Heywood Project

We have organised the 1^ST ‘Can Cook Will Cook’ session. We exceeded expectations and got more people than we thought we would get. We also worked on a client mapping project, to map the clients onto Google Maps.

Fulwood Project & Longevity

This week we spent the week manically preparing for the conservation day. We have been ordering plants and materials and distributing marketing materials in Sholver. Hopefully the day will be a success.

Skills For Life

I have held all of my celebration events at the different venues. I helped Steven from the Youth department in Groundwork Oldham & Rochdale to paint Rudolph and the Sleigh. I helped Jan with the Fulwood project to prepare for the conservation day.

Fresh Foods

This week we had our last session in Hollin Primary School so we have had plenty of time to help out with other projects. We have helped to prepare for the Fulwood Action Day and we have helped Kavita at her celebration events for Skills For Life. We have also enjoyed painting Rudolph and Santas sleigh for Steven in Youth works at Groundwork Oldham & Rochdale.

Marketing

This week we have completed the video for v challenge and also the Next Steps booklet for Skills For Life. We went to one of the celebration events for the Skills For Life project to take a couple of snaps. On Thursday Abid went to get some CAD training and we are also finalising a web article for v challenge.

Until another day…

Thats all Folks

The Fulwood sign and Rudolph

Congratulations goes to Bradley for getting an interview this week as a Quality Officer at Groundwork Oldham & Rochdale.

This has been Felicity’s first week in her new job and is enjoying herself as an Employment Skills Tutor.

Skills For Life

Due to Felicity having successfully achieved employment status and Kavita feeling ill Team G have had a rather uneventful week. Team G have managed to arrange four celebration events to be held at the various learning centres. They started off by organising dates and times for the events, tracking down both existing and past learners and buying suitable refreshments. The events will be held the following week.

Kavita

Fulwood 

This week at camp Fulwood we have been focusing on our Community Action Day, which is due to take place on 5^th December at Fulwood Nature Reserve. The Fulwood division of the v challenge team has joined forces with Longevity. This link up has enabled us to focus on the long term plans for Fulwood. Plans have been made to design a Fulwood Rangers pack. The pack will contain information for the Fulwood Rangers about funding bids, risk assessments, organising events and other aspects of community based event organisation. We hope that the information we supply them with will allow work to continue at Fulwood.

The Fulwood team, alongside other volunteers, attended Our Lady’s Primary School for an afternoon of activities. The afternoon began with a trip to Fulwood where the children took part in a nature trail, and ended back at the classroom where the children were asked to paint a letter for a new sign, which is to be erected at Fulwood. We hope that a positive connection was made between Fulwood and Our Lady’s, one which will bring about a greater interest in what Fulwood has to offer.

Also this week, Jan made a sign using the letters painted by the children, and Paul created a press release to get some publicity about what we have done.

Longevity

This week Project Longevity has been working on putting together the proposals for the site in Shaw, to deliver to JD Williams on Wednesday.  These included AutoCad produced plans for the area, a bill of quantities budget for possible work and a covering letter suggesting benefits of development and possible funding options. On Wednesday morning we met with one of the mangers of the Oldham site and discussed the plans and possible implementation with him.  He was taking the proposal to a managing directors meeting to discuss with the head of JD Williams and we are waiting to hear feedback from this. 

The plans for the Fulwood Community Action Day have continued and will be complete by next week in time for the event on 5th December.   

Fresh Foods

This week has been a little more relaxed as we only had to deliver two school sessions. Our first one was at Alkrington Primary School where we decided to rotate three activities so that the children had a busy session, and to tie in all their knowledge. At Hollin Primary after school club this week we plan to plant some trees in the school grounds. We have also decided to help out on other projects this week and next week as our own project is winding down. Our folder is up to date and we are ready to start tying up all aspects of our project.

Thanks

Emma Hewitt and Fiona Marsden

Marketing

Today we have finished all the recruitment for team 6, and have got a lot of applicants so far applying for the course. However this week has been really busy for the marketing group, as people requested a lot of marketing material. The press release for v challenge has also gone out this week to the Oldham and Rochdale newspapers. 

And that’s another week from the special projects room

That’s all folks…

v challenge volunteers horse riding

This week a big round of applause goes to Felicity Hunt for landing herself a job as an Employment Skills Tutor at Groundwork Oldham & Rochdale. Felicity has been previously volunteering for Groundwork, and is very pleased that she has found a job whilst on placement.

But now for the groups…

Heywood

This week we have got the marketing poster done. The Heywood team organised the charity raffle ticket sales for the Children In Need charity. We underwent a project review and were able to assess the progress of the project. We were also able to to compile a recipe booklet, which will be distributed amongst the ‘Can Cook Will Cook’ attendees.

Oh…and Bradley managed to get an interview for the Quality Officer post.

Longevity

This week we went to a CIEH (Environmental Certificate) day to take the exam for the qualification. After the strenuous long lectures, there was an hour-long exam. Still awaiting the results so will keep you posted on what happens next.

We re-did the budget for the Shaw project to include the smaller lawn area and pond extension. We will be delivering the final report to JD Williams on Wednesday.

