About Blacklands
We began working alongside the community of Blacklands in November 2016 and has involved:
Knowledge
Research and understanding the history of the community.
Connections
Connecting with local spaces, places, services, and people.
New activities
Supporting development of chair based exercise group, parent and toddler group, and a participatory budgeting process led by the community.
Convening
Convening a group of people to form a Systems Changers group examining local systems and how to bring about change to benefit local people.
Community Map
In this interactive map, you can explore the area of Blacklands and some of the areas important to the commmunity.
Nethermains Community Centre
Almswall Park
Blacklands Primary School
Kilwinning Library
Blacklands Community Hub
What’s been happening?
Blacklands
Annual Update 2022 Snapshot
Chair Based Exercise
The group moved from Blacklands Community Hub to Kilwinning Library due to restrictions, providing exercise and social time. They enjoy the company and chat, and thank the co-ordinator for bringing them together.
Parent and Toddler Group – Nethermains Community Centre
The group has increased to full capacity with 30 children and parents/grandparents/carers working together to provide safe and fun play, supported by the Community Co-ordinator.
System Changers
The nine months of learning sessions gave Systems Changers participants the chance to connect, form relationships, and develop their voices. Members of the group embarked on a journey to assess what is crucial, what is/is not working in local systems, and to examine the stigma associated with using food pantries.
Blacklands Community Kitty
Blacklands Community Kitty has continued on longer than anticipated, this has been mainly due to lockdowns and restrictions on communities coming together. This resulted in a shift in how some grants were used and new opportunities for the community.
TRACS: People’s Parish
After meeting several people and talking to them about the local history, Blacklands was identified as an ideal location for a history tale to be shared (read more on page 4 of the latest annual update).
Working alongside the community and in partnership with other organisations we will continue to support Blacklands with new ideas, to fulfil current projects and offer support to allow sustainable community activity.
Get involved
Community Co-ordinator: Louise Shaw
What we’re planning
We hope to develop the Systems Changers group to include more participants. This includes developing and delivering training to welcome new participants to the group. Some of the current activity groups will be developed to become community-led and sustainable. We will continue to work with local partners on a deeper level within the Systems Changers group and support ideas and projects to bring about local Systems Change.