Community Projects

A community group in Bilbrook and Codsall set up to help people living with cancer has received funding from Safer Communities CiC.

The group has been established by residents with the aim of offering support to anyone who has received a diagnosis of cancer.

The group has three main objectives:

• to raise awareness of cancer and provide information;
• to assist members to ask the right questions around treatment;
• to support people in the community living with cancer.

The group meets every third Thursday of the month at Codsall and Bilbrook Community Fire Station and has written to all the practice managers of local surgeries to make them aware of the services they can offer. They also hope to involve as many relevant organisations as possible.

The group offers a safe space for people to talk through issues as well as signposting members to information and raising awareness of cancer. The group aims to improve the health and wellbeing of its members and tackle the social isolation of those diagnosed and living with cancer.

Safer Communities provided £400 to help the group set up by purchasing DBS checks, Public Liability Insurance, marketing materials and financing a launch event where £200 was raised for charity.
Heather Dean founder of the group said “Four of us got together as cancer had affected all of our lives. We have all lived in the community of Bilbrook and Codsall for many years and became concerned about the lack of support in this key area. We wanted to deal with the issues and challenges posed by cancer to help local people.

“Gavin Williamson, our MP came along to the launch and he was very impressed with the work we were doing. We had seven people attend our first meeting. Along with our usual meetings every third Thursday of the month, we are decorating a tree in red for Christmas in the community. Also those people who come along to the meetings really seem to get friendship and support; in fact one of our retired members stated that the Group had given her a purpose!!”

This summer, Girl Guiding Staffordshire hosted their international camp called Unity supported by a donation of £500 from Safer Communities CIC.

The week-long camp is held every four years and offers guides the opportunity to take part in lots of different activities around the theme of “#inmyelement”. This included STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), adventure and traditional camp activities. This camp was planned by volunteers including the “Service Team”. Safer Communities CIC made a donation of £500 towards the cost of the activities.
The Service Team was made up of 85 members of Girlguiding aged 16 – 26, from across Staffordshire, as well further a field including Aberdeen and Southampton. The Team gave up their week to help run this camp; which included activities such as: entertainment, security, running a crèche, helping with emergency procedures alongside office duties. The group were split into five making the duties more manageable and giving opportunities to give back to our local communities by completing three projects at different locations across Staffordshire.

One of the projects for a team was at Rocester Church, spending a full day in the pouring rain (the only rainy day this summer) clearing the pathways up to and around the church, making it more accessible for users. This work was completed in record time and made a huge difference to the grounds.





Whereas another project with two teams spent the day at Valley Primary School in Oakamoor. They transformed the garden into a more friendly and colourful environment for the students. This involved adding educational images around the garden area and using old tyres to create additional seating, they even uncovered a pond that had been lost to weeds.


The third project was at Briar Hill Nursing Home in Rugeley where two teams spent a full day reclaiming and developing a sensory garden for the residents. Working closely with the residents ensuring they were involved in the planning and design. They made wind chimes using cutlery, adding bright colours onto the previously plain items in the garden,and created new planters at various heights for those with mobility issues.

Sian Osbourne, Service Team Core Member, stated:
“We’d like to thank the Safer Communities CIC for their kind donation towards our community projects. We would not have been able carry out any of these projects without the financial support provided. The support for our community projects enabled volunteers to benefit three different groups within the communities of Staffordshire. “

In the village of Ta Prok, commune Leangdai, in the district of Angkor Thom
Well number: 1230, built 29 May 2018.

This well was sponsored by Soroptimist International Staffordshire Moorlands, who are Community Room User Group at Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service Community Fire Station, Leek.


One Families story, who have benefited from this well….

Mr. Por Pim is a 33 years old farmer who lives with his wife and children in Ta Prok village, Leangdai commune, Angkor Thom district, Siem Reap province.
Mr. Pim spends long days working as a farmer, leaving home before sunrise and not returning until late evening. Mr Pim’s wife also works as a farmer, and in the village, helping to bring in additional income. Despite their working long hours, their daily income is less than $2.

In Cambodia the income of a farmer is tied to the seasons, dictating the amount of work to be done, resulting in no stable or reliable income stream. Due to this, the yield of the crops impact the amount of work available.

Mr Pim’s family previously did not have a well, and they had to use a neighbouring well whenever they needed water. Meaning that they had to carry heavy buckets a considerable distance, making something as simple as collecting water an arduous task. During the dry season they also struggled to store the water, meaning that collecting water was something that had to be done daily. Although Mr. Pim sought support from the local authorities but unfortunately no one could help them.

