A night of energy and enthusiasm hosted jointly by the SDPPA and Community Bank Samford on 16th August, saw more than 85 people come together to brainstorm ideas for future projects for Samford and surrounds at a facilitated Community Forum.
Guests from local community groups, businesses and churches were invited as representatives of their communities, for the first stage of what is hoped will be a larger community collaboration. Discussions were focused on projects that could be considered for co-funding by the SDPPA and the bank, or possible seed funding for larger projects that would also require support from various levels of government.
The community representatives on the night were asked to prioritise the ideas discussed. A survey was emailed to all attendees with the results currently being analysed. Feedback from the night as well as the results of the survey will be shared with the wider community in the coming weeks. The next steps for engagement and consultation will be expressions of interest sought from anyone in the local community interested in forming working groups to progress the ideas further.
Back in 2010, the Board of the Samford Community Bank hosted an event, seeking ideas from the Samford Community which would serve our great community for the long term. Similarly, many will recall the Samford Futures project back in 2013, which grew out of an idea from the community and was taken on as an initiative of the SDPPA. It aimed to gain consensus about a vision for the Valley that reflects the strengths, beliefs, needs and aspirations of the community.
The SDPPA and the Community Bank Samford Board look forward to what comes from this new list of ideas and in turn, the future of our community. We will keep you updated in future editions and through our social media pages.
