Learning about the LINks effect

Nottingham City Council is to bring together voluntary and community groups and others interested in helping to shape the way health and social care services are delivered in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire from later this year. A meeting is to take place about Local Involvement Networks (LINks), which will be a key change in the way that health and social care services are delivered in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire after April 2008. The meeting will be held at the Pakistan Community Centre on Woodborough Road on February 20th at 10am, in partnership with Nottinghamshire County Council. If you would like to attend, please email carole.worrall@nottinghamcity.gov.uk to book a place.

Bluebell blossoms

Bluebell Hill Community Centre is to receive a makeover as part of the wider regeneration work underway in the Stonebridge area of St Ann's. The centre received a development grant from the National Lottery to allow them to draw up detailed plans for improvements, and will be submitting their bid for funding to undertake the work from September. The development work will include new flooring, better access to garden areas and alterations to the old part of the building, and will help to provide a better community facility.

Wonderful Wollaton

Meanwhile over on the other side of the city, refurbishment work has recently been finished at Wollaton Park Community Centre, providing a more accessible centre that can better meet

the needs of its local community. The centre has a new office, improved access to the toilets and kitchen, and a more attractive frontage. There are also plans in place to develop and landscape the outdoor space belonging to the centre.

New group for Asian origin women

A new Bangladeshi group, Al-Amin, has been set up in the Radford area. The group, which also contains members from the Somali, Indian and Pakistani communities, aims to bring women together to help break down barriers between groups, provide relevant courses and activities to help members build new skills, and allow them to share their experiences and knowledge. Working with a Nottingham City Council Community Development Officer, the group is applying for funding to put on a sewing course, after-school homework club and computer classes, and is hoping in future to  provide exercise opportunities and English for Speakers of Other Languages classes.

Send sent a cheque

The Send Music Project has recently received £3,000 from the City Council's Area 6 Committee to put together a feasibility study for converting the old police station in Sneinton Dale into a music studio. The group works across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire with young offenders and young people at risk of offending, providing opportunities such as DJing, street dance and graffiti art, and is run by local Sneinton people who are keen to establish a base to meet the needs in their local area.