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The Sharrow Partnership pilot ended on 31st March 2010.
Thank you to everyone that contributed to the work of the pilot. This website contains information archives of some of the
work we were involved with. If there are any issues you would like to raise from the material on the website, please contact
either the Central Community Assembly Team on 0114
273 6849/ communityassemblycentral@sheffield.gov.uk or Sharrow Community Forum on 0114 2508384/ who
will try and help with your query.
The Sharrow Partnership fund that aims to build stronger community bonds
Click here to download the flyer
Shine on Sharrow – February 2010
As the end of the Sharrow Partnership
nears, it has been time for us to take a step back and reflect on how the ‘Shine on Sharrow’ grant has worked.
Since the grant was set up in June 2008, out of the 42 applications received by the panel, 33 have gone on to be successfully
funded. ‘Shine on Sharrow’ has supported a whole series of activities which have taken place on a local, neighbourhood
and sometimes street level of engagement. Inter-cultural faith festivals, street parties, fitness to music classes, creative
art exhibitions and workshops, events promoting engagement with the homeless, consultations with young people, conversation
classes for asylum seekers, equipment for a community gardening group and sports classes for hard to reach individuals, are
just some of these activities. Since the start of this financial year, £6103 has been awarded so far.
We
believe the ‘Shine on Sharrow’ grant has been successful in creating a less formal grant application
system that has attracted people who would not normally apply for funding, or necessarily be eligible for funding for their
activity. The pilot’s capacity to try different models of working has allowed this riskier format to be implemented
and has shown it does work with a whole range of activities supported.
Another key success has been the
high level of positive feedback from applicants. Out of the 22 returned forms, 18 believed that the activity would continue
– a real sign that initial financial support can stimulate activities to become sustainable. It is the small, harder
to measure intangible improvements that ‘Shine on Sharrow’ has been successful in doing and this support of local
activities fills a niche that the majority of other more traditional grant streams do not cater for. The building of relationships
where neighbourhoods are talking to each other is the underlying central ethos to ‘Shine on Sharrow’ - the intangibles
that are harder to measure, but crucial to developing a stronger community.
Although the Sharrow
Partnership is coming to an end as of the beginning of April, Sharrow Community Forum will be continuing the grant
in a similar manner, albeit with a smaller amount of money available to applicants.
click here to download the full 'Shine on Sharrow' overview report
Shine
on Sharrow – May 2009
Since the start up of the Shine
on Sharrow fund, the judging panel made up of Sharrow Partnership Board members have awarded £10,925 to a whole range of projects,
initiatives and events. A lot of these projects have gone on to have long lasting effects.
Amounts of up to £500 are still
available to groups, individuals or businesses who want to run activities that strengthen the Sharrow community.
The criteria for applying includes
increasing understanding between different people,
groups and communities, bringing different generations together, promoting understanding and learning between faiths, getting
neighbours talking to each other and breaking down any isolation.
Shine on Sharrow...June - November 2008
Shine on Sharrow, the fund launched by Sharrow
Partnership in June of this year has gone from strength to strength. What’s ‘Shine on Sharrow’ I hear you
say? Well, it’s a pot of money given over purely to help support groups or individuals running activities or projects
in Sharrow that seek to bring people together, to develop relationships, understanding and to break down barriers.
So far a whole range of local Sharrow people
and groups have applied for the fund and has resulted in events like the Islamic Society of Britain’s faith festival
on Mount Pleasant Park back in June and a buzzing street party on South View Crescent in August. An outdoor film showing,
BBQ, book and plant swaps and children’s games were all features of the street party which saw neighbours coming together
who had never met each other before. Phil Harper, resident and chair of the organising committee was really pleased with how
it had all gone ‘ the event’s main aim was to build local peoples’ sense of belonging to both their street
and Sharrow in a shared experience and I think this worked really well. A few days later a lady from across the road came
and asked if I had some sugar she could borrow and I think that ‘s just a small example of how the event had started
to make people feel more able to talk to each other and see each other as neighbours.’
Abbeydale has also seen ‘Shine on Sharrow’
benefits. Over 150 local residents came and enjoyed the Broadfield Park Fun Day and the sun managed to keep its hat on. Alison Norris helped organise the event at Broadfield Park
with Action, the Abbeydale Communities Together group and was really pleased with how it all went. ‘This event was all
about local people from the Abbeydale corridor having something fun to be involved with on their doorstep and to bring people
closer together. Often local residents feel like this area is often overlooked for festivals and events and this was a chance
to make a change’. ‘The atmosphere on the day was so friendly and relaxed’ says Alison ‘It was all
about having fun and that’s exactly what happened. The children played whilst the grown ups chatted. It felt like a
village fete…in a city!
Last month ‘Shine on Sharrow’
helped fund a Chinese themed community event at the St Wilfrids Centre. St Wilfrids is a charity that seeks to support the homeless, vulnerable and socially
excluded. This event brought a whole range of different cultures and groups came together including St Wilfrids clients, South Yorkshire Police, Sheffield United Football Club and
the Chinese Community. Everyone who came enjoyed a lovely lunch cooked by one of the St Wilfrids clients and were entertained
by the fantastic Sheffield
Lion Dance Team’s colourful display of dance and music.
On the horizon is the support of a project
that seeks to celebrate the diversity of characters that live in Sharrow by encouraging local people to tell the stories of
their lives and make it part of a website which at the same time teaches them website building skills too.
There doesn’t seem to be any end to
the variety of applications we’ve received and there are plenty more opportunities to benefit from the fund with up
to £500 available for an application. So if you’re looking to hold an event, set up a club, or organise an activity
that benefits the people of Sharrow by developing relationships, creating understanding and helping people get to know each
other better, then phone Val or Luisa on 0114 273 4113 to find out more or look
at our website at www.sharrowpartnership.org.uk
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