2021-03-31-accounts

COMMUNITY TRANSFORM CIO, No: 1186368 Trustees’ Annual Report Reporting on the period April 2020 to March 2021

The trustees present their report and the unaudited financial statements of the charity Community Transform, charity number 1186368, for the year ended 31st March 2021.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in notes to the accounts and comply with the charity's governing document, the Charities Act 2011 and

Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) published in October 2019.

Contents:

This report has the following sections:

• 1) Chairman's Statement

• 2) Community Transform Strategy 2011-2021

• 3) The three distinct project themes of the company Community Transform Ltd (2017), from 2016 to 2021

• 4) Timeline of Community Transform Contracts and Funding (CT Ltd & CT CIO) from March 2020 to March 2021

• 5) What Have We Achieved? -a review of Community Transform CIO work for our beneficiaries from April 2020 to March 2021

Appendix A - The Historical Background to Community Transform

Appendix B - What is the Aylesbury Garden Town (AGT) Community Partnership Projects Program References

Trustees

Dr David Charles Furze (Chair) Nicolas Richard Singeisen Dr John Moorcroft Walton John Garnier Richards

Signature

Name:

Signature: Date:

Principle Office

Community Transform CIO Westwood 44 Westwood Green, Cookham, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 9DE Telephone: [phone] Mobile: [phone] Email address: [e-mail]

COMMUNITY TRANSFORM CIO, No: 1186368 Trustees’ Annual Report

Reporting on the period April 2020 to March 2021

1) Chairman's Statement

This is the first annual report of the newly formed Charity Community Transform (CT), as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, covering the period from April 2020 to March 2021.

a. Changes to the legal structure of Community Transform – a transition of responsibility

Our charity status was confirmed by the Charity Commission in November 2019, with charity number 1186368. The responsibility for all project activity, contracts, strategy), and assets (apart from financial assets) which previously had been delivered by the social enterprise Community Transform (2017) Ltd, company number 7712998, was transferred to the charity. This officially took effect at the beginning of April 2020. This was also the time when the charity began to receive grants and sign contracts to deliver services and projects.

b. Charity Objectives

The Charity Commission recognise our charitable objectives as:

COMMUNITY TRANSFORM IS A COMMUNITY CAPACITY-BUILDING CHARITY BASED ON ASSET-BASED COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION.

We work with beneficiaries:

……to develop the capacity and skills of the members of the socially and economically disadvantaged communities in Buckinghamshire in such a way that they are better able to identify, and help meet, their needs and to participate more fully in society.

c. Key External and Internal factors External Factors

• i. The 1st of April 2020 marked the beginning of a new unitary council in Buckinghamshire, where Buckinghamshire County Council and the four district councils merged to become Buckinghamshire Council. This began an extensive program of review, reorganisation, and redeployment of assets, staff, strategies, and financing. Since the largest contract the charity has is with the Aylesbury Garden Town (AGT) team, a part of Buckinghamshire Council, it is not yet clear what the implications will be of these changes and may not be realised for months to come (see ref 1 – for an internet link to the Aylesbury Garden Town Masterplan and Appendix 2 - What is the Aylesbury Garden Town (AGT) Community Partnership Projects Program?)

• ii. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the short term, the council had to focus as a priority on the work for supporting the individuals, the most vulnerable in the community and households across the country.

The positives: There have been new opportunities for us to engage with a different/new sector of people. Particularly, as the trend to ‘grow your own food’ has become more prominent in times of lockdown, as people are confined to home, needing different forms of exercise, and rethinking their priorities in life.

Internal Factors – responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic

• i. Reassessment of working practices to maintain community development outcomes for our beneficiaries

• ii. Developing new ways of working virtually – Zoom and Teams software

• iii. Providing information and gathering feedback in different ways through - social media, Facebook pages/groups, website, online consultations, etc. We launched a Facebook group called Aylesbury Garden Town Let’s Get Growing.

• iv. Safety of volunteers when restrictions on face-to-face were relaxed but still working personally distanced - Risk assessments, PPE, signage, safe working procedures.

• v. We have observed ‘COVID hesitation’ of volunteers following the lifting of the pandemic restrictions. In some areas of work volunteering numbers have recovered very slowly and in others, they have not returned to pre-pandemic numbers. This is very likely because we often have volunteers who are vulnerable and have gotten involved in the first place to socialise or improve their activity levels. These people would be the most likely to have lived isolated lives and lack the confidence to re-engage socially.

d. Progress and Growth – a summary (see section 5 - What have we achieved, page 8) During 2019 the main contract for the company Community Transform (2017) Ltd (referred to here as either the company or CT Ltd), was with Aylesbury Garden Town (AGT).

Community Grow Project: The partnership with Aylesbury Garden Town started in March 2019 with grant funding to establish a community food growing project adjacent to St Peter’s Church in Quarrendon, Aylesbury. The company’s previous activities had been focused in the High Wycombe area since 2011, so this was a new focus for our work. The St Peter’s project used the same principles and strategy as our ‘Community Grow’ project that had been successfully developed at the Sierra Road Community Allotment in High Wycombe.

In October 2019, the company, CT Ltd, secured a contract to join the AGT Community and Stakeholder Partnership Projects Team (CSPP Team), to deliver community development and liaison services. These contracts and funding were transitioned in April 2020 to the charity.

