Anglia Projects

ITV Anglia transmits to Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire.

Over the past five years of the People’s Millions competition we have seen some great projects in the region. Previous winners include community gardens, a bandstand, a big green tractor, a mobile sensory playroom and many more!

Barking Tye Lakes

The project is to develop an accessible coarse fishing complex at two newly excavated lakes, to enable greater participation in angling by anglers with disabilities and young people.

The Barn Regeneration Project

The project will convert an existing storage space into a meeting room and kitchen and increase the accessibility of the building so enabling the barn, which is used as a village hall, to cater more effectively for existing users and enable the provision of additional activities.

Village Hall Extension

The project will extend the existing village hall, which serves a growing community of 3,500, to provide an additional meeting room, an accessible toilet, additional storage space and toilet provision and a kitchenette. It will also improve access to the existing meeting room.

Wildlife Challenge

The project will, through the purchase of a minibus and education trailer and through additional staff hours, enable a greater range and number of disadvantaged groups and individuals to access existing wildlife and environmental sites. It will also create two new environmental landscapes at the Randalls Farm wildlife site.

Trust Links Growing Together

The project is to provide a resource centre within the existing Growing Together community garden and horticultural facility. The centre will offer a range of training, work experience and counselling services to people with mental health issues and/or learning disabilities. It will also house a cafe open to the general public and let rooms for meetings etc to external organisations.

NTGA Ability Zone

The project would provide everyone in the local area with the opportunity to participate in trampolining gymnastics especially those with learning difficulties. In collaboration with the Federation for Disabled Sport the project would increase participation and widen access. The project would take place in Northampton.

Three Holes Playing Field

This project would develop the Three Holes Playing Field. The existing obsolete and potentially dangerous play equipment would be removed and new innovative play equipment will be installed. The project also aims to engage young people from the village in the construction of a teen shelter. The project would take place in the village of Three Holes near Wisbech.

Poplars Community Play Project

To enhance the grounds of this community school; add a garden providing places for seating, new opportunities to explore wildlife & weather and increased opportunities for imaginative and physical play. The school grounds are shared by out of school car

Browick Road Youth

The project will provide a concrete skate park and a BMX racetrack for young people. It will be situated in the Town Centre on recreation grounds that already provides a children's playground, tennis court and all-weather multi-sports pitch, a shelter, public toilets and grassed sports pitches. They will provide a series of demonstrations, lessons and competitions to raise awareness of the facilities available and encourage beginners to try them out.

A 21st Century Victorian Garden

The project will improve the facilities and access to this Victorian garden used for recreation and outdoor events.

The Angles Return (improved public recreation park)

A project to improve the appearance of and increase the use of an existing recreational park. Two large housing estates and three schools border the park. They will extend an existing pond and improve the facilities for fishing, create a dedicated area for wildlife and an outdoor grassed amphitheatre; all for use by local people and especially the children from three local schools. New trees, shrubs and landscaping will improve the appearance of the area.

Whittlesey Bowls & Petanque For All

The project would replace warped bowling rinks and install accessible toilet facilities to improve access to the indoor bowling and petanque facilities for disabled people and the elderly. The project would take place in Whittlesey, Peterborough.

Hope Project Community House

The Hope Project is a community centre on the Hemmingwell estate in Wellingborough. "Nobody chooses to live here," says local resident Teresa. "I was moved here by the Borough Council otherwise I would have been on the streets." "Hemmingwell faces a lot of problems," agrees Simon Trundle, pastor of the church and chief executive of the Hope Project. "There are 1,000 houses on the estate and many are in the top eight per cent deprived neighbourhoods. There are high levels of drug use, school truancy and teenage pregnancy and, with the closure of many local industries since the 1970s, there are families with three generations that have never had a job." h3. Pub scrubs up The Hemmingwell church bought a disused pub on the estate with the intention of opening it as a community centre. "The pub had been closed 11 times in nine years," explained Simon. "This was due to high levels of crime, including drugs, prostitution and intimidation. The inside was filthy and in very bad condition, with asbestos in some rooms and problems with the wiring, fencing and access." The project applied for and won a People’s Millions grant in 2006 to refurbish the pub into "The Well" community centre and pre-school. Local young people did a lot of the initial refurbishment work; ripping out fittings and opening up the rooms helped to involve them and gave them a sense of ownership. h3. Thriving community The Well is now a bright, clean and airy place to visit and a thriving community hub. The centre has a cafe, staffed mainly by volunteers, a pre-school with 26 local children, day clubs including taster sessions for hobbies and a "knit and natter" for the older community, as well as Friday night youth clubs. Upstairs offices are used for IT training, a family support team, counselling and lifeskills courses such as parenting, anger management and assertiveness. The project employs 11 people, most of whom have been upskilled from volunteers. Amanda attended a summer activity week with her son and now works in the pre-school, having completed training in Childcare and Development through the Hope Project. "When I started coming here I was depressed. I’d been stuck in the house and I worked in a shop but the project brought me out of myself," she said. "Without this project the estate would be much worse off – there would be no meeting place to talk if you have worries. Before, people would run past here due to crime but now they are interested and they come in. I’d be lost if I wasn’t here, I don’t feel on my own any more." "When I moved here I knew no-one," agrees Teresa. "My housing officer told me to come to the Hope Project. Now I volunteer in the cafe each week and I have loads of friends. Once my children are in school I am going to look at training they have available and use that to get a job."

