SDC CASH SUPPORT AS HCA ACTION PLAN APPROVED

Sedgemoor District Council has made funds available to ensure the survival of Re-Creation and the Edinburgh road Drop-in centre  while a revitalised Hamp Community Association has relaunched it's bid to obtain long term and sustainable funding with a major community renewal campaign it is calling the Hamp Action Plan.

The £16,000 funding is being provided in response to a request from the HCA which in turn has called on the Community to unite behind its Action Plan .

Hamp Councillor and HCA secretary Brian Smedley said "Hamp has had a difficult year since the death of our Manager and key fundraiser Lynne Macriner but we have finally turned a corner and I would appeal for calm and co-operation in helping us ensure that the funding we are now putting in place becomes sustainable in the longterm."

A key element to the Action Plan is the re-structuring of the way the Hamp Community organises itself. This includes a clarified membership system, a committee structure to provide support for the operational management of both Re-Creation and Edinburgh road, plus 2  crucial Finance and Governance Committee. It also includes a new innovation  with  a series of Community Review Panels which will be Resident led and professionally supported and will deal with key issues such as Mansfield Park , the Wireless project and the Hamp minibus.

Cllr Smedley added " It is also crucial to get genuine involvement from the Community in an organisation that they feel will  represent them . This will only work if people join in. We are asking for All Hands On Deck. People should join the panels they feel they can contribute best to and in January everyone should come to the AGM, join up, re-name the organisation if they like , and then take the project forward. "

"This support from Sedgemoor has come at a crucial time and is invaluable to us in giving us the breathing space to find further funding to make the projects sustainable in the long run. "

A Finance committee chaired by Cllr Kathy Pearce has already met and is producing a business plan for the development of the Hamp assets, whilst the Governance and Admin Committee chaired by Brian Smedley has re-drawn the constitution and the structure of the organsiation to encourage wider community participation and draw in professional support. Support Committees for Re-Creation (Jason Roberts) and Edinburgh Road (Gloria Jackson) have already met to deal with the operational matters of those 2 buildings and the first of the Community Review Panels to be set up will be Mansfield Park-chaired by Ben Harvey and which will consider how to spend a further £31,000 available to Hamp through SDC's RLT2 funding.


FOR THE HAMP ACTION PLAN IN FULL SEE ADJOINING PAGE