At the beginning of April 2020, there were four streams of funding for the charity. The core strand of funding was from the Aylesbury Garden Town (AGT) partnership contract, where we became a part of the AGT team working within the Community and Partnership Program team, working closely with Ceri Perkins as the Program Lead. This was the primary contract to be transferred from CT Ltd to the charity. Two of the other funding streams were new funding streams to add further support to the core AGT contact work in Aylesbury. The first of these was from the London Housing Corporation, LHC, (this fund was managed by Livability). It supported work to establish a new community garden at the Healthy Living Centre, Walton Court, in Aylesbury. The value of the funding was £5,000 over 6 months. This project would be later incorporated into the overall AGT contract. The second funding was from the Rothschild Foundation (for £5,000) for additional time to design, set up and run volunteer sessions at all our projects and to network widely across the VCFSE sector. Both funded projects were designed to add value to the work already established under the AGT contract. When the funding application was made, they were both scheduled to begin in April 2020. But, due to the COVID pandemic, the start dates and duration were negotiated and modified accordingly.

A third smaller grant from Feedback Global (£2,100) was given to deliver four practical/informative sessions on ‘growing your own food’ and to focus also on how to reduce food waste in the kitchen. These were at the Sierra Rd Site in High Wycombe in August 2020. But, due to the COVID pandemic, the start dates and duration for this project were also negotiated and modified accordingly. The Uptake of the 4 sessions was low due to the pandemic.

Play Streets Bucks: We encountered Play Streets in 2018 and successfully delivered two events in High Wycombe with the community where the Community Grow project had developed. The principles of Play Streets aligned well with Garden Town Principles[ref.2] and the themes contained in the AGT Masterplan ( Chapter 6 – A green and healthy Garden Town: Play Streets initiatives encourage healthy lifestyles, social interaction and improved mental health and wellbeing.) Working initially with colleagues in the Public Health and Highways departments of the country council we had a pilot project in Stock Mandeville that was scheduled for 27th March 2020. But this had to be postponed since the COVID Lockdown came into effect the day before.

We have worked hard over the last year to re-establish agreement under the new unitary Buckinghamshire Council re-organisation regime. We are hopeful that in Autumn 2021 we will be able to hold two pilot projects to demonstrate that all aspects of the events are compliant with the council’s health and safety regulations. Also, the application process for residents to hold a Play Street event can function efficiently and effectively.

The COVID-2 Pandemic Coronavirus Restrictions and Lockdown regimes: These were imposed by the UK Government on 26[th] March 2020. The restrictions had a dramatic impact on the work of the charity which officially only started to function a few days later at the beginning of April 2020. This significantly restricted the socialising of people from different households for leisure and employment. One of the impacts was that the three additional projects experienced delays in their starting dates and were subject to changes in how they were delivered.

Under the COVID-19 restrictions, we were constrained to fulfil our role in unique ways. Community development is primarily done and is most effective when done face-to-face! Social (physical) distancing requirements made this impossible. In addition, we also had to adapt to working within the Buckinghamshire Council requirements and constraints as a local council, to support the community during this time of the pandemic. We had to respond to new safety regimes, adjusting both short- and medium-term strategies and plans. The practical community development work of face-to-face contact and engagement stopped completely for several months. The restrictions were relaxed and then later tightened up again. When it was possible within the restrictions, the engagement work started again. In the meantime, we resorted to virtual meetings using Zoom or Teams virtual meeting platforms.

There was a redirection of the council’s resources during this period towards vulnerable people’s needs. The Community Grow projects were recognised as part of the COVID response of the council. We were also able to use our connections and experience to play a wider role across the county in the Emergency Food Groups and this has led to being a part of the founding of the Buckinghamshire Food Partnership.

So, in effect, our community engagement work never stopped throughout the year, but it was redirected to achieve similar aims but in different ways. Some of the projects that were in the development stage continued to be planned using email and virtual meetings. We played a significant role in the AGT consultations on the Gardenway proposal. Inevitably some projects were delayed until COVID-19 restrictions were relaxed.

As COVID restrictions are relaxing we will continue with our new methods of engaging but restart the face-to-face forms – with lessons learnt. We will continue to support existing Community Food Growing projects around Aylesbury and develop new initiatives, the Facebook Group “Let's Get Growing” and Play Streets Bucks

A firm foundation: Going into this 2nd year, we are in a stronger position than at the beginning despite the pandemic, since there is a greater need for services that help people to re-engage with society and for those who now feel the desire to grow and to eat healthy food. We are about to add a new contract in Aylesbury with Public Health (Bucks Council) that is broadly based on the Community Grow model, including the area that we have been attempting to initiate as part of Community Grow, i.e., learning how to cook healthy food and to encourage more healthy diets. This was the original motivation for Community Grow back in 2015 when we developed the Community Grow strategy as part of a Public Health Task & Finish Group. The new contract, to begin in April 2021, is the role as “Aylesbury Expert Gardener” for the Grow It Cook It Eat It project.

During this first year of functioning as a charity, there have been several significant developments and considerable growth of the organisation. The pandemic presented us with considerable challenges that we were able to accommodate and survive. This was largely due to being part of the wider AGT Team, as part of the Bucks Council. The secured contract income has helped us to be more resilient than we would have been if we were dependent on grant income alone. Being a part of the AGT Community Partnerships Program Projects Team (CPPP) put our work in the spotlight of the response to the COVID Pandemic across the county and provided the charity with a greater profile and credibility. This will be a firm foundation going forward in our mission – Transforming lives, Transforming Communities .

2) Community Transform 2011-2021 Strategy

a. Community Transform Mission: What we aim to do – our Strapline:

Community Transform has the strapline “Transforming lives, Transforming communities”. By working relationally (with individuals) and by valuing everyone’s contributions to their community life as assets, we believe they can be empowered to shape and influence their community in the long term. This approach is known as Asset Based Community Development (ABCD).

