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Rural Advocacy Developing Solutions

March 2013 - Our newsletter for members and communities

In this Issue Building SMART Communities Is Your Community SMART? SMART Live

ThinkingWISP ThinkingFuel Norfolk RCC Training Healthwatch Norfolk

Building SMART CommunitiesWe want to see more of our communities become truly SMART. A SMART community is about being sustainable. That means the community can meet the needs of its residents today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. The approach needs to be multi-dimensional. This is because community needs and sustainability are not limited to one aspect of life but embrace every area of living. The issues we all face are also interconnected, for example the need for decent homes is linked with issues around the economy, the use of land and the impact on the environment. Norfolk RCC uses the Egan wheel with its eights strands as a model for talking about this complexity. However, the exact approach is less important than understanding that the endeavor must be holistic.

To try and ensure activities are sustainable communities need to look at making the best use of their own resources and assets to meet their needs. However that does not mean they have to act alone. Our vision is that SMART communities are connected places that network well within the community but also between communities. This allows them to share ideas, learning and to inspire each other.

We will increasingly focus on this approach in our work with communities and partners over the coming year.

Is Your Community SMART?The eight strands and statements to the right we use as a tool to discuss SMART communities. They are taken from the sustainable communities work originally done by Inspire East based on the Egan wheel. How each strand is met will be

Well run with effective and inclusive participation, representation and leadership

Well connected with good access to services and communications linking people to jobs, health and other services

Well served with public, private and voluntary services that are appropriate to people’s needs and accessible to all

Environmentally sensitive providing places for people to live that are considerate to the environment and use natural resources in a sustainable way

Fair for everyone – including those in other communities now and in the future

Thriving with a flourishing and diverse local economy

Well designed and built with a quality built and natural environment

Active, inclusive and safe, fair, tolerant and cohesive with a strong local culture and other shared community activities

different in each community. How SMART do you think your community is and what do you want to do about it?

SMART LiveIn February Norfolk RCC hosted its first live webstream, SMARTlive. A webstream is broadcasting video of an event live over the internet for others to watch. Recordings of the event are available to view on Norfolk RCC’s YouTube channel. The reason for trying this approach was both to look at ways to extend our reach and to help demonstrate to communities that this technology is accessible for them to use and provides opportunities for different ways of working. The event had two sessions.

The first session looked at the challenge of sustainable development looking to move beyond just discussing the environment. A key point early is this discussion was that a community that doesn’t grow doesn’t thrive although this growth can come in a number of different ways whether facilities, housing or different ways of working.

The importance seizing the opportunity to build on the value existing assets was highlighted whether these assets are in the natural environment, expertise or other community assets.

The ripple effect within and between communities was recognized as one of the most important ways of stimulating development. This can happen in many different ways whether its residents seeing solar panels on the village hall roof and being both reassured and inspired to do the same or the sharing of stories between communities helping establish best practice. There was clear recognition of the challenge of building sustainable communities and that all factors are interconnected meaning plans must be holistic.

The second session focused on getting people involved in community activities. Norfolk RCC’s consultation work has highlighted that most community groups identify this as their biggest challenge ahead of funding. The session drew on experiences of professionals and community members in getting people involved. It highlighted the importance of the direct approach, supported by research suggesting that one of the main reason people don’t volunteer is because they have never been asked. It was emphasised how important it is to talk positively and focus about the benefits of getting involved, whether as a participant or volunteer; remembering one person’s ‘on the village hall committee’ is another person’s experience of ‘running a small multi-purpose venue’.

Also discussed was the benefit of creating defined opportunities so people know what they are being asked to do and how much time they will need to commit rather than an open ended agreement to be ‘on the committee’.

The distinction was made about a separate class of volunteer the ‘community diamond’. Diamonds were described as those individuals core to the success of community activity, involved in most things and who tend to do the bulk of the behind the scenes work. The need to ‘polish your diamonds’ was discussed, to take time to acknowledge the work of these individuals. Also the dangers of relying too heavily on community diamonds was highlighted and the need to look to recruit the next generation of diamonds and plan for when

ThinkingWISP

ThinkingWISP is the fast, high quality broadband service created by a partnership of Norfolk RCC, AF Affinity and InTouch systems. Building on the success of the pilot project in Marsham ThinkingWISP has now expanded allowing more homes and businesses across the county to benefit.

Rural internet customers often get a slow service because broadband degrades the further it travels along cables; meaning customers ‘at the end of the line’ get a slower service. ThinkingWISP resolves the problem by beaming radio waves from a transmitter in Norwich to masts around the county. Transmitters on the mast and repeater stations then broadcast the signal in all directions, which is picked up by customers using small aerials attached to their property.The service uses very low contention rates (the number of people who share the same band width) to ensure customers receive a consistent, high speed service, and the signal is encrypted for added security.

Reassuringly ThinkingWISP’s customer satisfaction survey showed that 100% of customers rated both the internet delivery and customer support ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’. This is certainly a view shared by AF Director and AF Affinity Chairman, George Bell, who had ThinkingWISP installed at his home in Erpingham, near Aylsham.George said: “ThinkingWISP has been fantastic. Due to my rural location I used to get just 0.5mps of internet from BTbut with ThinkingWISP I get 7.8mps. I check the speed regularly online and it stays consistently at this speed withno problems with the service.“The engineers who installed ThinkingWISP were first-class and simply placed a receiver about half the size of a shoe box on a pole on the end of my barn. The receiver is not at all intrusive - in fact you would hardly notice that it was there.“Having a fast internet connection has made doing business a lot easier. I filed my online tax returns in about half the time that it took me before. I also get e-mailed a lot of large attachments for work and can open them almost instantly, where it used to take minutes before. Another advantage is being able to stream video for the first time.”

these people may not be around.

