I N S I D E

T H I S I S S U E :

Good Luck to Jo

Gooding and Susan

Heads

2

Lottery Grant Award

(Ashington Community

Development Trust)

3

Two Major Capital

Projects

(Holy Island of

Lindisfarne Community

Dev. Trust)

4

“Reach” Project

(Berwick Community

Trust)

5

Shop Front Scheme

(Amble Development

Trust)

7

Glendale Community

Plan

(Glendale Gateway

Trust)

7

44th Morpeth

Northumberland

Gathering (GMDT)

8

Morpeth to host North

East Heritage Forum

(GMDT)

9

Restoring an ancient

woodland walk

(GMDT)

10

Easter Treats 11

Notices & Events 12

FoNDT Newsletter

M A R C H 2 0 1 1 I S S U E 1 3

Foreword By The Chair

I would like to start by thanking Susan Heads and Jo Gooding for their contribution to

FoNDT and wish them every success in the future.

Hot off the press is the news that Locality has been selected to run the national

community organisers programme – with an aim of liberating community organising

from government, and grounding it firmly within community, to become an

independent force. Host community organisations including development trusts will be

selected to recruit and support capable local people. Ten pilot host organisations have

been selected and there is an opportunity to register interest in becoming a host. This

could be an opportunity for FoNDT members although none are in the pilot scheme

and we have invited representatives from Locality to the next FoNDT meeting to

update us on the recent merger of DTA and Bassac.

The 2011/12 grant to support FoNDT has been agreed by Northumberland County

Council and will be the same level as 2010/11 which is great news and allows us to

continue to support members through the ongoing development of individual trusts in

areas such as quality standards, sustainability and capacity reviews, procurement,

enterprise and renewables, together with promoting the organisation through an

effective communication strategy.

The 2011/14 Strategic Plan has been reviewed and commented on by the membership

and will be finalised and issued at the next members meeting on 28th March at

Stannington. The guest speaker that day will be Alan Davies, Investment &

Regeneration Manager for Home & Communities Agency so well worth attending and

bringing a Board member with you.

It continues to be a tough environment for each trust and those we work with across

various sectors but the more we work together the stronger we are.

David Lodge

FoNDT West Northumberland Renewables

A reminder to those members who have confirmed their attendance to the

update meeting on Friday 11th March in Hexham

Meeting begins at 10am at The Council Chamber at Prospect House

Look forward to seeing you there.

Yvonne Probert Project Officer Prudhoe Community Partnership 82 Front Street

Prudhoe Northumberland NE42 5PU 01661 836668

yvonne@prudhoe.org www.prudhoe.org

P A G E 2

F O N D T N E W S L E T T E R

I have been with FoNDT and the DTA for over 4 years and in that time have been very

privileged to work with some truly inspiring and committed people who have taken to

their heart the passion that everyone has a right to an affordable, accessible and good

quality home. For those of you I have worked closely with, heartfelt thanks for the

learning and the challenge!

Jo Gooding

“I‟ve really enjoyed working with and meeting all the FoNDT members over the last 4 years

and will miss everyone. I want to wish everyone success with their organisations in the future

and I‟m sure FoNDT will go from strength to strength.”

Susan Heads

Good Luck to;

Susan Heads and Jo Gooding

As the former Chair of Fondt I would like to thank both Susan and Jo for their contribution and commitment to Fondt over the past few years. Fondt has come a long way in a short space of time and both have been valuable mem-bers of staff and are part of the reason we are where we are. Susan I know has a passionate interest in animals and will have her hands full walking dogs and volunteering for animal based charities – on a personal note I would like to thank Susan for organising a „natural horsemanship‟ day for me which was thoroughly enjoyable. The day involved working with horses and trying out techniques associated with their natural instincts and behaviour – altogether more fun than sitting around a table arguing about a strategic ap-proach to community regeneration. Jo has been instrumental in putting development trusts at a national level at the forefront of the Community Land Trust debate and advocating for their in-volvement in local housing delivery. Could the tide be about to turn given the words coming out of the localism bill and the Homes and Communities Agency or is it just rhetoric! If the tide is about to turn then it will be in part due to the work of Jo on a national stage. As we all know Jo is about to manage the new and exciting Newbiggin by the sea heritage centre – keep one eye on the tide Jo! In the 11 years I have worked for Glendale Gateway Trust Jo is the only person I have had a meeting with in the women‟s toilets at The Cheviot Centre - an occasion neither of us will forget and one you will find no mention of in any minutes. So – thank you both for being there and working so well for us, and best wishes to you both in whatever you do.

