Community Building
All Community and Voluntary Sector organisations need accommodation for office bases and delivery venues. Property and facilities management is a specialist skill, needing experience and legal knowledge if it is to be undertaken effectively. Increasingly Local Authorities and Public Sector bodies are selling off assets, considered to be ‘surplus to requirements’. However, new Government proposals are in the works which will encourage Local Authorities to hand over community assets to the Third sector. Are you ready?
- Premises Search and Site Location
- Facilities and Premises Management
- Security Review/Secure by Design
- Health and Safety Review
- ‘Bobski’ the Community Builder
- Pocket Parks and Pavement Gardens
- New Site Consultation and the Happy Planning Approach to 3D Modelling
- Existing Site Consultation and “Happy Planning” 3D Modelling
- Event Security
- The Weekend Deep Clean
Premises Search and Site Location
J-go is managed by ex-local authority Development staff. Our Directors have over 30 years of combined experience in property development and management, in the public, voluntary and private sectors. We can bring the benefit of this professional experience to your organisation.
Premises search or site location is often undertaken against a fixed deadline (such as confirmation of a grant receipt or an eviction date on the existing premises) and can be extremely stressful. J-go can help. With our extensive contacts throughout the property world in North and South East London and across the Thames Gateway, we can locate suitable premises options quickly. Our approach to premises searches is creative and determined. We will option appraise your premises requirements, and in many cases can suggest alternatives you may have not considered. We are particularly expert at finding unusual solutions, such as railway arches, modular buildings and fast-build structures.
Our expertise in planning regulations can also help to release site value and create new options for development on restricted sites which may have been overlooked. We are also able to advise customers on conversion or expansion of existing premises and J-go can often find solutions which mitigate the need to re-locate in the first case.
Facilities and Premises Management
CVS organisations are rarely expert in premises and facilities management. This can be a complex and demanding subject, which community organisations may not wish to divert their energy, time and resources from their primary activity to carry out.
J-go’s flexible approach is designed, where possible, to enable the organisation’s own staff to cover any outstanding responsibilities and we can also help you with our package of facilities management services. Alternatively, you could consider outsourcing all your facilities management responsibilities to us and we will provide an effective value for money service, which will allow you to concentrate on your core functions.
We have years of practical experience in premises management, both large and small venues. Call us now to discuss your requirements; we can offer long-term arrangements by negotiation or provide one to three-day reviews to ensure that you are maximising your premises’ utility and saving money where you can.
Security Review/Secure by Design
J-go has considerable experience of planning, developing and managing a wide range of community premises. An important part of the emerging contract culture, particularly with regard to the provision of services for young or vulnerable people, is the provision of a safe and secure environment. We are used to working closely with Crime Prevention officers to carry out Secure by Design reviews to boost premises and community safety, and to work creatively with a range of Crime Reduction Partnerships to ensure that community assets remain safe and secure for customers and staff alike.
We understand the need to effectively “design out crime” in a number of community environments, from Safer Estates to DICE initiatives, and J-go can help you to access a range of funding and support from sources including the Home Office, Neighbourhood Renewal Fund and the Safer London Foundation. In addition, we have access to dedicated community security contractors who can put plans into action and also provide a range of immediate security solutions, including infra-red and ultra-sound alarm systems and the use of audio-deterrents (Stinger/Oddball).
Health and Safety Review
Risk Assessments are now an integral part of the CVS delivery portfolio. J-go can bring its experience and knowledge to bear on ensuring that your premises meet the stringent requirements of current Health & Safety legislation. Working with your organisation a J-go representative will visit your premises to carry out a Fire Safety and Electrical and Mechanical Systems check to ensure compliance with relevant legislation.
In addition, J-go can work with your organisation to provide a Premises Review and undertake a Risk Assessment of your core activities to assist with service development and fund-raising. If you can demonstrate minimal risk exposure across your activities portfolio, your organisation will have a head start in the developing Third Sector contract culture.
‘Bobski’ the Community Builder
Community and voluntary sector organisations are often responsible for the improvement, maintenance and repair of their own premises. It is quite common for community groups to obtain a small capital grant for re-decoration, improvements or new facilities, but the problem for most small community organisations is that they cannot afford to close down for any weekday period to get the work done.
