The Council�s Riccarton/Wigram Community Board is working in with the Leisure Unit on a scheme which aims to make many people living in the area feel less isolated and that it will help to create a greater sense of community in the area.

Martin Maguire, the Council�s Community Advocate based at the Sockburn Service Centre, says residents� groups, social agencies and the police have for some time been saying the same things.

�Living and working here, we�re aware that compared to other parts of the Board area there are some real problems in this part of the city to do with things like educational achievement, employment, income, morbidity, health and social isolation.�

The idea behind this two-year programme is to involve people through recreation and encourage them to take part in their community.

�We�re looking at improvements to Wycola Park and the community centre there to make them more userfriendly,�

Mr Maguire says. At the moment they aren't.

We're also working with the Toy Library about a shift to Sockburn School, which will be good for both the library and the school, and it'll mean we can use that building as a base for a new community recreation person and perhaps our community worker.

He believes that with the Community Board providing the finance and the Council�fs Leisure Unit providing the skills, the programme can made a real difference in the community.

We see a lot of benefits coming from it, he says. It's community engagement with some broad health outcomes for the community. I feel really positive about its potential to do good. It could help create a positive sense of community.

• The Advocacy Team at Sockburn is keen to hear from anyone in the Broomfield, Hei Hei and North Hornby area who has ideas about what is needed to make people there feel better about their community, and their ability to take part and belong to it. Call them on 941 8999.