Kirklees Democracy

Want to be part of the climate conversation?

November 9, 2021December 9, 2021Kirklees Democracy

Fragile earth — Photo by Margot RICHARD on Unsplash

Climate Voices are a small group of local people helping anyone in Kirklees to get involved in shaping decisions and action on climate change. They are looking for local groups to get involved in one of two Climate Voices events in November. These events are part of the Global Assembly, which is an opportunity for communities all over the world to help make fair and effective action on climate change a reality. Can you help to facilitate a conversation with a group of people in your area?

Our planet is heating up, reaching dangerous levels. Polluted air, water and land impacts on every living thing. Political and business leaders are talking about climate change and campaigners are working hard to influence decisions.

So, how can you help shape decisions and action on climate change?

Monday 29th November, from 12.30pm to 3pm or

Tuesday 30th November, from 6.30pm to 8pm

These events are part of the Global Assembly (www.globalassembly.org) providing an opportunity for communities all over the world to help make fair and effective action on climate change a reality – in the Kirklees area and globally.

How it will work:

At each event, small groups will meet in community centres, schools, businesses, charitiesand homes across Kirklees to talk about climate change. Each group attends only one event.
The groups might be teams, clubs, committees, colleagues, friends or neighbours – it is up to you which group you choose. At least five people and not more than twelve in a group works best.
We hope groups from all parts of our diverse Kirklees community will take part – all ages, abilities, perspectives, cultures and faiths. Diverse perspectives can create innovative thinking and we know citizens assemblies can produce real solutions. Groups can develop their own action plans too.
The groups taking part across Kirklees will link into one big Zoom meeting for a few minutes during the event, so each group can hear from others. Technical help will be available.
All the notes and videos from the events will be presented to the Global Assembly and the Kirklees Climate Commission, so small groups voices become part of big decisions.
Training will be available for group facilitators who will help groups keep to time, to learn, listen respectfully and share their views and ideas.
Facilitators needed for both events – please email for more details.

Email: hello@climatevoices.org.uk to register and find out more

Climate Voices is a small group of local people working in partnership with:

Climate Voices events flyer, Nov 2021 (PDF)

Helping community buildings to recover

August 11, 2021September 14, 2021Kirklees Democracy

Image shows people and buildings, impression of building a community

Kirklees Council have provided almost £500k through the Community Buildings Recovery Grants scheme this summer, to support vital community buildings in local places across Kirklees.

Supporting local organisations

Community organisations are vital for our local economy and for people’s wellbeing – creating jobs, delivering services, connecting people in our neighbourhoods and providing activities that people and communities really value. We know this continues to be a difficult time for local organisations who were unable to open community buildings as usual for long periods of time.

The Community Buildings Recovery Grants were available for voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations who own or rent buildings in local places across Kirklees. They had either been legally required to close or had been significantly impacted by lockdowns and local restrictions.

What local organisations say about receiving a recovery grant

43 different local organisations have received £470,000 in total from the Community Buildings Recovery Grants fund. Here’s what a few of the organisations have told us about the difference this funding is making:

“We at Outlane Methodist church are looking forward to resuming as many of our former activities in the community as we can and making plans for going ahead with new ideas. We do not expect it to be easy but the boost given to our finances by the generous grant we have received has made such a positive difference to our situation.”

Mary Mercer, Outlane Methodist Church

“The pandemic had a devastating effect on our fundraising efforts and our income. This grant will help plug the gap in our finances so that we can resume the full services that we provide to our members and volunteers as soon as we can. As we are a base for other community groups and rent rooms to other organisations, the funding will also be of benefit to the wider community.“

Deborah Hall, Howlands (Dewsbury and District League of Friendship)

“Receiving funding from the Community Buildings Recovery grant is so helpful. After a very difficult 16 months for the charity, this funding will hasten our ability to recover, allowing us to sustain our work and services for local people in need of support. Kirklees Council have been supportive throughout the pandemic and we’re grateful to them for the information sharing, advice, ongoing support and now this funding to aid our recovery.”

John McKernaghan,The Brunswick Centre

“The pandemic had cut our income to zero, and the theatre was on the verge of closing for good. The community buildings recovery grant has changed this by giving us a much needed cash boost. Now the Show will go on!”