Its definition is:

….. an approach to sustainable community-driven development. Asset Based Community Development’s premise is that communities can drive the development process themselves by identifying and mobilizing existing, but often unrecognised assets. Thereby responding to challenges and creating local social improvement and economic development.

The underlying desired outcomes of our work, are to build community capacity by encouraging sustainable positive social change that leads to social, economic, environmental, and spiritual wellbeing and wholeness. As a social purpose organisation, we recognise the terms, building social capital, community capacity building and creating social change. This is a relational, bottom-up approach to working, where individuals and communities are at the heart of their decision-making. Going forward they are best placed to shape, help make decisions and eventually lead projects.

b. Community Transform Ethos:

Community Transform is a social purpose organisation based on the principles of community development and social transformation. Taking a relational, bottom-up approach to working with individuals and communities is at the heart of what we do. We focus on creating positive social change and improving the wellbeing of communities.

Positive Social Change, PSC , is found to be most effective when three mechanisms of change are present; these are motivation, capacity, and opportunity. The road to empowerment touches all three of these drivers. Taking a person-centred approach means listening to local peoples’ views and opinions, giving them decision-making power on things that affect them, and developing relationships, skills, and trust are all vital elements. This then forms the basic building blocks of what Community Transform sets out to do. As a priority, we have the intention that eventually they lead by taking part in the day-to-day running of projects. Where they don’t have the skills or capacity for this we will temporarily stand in the gap and take on the leadership roles to get things started and established until we can hand them over to local ownership and control. From experience, we know that some degree of long-term oversight or supervision is often necessary to ensure clarity of purpose is maintained in the long term, but this is a very light-touch approach.

c. Our Theory of Change:

This recognises the central element of community development that when people are empowered to make the changes that they want to make happen in their own lives and their communities, then positive social change is possible. We consider it as a process, or journey, to transformation – not an event! We describe this as developing different types of ‘spaces’: “physical spaces”, “social spaces”, and “learning spaces”, or a combination of these. Where the learning space is where activities can proactively create an intentional learning environment, but these are guided by the participants with assistance from civil society agencies. In these spaces, all involved will develop skills, abilities, and knowledge through the experience of being involved and doing activities together. This includes lessons learnt by any agencies involved. This may be in the context of informal learning, peer learning, or learning that is more formal.

We see the most effective positive social change is not only working at a surface level, as an event or short series but by continued involvement in taking a person-centred approach. It will then bring deep-cutting social change – creating an impact by changing lives. Co-creating these “spaces” together is a core value and activity of Community Transform. Ultimately, we work to create activities that deliver wellbeing and wholeness for individuals and communities. Sustainable and inclusivity can be achieved when local people play a role in owning the concept and running the projects.

e. The Five Way to Wellbeing. The work of Community Transform supports the 5 ways to wellbeing principles – connect, give, take notice, keep learning and be active, in the way it works.

3) The three distinct project themes of the company Community Transform CIO

There are three distinct project areas in that Community Transform CIO, has been involved. These are:

• a) Community Grow Network - using local green spaces as a tool to engage with residents and improve the public realm.

• b) Company CSR Employee Teams – using the resources of the employees of local companies for the benefit of communities and working with VCSE organisations

• c) Play Street Events – short & regular resident-led street closures to facilitate social capacity building where residents in a neighbourhood interact and children play.

a. Community GROW Network (Community Food Growing)

Growing food (or flowers) in a garden is an activity that has a proven record of improving the wellbeing of participants. But growing together in the community with others has additional benefits

• Vision Statement:

To establish a network that supports local Community GROW projects across High Wycombe, working primarily in areas of deprivation to….

  - promote healthy lifestyles and choices,

  - create community cohesion, resilience, and an improved sense of wellbeing

  - in the long term to build a better society.

• Our Strapline for Community Grow Project is: “Growing Community and Growing in the Community”

• The Foundations of Community GROW are:

• A passionate belief that “Growing is good for individual & community wellbeing”

• The Five Ways To Wellbeing are: Connect – with other people, Be active – find an activity you love, Take notice – of the world around you, Keep learning – try something new, and finally Give – a smile, a hug, some time

• At the heart of what we do is: Community engagement and empowerment

• Theory of Change: Embedded into the Community GROW project is our theory of change that involved the three types of space (see section above) that can be instrumental in bringing about Positive Social Change (PSC). A physical space - in this case, a green or garden space, a Social Space – building relationships – this is a safe space where trust is developed. And thirdly, a learning space – peer, kinaesthetic, or formal learning. All these spaces create a sense of place for participants, a fertile place where transformation can be nurtured.

b. Company Employee Volunteer Teams – CSR Teambuilding sessions

We broker with local companies for their Employee Volunteers Teams to have a successful and fulfilling team-building day. We create self-contained team-building events where employees feel that they can ‘make a difference’ by working in one of Community GROW projects, working in a community garden, or where we provide an event for a local VCSE organisation – such as a renovating care home garden. We have also renovated several local school gardens that fall into disuse.

• i. What companies can expect from us:

• A worthwhile project or cause is identified. We will discuss and create an event that meets the requirements of the company. We negotiate with the project/organisation the tasks required and organise the logistical arrangements, materials, and equipment needed. A full risk assessment is developed, and we will liaise with the company's H&S expert. There will be adequate insurance, health, and safety needs and CRB checks.

  • We manage the administration and logistics for the activities on the day. We also provide an experienced team on the day to run their event. After the event, we provide a set of photographs of the day.

• ii. What are the outcomes for companies and their employees include:

• A sense of achievement at a personal and team level. Increased team working and better working relationships with colleagues. A greater understanding of the local community and increased levels of engagement of the company with their community. This is a good public relations exercise.

