The Chichester Community Development Trust provides spaces for hire and community projects in a suite of community-run buildings in Graylingwell Park, Roussillon Park and Keepers Green in Chichester, West Sussex.
It was set up when developer Linden Homes had a responsibility to provide community buildings during a 2014 development of the site, which included the provision of 750 new buildings and 64,000 sq ft of commercial space. The area had been earmarked for redevelopment after 2007, when the mental health hospital on the site finally closed down.
The Chichester Development Trust has raised almost £2 million in mostly National Lottery Heritage Funding for the redevelopment of a chapel on the site of the old hospital. They are working with architects to turn it into a community space for reflection and relaxation, where people can meet, try new activities and learn more about the local heritage.
A small cafe will be attached to the chapel, where the Trust will run live exhibitions to raise awareness of the pioneering mental health work carried out in the hospital’s 100-year history.
When did things start to change?
As soon as we sensed a lockdown could be coming to the UK, we were fortunate to work with printing partners to developed a flyer outlining ideas into how neighbours could support each other and for people to let us know if they needed any practical support, like collecting the bins and walking the dog, supermarket shopping or prescription collections.
Need help with your technology questions? Join our Virtual IT café at 10-11am today & have a chat with our expert Derek. He’s here to give advice on staying connected with friends/family, working from home or ensuring vigilance with online security. https://t.co/Riq65R1H6J pic.twitter.com/tiR5st9gvw
— Chichester CDT (@ChichesterCDT) May 15, 2020
Then we spoke to our local residents associations once lick down was kicking in, so people understood the extent of of the support available. There were quite a few areas where there wasn’t a volunteer service in north east Chichester, so following discussions with the District Council and local support groups we printed another run of leaflets and delivered them to those additional areas. We ended up flyering around 3,500 households, so they all knew how to get in touch with us by phone or email. Through that we gathered a wonderful group of 50 volunteers.
The Little Learners nursery group that meets at the Lodge has been distributing packs with craft activities to do at home, so we can provide practical support for families that might be struggling with resources.
How are you helping with food?
People are sending us food orders. It was one of the early challenges. We don’t want any cash changing hands or people exchanging bank details, so we have been acting as an interim banking hub: people ask us for shopping, we pass that on to a volunteer, they deliver it directly observing social distancing, photograph the receipt and email it to us, then the person receiving the shopping can pay us online.
We received an early grant as a slush fund to support that, so that repayments can be made when it is possible for those facing hardships, so we can ensure data protection. That can be a real challenge for pop-up volunteer groups. If there was widespread Click and Collect that would be fine, but Click and Collect is so hard to access at the moment. Obviously we go and collect foodbank deliveries as well.
What other organisations are you working with?
We’re in regular contact with the district council and the county council. They have been great. The feedback is that across the region there has been such incredible support that the help available outweighs the need, so people asking for support are getting it. The concern is for families that aren’t speaking out. But the wellbeing team is phoning round, so there is lots of proactive support as well.
How has it affected you financially?
Luckily we don’t depend on fundraising events and activities. But the closure of our community building has affected revenue as we invested the surplus from the hire into the community. Our director has been identifying grants and support. We have received the grant from the government that provides rates relief on each building. That has shored up what we are doing.
Congratulations to Florence, winner of the CCT Photography Competition in the Under-16’s category. What a nice idea to capture the theme of Shadows & Reflection. CCDT will award her the prize, a £10 Amazon voucher. Stay tuned for the next theme in the competition! #CCDTchallenge pic.twitter.com/b8aSy6i83v
— Chichester CDT (@ChichesterCDT) May 16, 2020
Is there more the government needs to do?
In our case, we have received the support that we need.
Has anything been challenging?
We have switched to virtual community cafes to give people free support. But the people who came in person to the community cafe, often weren’t as tech savvy, so our greatest challenge is to reach out to them – that’s why we’re dropping off packages to Little Learners.
We’re using email, but that’s still missing people out.
We usually have a fish and chip quiz and we do that digitally. There are 40-odd people on that quiz. But certainly some members of the community not getting picked up so well. So we’re trying to look for ways to support them. The leaflets have been great, because they have reached people who would never have asked us for help. People feel that has been very accessible.
We’ve also been able to run additional activities like online live yoga lessons, a quiz for young people, art-based workshops, interactive sessions for Dads and kids with Dad la Soul and virtual IT cafes where people can come for tech support.
What about the longer term?
We have been talking about how lots of it will carry on. For people that are vulnerable, this will go on for much longer, especially as public areas are more crowded. That volunteer support will continue until a vaccine is found.
There are other activities that have proved vert successful where people might not be able to get out and they prefer a digital format. It’s experimental – trying lots of activities and events and seeing which ones work.