Tom Johnston

P A G E 3

F O N D T N E W S L E T T E R

Happy New Year to you,,,,,,

Happy New Year to us!

Ashington Community Development Trust

Ashington Community Development Trust is pleased to inform all our friends and colleagues that we have been awarded a major grant from the Big Lottery Fund. The Trust will receive £307,000 over the next 5 years, through the Reaching Communities Programme. This grant award means so much more than just its monetary value. It endorses our project, demonstrates that someone out there believes in us and what we are attempting to do; it is a tremendous boost to the morale of volunteers and staff who have worked quietly and tirelessly for their community over a number of years; and it will enable the Trust to continue to work with people and other organisations to improve the prospects for Ashington residents, particularly the younger generation, for many years to come. The Trust can now work to encourage residents to become more active in their community, raising skills, confidence and aspirations. The Trust can contribute to an improved vibrancy in the Town by provision of services, activities and opportunities for all. We look forward to the next five years with anticipation and expect that the Trust will be able to have a positive effect on the lives of significant numbers of people living in Ashington. We are extremely grateful for this opportunity provided by the Big Lottery Fund. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your help and support and look forward to working with you all in the future. The Big Lottery Fund distributes half of the National Lottery good cause funding across the UK. The Fund is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need. Ashington Community Development Trust can now contribute to the improvements in our own community and to the lives of people most in need in those communities. Janet Cresswell Manager Ashington Community Development Trust

P A G E 4

Two major capital projects

Holy Island of Lindisfarne Community Dev Trust

The Trust on Holy Island is set to have a very busy 2011. It has now secured funding

worth nearly £830,000 for two major capital projects. The first will see the renovation of

the former Coastguard Lookout Tower into a visitor observation and education point and

is due to open in spring 2012.

Through the wider Holy Island Partnership, the Trust and its partners have submitted an

application to the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Landscape Partnership programme for a 3-

year scheme worth over £2.75m. The scheme is known as Peregrini Lindisfarne and as

well as including the island, also covers sections of the coastline and land around Budle

Bay. The first stage application will be assessed by HLF over the next 3-4 months, and

if successful, the development stage will start in August 2011, with the complete scheme

being delivered between March 2013 and December 2015.

The Trust is leading a project connected with the County Council’s work to reduce the

county’s carbon footprint. A range of activities are planned throughout 2011 to explore

how the incorporation of renewable energy, energy efficiency and carbon reduction

work can take place in such a sensitive and protected area. The work will also explore

how to develop community leadership on climate change.

Lookout Tower

View from Lookout Tower

The second project is the building of a high quality viewing

area and environmental education point in the Rocket field

alongside Harbour Road. This site is within a SSSI and the

new building is complying with very strict environmental

standards. Both buildings will include interpretation of the

National Nature Reserve which is managed by Natural Eng-

land who are supporting both projects.

Rocket Building

F O N D T N E W S L E T T E R

P A G E 5

F O N D T N E W S L E T T E R

‘REACH Berwick’ Project.

Going that extra mile

Late last year, Julie the Berwick REACH officer received a call from the job centre asking if she could help a young man who had an interview the next day. This client was ex armed forces, had served his country in Afghanistan and other combat zones around the world where his experiences left him with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. As a result he found himself homeless, jobless and with only the belongings he could carry around with him. With no family or services support facilities locally his life was on a downwards spiral. This man wanted to work and spent days walking around every trading area and industrial estate looking for work and as a direct result was invited for an interview with a local factory. Being ex forces he was desperate to look “presentable” but only had the clothes he was wearing which were not appropriate for an interview. The job centre was unable to fund any new clothes due to time restrictions (!) therefore „REACH’ was his last hope. Julie obtained permission for a petty cash advance up to £35 and took him shopping for new interview clothes. He was able to attend his interview the next day in a new suit, shirt and tie. Although he was not successful in securing the job, the manager has put him in touch with a local transportation company and a work trial is being arranged. (He is a diesel mechanic by trade). He is also much more positive about his future now and his confidence is greatly improved. He has applied for a number of positions in the last couple of weeks and is sure his interview outfit will bring him success.