Henry Hallam Therapy Centre

To renovate a barnyard complex to provide a classroom/quiet room, disabled toilet, kennels, stable and small animal house. Together these facilities will be used as a visitor centre where groups and individuals, having a wide range of special needs, can have opportunities to interact and work with animals. Work placement students will also use the facilities as a classroom.

Pavilion Project

The project will remove an old, disused swimming pool from the school site and replace it with an outdoor learning space in the form of a covered wooden pavilion, which would enhance the landscape and provide an outdoor facility for the pupils and the wider community. The pavilion, used as an outdoor learning area, will enable local children and young people to learn about respect for the environment through hands-on involvement in recycling, composting and other modern environmental issues. This new facility can also be used by the local amateur dramatics society, the local Scout group and a local retirement home, amongst other local community groups. A total of 150 people are likely to benefit.

Open Road - Helping Families in Clacton

The project will improve the inside and outside of the Clacton Open Road Centre. Currently the centre is in a poor condition and has a negative impact on staff, volunteers, and local residents. The improvements will enable greater use of the centre, providing improved areas for the support and treatment for alcohol and drug misusers. The project will also include an extension to provide the group with more space. The applicant states 500 service users people will benefit from this project.

Shocott Spring Community Woodland

This delightful project co-ordinated by the Marston Vale Trust will expand on the existing Shocott Spring Community Woodland that lies between the rural communities of Shortstown and Cotton End in Bedfordshire. The People’s Millions award of £67,712 will pay for 23,000 trees and shrubs which will be added to the existing community woodland. A key part of the project was to involve the community in every stage from planning the woodland to planting the trees. Through the support of the local community, the Mayor of Bedford Frank Branston and Patrick Hall MP, the Trust planted their millionth tree at an event in February. More than 1200 houses are being built in the area within the next few years so there is clearly a need to hold on to local woodland. The creation of more green space with the involvement of the local community means that everyone will be able to enjoy the natural environment. Tony Talbot, managing director of Marston Vale Trust said, "The Forest of Marston Vale is all about engaging with communities to create woodlands and wild places for everyone to enjoy. Not only has People’s Millions allowed us to plant a beautiful new woodland in an area that desperately needs it, the award process has enabled us to involve the community in everything from design to raising the money and planting the trees. What’s more the process brought great TV and press coverage, making more people aware of our exciting project and helping them to get involved – a fantastic result for the forest and the community."

Crossroads Young Carers Project

The project will provide help, support and group sessions to young carers under 19 whose lives are restricted by their caring responsibilities. It would offer one on one support, days out, life skills and focus days, short projects and residential trips. It will begin carer groups in schools and encourage carers to become volunteers. The programme will be decided by the young carers through a youth council, and will include sporting and outdoor activities and new healthy eating and cookery groups. The project will benefit 280 people.

The Listen Here! Minibus

The project will provide a mobile outreach service for elderly, deaf people in the rural areas of Norfolk. The group will purchase and adapt a minibus to make it accessible for people with physical as well as sensory impairments. The minibus will follow a regular monthly route, and the service will be operated by trained volunteers, who will offer support on hearing aid maintenance, as well as providing information and guidance on other aspects of deafness. Families will be able to receive support via the service including access to lip reading and sign language courses. The group will also use the minibus for community and public events, promoting the service and raising awareness. There will be an estimated 2,500 beneficiaries.

Splashing Out

The project will refurbish the currently unused open-air pool and transform it into a modern, enclosed and heated pool that can be used all year round. The facility will be available to the children at Colneis Junior School, as well as other primary schools in the Felixstowe area during the school day. Swimming is a compulsory part of the National Curriculum, and the proposed indoor pool will enable more local children to develop their skills. It will also be available for hire by other local groups in the community outside school hours. Around 1,300 members of the community will benefit, and the resource will be accessible to all.

