Post by Joe K on Apr 14, 2015 4:21:08 GMT -5
These are the minutes for the latest St. James' Park meetings, held at the city council offices (though it's been re-named, as well as re-chaired).
They've been redacted, hence the large gaps in the attendance list and absence of names throughout the document, as we can't even know the name of the 'Magical Clown', it seems, and I am going to chase that up. I don't see why the city council should be allowed to provide a venue for meetings concerning Barton & Tredworth residents, and the facilities they make use of (if they're lucky) without those residents being even notified of the meetings, let alone given an opportunity to attend them.
If any councillors are reading this, or candidates for the coming council elections, I hope they will take up this issue as well, and in particular ask why it should be that Amey are prevented from locking Napier Play Area at night, as requested by residents, due to the presence of people in the Area, when CCTV cameras exist to show the council and police that this is happening? The minutes don't even refer to these camera, so it would also be worth asking if they are even operating? If they are, though, it's time to retrieve the Play Area for everyone's use in the summer.
Safe & Successful Communities Meeting
Venue: Meeting Room 1, North Warehouse Date: 15th December 2014 Time: 14.30pm
Present:
Emily Jones (Chair)
Apologies:
Welcome, Apologies and Introductions
Emily Jones chaired the meeting; welcomed the group and received apologies.
explained that
would not always both be attending these meetings, as they were both
Directors for their Company and needed to manage their time effectively.
Project Solace Report
updated on the recent issues with anti-social behaviour further in town, outside McDonald’s on Westgate Street.
A group of youths are trying to form a gang and increase their membership.
added that those misbehaving were
predominantly from a white British background.
Europa European Alliance (EEA) Report
reported that it had taken three months for
and
to register EEA as a Community Interest
Company (CIC). The office for EEA is based in Spread Eagle Court, Northgate Street. It is a small space, on the second
floor in the Leckhampton Suite, with another room attached for workshops. The rent is cheap and internet is provided
free.
and
only have a limited grant from Barton and Tredworth Community First and they want it to
cover as much as it can.
is hopeful that Jobcentre Plus will start providing employment workshops for the EEA from January-February
time, but this is dependent on securing funding for translators. The workshops will include focussing on CVs, promotion
of skills, and successful job searches.
Drop-in sessions, provided by
, will start from January and will be held once a month, possibly twice.
is
trying to get assistance from the Law Centre or the Welfare rights team for the drop-in sessions.
and
have already set up groups to support parents, carers and people with disabilities.
was also hoping to set up a youth club, separate to
, run by a member of the Slovak community.
said the organisations in Barton and Tredworth were charging too much to hold a youth club there, but
still felt
the youth club should be based in that area.
thought
might be accepting applications for small grants.
welcomed any information about grants.
explained that the required costs of the EEA included rent, travel and the five discrete projects. Emily agreed to
pass details of the Partnership and Engagement team (
team), but cautioned that they would need to see signs
of wider community involvement. Emily added that the Barnwood Trust were offering £250 grants, plus each City
Councillor had £1,000 to spend in their ward and none of the Barton Councillors had spent theirs yet.
asked whether the volunteer for the youth club had been DBS checked.
confirmed, but asked whether it
needed to be general or a specific DBS form, which was unclear.
suggested
would know.
Emily advised that if different people were running each of the groups, they could apply for grants individually to
increase the maximum available funding.
has spoken to GAVCA;
had helped with the setting up of the CIC and training. Emily offered to meet
with
and
in January to discuss future funding.