- December 2010 :

Its stories like this that validates the effectiveness of the REACH project and the whole Development Trust ethos of working locally at a community level and responding to individuals needs by treating them each as unique with a separate set of circumstances that always require a unique and personalised response.

REACH is a Working Neighbourhoods Funded project, which is delivered by

development trusts in Berwick, Amble, Hexham and Prudhoe to offer interview,

advice and guidance support to unemployed individuals to get them back into

employment, education or training.

P A G E 6

F O N D T N E W S L E T T E R

‘REACH Berwick’ Project. (Continued)

Since starting just over a year ago through the Community Trust the „REACH Berwick‟ project has registered almost 200 clients with each client registered onto the project using the Hanlon (County Council data collection programme). In Berwick we are fortunate to have not only an active and hard working lead officer in Julie Kennedy working on the „REACH Berwick‟ project but one who is also trained as a geographer. Data sets interest her and she was compelled to extract some statistics for basic analysis. The majority of „REACH Berwick‟ client base is male, with little or no qualifications, aged 16-55. This was no surprise, but figures for Berwick from the national census show that people searching for a job are relatively evenly split between the sexes so although successful, „REACH Berwick‟ was missing a significant part of the population that it was set up to help. In order to get an overall picture, Julie also mapped their postcodes identifying a large part of the residential area that the „REACH Berwick‟ project was not actually Reaching!!, and is cantered around the Spittal area in an area of housing intended for family occupation. Weekly Drop in Service

In order to find out why the project wasn‟t engaging those seeking work from this specific area Julie used the experience of other organisations working in the same area to find out why they weren‟t coming to the „REACH Berwick‟ project for help in getting a job. The consensus of opinion was that the residents of this area would not trek across the bridge into Berwick to engage with the project and most of the female residents saw childcare responsibilities as a barrier to education and training. In order to provide an equal accessible service throughout the town, Julie embarked on the search for suitable premises in which to hold a weekly drop in service close to the Spittal area. After a number of setbacks due to costs and safety, a room was secured in the local Swan Leisure Centre. The location is ideal as it is situated at the edge of the large estates in this area and residents need to pass it in order to shop or drop children off at school. Through networking the new drop in was mentioned and an approach was made by Volunteer Northumberland with the offer of sharing the venue and costs after further discussion, SureStart, will also be in attendance providing information and advice on childcare to clients. This „REACH Berwick‟ project is be ideal for anyone wishing to gain experience, boost confidence and allows them to add something current to a CV. Whilst the opportunities are available to everyone the Swan Leisure Centre drop in is especially suited to stay at home parents with gaps in their experience, or those lacking in confidence to return to employment or training.

This weekly drop in starts on Tuesday February 1st and will run until the end of

March. We hope to continue if funding allows.

P A G E 7

F O N D T N E W S L E T T E R

Shop Front Scheme

Amble Development Trust

project which was funded through English Heritage and NCC. Our plans

are to convert the space into 3 units, one to be retained by the Trust for

commercial activities and the other 2 rented out to create an income.

Julia Aston Director of Amble Development Trust said “ It ’ s good to see

all the Trust ’ s hard work has come to fruition. Hopefully it will have a

positive impact in Queen Street, rather than the half-shuttered building

which was there before. I ’ d like to thank the funders and everyone who

worked so hard in bringing this together.

“ T he European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas”.

The former Co-op Department

Store on Queen Street, Amble

Amble Development Trust has secured £94k from RDPE to develop the interior of the

first floor of the former Co-op building on Queen Street. Work will commence on Mon-

Many of you will know that Glendale Gateway Trust applied to host the local Community

Forum and have received support for the past two years through Northumberland County

Councils locality team in the guise of John Cooper.