Rob Mutimer of award winning butchers and deli, Swannington Farm to Fork, installed ThinkingWISP last year and added: “ThinkingWISP has made an enormous difference to me as the internet speed we used to get with conventional providers was appalling.“We have a number of shops and the broadband I get from ThinkingWISP allows me to monitor everything remotely, whether it’s checking sales or logging into security cameras. This saves me time and money. Good quality broadband is essential to running a successful business.”

For more information on ThinkingWISP visit www.thinkingwisp.co.uk or call 01603 558 001.

ThinkingWISP New Extended Coverage Area(Green is good coverage!)

Thinking Fuel & Thinking Value

Norfolk RCC’s Oil Bulk buying scheme continues to grow with over XXX members spread across XX community schemes.

Comparing prices for oil is very difficult due to wide fluctuations in price between days, quantities ordered, locations and delivery times. We compare our prices to the Department of Energy and Climate Change published market price data as it is an official statistic and provides a monthly average figure. On average the scheme has saved a little

Jan-13 Feb-13 Mar-13Thinking Fuel Price (ppl) 0.5959 0.6247 0.6200

Key features of the scheme

Everyone pays the same regardless of the volume they order helping the most vulnerable the most

The syndicate operates once a month on the first working day of the month to balance convenience with the saving achieve

You can order fuel at any other time and receive the day price

We can never guarantee to be the cheapest but aim to be consistently good value, if you find a better price please take it.

Special delivery requirements can usually be met but you need to make these clear when ordering

The schemes are generally run on a community basis. Once a scheme is set-up every household to join for free. All Norfolk RCC members are automatically members of ThinkingFuel as well as our wider buying scheme ThinkingValue

In a change to how we have previously operated community schemes will now operate on a parish area rather than suing Post codes. Existing schemes will not be effected but hopefully it will make it easier to set up new schemes.

If you are interested in setting up a scheme in your area please contact us on 01362 698216, office@norfolkrcc.org.uk

Healthwatch NorfolkWhat is Healthwatch Norfolk?Healthwatch Norfolk’s role is to champion the interests of ordinary people from across Norfolk in health and social care services.

Healthwatch Norfolk will work to help local people to bring about improvements in current services and to influence how future services are designed and delivered. Healthwatch Norfolk will champion fairness and equal access to information, services and treatment. It will strive to ensure that it represents as well as possible the views of the wide cross-section of people within our community across all parts of Norfolk.

Norfolk RCC is one of the organsiations that has helped set-up Healthwatch Norfolk. To find out more and get involved at www.norfolkrcc.org.uk/healthwatch

.Community Leadership- This series of sessions are aimed

less than previous years with an average of 9% saving but still equivalent to around £110 a year.

Norfolk RCC TrainingFunding – This session is design to help you understand the basics of getting your project ready to access funding, identifying funding options and writing successful funding applications.17th April, 1000-1300, £25

Project Development-  Planning a new project like a Village hall or just have a great community idea and unsure of where to start? This session aims to give you the knowledge necessary to create an effective project from planning through to delivery.23th April, 1000-1300, £25

Meetings that work- This session focuses on committee skills and how to make your meetings productive. If you have ever left a meeting wondering what was decided, what it was about or just what!?, then this session is for you.1st May, 1000-1300, £25

Governance- How effectively is your charity run? Do your trustees know their responsibilities? To make sure you have a firm, safe and legal foundation for your charity, come along and learn more.7th May, 1000-1300, £25

Consultation and Engagement- Do you know what the needs of your community are and how to respond to them? This course will equip you to better consult and engage with your community to make sure your activities make a difference.14th May, 1000-1300, £25

Build your project in a day- This is an intensive workshop aimed at taking learning from previous sessions to help you rapidly develop your project or idea. The goal is that you go away with a full outline of your project. You won’t be able to answer every question you need to, but will know what the question is and how you are going to go about finding the answer. The emphasis is on practical development so you need to have either attended the other sessions in this series or be comfortable in these areas. This session has limited numbers to maximise contact time.21rd May, 1000-1600, £75 (includes Lunch)

at those who run or want to start community activities, chair groups and can often be found at the centre of most things going on in our communities’. It aims to develop your skills and knowledge to help make your hard work effective and avoid some of the problems that can happen along the way. It includes how to start-community activities, managing difficult or contentious issues, understanding your own skills and limits, getting and keeping people engaged and making activities sustainable23rd May, 30th May, 6th June, 1900-2100, £50

All training is at Norfolk RCC offices, Dereham. Membership discounts apply

Ambassador WayGreens RoadDerehamNorfolkNR20 3TL

A member of the national RCAN networkRegistered Charity No. 1056750

Company Limited by Guarantee Registered in Englandand Wales No. 3190820

Funded by Local Authorities in Norfolk, Government Agencies, Charitable Trusts and donations

T: 01362 698216F: 01362 851083

E: office@norfolkrcc.org.ukW: www.norfolkrcc.org.uk