Welcome to Darnall Forum's Community Website

Tuesday, 13 October 2015

Darnall's Meadowhall Heart

The Darnall Heart at Meadowhall until 23 October

During
the Twenty-fifth anniversary celebrations at Meadowhall there is a display of hearts depicting different aspects of life in Sheffield, including neighbouring communities like Darnall. The Darnall heart is pictured with, left to right, Sylvia and Neil Hamilton from the Friends of High Hazels Park, Darren Pearce the Chief Executive of Meadowhall, Mothiur Rahman, Chair of Darnall Forum, and other executives from Meadowhall and British Land. You can see our heart opposite Next, where it will be until 23 October. It was designed by artist Laura Hallett.

As well as sponsoring the heart, British Land sponsors Darnall Carnival and Darnall Forum as part of its community outreach work.

Monday, 12 October 2015

Interruption of Service at Darnall Post Office

We apologise for the temporary closures that have affected the branch last Wednesday, Friday and today. This has happened because of a telephone fault that developed on Wednesday morning, which has affected our IT system. BT Openreach and Post Office Ltd are aware and are trying to rectify the fault.

New Food Bank Appeal in Darnall

List of foods that we need

In 2013-14 food banks fed 913,138 people nationwide. Of those helped, 330,205 were children. Rising food and fuel prices, static incomes, under-employment and changes to benefits are some of the reasons why increasing numbers of people are being referred to food banks for emergency help.

Darnall Forum and Sheffield Muslim Community Forum are working alongside local residents to launch the S9 Food Bank Appeal. Please pledge your support.

Gifts of food will be collected on our behalf by Living Waters, who work with the Burngreave Food Bank and the Trussell Trust to provide a local food bank service in Darnall.

Thank you to the Darnall Ward councillors who have already pledged their support towards the S9 Foodbank appeal. They will be involved in the planning and organising of the appeal. Please see a list of foods we urgently require.

Contact Zahira for further information.

Sunday, 11 October 2015

Litter Picking in Attercliffe

Volunteers litter picking in Attercliffe

Thanks to our brilliant volunteer Reema and her boys, and Darnall Forum Vice-Chair Nahid Karim, who did a litter pick yesterday on Bodmin Street, Britnall Street and Worksop Road in Attercliffe.

If you would like to do a litter pick on your street, we can lend you the litter pickers, gloves and sacks. Please contact our community organiser, Zahira Naz, for more information on how to organise a litter pick on your street.

Thursday, 8 October 2015

Adult Community Learning In Darnall Is Now Under Threat

The government is planning to save money by making further cuts to its budget for adult community learning. This could mean the end of IT, ESOL and other classes in Darnall.

Already, besides our post office, adult community learning is the most popular service we provide. We regularly have a waiting list for our courses and some learners have to wait for a whole year before they can join the class they want to attend.

The latest cuts, which would see money switched from adult community learning to apprenticeships, will mean fewer classes and even longer waiting lists. It is possible that the service could be closed down completely.

Why not ask your councillors and your MP, Clive Betts, to complain to the government about these cuts? Why not write to the Prime Minister, telling him that without locally based community learning you and your family won't have the skills you need to play a full part as citizens of Sheffield and the UK?

Our Next Community Litter Pick

Litter awaiting collection outside Darnall Post Office after our last community litter pick

Our next community litter pick will be on Thursday 12 November at 10am.

Litter Picking with Amey in Darnall Today

Zahira Naz getting stuck into the litter in Darnall

Our community organiser, Zahira Naz, getting stuck into the litter

Thank you to everyone who helped out during the Community Litter Pick today. We litter picked on Main Road, Greenland Road, Staniforth Road, Senior Road and in the Station Road car park. A group of walkers took litter picks and litter picked at High Hazels Park. And a group of ladies said they will litter pick on Saturday around the Attercliffe area.

Amey helped us with the litter pick

Thank you to Amey for supporting us and picking up the rubbish afterwards. Next community Litter Pick 12th November at 10am meeting at Darnall Forum.

You can read more about the litter pick on East Sheffield Insider's blog.

How to join in

1) Follow us on Twitter @darnallforum
2) To post a comment, click on the link beneath the post or previous comment to which you want to respond and write your message in the box.
3) Complete the word recognition box, which is designed to stop spam.
4) Then, if you have one, you can enter your Google username and password.
5) Alternatively, you can click 'other' and enter your real name, or a nickname which you would like us to display, or you can click 'anonymous'.
6) Then click 'Publish'. Your message will be sent to us for checking.
7) We will know who you are but, if you have used a nickname or chosen to be anonymous, no one else will know.

How our community team can help

Chris, Nazia and Zahira are the friendly voices on the end of the phone line when you call us and the people who deal with your visits, letters and emails.

They work closely with community groups and individuals who want to make a difference to Darnall. Chris is our Lead Key Support Worker, helping people who are over 18 and currently out of work, to find jobs, education or training through Sheffield CIty Council's Pathway to Success programme.

Zahira is currently covering Nazia's learning Champion role and is the person to contact regarding our education programme.

We also have a team of adult community learning tutors who work closely with us. They help us run courses in IT, ESOL, employment skills, driving theory and other subjects.

If you want help with something which isn't listed here, and you live in Attercliffe, Darnall or Acres Hill, why not give us a ring anyway and we'll try to signpost you to the right place.

More about us

Darnall Forum’s day to day business is managed by a Board of local volunteers. Its vision statement is:

To create a listening space for the community, and
To work in partnership with other agencies and organisations to improve local services and help regenerate Darnall.

The Forum has four part-time staff who with local people to implement a Community Action Plan that was drawn-up after extensive consultation with all sections of the local community. The members of the Forum Board are drawn from the different faith and ethnic groups represented in the area and are elected by the members of the Forum at its AGM.

Darnall Forum is currently funded by Sheffield City Council, the European Social Fund and a small number of charitable trusts.

Darnall Forum also trades under the names D F Enterprise and Darnall Forum Trading, which reopened the community post office in 2010 and ran it for nearly eight years.

The Main Aims of Darnall Forum are:

To create a forum where people can meet to raise issues of local concern, where the agenda is set by local people and where leadership and direction remain with local people.

To work together as women, men, young people, elders, black, white, disabled or able-bodies, of different faiths or none, recognising, respecting and valuing our differences.

To form links with key agencies and local enterprises in order to work in partnership with them, discuss their role in the area and – where necessary – challenge them.

To gather resources to support and deliver initiatives begun and supported by local people.

To ensure that there is a clear and agreed process by which the Forum makes and acts upon its decisions, and to ensure that the Forum Board is accountable to the membership.

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