• The event contributes to the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, impact and ESG. For a practical project they can literally see the fruits of their volunteering time; in a newly painted building, a newly landscaped garden, or cleared pathway.

• For everybody involved it is a ‘Win-Win-Win’ situation.

Good for employees, good for the community and good for business

iii. What are the outcomes for Community Transform:

• The input of many man-hours into projects can be a great encouragement to volunteers who see their project leap forward – particularly at the start of a local project. In addition, the relationship with the company can develop with donations, sponsorship, and new volunteers for future events.

• The donating of useful skills other than physical work can revolutionize the projects' multimedia, legal or financial management – even new trustees.

• By charging fees it is an income stream.

In total, we have hosted fifteen company teambuilding days that have been organised with 12 companies in 9 locations in Buckinghamshire since January 2017.

c. Play Streets Projects

Playing Out is a parent and resident-led movement giving children the chance to play out in the streets and spaces where they live, boosting their health, happiness, and sense of belonging. Play Streets are short, stewarded road closures (usually 2-3 hours), organised by residents who volunteer as stewards to keep things safe. They typically take place once a month, often at weekends.

i. Benefits (www.playingout.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2021-Resident-Survey-Report-.pdf) Research shows: the events increase activity levels, build intergenerational friendships between neighbours and children, and reduce isolation and loneliness. Also improves community capacity and social cohesion by creating new opportunities for creativity and socialising.

ii. Play Streets are widely acknowledged

They are endorsed by Public Health England, Play England, British Cycling, & Kings Fund. In Buckinghamshire; the Public Health Team, Transport for Bucks, LEAP, CCG, and Community Boards.

More than 90 councils now support Play Streets nationally and there is specific guidance from Dept for Transport for local authorities to support the initiative. The website of the national organisation Playing Out UK is www.playingout.net

iii. Origins of Play Streets

Play Streets started in Bristol in 2012 in a street where a single mother wanted to provide what she had experienced as a child playing out freely. The national organisation Playing Out UK is based in Bristol. The organisation's website is www.playingout.net This has a wealth of very useful resources and advice for setting up Play Street events and ongoing support for Street Organisers.

In India and in the Philippians (2014) a similar strategy has been applied to deliver effective healthcare education to street children and families in some of the most destitute and deprived areas globally.

4) Timeline of Community Transform Contracts and Funding (CT Ltd & CT CIO) for Projects from March 2019 to March 2021

The focus of the organisation's project work before 2019 was located mainly in the High Wycombe area. But we have always had a longer-term aim to work right across Buckinghamshire.

Since 2019, however, we have been more focused on the Aylesbury area of the county, but we continued to have wider involvement in county-wide networks and initiatives.

• a. Projects and Contract for Work During the Period March 2019/March 2020 – with Community Transform Ltd.

Our partnership with Aylesbury Garden Town, AGT has been the primary focus of our work for March 2019 onwards. Initially, this was to establish the community garden at St Peter’s Church, Quarrendon in Aylesbury (funded from March 2019 to March 2020).

In October 2019, the relationship was strengthened when we became part of the AGT Community Partnership Program Team (CPP) Team. We were, commissioned to deliver community development and liaison services. The time commitment was initially 1.5 days FTE

• b. Projects and Contract for Work During the Period April 2020/21 – as the charity Community Transform CIO Charity status was granted in November 2019, but the charity didn’t start to operate for the benefit of beneficiaries until April 2020.

In addition to the AGT contract, the charity was also funded to deliver several projects over this period that ran concurrently. Details of the project work are reviewed in later sections:

• i. London Housing Corporation: (Locality are the fund managers) - £5,000, to establish a community garden at the Healthy Living Centre (HLC), Walton Court. Funding for a period of six months from March to October 2020. But the COVID pandemic delayed the project and the funders allowed for flexibility in the end date.

• ii. Rothschild Foundation: - £5,000. From April 2020. For engagement and supervision of volunteering sessions with residents, the Voluntary Community, Faith and Social Enterprise sector groups, and Social Prescribing Groups.

• The project entailed working with various local groups to develop ongoing activities for their clients to visit community gardens across Aylesbury. The grant was given to establish working relationships with voluntary and statutory agencies, plan the session content, and supervise the sessions. The period of the grant started in April 2020, but the funders agreed to modify the grant terms to reflect the delays due to the COVID Pandemic.

• iii. Feedback Global: - Our long-standing project at the Community Allotment at Sierra Rd, High Wycombe, started in January 2017. This project continues but was suspended during the COVID-19 Lockdown at the end of March 2020. In July 2020 we received a small grant from Feedback Global to deliver four practical/informative sessions on ‘growing your own food’ and to focus also on how to reduce food waste in the kitchen as a bounce-back initiative from the effects of the pandemic. But the COVID pandemic restrictions delayed the project start date. The funders also allowed for flexibility in the end date.

These funded projects (i & ii) were complimentary to the core AGT contract work. They were designed to bring added value to the opportunity that was afforded by having the public profile from being part of the AGT Team.

5) A review of Community Transform CIO work for our beneficiaries from April 2020 to March 2021 - What Have We Achieved?

a. Introduction

Our Community Development Project Work – how our projects have progressed over the 1[st] year of the charity.

The immediate response to the COVID-19 restrictions - short-term strategies were developed to support existing volunteers and to use our connections across the county to beneficial effect.

• Emergency Food Response Groups Working closely with Hannah Fenton we became part of the Emergency Food Response Groups in Aylesbury and High Wycombe. These groups met as a weekly virtual Zoom group and expanded to others in Chesham later in the year. The group’s composition was very wide bringing together a lot of key partners in the towns, primarily from the voluntary, community, social enterprise and faith sectors but also includes Bucks County councillors and officers.

