Community Action Norfolk is hosting a series of discussion events, on behalf of the Rural Development Strategy steering group, looking at economic development in Norfolk's rural communities.
Many of you reading this will know about ThinkingFuel, our collective heating oil buying scheme. And you’ll know that the aim is to help support householders across Norfolk who depend on heating oil to heat their homes, and for whom the unregulated cost of heating oil is a constant worry.
At CAN we work closely with the Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk on the Big Switch and Save energy switching project. There are three important news items about Big Switch and Save that we’d like to convey to West Norfolk residents, and we’d be grateful for the help of VCSE groups and organisations working in the area to help spread the word.
At CAN we help and support a great many community projects to find the funding they need to make their vision a reality. Finding the right funder can be a minefield, and a complex process that takes time and commitment.
The clocks ‘went back’ on 25th October. The following week saw the highest recorded levels of extreme loneliness since the first lockdown began in March.
Early identification of need was the trigger for a swift community volunteer response to COVID-19 in the Chedgrave and Loddon area. Now they're looking to the future too.
Many Norfolk households and businesses in off-gas areas are burdened with the added element of the unregulated prices of heating oil. A few weeks ago we asked for your help in raising awareness of ThinkingFuel, our collective heating oil buying scheme. And we’d like to say a big thank you to those of who have published the article we supplied or have shared posters and flyers. If you haven’t already shared the message, we should be most grateful if you would. Details of how you can help can be found below.
We often feature articles about the inspiring initiatives happening in response to Covid-19. Except they don’t just happen – they’re the result of innovative, often spontaneous efforts by local individuals who see a need in their community. Mattishall Volunteer Hub (MVH) began life in the very first week of the lockdown in response to the Coronavirus pandemic and is still going strong.
The village hall, church and pub are three archetypal hubs of rural communities. Many communities across Norfolk have just one pub remaining, whilst some have lost even that. A familiar story in recent years is that of saving the village pub, an effort requiring skillful organisation, focused fundraising and commitment from those involved.