About us

In the heart of Eastbourne, East Sussex, Devonshire West is about half of the Devonshire ward. It runs from Beamsley Road to Terminus Road along the seafront, back as far as the railway line and under the curve of Whitley Road.

Big Local, run by Local Trust, is working with the Big Lottery Fund to help people to make massive, lasting and positive differences in their own communities. Devonshire West is one of 150 areas around England that have been allocated £1m over a ten year period to make their area an even better place to live.

Big Local has four key aims:

Devonshire West, like all the other areas, will progress through a seven stage Big Local Pathway over the duration of the project.

Residents are at the heart of the process: through a series of consultation events, all the suggestions have been collected from local people.

Originally, the project was managed by an Interim Planning Group made up of community volunteers and representatives from a few key organisations. It is now managed by an elected Board, with significant support from a wide range of local people.

There is a requirement that residents are in the majority on the Devonshire West Big Local Board, and this is the body that is responsible for implementing how the £1m will be spent.

The group has always adopted an open approach to their work and welcome more volunteers. If you are interested in getting involved, please get in touch.

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What it is NOT…

At the start of 2013, it was the Local Trust rep, Jim Boot, wandering the streets talking to people. A gradually snowballing group formed a “partnership” that began organising the consultation process. By the end of that year, a “Board” was elected, with responsibility for collating all the data and formalising the paperwork. They are continually supported by members of the community, from spreading the word to coming up with ideas and running events.

During the first period of the project, the Devonshire West Big Local team commissioned a film to give a flavour of the area and the ideas that people had. Community Stuff produced this beautiful 10 minute film – this was included in the submission to the Local Trust.

Enjoy…

 

Here at Devonshire West Big Local we have a number of documents which support and influence our work.

Some of these key documents are;

Our Area Profile, which contains information on the many demographics living and working within Devonshire West and can be found here. The Area Profile is an older document and we now use the more current Local Insight Report provided to us by Big Local, which can be found here. The Local Insight Report is a key document which we recommend potential grant applicants view as it contains detailed information about local demographics and issues.

Information gathered from resident consultations are also regularly used by Devonshire West Big Local, we strive to make sure that the work we do always reflects the wishes of our residents and so we undertake regular consultation activities, from large scale meetings to smaller, more informal, conversations. In 2012 Devonshire West Big Local asked residents to take part in a huge consultation effort which provided us with data to start our work, the results of that First Resident Consultation can be found here. We have also undertaken more recent consultations including a number of small Focus Groups, the data from those meetings can be found here. 

Devonshire West Big Local also have a number of policies and procedure that we ensure we always adhere to, these include a Code of Conduct and policies regarding Conflict of Interest, Data Protection and Confidential Information, Health & Safety, Safeguarding, Equal Opportunities, Diversity and Incision, Anti-Bullying and Complaints. Should you wish to see a copy of any of these polocies you can request them by emailing Samantha.Wickens@3VA.org.uk.

The Local Trust website contains a number of documents and a great deal of information about the Big Local program. To find out more about Big Local and the Local Trust you can visit the Local Trust website here.