New appointments take pride in their work

Alison Vaughan & Lea Fothergill

The Pride Partnership (our Local Strategic Partnership or LSP) was formed five years ago to bring together key groups to consider issues that really matter to local people, such as the environment, crime, housing, education and health. It is open to anyone with an interest in the Borough, whether they live or work here. The Partnership Board, together with Rochdale Council, has recently made two crucial appointments, which aim to provide a better service to the local people it represents.

The two new staff, Lea Fothergill and Alison Vaughan, will work within the Council’s Regeneration and Renewal team, managed by Abdul Hamied.  Their appointments are being positively welcomed by all those involved in regeneration and look set to make a big difference to the way external funding is used within local communities.

Lea’s role, as Pride Partnership Co-ordinator, will be to manage all LSP activity, bringing together key partners and helping ensure that any funding distributed has a measurable impact, both on the community strategy and against other regeneration targets.  Lea, who has several years’ experience in the regeneration arena, is enthusiastic about her new role.

“It isn’t the first time I have worked in Rochdale”, she said, “I used to work with the Council’s Committee Services and it does feel like I am coming home.

“The first few weeks have been spent getting out and meeting people and listening to what LSP Board members think are the most important priorities for my job.

“I am keen to build a performance management culture within the LSP. Another key task is to help it meet Government standards as a funding provider. 

“I have lots of fresh ideas and hope to bring new ways of working to build on what is already in place,” added Lea.

Alison Vaughan, the Neighbourhood Renewal Resources Co-ordinator, will be helping ensure grants from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund and the Safer Stronger Communities Fund are fairly distributed across the borough. 

At the last Board meeting, the LSP agreed to distribute £15M over two years, which will be spent locally in the areas of greatest need.  Alison will work with seven diverse Partnerships to monitor how this money is allocated during the commissioning process and make sure that projects have the right skills to make the best use of any grant they receive. The six groups are:

• Children, Schools and Families
• Community Empowerment Network
• Community Safety Partnership
• Economic Partnership
• Environmental Partnership
• Health Partnership
• Rochdale Housing Initiative.

The money will be used in a range of ways aimed at improving people’s quality of life. It will be used to make in-roads on topical issues, such as reducing teenage pregnancy rates, alongside more traditional concerns like improving education provision and reducing crime.

Alison, whose recent credentials include success with the acclaimed Urban 2 Community Initiative in Burnley, lives in Bury and, like Lea, has three children. 

She explained, “I will be looking closely to make sure that the projects we commission offer value for money and are sustainable.  My job will then be to inform the Partnership as to whether projects are meeting their targets or not and how we are progressing in meeting our aims to improve education, health, employment, and safety of residents within the Borough.  Although, we have only been working together for just over a month, our roles overlap and we are lucky in that we know each other well, both having been colleagues at Burnley Council. 

“This new pot of funding means fresh opportunities across the borough and I am delighted to be involved at the start, knowing that my work will really make a difference to people’s lives.”