Community Chest
Farley Big Local recognise that there are already a lot of excellent groups doing great things in our community and we are trying to support and develop them where we can. We also recognise that to build local capacity and strong communities we need to build on the assets already within the community.
Community Chest grants of up to £1,000 have been made available for local groups that want to deliver short term or one-off activities which contribute towards the Farley Big Local objective of Bringing the Community Together. Below are examples of what has been achieved.
To see more photos, click ABC Boxing Club »
| Project: ABC Boxing Club |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £1,000 |
| The Boxing Club is run by volunteers. This is a non-profit organisation which facilitates building relationships and community cohesion. The money was needed for boxing equipment as there was a need of urgent replacement. The equipment included; boxing gloves. boxing bags, skipping ropes, headguards, storage boxes and safety equipment like hand wraps, gum shields etc. |
| Project: Galacticos Football |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £1,000 |
| The Galacticos FC is a small youth football club in Luton. They have 16 teams; 4 each in under 10s, under 12s, under 14s and under 16s. The club is run by youth workers and teachers who were born, live and work in Luton and who are passionate about providing all children and young people with the opportunity to play competitive sport especially for those who are disadvantaged. The football club charges £20 to register for a whole season with training kit included and £1.50 for 2 weekly sessions. Which helps remove financial barriers to participating in sports which they stressed exists for children in Farley Hill. Galacticos applied for funding to pay for the hire of the playing field at Farley Junior School for training sessions on Mondays after school and matches on Saturday mornings throughout 2019. |
| Project: Kids Can Cook |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £1,000 |
| Kids Can Cook is a holiday club, which runs every Wednesday for two hours during each school holiday. The purpose of this club is to tackle Holiday Hunger as well as childhood obesity and malnutrition. The club teaches children how to cook nutritious meals, cooking skills, basic food and hygiene and healthy eating. The group also provides games and various craft activities. Children are given recipes and there are approximately 35-45 children who attend every session. The club has teamed up with Groundwork- food growing hub, who will be teaching children to grow their own vegetables in the Church Garden. The FBL Grant will be used on ingredients for food, an induction pan set, electric frying pan sets and equipment for a toddler area. |
| Project: Methodist Church Lunch Club |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £300 |
| The Lunch Club meets every 2nd Wednesday of the month at the Methodist church hall. The aim of the lunch club is to tackle social isolation and raise community spirit. During the lunch club the elderly are provided with a two-course meal with a small contribution towards this from themselves. The Methodist Church Lunch Club has asked for a grant to purchase ingredients towards the meals over a long period of time. |
| Project: Messy Church |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £1,000 |
| Messy Church runs once every month for two hours, for children and young people aged 3-16 years. The idea is to allow them to engage in creative activities through arts and crafts, music and dance followed with a two-course meal. The amount which was requested by FBL will cover the costs of the materials for the creative session, food for the meals and kitchen equipment to cook and serve the food. The church themselves will also contribute towards the costs. |
To see more photos, click Visit from the Farm »
| Project: Visit from the Farm |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £1,000 |
| Farley Bears Nursery has requested for a grant from FBL to allow the farm to come to Farley Hill using their green and open space to set up a farm for the young children and their families. During the visit from the farm the children were able to hold and groom the animals. Animals that came to visit included; sheep’s, baby calf, a miniature donkey, ducks, chickens’ goats and dogs. The funding went towards the fee for the farm animals, goody bags of animal items, healthy snacks and a lunch for all. This was a real opportunity for young people whose families didn’t have the funds to pay for the children to visit the farm. |
| The Feast |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £665 |
| The Feast works towards facilitating young people from different backgrounds to meet, to engage positively with one another and learn the skill to dialogue constructively about matters of faith, culture and how to live well alongside differences. Thursday Base is one project run by the Feast, which creates a safe space for young people from all backgrounds to come along and learn to mix and interact well with one another. The money requested by FBL will cover costs of building on an advertising campaign so that they can reach more young people and to cover the costs of the hall hiring where the Thursday Base takes place. |
| Project: Networking Bazaar |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £1,000 |
| The Hum Women’s group were keen to organise another networking Bazaar but this time in Farley Hill. Previously they held a Bazaar at the Dallow Community Centre with a good turnout of approximately 300 people. The aim of the Bazaar was to bring the community together and network. The idea was to invite a range of services, as such; active Luton, free health checks, sexual health clinic, Samaritans, banks, solicitors and local businesses. All these gave a platform to networking and provide professional support to residents on the estate. They also had food stalls, a bouncy castle and live Zumba demonstrations to encourage locals to join fitness classes. |
| Project: Groundwork - St Johns Food Growing Hub |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £1,000 |
