Community Projects

Cycling Without Age Guildford- Free Trishaw Rides

We are a small charity based in Onslow Village and we offer free rides on a trishaw to older adults in our community, especially those who do not get out as much as they would like. It provides a great opportunity to participate in a social activity and is great fun! People get to feel the wind in their hair, see what’s going on, sing if they want to and do something different. We cycle slowly so it’s easy to stop to take a closer look at something or have a chat with a passerby.

Around the globe, there are thousands of trishaws and they are often given names. Ours is called Audrey after the mother of Caroline who wanted to set up the group for Guildford. She knew her mum would have loved going for a ride, especially as it doesn’t look like a wheelchair!

We have taken people around Onslow Village including the arboretum, around the Cathedral, around Stoke Park and even around the Devils Punchbowl. 

Book a Ride

People can come on their own and we will provide a friendly companion or they can bring a friend, relative or carer to share the ride. We can arrange transport to and from the ride locations if necessary.

Please call Caroline on 01483 457645 or email cwaguildford@yahoo.com to book or make arrangements.

For more pictures, see our facebook page : Cycling Without Age Guildford

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Neighbourhood Watch

What is Neighbourhood Watch? Neighbourhood Watch is national charitable organisation which seeks to reduce crime by strengthening community spirit and encouraging people to watch out for each other.

Our local scheme shares information about any crimes, suspicious behaviour or scams in Onslow Village so we can be aware and keep an eye out.

What benefit is there in joining? You will get emails (not too often) which share relevant information. These are things like warnings about current scams, break-ins in the local area, advice about home and online security and messages from Surrey Police.

You will be eligible for a discount on your home insurance with certain companies.

Sometimes there are offers for discounts on home security items.

You can also share information by contacting the Co-ordinator, for example if you see something suspicious or have an aggressive cold caller at your door and want to warn others.

Is it free? Yes, there is no charge to sign up. You will just need an email address as all communication is by email. Unfortunately we don’t have capacity to print off and deliver the information. We encourage members to share information with neighbours who may not be on email, for example elderly people with no computer at home.

How do I join? Go onto the Neighbourhood Watch website and select the option Find my local scheme 

To visit the website and find out more  Click here

Put in your postcode and it will show your nearest schemes. If you are in the catchment area for the Onslow Village scheme, you can click to request to join. You will need to provide your name and email address.

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Care for Guildford

Care for Guildford is a volunteer led local charity providing practical support to local people in need.

Our volunteer drivers provide a reliable, caring transport service to/from essential medical appointments to those in need. Many clients have complex health conditions and struggle to attend the appointments they desperately need. Our volunteer team help clients continue to live independently with dignity.

We also, through our shopping service, provide friendly social contact with housebound clients enabling them to remain in their home.

If you are able to spare the odd hour during the week, we have a number of flexible volunteering roles that can fit around you – no regular commitment is needed on the part of our drivers.

People who use the service need to live within the urban area of the Borough – so will cover residents of Onslow Village.

How people can get involved?

Volunteers – We are always looking for more volunteers either as drivers or shoppers. We are very flexible, no firm commitment is required, allowing us to work around volunteers’ availability, however limited that may be. If anyone reading this is able to offer a friendly face, often at a difficult time in a client’s life – we would love them to consider joining our amazing volunteer team. We promise they will make a real difference to our clients lives.

Users – If they contact Care using the contact details below we will guide them through the process

Contact info – volunteer@careforguildford.org.uk

For requests for help and for information about becoming a volunteer phone 01483 566635 Monday – Friday 9am – 1pm and 2pm – 4pm

Click here to visit the website and find out more

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Guildford Community Angels & Street Angels

Community Angels is a befriending project for vulnerable adults of any age. This may include those who face loneliness, isolation, illness or other personal difficulties.

Our volunteers visit people in their homes, providing companionship and support to reconnect with the local community.

Support is personalised and may range from chatting over a cup of tea to going for walks, trying a new activity, or accessing other types of help. Some adults may require short-term support through a difficult time, whilst others may benefit from longer term visits.

All community Angels are offered initial training and ongoing regular support, as well as opportunities to share with other volunteers.  If you are over 18, have compassion for adults facing difficulties and have time to commit to visiting someone about once a week, then we’d love to hear from you.  Please visit our website below to find out how to get involved.

Click here to visit our website and find out more

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Street Angels are a team of volunteers that patrol Guildford town centre on Friday & Saturday nights, providing practical care and support to anyone who has found themselves in a vulnerable state. This could be a result of alcohol, drugs, homelessness, assault, and many more. The Street Angels are there to help people have a good time and to get home safe, with no strings attached.

• Do you have some spare time and feel motivated to do something that could make a difference in someone’s life?
• Are you 18 or over?
• Could you care for people who are vulnerable on a night out in town – especially but not exclusively young people?
• Are you a good listener & can you be non-judgmental in your approach to people who might live by differing values to your own?
• Are you a good team player?
• Can you commit to being out on the streets 1 night every 4 weeks? – between 10 pm – 4 am?

We recruit new Street Angel volunteers twice a year, in Spring and in Autumn. You could come out for a ‘taster’ night with our teams to see if this is something you would feel able to do. You can arrange this at any time, even if you are only just beginning to consider volunteering with us.  Please visit our website below to find out how to get in touch.

Click here to visit our website and find out more

Social Media

Onslow Village Community Facebook Page

The Onslow Village Community Facebook page is a vibrant and engaged group that has been established for local residents and their businesses to share information about local news, activities and groups. 

To ensure content stays relevant, join requests will be accepted once screening questions are answered.

Click here to visit our Facebook page

Neighbourhood WhatsApp Groups

WhatsApp Groups for your road or your small area of Onslow are a wonderful way of getting to know your neighbours and strengthening community. They can be useful for all sorts of things, such as borrowing things, getting and offering help, locating missing things, finding new homes for things, sharing useful information, getting advice, sharing a joke, organising events, advertising events and welcoming new neighbours. Because they have relatively few members there aren’t many postings each week and so they aren’t too intrusive.

As far as OVRA is aware there are WhatsApp Groups for the following roads: Abbots Close, Curling Vale, Friars Gate with Henley Bank and The Drive, Bannisters Road, East Meads, West Meads, Elmside, Orchard Road, Vicarage Gate, Thorn Bank.

If you live on any of those roads and would like to join their WhatsApp group you can email OVRA on info@ovra.org.uk and we will ask the group Administrator for your road to contact you.

If your road doesn’t have a group, why not start one? WhatsApp have made it even easier to create neighbourhood WhatsApp groups with the option of allowing every member to add extra members. The administrator just needs to add the first few people and set ‘Members can add other members’ in the ‘Group Permissions’ section. Then neighbours can add their neighbours until everyone who wants to join is included – no awkward door knocking required.  Alternatively put a note through your neighbours’ doors inviting them to contact you if they would like to join the group.  If your road is new to having a group why not use the + ‘Poll’ feature to arrange a date for a bring and share tea, or an afternoon in someone’s garden, so you can meet each other face to face.