Sustainable communities
Creating sustainable communities
At a time of recession, and when so
many of our residents are struggling, we have increased our
commitment to investing in our communities. We want to improve
neighbourhoods and open up new opportunities – helping residents
get back into education, training and employment; tackling debt and
raising incomes; and helping people to live healthier
lives.
In 2009/10 we increased this investment to £2
million, matched by a further £1.5 million in external funding and
support. Affinity Sutton Community Foundation is a new
charitable trust with an endowment of £19 million of free funds
that will generate further funds to invest in our
communities.
Getting residents back to work
An accredited provider of employment and
training advice services, we supported 1,736
people in 2009/10 through our employment programmes,
helping 67 into work and 688 into training.
Forty unemployed young people are being taken
on throughout Affinity Sutton on paid work placements. Other
projects have targeted vulnerable groups such as homeless families
and the Gypsy and Traveller community.
Tackling debt and raising incomes
We worked with over 30 credit unions last year
to encourage residents to take up affordable loans and bank
accounts. Joining forces with Lewisham Credit Union we gave a
further 10,000 Bromley residents the opportunity to open a new
savings account. This means they can take control of their finances
and avoid borrowing from high-interest lenders or loan sharks.
What’s more, over 800 residents signed up for
MyHome, our new low cost home insurance contents scheme
for residents.
Improving neighbourhoods
We run a large number of projects supporting
local community activities and estate
regeneration. We awarded 68 small grants benefiting 9,400
residents and supported 1,707 people with healthy living
activities. One such project is a pilot scheme in Leeds and
Bradford to help 15 young entrepreneurs bring their communities
closer together. We also helped set up the Chichester Community
Development Trust as part of the Graylingwell Park development in
Sussex.