ASB Event
and
were hoping to arrange an event around anti-social behaviour, with the Police’s support. The aims
of the event would be to raise awareness of the consequences of ASB and introduce the people who work in ASB. It
would be an open, information day.
thought it might be good to have some input on the waste and recycling rules
too.
said it was important not to bombard the community with complex information. The group agreed to start
planning an event that would be held on the 21st March from 11-3pm – if the funding and venue are available. It was
agreed that the old Friendship Café site was the best location.
agreed to try to book the venue from 10am-4pm to
allow for set-up/take-down time.
agreed that there needed to be something to attract people to come, such as the Czech-Slovak Roma youths
dancing and face painting.
suggested
band could play at the event.
said
would have more
knowledge about what would be attractive to the community.
proposed having two or three stands, each with a
translator, though these would need to be paid for.
said translating leaflets would be easily possible.
suggested a theatre production could be a useful way to get a message across.
cautioned that people will
come and go at different times, which could make it difficult to organise.
asked whether
the Magical Clown would be appropriate for the Czech-Slovak Roma youths.
said it
might be, but she would have to ask the community.
The group agreed to have a Police/Safer Gloucester stand, a Solace/ATF/Environmental Health stand and a Waste and
Recycling stand. ATF could promote the Mini Moto project.
suggested having the Hello Gloucester van at the
centre too.
Emily said there could be some craft type activity to make giant flowers for the Hello Gloucester van’s summer display,
as
had said the parent’s group were already working on Carnival decorations.
agreed to check what sort of refreshments would be appropriate and if any of the community would be prepared
to provide food and what this would cost.
Police Report
explained that the ASB figures were still low for the park areas.
added that he had, however, been told that
there were issues with Amey locking people in the park. Emily said Amey had only locked one gate so there were means
of exit through the other two gates.
asked whether the Police felt the Cultural Fayre had helped with some of the problems in the area and
confirmed that he thought so.
said that eventually the aim was to hand over the organisation of the Fayre to the
community.
reported that there were issues in Morpeth Street, with one resident holding barbecues that attracted large
numbers of people, who were noisy and prevented other residents from parking by their homes. Emily asked
to
find out who in the Council they had spoken to. The CCTV camera has been installed and street surveys have been
completed.
asked if there were any other problems related to the Eastern European community.
said there had not been
many reports recently, which could be because people haven’t reported any incidents, or it could be because the
community had accepted the previous messages they had received about ASB.
had heard reports of women from Eastern Europe being trafficked in ASDA car park.
said he was unaware of
this being an issue, though there had been many reports of ASB in the car park. There were often complaints of young
Czech-Roma prostitutes, but
had not come across these individuals on the streets. The street workers were all
white British. Czech prostitutes had, however, been discovered in brothels.
asked
to let him know if she
hears anything about trafficking or prostitution.
explained that the youth club that was based at Barton Community Centre was now meeting at the GARAS
building and would be held on Wednesday instead of Monday. It would also incorporate the dance club; this would no
longer be held on a separate day. From January there would also be a youth club for older youths at Chequer’s on a
Tuesday evening from 7-9pm, involving the Active Connections workers.
said she would still like to arrange some
youth provision through the EEA, at weekends, to try and prevent the boredom.
City Council Report
Emily explained that she was reviewing activity within communities, as her role was to make the community stronger.
Emily was looking strategically at what was available, what was working and what was missing. Emily was keen to
ensure there was a two-way dialogue between agencies and the community, to inform the services that are provided.
Emily encouraged all to let her know about any projects or clubs that they think would be useful for the Council to know
about.
The Partnership and Engagement team offer grants to the Community and also act as community builders, by
connecting people to clubs or to funding opportunities. They feed knowledge up to the Neighbourhood Management
team, who maintain a strategic overview of service provision. Emily also has responsibility for older people and for
identifying funding for the Council.
Emily stated that the Council was trying to reinvigorate the Carnival and would like as many different communities in
the procession as possible. This year there would be a rugby emphasis and the procession would commence from
Kingsholm Stadium, culminating at the Park, where there would be a big Sports-themed event.
commented that
the date would be crucial, because if it falls during the summer holidays, many of the Eastern European children will be
away visiting their relatives.
asked if there would be flyers to promote the carnival, which Emily said she would ask
for.
added that Sainsbury’s were very supportive of sports related events and may be willing to provide
sponsorship.
