More youth groups at the Discovery Centre, a network of community champions, and skills and training courses are just some of the activities Freebridge Community Housing is proposing for North Lynn.

The West Norfolk housing association has made the commitments within its North Lynn Community Plan which aims to improve the economic, social, and environmental, health and wellbeing of the area.

The plan has been shaped with the local community after Freebridge carried out consultation and engagement last October. This included a special event at the Discovery Centre as well as a survey which resulted in more than 250 responses.

The consultation found that residents of North Lynn enjoy living in their area due to its proximity to town centre, and they feel that the priorities for where they live are safety, cleanliness, and peace and quiet.

Now, together with its partners, Freebridge has taken the feedback from the consultation and engagement to help to inform the Community Plan which aims to bring improvements for North Lynn. Anita Jones, Chief Executive explained:

“Our focus over the next five years is building better futures across West Norfolk, which means supporting strong and sustainable communities.

“This includes working in partnership with other stakeholders and agencies to understand the needs of the different communities we work in and prioritising targeted activities that can make a difference.

“This is what the North Lynn Community Plan aims to do. Through the plan, we have suggested actions that we can deliver together with our partners to deliver significant and meaningful benefits for the community.

“I would like to thank everyone who added their voice to the consultation and helped to shape the plan for North Lynn.”

One of the recommendations highlighted in the plan is working with partners to implement a range of low cost food based schemes, as demonstrated by the Food for Thought programme which has recently launched.

Delivered by Lily and supported by partners including Freebridge, the programme sees 12 weekly sessions designed to help residents cook healthy and nutritious meals. The sessions are taking place at the Discovery Centre and will cover dinners, homemade snacks, and low calorie cooking, amongst other themes in the weeks to come.

Councillor Sam Sandell, Cabinet Member for People and Communities, said: “The sessions, based in North Lynn Discovery Centre, will offer a wealth of information on how to cook healthy and tasty food without breaking the bank.

“You will be able to take away skills that will help you cook on a budget, find cheaper supermarket swaps, make healthy ‘fake-away’ meals and learn how to make meals go further.”

The activities outlined in the North Lynn Neighbourhood Plan will be delivered in the coming years and underlines one way in which Freebridge is working to support communities. Anita Jones added: “We want to support all the communities where we operate and we look for different ways to do so.

“As well as through community neighbourhood plans, which we will also produce for other areas as required, we spend time in local communities through our Out and About impact weeks, lending a hand where we can. We will be delivering our next Community Impact Week in North Lynn next week, which will include visiting customers’ homes, clearing any rubbish and delivering support to our customers where we can. If you see us in the area make sure you come and say hello.

“We are here for our customers and our communities and we want to make a difference across West Norfolk.”

*Anyone wishing to sign up to the Food for Thought sessions can do so by contacting [email protected]