New year is a time of resolutions, fresh starts and good intentions. Why not begin 2019 with a visit to a community website with a host of opportunities for you to get involved in doing something good locally?
You can find the Do Something Good website at dosomethinggood.org.uk – it champions local, grassroots projects, helping to connect local people with groups working hard to make their bit of the borough a better place to live.
HELP WILDLIFE, NEIGHBOURS, SCHOOLS
Do Something Good hosts information on the many ways that people can get involved and help their local area, even if they do not have time to make a regular commitment.
It provides community groups with a way to find volunteers, or to pull support together for a local project; and it helps residents to find opportunities to get involved.
There is such a wide variety of options. You could do anything from helping to monitor wildlife in our parks to becoming a school governor.
In fact, even more simply, you can sign up to help elderly neighbours living near you who just need some extra help from time to time – a cup of tea, a cooked meal or help with fixing something.
Recently, there was an appeal for people to help brighten up an area of Perivale Park by getting involved in planting 4,000 spring bulbs. And local Parkrun events at the weekends often ask for volunteers.
There are so many possibilities.
OASIS SUCCESS
One project that came to fruition with the help of Do Something Good was the maintenance of a square of formerly disused land in Arden Road, Ealing. Residents came together to radically improve it, with the support of the council’s ward forums and local businesses. You can see photos of it above, and read more about the project at dosomethinggood.org.uk/arden-road-oasis
TEAM-UP TO TRANSFORM
Do Something Good also includes details of the council’s Transform Your Space scheme, where groups of residents can team-up together to request a slice of council funding to help realise their plans for community projects.
The fourth round of Transform Your Space will open early 2019.
Go to dosomethinggood.org.uk to take a look at and see what you could do in 2019