Friendship Café Report
has sent an update of activities running in the Friendship Café. Please see below.
Any Other Business
No other business was raised.
Meeting closed: 16:02
Next meeting:
Event Planning: Monday 2nd February 2015 at 2pm in Meeting Room 1, North Warehouse.
Safe & Successful Communities: Monday 16th March 2015 at 2pm in Meeting Room 1, North Warehouse.
Actions:
Emily to meet with
and
in January regarding funding applications
to book the GARAS main hall on the 21st March from 10-4pm
to find out appropriate entertainment and food for the 21st March
Emily to chase Council involvement in Morpeth Street issue.
Friendship Café @ Chequers – groups meeting at the moment:
The following organisations are now settling in to Chequers – some are due to start and others have already got going:
InfoBuzz – using the recording studio, for further details contact
available for young people and groups at
subsidised rates
Innsworth Rifle Club (Monday & Thursday 7.30-9.30pm)
‘PATA’ Parents & Toddlers Association
Barton St Police (specific dates/drop in only)
Fair Shares art group Tuesday afternoons 1.30-4.30pm
Allotments cookery group Mondays 1.30-4.30pm
Woodwork group – Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays
Friendship Café also runs its own activities:
Mondays & Thursdays – Archery 7pm
Tuesdays – Asian Carers group 10-2pm
Wednesdays – Martial arts 7.30-8.30pm
Fridays – ‘Dads ‘n lads’ 7.15-10pm
Saturdays – Girls groups 2-4pm – Contact Fatemah 07593 275503
Other meetings and events take place run by ourselves or through hire of the main hall or meeting rooms.
met with me, and later
from Active Connections linked up with
and will be running
a programme Tuesday evenings at Chequers for the Eastern European youth. As I understand it, the senior group will meet at Chequers
and the Juniors will meet at Garas/the old Friendship Café. This is due from January.
Also if you are short of a venue space for future meetings then please contact
as during the daytimes we often have a side room
free.
They've been redacted, hence the large gaps in the attendance list and absence of names throughout the document, as we can't even know the name of the 'Magical Clown', it seems, and I am going to chase that up. I don't see why the city council should be allowed to provide a venue for meetings concerning Barton & Tredworth residents, and the facilities they make use of (if they're lucky) without those residents being even notified of the meetings, let alone given an opportunity to attend them.
If any councillors are reading this, or candidates for the coming council elections, I hope they will take up this issue as well, and in particular ask why it should be that Amey are prevented from locking Napier Play Area at night, as requested by residents, due to the presence of people in the Area, when CCTV cameras exist to show the council and police that this is happening? The minutes don't even refer to these camera, so it would also be worth asking if they are even operating? If they are, though, it's time to retrieve the Play Area for everyone's use in the summer.
Safe & Successful Communities Meeting
Venue: Meeting Room 1, North Warehouse Date: 15th December 2014 Time: 14.30pm
Present:
Emily Jones (Chair)
Apologies:
Welcome, Apologies and Introductions
Emily Jones chaired the meeting; welcomed the group and received apologies.
explained that
would not always both be attending these meetings, as they were both
Directors for their Company and needed to manage their time effectively.
Project Solace Report
updated on the recent issues with anti-social behaviour further in town, outside McDonald’s on Westgate Street.
A group of youths are trying to form a gang and increase their membership.
added that those misbehaving were
predominantly from a white British background.
Europa European Alliance (EEA) Report
reported that it had taken three months for
and
to register EEA as a Community Interest
Company (CIC). The office for EEA is based in Spread Eagle Court, Northgate Street. It is a small space, on the second
floor in the Leckhampton Suite, with another room attached for workshops. The rent is cheap and internet is provided
free.
and
only have a limited grant from Barton and Tredworth Community First and they want it to
cover as much as it can.
is hopeful that Jobcentre Plus will start providing employment workshops for the EEA from January-February
time, but this is dependent on securing funding for translators. The workshops will include focussing on CVs, promotion
of skills, and successful job searches.
