Community Development

FAR community garden and allotment project, emerged in 2010/11 when we were approach by local residents looking for places to garden and wanting our help in locating suitable green places. With allotments fully subscribed across our city and lengthly waiting lists stretching up to 5 years on some sites, FAR decided to be proactive and create our own. With core funding secured from a number of partners we cleared out a previously derelict landlocked site and converted it into 25 growing plots with space for communal gardening. Now the allotment is full with local residents growing on their own plots or mucking in on the communal plot. It boasts communal greenhouses, a strong portacabin and a training cabin. The site is managed by on a short term Newcastle city council lease but continues to grow with residents input, ideas and energy. The garden has attracted national and local media coverage with celebrities from Jane Middlemiss to Joe McElderry all doing their bit to get involved.

Children and young people with Additional needs and sensory space (ASD) our sensory space was formally launched in 2016 by Lord Mayor Hazel Stephenson, the space benefits from fantastic interactive equipment which can be accessed and enjoyed by children and young people with a range of additional needs. The room can be parent/carer controlled and also can be controlled the child/young person. The room is a comfortable, spacious environment and often appeals to children who often don’t engage in sensory rooms.

FAR Community transport:
Since 2012 FAR has operated a community mini bus we which use on a not for profit basis, the transport can booked or hired dependant on the groups’ needs. The transport has provided extremely useful in reducing barriers for residents with mobility difficulties accessing our centre and promoted our young people accessing new locations for personal development work and residentials.

FAR has a mini bus for community hire. 14 seats plus driver. No tail lift but quite accessible. Comfortable, low cost community transport, either self-drive or with driver provided.

Without driver
70p per mile + £1.00 per hour of hire

With driver provided by FAR
70p per mile + £10.00 per hour of hire.

Volunteering:
A huge range of volunteering opportunities exist within FAR and we if you have an idea of something you’d like to get involved in, and we don’t provide it, we might be able to help with that too or sign post you into an organisations that fits your needs. Please get in touch to discuss any volunteer opportunities or ideas.

Training:
Over the past 10 years FAR has delivered a great deal of in-house training, both for its own staff and volunteers but also for the wider community and community organisations. We continue to be commissioned to provide training in a number of different areas, from Successful Fundraising, Writing successful Funding applications, Community Development from Grass Roots, Inclusive spaces and disability awareness. Our range covers a vast amount of subjects and areas included more practical training such as ITC training, Crafting, Design, Art and Music. Get in touch for more information.

Capacity Building:
As a community development project our aim is to upskill groups, neighbourhoods and community, we don’t like to create an unhealthy dependency upon our project, we prefer to help community and community groups help themselves by giving them the tools to make a big difference to their project or group. We have delivered large and small scale work around this area and made big development progress in our own community and others. Some work has been funded, other work has been delivered on a commissioned basis, please get in touch to discuss any new or existing developmental work or ideas.

Network Supervision:
Responding a growing demand from volunteers and youth workers FAR is delighted to be able to offer high quality supervision for youth workers, youth worker manager and community development workers. We have found this service is extremely practical way for organisations who have limited resources or funding to buy in supervision to efficiently and effectively support their employees. We can also deliver in house training around supervision and can in some cases provide group reflective supervision or one-2-one supervision with workers. Contacts us to find out more information.

Outreach and detached youth work:
With the traditional youth centres closing, and the high cost of activities, we see more and more young people in our communities in the streets or in parks. That is nothing new in many cases young are just looking for a safe place to be and spend time with friends, however they can also be at risk from bullying and crime. As project is always looking for positive ways to engage with young people and support them. Sometimes this is as simple as signposting, other times we can engage them into a positive project or activities like street games or funding from The Key. We have been commissioned to deliver outreach and detached street work in many different locations around Newcastle upon Tyne and continue to be available for commissioned work. In the past we have been commissioned by Northumbria Police Crime Commissioner, Ward committees, Newcastle city council, Nunsmoor Trust, Central Government via Home Office.

Commissioning:
Although FAR is a registered charity we embrace commissioned work as project of our sustainable community value. In our community development work, there is a comprehensive list of areas where FAR has been very successful in delivering high quality work on commission. Our expertise is built up through our network of staff, volunteers, knowledge and training which set our charity apart from other community development projects. Our charity benefits from volunteers with over 40 years of community development knowledge with our staff training to Post Graduate level from prestigious institutes of learning such as Durham University, Newcastle University and Northumberia University. We are a multi-lingual project with many volunteers and staff from a diversity of backgrounds and nationalities means we are inclusive and responsive to changing community which can present complex issues and barriers. Our prices remain competitive and we strive to provide a high standard of community development work in our commissions. We are flexible in approach and willing to work in multi-agency teams to get the right results for our clients.