What is Comeunity?

Comeunity is the Neighbourhood Management Programme for South and Central Yarmouth (including Runham Vauxhall). Neighbourhood Management is a way of improving services in order to raise the quality of life of people living in deprived neighbourhoods. The Programme involves working with communities and local service providers, including the Borough and County Councils, Police, Education, Health and Environmental Services. Residents are at the centre of decision-making, ensuring that solutions are owned locally, rather than being imposed. Increasingly, neighbourhood management is seen as one of the best ways to improve neighbourhoods.

Comeunity is not a capital funding programme it is about co-ordinating resources and developing community-led activities to better meet local residents needs. Comeunity provides neighbourhood infrastructure to enable this to happen. Comeunity is one of 3 neighbourhood arrangements in Great Yarmouth supported by Great Yarmouth Borough Council which enable service provides to target their work more effectively at a local level. Comeunity started in 2006 funded initially through the Safer and Stronger Communities Fund. Click here? for our 4-year snapshot publication (2006-2010).

In late 2009, Comeunity received the International Journal of Neighbourhood Renewal's award forBest UK Neighbourhood Renewal Programme for Local Impact.

We are based at the Neighbourhood Centre in South Yarmouth at 143 King Street, and are open from 9.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday.

We welcome your thoughts, ideas and involvement!

Latest News

OPPORTUNITIES WORKING GROUP

forum 2

The Neighbourhood Team have been out engaging with local residents on employment issues through three dedicated street forums and at the recent Comeunity Forum. The main concerns raised included not enough jobs in the town, particularly for younger people; more training to be made available and more permanent position created, rather than seasonal work.

These issues have been taken to the Board and it has been agreed to create an Opportunities Working Group to devise a delivery plan to tackle the concerns raised.

We are looking for residents to join the group so if you have any thoughts on employment issues, we would love you to come and join us. The meeting will be held at 2pm on Thursday 16th January at the Middlegate Hut.

For further details, please give us a call, email or pop into the Neighbourhood Centre. We look forward to seeing you!!

COMEUNITY FORUM - EMPLOYMENT & ENTERPRISE

Residents of South and Central Yarmouth are invited to attend the next Comeunity Forum on 24th January, 10am-12pm at St James Church.

The meeting will provide residents with the opportunity to take part in a workshop session to identify key "Employment & Enterprise" issues with representatives from the Borough Council, enterpriseGY, Job Centre Plus and to try and devise solutions.

The forum will allow residents to actively shape the support Comeunity and its partners can offer by suggesting ideas on improving the employment prospects for those living in the neighbourhood.

All residents in South and Central Yarmouth are welcome to this open meeting.

GREAT YARMOUTH LANTERN PARADE

Join in the Great Yarmouth Lantern Parade on 7th December. The parade�will be starting at 6.30pm from outside Christchurch and heading to St. Nicholas Church, where participants will gain free entry to the Christmas Tree and Crib Festival and free refreshments will be available.

Make a lantern at either of the free workshops - Saturday 26th November at Great Yarmouth Community Library (10.15am - 3pm) or Sunday 4th December at The Great Yarmouth Christmas Fayre, St. Nicholas Church (10.15am - 3pm). All materials will be provided and there is no need to book. You will need about 1-2 hours to make the lantern and you will be able to take it home with you.

Prior to the lantern parade on the 7th December, there will be family activities at Great Yarmouth Community Library from 5-6pm.

For further details, please contact Steve on 07403 199369, email jankied-workshops@hotmail.co.uk or Facebook search "Great Yarmouth Christmas Lantern Parade".

TARGET OPPORTUNITIES

Target Opportunities is a free, one-to-one support service to help residents make the most of the employment, volunteering and training opportunities available to them. The service has been successfully operating from the Neighbourhood Centre for a number of years, helping local residents improve their CV and assisting with job searches.

Latest figures show that nearly 150 people have accessed the service over the past six months (April to Sept) with at least a third moving into employment or a volunteering opportunity.

For further details please contact the Neighbourhood Centre or pop in and see us.

UPDATE FROM THE BOARD

Following the last Board Meeting in September, members have agreed to focus on economic and skills issues within the neighbourhood. Activities being explored? include working closely with enterpriseGY to help local residents start their own business and investigating ways to help local businesses grow. The Board will also look at initiatives to develop the skills of residents to ensure they have access to jobs particularly following the announcement of the Enterprise Zone in the borough.

Watch this space for further details and how you can get involved.?

CHANGES TO COMEUNITY PROGRAMME WORKING GROUPS

Residents and partner organisations should please take note of the following changes to the Comeunity Programme's Working Group structure.

�As part of refreshing the Comeunity Programme for the year ahead, in an attempt to make better use of reduced resources, to try and limit duplication, and to make the most of residents' and service providers' time, we have made some adjustments to our Programme. From April 2011 onwards:

The Comeunity Safety and Pride Working Groups will be amalgamated into one bi-monthly Working Group, which will now focus on all environmental and community safety related projects as part of a single agenda and meeting (to a certain extent looking at South Yarmouth - THE PLACE).

The Comeunity Wellbeing and Together Working Groups will be amalgamated into one bi-monthly Working Group, which will now focus on all cohesion, community development, engagement, youth, health and wellbeing related projects as part of a single agenda and meeting (to a certain extent looking at South Yarmouth - THE PEOPLE).

Dates for the 2011-2012 Working Group meetings can be downloaded here.

The Comeunity Forum meetings will continue to run on a quarterly basis, whilst the Forum's resident-led Steering Group will continue to meet on the first Tuesday of every month at 10am at the Neighbourhood Centre at 143 King Street.

We hope that residents and partners will agree with us on the merits of trying out this new approach and that everyone will continue to engage with the Programme via these various meetings.

We would like to thank everyone who has contributed towards the Comeunity Programme over the past 5 years, and we hope that you will all maintain your involvement with our work over the coming year.

For any enquiries related to this please contact Ellie Marcham at? emarcham@great-yarmouth.gov.uk or on 01493 845 920.