Drop-in sessions, provided by
, will start from January and will be held once a month, possibly twice.
is
trying to get assistance from the Law Centre or the Welfare rights team for the drop-in sessions.
and
have already set up groups to support parents, carers and people with disabilities.
was also hoping to set up a youth club, separate to
, run by a member of the Slovak community.
said the organisations in Barton and Tredworth were charging too much to hold a youth club there, but
still felt
the youth club should be based in that area.
thought
might be accepting applications for small grants.
welcomed any information about grants.
explained that the required costs of the EEA included rent, travel and the five discrete projects. Emily agreed to
pass details of the Partnership and Engagement team (
team), but cautioned that they would need to see signs
of wider community involvement. Emily added that the Barnwood Trust were offering £250 grants, plus each City
Councillor had £1,000 to spend in their ward and none of the Barton Councillors had spent theirs yet.
asked whether the volunteer for the youth club had been DBS checked.
confirmed, but asked whether it
needed to be general or a specific DBS form, which was unclear.
suggested
would know.
Emily advised that if different people were running each of the groups, they could apply for grants individually to
increase the maximum available funding.
has spoken to GAVCA;
had helped with the setting up of the CIC and training. Emily offered to meet
with
and
in January to discuss future funding.
ASB Event
and
were hoping to arrange an event around anti-social behaviour, with the Police’s support. The aims
of the event would be to raise awareness of the consequences of ASB and introduce the people who work in ASB. It
would be an open, information day.
thought it might be good to have some input on the waste and recycling rules
too.
said it was important not to bombard the community with complex information. The group agreed to start
planning an event that would be held on the 21st March from 11-3pm – if the funding and venue are available. It was
agreed that the old Friendship Café site was the best location.
agreed to try to book the venue from 10am-4pm to
allow for set-up/take-down time.
agreed that there needed to be something to attract people to come, such as the Czech-Slovak Roma youths
dancing and face painting.
suggested
band could play at the event.
said
would have more
knowledge about what would be attractive to the community.
proposed having two or three stands, each with a
translator, though these would need to be paid for.
said translating leaflets would be easily possible.
suggested a theatre production could be a useful way to get a message across.
cautioned that people will
come and go at different times, which could make it difficult to organise.
asked whether
the Magical Clown would be appropriate for the Czech-Slovak Roma youths.
said it
might be, but she would have to ask the community.
The group agreed to have a Police/Safer Gloucester stand, a Solace/ATF/Environmental Health stand and a Waste and
Recycling stand. ATF could promote the Mini Moto project.
suggested having the Hello Gloucester van at the
centre too.
Emily said there could be some craft type activity to make giant flowers for the Hello Gloucester van’s summer display,
as
had said the parent’s group were already working on Carnival decorations.
agreed to check what sort of refreshments would be appropriate and if any of the community would be prepared
to provide food and what this would cost.
Police Report
explained that the ASB figures were still low for the park areas.
added that he had, however, been told that
there were issues with Amey locking people in the park. Emily said Amey had only locked one gate so there were means
of exit through the other two gates.
asked whether the Police felt the Cultural Fayre had helped with some of the problems in the area and
confirmed that he thought so.
said that eventually the aim was to hand over the organisation of the Fayre to the
community.
reported that there were issues in Morpeth Street, with one resident holding barbecues that attracted large
numbers of people, who were noisy and prevented other residents from parking by their homes. Emily asked
to
find out who in the Council they had spoken to. The CCTV camera has been installed and street surveys have been
completed.
asked if there were any other problems related to the Eastern European community.
said there had not been
many reports recently, which could be because people haven’t reported any incidents, or it could be because the
community had accepted the previous messages they had received about ASB.
