GL11’s NHS Health Project shortlisted for National Award
GL11’s community health project, in collaboration with the NHS, which aims to helps people with chronic pain has been shortlisted for a national award.
The project to understand the impact of chronic pain, works with people with experience of persistent pain in a bid to understand how the condition affects their lives, and has now been shortlisted for a national HSJ Partnership Award.
GL11 Community Hub and NHS Gloucestershire have been nominated in the ‘Best Not for Profit working in partnership with the NHS’ category at the HSJ Partnership Awards 2024.
Ellen Rule, Director of Strategy and Transformation and Deputy Chief Executive at NHS Gloucestershire, said:
“We’re delighted that the fantastic work of an organisation like GL11 has been recognised at a national level. As One Gloucestershire Integrated Care System, we have good, long-standing relationships between statutory and VCSE sectors, with this project a shining example of our shared ambition to make our county a better and healthier place to live and work. GL11 are experts in understanding the needs of their local community, and they’ve established strong and trusting relationships with people who are living with chronic pain, so they were well placed to lead this work.”
Cathy Stannard, Clinical Lead for Pain Transformation at NHS Gloucestershire, added:
“The best way we can support people with persistent pain is by asking what matters to them. The feedback and insight GL11 have gathered from people with lived experience allows us to work together to focus on developing the support and services they need to live well. We know persistent pain can have a massive impact on the lives of those living with the condition and their families, anything we can do to offer more support and understand the experiences of people affected by pain is really valuable.”
The HSJ Partnership Awards recognise the impressive levels of innovation and care continually being developed across the UK’s healthcare system.
Read all about the help available at GL11’s Warm Wednesdays
Our Warm Wednesdays, with £1 Cafe and a shed load of wonderful free help and advice, run10am to 4pm every week.
NEW in 2024 - family advice sessions with a creche. Please ring to book a slot - 01453 548530.
Hear about all the help available at GL11’s Warm Wednesdays in this NHS short video.
Did you see GL11 showcased on BBC Points West this month?
GL11 was proud to be showcased on BBC Points West again as part of Gloucestershire Community Foundation's Christmas Poverty Hurts Appeal for vital funds so that Community Hubs, like GL11, can continue supporting those who most need help this winter.
GL11 community champion receives MBE
We're super proud! Indigo Redfern, CEO of GL11, received her MBE from HRH The Princess Royal at Windsor Castle at the end of last month.
The King awarded the MBE in recognition of GL11’s services to the community, particularly during the Covid pandemic. Congratulations Indigo.
“I don’t think my MBE award had quite sunk in until I went to Windsor” Indigo said. “I felt part of a whole different world there, with so many other fantastic people receiving their MBE’s, and I was one of them! I felt so proud to receive this award from HRH the Princess Royal for leading GL11 Community Hub, and all we achieved together, during the pandemic.”
Impact of ‘Off We Go’ partnership with NHS
For the last couple of years, after Covid, GL11 have been working in partnership with the NHS and other local community organisations to put on creative workshops for people to reduce isolation.
These workshops have been delivered out in community space across our area under the shared banner of "Off We Go" and funded by the NHS.
The wonderful Abi Nicol has made this fantastic slide show of our collective impact, which is being shown in local GP surgeries TV screens in the waiting rooms.
#healthandwellbeing
*New* Community Handy Person Service Takes Off
Care & Repair is a handy person service for residents over 65, or any adult living with a disability, in the Cam and Dursley area. This service is run by GL11 Community Hub, Cam.
What is Care & Repair?
GL11 Community Hub has launched a new service called Care & Repair. It’s a handy person service for residents over 65, or any adult living with a disability, in the Cam and Dursley area. This service is run by GL11 Community Hub, Cam.
This useful service aims to provide the help to get small jobs done in the home and garden, to help residents maintain their independence for longer, with the help of members of staff from the trusted local charity.
A team member will visit you at home, to assess what help is needed and advise on a course of action from there. The home assessment is free and there is no obligation. All GL11 Hub team members are DBS checked.
The type of jobs that will be covered are: General DIY e.g. replacing a light bulb; Fall Prevention e.g. installing a safety rail; Hospital Discharge Facilitation e.g. furniture moves; Security e.g. fitting a key safe or letterbox cage covers
What does it cost?
GL11 Community Hub is a registered charity and the Care & Repair service is a not-for-profit service, however, charges will apply to cover some costs incurred.
How do I apply?
The best way to reach us is by phone. Give us a call on 01453 548530. Alternatively, you can send us an email on office@gl11.org.uk.
