Norfolk Community Foundation

We’ve working with Norfolk Community Foundation through the UK Government Know Your Neighbourhood Fund to renovate community spaces over 18 months in Great Yarmouth, all with the aim of increasing volunteering and tackling isolation in the community. Projects benefitting sports or physical activity are match-funded by Sport England. See a round-up of community projects we’ve completed below.

This programme builds on our work in Norfolk since 2022, thanks to support from the likes of the UK Community Renewal Fund, Orbit Housing and Norwich Community Infrastructure Levy (NCIL), having refurbished 29 community spaces across the county, including grassroots sports clubs like Norwich Lads Boxing Club, Holt Youth Project and transforming the newly reopened Gorleston Community Hub, enabling over 250 volunteering experiences for young people in the county.

Norfolk and Suffolk Islamic Mission

Our first project saw us work with the Norfolk and Suffolk Islamic Mission, a local charity based at the Masjid-At Tauweed – the first mosque built in Great Yarmouth and the surrounding areas over 20 years ago. We’ve modernised the kitchen area and redecorated rooms in their community space, to make it a more welcoming space for those coming to pray, to be with others and take part in community activities. They told us: “All of our short term aims have been fulfilled which would not have been possible before.”

More on this project here

“I am constantly talking to anyone who will listen about what a fabulous win-win opportunity this is. I was so lucky to have had an introduction to your organisation – I hope the committee are able to make full use of the new kitchen areas and decoration work.”

Dr Sarah Flindall, Clinical Lead Mental Health and Social Prescribing, Great Yarmouth and Northern Villages

Rabbit Hutch, Caister

The venue is a vibrant hub for a number of groups, several football teams including walking football, cricket, bowls, with a good cafe on site to serve the groups and the local residents. We’ve helped to continue their growth and financial stability, by redecorating four changing areas to enhance the user experience, with a more welcoming environment to invite more people to play sport.

“The work carried out has improved our offering in terms of facilities for the community. More and more groups of people are now using the facility, we’ve had new groups start up and lots of enquiries to use the venue which is now becoming full most of the time.

I can’t thank VIY enough for what they have done for our community, it has really put Caister on the map. I had a visit from a community nurse on Friday and she couldn’t believe the set up we have and it summed up how far we’ve come.”

Rabbit Hutch, Caister

St George’s Theatre

“We were in need of walls being plastered and walls being painted, and VIY made it possible for us to continue.” This great venue is a community hub, a theatre and arts centre. It’s a youth and adults drama hub, as well as offering a warm hub for the community, community choir and men’s wellbeing space. We helped to improve the environment by decorating various spaces within this fantastic Grade 1 listed building, with the hope to improve the environment for current users, increase audiences and groups hiring the space, to ensure they’re reaching out to as much of the community as possible, to bring art and culture to all.

Community Spoon, Caister

Another valued community hub where various groups meet including football teams, parents and toddlers, as well as providing meals for the elderly, here we’ve given their external facia a refresh, to spruce up the space to make it as inviting as it can be to serve the community. Following their VIY project, they told us: “The facility we offer now is fantastic – VIY have improved our offering in the community. When more of the community is involved, the good word spreads which is what is happening.”

Spartan’s Boxing Gym

The venue is a boxing gym with a big social stance, serving a very deprived area of Great Yarmouth. They provide free lessons for those who need them, and to anyone who has been bullied. They’d like to be able to to attract more members to the club, especially local females, so we’ve improved their changing spaces to make them more welcoming to new faces/females, including redecorating, adding seating, storage and a club logo mural outside, to instil pride in all members, new and existing.

Peggotty Road Community Centre

A community centre looking at ways to maintain their legacy and keep the centre at the heart of community life, growing new membership and impact on the community. We removed and fitted a new kitchen (which was previously 25 years old), to allow them to better serve their community and create new vital new income streams, as well as painting two large halls to bring them back to life for their new chapter.

Shrublands

Shrublands is a valuable community hub providing numerous services and activities for the community, including a food bank, walking football, badminton, gardening and support for young carers – a well loved and used meeting place for a number of groups. We’ve redecorated the space to make it a more welcoming, calm space to improve the wellbeing of those using the space for various reasons, and to encourage more to do so.

Feather Futures

This is a safe space for women. Here we’ve redecorated rooms and created more storage space to help them be better organised and ensure the team are maximising the time they can spend helping the women who seek their support.

John Grant School

This is a brilliant special needs school. Here over 15 of their own students have taken ownership and co-designed this project to improve their own environment internally and externally, by redecorating one of their break out spaces and and constructing planters for their external space. All with the support of our Trade Mentors and gaining practical hands-on skills in decorating and carpentry themselves. This project was also supported with funding from the Norfolk Careers Hub.