Working with the community for their benefit through a series of summer activities is the aim of Rushmoor’s largest social housing provider.

Pavilion Housing Association is looking to integrate residents of Farnborough and Aldershot in partnership with the police, local charities and Rushmoor Borough Council.

Pavilion’s community regeneration manager Matt Smith has school holiday schemes to furnish younger people with fresh skills that should benefit the whole community.

They include a bicycle repair drop-in service in conjunction with Farnborough cycle shop Silvester Brothers and basketball training in Mayfield, Farnborough, linked to Camberley Basketball Club, with a £5,000 grant from the North-East Hampshire Schools Sport Partnership.

Mr Smith said: “All the projects we are doing are in part-nership. You are not going to please everyone, but every gap we can fill with an activity or initiative is one less gap. The response so far has been pretty encouraging.

“The basketball club is an attempt to integrate the Nepalese and white communities in Mayfield. There was already a group of Nepalese girls playing the sport but they didn’t have a coach locally and there are no real junior teams for girls. We set it up with Camberley Basketball Club and now we have a real mix of Nepalese and white girls taking part.”

The 18-month funding will give members free kit, basketballs and water bottles.

Mr Smith said the free bicycle repair scheme would give people new skills: “It gives people the ability to fix their bicycles rather than just dumping them in the bushes if they get a puncture.

“If we have got abandoned bikes that the police have recovered we can give them to people as long as they fix them to make them road safe.

“It is a good way of encouraging cycling and encourages people not to abandon their bikes and teaches them the skills of basic maintenance.”

The scheme will be piloted in North Town and Mayfield. “If it works well we will look at expanding it,” Mr Smith said. “It is something that we are working on with the police and Silvester Brothers as they are keen to get involved. They maintain all the police community support officers’ bikes and have given us someone to help out with the bike clinic.”

Henry Silvester, of Silvester Brothers in Cove Road, said: “I think the young people will benefit as they’ll be doing something positive for themselves. We decided to get involved as we saw it as beneficial for us and the community. I’m sure that those taking part will feel good about themselves as they’ll be able to fix their own bikes.”

Mr Smith said the whole community could benefit, as people would be encouraged not to dump their bikes when they become unroadworthy.

“Hopefully there will be less fly-tipping, which improves the street scene,” he added.

“Any such thing can be difficult to measure but you can look at police figures and if bicycle crime has dropped significantly while you are running the project you know that you are doing something right.”

Sgt John Turton said: “This is a fine example of partnership work, drawing in the expertise and support of a cycle shop.

“I look forward to my teams and neighbourhood wardens engaging with local youths, while they gain valuable maintenance skills, making their bikes safer and roadworthy.”

Mr Smith said: “We are not just targeting the Pavilion residents - it’s the communities they live in. It’s a mixture of consultation and things that we know are needed. If you pilot it and it doesn’t take off you try something else.”

Pavilion head of housing Helen Wilson said: “It is very positive to see agencies work-ing together, giving younger people a focus, keeping them out of trouble and helping them learn new skills. It’s really important that we get the residents to tell us what they want so we can spend their rent money in the right way.”

Pavilion helps Aldershot charity The Source’s teen parent mentoring programme.

Mr Smith said: “Many young mums The Source are working with are our tenants, so if we can help them look after their children you would hope that would make for a better life for the child and a happier home life. We are lucky to work with the councillors and very active residents, as you want to consult with a representative amount of people so what we do deliver is something that they’ve asked for.”

Mr Smith grew up in Farnborough, attending The Wavell School, before leaving for jobs in Woking and London. “It’s nice to come back and do something in the area that I grew up in,” he said.

Bike repair clinics will be at Denmark Square, Aldershot, on August 5 and 19 and September 2, and the community centre in Totland Close, Farnborough, on July 29 and August 12 and 26, all from 1-4pm.

For more details call Mr Smith on 01252 368735. The basketball club (£1 a session) is on Saturdays from 10-11.30am at Oak Farm School’s sports hall in Ballantyne Road. Details from Kim Paulden on 01344 771159.