Introduction
A Parish Appraisal is a study by local people, which takes stock of all the important aspects of their community and highlights it's assets, deficiencies, problems and needs.
It is also a means of getting to know the opinions of everyone who lives in the Parish, not just those individuals with strong views who speak out at meetings.
�The Visitor
Parish or Village Appraisals are not a new idea. Many hundreds have been carried out to date in other parts of the country and within our Parish the questionnaire completed in 1991, which resulted in the formation of our Neighbourhood Watch Scheme, is a typical example.
The objectives are:-
a)To identify areas requiring action by the Parish, District and County Councils.
b)To see if there are any opportunities for self help in the Parish, or beneficial activities which could be carried out voluntarily by groups or individuals.
c)To enable residents to make a contribution to their Community, to improve it where possible and to learn more about it.
The project came about after attending meetings on Grant Funding and after talks with members of the Community Council of Lancashire. A steering Committee of six interested volunteers from the Parish met on 20th December 1995 in the Village Hall. It was decided to proceed with the preparation and circulation of a questionnaire to every household in the Parish. The questionnaire was finally approved at a second meeting in January 1996 and distribution was carried out by Neighbourhood Watch contact people in February.
Two weeks were given for the return and collection of the completed questionnaires but proved to be insufficient time for this portion of the project. Collection continued until the end of April, when the results were finally collated and prepared for printing/publication. In total 310 questionnaires were delivered and 165 (53%) of households completed them. These covered a total number of 368 residents.