• Let’s Get Growing! - we were keen to create resources to help/encourage people to grow to produce in their green spaces, or even in their homes, that would be beneficial in several ways under the COVID-19 restrictions:

• Community Food Growing – when restrictions allowed, we continued to work on community food growing projects without volunteers. A list of interested residents was kept involved through phone, email/newsletter and linked to the Let’s Get Growing Facebook Group .

• Project work review - When COVID restrictions were relaxed in June 2020 we took cautious steps to re-engage with volunteers on practical projects. Some practical work had been done throughout the various lockdowns to maintain minimum upkeep of garden sites but without volunteers meeting.

b. Community Food Growing

Our community food growing programme was launched in Aylesbury in March 2019 and now includes the established St Peter’s Community Garden in Quarrendon, along with the Healthy Living Centre in Walton Court and Bierton, Community Allotment, which are all underway. Further projects at Hampden Hall Care Home in Weston Turville, Kingsbrook and Hampden Gardens in Southcourt are in the planning stages, with on-site delivery expected in the coming year, as Covid restrictions ease further.

Community Food Growing addresses the Five Ways to Wellbeing (see section 2e). Connect with people; be active; take notice of the world around you; keep learning and try something new and give some time to help others. It should be noted that Southcourt, Walton Court and Quarrendon are some of the most deprived wards in Bucks.

• St Peter’s, Quarrendon

Two years since its launch, St Peter’s Community Garden now has a large amount of involvement and participation from within the church and the wider neighbourhood. The leadership of St Peter’s is setting up a legacy committee to take it forward, with a focus on local stewardship. They have also received separate funding for a Garden Facilitator and have installed a tool shed and cabin for participants to meet in.

Quarrendon is an open-access site and there was some concern initially that this may prompt anti-social behaviour. The church porch is a regular hang-out for a group of young people and at first several beanpoles were pulled up and used for mock sword fights. However, the leadership team has found that by engaging with the group and getting them involved in the process of planting pumpkin seeds, which then grew into an impressive pumpkin crop, they have built a positive relationship which has resulted in no further major problems at the garden, instead nurturing a sense of ownership and pride in the young people.

Community Food Growing at St Peter’s Community Garden in Quarrendon

The continuous harvest from spring through autumn and even into winter is shared amongst the volunteers, as well as with regular supporters of the garden who have been shielding over the last year. Now that the beds are established there is also a plan to contribute to the Aylesbury foodbank. Once Covid restrictions end, activity sessions with local organisations are planned e.g., PACE, schools, as well as social prescribing working with the GP surgery and the primary care network.

• Healthy Living Centre, Walton Court

The Healthy Living Centre (HLC) is a ‘community-led service aiming to build opportunities that support the development of individuals and groups in Bucks’ . The HLC Community Food Growing Project, which was embarked upon early last year, as a partnership between AGT, LHC Community Benefit Fund and other local organisations, was unfortunately held up by the Covid pandemic after initial work had been carried out to plan and prepare the garden.

Despite the challenge, there has already been considerable engagement with local schools Pebble Brook Secondary, utilising student support and Ashmead Primary on a competition to design the potager garden. In a small window last summer, we also managed to draw on the voluntary resource of the National Citizen Service, whereby a group of around 12 enthusiastic young people helped clear the site.

HLC has also secured a grant from the Community Funding Pot to develop a scheme to allow local families to learn about nutrition and cooking, using the produce from the garden they’ve grown themselves, which will take place once it is more established.

Ashmead School and National Citizen Service at the Healthy Living Centre Community Food Growing Project

• Bierton Community Allotment

Bierton Community Allotment – Dec 2020 and March 2021

The idea for this resident-led scheme came from a resident and former teacher, who was keen to establish a community food growing opportunity in Bierton and approached AGT for support, working in conjunction with Bierton Parish Council. Her proposal set out clear aims to expand on the community spirit fostered during the lockdown and overcome barriers to social inclusion, with plans to involve the school, scouting movement and children with special needs. The Community Allotment will be officially opening in April 2021.

• Hampden Hall, Weston Turville

A framework is already in place working with the care home and a local community representative to establish the food growing project. The care home is the largest in Aylesbury and has a high proportion of residents who suffer from dementia. The residents are a mix of private and state-assisted care. Our aim is that community gardening will have a positive impact on tackling dementia and social isolation experienced by the people living at the home, by encouraging interaction, engagement, and activity.

• Hampden Gardens, Southcourt

We are working in partnership with Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust (VAHT) to support a community-led food growing project, in the centre of four blocks of housing association-owned flats. Currently, there is a large under-used communal area, and the project will provide an area, not just for growing together, but a place for residents to meet socially, as lockdown regulations are relaxed. A resident survey has already been carried out to garner interest, with an encouraging response. Comments include “Lots of daffodils, tulips, spring flowers, shrubs for seasons and raised beds for vegetables etc. and for ‘grow your own’ food”. “We can also grow other new vegetables from different countries and can be self-sufficient, kids can respect food and the hard work involved in growing them.” “My kids love growing food.” The garden was launched in the spring of 2021.

• Kingsbrook Nursery and Community Centre

We are working closely with the newly established Kingsbrook Parish Council to develop a strong sense of community at this site which will incorporate 2,450 new homes. We are supporting the PC and the nursery management team at the local community centre, to deliver their first community food growing project, which will benefit the children and residents alike.