Environment Project

The project will provide a sensory garden for students and the local community. The students, who have severe learning difficulties, will have a more interactive learning environment and will be able to play outside with other local groups, play schemes and mainstream student bodies. The school has recently moved into new refurbished premises, sacrificing a hydrotherapy pool and other therapeutic aids at their old site, and have no resources to develop the large area of undeveloped land around the school building. Members of the local community will also be able to access the sensory garden free of charge, thus encouraging awareness raising of the school and its students, helping them to integrate into everyday community life. The school are also expecting GPs and health professionals to make referrals to the garden, to make use of its therapeutic benefits.

The Town And Bridge Community Garden

The project will renovate a number of vacant plots at Maidenhall Allotments, Ipswich, in order to create a community garden. The land is currently disused and will provide a valuable community resource for all ages. The garden will feature growing areas, a sensory garden and accessible toilets. The community will be supported to grow fruit, vegetables, plants and herbs as a way of improving their health and well-being. Older people, BME groups, people with physical and learning disabilities, as well as those experiencing mental health difficulties will be encouraged to access the site and its facilities. The project will also provide opportunities for volunteering and placements from a range of local organisations.

Golden Gardens

The project aims to convert two unused and vandalised garage sites into community gardens. The organisation will work with community policemen, street rangers, residents and children in Goldington on the designs for the sites and the delivery of the project. The project will encourage involvement and the sharing of gardening skills to create an open access garden and a green training area where the community can grow food and plants. The gardens will be for all ages to enjoy and include areas for food production and natural habitats. Two garages will be set up as tool stores/workshops to be used as educational centres.

Tennis for All at Wickham

The project will provide additional sporting facilities in Wickham Market, which are accessible to the whole community. Three hard tennis courts with nets and fencing will be installed, and a tennis club will be developed to encourage active participation by residents of the village and surrounding areas. The courts will be located close to the primary school so children can get involved. Local volunteers will be trained as coaches, and both children and adults will be offered the opportunity to develop and improve their tennis skills. The project will benefit around 600 people.

Waterbeach Waterbabes

The project is to refurbish the learner swimming pool to enable the school to continue offering lessons to children aged four to eleven. The project will benefit children from five villages, estimated at 560 beneficiaries.

Phyzzikids

The project is to create a portable sensory room, which can be moved between a minimum of three community spaces to provide disadvantaged and disabled children under five a play facility. The project is expected to benefit an estimated 1,000 children and

Operation Children's Club

The project involves the renovation of a disused and run-down bungalow in the school grounds in order to provide a new facility for the use of the school and the wider community.The building will then be used for a school breakfast club and homework club. During school hours the building will be for the use of the children for creative acitivies such as art, dance and drama. Outside of the extended school hours the building will be for the use of the local community. There will be approximately 800 beneficiaries.

Family Carers Community Cafe

The project will create a cafe that will provide a community resource where family carers can drop in to gain information, and support services. It will also provide a space to socialise and share experiences with other family carers. The project has an additional objective of providing family carers with employment and volunteer opportunities. There will be 2,650 beneficiaries.

Blackmore Youth Centre Project

The project will convert one of two existing squash courts into a two storey youth centre, with disabled facilities, including toilets, small kitchen and storage space and two recreation areas. There will be 300 beneficiaries.

Swimming for our future!

The project is to refurbish and enclose the existing pool area so that it can be used all year round by the whole community. It is expected that 1,500 people will benefit from the project.

The Green Bike Project

The project aims to make use of unwanted bicycles by restoring old cycles for use by people in need. The project will involve restoration by Mencap members who need work-based experience and then the bicycles will be provided to members of the public for recreational and health purposes. The project will directly benefit 10 people and indirectly benefit the wider community.

Horning Junior Sailing Club

The project entails the purchase of a boat that will enable the group to teach sailing to young people on a 'floating classroom'. The boat will also act as a secondary clubhouse. There will be approximately 400 beneficiaries.

Big Green Tractor Dream

The project is to purchase a 'green tractor', a low emissions tractor vehicle with controls specifically designed for use by people with disabilities and a second seat to allow tuition to take place. The project will benefit 75 people.

Black Notley Community Pool Project

The project is to refurbish the local pool and changing rooms to provide a valuable recreational resource for the whole community. The project will benefit 1,000 people.

Luton Road Sports Field

This Parish Council is responsible for the upkeep and day-to-day management of a large sports field situated on the periphery of the village. The field is used by a variety of organisations but suffers from poor drainage, rendering large parts of it unusable during wet weather. Water-logging has also damaged parts of the field. The proposed project is to install a reliable drainage system and improve the surface of the pitches to ensure the future durability of the facility. This will consequently provide improved access to the sporting opportunities for the whole of the local community.