So when the CCDO came to the village, they assessed the needs of Mr. Pim and his family and found them suitable to become beneficiaries of the CCDO WASH Program, sponsored by Soroptimist International Staffordshire Moorlands, a Community Room User Group at Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service Community Fire Station, Leek.

Mr. Pim’s family is delighted and grateful to the CCDO and particularly Soroptimist International Staffordshire Moorlands for the generous donation as they now have access to water in all seasons.

Fabulous prizes

Thanks to a donation from Safer Communities CIC and free use of Newcastle Community Fire Station the Good Afternoon Art Club has been able to provide a variety of activities for all who attend.
Below are some pictures of their recent fire craft session. The attendees made fire wreaths with our top ten safety messages on. For more information on fire safety in the home please follow this link - http://www.staffordshirefire.gov.uk/HomeSafety.asp

A project funded by Safer Communities CIC, in partnership with Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) and Sporting Communities CIC, has helped hundreds of school children learn important safety lessons.

In September 2016 and January 2017 a series of Safe+Sound sessions were held at Hanley Community Fire Station and were attended by 1,989 children from 64 schools.

The scheme also saw five Safe+Sound outreach sessions delivered using a mobile classroom in Biddulph, Cheadle, Leek, Middleport and Kidsgrove.

Safe+Sound is an interactive educational programme designed to give children access to important safety information. The educational sessions were organised by Sporting Communities CIC and featured inputs from SFRS, Changes, Staffordshire Police, Public Health England, RNLI, the Canal and River Trust, Sporting Communities and National Health Service.

Thanks to funding from Safer Communities CIC, Sporting Communities were commissioned to co-ordinate and evaluate the sessions to develop a project manual which can be used in future delivery of Safe+Sound.

The mobile sessions involved partners including Staffordshire Police, Staffordshire County Council, community organisers and Staffordshire University, who delivered key messages on fire safety, anti-social behaviour, wellbeing, playing safely, drugs and alcohol and stranger danger.

The initiative also ran alongside the well-known SPACE scheme in the Staffordshire Moorlands (funded by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner).

Kate Staples, Safer Communities CIC Manager, said: “We’re delighted that Sporting Communities CIC were able to organise and deliver Safe+Sound to children in Stoke-on-Trent and the Staffordshire Moorlands.

“Evaluation has shown that the kids and teachers felt the sessions were a really valuable learning tool and we hope that other areas will be able to benefit from this project in future.

Good Afternoon is a community group, established to provide a safe and stimulating environment for adults with learning disabilities, together with their carers. No-one in the group is paid to provide this service, and it is run by volunteers giving their time freely for the sessions.
Sessions at the Community Rooms, Newcastle Fire Station are based around Art and Craft activities with the emphasis on using recycled materials.

Lynne Arnold who leads the group said, “Mandy Chapman, Pete Hall and the Station Manager, Mark Walchester, have all supported us and integrated with us. Our group comprises adults with learning difficulties so this integration is really important to us, as is the continuity of the Tuesday and Thursday sessions, at the set time of 12.30 to 3.30. For autistic people this stability is vital. We have found the Fire Station is ideal for our purposes, with members and their carers using arts and crafts to create a fun social interaction. If we didn’t have access to the community room, then the group wouldn’t happen; we couldn’t afford to run the group as well as paying for a room.”

We are pleased to support them by donating £500 worth of art materials to help them continue the wonderful work they are doing.

If you and your group would like to submit a funding request then please follow the link below;

Click Here to get involved

We are in the process of creating a brand new coffee station that will run from Hanley Fire Station every Wednesday. The aim of this is to bring members of the community into the fire station for a hot drink and a chat!

Coffee Station will be supported by friendly staff and volunteers from Safer Communities and Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service who give a warm welcome to all members of the community who wish to join us!

Coffee Station launches on 11th November 2015 10:00hrs – 16:00hrs so please feel free to drop in at any time, make sure to print out the leaflet above to get your first coffee for free!

On 6th October 2015, Busy Minds celebrated their 5th anniversary at Bilbrook House, Codsall. This was a spectacular event, which included refreshments, dancing and lunch! It was great to see such a successful group celebrating five years of friendship, happiness and support.

The Busy Minds group has been running since the summer of 2010 when Kate Staples joined forces with Sonja Oatley and Madeline Cheadle to run as 12 week Health and Wellbeing Course. At the end of the course the ten older people decided they wanted to carry on meeting so they could socialise, learn about fire safety, play games and have a cup of tea.

Now the group meet every Tuesday from 11am to 1pm at Bilbrook House, behind Codsall Community Fire Station on Carter Lane, Bilbrook. Over 55 older people attend and as well as having something local to go to every week they look after each other through out the week as well. A great example of how communities can support each other.