Tell Co-op how you would bring your local community together - chance to win a £300 voucher! NOW CLOSED

[EllieMumsnet]

Making a difference within our local community is something most of us would like do or are already a part of. To coincide with their push for more Member Pioneers Co-op would like to find out what you would do to bring your community together and how the Co-op might help.

Sarah MacKenzie from Co-op says: “At the Co-op, local communities are so important to us. In fact we're currently looking for Co-op Member Pioneers to help bring people together and make a real difference where they live. Member Pioneers are a network of individual members on the ground to make good things happen in communities across the UK. They do this by connecting and mobilising members, colleagues and local causes locally to do what matters most to them - arranging local meetings and events, encouraging volunteering and co-operation in their local community.

If anyone is interested in applying to be a Member Pioneer themselves, they can find out more here. We're always looking for ideas about events and initiatives the Co-op or our Member Pioneers could help with or organise and we'd love to hear what MNers think.”

So if you could do something to help bring your community together, and make it a better place to live and work, what would it be? Would you organise a big event? Set up a weekly coffee morning? Are you a keen fundraiser or a fan of a street party?

Whether you are already involved with your local community or just have some good ideas for things you’d like to do, share your thoughts below and you will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 voucher of your choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck

MNHQ

Standard insight T&Cs apply

I would like to see Co-Op running an initiative to place food, which would otherwise be thrown away, in an open access community fridge/bank outside their doors each night after closing. There are many people in need, but some are to embarrassed or intimidated to go to a food bank.

I think a better community space which provided for all ages, and encouraged the generations to mix together.

I would love to have a street party to get everyone mingling with one another. Lots of food and drinks and music to get the whole community together. Theres nothing worse than living around people who you dont socialise with, i feel its quite isolating.

regular street parties throughout the warmer months.....

I would like to set up a skills bank where people can exchange their time - eg. someone who needs help setting up a website for their gardening business can clear the garden of a disabled IT expert in exchange for their web skills, or a teacher in need of help with cleaning can tutor someone's child who is struggling with literacy. That sort of thing.

You could also gain credits with the bank for things like litter picking in the community or taking care of flower beds or hanging baskets for example that could then be cashed in.

Would take some organising and publicising but I think it could be a real success.

We need more places for the young and the older to gather together. We have a wonderful historic town hall that always gets enquiries to be used for events such as community plays / choirs / harvests etc- but the fees are so astronomical no-one can afford them, and then the events do not get put on.

The council should be aware of the positivity such events can do and how much it would bring the community together, but they do not want to assist.

I'd like to start an initiative where younger people in the area are assigned older people to visit at home and get to know. Definitely bridging the generational gap is something I'd love to see!

Our park seriously needs an upgrade, so I'd campaign for that.

I'd like our local park to be upgraded - at the moment there's only one place to sit and that's a real shame. The big town park has a few more benches but still not as many as I'd like there to be.

Maybe a community project to get the park back up to scratch? People could paint fences etc, or donate towards the cost of a bench, and then have a community picnic/village fete type event to keep things going.

I'd love to get our local park improved - I went to one in a nearby town recently and it had a really nice buzz - families of all ages, kids on the play equipment and outdoor gym equipment for adults. A really nice community feeling.

Would love to see ore community based charity projects

I would love to set up a friendship group for kids,especially for kids who struggle to make friends.
I know how isolating it is for my son who really struggles to fit in.

A park wins for me - somewhere where the older generation can gather and chat, somewhere where the younger generation can play and somewhere where mum's and dad's bring their kids to share memories.

I am not entirely sure how I would stop the graffti, the broken bottles or the swearing from all 3 generations though.......

Community based coffee mornings at our local SN school so that the kids get the chance to enjoy a social event and the locals realise how amazing these guys are.

I'd have a hobby meet up giving a chance for people to show & share what they enjoy doing share & teach if anyone was interested.
I'd teach painting, knitting & crocheting.

a nice coffee and cake morning

As a foster carer for many years and specialising in helping parent and child placements there is a huge gap in the lives of many that I believe can be filled within the community - I would love to promote 'adopt a grand-parent' programme. Young parents without family support would benefit so much from 'making friends' with and connecting with older members of the community who are often sadly alone and would treasure such relationships

Start a coffee morning in the community center, leaflet the area to get peoples input on how they should use the center, what kind of activities/classes they would like. I think getting your MP and community officer to regularly come to your community center helps a lot too as they can address concerns anyone in the community have and you get to meet new people at the meetings and bond. Incentives are a good thing, like free cakes if you came to the coffee mornings, or discounts on local businesses if you come to a community center activity/class.

i would have a little party to get to know other new mums in the area as I'm expecting my first baby in 4 weeks

A street party is a fantastic way to get everyone talking and getting to know each other. Sometimes local shops and pubs will help out with sponsering

Our community is lovely and has lots of children who all know each other. The younger ones don't get to see each other out of school much though so it would be nice to organise a community event for the kids... a tea party with punch and judy or the like =)

I would have a massive 'get together party' in a local community hall and invite everyone in the community young and old - I'm old enough to remember the street parties we used to have in our village green in the summer and for the Queen's silver jubilee ... recently one of our neighbours had a party for their 40th wedding anniversary and invited everyone in the community - and it was a great night and everyone commented how lovely it was to all get together

I already am involved in organising community events on my local allotment site, over the years I've arranged a variety of events, from a barbecue & quiz, to mini music festival, a bonfire party, to worm charming championships! The key things I aim for are - cheap or free, something for all ages (unless specified), and fun - nothing is taken too seriously.

A musical concert on the local green with local musicians from all backgrounds. Brings everyone together. Involve everyone from tots to senior citizens.

I would organise regular meet ups so that everyone could get together to socialise and discuss issues