Lukeswood

The project will encourage people to get in touch with nature in their local area by buying a plot of land within the village and creating a community wild space, which will be open and accessible to everyone. With the help of local volunteers the organisation will clear the area of rubbish, plant native trees and hedgerows, create a disabled friendly footpath to link with the village allotments and cemetery, create a traditional orchard, improve and extend wildlife habitats, as well as design and create an outdoor learning area.

Youth Counselling & Support Centre

The project will create a youth counselling and support centre through renovating the building the charity currently has a 20 year lease for. The renovations will include creating training and therapy rooms, a second floor, offices, reception, kitchen, and toilets including a disabled toilet. The improvements to the building will enable the charity to provide more and better quality care to the young people living within the Harlow area. If Young Concern Trust is successful with the People's Millions it can then match the funding with promised support from the Fowler, Smith & Jones Trust and the charity’s own funds to refurbish the former Dashes Family Centre and establish a new Centre, and the charity will: • Double the number of children and young people to 1,000 who can access counselling and therapeutic groupwork (including new projects to tackle teenage pregnancy and promote sexual health) • Offer innovative and accessible e-counselling services • Target counselling services at looked after children to enhance their self-esteem, confidence and aspirations • Improve outcomes for children and young people in line with the Every Child Matters agenda: improving health, reducing inequalities and social exclusion • Act as a hub for other children and young people’s services • Expand the charity’s geographic coverage to neighbouring communities. Former-Essex High Sheriff, Lady Diana Kemp-Welch is a co-founder of Young Concern Trust, which is now in its 21st year of operation, says: “I remain convinced that there is, and that there will be an increasing demand for the charity’s services. We need a new youth counselling centre to enable us to broaden and increase what we do. Early intervention is vital to breaking the intergenerational cycle of under-achievement and social breakdown. Young Concern will be able to provide better services to children and young people, enabling them to turn their young lives around.” Some key facts about Young Concern Trust: • It is a small charity providing professional, free and confidential youth counselling services; many of whom are disadvantaged and have experienced physical, emotional and sexual abuse. • As a dynamic charity, working with almost 500 children and young people aged 11-25 every year, the aim is to contribute to their mental health, develop confidence and self-esteem. • Counselling is provided on a one-to-one basis, in groups and often in local community settings including schools. Up to six sessions are provided at times to suit from Monday through to Saturdays, including evenings. • Works in partnership with other local agencies: the PCT, local authorities, colleges and schools, the Connexions service and St Clare Hospice. The counselling team is fully qualified to help children and young people with: *bereavement *relationship*bullying*emotional difficulties*anger management and self-esteem problems. • Recent evaluation (from a baseline of 72 clients) found that 93% said the counselling was useful, and believed their problems had been well understood by their counsellor, and claimed to be much better able to cope in their lives. • Young Concern is a BACP (British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy) Accredited service.

Mow & Grow People's Project

Mow and Grow - Cutting Grass, Cutting Crime, Cultivating Futures The Mow & Grow East Anglian People's Project aims to set up a new gardening and training service covering eastern England, in particular rurally isolated areas. We are currently based in the most deprived areas of Norfolk and Suffolk but want to cover more areas with our services. We provide a free or low cost garden and tree surgery services for vulnerable people in the community and community groups whilst providing skills training, accredited qualifications and work experience to those struggling to get work. We are an accredited OCN (open college network) assessment centre which delivers hundreds of qualifications free of charge each year and helps thousands of vulnerable people each year. We have won many awards such as Enterprise of the Year 2006 & 2007, Pride of the East 2007, Social Enterprise Mentor of the Year 2007, ARCH Award 2008, Suffolk High Sherriff Award 2008, Greenest Business 2009, Norwich Eco Award 2009 was a finalist in the BITC Award 2009 and National Crime Beat Award 2009. The People’s Millions award would help us expand our existing services by setting up new teams to help more people both with their gardens and helping the unemployed gain new skills which should help them get work in the future either with ourselves or other employers.

Modernisation of hydrotherapy pool

The project will provide better changing and showering facilities for the school's physiotherapy pool in addition to installing a ceiling mounted track hoist to enable more disabled people to access the pool. The school believes that these changes will enable a greater number of community members with physical and mental disabilities or injuries to use the facilities to aid their treatment.

Church to Community Coffee Shop

The project will re-furbish the community building so that the organisation can increase and improve the level and range of service that it offers the local community. The improvements will include the creation of a coffee shop, children's play area, fair-trade outlet and a display and information area for community activities. The centre will be redecorated and lit in keeping with the architecture of the church to enhance the aesthetic beauty and the visual impact of the building. The centre will have the capacity to run activities throughout the day and evening when the improvements have been made. For further details see our website at "www.cottenhamcc.org":http://www.cottenhamcc.org, follow us on "Facebook":http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cottenham-Community-Centre/200986972048 and "Twitter":http://twitter.com/CottenhamCC