had heard reports of women from Eastern Europe being trafficked in ASDA car park.
said he was unaware of
this being an issue, though there had been many reports of ASB in the car park. There were often complaints of young
Czech-Roma prostitutes, but
had not come across these individuals on the streets. The street workers were all
white British. Czech prostitutes had, however, been discovered in brothels.
asked
to let him know if she
hears anything about trafficking or prostitution.
explained that the youth club that was based at Barton Community Centre was now meeting at the GARAS
building and would be held on Wednesday instead of Monday. It would also incorporate the dance club; this would no
longer be held on a separate day. From January there would also be a youth club for older youths at Chequer’s on a
Tuesday evening from 7-9pm, involving the Active Connections workers.
said she would still like to arrange some
youth provision through the EEA, at weekends, to try and prevent the boredom.
City Council Report
Emily explained that she was reviewing activity within communities, as her role was to make the community stronger.
Emily was looking strategically at what was available, what was working and what was missing. Emily was keen to
ensure there was a two-way dialogue between agencies and the community, to inform the services that are provided.
Emily encouraged all to let her know about any projects or clubs that they think would be useful for the Council to know
about.
The Partnership and Engagement team offer grants to the Community and also act as community builders, by
connecting people to clubs or to funding opportunities. They feed knowledge up to the Neighbourhood Management
team, who maintain a strategic overview of service provision. Emily also has responsibility for older people and for
identifying funding for the Council.
Emily stated that the Council was trying to reinvigorate the Carnival and would like as many different communities in
the procession as possible. This year there would be a rugby emphasis and the procession would commence from
Kingsholm Stadium, culminating at the Park, where there would be a big Sports-themed event.
commented that
the date would be crucial, because if it falls during the summer holidays, many of the Eastern European children will be
away visiting their relatives.
asked if there would be flyers to promote the carnival, which Emily said she would ask
for.
added that Sainsbury’s were very supportive of sports related events and may be willing to provide
sponsorship.
Friendship Café Report
has sent an update of activities running in the Friendship Café. Please see below.
Any Other Business
No other business was raised.
Meeting closed: 16:02
Next meeting:
Event Planning: Monday 2nd February 2015 at 2pm in Meeting Room 1, North Warehouse.
Safe & Successful Communities: Monday 16th March 2015 at 2pm in Meeting Room 1, North Warehouse.
Actions:
Emily to meet with
and
in January regarding funding applications
to book the GARAS main hall on the 21st March from 10-4pm
to find out appropriate entertainment and food for the 21st March
Emily to chase Council involvement in Morpeth Street issue.
Friendship Café @ Chequers – groups meeting at the moment:
The following organisations are now settling in to Chequers – some are due to start and others have already got going:
InfoBuzz – using the recording studio, for further details contact
available for young people and groups at
subsidised rates
Innsworth Rifle Club (Monday & Thursday 7.30-9.30pm)
‘PATA’ Parents & Toddlers Association
Barton St Police (specific dates/drop in only)
Fair Shares art group Tuesday afternoons 1.30-4.30pm
Allotments cookery group Mondays 1.30-4.30pm
Woodwork group – Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays
Friendship Café also runs its own activities:
Mondays & Thursdays – Archery 7pm
Tuesdays – Asian Carers group 10-2pm
Wednesdays – Martial arts 7.30-8.30pm
Fridays – ‘Dads ‘n lads’ 7.15-10pm
Saturdays – Girls groups 2-4pm – Contact Fatemah 07593 275503
Other meetings and events take place run by ourselves or through hire of the main hall or meeting rooms.
met with me, and later
from Active Connections linked up with
and will be running
a programme Tuesday evenings at Chequers for the Eastern European youth. As I understand it, the senior group will meet at Chequers
and the Juniors will meet at Garas/the old Friendship Café. This is due from January.
Also if you are short of a venue space for future meetings then please contact
as during the daytimes we often have a side room
free.