Engaging Communities: South West Peak

Engaging Communities

Project summary

Engaging Communities focuses on engaging all people who love the South West Peak; those who live or work in the area or folks who are just visiting. The project aims to leave a long lasting legacy in the South West Peak by building a sense of ownership and encouraging practical community involvement. To achieve this project staff are raising awareness of the aims of the South West Peak Landscape Partnership, promoting volunteering opportunities and also promoting a community grant scheme to community groups, parish councils, schools and churches. These groups can be both inside and outside the South West Peak area.

The South West Peak Landscape Partnership provides small grants of between £500 to £10,000 for eligible projects that address one or more of our project objectives. The scheme funds up to 50% of the total project costs and groups need to be able to provide match funding (from other fundraising and in-kind contributions) for their projects. Project staff provide support for communities to design and implement community projects and also to apply for funding, both from the Partnership and from other funding organisations as well.

Recipients of community grants are decided by a Community Grants Panel. This panel is composed of volunteers who are knowledgeable about the area and who are interested in contributing to the aims of the project.

If you are interested in applying for a Community Grant or are interested in volunteering on one of the Community Grant Panels you can contact the South West Peak team at: SWP@peakdistrict.gov.uk

Our wonderful colleagues Ruth Wilson and Sally Bentley have recently moved on to new pastures and the whole team would like to thank them for all their hard work. We are sure they will do great things in the future and we wish them well!

Check out these new videos produced with support from the Community Grants Scheme and the National Lottery Heritage Fund:

Filming the history and folktales of the South West Peak: This project was developed by Peak in the Past. This is the first film about some of the shorter tales with fabulous views of the South West Peak landscape.

Nature based integration: This is a project developed by Asha (who work to promote social inclusion for asylum seekers and refugees). This short film shows how much the participants enjoyed the project.

Contacting community groups, parish councils, schools and churches to raise awareness about the aims of the Partnership and supporting them to develop and implement community projects.
Providing training for community groups about the grant application process and how to apply for funds from other providers so they can continue to apply for and manage grants long after the end of the project.
Helping people gain skills and knowledge about the landscape through volunteering opportunities and the implementation of community projects.
Supporting the development of new relationships between communities and encouraging people from outside the South West Peak who don’t currently have a connection to learn more about the area and enjoy the benefits it offers.
Helping people to understand and appreciate the landscape of the South West Peak and building a greater sense of ownership.