Bob Newton, Southgate Theatre, Honley

“OASIS values and appreciates this contribution towards the survival and reshaping of our services within our Resource Centre.”

Denzil Nurse, OASIS Care Support Services

“As we’re reliant on community groups that hire our community centre, we have had to put off work that would have greatly impacted the people who we serve through the community centre positively. The grant awarded to us by Kirklees Council will allow us to develop the community centre further, with the additional benefits that a modern, safe, accessible community centre will bring to the communities around Cleckheaton Methodist Church.’

Revd. Ray Borrett, Minister for Cleckheaton Methodist Church

Thank you from Kirklees Council

Cllr Cathy Scott, Deputy Leader of Kirklees Council & Cabinet Member for Housing and Democracy, would like to thank local organisations for supporting people’s wellbeing:

“Community organisations are incredibly important for people’s wellbeing. We wanted to make sure that community buildings can continue to be safe places for people to get together and enjoy activities as part of our recovery from Covid-19. The Community Buildings Recovery Grants have clearly mattered to the local organisations who are so fundamental for keeping people connected and safe. We’ll continue to work proudly alongside these dedicated and inspiring groups in our local places.”

Looking for advice or support?

Community organisations looking for support and advice can contact the council’s team via thirdsector@kirklees.gov.uk or visit the Third Sector Leaders Kirklees website at www.tslkirklees.org.uk

Growing Great Places – summer workshops 2021

June 22, 2021Kirklees Democracy

Got a great idea to help people recover, reconnect and thrive? The Growing Great Places community crowdfunding programme can help you to get your idea off the ground. Successful projects could also receive a pledge of up to £5,000 from Kirklees Council.

Got an idea that will help people’s health and wellbeing in your local place? Want to reconnect people to grow friendships and tackle loneliness? Setting up new activities to support young people? If you’ve got a great idea for helping your community build back better, Growing Great Places can help you generate support from residents, businesses and Kirklees Council to make it happen.

Online workshops – June and July 2021

Spacehive and Kirklees Council are running free workshops where you can get advice and support. We’ll be on hand to answer your questions and to share advice about running a successful crowdfunding campaign. Our online sessions include different breakout rooms where you can get the support that’s right for you. So whether you’re almost ready to get started with your project, or just working on some ideas, we can help.

The deadline to have your project ready to crowdfund is 22nd September 2021. Come along to one of our workshops to get all the support you need to get your project ready in time.

Register to take part

This is a great opportunity to further develop the spirit of community you’ve already done so much to grow.

Growing Great Places

Funding for citizens and organisations during Covid-19

A time to say thank you: Kirklees Volunteers Week 2021

June 1, 2021June 2, 2021Kirklees Democracy

Volunteers Week 2021

Volunteers’ Week is a national event that takes place from 1st to 7th June every year. It’s a time to recognise and say thank you to volunteers who do a great job in our local communities. Over the last year even more people than ever – from all walks of life and in all our local places – have gone out of their way to help their neighbours, support each other and make a huge difference.

The coronavirus pandemic has rightly raised the profile of volunteering. More people than ever are now aware of the immense contribution that volunteers make every single day.

That is why this #VolunteersWeekKirklees is a special time to say thank you.

Be inspired

A Year Like No Other: Pandemic Volunteering Stories

Third Sector Leaders Kirklees and Kirklees Museums & Galleries are marking the role volunteers have played locally in supporting people during the Covid-19 pandemic. They’ve created an online photographic exhibition to share the stories of some of the local people who’ve volunteered and helped out during the pandemic. The stories will eventually become part of Kirklees Council’s Museums & Galleries collection.

View the online exhibition

Get involved

Kirklees Virtual Volunteers’ Fair: 8th to 10th June 2021

This Virtual Volunteers’ Fair is a chance for people to meet some of the local organisations who need help from volunteers. Different community organisations are taking part each day. It’s a great way for people to find out how to start their volunteering journey. You might want to share the link with your local networks:

Kirklees Virtual Volunteers’ Fair

Join in online

TSL Kirklees Volunteering will be sharing your inspirational stories on social media throughout the week – @TSLVolunteering (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).

You can follow, share and join in using the hashtags #VolunteersWeekKirklees #VKW21.

