Community Action AGM

Community Action held its AGM and networking event on 16 October 2014 in the Council Chamber at Derby City Council House. The networking event is for voluntary and community organisations in Derby (of which there are over 800) to have a stand and find out what is going on in the voluntary sector in the city. The AGM features the above film as a more interesting alternative to the traditional annual report.

Around 120 people attended the event which celebrated the successes of the past year but also focused on the challenges of the year ahead in the face of more funding cuts.

Community Action supports a wide range of community groups and individuals with training, advice on funding, volunteering training and recruitment and other services, to help local people in their local communities.

Over the last year we have trained 19 learners from 16 voluntary sector organisations following 12 or 28-month apprenticeships in: volunteer management, Business Administration, Fundraising and Management. Seven unemployed learners also received support through employability training.

We support organisations with the recruitment of volunteers and have placed 234 people into volunteering to gain experience and to help them with their skills development. Two volunteers explain how valuable the experience of volunteering has been for them.

Community Action has worked with and provided advice to 118 different organisations over the last twelve months, 187 people have attended our events and 317 people have attended training and funding workshops.

Citizens' Eye produced a short presentation examining the work of two organizations which have been assisted by Community Action, East Midlands Wood Recycling and Fitness, Fellowship and Fun.

[female voice-over reading onscreen text]

We collect timber from building sites or
any other wood waste manufacturer.

We have several national contracts and we
also have work that we generate for ourselves

In the local market where we're helping people
within this area to get rid of their wood waste.

What we do with this timber, when we actually
get it back to our shop and our units,

is that we produce it, we either sell it
back to the public as it is,

we can make the timber we run back into
other items, so we make bird boxes,

bat boxes, bird tables, blanket boxes etc.

We feel we have a two-pronged attack in
terms of our aims and goals, one of them

being a social aspect and one
being an environmental aspect.

In terms of the environmental, it's a
case of taking this timber from the normal

waste stream which would be either
chipping, thrown in a hole in the ground,

burnt in a field, whatever it may be
as a normal disposal route,

and offering it back to the public. Too
much wood is being wasted at the moment,

and it’s not a finite resource so it’s a
case of getting this back into the streams

where it can be used. The second aspect is
a social aspect, so we see ourself, we are

a community interest company, so obviously
a not for profit company. It's helping

people from what you may term disadvantaged
groups, so we have people here, volunteers

here who are from long-term unemployed, we
have some people who come out of education,

which may have special educational needs that
are coming into the unit to develop skills,

we have people who have been made
redundant, people who have retired.

Working for East Midlands Wood Recycling
has helped me get out the house more,

socialise, and sort of get back
into the community.

Gave me the motivation to get back into
work. I like working here.

It’s a great bunch
of people to work with.

EMMA: The benefits to me are,
I love working with wood.

Anything to do with wood, so recycling it,
and not seeing it get burnt,

is a good thing. It’s helping me socialise
a lot more, and talk to people,

and build my confidence as well.

Community Action helped us with the setting
up of this, of course, and the running

of the enterprise really, in that I met Liz
Gumbley quite early on before we started,

to get some ideas obviously as
a role as income generation,

to see grants, whatever was available.

Mushroomed really within Community Action
to talking to other members of staff there

about volunteering policies and attracting
volunteers to the organisation.

One of the ways that Community
Action helped us

was the attendance through
the social enterprise networks.

The difference I’ve seen in the volunteers
that come through the door has been amazing.

It's been absolutely fantastic, we’ve had people
who have come in and I can think of one example,

he had long-term depression which went into
several years, that he was unemployed and

he’s gone on to find employment, and it's
an inspirational thing really to do and the

feedback I’ve had from him, it’s from the
heart, you know, the changes we’ve made

in his life, just being able
to offer something,

to offer the opportunity of somewhere
to get out of the house, actually realise

that they're not worthless, which is their
term, that they're not worthless,

that they can actually move forward
and rejoin the job force, the workforce.

