Press Release: 09/11/18
A new plan to improve the lives of people in the West End of Morecambe has been officially launched.
West End Million (WEM) have developed the plan for future work which was launched at The Alhambra when West End organisations and groups were invited to find out what WEM hope to achieve over the next three years.
The event also enabled WEM to discover what local groups and organisations are planning and how they might work together to deliver improvements for the area.
Earlier this year, WEM carried out extensive consultation which showed that crime and anti-social behaviour, food poverty, children and young people, and health and mental wellbeing were high on the agenda for people in the West End.
As a result, in their new plan, WEM give priority to enterprise and economy, health and wellbeing, community and place.
In 2012, the West End was one of 150 areas nationally awarded £1 million to spend over ten years as part of the Big Local programme supported by the Big Lottery Fund.
WEM, a voluntary, resident-led community partnership, was established to improve the area by tackling problems and working with others to provide a voice for the community in decisions directly affecting them.
The West End has a population of about 5,000 and is among the 10% most deprived areas of the country.
WEM chair, Dan Spencer said:
“We know our bay faces significant challenges and recognise the obstacles to tackling them. As we move forward with this plan we are making a commitment to working with more organisations, being more proactive and making sure that we are contributing to lasting change.”
The plan sets out how WEM want to spend the next tranche of money until 2021 and among its goals are supporting the creation of more and better ways into work for residents; identifying gaps in providing affordable quality food and fuel; improving green spaces; to better understand the issues of absentee landlords, and more networking with residents to provide opportunities to celebrate the West End’s diversity.
To deliver their aims, WEM will do work themselves, join with partners or commission projects to address any gaps.
The main way of community organisations accessing small funds of around £500 is through WEM’s new Community Chest. Anyone who has a great idea for the area can complete a Big Ideas form and all suggestions will be considered by a panel.
For more information on WEM’s new plan, the Community Chest and Big Ideas form, visit www.westendmillion.co.uk/how-we-work
