Very sadly, Filton People Community Group in its current form closed down at the end of March 2008 and was no longer able to offer services.

Do contact Filton Town Council, Southern Brooks Community Partnership or South Gloucestershire Council's area Community Engagement Officer for help in the areas Filton People used to cover.

The present and the future - our current work, projects and plans

Filton People is currently service-commissioned by South Gloucestershire Council’s Community Development Unit to provide community development help in Filton. Our commissioned work includes development work with local groups, supporting new and existing local groups and initiatives, putting on community events, producing twice-yearly newsletters, and developing an information base. Other work we are involved in includes running the Filton Contact the Elderly Group for elderly housebound people, and continuing to support initiatives to improve facilities for families, children and young people. We also work hard to maintain the viability of our own group and strengthen it for the future.

Development work with local Groups

The primary focus of our commissioned work for 2005 - 2008 is to help the development of local groups. In order to get a clear picture of their needs, in 2005 we commissioned a survey of 29 Filton groups. The results were published in our Report, 'Filton groups - yesterday, today & tomorrow' , which show what a vibrant source of services and activities they represent. The Report covers groups’ structures, services, histories, and current concerns and developmental needs. It also covers groups’ contributions to, and concerns with, local community health and community safety.

Since the Report was produced, we have tackled a number of the groups’ concerns through:

• A newsletter sent to the 40-plus local groups we have listed.
• Monthly advice drop-in sessions (currently discontinued).
• The publication of ‘A list of Professional and other help available to local groups’, covering subjects such as fundraising, monitoring and evaluation, marketing and advertising, training, ICT, law, governance.
• The publication of a ‘Short Grants Guide’, a useful guide to small- to medium-size grants available for local groups.

Support work with groups, initiatives & events

Filton People is commissioned to help support new and existing groups and initiatives, such as the following:

• Filton Families:  
  A forum of local people and organisations working to improve facilities for Filton children of all ages and their families. It includes young people and their families, and representatives from the local authority South Gloucestershire Council, Filton Town Council, youth services and local youth centres, health services, police, churches and others; with help and advice from specialist clubs. It is currently facilitated by Filton People and meets about every six weeks. The group provides a valuable forum for sharing practical and technical expertise and giving support to members providing a wide variety of services, including health and social care, youth and play workers.

Filton Community Lunches: Twice yearly lunches hosted by St Andrew’s Methodist Church, and regularly attended by representatives from local voluntary groups, Filton Town and South Gloucestershire Councils, education, churches, businesses, police and more. Healthy Filton: A statutory/voluntary sector partnership encouraging healthy lifestyles in Filton. This includes organising classes for parents and for older people covering healthy eating and exercise.  Filton Youth Group: A partnership of statutory and voluntary groups and individuals, concerned with improving facilities for young people and tackling issues of concern.

Events: We are also commissioned to host one-off community events, such as groups’ consultation days and publicity events. One important forthcoming event we are promoting is:

• Filton Aviation Centenary celebration: The British and Colonail Aeroplane Company was formed in Filton by Sir George White in 1910. This means that people in Fitlon have the opportunity to have a big centenary celebration in 2010. We are encouraging local groups to come up with ideas, such as specially commissioned music performances.
• Conygre Festival:   In September 2007, Filton People organised its biggest community event to date - a very successful family festival held at Filton Hill Primary School. The result of 6 months hard work, the event attracted nearly 350 local people. There were activities for people of all ages (mostly free!), including bouncy castle, BBQ, circus skills, crafts, puppets, Aussie rules football, beauty therapies, bicycle maintenance and streetdance.
  More fun and learning was provided by the Play Rangers, Sports Development and Filton Library. There was useful information on Healthy Eating,  Filton College, Community Learning and the Primary Care Trust (concentrating on men’s health), and displays by local groups.
  Enhancing the Healthy Eating theme, the Friends of Filton Hill ran a cafe serving tasty healthy snacks suitable for children’s lunchboxes, specially cooked by Filton W.I., with accompanying recipes to take away.
  South Gloucestershire Council representatives ran a consultation on proposed improvements to the Canberra Grove play area.
  With good weather and loads to do, people had a great time and hoped for another festival next year!

Filton People Newsletter

Filton People is commissioned to continue to produce and distribute our popular ‘Filton People’ twice-yearly Newsletter to local residents, as we have since 1996. The Newsletter contains a wealth of useful and interesting articles relevant to local people. Click here to see examples.

Filton Contact the Elderly Group

We run a volunteer-based group (part of a national charity) which takes elderly housebound people living alone out for a monthly tea. The group helps elderly isolated people in Filton, Patchway & Stoke Gifford who have difficulty getting out of their home. Our volunteer car drivers pick up their guests and take them to a volunteer host's home where the whole group meets together for tea and socialising. Each month we visit a different venue, from local homes to a Bristol hotel and a farm!

If you would like to volunteer as a driver, helper or host/ess, we would love to hear from you. If you know of an elderly friend, relative or neighbour in Filton, Patchway or Stoke Gifford who lives alone, rarely has visitors and has difficulty getting out, please let us know.

Information Centre

Filton People is commissioned to develop information gathering and information giving to the local community, through person-to-person, hard-copy and electronic means. These include newsletters, information booklets, drop-ins, research and reports, consultation events, e-mail and website.

Developing Filton People

We continue to develop and strengthen our own organisation. We do this by recruiting new committee members and other volunteers (using as many search areas as possible, including online), training existing members and staff in a variety of areas, recruiting extra administrative support, and working with other voluntary sector infrastructure organisations to improve our stability and capacity.