Health and Well-Being
The purpose of buying shares in this enterprise is to protect a public space for social capital and not to
make a profit.
What is a community centre?
A place where citizens meet to take part in social activities or enterprise which in turn makes a positive and powerful contribution to strengthen social cohesion and the social economy. Health and wellbeing go hand in hand and in this community vision symbolises care from the cradle to the grave.
THE VISION
Provision of community run services for Children, Families and the Elderly.
The acquisition of an anchor organisation will enable the community to promote wellbeing from the bottom-up in a responsive and joined manner. By further connecting public assets to community aspiration is a purposeful, unique and in deed a necessary way, to achieve best-value: the measure of grassroots change. www.planed.org.uk
The following section is a comprehesive account of underpinning principles which inform and support the social vision
We recognise:-
- The Individual
- "Postcode" should not be the definative indicator of wealth, poverty or good health
- Wealth is not a reliable indicator of health or well-being
- Society is experiencing rapid change which impacts on the family and society
- Citizens are 'time poor'
- Child outcomes are shaped by the fabric of communities
- The community & voluntary sector is well-placed to initiate early support through self-help & mutual aid
- Early intervention can prevent or delay call on public sector resources and best serves the individual
- Prevention IS cheaper than cure - it's a fact
-There are real costs associated with doing nothing
- The need to provide safety-nets because
- Gaps exist in public service delivery because
- No 'one size fits all'
- People find it difficult to ask for help because
- People are proud and independent
- 'Citizens' can be trusted with responsibility because
- service provision is out-of-step with people's changed and changing needs
- Public & private sectors need front-end partners
- Participation bestows benefits to the individual and the community
KEY MISSIONS
- To support parents
- To safeguard children, and protect childhood
- To provide a grassroots means for regeneration
- To build links to and with all Byrn-y-Cwm, including rural, communities
- To promote Abergavenny as caring, progressive and tolerant
- To ensure citizens have a range of accessible community networks and amenities vital to good health and wellbeing
- To build and support a robust voluntary and community sector locally
- To connect people and places; places and people.
- To promote social justice, in particular tackle exclusion by promoting 'inclusion'
- To replace low academic attainment with a sense of worth and esteem
We will do this by:
Identifying & tackling root cause through early intervention and prevention
Responsive 'tailor-made' solutions (enterprise)
Developing an asset base across which to spread risk by:
- trading goods and services
- buying and selling assets to achieve or promote our social mission
Delivering goods and services which are community-led and driven while achieving full-cost recovery for these services
Acknowledging needs of all citizens including those perceived as hard-to-reach
Re-access the value and worth of life-skills and through enterprise put these back to work in the social economy
Things to consider ...
- Shared-responsibility which communities play in shaping child outcomes
- High teen pregnancy
- Connection between children's wellbeing and mental health
- Suicide among young people in particular young men
- Young people need 'things to do' and 'places to be'
- Major role which inter-generation interaction has in promoting cohesion
Where voluntary & community sector can support
-Skill-based education aimed at Learning Pathways 14-19
-Early identification and intervention for those at risk of low academic attainment
-Mentor children & young people with behavioural disorders leading to exclusion
In discharging our responsibility to communities we aim to :
Empower individual and communities to be Stakeholders
Assist and promote better co-ordination between multi-agencies
Engage a broad range of cross-sector skills
Take the lead-role in the design & implementation of voluntary and community driven initiatives
Build confidence within a cross sector partnership framework
Establish respected partnerships with existing agencies and initiate new grassroots partnerships to aid delivery
Up-skill key workers
Uphold and Share good practice
Build and maintain an inclusive, kind environment in which individuals feel enabled to participate as a valued and respected member.