• Let’s Get Growing Facebook Group

In addition to establishing a network of food growing projects, we also launched an online gardening community when the pandemic hit in the spring 2020 with the Let’s Get Growing Facebook Group.

The objective of setting up this support group was initially in response to the Covid-19 crisis to help support, encourage and connect people locally, who were growing their own fruit and vegetables.

• Good for their mental and physical health – give them an activity to focus on whether inside or, preferably, outside

• Give them an awareness of how to produce their own food source – good for nutrition, healthy living, and reducing food waste.

• If they have a larger outside space and they can grow things on a larger scale, then this resource can be used to provide fresh produce to the wider community over the medium term during the health crisis. This could also include the town allotments and Aylesbury Gardens Society.

• develop a network linking local people under the growing theme - social media platforms, such as Facebook Groups, to encourage, motivate, answer questions, and point people to sources of information. A grass root link to the Aylesbury Emergency Food Response work.

It now numbers 180 members, sharing hints and tips and provides an excellent foundation for future stewardship development projects, which will help Aylesbury to become more sustainable.

c. Community Funding Pot

Working in our role within the Aylesbury Garden Town Community and Projects Team we were involved in establishing a Community Projects Funding Pot in October 2019. Through the funding pot we were able to distribute a total of £25,000, awarded in grants to nine not-for-profit organisations in Aylesbury. The grants aligned with key principles within the Masterplan by improving green space, increasing biodiversity or encouraging healthy living. Three of the awards particularly targeted residents in lower socio-economic areas in Aylesbury.

The list is as follows: Carers Bucks for their ‘Time Together’ project, Empower to Cook for their ‘Cooking for Inclusion’ project, The Healthy Living Centre for their ‘Growing Healthier Together’ project, River Thame Conservation Trust for their ‘Aylesbury Balsam Bash’ project, Green Ridge Primary Academy for their ‘Healthy Living Eco Reading Shed’ project, Community Youth Ventures for their ‘Community YourSpace’ project, Southcourt Baptist Church for their ‘Bridge The Gap’ foodbank project, Bucks County Museum for their ‘Maud Grieve Story Garden’ project, Haydon Abbey Primary School for their ‘Haydon Abbey Healthy Harvest’ project.

Only four of the nine projects that received funding were able to get underway in 2020/21 due to Covid-19: Carers Bucks Time Together: This project enabled young carers in Aylesbury to spend quality “Time Together’ with their families to improve their general mental health and wellbeing. The grant was awarded just before the pandemic broke out and had an even greater impact, due to many of the young carers being within families where a person was shielding, leaving them more isolated. The Time Together Project because it enabled Carers Bucks to improve the quality of life and mental health of Young Carers and their families based in the Aylesbury area, through a very challenging period due to the impact of Covid19.

Southcourt Baptist Church Foodbank, Bridge the Gap Project: The Bridge the Gap project, in Southcourt, a ward which has the highest level of socio-economic deprivation in Bucks, became a vital part of the emergency response in Aylesbury to the pandemic. They provide around 70 food parcels a week to families, couples and single people and the money covered the cost of food and toiletries, as well as PPE equipment and a freezer to increase their support. It also funded a money management programme, to help those struggling to deal with financial concerns.

Community Youth Ventures, Youth Outreach Project: The Community YourSpace project is primarily a streetbased project using positive activities to target young people in areas suffering from poverty, crime, antisocial behaviour, and lack of services.

River Thame Conservation Trust, Balsam Bash: This scheme to get rid of Himalayan Balsam which is suffocating the other plants around the Bear Brook in Aylesbury and affecting biodiversity, got underway last summer, but still has the final phase of the roll-out to complete this year due to the impact of Covid-19.

d. Stakeholders and Partners Funding

This funding provision allowed the AGT team to support key stakeholders and partners on projects that reflect the main Garden Town Masterplan themes. Working in this way has been instrumental in delivering a range of community-focused ‘quick wins’, with considerable impacts, such as greening and planting in the town centre. The initiatives require a relatively small amount of support or funding, which the AGT Team can offer. They work to strengthen stakeholder relations, as well as help make the town more vibrant and welcoming, ahead of the large-scale regeneration projects coming through in the medium to longer term.

These have included:

• A new cycle park and planting scheme outside Hale Leys shopping centre, one of the main entry points to the town

• Before New Cycle Park at rear of Hale Leys Shopping Centre After

• Supporting the pedestrianisation of Cambridge Street, George Street and Market Street by putting in planters and branded decorative materials to encourage al fresco dining, working alongside the Town Centre Management Team

This funding offer has also enabled AGT to partner with third-sector organisations to support them in local high-profile initiatives, which serve to raise awareness further of AGT and its commitment to investing in the community:

• Lindengate nature-based mental health charity’s Rest and Reflect scheme offers respite and support to NHS staff and keyworkers during the pandemic

• New equipment for Horatio’s Garden, the rehabilitation and therapy facility for spinal injuries patients at Stoke Mandeville Hospital

• Community landscaping project for the Florence Nightingale Hospice’s Rainbow Sculpture

e. Aylesbury Railway Station enhancements

This involved a focus of attention to uplift the appearance of the station as a main arrival point to the town. This project focused on adding colour, culture, flowers, planters and hanging baskets.

• Aylesbury Station Cycle facilities – to stimulate active travel Chiltern Railways (lead delivery partner) has commissioned the installation of cycle racks in Aylesbury and work will commence imminently. The Aylesbury installation has been commissioned alongside three other stations in Buckinghamshire, and it has not been agreed at the time of writing how the installations will be sequenced but confirmed all four installations will hopefully be in place by June 2020 and have an opening ceremony which will be a good marketing opportunity for the facility.