Vote for us! GL11 shortlisted for Charity of the Year
We are so excited! GL11 Community Hub has been shortlisted for 'Charity of the Year' in the ‘So Glos Lifestyle Awards’ 2023.
To vote for us, all you have to do is:
1) Go here - www.soglos.com/lifestyle-awards/vote
2) Click the Join Now button to register your details
3) Scroll to the bottom of the voting page to vote for GL11 as Charity of the Year.
Thank you for your support!
Plan To Dress Cam and Dursley In Flags For King’s Coronation
Inviting you to come and make Bunting Kits for your community to use during the King’s Coronation Celebrations.
A group of community organisations in Cam and Dursley have grouped together to encourage residents to dress up their homes in colourful bunting for the King’s Coronation in May.
GL11 Community Hub, along with with The Chantry Centre, Dursley Tabernacle Church, Dursley Methodist Church and St George’s Church are hosting drop in sessions, asking volunteers to pop in and make up ‘Bunting Kits’ which will be offered to local residents to take away, finish off at home and put up for the King's Coronation celebrations in May.
Kits will contain the fabric and printed instructions for making up lengths of bunting suitable for decorating homes and gardens. The kits will be free of charge and are aimed at all ages and abilities as can be sewn or glued in the final stages of make up.
As well as encouraging volunteers to attend the kit making sessions, GL11 Community Hub are asking for donations of fabric to fill the kits. If you can help with fabric - please drop off donations at GL11, Fairmead, Cam, GL11 5JS.
If you can help with making up bunting kits, then drop into one of the five Bunting Kit making sessions during March & April in Cam & Dursley:
Dates are
28 March 10 am 12 pm at GL11 Community Hub
30 March 10 am -12 pm at The Chantry Centre
19 April 1 pm -3 pm at Dursley Tab
20 April 10 am -12 pm at St George’s Church
21 April 10 am -12 pm at Dursley Methodist Church
If you can’t make it to any the sessions and want to take part at home, click here for the printed instructions.
For more information you can contact Kate Molloy - email katemolloy@gl11.org.uk or ring 01453 548530.
GL11 Sharpness Community Event
Inviting the Sharpness community to our Open Event on 29th March 2-4pm.
GL11 are inviting residents of Sharpness, and surrounding areas, to come along and get help and support on a range of issues in Sharpness Village Hall on Wednesday 29th March between 2pm - 4pm.
As well as tea, coffee and cake, GL11 has partnered with other organisations - P3 Housing, GL Communities, Gloucestershire Employment & Skills Outreach who will be there to provide free help and support with everything from digital access, job seeking and employment support, as well as guidance on housing, benefits and debt advice.
All welcome!
For more information you can contact Audrey Harris - email audreyharris@gl11.org.uk or ring 01453 548530.
New Year Honour for CEO of GL11
We are delighted that GL11’s CEO, Indigo Redfern, has been awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) by King Charles in the 2023 New Year Honours List.
The Honour recognises GL11’s award winning services to the local community over the last 20 years, and particularly the Community Centre’s UK leading response to Covid, organised by Ms. Redfern, and now used as a national example of best practice.
Indigo Redfern says, “I am delighted to accept this MBE on behalf of all the volunteers, trustees, staff past and present at GL11, and our generous funders, who this Honour is really for.”
“During Covid, hundreds of people helped Cam & Dursley mount a unique community response. 5% of households volunteered, answering over 9,000 phone calls providing support and wellbeing. GL11 supported 12% of all household in our community during lockdown with shopping and prescriptions and directly fed 3% of the local population with over 7,000 hot meals.”
“Our community has had an outpouring of kindness, with everyone pulling together. It’s a successful model of coordinated community building, now used as national best practice. One we are delivering again now to help our community through the Cost of Living Crisis. This Honour is for everyone in Cam & Dursley who helps make that happen.”
GL11 fronts NHS #StayWellGlos campaign
GL11 are delighted to be part of the NHS winter #StayWellGlos campaign.
The NHS filmed at GL11 to produce a lovely short video, letting people know how to stay warm this winter, and where to get help with the Cost of Living Crisis.
GL11 on the six o’clock news
More excitement during our Cost of Living Support Day on, when BBC News reporter Faisal Islam came to chat to some of our regulars, about the impact of rising food and energy bills on people on small communities like Cam and Dursley. If you missed us on the News on, you can catch it on our YouTube channel here.
GL11 becomes National Covid Case Study
We are delighted that GL11’s unique community response during Covid has been recognised as a best practice case study by the UK’s National Preparedness Commission, to help others learn lessons for building good community resilience.
