Our aim is to make Gleadless Valley a place that people are proud of.  A place people want to live in with a healthy community spirit, good schools, decent housing, thriving shops and well used green spaces. A place where local people can feel safe in their everyday lives.

The Forum is proud of its flexibility and of its place within the Gleadless Valley community.

The Forum and its staff respond to the needs of the community it represents.

To do this the Forum works hard to grow the capacity of the local community so that local people are able to overcome barriers to social and economic exclusion. The activities supported will empower the local community to take the lead in local regeneration themselves.

Project areas:

• Community Learning
• Children and Young People
• Older People's Services
• Community Engagement
• Volunteering
• Other Services

What is Gleadless Valley Community Forum?

It seems that, even though most people in Gleadless Valley know of the Forum, there is a lot if misinformation out there concerning what it does and so on.

Staff at the Forum have collected questions and queries from members of the public. Steve Rundell, the Forum Manager, tries to answer those questions:

Q. So the Forum is part of the Council, is that right?

A: No that’s not right.  The Forum is a completely independent charity.  No one at the Forum is employed by the Council.  We do get a little bit of money from the City Council and we work with them where possible, but that’s it.

Q: What does the Forum do?

A: We are what’s known as a regeneration charity.  That means the purpose of the Forum is to make Gleadless Valley a better place to live, work and play.  At the moment we do this by offering a range of services including youth work activity, adult education and skills, services for senior community members and a stop smoking service, plus lots more.

Q: Who tells you all what to do?  Who do you answer to?

A: We have a voluntary Board Of Directors that meets monthly and directs the work of the staff.  They are all members of the local community. We report back to the community through the Gleadless Valley News, public meetings and public events, all of which are advertised in the Gleadless Valley News.  So we answer to you.  It is your voice we listen to, the people of Gleadless Valley.

Q: If you’re not part of the Council, where do you get your money from?

A: Trying to get enough money in to run all the services that local people want is a constant struggle.  Each year we need around £300,000 to keep going: to pay the rent and bills, to pay for the tutors to run courses, to pay for all the activities we put on for young people, to pay wages and so on.  We get the money from wherever we can.  Some of it comes from private Trusts, some from donations, some from the Council as I said before, some from contract work we do and some money we generate by selling the services we provide to those that can pay.  This means that no one has much security in their work as we often don’t know if we will have enough money to pay salaries next year, or even next month.

Q: Don’t the staff at the Forum get fed up with the money situation?

A: Yes they do, but luckily we have a very dedicated group of people working here who are loyal and understanding.  Though they don’t like living with the threat of redundancy.  But I should say right now the money situation is stable, at least for the next few months.

Q: If I want to find out more, or come and be a volunteer what should I do?

A: Come in to 187 Blackstock Road.  We’ll be happy to chat over a cup of tea and we can show you what we are all up to.  Or come to one of our community Members’ Meetings where you can hear reports from staff and have your say.  The meetings are open to everyone in the Valley.