Reaching out to help

Centre is a ROC of the community

FINDING out about benefits or reporting anti-social behaviour is now as easy as R-O-C.

That’s because The ROC (Radclyffe Outreach Centre) in Kent Avenue, Crossley, is one of only two places in the borough piloting a community access point.

It allows people to drop in between 9.30am and 3.30pm on Tuesdays to talk to a customer service adviser from Oldham Council about a range of issues such as benefits, training and job opportunities, council tax problems and anti-social behaviour.

And the initiative is just the latest success for the centre which opened in a former shop storeroom nine months ago.

The aim was to give Radclyffe School a community presence, and a small group of pupils do an alternative curriculum there as well as basic numeracy and literacy.

The scheme is funded by a range of organisations, with The Jobcentre, drug and alcohol team, Brook, Police Community Support Officers, First Choice Homes Oldham and Gateways to Oldham (responsible for the multi-million rebuilding of Crossley) all holding sessions at the centre.

There is also an armchair exercise class for over 50s, a stop smoking group, a first-aid course, a junior youth night, homework club and adult computer classes. Crossley Christian Centre, which was opened by the Bishop of Manchester, holds Sunday worship there.

On top of that, work is under way to renovate the first floor from where it is hoped that the primary care trust will run a one-stop health shop.

Councillor Colin McLaren, who got involved with the project as the council’s former community champion for Chadderton, said: “From September onwards it has flourished. Once people realised it was here it has mushroomed.

“It’s an outreach centre which the school is promoting as a way of addressing problems associated with children who are not suited to a normal school curriculum, for whom an alternative might be appropriate.

“But it is also open to the wider community and there is a variety of groups now working from here, including the council’s one-stop-shop.”

The roots of the ROC stem from a dispersal order which ran in parts of Chadderton to stop groups of youths from congregating and causing trouble.

Chadderton Together, which brings together voluntary groups, was then set up find ways of tackling the problems. It works with the police, council, health and other organisations to develop and run facilities.

With few community facilities in Chadderton, Councillor McLaren said that the ROC was an essential.

It is due to be replaced with a purpose-built community centre as part of Crossley’s redevelopment, which includes demolishing the Kent Avenue row of shops.

Councillor McLaren added: “We have suggested that they knock this down at the last possible opportunity so we move straight from the shop to the centre. Any gap would be disastrous.

“They recognise there has been a lot of good work here and they want to build on that rather than reinvent the wheel.

“The launch of the new centre will bring all sorts of opportunities, and the sooner the better. Given the current economic climate, people will need help and support.”