Great News! We have just won a Suffolk Foundation Major Award for £5000 for our Town Park.

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 The Working Together Community Fund is an awards programme open to Suffolk’s voluntary and community organisations.  Funded by Suffolk County Council, the programme is managed by Suffolk Community Foundation with the objective of recognising outstanding service delivery or community activity as a result of increased collaborative working.  
The fund aims to support “working together” initiatives, it would be expected that there is a large element of “roll your sleeves up” approach as well as some joint working with other organisations who are not normally seen as partners.
It funds projects that have been completed in the last year or where the majority of the delivery has taken place so gaining our Green Flag and the Council putting up our lovely flagpole was critical.  It looks for real collaboration and a high level of community and volunteer input. We had to demonstrate clearly what outcomes had been achieved and how these had been enhanced by your working together.
What we said we had achieved was:
Our work has been recognised with the achievement of many awards. Including a Community Green Flag and A Silver Gilt Award from Anglia in Bloom in 2016. The Green Flag Field assessments in 2016 listed the following strengths for our Community Volunteers work in our Park:  All entrances are very safe; The site is very welcoming; Most paths are good, I felt very safe whilst in the space; Waveney checks play equipment; no evidence of dog fouling; litter and waste management appears to be well looked after; overall standard of maintenance was good for a community group; peat and pesticides not used & compost made by group; conservation of landscape & historic features well looked after; Promotion of park good within Halesworth; very good links with the wider community; large management group well constituted; very good at raising money for play area and historical features; I do like the plan criteria.
 
Britain in Bloom, RHS and Green Flag criteria have kept us maintaining regular activities to improve our Town Park.
 Using feedback to revise our five-year Management Plan worked well and this is currently
out for further consultation to add approximate timings and costings as much depends on securing sufficient additional funding.
 Other notable outcomes were:
 HIB Town Maps at Station, Town Centre show position of Town Park
Jane Kircher Playground completed and well used by youngsters, including disabled access
Welcoming bright flower beds at entrance showcased to Anglia in Bloom since 2014 and have contributed to Town Gold Awards
Signage and interpretation boards planned quality dependent on fund raising and or sponsorship
 HIB Bulb planting extending range of horticultural management
Green Flag raising Ceremony October 2016
Six seats cleaned and repainted along towpath.
HIB Volunteers are now Friends of the Park; Many live nearby and regularly clean, litter-pick and check for dog fouling, supplementing Waveney two-week cycle that clears litter bins and cut’s grass.
Keep Britain Tidy Great British Spring Clean started 11/1/17 From Litter to Glitter and 27 people came to launch with local press coverage now a regular well attended weekly activity
Engagement through social media and our own website - www.halesworthinbloom.com, which includes a daily blog to publicise activities and events. Monthly bulletins and features in local papers have begun to put us on the map e.g. Management Plan launch, raising of Green Flag and ‘From Litter to Glitter’ campaign
 
The outcomes of our project have promoted inclusion, support and well-being and fed into the strong sense of community within the town.
 
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