34 people attended a Weaving Trust event at Jubilee Wood Primary School.  While their children joined a football tournament organised by Galaciticos FC, parents and others from the Fishermead community enjoyed eight short one-to-one conversations with guests including Citizens:mk members and representatives from Fishermead Residents Association and Thames Valley Police.

Head teacher Tony Berwick said:  “This event was a very important first step in building an alliance across Fishermead committed to raising the profile of this amazing community and our school will help in any way we can.”

Before the Weaving Trust circle of conversations, there were speeches in favour of community cohesion:  Tony Berwick, Headteacher; Sophia Kibirige and Fidele Mutwarisibo, Citizens:mk; PCSO Zoe Genova and PCSO Paul Colbourn of Thames Valley Police; Terry Baines of Fishermead Residents Association; and two pupils from Jubilee Wood School Council spoke to the group

“Fishermead is my home,” said a Year 4 pupil (pictured below with a fellow Councillor), “and I like living here.”
In the plenary after the Weaving Trust circle, many people commented positively on  the diversity and growing community cohesion in Fishermead.

Participants were then asked to write down their priority issue for action, as shown below.  These issues will be discussed by the School Council and two prioritised for taking to the Citizens:mk Leaders Forum.

Issues raised

• Raise awareness about mental health especially among young people
• Concrete, boring, uninspiring, urban
• Post office missed
• Deliberate damage to cars
• Stop public drinking
• Give parents more parenting tools to help their children – mental and emotional support
• More activities in Fishermead and whole MK
• I like to see more interaction within the community
• Create more opportunities for community to interact with each other to promote cohesion
• More meetings and more events for family
• How to reach new residents on estates in MK inc Fishermead – community engagement
• Getting wider sector together like Eastern Europeans to get a better mix of community
• Create a platform to spread the good work that is being done in Fishermead
• Create community platform for exchange of ideas
• Community cohesion
• Rubbish is always a problem.  Encourage each resident to keep own frontage clean
• Rubbish dump outside of the house
• Litter and recycling
• Litter.  Stop littering
• Litter.  Improve first impressions
• More teenage activities so we could meet more people and teenagers won’t be bored
• Engage teenagers in after school activities
• Community youth groups
• Put up more equipment for older students
• Provide activities for young people to do after school
• Clear redways
• Trim redways
• Community clean up redway, pirate park
• Issue with pirate park.  Some people find it unsafe
• Need for greater safety at night at the pirate park
• Lighting on redways is missing
• We would like the community gates to the corner flats made more secure, preventing groups from congregating in the stairwells
• Pavements.  I have fallen over before.
• Level paths so children don’t trip up.