Community Work

Community Work

Community Work

Serving Plymouth Communities

The focus of our community work is to build assets and services that benefit a wide audience from babies to the elderly, helping to create lasting connections between those who access our services. This intergenerational approach helps to reduce isolation, improve community connectedness and foster a sense of belonging where people live.

CAFE CONNECT COMMUNITY CAFE

In partnership with Barnardo’s, we deliver a community café called Café Connect supported by Starbucks, M&S, Tesco and Lidl. The café, open every Wednesday morning from 10am to 11.30am at The Barn Children’s Centre in Barne Barton, is open to everyone in the community. It is a donation-based, pay what you feel café.

Our collaboration with Starbucks UK through Neighbourly, means we are serving quality coffee, tea and hot chocolate, all available for a donation.

We also take advantage of food waste schemes with M&S, Tesco and Lidl and have a table of surplus food available for anyone attending to take home. This helps the supermarkets reduce their food waste and gives attendees access to fresh fruit, vegetables and bakery products, helping to upcycle.

community allotment project

In partnership with LiveWest and funded through Northbrook Community Trust, we are rejuvenating a community allotment space, helping it to become a thriving outdoor learning space for a whole community.

Each week we welcome year 5 pupils from Riverside Community Primary School to the allotment. This serves as an opportunity for the children to learn vital knowledge about the environment and the food cycle. It also compliments their national curriculum topic for the year of living things and their habitats. Importantly, this time helps improve the social, emotional and mental health of the participants through being outdoors, in the fresh air and feeling at one with the natural world. This group also get the opportunity to attend a residential at Shallowford Farm on Dartmoor where they spend a few days working the land and learning about farming processes.

In addition to this, we welcome pre-school children from The Cabin Nursery each week. These children are able to explore the site, get muddy and learn about the creatures that live there. So much joy is found playing with mud and worms.

Twice monthly we also open the site to the wider community and encourage anyone, young or old, to come and join our community action days. These days enable us to transform what was once an overgrown space into an environment with an outdoor classroom, beds full of herbs, fruits and vegetables, and a haven of peace amongst the chaos of day-to-day life. Most importantly, they bring people together and form community which is embraced and celebrated. It’s about doing life together.

Community Chaplaincy

As part of our community project in Barne Barton, many people have asked for spiritual support, whether that is just for prayer or they have questions about faith.
 
We have answered this call by having voluntary community chaplains who are available if people need them. Who also run support and encouragement groups for people of faith or not.
 
Our chaplaincy team seek to provide emotional and spiritual guidance across the project for the staff and Pioneers family.
 
We also run a social media group for local Christians for encouragement and support wherever needed. For our chaplains their calling is to, as Rev. Stephen Cottrell says to “reach into the forgotten corners of the world so that the love of God may be made visible.”
 
We are keen to find out the community needs so if you would like to participate in this program or know what would be the most helpful things a chaplain can do, please don’t hesitate to contact us.  

Bull Point Barracks

 

At the end of 2019, we agreed a lease for Bull Point Barracks in Barne Barton with LiveWest housing association with the hope of redeveloping the space into a thriving community hub. We will share more about this exciting development on our blog page and through our Facebook feed.

How to get in touch

Send us a message using our contact form

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About Us

The Pioneers Project CIC was born in communities in Plymouth where people face disadvantage, and it has grown to serve children, young people and families who need support across Plymouth and into South East Cornwall and the South Hams in the UK.

Contact

Bull Point Barracks,
150 Foulston Avenue, Plymouth. PL5 1HN

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