Skills For Life

We have been helping the Fulwood team and Fresh Foods this week with their projects, as well as running motivational sessions and doing both inductions and initial assessments.  Today was Felicity’s last day, and we are both very sad about end of Team G.

Fresh Foods

This week the Fresh Foods team have been very busy. We delivered a two hour session at Alkrington Primary School. The children enjoyed it and we can’t wait to carry on with our bug hotel. We have also started the after school clubs at Hollin Primary School and assisted with other projects throughout the week. We would especially like to thank those who assisted us with our projects this week.

Marketing

We have been extremly busy this week with lot’s of deadlines to complete, but we have successfully completed most of our tasks now. To market the v challenge programme, we attended the Salford University placement fair. This was a great success, as we got a lot of people interested in volunteering, and there was a lovely buffet as well!

Until another day

Thats all Folks…

Shaw

Anyway, enough from me, lets hear what the teams have to say. 

Project Longevity 

This week Project Longevity has been working on the plans for the site at Shaw, drawing up an initial budget and looking into possible funding options.  We attended the Fulwood Rangers Meeting on Thursday night and presented the plans for the Action Day, which were well received.  Also at that meeting arrangements were made to collect the aims and objectives of the group in order to complete the Fulwood Management Plans. 

Fresh Foods 

This week has been really productive for Emma and Fiona, we have finished our Belfield sessions and gained useful feedback from the children. Our second school is challenging us to produce resources suitable for the ability of the classes we are teaching. 

Marketing 

This week we have finished the poster for the ‘Can Cook Will Cook event’, went on Crescent Radio and made a poster for the Employability Skills Program. A poster has also been made for the tree planting world record at Fulwood. 

For another week, that’s all folks…

Belfied Primary School

Skills For life

This week we’ve been busy delivering motivational sessions in Heywood and Oldham, and obtaining feedback from current learners. We have also been planning phase 2 of the sessions, which will focus on team building. Earlier in the week we received our mock interview feedback from the lovely ladies at Oldham College which was very useful. The six week review was held with our project supervisor and we concluded that everyone was happy with how things are going.

Over and out from team G.

Fresh Foods

This week Emma and I have delivered sessions in each primary school, they are going well and our confidence, ideas and delivery are all growing in positive ways. We have a lot of work on at the moment and are prioritising everything as we go. Our experiences are helping with everyday work in the office and feel that we always have a story or a quote to share with people.

Project Longevity

This week Project Longevity has been focusing on developing plans for the site at Shaw. The area has been measured and a basic outline of what we would like to see there has been developed. This just leaves working out a budget for the different elements of the project and looking at possible funding options in order to complete the information needed for the proposals.

Marketing

This week we have been really busy with creating posters and flyers for the teams and finalising material for the placement events. We have also been liaising with all the groups and preparing marketing material for them. And that’s another week in the v challenge room.

That’s all folks…

Renovation taking place here at Shaw

But now lets find out what the teams have to say

Heywood project

Another busy, but fun week in Heywood. Wednesday saw the best event, with a spooky Halloween theme. I decided to run a story telling session with props for the younger ones and giving them a witches brew (Coca-Cola or lemonade with a scoop of vanilla ice cream). You should have seen the look on their faces. Today is back to some hardwork in the v challenge office, preparing session plans for the first ‘Can Cook Will Cook’ event and logging down segments of the community on mapping software. Busy, busy, busy!

Fresh Foods

This week we have been busy preparing for the workday at Belfield Community Primary School on Friday, where we will be working with the v challenge team to install an allotment area and wildlife garden. We have also been making habitats and sensory garden resources for the sessions next week at Belfield and Alkrington Primary Schools.

Marketing

This week the marketing team has been preparing all the promotional material they are going to take to the Salford placement fair. They are also preparing a flash banner, for v challenge, to put on the Rochdale Online website. Most of the companies this week have been contacted as well as universities, and adverts of v challenge have also been posted on the environmental and charity job websites.

On Wednesday we were all nervous as an interview was organised on Oldham Community radio show. However, by the end we were all relieved as we found out it wasn’t so bad after all.

Skills For life

Throughout the past week, Team G aka Skills For Life (SFL) have been organising and delivering motivational sessions for the learners. They have received a lot of valuable feedback and are happy with their progress so far. Both members of SFL have also been busying themselves with job searches and a series of application forms, all conveniently due in on the same date.

On Friday the  v challenge team are all going to Belfield Primary School in Rochdale to install an allotment and a wildlife garden. We will be laying plant beds and planting some shrubs and herbs. We will also improve the existing seating area by painting the bench and cleaning the patio.

Until another day,

That’s all folks…

Volunteers at Belfield Primary School

Emma and Fiona have been planning and delivering lesson plans for Belfield Primary, about ‘Minibeasts’, Felicity and Kavita have attended a jobs and skills fair at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, to promote the Employability Skills programme.

This week the Skills For Life team have had a result as they successfully launched their programme, with 2 referrals from the Shaw trust.

On Tuesday, the v challenge team went to Fulwood on a conservation day. The team went straight to work maintaining a path that was originally laid by Groundwork, clearing up the drainage, and clearing up the rubble from the surrounding area.