[voice-over reading text]

My name's Gwen Johnson and I'm
involved with the 3Fs,

the Fitness, Fellowship and Fun group
that we run on Wednesday and Thursday,

in the church. The Fitness, Fellowship
and Fun group is a group

which provides elderly and disabled
people with very gentle exercise,

can be done seated or standing,
and hopefully to provide mental

and physical stimulation, improve fitness
and longer independent life.

I'm Geoff Sykes. I'm lucky enough to be
the chair of the management group.

There is quite a considerable age range,
going from early to mid 50s right up to,

at the moment, I think 93.

We have actually three trainers now
that work regularly with us.

We have Helen, who's qualifed with Extend,
and she's also qualified with, ehm,

Otago, which encourages balance,
improves balance and coordination.

She does it to music, and it's a fun type
of exercise. They're all fun, but hers

is aimed very much at fun. And then we
have Fiona. Fiona does more yoga type.

My name's Helen [Angier?]. I teach an
Extend class, mainly seated.

We work on balance, mobility,
and confidence.

I've seen a tremendous difference in the
people who come to this class.

When they first came, the mobility, and
even the interaction, with making friends

and looking forward to lunch,
and they do other outings as well.

My name's Fiona Adamson. I'm a yoga
sports coach and a yoga teacher.

Classes are run at the church mainly
based on yoga, chair yoga,

which has been modified from traditional
yoga. The postures that we use

are all modified so they can
be done while seated.

Some of the postures we do are
used while standing.

We very much work with incorporating
breathing and movement so we can work on

improving breathing efficiency, which then
in turn has a massive effect on

heart function, the general functions
within the body, and also

on energy levels as well, which can
have a massive impact on your daily life.

The benefits that we see range from
improved balance, coordination,

and these can be from all ages as well,
whether you're quite young --

we've got people in their 40s --
right through to people --

I think someone's in their 90s
in our class as well.

The people that we're trying to help
are the people that are less able.

Less mobile. And having a wonderful bus
service is marvelous, but it's absolutely

no good if you can't get to the bus stop.
So we, at the moment our current partner

is Royal Voluntary Service, and they pick
people up, bring them in for us,

and take them home. One or two of us did
come to a community action and attended

one or two of their training sessions
with regard to work in the committees,

and the policies, procedures we wanted,
and they guided us through that.

Without them we certainly wouldn't be
as far as we are now.

They helped us right in the first place
with setting up the committees,

doing the policies and procedures.
They've helped us with funding.

Well, I think it's thankful to them we got
the grant from the awards [unclear],

the big lotteries, and we also got a grant
from Tesco, which, their applications,

and of course they've helped us
as well with finding volunteers.

Oh it's brilliant. Everybody's so kind,
so good and helpful.

Can't do enough for you here. It's helped
me and me husband an awful lot.

First of all, it gives you a reason to get
up in the morning and come out,

'cause normally when you're disabled it's
not easy gettin' out everywhere, you know.

Everybody's been so friendly.
If you don't know one person one week,

you'll know them the next,
because they all introduce theirself.

The fun is in the yoga classes. I can
join in or not, whatever I want to do.

They say do as much as you can. I would
say to anybody, come and join us,

especially if you live on your own.

I enjoy coming. I think the thing that I
like most about it is the company.

Where can you go where you can get a cup
of tea, do an hour's gentle exercises,

have some lunch, and get another
cup of tea, all for five pound?

Especially people who live by themselves,
of my age group, and you feel as though

you want to be somewhere on one
morning a week, come along!

I recommend it to anybody. If I'd not done
it, what would I have been like?

I've had people that have said that their
arthritis they feel is much better now.

Did they have a fall? It's building
that confidence to go out.

I'm 86 myself, and, um, my life is being
extended, I'm sure, by this,

by membership of this organization.

[voice-over reading text]