Celebrating and supporting Gamesley’s community.

Two weeks ago, I held one of my regular coffee mornings at the Twig cafe at Gamesley Community Centre.

As always, it was great to chat to residents about their concerns and the issues their community is facing. I’m working hard to improve bus services, which are still too infrequent and unreliable, and, like many local people, I’d love to see Gamesley have the station residents were first promised back in the late 1960s.

I’m confident that, working together, we can achieve great things in Gamesley. And the thing that gives me hope is the Gamesley Community Centre itself and the fantastic volunteers – led by Helen Thornhill and her team – who have truly achieved wonders there in such a short space of time.

Before I was elected, I worked closely with Helen and local people to save the Community Centre when Derbyshire County Council tried to close it down. It is now great to see that with ownership transferred from the county council, the centre is now a community asset – run by, owned by, and serving the needs of, the local community.

It is great to see the impact that has had, with local people creating an inspirational project in their heart of their community.

It now includes the Heating Project social club for elderly people; exercise and boxing classes; a toddlers’ group set up by a local mum – and the Twig cafe. Crucially, thanks to the help of The Bureau, it’s also now developed into a health and wellbeing hub, with mental health support, twice-monthly visits from NHS health visitors and nurses, a regular NHS sexual health clinic, a smoking cessation service, and a screening programme.

But this is just the start. Last autumn, I visited the centre to meet with Derbyshire FA, the Football Foundation and Gamesley FC to discuss the need for future investment in new changing facilities and a 3G pitch to replace the current damaged astro turf. It’s a long process, but the community centre has launched a fundraising campaign, which was featured on BBC Breakfast in February, and we’re looking into the various grants that might be available. This investment isn’t just important for Gamesley – it will benefit people from across Glossopdale.

We have also been able to secure nearly £200,000 of investment in the community from Labour East Midlands mayor Claire Ward to develop the wellbeing and health hub and secure its long-term future. The money comes Claire’s new £3m Community Development Fund which is designed to invest in, and empower, local communities. This is another example of the change and improvement that Labour listening and investing is bringing about.

Gamesley shows what grassroots community work looks like. Real people, real impact, no nonsense and no excuses, and I’m excited to see what we can work together on next.

I’ll be back in Gamesley again soon – not least to get my regular chips and curry sauce from the legendary Chippy!