BLOG: A week in the life of a Community Connector with Georgia Snape

Hi, I'm Georgia and I am the Community Connector for Edlington. My host organisation is Edlington Community Organisation (ECO) and my role is to engage the community to move more and become more active. This can be through setting up local groups, letting people know what activities are currently available and having discussions with residents to find out what is needed here in Edlington to improve physical fitness and wellbeing.

I started walking regularly around May time this year, at least once a week to build my fitness up and tried to increase the distance each week. Since doing this I've noticed I can walk further without aching the next day, my fitness has improved and when I do get out and about, I feel much better. Having that time to myself is quite relaxing. I also like walking my dogs and playing a game of badminton, although admittedly, I haven't played for a while!

I run a Walk 'n' Talk Saturdays fortnightly so this week I have been preparing for the next walk by doing a Recce, a risk assessment, designing a poster and then advertising the walks on social media. In Edlington we have quite a few greenspaces so there's quite a range of different local walks available. Especially with the trans-pennine trail nearby. The latest walk has been from Edlington to Conisborough Viaduct.

Since starting my role in April I've been building up community links with different groups and organisations in Edlington. This week I had the opportunity to introduce myself to the team at Growing Together CIC. They're an education centre delivering post 16 SEND provision with a focus on agriculture, farm work, horticulture and gardening. They also provide different community sessions and have a farm shop and café. We've discussed different ideas such as linking in my Walk 'n' Talk sessions with they're community café.
Throughout the year I've put on different events with the help of community groups and volunteers such as the Improve your groove sports day in the summer and a Bat Walk activity in September.

This week I also attended a community connector meeting. This is where different connectors from around Doncaster come together to share what we have been up to in our communities, share ideas and talk about different ways we help people become more active. This week's focus was on funding and how we use it to provide different opportunities and activities.

As previously mentioned, the Santa Dash will be taking place on the 17th December at Martinwells lake Edlington, we'll have the initial dash followed by a relay race and then we'll be finishing off with a family barbecue! More details on the poster attached below (under the contact details section).

I'm also organising a trip to Potteric Carr nature reserve for early next year so families and residents can take part in their Winter wonderland nature trail. The trail is buggy and wheelchair friendly so it provides a more inclusive experience.

If you'd like to get in touch with any of the organisations mentioned their details can be found here:

Edlington Community Organisation
Email: Edlingtoneco@gmail.com
Tel: 01709 252549

Growing together CIC
Email: info@growingtogetheruk.co.uk
Tel: 07984 249658

My details
Email: Communityconnectoreco@gmail.com
FB page: ECOCommunityConnector