Celebrating Year 2 and looking ahead to Year 3 with Support Fenland

Published on: November 2, 2026

Just under 100 people came together at Wisbech St Mary Community Centre on 13 October for the Support Fenland Celebration Event, an opportunity to celebrate two years of activity across the district, recognise the organisations and people making a difference, and look ahead to an ambitious third year.

The room brought together voluntary and community organisations, partners, volunteers, funders, public-sector colleagues and supporters from across Fenland. It was a day filled with conversation, learning, case studies, networking, food, laughter and connection, reflecting one of the ideas at the heart of Support Fenland: communities are stronger when people work together.

Celebrating the Support Fenland journey

The event was opened by Marija Lysak, Fenland Development Officer, who welcomed guests and reflected on how far the project has come since its launch.

The project has developed around what organisations said they needed, including stronger partnerships, networking, training, one-to-one support and volunteering support.

Across Year 2, that has meant working with organisations and communities through networking meetings, events, organisational support, training, volunteering activity, promotion and partnership working.

Marija also highlighted the importance of collaboration rather than duplication. Support Fenland is not about organisations working in isolation or competing with one another; it is about understanding what is already happening, connecting people with the right support and creating opportunities for organisations to share knowledge, skills and resources.

Marija Lysak, Fenland Development Officer, said:
“It was really encouraging to see groups from across each of the four Fenland towns ‘joining as one’, both to celebrate our first two years and also come together with a genuine enthusiasm to get involved. Hearing so many positive stories and conversations even after the event reflects the significant impact the project has had to date. This is a true inspiration for us to build on the work we’ve done already.”

Building a network across Fenland

The project has developed Fenland Voluntary Group Network Meetings as well as working alongside existing networks

These spaces give voluntary and community organisations the opportunity to meet, share ideas, hear from useful speakers and find out about funding, training, volunteering and other opportunities.

They also provide something less formal but equally valuable: the chance for people to discover who else is working locally.

Sarah Hall, Fenland Communities Officer, said:
“It was heartwarming to see so many groups coming together today. It struck me that 2 years’ ago, many of these people didn’t know each other, whereas now they are meeting up as community colleagues. They are of course, always making new contacts also. Looking around the room yesterday, with everyone wanting to stay and chat I really felt we are making our own Fenland community of communities.”

Partnership beyond the voluntary sector

During Year 2, the project has participated in events across Fenland, including activity in Chatteris, Whittlesey, March and other communities, while also developing links with business organisations and education providers. The links with the business community and Chamber of Commerce, explore how business skills and stronger partnerships can support local voluntary organisations.

Year 2 also included schools and youth engagement, helping younger people better understand what volunteering is and how it can help them develop confidence, experience and skills.

For many young people, volunteering can initially feel like something unfamiliar or “not for them”. Support Fenland wants to help break down those barriers and show that volunteering can mean many different things — from helping at events and community projects to creative activities, environmental work, supporting older people and much more.

Partnership projects and training

In Whittlesey, Support Fenland worked alongside Social Enterprise East of England on activity including community asset mapping, exploring vacant buildings, community wealth building, social enterprise training and support for social enterprises and CICs.

Training has been an important part of the offer.

Sessions delivered during the year included:

Sourcing Funding for your Organisation
Fundraising in the Community
Attracting and Retaining Volunteers
Role of a Committee
Social Enterprise – Sustaining Your Group
Social Media – an Introduction

The intention is to respond to the practical issues organisations tell us they are facing.

The event provided an opportunity to reflect on Support Fenland’s direct one-to-one work.

During Year 2, direct support was provided to organisations and individuals, covering areas including funding, governance, networking, volunteering and organisational development.

Volunteer Fairs: bringing opportunities directly to communities

Sarah Hall looked back at the Volunteer Fairs already delivered across Fenland and ahead to the next programme of events.

