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Background
 
Big local is a national 10-year programme funded by the National Lottery and its aim is to achieve lasting change in 150 areas in England. It enables local people to enable and act on their own needs to make their areas a better place to live, now and in the future.

To do this
Gaunless Gateway made the decision that everyone who lives,works, volunteers or studies in our Big Local Partnership Area will automatically be a member of the 'full' partnership.  We now call our Partnership Board our 'Partnership Decision Making Group' which works within the Local Trust guidance of being a group of at least eight people who guide the overall direction of Big Local in our area. We also agreed that 60% of our Decision Makers would be people who live within our Big Local area. We are responsible for agreeing a shared vision, creating our Big Local plan, overseeing its delivery, collecting evidence to show how the plan is progressing, and reviewing the plan and Decision Making Group to make sure everything is working in the best way possible.  
 
We believe the partnership is a way for people locally to get involved and contribute to decisions about how their area can be improved and as decision makers we are committed to ensure we operate in an open and collaborative manner with our partners.  To do this we have employed a Community Development Lead who engages with local individuals and groups to support their development and hear their ideas.  We also have a Partnership Support Assistant /Volunteer Broker to ensure that local people can get involved with local developments gaining skills and more say in what is happening in their communities.  We think this also makes us easier to be contacted by local people.
 
We also believe in supporting local developments such as social enterprises and community groups, so we give out grants and want to hear from people who have great ideas for our area and want to make a difference.  Of course we do not have ALL the answers but we do have some good ideas which we check out with our partnership members.  We will also take advice from organisations who have more knowledge than us and we attend learning events provided by the Local Trust both regionally and nationally.
 
We are NOT your representatives (that is the job of the local councillors) but we are people like you who live in and care about our area – this makes us Representative OF our Big Local Partnership Area and so that it is a genuinely local, resident and volunteer-led programme. 
 
We do not have a magic wand but by working with local people and local organisations, by having decisions made by local people, we think we are making our area stronger by using local skills and developing new skills.  Everything that Gaunless Gateway Big Local does is aimed at and measured against the 4 Big Local Outcomes.
 
  • Communities will be better able to identify local needs and act in response to them.
  • People will have increased skills and confidence, so they will continue to identify and respond to the needs in the future.
  • The community will make a difference to the needs it prioritises.
  • People will feel that their area is an even better place to live
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Meet the Gaunless Gateway Big Local Partnership decision making group members who are representative of:

Cockton Hill Henknowle
  • Grace Jayne
  • Pauline Hunt​
  • Current vacancy

Woodhouse Close/ Tindale Crescent
​St. Helen Auckland
West Auckland
You can hear their reasons for getting involved by clicking on their names​
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If you're interested in becoming a representative of one of the areas where there's a vacancy then please complete the Decision Making Member Application below​ and return via email to [email protected]
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Or post Gaunless Gateway Partnership c/o Auckland Youth and Community Centre, Walker Drive. Woodhouse Close Bishop Auckland, DL14 6QL

How to get in touch

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​You can chat with Barbara on 01388 776688