Thank you from Kirklees Council and TSL Kirklees

“We’re hugely grateful to all the Mutual Aid Groups, volunteers and local organisations across Kirklees who have been supporting others in our communities – especially for keeping each other safe in a year like no other. We’ve been blown away by the kindness and creativity shown by so many. We just want to make sure you know that, whether you’re an organiser or volunteer, we recognise your efforts and are very grateful for the time you give in support of your neighbours, friends and community. We are proud to work alongside such inspiring people and organisations.”

Cllr Cathy Scott and Cllr Paul Davies

Kirklees Council’s Cabinet leads for working with
people in the voluntary sector during the pandemic

Cleckheaton Town Hall lit up purple

In partnership with Third Sector Leaders, Kirklees Council are lighting up Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Batley and Cleckheaton Town Halls in purple on Tuesday 1st June 2021. to mark the start of Volunteer’s Week and to say thank you to local volunteers.

The TSL Kirklees Volunteering team have given small grants to organisations in Kirklees to use to thank their volunteers and have sent out 1,000 thank you cards.

Have you recently got involved in making a difference in your community?

March 18, 2021Kirklees Democracy

Online workshops, March & April 2021

We’ve been running workshops with local people to hear your stories and talk about how more people can come together to make local places better.

Lots of the people who have participated in our workshops so far have been doing all sorts of great things in their community for some time. Now, we’re particularly interested in hearing from more people who have only got involved quite recently, and who have a story about this to share.

Could you help us find someone, perhaps from the organisation or group you’re part of, who might also like to join in a pair of workshops? We’re looking for people who have only recently become involved in their community, who were perhaps not confident to begin with, or who didn’t know how much they had to offer until taking that first step.

These workshops for Kirklees citizens are an opportunity to meet with other local people to look to the future. It’s a bit of an experiment for us. But what we know for sure is that now, more than ever, we want to work with and alongside each other in our local places.

How to take part

Participants will take part in two workshop discussions. You can register now for the first session:

Monday 29th March, from 2pm to 4pm

The workshops will be online via Zoom video call. They will involve a mixture of activities and small group discussions. It’s a safe environment and everyone will have a chance to talk.

You’re welcome to join in if this sounds like the right thing for you, Or if you can think of anyone who might be interested, please share this link with them:

Register to take part

The workshops will be run by the Kirklees Democracy team. We’re working with an organisation called the New Citizenship Project, who are supporting this work.

Growing Great Places crowdfunding – spring drop-ins

February 11, 2021February 11, 2021Kirklees Democracy

The Growing Great Places community crowdfunding programme is back this Spring. Got a great idea to help your community recover, reconnect and thrive? Growing Great Places can help you to get your idea off the ground. Successful projects could also receive a pledge of up to £5,000 from Kirklees Council.

Springtime is about green shoots and sowing seeds, where new life grows and recovers after the cold winter months. In similar way we know that people in our local places are coming up with great new ideas to help their community recover and thrive.

Kirklees Council are now launching the Growing Great Places spring funding round to support groups anywhere in Kirklees who are aiming to start a project this summer.

Drop-in sessions – March 2021

Spacehive and Kirklees Council are running free drop-in sessions where you can get advice and support. We’ll be on hand to answer your questions and to share advice about running a successful crowdfunding campaign. Our online sessions include different breakout rooms where you can get the support that’s right for you. So whether you’re almost ready to get started with your project, or just working on some ideas, we can help.

The deadline to have your project ready to crowdfund is 21st April 2021. Come along to one of our drop-in sessions in March to get all the support you need to get your project ready in time.

Register to take part

This is a great opportunity to further develop the spirit of community you’ve already done so much to grow.

Growing Great Places

Funding for citizens and organisations during Covid-19

How can more people come together to make local places better?

January 26, 2021January 26, 2021Kirklees Democracy

Illustrations from our workshops

Online workshops, February 2021

We know that mutual aid groups and community organisations have made a huge difference in our local places over the past year. So we hope you’ll want to be part of these workshops about how we can help more people feel confident in their ability to make our local places even better.

Please come and share your experiences, listen to other people’s stories and make new connections.

You will take part in two workshop discussions. You can register now for one of these first sessions:

Tuesday 16th February, from 2pm to 4pm
Thursday 18th February, from 10am to 12 noon
Saturday 20th February, from 10am to 12 noon
Wednesday 24th February, from 5pm to 7pm
Friday 26th February, from 10am to 12 noon

We’ll arrange the second session with you later, at a time that’s suitable for you.

