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Barnes in Commonthe magazine of Churches Together in Barnes
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Look to the North!by Peter Boyling
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How many pubs are there on the Castelnau Estate in North Barnes? How many doctors' surgeries? How many shops?
The answers are none, none and one little one at the top of Verdun Road. Indeed, not everyone in Barnes even knows where the estate is, hidden as it is behind Lonsdale Road and Castelnau, and north of Washington Road. Getting to many of the normal services is very difficult. And if you are a lone parent, or have few skills and no job, or have recently come to England and have limited English, the sense of isolation increases. 25% of the children on the estate do not have English as their mother tongue. Half qualify for free school meals.
The Castelnau Centre Project (CCP) was set up to respond to this situation. Based in the Castelnau Community Centre (in Holy Trinity's hall on Stillingfleet Road) the Project aims to provide facilities not hitherto available in the area, and to promote a vibrant, self-sustaining community.
The number of activities has grown year by year. It now includes a
playgroup, after school clubs for younger children and a Lifestyle group
for youngsters based on healthy living. For adults, the Project has
just opened a drop-in IT suite to help people become computer literate,
and we have started training courses to help people acquire qualifications
and get jobs. There are activities for older people including lunches,
exercise classes, and trips. And the Centre provides the base for the
Council-run Youth Club, and for a CAB office. We have seven paid workers
who do a marvellous job to produce all this.
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We are very lucky to have Marie Ellis as our project manager to manage this organisation. So much of the current provision has come about during her three years with us. But this has only been the start. The big new development is that CCP has joined with Lowther Primary School as the core of a new Children's Centre for the area. Our Centre for North Barnes is a partnership of the key services which we want to see based on the Castelnau Estate to help families tackle their needs. There will be a base on the estate for health services, as well as social work advice to families through a Welcare worker. The police will have a new base there too to improve their effectiveness.
The Council is funding a new building alongside the school, which will add to the school and Community Centre accommodation. We also depend on private sector funding and we have just won a grant from the BIG Lottery Fund and are applying to other trusts.
We are very excited at the interest being shown in what we are offering. Our first training courses are fully booked, the IT suite is attracting a lot of custom and the playgroup is bursting at the seams. We have just taken on an adult development worker to extend the tasks we can take on. We have attracted new trustees living on the estate - and the trustees, our workers and our partners will continue to ensure that what we do is directed to the real needs of the community.
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Members of our churches are involved in the project as trustees, as paid workers and as volunteers. CCP has been adopted by St Mary's as their local mission project, but the success of CCP concerns all of us in Barnes. The more support we have the more we can do to achieve our aim. Would you be interested in offering CCP voluntary help? Marie would welcome a hour or two a week's help, especially from someone with publicity and communications experience who could help us with our termly newsletter. Please make any offers to her at the Centre on 8741 0909.
Please pray for the Castelnau Centre Project and Lowther School in our endeavour.
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