Get Doncaster Moving and Well Doncaster have introduced local Community Connectors across Doncaster to support residents becoming healthier and help make getting active accessible to everyone wherever they live.
The Community Connectors are there to support residents on a daily basis by signposting them to opportunities available to them in their area and encourage the community to create a healthy and active lifestyle.
Their roles focus on enhancing the physical and mental wellbeing of their community by connecting local people together, with accessibility at the forefront of what they do.
Meet the Community Connectors:
Ian Ogley – Intake & Wheatley
Combining his work at People Focused Group (PFG) with his role as a Community Connector, Ian focuses on getting residents moving and talking for the benefit of their mental health.
Gardening clubs, litter picking groups and armchair fitness classes, only scratch the surface of Ian’s activities across Intake and Wheatley. Working alongside PFG has allowed Ian to set up coffee mornings, school uniform recycle systems and 1 on 1 resident support.
Ian’s main goal is to bring likeminded people together within the local area, to help make the community spirit stronger.
Lisa Hughes – Balby and Hexthorpe
As the Community Connector for Balby and Hexthorpe, Lisa aims to help families and individuals who may be struggling with their mental health, and need extra support becoming more active or social within their local area.
Alongside her role as a Community Connector, Lisa is also a part Flourish Enterprises, who she has relied on when needing community support herself in the past.
After supporting a local group return to bike riding, Lisa has also revisited cycling after not being on a bike for over 30 years.
Julia Marshall – Bentley and Toll Bar
Julia’s main goal is to get local residents to appreciate the nature and green spaces they have on their doorstep by setting up outdoor Walk & Talk sessions across the Trans Pennine Trail.
With over 30 years of taught fitness experience, Julia loves talking to people and encouraging them to be active no matter their ability, and will be introducing SitFit classes to the area soon.
Julia aims to utilise the community assets available across Bentley and Toll Bar to help local residents find something they enjoy and can be socially active with in the community.
Lisa Aiken – Stainforth
When Lisa moved to Stainforth 3 years ago as a single parent, she started joining local groups to meet new people, get to know the local area and what it had to offer. Over 3 years later she is now a Community Connector and really feels that she has found a home in Stainforth for her and her daughter.
As a Community Connector, Lisa is creating events as an opportunity to showcase what Stainforth has to offer to residents and to start a conversation on what the community could benefit from.
Lisa is also focusing on bringing the community together digitally, by setting up a ‘What’s on in Stainforth’ page, where residents can effortlessly see what groups, classes or events are on within the area.