| The Food Growing Hub, which is situated behind St Johns Baptist Church, in Farley Hill applied for a grant from Farley Big Local to purchase the necessary seeds, plants and sundries for the growing season. Purchase PPE for new participants and offer them refreshments during the sessions. The grant also covered the costs of the Church ground hire, the water, energy and associated venue costs. The Food Hub has been in Farley for 3 years. Some evidence suggested that the community hub & food growing garden has helped; break down barriers and reduce social isolation, improvements in participants health and wellbeing and that it developed new skills for participants. The Food Growing Hub have opened their doors to the wider residents of Farley where they run weekly gardening sessions every Thursday 1-4pm. Open to everyone in Farley Hill. |
| Project: Little Angels Stay & Play Sessions |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £1,000 |
| The Stay and play group applied for a grant because they felt that there currently aren’t enough provisions that cater for parents with small children in Farley Hill. The sessions are run by a young local parent with the support of St Johns Church. The Voluntary Children’s worker didn’t have the equipment to run this service which is why they have asked for a grant from Farley Big Local to cover the initial start-up costs. The Stay and Play sessions run for parents/ carers and their children on Friday mornings for two hours, where children can play toys, have snack and take part in some educational activities. Parents will have a chance to build friendships with other users in a relaxing and caring environment. Refreshments are also available for all which are nutritious and healthy. |
| Project: Community BBQ at St Johns Church |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £750 |
| The Community BBQ event was a free community BBQ - open to all, using the facilities at St John’s Church. By holding this BBQ event they would have met the following aspects; 1. Build a sense of community and celebration. 2. Help residents to develop relationships between people of different cultures and backgrounds by providing a relaxed forum in which to get to know each other. 3. The church and Eden FH were able to identify people in need of support who they are not yet in contact with. 4. Provided small amount of relief for families struggling to feed children during the holidays. 5. Gave FBL an opportunity to showcase and talk to residents. |
To see more photos, click Hums Ladies Brunch »
| Project: Hums Ladies Brunch |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £1,000 |
| The Hum Women’s group applied for a grant to hold a Community Ladies Brunch, which targets women over 60 years. The brunch was free of charge, but contributions were open for them to make. The concept was to come together and have brunch. With the hope to establish friendships and tackle loneliness. Their moto is to: empower, educate and explore. The idea is to have a focus for every session, i.e. session one- may be based on IT- how to operate certain technology. Session two may be on health and fitness. The funds from FBL will help the group to cover equipment expenses for the first 6 months. The menu included the following: starters- selection of croissants, boiled eggs, main- halwa, aloo bujia (spicy potatoes), channay, paye, breads - nan, paratha, toast, puri, drinks- orange juice, apple juice, coffee, English breakfast tea, Kashmiri tea. The Hums women’s group was hoping to draw as many people as possible through their love for food. |
| Project: Stay and Play / Flying Start |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £1,000 |
| This stay and play group runs at the Community Centre every Monday afternoon, with ad hoc Family Fun Days during the holidays. The grant supported the start-up of the play group. They were able to purchase resources and organise a launch event during the Summer holiday to promote and publicise the Stay and Play sessions. The Stay and Play group will be aimed at parents/carers with children under 5 and will run weekly (term time only). |
| Project: Youth Camping Trip |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £1,000 |
| The applicant took some young people away on a week-long camping trip in summer 2019. Many of these young people came from families who have very chaotic lifestyles and are some of the most ‘at risk’ in Farley Hill. The trip was being planned in partnership with the Farley Hill Methodist Church and St Mary’s Luton. Their group had around 35 young people camping together. The wider campsite had around 8000 young people. This was a great opportunity for those from Farley Hill to meet and interact with other young people from different backgrounds and help to broaden their horizons as they see and hear about other people’s experiences of life. The camp is run annually by Soul Survivor and welcomes young people from all over the country to attend each of their summer events. Each young person contributed £50 towards the camping trip. The FBL grant covered the costs of: Transport, Food, Camping Equipment and Entry Tickets. |
To see more photos, click Community Days Out »
| Project: Community Days Out |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £1,000 |
| This grant was used to organise a series of Days out, the days out were targeted at different groups of people who live on the estate. Residents were given the opportunity to sign themselves up at the last Community festival. The FBL Grant paid for two staff members that worked on the day to care for any adults or family who required support. i.e. children with special needs or disabilities. It also covered information packs for the trips, packed lunches for very low-income families, the coach hire and any entry tickets. |
| Project: Application & Interviewing Skills Workshop |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £1,000 |
| This applicant was looking to run an application form filling and interviewing skills workshop. The idea was to help assist and give local adults the necessary skill sets, so that they can be successful in their applications for employment and the FBL community grant. Some benefits of this workshop also included- • Create jobs/self-employment for local people • Provide the training people need: employability skills, ICT, basic life skills and money management training which may help residents to save money. • Reduce worklessness and increase the number of people in paid employment. • Up-skilling (both improving the skills of those in work and enabling those out of work to return to employment) Provide crucial support for those residents in Farley area with no qualification. Increase. |