Indigo Redfern, the CEO at GL11 said, “The day after Covid lockdown, GL11 conceived a plan to support every single household in the GL11 postal area – some 15,000 people. The plan entailed the recruitment of around 200 local volunteers, supported by 12 coordinators, so that a lead “Street Vol” and a back-up “buddy” were allocated to every street in the area. These volunteers were assisted by a team of 20 qualified volunteer counsellors (“Listening Ears”) recruited to provide telephone support. Over the course of the first lockdown GL11 dealt with over 8,000 telephone calls and completed 4,130 requests for assistance, supporting around 1 in every 10 local households in our community.”
You can read the full National Preparedness Commission case study here - The Community Response to Covid-19 in Dursley and Cam: A Case Study | National Preparedness Commission
BBC Breakfast News visit GL11
It all got a bit exciting at our Cost of Living Support Day last Wednesday, when the BBC Breakfast team came to chat to some of our regulars, about the impact of rising fuel costs on rural communities like Cam and Dursley. If you missed us on the Breakfast News on Friday, you can still read all about it on the BBC website here - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63407158
Community Lead the Way With Cost of Living Support
As people struggle with rising heating bills, food prices and housing costs, the ambition collectively of the local community groups is to ensure a venue in Cam & Dursley is open every day of the week where people can go, that is warm and welcoming, with free or very low-cost food and drink, and access to help and advice.
Today (Wed 31st Sept), civic groups and community centres from across the south of Stroud came together at GL11 Community Hub in Cam & Dursley to coordinate a community response to the cost of living crisis this winter (see picture attached).
As people struggle with rising heating bills, food prices and housing costs, the ambition collectively of the local community groups is to ensure a venue in Cam & Dursley is open every day of the week where people can go, that is warm and welcoming, with free or very low-cost food and drink, and access to help and advice.
An estimated 40% of households will be in poverty this winter, and the community groups, including representatives from GL11, the NHS, local churches, Chantry Centre and Stroud District Council, came together to discuss how best to provide a warm environment if people can’t afford to heat their homes. Another aim of the group is to reduce the stigma about asking for help with food.
Indigo Redfern, CEO of GL11 Community Hub, said “For example, GL11's own Cost of Living Support Day in Cam & Dursley will be every Wednesday, 10am to 7pm, starting on 21st Sept. Our Café will be serving £1 breakfasts, potluck lunches and suppers, with free hot drinks, cakes and internet access, alongside help and advice with debt, benefits, housing, employment and wellbeing. Our new Community Pantry will be open too, a £4 membership giving at least £15 of food, to help ensure no-one goes hungry.”
“There is a great collective will amongst us all to work together to provide spaces in Cam & Dursley every day of the week where people can be sure of a warm welcome and good company this winter. We are meeting again next week, bringing in even more local community groups to help plan and staff with volunteers, a 7-day Cost of Living Café across local community spaces, that will see Cam & Dursley leading the way for cost of living support. Anyone wanting to be involved in this great community effort can phone us at GL11 for more details.”
GL11 Wins Award
GL11 Community Hub awarded for showing their intent to embrace inclusivity and diversity as an employer.
The GL11 Community Hub are proud to have won an award for being one of Gloucestershire’s most inclusive employers. The award which is part of the Inclusivity Works campaign, was launched by the Gloucestershire based, Going the Extra Mile (GEM) Project and presented to the GL11 Community Hub, honouring them as one of the first organisations, to receive the award which commends their commitment to building an inclusive culture in the workplace.
All of the winners, have been recognised for embracing and creating a culture where diverse groups of people feel valued, confident and able to be themselves, and have seen incredible benefits as individuals contribute their very best to the organisation.
Awards were presented to 13 employers that have welcomed inclusivity and diversity as part of their working and employment practices, supporting candidates that, for a variety of reasons, have struggled to get into the workplace. By doing so, they are helping to create a sustainable future for inclusivity in the workplace as well as reaping tangible benefits.
The Great Jubilee Flag Project
Local school children from the Cam and Dursley community took part in a joint project by Dursley Creative’s and the GL11 Community Hub during May and June.
More than 900 school children from the Cam and Dursley community took part in a joint project by Dursley Creative’s and the GL11 Community Hub during May and June.
The project, which aimed to bring some creativity into the community and teach local children and community groups, how to silkscreen flag designs onto fabric to make flags for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations at the beginning of June, was a huge success, linking up schools, teaching staff and different community groups with local artists.
As well as schools delivering the sessions as part of their creative programme, pop-up sessions were held here at the GL11 Community Hub in the evenings and over weekends and everyone in the community were invited to come along.
The Flag project ran for 6 weeks and more flags than we could count were created as a lasting and memorable way to remember the celebrations held for our Queen’s 75th year in reign.