The workshops will be online via Zoom video call. They will involve a mixture of activities and small group discussions. It’s a safe environment and everyone will have a chance to talk. We hope you’ll want to join in.

Register to take part

The workshops will be run by the Kirklees Democracy team and an organisation called the New Citizenship Project, who are supporting this work.

If you’re part of mutual aid, you’re part of local democracy

October 9, 2020October 9, 2020Kirklees Democracy

Online event – Thursday 22nd October, 6pm to 7.30pm

Have you been involved in a mutual aid group or community organisation in your neighbourhood during covid-19? By being an active citizen in your local place you are part of your local democracy. You are making decisions about what happens in your neighbourhood and working with others to make it happen. This October we’re talking with active citizens about whether you feel part of local democracy now, and listening to your ideas about what would help you and others to stay involved in civic life.

You are every welcome to join in our online discussion workshop to share your experiences and ideas with other mutual aid participants and members of Kirklees Council’s Democracy Service.

Register to take part in our online discussion

This is part of a series of online events and covid-safe activities to celebrate Local Democracy Week 2020 in our local places. See our full programme to find out what else is on…

More local democracy events and activities in Kirklees

Pride in Linthwaite – a shared journey

August 3, 2020August 4, 2020Kirklees Democracy

In spring 2020, Kirklees Council more than doubled the funding that ward councillors have available to support local projects in their area. Through this extra £30,000 of funding per ward, councillors are able to support the groups, projects and volunteers who are such a vital part of the community response to Covid-19. We’re sharing some stories from different wards, so you can see how councillors are using these funds in our local places.

Pride in Linthwaite were able to quickly transform into a mutual aid group, providing support to vulnerable people in Linthwaite and Cowlersley, when the lockdown was announced. The group (who had formed two and a half years earlier) quickly adapted from their usual activities of litter picking, community fundraising and events.

Setting up and running something new isn’t easy. All the practicalities are challenges. It can also be a challenge convincing people of your group’s value to the local area. Pride in Linthwaite had seen a mixed response to their usual activities. Some people volunteered hands-on support with things like litter picks, some were supportive from a distance and attended events, but others were not sure why the group was needed. Experiences over the past few months have helped more people to see the value of Pride in Linthwaite.

We spoke to Liz Quinn, NHS nurse and one of the directors of Pride in Linthwaite. Liz told us about some of the group’s work, how people have worked together during lockdown and the new-found trust that has changed how some local people see the group.

“Pretty much the first thing we did was get a leaflet together with a helpline number and did a mass leaflet drop to households. We wanted to make sure people knew who to contact if they were in need. We also had people contacting us to volunteer as things quickly escalated.

“Volunteers were delivering food and collecting prescriptions, they were dog walking and supporting a befriending service.

“Small acts of kindness can be simply heart-warming. One lady who was self-isolating was panicking about being able to post birthday cards to her nieces. We arranged for her to leave them on her doorstep, collected and posted them. She had been so anxious about not being able to post them, and was so grateful that someone was there to help her do this.”

“We’ve recorded in total over 220 ‘volunteering acts’ but this is likely to be more, through things such as the befriending service. Once someone had made contact, they would then make their own arrangements for continuing that connection.”

Whilst it takes a lot of energy and commitment to create new ways of supporting people, sometimes a little bit of funding is needed too. The local Colne Valley ward councillors were on hand to support the group:

“Two of our local councillors, Cllr Rob Walker and Cllr Donna Bellamy, were able to provide some funding from their own budgets that they’d been given to support groups who are part of the community response to the coronavirus. This meant we could start making up food parcels for those people who were self-isolating. It was nice that they worked together for the good of the community and put any party politics to one side.

“We were so lucky to have the ward councillors on board and all those volunteers, but we also had support from Morrisons supermarket in Meltham, who were fantastic by donating food. Also the manager and staff of the local Premier shop were able to just help us get what we needed for a person in need, particularly if it was an emergency. They were just brilliant.”

Relationships and partnerships have been a key part of Pride in Linthwaite’s ability to respond so well to the needs of the community. Liz explained how relationships have developed over the last few months:

“Whilst we are looking to wrap-up the mutual aid group side of things, it has enabled us to gain the trust of more people locally and strengthen our partnerships.