| Project: The Farley Massage and Social Group for Over 50s |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £1,000 |
| Massage helps to relax muscles, brings energy or calm as needed, and helps improve posture. Those who attend are offered exercise ideas for home to build on improvements. With these physical improvements comes more confidence for the individual to do the ordinary things like going to the shops and visiting friends. This increases mobility and independence. Each week the group meets with tea, cake and conversations are promoted. This is exactly the opposite of social isolation and develops sharper thinking as they interact. As they talk, they can exchange helpful information and tips, and as they get to know each other they can also arrange other activities such as visits to the theatre, galleries or restaurants. Members who are disabled in any way can find an informal network and contacts. |
To see more photos, click Canvas Prints for Jill Jenkins Court »
| Project: Canvas Prints for Jill Jenkins Court |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £1,000 |
| The residents at Jill Jenkins (JJ) Court would like to purchase canvases of historic photos from Farley Hill and Luton. These will be placed around the Communal area at JJ. One benefit of having canvases around the communal area is that this can assist with residents who have dementia and other memory issues as location points where they live within the block of 60 flats. Residents would also feel a sense of pride when walking through the communal area. Allowing the residents to make the choice on the themes has in powered them in the decision making and still makes them feel they have a voice within the Community of Farley Hill. |
| Project: You Got Me / Kettlercise Class |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £1,000 |
| This applicant applied for funding to purchase equipment to teach a kettlebell class in the local community centre or park. It is low cost and local. Participants would come to the class feeling nervous but leave with a HUGE smile. This class teaches a variety of the moves, it’s hard to get bored with this exercise. Time passes so quickly as you move on from one exercise to another. The class runs Tuesday evenings from 7-8pm at the Farley Hill Community Centre. |
To see more photos, click You Got Me / Kettlercise Class »
To see more photos, click ABC Boxing Club »
| Project: ABC Boxing Club |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £1,000 |
| Dallow Boxing Club operates to tackle issues of anti-social behaviour by providing the youth with a pastime that not only keeps them fit and healthy but promotes social qualities by giving young people the opportunity to interact with others from diverse communities and thereby promote community cohesion. They aim to do the best they can in teaching and developing such important life skills to strengthen the community. Boxing teaches discipline and confidence, how to respect others and promotes determination in individuals to overcome challenges, It serves as a route to keeping young adults and kids off the streets and out of trouble by giving them that option of channelling their energy and using their time in a beneficial and positive way. The grant covered purchases of boxing gloves, skipping ropes, marketing, registration, DBS and medical for coaches / trainers. |
| Project: You Got Me / Kettlercise Class |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £1,000 |
| The class is now up and running and between 10-15 people attend from the ward every week. The class requested a further £1000 towards the cost of the venue for 2020, for a Bluetooth PA system and for storage boxes. The Kettlerice Class has picked up well, but due to a high number of low income families the instructor has offered many free sessions for individuals but hopes the second part of this would attract more people, put families in a better position and enable her to self-sustain the class. The instructor has worked the pilot over the last few months and it has been a success in terms of attendances, which shows that this is what residents want to see happen in Farley Hill. With another shot of funding she hopes to get more people signed on and work towards making the class more sustainable. |
To see more photos, click You Got Me / Kettlercise Class »
| Project: Farley Food Growing Hub |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £1,000 |
| The funds will support the ongoing development of the garden providing the equipment needed to expand participants knowledge on horticulture and how to effectively maintain the garden. Furthermore, it will increase the amount of produce that can be produced ensuring garden participants receive more high-quality organic fruit and vegetables with the surplus continuing to be distributed to the local drop-in centres. The funding from the Farley Big Local will allow us to construct a greenhouse at the garden which is integral to its ongoing development. In addition, it is important to keep the garden well maintained: to make it easy to get around, reduce the risk of slips, trips and falls and make it visibly attractive. Unfortunately, the existing lawn mower, that was donated to the garden, is no longer fully functioning and therefore urgently needs replacing. Equipment and resources are an essential part of running a successful community garden project. |
| Project: Urban Saints Farley Hill |
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| Amount funded by FBL: £1,000 |
| This grant would enable Urban Saints to continue providing a healthy meal for the young people at every session. They believe this is an important part of the evening – not only because the young people can enjoy a hot meal, but also because sitting together over a meal promotes conversation and helps people to get to know each other better. Sitting together to eat is a huge factor in creating a safe space for the young people to come to. They hope that more young people would come along and enjoy this space where they can be themselves and have fun; and where they can explore issues that affect their lives and work out for themselves what they believe about those. This would undoubtedly benefit the wider community as these young people have the potential to impact and influence other young people in their schools and neighbourhoods. |