Community Calendar to its quarterly Grassroots News. The Calendar listed a number of community groups, saying when and where they met and giving telephone contact details.
Still, it seemed, people didn’t find joining in easy, even though a questionnaire sent to local groups and organisations showed how many varied and exciting opportunities there were. To find out why, meetings of residents took place on 22nd November 2010 at Westborough United Reformed Church and The Park Barn Centre (see 16 and 21 in the Directory).
At the meetings, Tasha Feddery and Hannah Tugwell talked about opportunities at The Surrey Greenspace Project and The Barn Youth Project (see 18 and 12 & 13 in the Directory).
Then, residents talked about what could be done to make joining in easier for people. They had three main bits of advice:
- Create as many varied joining in opportunities as possible
- Publish a list of the opportunities and keep it up to date
- Help individual groups and organisations make joining in easier for people to join in.
Tracy James and Richard Musgrove, Community Safety Wardens for Westborough & Park Barn, and Nigel Smallbone from Voluntary Action South West Surrey set out to follow the advice. They contacted as many local groups and organisations as they could to produce more joining in opportunities, and thought more about publicising them. Another residents meeting, on 18th January 2011, gave advice about the List. Funding for it was obtained from Guildford Borough Council and Cllr Fiona White, and the List was finally published in May 2011.
THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED TO CREATE THE DIRECTORY
Including all the organisations listed & everyone who came to the meetings:
Denise Smith, Edna Yarham, Grahame Reid, Graham Hoslett, Gordon Paterson, Andrew Hazzard, Evelyn Peters, Jo Harrison, Brian Holt, Georgie Lamble, Tasha Feddery, Frances Halstead, Peter Golding, Teresa Bunce, Janet Springer, Zena Crane, Verity Hobbs, Caroline Tindall, Janet Ville, James Peacock, Fiona White, Brian Carroll, Fred Smith, Chrissie Paterson, Sue Keeley
Martin Bryson of Guildford Borough Council who produced the map
Cllr Fiona White and Guildford Borough Council who provided funding
Dan James who donated the cover design
Kings College for hosting the electronic version of the Directory
The Safer Guildford Partnership
Voluntary Action South West Surrey
