TLC magazine Autumn 2024 - text version - Community star – Rainy Waller

Community star – Rainy Waller 

In each issue of TLC, we like to highlight people or groups of Norwich residents who have taken positive action in their community to improve it for all.

For this issue we spoke to Rainy Waller, from the NR5 Community Hub. Rainy, short for Lorraine, is not one to seek the limelight and was a little embarrassed to be recognised in this way, telling us “I’m just a small cog in a big wheel and the recognition really needs to go to the whole community of NR5 who get involved in making sure NR5 is a friendly, clean and welcoming place to visit and live”.

NR5 is part of the North Earlham Estate in Norwich and in the past has been a hotspot for anti-social behaviour (ASB).

Rainy told us “We have an alleyway right in front of our house which had become rundown, forgotten and was an intimidating place to use because of the ASB it was attracting, things seemed to be getting worse, and people were actively avoiding using the alleyway because they felt unsafe.”
 
I felt we really needed to do something about it, and when I mentioned it to other members of the community, I found I wasn’t alone. I have a good relationship with the communities’ team at the city council and asked for their advice. They advised us to apply for a ‘Love Norwich’ grant. Which we did.”

A few weeks later after submitting our proposals to clean up the area we were awarded a £1200 grant from the fund. We couldn’t wait to get started.”

It was all about ‘Taking back control’ for us. We had a few community meetings and agreed a plan, we earmarked five days in August when we’d try and get as many neighbours, volunteers and council staff to give the alleyway a makeover. We spread the word on social media and soon had lots of willing people.”

As part of the clear up, we litter picked, repaired fences, painted fences, and commissioned an artist to paint some urban art on the walls. We also asked locals what they wanted to see on the walls and invited children to put handprints on the walls.”

We worked hard, had great support from the council and enjoyed ourselves too. Now, a few weeks on, the place feels safer, people are proud of what we did as a community and are motivated to keep what we’ve created.”

If this inspires you, for more information about Love Norwich grants and to access an application form, visit our dedicated grants webpage on Get Talking Norwich.

The Love Norwich grants programme is funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.