Our Grow Up! plan will support our rural economy, reconnect people with countryside, provide new skills, new careers and new opportunities for our residents.
Spanning economic development, mental health, education, social cohesion and environmental sustainability Grow Up! will mean so much to so many.
It will reconnect people with the countryside, revive rural skills and foster an understanding of farming, food and the natural world.
It will mean a struggling business can fund an idea that will enhance their whole community
It will mean a traditional craft is preserved for future generations
It will mean a child discovers that apples grow on trees and that chickens don’t come in nuggets
It will mean an isolated 70-year-old can enjoy the companionship of a community garden club
It will mean an out-of-work Dad can find the confidence and qualities he needs to break back into the workplace
Through a network of interconnecting projects and programmes we will create something that will leave a lasting legacy on the lives of our residents.
Economic growth, community growth and individual growth
Grow Up! will help businesses prosper through grants, employment support, salary schemes and skills, helping businesses improve, giving training and opportunities to people out of work and supporting the communities that surround them.
It will strengthen the ties that bind our communities together by matching community groups with willing helpers, by giving companionship to the isolated, finding purpose for the disaffected and generating a sense of pride in our place.
It will give our residents the opportunities to learn and to challenge themselves. It will open doors that lead to new careers and new volunteering opportunities and will encourage people back into economic activity. It will help people learn new skills, enjoy new experiences and develop the confidence they need to maximise their own potential.
Changing people’s lives
How could Grow Up! help people in their day-to-day lives?
The Carter family are finding life tough. They are struggling to make ends meet after James was made redundant from his role as an accountant in a company in Portsmouth. His wife Rachel has recently started up her own business offering online admin and secretarial services to small businesses. She doesn’t have many clients yet and is working long hours for little return. Their 17-year-old son Oliver is at home having finished school with a few GCSEs but no clear vision of his future. To add to their worries, Rachel’s father David has dementia. He lives in sheltered housing in Petersfield, seven miles away from the Carter family home in Horndean, and relies on his family for much of the stimulation and support he needs on a day-to-day basis.
Rachel signed up to receive business support bulletins through the Rural Business Network as they contain useful courses and opportunities to improve her business. On one of these emails, she sees an online course on marketing which gives her some of the basic skills she needs to broaden her customer base.
James has been out of work for 18 months having spent 20 years in his previous position. As a 55-year-old he feels he cannot compete with younger, more tech-savvy rivals for the local jobs and is worried that the world has moved on around him. He visits the Employment Hub based in Alton to see if they can help him. They allocate an advisor who he meets on their outreach visit to Horndean. To rebuild his confidence, he is put in touch with a voluntary group that is desperate to add accountancy skills to its committee. The work takes about 10 to 15 hours a week, he can do a lot of it from home but enjoys going into the charity’s office in Alton as it gives him the social contact he has been missing since he was made redundant. After six months he has more confidence in himself and his skills. He completes a course on IT skills recommended by the Employment Hub and is ready to apply for new positions again. He continues with his voluntary role even after taking up new full-time work.
After expressing an interest in practical skills, Oliver attends a woodworking course held at the Rural Hub at Butser Ancient Farm. The course gives him lots of practical support and he loves being outside and the sense of satisfaction he gets from making something new and long-lasting. Keen to pursue this interest he applies for a role as a carpenter with a local glazier. They take him on through the Kick Start scheme which pays for some of his wages for the first six months. If it goes well he plans to make use of the council’s apprenticeship scheme so he can learn the skills he will need while he earns a wage.
While at Butser Ancient Farm Oliver sees that there are gardening sessions being held for people with dementia. The sessions are led by ‘dementia friendly’ experts and for David the scents and colours recall the enjoyment of tending his own allotment when he was younger and fitter. Sometimes the session includes a visit from local schoolchildren who bring the session to life with their love of flowers and enthusiasm for planting and sowing. Although David’s dementia will always be with him, his condition and cognition improves and he loves the time he spends in the garden.
