Neighbourhood Support Services

B-inspired is a network which works through Neighbourhood Support Teams, to look after our community and address everyday issues. We work to organise, help and support local initiatives, aiming to provide real benefits for all our residents – Together we are stronger.

W

e currently lead on a number of local and citywide initiatives, working with and within the community to develop support services and to create and promote events aimed at enriching the lives of local residents. Our initiatives range from our Befriending Service and the Foodshare scheme, through to the already flourishing Community Businesses and our outreach activities, through the Neighbourhood Action Group.

Foodshare

The Foodshare Scheme aims to cut food poverty on the Braunstone estate and is open to anyone within the LE3 1 postcode area. It is a membership based Foodbank scheme which provides food provision for people in need.

Befriending Scheme

In 2014, after identifying a local need around loneliness and isolation amongst the older population of the Braunstone community, we set up the Braunstone Befriending Service. The service has developed over the course of the last few years and has recently expanded and includes ‘Get Connected- Stay Well’.

The Befriending Service, which is for people living in Braunstone in the LE3 1 area, has the following projects:

Talk Time

An over 55s social group that takes place within the community. This is a friendly group of people who come together, to participate in a range of activities and enjoy a positive social experience. We run two groups each week :

Tuesdays, 10am – 12pm, Sandyhurst Supported Living, Hockley Farm Road

Thursdays, 10.30am – 12.30pm, St Peters Church, Woodshawe Rise

Men’s Group

This is a group for men in the LE3 1 postcode area, who area aged over 40. The Men’s Group meets throughout the week, but the main session is:

Tuesday 11am to 1pm at Preloved@45, 45 Wellinger Way, Braunstone, LE3 1RG

At home befriending

People who are housebound, or do not leave their house often, are paired with a suitable volunteer who will visit the person in their home once a week or telephone weekly. Volunteers go out into the community and create a positive relationship with an elderly person; helping them to feel more positive and become more involved in their community.

Braunstone Alert

The Braunstone Alert is a community newsletter produced every two months. Each edition of the Alert usually includes a variety of local updates and photographs, as well as positive local stories.

Volunteering

Many of the projects we run create the opportunity to volunteer. There are a range of community engagement events and activities that you can get involved with as a volunteer. These include helping out with our Foodshare scheme, becoming a volunteer within the Befriending Service and helping to produce and distribute the Braunstone Alert.

Volunteering is a great way to build your confidence, by meeting new people and getting to know the local community. It also gives you the opportunity to build on your existing skills or learn new ones. In return for your help, we’ll offer a choice of short courses, that will help you to build your confidence and gain valuable skills and experience.

Check out the Braunstone Alert and our various social media pages, to find up to date and relevant information and updates on all of these projects.

All of these services are available to Braunstone residents, living in the LE3 1 area. If you or someone you know requires support, please get in touch with our Neighbourhood Support Team at Gallards Hill on 01162795020 or email info@b-inspired.org.uk.

We also run the following services :

Neighbourhood Management Board

The Board is made up of local key service providers e.g. Housing, Parks, Health and the Police and residents who represent the wider Residents Network Committee.

Residents Network

The Resident’s Network aims to provide community services such as fundraising, event support and often acts as a listening ear in the community.

Our Achievements

The Neighbourhood Support Team have been building lasting and trustworthy relationships with the Braunstone Community since 2000.

With a persistent investment in community work, B-Inspired have a unique understanding of the complex needs within this diverse community. We offer a variety of projects and services, which aim to meet each of these needs.

Project: Community Volunteer Qualification

Volunteers are an essential component of many of the services that B-inspired provides. We try to support our volunteers as best we can, by delivering continuous training and development opportunities.

We have developed a range of introductory and higher-level courses that help volunteers gain the skills and qualifications needed to support all aspects of our project work, along with providing people with work experience and certificates that can help in getting back into work or further training.

We’ve supported over 160 adults with qualifications in Food Hygiene, Health & Safety and First Aid, with many developing a record of their work skills to be included in the ASDAN volunteering qualification.  The B-inspired team has also helped with information on how to gain certificates for Maths and English and can show you how to get started in using a computer and the internet, along with developing a CV and looking for work.

Continuing to survive and strive for success, during the Covid-19 pandemic

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, we had to adapt our way of working considerably, so that we could deliver a vital service to the community, in the safest way possible. We are very proud of what we achieved during this challenging period and wanted to share some of this with you.

Our Neighbourhood Support Base remained open, even at the most critical parts of the pandemic. We were able to continue to deliver the majority of our services, albeit in a different way.

Many of the measures that we put in place during the pandemic continue to be a part of the service we provide today. We put these measures in place as a response to the evolving challenges within our community and they continue to be relevant to the service that we provide going forward. We have now begun to operate again on a face-to-face basis, with little-to-no restrictions in place, so that we can provide the best service possible.

Braunstone Foodshare

We continued to deliver our Foodshare service throughout the pandemic. However, this took on a different form to the service we traditionally provide. We were able to continue to provide emergency and regular food parcels to residents in the LE3 1 area, by adapting our service to the ever-evolving situation.

When the pandemic started in March 2020, we were forced to close the doors of our Neighbourhood Support Base to the general public. At this point we begun to operate on a reduced delivery service, with a volunteer driver delivering food parcels to those most in need.

By September 2021, we were able to open our doors again, but with measures in place to make the process as safe as possible for our staff, volunteers and Foodshare users. At this point, we started to run Foodshare on an appointment-only basis, with the delivery service still available to our most vulnerable shielding members.

Braunstone Befriending Service

We were unable to deliver our Talk Time sessions and Volunteer Befriending Service, during the pandemic. However, we still reached out to isolated members of our community, at a time when they needed it most. We offered and delivered the following services:

  • Welfare telephone chats for elderly people in their homes.
  • Activity Packs for residents involved in the Befriending scheme; including a range of craft activities and puzzles.
  • Developed our Mens Group – The group begun meeting in May 2021 (when restrictions allowed), despite the challenging circumstances.

Volunteering

 Volunteers were a critical part of our response during the pandemic. To support them we:

  • Continued to provide our existing volunteers with training, some of which took place online.
  • Made use of volunteer delivery drivers, who helped us to get food out to those who most needed it, including shielding members.

Braunstone Alert Magazine

We continued to produce the Braunstone Alert throughout the pandemic. In March 2020, the Alert begun to take the form of an online magazine. By May 2021, we were able to resume our usual service, with in-paper editions of the Alert being produced once again.