Four further fairs are planned:

Wisbech – 14 November 2026, Queen Mary Centre
March – 13 February 2027
Whittlesey – 17 April 2027
Chatteris – summer 2027, date TBC

The Wisbech event will include the Family Volunteering Club, helping families experience volunteering in a relaxed, creative and accessible way.

Listening to communities: Love It, Hate It, Shape It

The event highlighted Love It, Hate It, Shape It, Support Fenland’s community engagement project.

The initiative asks residents what they love about their community, what they hate about their community and how they would like to shape it in the future.

The current conversation is taking place in Christchurch, with residents invited to share their views through a local questionnaire and engagement activity.

The aim is to build a clearer understanding of local priorities and ensure future conversations and support are based on what residents themselves say matters.

What makes the voluntary sector special?

Support Cambridgeshire CEO Mark Freeman reflected on his own experience of the voluntary sector and the qualities that make it distinctive.

Mark Freeman, CEO of Support Cambridgeshire, said:
“Seeing so many people from so many Fenland groups in the room was fantastic. The conversations and networking were brilliant and hearing the case studies brought to life the work Support Fenland is doing to help build the charities and community groups of Fenland. Thanks go to the lottery for funding this, but for this type of support to become long term and embedded it is essential that it is supported by local councils and other statutory organisations. We are showing the difference proper support makes and would love to be able to say that Support Fenland is going to become a permanent fixture in the district.”

Funding communities

The event welcomed Heidi Lemmon from The National Lottery Community Fund, who talked attendees through the funding landscape and what good applications need to demonstrate.

Heidi explained that projects need to demonstrate community benefit and clearly show what they are trying to achieve, who is involved and how the community has shaped the idea.

The event heard that 194 grants had been awarded to good causes in Cambridgeshire, totalling around £14.7 million, illustrating the scale of support reaching communities locally.

Communication, visibility and telling Fenland’s story

An important area for Year 3 will be strengthening how Support Fenland communicates what is happening across the district.

During Year 2, communications have developed through social media, blogs, local publications, community promotion, print and face-to-face activity.

Kenny Brown, Fenland Communications Worker, said:
“Communication is such an important part of bringing Fenland together. There is brilliant work happening in every corner of the district, but people need to know about it, understand how they can get involved and have opportunities to connect with one another. Events like this show what can happen when we bring those people, organisations and stories into the same room.”

Year 3 will see this develop further through stronger website content, ongoing social media, local promotion and the launch of a dedicated Support Fenland newsletter.

Looking ahead to Year 3

While the event was about recognising Year 2, there was a strong sense throughout the room that this is only part of the story.

Year 3 will build on what is already working, with further partnerships and networking, responsive training, a Funding Fair and Business Event, continued one-to-one support, Volunteer Cambs Pop-Ins, Volunteer Fairs and further Love It, Hate It, Shape It activity across Fenland.

Kat Shepherdson, Deputy CEO of Support Cambridgeshire, said:
“As a manager, you can usually tell when something is working well. The numbers show progress, and colleagues share positive feedback, but nothing compares to hearing directly from the groups themselves. Seeing firsthand the enthusiasm for Support Fenland really brought home the difference the service is making to charities and community organisations across Fenland. There was such a positive energy throughout the day, and it was clear how much people value the dedication and hard work that Sarah, Marija and Kenny put into delivering the service.”

A celebration powered by community

A special thank you goes to Whittlesey Community Pantry, a charity working to prevent food from going to landfill, who supplied the cakes enjoyed on the day.

Raising a coffee to what comes next!

The organisations represented were different in size, purpose and geography, but they shared something important: a willingness to help, collaborate, innovate and make a difference.

Support Fenland’s role is to strengthen those connections, help organisations find the support they need and make sure good work happening across the district is visible.

A huge thank you to everyone who attended, everyone who spoke, everyone who shared their experiences and everyone who has contributed to Support Fenland’s first two years.

Here’s to Year 3 and everything still to come.