A number of people have been asking for a brief explanation on what One Norbiton is all about, so four of us have written the short account below. Please use the forum to add your comments or queries.
WHAT IS ONE NORBITON?
Ed Naylor, Jill Preston, David Ryder-Mills and Mike D’Souza
One Norbiton is a volunteer-run organisation that has been in existence for more than five years. It was set up by RBK and the Cabinet, with a single central grant from the DCLG. It is part of the Localism/ Big Society initiative that has cross-party support.
When the project first started, we identified through consultation with Norbiton residents several of their key concerns and these are listed in our Governing Documents as our Aims. We also have set up a Limited Company to help with our organisation and governance and to enable us to tackle any tasks that require a bank account. Our overriding aim is to promote mutual support and wellbeing within our community.
Therefore, we are in the process of creating an internet café/Hub, using some of our original One Norbiton funding, to provide local groups and agencies a central place to work together and share experiences. We are already running several projects which directly benefit the local community and address local concerns such as the Street Drinkers’ Outreach, Surrey Save Credit Union, Foodbank and benefit checks and advice.
Within this refurbished Hub we intend to establish a private office with internet access, where police can engage and interact with our local community. This facility has been requested by our local residents in every survey undertaken over many years. We feel that it will enable the Police to provide crime prevention advice directly into one of Kingston’s hotspots for drugs, anti-social behaviour and domestic violence; which are the three highest reported crimes in Norbiton.
We now have a Community Working Group of volunteers from all parts of the ward and run an eDemocracy forum of over 150 members to facilitate contributions from all who live, work or study in Norbiton.
