History of Our Place Wye

Our Place Wye arose out of a Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) Programme in 2014 which endeavoured to identify communities addressing social and environmental issues in innovative ways.

Wye with Hinxhill Parish Council was successful in its application, and was the only such project in Kent. Approval was finally given in July 2014 with the single year’s funding ceasing in March 2015.

At the time of the application in 2014 Wye with Hinxhill had a population of 2282 people living across 1147 households. 938 of these people were over the age of 55. 18% of the village were living on their own (419 people). A frailty assessment by the surgery revealed that there were just under 200 over 75’s in Wye who needed some additional support to live independently. According to the office of statistics, in 2011 there were 282 unpaid care givers in Wye.

Our Place Wye was considered to be “Breaking New Ground” especially for seeking to set up a multi stakeholder social care co-operative and to become the first Age Friendly village accredited by the World Health Organisation. The following areas cover the components to the programme:

• Community Cafe (food – eating & shopping)
• Community Hub (Information and Information technology)
• Networks of support (Village Agent – Community Connector)
• Carers – support and local employment approach to providing care
• Intergenerational opportunities
• Transport

At the end of the year, the Parish Council produced a Business Plan 2015-2018, which can be viewed HERE and is available in Wye library. It identifies various priorities many of which have been the subject of subsequent funding applications:

• Reducing incidences of social isolation and loneliness in the village
• Increasing engagement and improving communication with the community
• Community cohesion and inclusivity (especially across the ages)
• Neighbourly ownership and involvement in providing “services”
• Inward investment of capacity building in employable skills
• Supporting family carers
• Supporting people to live as independently as possible

While we have yet to set up anything that resembles a social care cooperative, the aims embodied in the business plan are still very much in our minds – and we would welcome the support of anyone in the community who can help achieve them.

In 2016 Our Place Wye was registered as a Community Interest Company (CIC). This enables us to be independent of the Parish Council and apply for funds.