This website has been established to help support the "third" sector play its role in community development in the Saxmundham district. Nationally, the third sector is fluid, large and diverse. Organisations range from local self-help groups with little or no budget, often representing marginalised individuals, to large multi-purpose community action centres with multi-million pound turnovers. At this end of the scale, community based social enterprises often own or manage assets, which are used to support a wide range of community activities and can provide services and generate wealth for the area.It is the community itself taking action to get things done, although much of its activity is informal and often invisible…. Its activities can range from nurseries and play groups to community centres and village halls, from tenants' associations and environmental groups, from arts and sports groups to credit unions, and from self-help groups to scout groups.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead (16 December 1901 - 15 November 1978) American cultural anthropologist.

Valuing People

 This website resource supports local residents:

•  having their rights as citizens;

•  being included in their local communities;

•  having choice in daily life;

•  having real chances to be independent

Valuing Communities

This website aims to help improve the quality of life for individuals, families, friends and neighbours in the Saxmundham community by:

•  Identifying local voluntary and community services and resources (skills, knowledge and ideas) and help them to address many local needs and wants.

•  enabling all sections of the community to become aware of, and understand, each other so that they can come together to promote projects of long-term benefit.

•  encouraging local people to take a fresh look at their own area and develop new and innovative solutions to local needs and wants.

•  Supporting the building of partnerships and providing access to a range of specialist support.

More specifically this will mean supporting the development of:

a Community Culture of Entrepreneurship - supporting the development of new ideas and ways of working

Community Facilitation - to encourage the widest possible participation of local people to improve the quality of life in their community.

Voluntary Sector Development - provide ongoing support to targeted voluntary and community organisations, which might include support with establishing and constituting a group, project and policy development, strategic planning and signposting to other sources of support.

Youth Support and Participation - support and encourage young people living in a rural community to develop the skills and confidence to participate in community action.

Encouraging a Community Sense of Place - support to communities to research their local area, its history, heritage and culture and to develop projects to celebrate the local distinctiveness.

Community Business Support - encourage and support the creation of community and social economy businesses.

Technical Support - signposting to other specialist support services.

Strong and prosperous communities - The Local Government White Paper

The aim of this White Paper is to give local people and local communities more influence and power to improve their lives. It is about creating strong, prosperous communities and delivering better public services through a rebalancing of the relationship between central government,
local government and local people.

Some of the proposala are quite radical:

* The potential transfer of under-used local government assets to communities
* The "Community Call for Action" to challenge councils
* Greater support and encouragement for tenant management organisations
* Quality standards for local third community and voluntary organisations
* The stress on greater involvement to a high stadard of local community and voluntary organisations in Local Strategic Partnerships

Saxmundham telephone charge groups

Telephone numbers beginning with 01728 belong to the Saxmundham charge group.

The following numbers are local calls to and from this charge group:
01379 01394 01449 01473 01502 01986

The following numbers are regional calls to and from this charge group:
01206 01255 01284 01359 01493 01508 01603 01787 01953

All other calls are national calls.

This website is sponsored by PASTEL.