Discussions about the cycle racks at the station prompted a fertile discussion about improvements to the Railway Station in more general terms as a key destination point for the Town. Several new enhancements have been taken forward

• Ticket Office entrances – flower planters were revamped, and additional planters were added.

• Taxi rank & car park forecourt island – a neglected but large prominent island full of weeds will be landscaped giving height and colour. Revamping and replanting the main roundabout outside Aylesbury Station and supplementing with further planters and hanging baskets to create a more vibrant destination and arrival point. Aylesbury Town Council has taken responsibility to maintain the island to the current standards.

Before The Transformation of Aylesbury Station Island Flower Beds After

The planning for a number of these projects is ongoing but the practical work has been affected by the COVID restrictions.

• The platforms have extensive growing beds that have been neglected for many years. As these are obvious to passengers using the station, a case is being proposed to revamp these and to establish a sustainable Friend of Aylesbury Railway Station (FARS) group to maintain them for the future.

Pebble Brook School students have been on work experience at Aylesbury Station in partnership with Aylesbury Garden Town to initially clear the growing beds.

• Platform Murals – four bricked-up doorways will be transformed by local artists. Each scene depicts a different aspect of the culture and history of Aylesbury Town.

f. Play Streets

Play Streets supports a key principle set out in the Aylesbury Garden Town (AGT) Draft Masterplan - and backed by Public Health - to encourage healthy living. Through Play Streets, children spend time outdoors exercising, establishing good habits for later life, as well as developing life skills, such as confidence, road safety awareness and the ability to form connections and links within their local community. With the success of the initiative across the nation, the Department of Transport has expressed its support for the movement and has updated guidance documents, making it easier to apply for temporary traffic restrictions.

The original Play Streets pilot scheme in Aylesbury Garden Town was due to take place in March 2020 but had to be postponed due to Covid-19. An alternative pilot on Fairford Leys in Aylesbury is now in development with Transport for Bucks, with the aim for it to take place at the beginning of July 2021. If successful, we hope to see the scheme rolled out across Bucks.

g. Gardenway

In our role as a member of the Community Programme, we provided support throughout the initial Gardenway Consultation, working with the Project Lead and Urban Movement (consultants) to help facilitate the engagement with the community, stakeholder and partner contacts that have been generated through our work so far.

The Gardenway is one of the key transformative projects, and the first public realm project to come forward from the Aylesbury Garden Town Master plan. Encircling Aylesbury, the Gardenway will deliver an 18/22 km orbital park of fully connected green and blue infrastructure, local parks, woodlands, playgrounds, community gardens, natural areas, waterways, and cultural and heritage sites. It will be fully accessible around the route and connect existing and emerging neighbourhoods

Urban Movement completed a 16-week community-based approach co-design engagement campaign from December to January. The information gathered will be used to define the parameter route with a report issued at the end of March 2021 for consideration. Their report will be accompanied by an ambitious set of design standards to ensure that the Gardenway delivers over and above national design standards for cycling, walking, and wheeling and that we deliver a special and unique orbital park for Aylesbury as it continues its transformation into a Garden Town

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the engagement and co-design campaign was delivered online via Zoom meetings and workshops. The response to the campaign was fantastic with a dedicated website receiving over 1000 unique visits, and over 350 comments left on the interactive ‘put a pin in it’ map. In total 13 codesign workshops were held with an average of 30 participants for each.

This has strengthened relationships with the Parish Councils and led to the development of new community partnership projects, such as the Berryfields Community Orchard.

Appendices

Appendix A - The Historical Background to Community Transform

Our history stretches back to 2004 and the Oasis Project based in the village of Lane End, Buckinghamshire. Over the years there have been many changes of emphasis and projects, but the underlying motivations and ethos are rooted in the same fundamental principles. Community Transform was a faith-inspired venture based on the principles of asset-based community development (ABCD) and building hope to bring about social change and ultimately transformation of communities from within. We work hard to listen to the people in the communities where we work, involving them in decision-making, and training them to eventually take the projects forward for themselves, achieving sustainability. Community Transform’s strapline is, ‘Transforming Lives, Transforming Communities.’

The Elim Church in Lane End pioneered the Oasis Project – under the leadership of Pastor John Richards in 2004. The project was a trade skills training project for young people in the Buckinghamshire village who were 18 to 25 years of age and not in education, employment, or training (NEET). Members of the church who were tradespeople (qualified in their trade) were offered a 15-week training course for one evening a week over a cycle of three courses per year. From 2004 until 2013, over 200 young people from the Lane End and Stokenchurch area were beneficiaries of the Oasis Project. The courses were in trades of car mechanics, horticulture, electrical, plumbing, and welding. In parallel to these courses, there was also an option to be tutored in English and maths for those who had not gained these qualifications while at school. Close ties were built with a similar project based in Knowsley, Lancashire, by coincidence, this was also called the Oasis Project.

Over time as the project grew in popularity, it spread to include the High Wycombe area. The Wycombe Partnership Board provided core funding for a part-time project coordinator in 2009. Eventually, in July 2011, the Lane End Oasis Project obtained its charity status, and the project that was based in High Wycombe became a separate social enterprise called Community Transform Ltd. With the introduction of new government provisions and policies for young people who were +18 and NEET, the project no longer had relevance and Community Transform moved on to deliver other projects but with the same fundamental principles of working.

Project themes: Over the past 11 years Community Transform (CT) has been involved in a range of community development and empowerment projects. These included the original Trade Skills Training for NEETs, a community hub based in one of the most deprived areas of High Wycombe (Gayhurst Rd, Micklefield), Play Street events, Corporate Employee Volunteer Team Events and Community Food grow at our community allotment.

