Coordinators update

The Wells Area Partnership has now merged with
the Wells Maltings Project .

All future news and updates will be found HERE. The pages on this site wil remain as an archive of the work done by the WAP team.

Walsingham Youth project and Pavilion

The youth shelter has been installed and an official opening will be planned for late March, this is a brilliant step towards our end goal. The youth workers however will sadly finish at the end of March 2011 due to the recent county council cuts and changes, we are working with PCSO Becky Taylor to get the recreational trust sorted so that there is something in place for the young people. The grant bid to Children in Need was unsuccessful due an error on a policy and will be resubmitted in April 2011, but we also have a bid in with the Norfolk Community Foundation for some money from Victory Housing which we should hear the outcome in April.

CATS (Community Action Through Sport)

The CATS team now has 14 members and have run another successful technology hour. The team feel that technology hours have now run their course and have left it open that communities or individuals can request one but the team will not organise any themselves anymore. The next project for the CATS team will be the jumble sale held to raise money for the Maltings project. The Wells CATS team who also make up the youth panel who give thoughts and opinions on the Maltings, wanted to show their support for this development. The Jumble sale is March 19th 10.00am – 1.00pm in the Maltings. A grant has been applied for to the Norfolk Constabulary for money to support this project.

Maltings Development

The Maltings Development continues to move forward, several grant applications have been applied for. WAP are now on the board as Treasurer and will be assisting with the fund raising, we are currently planning the pirate festival which will take place in September which we hope to be an annual event.

Wells Field Study Centre

A public meeting was held to bring together business opportunity for the centre. Partners such as Homes for Wells, Natural England, Sure start and local business needing office space all came forward with ideas. We also now have confirmation from SCIRA that the building will be left with up to date communication and technology which has now been fitted. Although WAP will begin now to piece together a very rough business plan and start looking for the money to buy the building, a separate investigation is taking place to find out the history of the building and who in fact paid for the construction, a plague on the side of the building would suggest the finances were raised by the community, a press appeal has been published. We have also applied for 5 days with a consultant (similar to the Maltings Project) to give us support with a pre feasibility report.

Hope and Smile

Hope and Smile have taken several new steps forward this month, firstly the grant of £2500 was secured to pay for massage and alternative therapies and activities each week, this was followed by the decision that WAP would no longer attend the group every second Monday and that they would see how they manage for the next month without that support. If the group feel they do still need support we will then be looking at options to get an outside service involved in running the group every second Monday. This is a step forward for the group and a huge decision to make as it is a bit like cutting the apron strings, WAP are not walking away from this group and will still be available if it does not work out.

Environmental project

Funding bid will be submitted to panel in May for decision.

Promotional DVD

WAP are waiting to hear about funding, our first bid to the National lottery was unsuccessful as they will not provide grants for fundraising. A new grant has been submitted and we should hear within 6 weeks.

Online Giving

You can now give money to WAP online, a new venture called local giving has been created to allow people to donate money to community projects in their area, the website is run through the Norfolk Community Foundation and although WAP are not a charity we can still receive donated money and receive gift aid. Our page is up and running and is free for 3 months and then an annual fee of £60.00. Please visit www.localgiving.co.uk/wellsarea the Maltings development is on there as a project and once we have secured a grant through the Norfolk community foundation they will be eligible for their own page.

WAP funding

WAP have been given funding now until September 2011 which is good and we wait to hear what the outcome will be beyond that. WAP and the Maltings Project have put in a bid for the salaries of the staff for two years which we have successfully been through the first round. We wait to hear the outcome as this would be excellent news for both WAP and the Maltings to have a secure further two years.

LGBT Project

This project is again waiting to hear about funding, a problem has risen in the form that youth services at the county will no longer exist, we will be trying to find a new youth venture to provide the youth workers. This project has now grown to try and attract some larger funding from the lottery into a youth project called 5 star. It is a youth project which will have 5 strand dictated by the young people. The 5 initial strands will be:

• LBGT advice service
• After school homework support
• Career support
• Hang out house twice weekly
• Weekly activity dictated by the young people.