“All the volunteers want to remain part of the WhatsApp group we have, so if there is any ever need to mobilise again, they will be there. The socially distanced litter pick we’re organising has already got more people signed up to help than we’ve had before. There is a good feeling about the group and I think a change in perception about Pride in Linthwaite.

“We were all thrown in at the deep end. I think the council support has been really good, especially when we started. Even though it was chaotic for everyone they provided information and guidance. It was a shared journey. Links with councillors and local businesses have been excellent.

“Feedback from the people we’re all helping – moving them from state of panic to relief – has been something every one of us has had a role in.”

Ward project budgets – your councillors can help

Learn more about councillors

St. Andrew’s Church Liversedge – our food box network

July 22, 2020August 3, 2020Kirklees Democracy

Volunteers at St Andrew's Methodist Church

In spring 2020, Kirklees Council more than doubled the funding that ward councillors have available to support local projects in their area. Through this extra £30,000 of funding per ward, councillors are able to support the groups, projects and volunteers who are such a vital part of the community response to Covid-19. We’re sharing some stories from different wards, so you can see how councillors are using these funds in our local places.

The relationships councillors have with people in their communities, and their local knowledge, continues to be an important part of helping citizens in our local places respond to Covid-19.

Like many local groups and organisations, volunteers from St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Liversedge realised that if they were going to set up a project to help their community, they were going to have to act fast to get it off the ground before lockdown happened. Their aim was to be ready to provide food boxes to vulnerable people across parts of North Kirklees.

Administered by Wesley Playhouse Ltd (as part of the Howden Clough Methodist Church in Birstall) the project quickly brought together representatives of other churches in North Kirklees, who together made a plan for the food box network.

Caroline Holt, one of the lead organisers, explained how the project came about and what they’ve achieved by working together with other partners. Funding from local councillors has been important in supporting their work.

“I was approached by a local ward councillor, Cllr Lisa Holmes. She has a really good knowledge of the communities and knew that through the network of churches something could happen. Churches covering the North Kirklees circuit quickly became part of the project.

“Getting funding to run a project under normal circumstances isn’t always easy. The bureaucracy involved can really hold things up. Cllr Holmes explained local ward councillors had been given extra funding so they could tackle issues more quickly. This allowed us to focus on getting the project up and running with minimal time wasted on form filling.

“We were keen to do things properly though, so made sure we consulted with parishioners on what they thought would be more useful to go in food boxes. From this we were able to work out the likely costs and let the councillors know how much funding we thought we’d need.

“We wrote a business plan to give ourselves some structure and an ability to demonstrate our approach. The councillors from Liversedge and Gomersal ward and Mirfield ward initially gave us £5,000 between them. They offered reassurance too though, that if the numbers of people requiring our help increased, they would support us with additional funding.

“The trust they showed in us to deliver a project like this was really important. We would have done something to support our communities anyway, but the time taken to do this would have been time lost when people really needed our help.”

As well as the benefit of having a good relationship with the councillors, Caroline also told us about the importance of managing the project properly and the support from other parts of the community.

“We knew it was important we reached the right people, so relied in part on referrals from the Covid-19 Community Response phone line set up by Kirklees Council. In this way, we knew the referrals we were getting were from people in need and were at a level of need we could definitely help with. We had so many people come forward to volunteer that we couldn’t even use all of them. This shows how brilliant the community response has been.

9E59F213-43F1-4A5E-BA12-D910D2FC8E4F — Mav Morse taking a request

“Some people gave up their time every day, such as Liz and Richard Sands, along with Mav Morse who manned the phone line. We’re also hugely grateful to Steve Dawson of Tesco and Wendy Clough of Morrisons supermarkets, whose local branches gave us donations of food, meaning the funding we did have could go a lot further. It probably doubled the length of the project.

“In all, throughout the lockdown, we’ve helped over 200 households and continue to help some. We’ll keep helping them until we know they’re no longer vulnerable, but will also encourage them to take back their independence as time goes by.

“The success of the project and the benefits to our communities shows why it’s good for groups to have a good relationship with your local councillors. The councillors took the initiative in approaching us, trusted that we could help and gave us the funding to deliver something much needed in our communities at the time.”