Communities Minister, Stephen Williams MP, will be visiting Bath to meet a group of Curo residents who are receiving £5,000 as part of the ‘Give it a Go’ initiative.
The scheme is designed to help local groups run their own neighbourhood services.
Housing and support organisation Curo has been pioneering the national Give it a Go programme with customers across its 12,000 homes.
To date 21 Curo residents’ groups have chosen to take over the running of local services like gardening and cleaning in their shared areas.
In return for taking on these services, residents’ service charges are reduced accordingly. Give it a Go grants help to make this possible by providing residents with money to buy equipment and get started.
Curo is one of the biggest landlords in the area and has been promoting the scheme to its 25,000 customers.
Curo provides cleaning services to around 2,500 homes across 484 buildings and is responsible for maintaining communal gardens, around 580,000 square metres of grass and over 7,000 trees.
The Chandler Close Residents’ Association, which represents over 200 Curo households, are the latest group to benefit from a Give it a Go grant and will be talking to the Minister about their plans for the future.
The busy group already manage their own community garden and parking scheme, grow and sell their own fresh produce and work closely with local school children to bring together neighbours of all ages through events and community action.
Curo has worked closely with the group over recent years, providing funding and helping them to grow. The Give it a Go grant of £5,000 will help the group to take their community services to the next level.
Curo Resident Involvement Manager John Voysey has been leading the work.
He said: “Our residents know their neighbourhoods better than anyone and the Give it a Go scheme is a fantastic way for local people to take more control over their surroundings and get involved with their community.
“Chandler Close is a model for how successful communities working together can achieve amazing results and real cohesion and, in turn, promote a positive image of a vibrant community and area.”
Give it a Go is part of the Tenant Central, a government programme to help social housing tenants get more involved with their landlord and local communities.
The Give it a Go initiative is available to groups of residents who live in homes managed by social landlords anywhere in England.
Anyone interested in applying for a starter grant can find out more by contacting Curo on 01225 366000 or visiting www.curo-group.co.uk/getinvolved.
Alternatively contact the Tenant Central Team on 0800 035 6351 or [email protected].
