One Palfrey Big Local

Arfan Zaman

Programme Delivery Officer - One Palfrey Big Local

Arfan’s role is to support the resident led partnership in its aim to make Palfrey a great place to live work and visit.

Arfan joined One Walsall in January 2020. He supports, empowers and equips residents with the knowledge and expertise to create and achieve their vision for Palfrey which will enable them to spend the 1 million pound funding. By providing support, advice and appropriately challenging the partnership he encourages real action. As the Programme Delivery Officer, he is responsible for administering the community chest and larger grants process as well as working with residents, partner agencies and volunteers.

Arfan is the main contact for One Palfrey Big Local.

The role involves upskilling residents and giving them the support and confidence to achieve their own personal dreams and their desire for change in Palfrey which is very rewarding.

Big Local is truly a unique initiative the puts residents in the driving seat. Arfan’s aim is to build on the passion and strength of the residents to create lasting change beyond Big Local.

So far it has been inspiring to see what residents can achieve when given the right support.

We serve a small area of Palfrey:

To achieve OPBL’s vision, residents chose four priorities that are based on the changes they most want to see.

These are:

A cleaner and safer Palfrey neighbourhood
Healthier residents with a sense of community & wellbeing
Better access to jobs, training and lifelong learning
Improved community activities and services for all

“We complement local services not compete with them”

One Palfrey Big Local was awarded its fund in December 2012 in wave 3. It is one of 150 communities in England that were given at least 1 million pounds to make a difference to their communities. Big Local is funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and managed by Local Trust.

“We focus on solutions not problems”

We provide and support:

Community activities for all ages
Half term & summer community activities/playscheme
Community Chest and larger grants funding
‘Palfrey Pound’ Business network
Social enterprise support and grants
Free learning, training and networking opportunities
iMatter Walsall and other resident led action initiatives
Open days and fun days
Volunteering opportunities
Connecting professionals, residents and communities
Referring and signposting residents

3 Way Partnership to deliver Big Local.

It is a resident led programme supported by a Local Trusted Organisations and a Big Local Rep.

The One Palfrey Big Local resident led partnership guides the overall direction of Big Local and makes decisions about how the Big Local funding will be used. The Partnership consists of 12 residents who live in the OPBL area. There is an application process to join the partnership and this can be completed before the AGM. Big Local requires the partnership to be at a minimum 51% resident led but the OPBL decided it wanted to be 100% resident led. Partners are invited as guests on a need basis.

The Locally Trusted Organisation (LTO) is the organisation is chosen by the Big Local partnership to administer and account for the distribution of your funding, and/or deliver activities or services on behalf of the Big Local partnership. Through a competitive tendering process OPBL chose One Walsall as the LTO. One Walsall started its contract with OPBL in January 2020.

The Big Local Rep is a support role provided by Local Trust to support the implementation of the Big Local plan. They are there as a critical friend, to provide information, advice, guidance and constructive challenge. Reps are also representatives of Local Trust and act as their “eyes, ears and voice”. This means that they share updates with the partnerships, supporting us to adhere to Big Local guidelines. Our Rep is Margaret Jackson.

To learn more about the national programme watch the video ‘Big Local in 100 seconds’ below

The national Big Local outcomes set at the outset were deliberately broad:

Communities will be better able to identify local needs and take action in response to them.
People will have increased skills and confidence, so that they continue to identify and respond to needs in the future.
The community will make a difference to the needs it prioritises.
People will feel that their area is an even better place to live.

One Palfrey Big Local Unlocking Social Entrepreneurial Talent in Palfrey.

Through our funding we have created a partnership with UnLtd to unlock the talent of Palfrey residents. Find out more about the social enterprise grants, training and support on offer. Visit https://www.unltd.org.uk/