On Thursday the team were nervous because of the mock interviews. People in the v challenge room were swotting up all day trying to prepare for the interview, but everyone realised they had nothing to worry about in the end.

Now we all wait for Monday where we will get our feedback from the interviews.

Until another day

That’s all folks…

Fulwood Conservation Day

Skills For Life 

This week, Team G Force have been busying themselves with lots of planning. The week got off to a bad start for half of the team, as Kavita spent Monday laid up in bed in a sneezing frenzy. Meanwhile back at base, Felicity laid the foundations of what is now referred to as the ‘Induction Booklet’, which will be presented to the Skills for Life learners upon registration to the course. Two of our most important contacts, Job Centre Plus and Shaw Trust, were approached; and further actions were decided upon. Some smaller, but no less important tasks were also completed; including laminating pictionnary cards (after wasting valuable time cursing the printers), assisting the Fulwood team in creating Trevor the Tree and distributing promotional material in the Oldham Job Centre. A well-deserved trip to the Flower Pot was arranged for Friday evening after a hard weeks work. 

Fresh Foods 

This week has been a busy week! We have visited schools, shadowed the education officer, planned our sessions and taken time out to shadow the contracts team. Our project is now well on the way to being delivered and we are enthusiastic about delivering our first session! Relations with our project officer are positive and we are therefore comfortable with the direction we are taking. At the moment we are concentrating on planning our first session and we hope this will be a success! 

Marketing 

This week we have been promoting the v challenge scheme at the Bolton volunteering fair. We got a good response from the students down there and have signed up for further information by email. 

Overall, this week has been the most interesting week from the valuable CV training that we gained on Monday. 

Until another day
That’s all folks…

First Aid Training

This week we have all consumed so much information that we need time to reflect on it. Every Friday mornings we planned to have a team meeting on how everybody’s projects are getting on. This week there was confusion in the air at the table, whilst everyone else was contemplating over how they could make their project possible. 

…and now here’s what the projects had to say about their time so far in the Special Projects room. 

FreshFoods
The training we have had this week has really stood us in good stead for starting our projects, to feel as welcome as we do within Groundwork Oldham & Rochdale just as volunteers has really given us all a confidence boost. Fresh Foods is an interesting project and we now look forward to putting our plans into action. 

Heywood
After a brief and quick introduction to our Project Officer Jo Fullman, we jumped into our projects and started working on ideas for its implementation. We (M.K & Bradster) will be planning and helping to co-ordinate 2 main events engaging the communities of the Heywood NDC area, into informal learning or training opportunities. We were able to conduct a brief background research about the area and were filled with ideas that were eager to be implemented. 

We did spend most of the week getting trained in some skills that will prove to be crucial over the weeks. Although it may have been quite tiring for some, it was remarkable to find out how mentally mature all of us are at work (despite the fact that all of us can go bonkers otherwise). A loud shout of gratitude must be given to our project officers James, Lee & Dale for their level of commitment towards helping us on a personal level, while simultaneously ensuring that our projects remain on target. 

One main event in our agenda is the ‘UK Get Online’ festival on the 23rd of October aimed at people who have never used the internet before. We spent this week planning what activities will be needed and what marketing tools will be required. We should soon be getting deeper in our projects as we get in contact with more stakeholders (fancy word for people who will be impacted by the projects). We will be visiting the site of our endeavours (Heywood) … next Monday with the intention of getting the people of Heywood to suggest what they are interested in. 

Fulwood
The Fulwood team began the week with a visit to Fulwood Nature Reserve. The site is situated in Sholver. In recent years the reserve has become overgrown and underused. There has been a great deal of projects that have been set up in order to encourage people to use the space but some have fallen into disrepair. However, upon arriving at Fulwood we were delighted to be greeted by a local resident, armed with a strimmer, and a vision for a new landscape. It really was inspiring to see local residents taking charge of their space. We looked around the house situated on the site, aesthetic improvements were being made and they had lots of ideas for the space.
Taking this inspiration back to Groundwork Oldham & Rochdale, we sat down and formulated some plans. Our focus at the moment is allowing our plans to be flexible until we speak with the community and find out what they want to see. We have considered getting a local school involved for a bird box or a sign-making event, in the hope that the school can identify with the area. Another focus is the sustainability and longevity of our projects. For this, we will be working closely with Richard who is spearheading the project longevity division of the v team.
It is clear that some local residents are passionate about using this space; our hope is that through raising the profile of the space more people will join them. 

Project Longevity
This week the Project Longevity team has been researching plans that were formed for work to be done on a site in Shaw. The area referred to as ‘The Meadows’ by Shaw council has been the area of some controversy in the last few years. The problems surround the JD Williams’s ownership of the land and their proposed construction of a warehouse and multi storey car park. These were designed to supplement the two mills they own at the site which are operated by Fulfilment Logistics. However local residents and the Shaw council objected to the plans and the construction has been stopped. This leaves the area unused at present with the opportunity to talk to JD Williams, about developing a community space and re-establishing links with the local residents. 

That’s all folks…

Fulwood Path