Success for First Public Meeting

Burngreave New Deal for Communities got the new year off to a good start with its first public meeting which was well attended by members of the local community and projects funded through BNDfC.

Partnership Board member Mr Iqbal (pictured right) gave the welcoming speech, summing up some of New Deal’s achievements in its first three years, saying:

“I can assure you that the Partnership Board members and staff are working hard on your behalf to ensure services are improved. The benefits of this work can now be seen with the introduction of Community Wardens, additional streetlights in the area, an anti-social behaviour team and increased resources to keep the streets and parks clean.

“With the help of local people and organisations we have also seen a large number of projects start to deliver what people have asked for. There have been a number of successes to date, including 173 new jobs created through Burngreave New Deal and its projects, and 154 people supported by the Community Learning Assistants to return to learning across the community.

“We are also supporting a whole range of projects to help our school children get better grades in the key subjects of Maths, English and Science and have enabled local schools to provide books, musical instruments and educational outings.

“Through the work of the New Deal Police Team, the introduction of CCTV on Spital Hill and a project to provide alarms and locks to the elderly and vulnerable, levels of crime in the area have dropped significantly.

“We know there is still much to do, but this meeting is one of your opportunities to let us know what you would like to see happening in the future.”

Feedback from the event shows that people felt it was a positive experience which was worth doing, and there are now plans to organise similar events every six months.