The Forum, chaired by former CEO of Berwick upon Tweed Borough Council – Jane Pannell

has been instrumental in developing a Community Plan which is now available in its unpub-

lished form from the Wooler website - http://www.wooler.org.uk/docs/pdf_1294934150.pdf

The Plan focuses on four key areas of concern – Demographic change, Housing, Transport

and Communication and Business and enterprise. The Centre for the rural economy at New-

castle University provided invaluable support – a student living in Berwick upon Tweed –

Kendra Turnbull has co-ordinated the work and carried out the bulk of the research with peer

support from Northumberland National Park officer Iain Hedley.

Actions are already underway – the Community Plan highlighted 5.8% of houses in Glendale

are empty, this represents 151 properties. A working group has been set up to look into this

with the aim of bringing back as many as possible into use – an approach which is sure to

find favour with a cash strapped Homes and Communities agency.

After recent announcements by Northumberland County Council we may no longer have a

community forum but we do have a good quality and well researched plan which we will use

as a tool to further community regeneration in Glendale.

Tom Johnston

Glendale Community Plan – a real team effort

Glendale Gateway Trust

P A G E 8

F O N D T N E W S L E T T E R

Greater Morpeth Development Trust

44th Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering

continuing Northumberland’s traditions

29th April to 1st May 2011

An exciting three-day festival of :

– this year with an ‘On the Write Lines’ theme – railways, writing and reivers.

Special Royal Wedding and May Day events, celebrations of local railway heroes, and a

call for descendants of Reiver families to get involved.

Box Office (from 1st March) Morpeth Chantry TIC 01670 535200

Details www.northumbriana.org.uk

Queries 01670 513308

Photographs copyright John Bibby

Street shows

Indoor events

Music

Dance

Crafts

Dialect

Workshops

Talks

Walks

Competitions

and Traditional fun

P A G E 9

F O N D T N E W S L E T T E R

Greater Morpeth Development Trust

Morpeth to host North East heritage forum

Morpeth has been chosen as one of only three venues across England to host a networking forum in the run-up to what has become an increasingly popular event to celebrate the country‟s rich architectural and cultural traditions.

This year‟s Heritage Open Days will run for four days from September 8 th and more people than ever before are being invited to take part either as volunteers planning and running events, or property owners prepared to welcome visitors. Three networking forums are being organised on behalf of English Heritage which has sup-ported the open days‟ programme over the past decade, with the only one in the North East being held at Morpeth Chantry on Thursday March 17th. Anyone interested in being involved in their local Heritage Open Days‟ (HODS) programme can apply for a place at the Morpeth event by completing and returning a booking form avail-able from English Heritage – telephone 0844 335 1884 or at www.heritageopendays.org.uk/

organisers/workshops

Bookings have to be made by Friday March 11th

The Morpeth networking forum takes place from 10.30am to 3pm when there will be interactive sessions and plenty of time for questions.

Tamsin Lilley, Heritage Officer for Greater Morpeth Development Trust, has been actively involved in organising Heritage Open Day events in and around Morpeth as well as across Northumberland. She said the Morpeth networking forum would give people interested in supporting this year‟s programme the chance to meet HODS team members; network with other organisers; as well as sharing their experiences from past events and gaining fresh ideas for arranging new ones in their own communities. “Past event organisers have told us they value the chance to meet others and talk about their experiences so the Morpeth event will focus on providing people with valuable networking opportunities and hopefully some new ideas for events in their own localities,” she said. “Volunteers are essential to the success of HODs in their own areas so we will be pleased to see people from right across the North East at the Morpeth forum.”

Last year it was estimated that more than one million people of all ages took the opportunity to find out more about the rich heritage on their own doorsteps.

Each September free access is made available to thousands of properties across the country ranging from castles to factories, town halls to tithe barns, parish churches to religious temples that are either closed to the public or charge for admission.

