Since mid 2011, Preston City Council’s Community Engagement Dept. have been mapping information from neighbourhoods. We’ve been asking people to tell us what is important to them and their community, the responses have been interesting – from local facilities, places of worship and sites of natural beauty . . . to community groups, local activities and services; it is clear that Preston is a contrasting and complicated place.

We’ve succeeded in mapping a great many community assets, and as these maps continually evolve we want to continue to engage local residents in the process and encourage them to speak up about the assets that make a real difference to where they live: www.preston.gov.uk/communitymaps

As an extension of this information, we are now engaged in a new project to map information about Preston’s varied population groups, particularly emerging communities and their needs. We are now making efforts to locate diverse and new communities, and to find out what issues people experience upon arriving in Preston for the first time.

If you can help us connect with these communities or know someone who has recently arrived in Preston from outside the UK, who would be willing to talk about their impressions of the City; then please get in touch with Matt Stanton: email m.stanton@preston.gov.uk or telephone: 01772 903406.

* Article submitted on behalf of Community Engagement, Preston City Council www.preston.gov.uk/communities *