Our long-standing project at the Community Allotment at Sierra Rd, High Wycombe, started in January 2017 but was suspended due to the COVID-19 Pandemic lockdown at the end of March 2020. This project has not restarted due to the loss of its volunteers, but the hope is to re-establish the project in the future.

Appendix B - What is the Aylesbury Garden Town (AGT) Community Partnership Projects Program

The Community Partnership Projects Program (CPPP) was established so that local people can begin to experience the real and tangible benefits that gaining Garden Town status by Homes England brings. During the Masterplan consultation and engagement phase (from January 2017) it was identified that there was a rather negative perception of Aylesbury’s Garden Town status amongst the local community, with many believing it to be centred on the considerable housing growth in the town, rather than recognising it as a significant opportunity for Aylesbury to evolve into a thriving and sustainable location.

The CPPP was put in place to help allay this concern, through work with local organisations/groups, residents, and businesses, to support initiatives that can be delivered in the short to medium term and that align with the Masterplan and Garden Community principles. It is paramount that we have the backing of the community as

we move forward to deliver the longer-term Masterplan (ref. 1), to help ensure that Aylesbury becomes a more vibrant and economically viable place to live, work, visit and invest in. The programme objectives were:

• Developing community stewardship , a key Garden Town principle (ref.2), through backing/funding community-led initiatives

• Working with key stakeholders and community representatives on partnership projects to improve and enhance AGT, making it a more vibrant place to live/work/visit/invest and fostering a greater sense of pride and place

• Helping to develop a strong sense of community on new AGT sites and strengthening community cohesion across AGT to connect residents - old and new - together

The AGT Community Partnerships Programme has been acknowledged as good practice by Homes England, delivering a wide range of community-related projects and developing community stewardship , a key principle for the original Town and Country Planning Association Garden Communities (ref. 2). It supports community cohesion between old and new neighbourhoods within AGT, encouraging a greater sense of pride and place. The Programme also reflects the council’s wider policy agenda, including the climate change strategy by encouraging sustainability and healthy living and tackling social isolation, to improve mental health and wellbeing.

1. Ongoing Evaluation of the Impact of the Community Partnership Projects Program (CPPP)

At the inception of the CPP Programme, we intended to meet the following aims:

• Working with partners within the community to deliver a range of impactful projects that embody the themes of the AGT Masterplan

• Establishing and improving community and stakeholder and partner relations across AGT

• Developing the principle of community stewardship in AGT

These aspirations are already being met through the course of the programme so far, which started in October 2019. The Community Development and Liaison role was first played by the company Community Transform Ltd. From April 2020 the responsibility for this role transitioned to Community Transform CIO, under a new contract and this is detailed under the Projects Review section below and will continue to evolve as we move forward, following the approval of the AGT Masterplan by the unitary council in summer 2020. There is a clear mandate in the Masterplan that the community should be at the heart of the AGT Programme, through the action plans set out in each chapter and in the 2050 Vision, which states that AGT ‘will be an inclusive place, enabling people and communities to reach their full potential.’

There has been a particular focus within the Community Programme on the following themes in the Masterplan: Chapter 4 – Aylesbury Central Area , Chapter 5 – Quality of life : The community and stakeholder funding supports projects that encourage community cohesion and stewardship, working particularly with the new AGT communities to develop a strong sense of place and C hapter 6 – A green and healthy Garden Town : Community Food Growing and Play Streets initiatives encourage healthy lifestyles, social interaction and improved mental health and wellbeing.

References

1. The Aylesbury Garden Town Masterplan can be found here: www.aylesburygardentown.co.uk/the-masterplan-and-projects/the-masterplan/

2. Garden Town Principles: Garden City Standards for the 21st Century https://tcpa.org.uk/collection/garden-city-standards-21st-century/

Community Transform CIO Westwood 44 Westwood Green, Cookham, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 9DE Telephone: [phone] Mobile: [phone] Email address: [e-mail]

COMMUNITY TRANSFORM CIO Charity Number.. 1186368 The Charity was incorporated on 15 November 2019 and its activties started on 21 February 2020 RECEIPTS and PAYMENTS ACCOUNT 15 November 2019 to 31 March 2021 RECEIPTS Contributions received towards communtiy events Buckinghamshire Council Global Feedback Locality The Rothschild Foundation 20,128.03 2,100.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 32,228.03 Bank Interest 7.47 32,235.50 PAYMENTS Bank Charges 2.00 2.00 SURPLUS OF RECEIPTS 32,233.50 BALANCE SHEET At 31 March 2021 Bank Balance 32,233.50 Unrestricted Fund General Designated - Co-ordinator's fund 3,120.20 29,113.30 32,233.50 Note Liabiity insurance was paid by the associate organisation Community Transform (2017) Limited Signed Dr DC Furze- Trustee Nicolas Singeisen - Trustee •Fe Date

COMMUNITYTRANSFORM Registeredchority Number.. 1186368 Independent Examiner's Rèport to the Trustees of CommunityTransfomi I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Community Transform Ithe Trust) for the period ended 31 March 2021. Responsibilities and basts of report As the charity trustees of the Trust. you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Art 20111'the Act'l. I report in respect of my èxamination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 01 the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 14515llbl of the Act. Independent examiner's statement I have completed rny examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the èxamination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect.. l accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Art,. or 2 the a¢¢ounts do not accord with those records- or 3 the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of account5 Set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2CM)8 olher than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair view. which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to whi¢h attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Name: R BRIDGEN. FCA Address.. 18 CRENDON StREEf. HIGH WYCOMBE HP13 6LS Dote 8 February 2023