Loraine Estate residents!

Over the last few months, we've spoken together about what's important to you and your health and wellbeing. The 'Your Priorities' event in July helped us to come together and agree the community's priorities for its health and wellbeing. This will help guide and inspire what the money for this project can be spent on.

We’ve heard that you want:

1. Green space on your estate everyone can use
2. Opportunities to be active
3. Opportunities to come together
4. Better spaces for children to play outside
5. More activities for children to take part in

We've also heard that other things are important to you, including feeling safe, and making sure everyone can access public spaces and activities. It's important that any ideas submitted for the funding consider how everyone can be included.

• What: Your Solutions event
• When: Saturday 20 September, 1-4pm
• Where: Loraine Estate Community centre

Why are we looking to involve residents in the running of the project?

We are looking for residents across Loraine Estate to get more involved and help with the running of this project because:

• Residents like you understand best what your community wants and needs around health and wellbeing
• We want you to have a say in how this project takes shape so that the projects works as well as it can for you and your neighbours
• It’s a really great way to use and develop your skills, and get to know your community better!
• We can make bigger and better change happen when we all work together!

Who can get more involved?

Anyone on the Estate who is 18+ can get involved. We would like to make sure we work with a group of residents that represents the diversity on Loraine Estate. We’d like the group to be made up of:

• Long-standing residents and newcomers (and those in between)
• At least one person from each block on the Estate

And we especially encourage you to take part if you are:

• A young person
• A parent of a young person
• An older person
• Living with health issues or are disabled
• Identify as an ethnic minority or person of colour
  
  

What could getting more involved and helping with the running of the project look like?

This is flexible and can work around you in terms of time commitment – you can choose what you’re most interested in and what feels manageable for you. We’ll work together to shape these roles, but a rough guide is:

1. If you don’t have as much time to give, you can help spread awareness about the project, encourage people to come to events and help out on the day at some of the in-person events we’ll hold over the next few months.
2. If you have some more time to give, you can also have conversations with your neighbours about their health and wellbeing concerns and priorities, and support with the planning of some of the engagement events happening over the summer.
3. If you want to give lots of time, you could organise your own engagement events, and could support residents to write and develop their proposals before voting day. You could also give some feedback to the team to help us learn and improve the project.

What is the time commitment I am expected to give?

You can choose how much time you feel able to give at each stage of the project. If your situation changes and you can offer more or less time as the project goes on, that’s no problem so long as you let the project team know.

However, to make sure you feel well informed and supported to contribute meaningfully to your role, we do ask that as a minimum, you:

• Attend 2 x core training sessions
• Attend the meetings that are relevant to the role you choose

Where possible, all meetings will be held at the Loraine Estate community centre.

What’s in it for me?

By getting more involved and helping with the running of the project, you will:

• Have lots of opportunities to get to know your neighboursbetter, understand what they care about and start building stronger connections in your local community
• Have an opportunity to use your voice to champion your community and its priorities
• Use your skills and experience to bring this project to life
• Be able to come to bespoke training to develop your knowledge and skills round community organising, facilitation skills, communicating about health and wellbeing and more! We’ll shape the training program depending on what you’d like to learn most.
• Be able to request references from the project team
  
  

What support is offered?

• We will be offering free and bespoke trainings to Loraine Estate residents on key skills relevant to the project and your interests.
• Everyone who gets involved and meets the minimum commitment requirement (above) will be rewarded with a thank you voucher (shops TBC).
• Refreshments will always be provided at volunteer meetings and events.
• We will cover costs of interpreters, should any volunteer need these to take part.
• We will do our best to meet any other access, support or childcare needs you have (please do speak with any of our team about this).

How do I sign up to get more involved in the project?

Please reach out to engagement@islington.gov.uk if you’d like to sign up, or if you have any questions about it! You can also call Sid on 07811 043 478.