The IAG consists of residents, council, schools, churches, the Trussell Trust, the police – any group that works with or is concerned with Bemerton Heath.

Anything that is an issue for Bemerton is an issue for us – from speeding and dog-fowling to anti-social behaviour and proposed housing developments.

We try to link people and projects and make sure we are all working together to keep Bemerton the Beautiful place it is to live and work.

We are currently working on some projects initiated by the Young Foundation, also an updated Ward Plan, and the next Bemerton Heath Fun Day.

Any comments, helpful suggestions, or members of the group who would like to add a page or blog, then please get in touch!

The Young Foundation’s final report for the work in Wiltshire has now been published. The “Building Resilient Communities” report can be read by clicking here.

We are now handing the website over to the community to run, and so will no longer have any involvement with the content of this. However if you are interested please do check our website from time to time to follow more of our community-based work in the future.

Many thanks to everyone who participated and gave us support in the project over the course of Summer 2010.  



At the final Taskforce meeting in October the group took ownership of the two community projects they had been working on during the meetings, details of these are below:

Intergenerational Projects

The project: To create, through a number of small projects, spaces which enable younger and older members of the estate to mix in a fun and informal environment. It will allow people to mix with others they wouldn’t normally meet or associate with. The project will reduce barriers and humanize different sections of the community, specifically older people and young people in Bemerton Heath. An example includes matching school-aged and older members of the community to work together on a creative project such as a beading course.

The aim: The project aims to strengthen community ties across Bemerton Heath – addressing the issue of community parenting. Older residents will be matched with younger people on the estate, possibly those who could benefit from having another adult to get to know, or simply someone else to talk to and share experiences with. The aims of the project are to share skills (primarily) and experience of parenting (secondary) in non threatening environments. This will link residents across different generations, whilst providing young people with an adult who will listen to them and share their experiences. Together the group will develop and share skills.

For more details contact: Debbie Rock at Sarum Academy 01722 323431 or Rev. Simon Woodley at St. Michael’s Church on 01722 333750   

Youth Ownership of a BMX Track

The project: This project will be a youth led project. Young people will be involved from the outset and will be offered ownership and responsibility for maintaining a BMX track. Young people will be involved at each stage of the project including the fundraising, designing and physical building of the track. The idea is that appropriate use and maintenance of the track can then be rewarded with additional materials, either for the track or to develop their own ‘space’.

The aim: This project aims to tackle the underlying  issue of Anti-Social Behaviour in the area of Bemerton Heath. Through involving young people from the start there is the aim of creating a shared sense of ownership of a ‘space’ for young people, who will be responsible for maintaining the track. The track will provide young people, especially older teenagers, with additional activities and a space of their own whilst increasing their level of community engagement.

For more details contact: Ed Callaghan or Stan Spreadbury at The Neighbourhood Centre on 01722 349271 / 01722 416885

We’d like to wish the Bemerton Heath Neighbourhood Centre a Very Happy 10th Birthday!

Also would like to take this opportunity to thank the Neighbourhood Centre for all the support they’ve given us throughout the course of the project – in providing a base, giving full commitment to the Taskforce and ongoing projects, and for numerous lifts to the train station (thanks Ed!)

We wish you every success in the future!

Watch this space for an update on the Community Projects emerging from the final Taskforce meeting…

Are you a young person living on the Heath?

If so we want to hear from you!

Click on the link below to complete our survey – we want to hear your views about what you want for young people in your area!

The second Community Taskforce was spent coming up with ideas in which the community could tackle the priority issues identified in Taskforce No. 1 – Anti-Social Behaviour & Community Parenting. After generating dozens of potential ideas these were narrowed down to a top two:

1. Inter-generational Projects – Looking at a number of small projects such as beading, or gardening to encourage different generations in the Heath to mix more.
2. Youth ownership of a BMX track - Offering the community ownership of projects in return for their involvement, for example the building of a local BMX track.

The group tasked us to go away and research these ideas – speaking to as many people as possible who could offer advice or potentially get involved in some way with the projects… If we have missed you and you would be interested in getting involved in some way with either of these ideas then please get in touch, we would love to hear from you!

We’re now looking forward to sharing our findings with the Community Taskforce on Tuesday 5th October at the ‘Big Folly’ site of the Little Folly Children’s Centre between 5 and 7 pm. Please do come along if you’re interested – the more the merrier!

Aside from Taskforce activities we have been busy working with service providers, mapping out people’s ‘journeys’ as they access services and thinking about how things could be done differently. We have also been spending days with families in Bemerton Heath – looking at services from their point of view to better understand the situations people are facing.

Last Tuesday saw our first Community Taskforce meeting.

Through meeting people over the past few months we gathered a willing and enthusiastic group of local residents and people working on the Heath to join us for the first Community Taskforce meeting.

The group came together for the first time to get to know one another, and to discuss and debate the issues arising from our research so far, over coffee and cake. We had some great discussions which raised really interesting points about the community.

Together they have chosen two main issues for the Taskforce to focus on for the project, these are:

1. Anti-Social Behaviour
2. Community Parenting

We felt the evening was a great success and thank you to all who came along or contributed in other ways. We are very enthusiastic for our next meeting where we will be exploring the different ways these issues could be tackled in Bemerton Heath.

Between now and then the group has tasked us (The Young Foundation) to go away and search out some innovative ways in which these issues are being tackled around the country (or further afield!) to serve as inspiration!

As ever, please do get in touch if you have any questions or would like to get involved with the Taskforce.

Your comments…

“some times it more complex [than] that”

“to support, yes – but to encourage families to make the right choices “

“Extended families should support problematic families”

“If I felt it was my place”

Please note this doesn’t represent the views of the Young Foundation

…We just want to stimulate conversation and debate

We painted over 60 children’s faces (and a few ‘technically’ adults’) and by 3pm the field was covered in butterflies, tigers, pirates, little soldiers, flowers, lions, angels and beauty queens.

Thank-you so much to everyone who came by our stall. It was fantastic to chat to the parents who kindly filled out our surveys. The fete demonstrated the strength of community feeling in Bemerton Heath and we would like to thank and congratulate all who helped out.

We look forward to seeing you all again soon. We have our first Community Taskforce meeting on the 24^th of August – email us if you would like more information!

We are really looking forward to coming down to the Bemerton Heath Family Fun Day this Saturday (7th August). Nina, Anna, Lucia and Sophie are going to be doing a free face-painting stall for all Bemerton Heath’s children (and adults if you are tempted!).

It is going to be a great opportunity for us to get an even better feel for your area, and to get to know some of you residents. Please pop by to have a chat with us about your feelings about the estate and community, or if you have a spair five minutes wander over and fill in our community survey. We will also be keeping our eyes out for possible community taskforce members.

Looking forward to seeing you all on Saturday!

Event details:

7 August 13:00-17:00

Salisbury High School Sports Field Westwood Road, Bemerton Heath Salisbury SP2 9HS

Contact: 01722 416885