P A G E 1 0

F O N D T N E W S L E T T E R

Greater Morpeth Development Trust

Restoring an ancient woodland walk An open invitation to get involved in the latter stages of the restoration of an historic riverside walk through ancient woodland is being extended by project managers Greater Morpeth Devel-opment Trust (GMDT). The walk follows the bank of the River Wansbeck as it meanders from the edge of Morpeth through to the picturesque village of Bothal on the outskirts of Ashington that can trace back its history for more than 1000 years. The Bothal Woods project marks the final stage in the inspirational Castle Woods & Water initia-tive to restore and make country and riverside walks in and around Morpeth more accessible and inviting for local residents. The route was identified as a priority for improvement through the initiative because – despite its popularity with generations of local people – it had become virtually impassable, muddy and unsafe for walkers through river erosion, untended overgrowth and lack of repairs and mainte-nance. The walk from the western fringes of Morpeth through to Bothal includes several sites of historic importance, but again access had become restricted due to the poor condition of the footpath. With the help of funding from a Groundwork Community Spaces Grant and Northumberland County Council GMDT began repair and improvement work along the path a few months ago. Since then the worst sections of the footpath have been improved and resurfaced, footbridges and steps repaired, and seating with some picnic benches sited along the route to give walkers the chance to stop and admire the beautiful surroundings. “All the work is being done in a way that is sympathetic to the heritage sites and what is a very ancient woodland,” said GMDT Project Manager Gemma Gadomski. “Already we have made significant progress towards restoring an important recreational re-sources for people of all ages to use and enjoy on their own doorsteps.” The next and final step will be to restore and preserve the heritage sites as well as commission-ing and installing signage and interpretive panels so that visitors can find out all about the his-tory and the environment of Bothal Woods as they walk the route. Gemma would now like to hear from anyone who either knows anything about the history of Bothal Woods; who may like to volunteer to help with planting new trees and shrubs along the route; or with its future maintenance through taking part in regular ‘clean-up’ days to help keep the woodland in the sort of condition that will attract more visitors in the future. Further information about how to help with the project is available on a ‘Signage and Seating, Whorral Bank to Bothal’ blog on the GMDT website: www.gmdt.net Information about a May launch event to promote the newly accessible walk through Bothal Woods will also be posted on the GDMT website nearer the date. Gemma Gadomski can be contacted at Greater Morpeth Development Trust on (01670) 503866.

P A G E 1 1

F O N D T N E W S L E T T E R

Easter Treats

Notices and Events

Office Space For Rent in Alnwick

A bright and cheery 4-desk office has become available for rent here at The Centre for not-for-profit

organisations. It is on the 2nd floor, which is accessible by a lift. The rent includes all services plus the

use of a kitchen (on the ground floor) and a small car park to the rear of the building. If you know any

organisation who might be interested, please contact Kevin Wardle on 01665 606093 or at

Kevin.wardle@acdt.org.uk.

Contact details for FoNDT: Caroline Clough, Admin Assistant

c/o Carlisle Park Lodge, Castle Square, Morpeth, Northumberland NE61 1YD

Email: admin@fondt.co.uk Phone: 01670 503866 (Mon and Thurs)

Open Tuesday and Thursday,

9.30 – 11.30, all year except

Christmas and New Year.

£1.50 per family.

Tel: 01670-511078.

Web: morpethmeth.org.

MMC Toddler Group is part of Morpeth Methodist Church and

Centre for the Community and is of course non-profit making.

We typically get around 30 children at every session, from

within roughly a ten-mile radius around Morpeth, including

many from the rural area. We also get grandparents who come

from further away to look after grandchildren in or near

Morpeth while parents are working.

We are quite informal. You just turn up with your child, and it's only £1.50, however many of the adults and children

there are in the family party. The price includes quality refreshments, and people come and go as and when they like.

Roger Hawkins

Morpeth Methodist Church and Centre for the Community

P A G E 1 2

Northumberland Toy Library & Children's Resource Ctr.

The Toy Library has just received a donation of £500 to purchase new

lending toys for the service, this will mean a selection of new exciting toys and play equipment for

our children to loan - the money was kindly donated by

The Leslie and Lilian Manning Trust. Our thanks to them

For more information about the toy Library contact: Ann Widdrington, Northumberland Toy library, Station Villa, Kenilworth Road, Ashington

01670 523539 or 07766372052 enquiries@ntlrc.co.uk