J-go has a experienced trade skills building team, who specifically undertake work solely on weekends, holidays, bank holidays and half-terms, completing even the most complex jobs in just one or two weekends. This specialist community building service helps you to get the job done in your organisation’s 'down time', making sure that you never have to close your doors to your beneficiaries, and maximising your effectiveness.
Pocket Parks and Pavement Gardens
Sustainable communities need good green spaces, as they help people define and connect with their local neighbourhoods, offering peace and quiet and a respite from the hustle and bustle of city life. In inner-city areas competing pressures on space mean that there is little opportunity for local residents to access and enjoy green open spaces.
This is where J-go’s Pocket Parks and Pavement Gardens method of 3-D Modelling and Happy Planning come together to help local urban communities take possession of green spaces right in the heart of their cities. We can help you turn your tower blacks into 'flower blocks', and, by utilising our 'Happy Planning' community consultation process to visualise design, create a sense of ownership amongst the community and help secure resources, J-go can work with your organisation to create a 'green heart' at the centre of local regeneration initiatives. We are particularly used to working with Friends Groups stewarding local parks and Open Spaces and can also assist with the establishment of independent parks groups.
New Site Consultation and the Happy Planning Approach to 3D Modelling
Undertaking community consultation about major redevelopment plans is a difficult issue to get right. Our interactive Happy Planning 3D modelling process is a creative, enjoyable way of communicating all the complex information about development proposals to the public at large, and allows them to contribute in an accessible and enabling manner, building ownership for the individuals concerned, especially for young people and marginalized or hard-to-reach groups.
A Happy Planning 3D Modelling day is a memorable event! J-go’s litmus test of successful consultation is for an individual to remember being consulted at the end of the development contract. If they are happy when they see the results of their consultation finally made 'flesh,' then you know the job has been done well! We offer Happy Planning 3D Modelling events as a morning, afternoon or evening session, or for more complex schemes, we offer the service as a full day event. Happy Planning provides you with a reliable method of embedding consultation within the local community and effectively resolving any areas of potential conflict at the planning stage.
Community involvement in the formal Planning Process will assume increasing importance as the government’s new planning proposals move towards becoming legislation, a J-go event is guaranteed to ensure involvement and engagement rather than just providing information; in line with the proposed changes contained within the “Planning for a Sustainable Future” White Paper.
Existing Site Consultation and “Happy Planning” 3D Modelling
Capital re-development can be just as challenging as any new-build; - there are lots of areas for misunderstanding and misconception, and let’s face it, - communities are often resistant to change.
However, J-go’s 3-D Modelling events are also just the ticket to get local communities engaged in positive dialogue about re-development and re-improvement proposals. In fact, local people are often the most effective design consultants of all; they have encyclopaedic knowledge of the redevelopment area and of the various communities of interest, and can bring this to bear on what often seem insoluble redevelopment challenges. Involve your local community in your re-development proposals and get them on-side and alongside as positive agents for change.
Event Security
This is a complementary service that J-go can provide either as a stand-alone facility or as a plug-in to our Events Management package offering fire and general event stewarding services. Following on from the events of 7-7, event security is now a major concern for all organisations holding public events.
J-go’s experienced Events Crew are cognisant of and familiar with all aspects of venue safety and security, door supervision and queue management techniques, with appropriate Criminal Records Bureau clearance and Security Industry Authority Licences where relevant. Ensure that your customers’ safety and security is taken care of at all your events, and let our trained Front–of-House personnel take the strain out of event security and provide a warm welcome for your guests.
The Weekend Deep Clean
This service can either stand-alone or plug-in to the J-go community building service offered specifically at the weekends or over holiday periods. Premises can quickly become shabby, especially if you have lots of children and young people using your services. The Weekend Deep Clean is the answer to messy premises and scruffy venues – the J-go Deep-Clean Team will come in and scrub your property from top to bottom and leave it polished and perfumed for a minimal sum, leaving you to concentrate on brushing up your skills, not your centre.
The J-go Deep Clean Team can also bring their expertise to bear on Estate Clean–Up days. Our team will organise local volunteers, schools and cleansing contractors to get rid of dumped bulk rubbish, garden refuse and the litter that always seems to accumulate somewhere in the corners of estates. Our “Estate Days” not only clean up housing estates, they contribute to enhanced community cohesion and involve the local community in having a positive effect on their environment.