CRCW – Alison Dalton

The Building Bridges Project is based at The Church at the Centre, the name adopted by Tonge Moor United Reformed Church in 2006. Since 2007 (initially under the leadership of CRCW Pat Oliver) the partners in the project, the church and organisations within the neighbourhood sought to foster mutual respect and support between generations and to help develop the Centre into a hub for the community. Pat Oliver was called to Avenue St Andrews, Southampton in December 2013. 

Alison Dalton, our current CRCW, was inducted to the project in May 2015 just in time to celebrate with the church, Children Centre staff and many others for the 10th anniversary of the church's new arrangement, being based at Tonge Children's centre. During this time, we have continued to review and adapt our aims to reflect the changing needs to our community. Our current aims taking us up to 2020 are:

• To foster mutual respect, trust, support and kindness between generations, faith and cultures
• Aimed at countering alienation in younger people and fear in older people or those of other cultures or faiths
• Special focus on developing community events, to celebrate the diversity of Tonge Moor
• To help to develop the Centre into a hub for the community
• By promoting/developing community support projects e.g. Generation Re-United
• Developing volunteering opportunities
• By working with other groups, to support community activities, addressing needs in the area e.g. Fusion, the Big Local Partnership, the UCAN Centre
• Making best use of limited resources
• Avoiding duplication/competition between partners
• That 2020 everyone in the local community will feel that Church at The Centre is a resource available to them.

We also began our project to help raise awareness of hate crime, as the demographics within Tonge Moor are changing. This has led to a successful poster competition with our local schools, a well-attended community celebration, to explore and value of all that we bring from our cultures and have fun together, a powerful drama developed by some local children aged 11-12 years and more. We have continued to work with and support local community groups such as our Big Local Partnership. Alison is the current vice Chair.

You can read the Building Bridges review for the entire 14 years, here. The review evaluates the projects' aims, challenges, successes and the legacy for the Tonge Moor community.