ACT Gazette Issue 27 Summer 2017 ACT Champions Community & Rural Issues

ACT Gazette Issue 27 Summer 2017 ACT champions community & rural issues

Come chat to us at the Show! See page 10 for details of the Cumbrian Shows we’ll be at this year. Look out for the ACT information stand and come pick up your free Household Emergency Plan leaflet and balloon!

Hallmark Quality Award for Thursby Parish Hall Congratulations to Thursby Parish Hall on achieving Hallmark One quality standard for charity administration and management.

Hallmark is a nationally recognised quality standards scheme for community buildings. It’s a great way to ‘health check’ your practise and evidence this to funders, insurers (some offer policy discounts) and ACT Development Officers, Rose Lord and Hellen others. Contact us at ACT for more information. Aitken with the new Household Emergency Plan leaflet

What’s inside this issue: Save the Date:

Communities Community Planning Workshop Case Study: Kirkby Stephen Good Neighbours Scheme Wed 27 Sept 4pm - 8pm Good Councillors Guide to Neighbourhood Planning Copeland Venue TBC

Community Buildings Event Community Buildings Sat 7 Oct 10am - 2pm Case Study: Gamblesby Community Centre H&S File Warcop Parish Hall Managing Risks for your Village Hall ACT Annual General Meeting Community Buildings Event Fri 8 Sept Insurance Broadband Eden Network Group Sedbergh People’s Hall Brief Guide to Risk Assessment Charity Commission - top queries Contact Dani at ACT to book a place Tel: 01228 817224  Community Re-Paint Email: [email protected]

ACT News - Project Updates & Events Household Emergency Planing Visit ACT at the following ACT at Cumbrian Shows Cumbrian Shows: New ACT Development Officer for West Cumbria Sat 1 July - Skelton Show Lake District Partnership - Vibrant Communities Wed 26 July - Ulverston & North Lonsdale ACT AGM Cumbria Rural Panel Thurs 10 August - Appleby Show Sat 12 August - Dalston Show Other News - Events, Funding Opportunities etc. Mon 28 August - Keswick Show

Twitter Use this QR Code and

 Roll out good broadband and mobile

Hi All, connectivity to reduce the impact of

Another election and all our remoteness on rural businesses and pupils.

sitting MPs have been  Provide resources to local groups to develop returned. So now is a good their own community responses to poor time to speak them about the broadband and mobile provision. issues you would like to see them take up on your behalf.  Hold broadband and mobile providers to account through consistent use of regulation I will be raising issues from the ACRE (Action and licensing to ensure rural communities with Rural Communities in England) Election are connected, including the most difficult to Asks paper. Not surprisingly these are issues reach, and that they do not ‘cherry pick’ only we often mention in these pages such as: customers that can be served at lowest cost.

 Building growth in rural businesses as part of  Provide support and resources for producing future industrial policy, with a new up-to-date Rural Evidence. ACRE believes community-owned approach to very local that rural policy must be based upon well investment in rural enterprise. evidenced data about rural areas.

 Encourage rural housing schemes which If you want to discuss any of these issues remain affordable and available to local please do get in touch with me. To read more people in perpetuity by maintaining from the ACRE document please visit: protection from the Right to Buy. www.acre.org.uk/cms/resources/acre-general-

 Continue the availability of capital grant and election-asks-2017-5.pdf

loan funding for improvement and rebuilding ACT has been encouraging communities to of community buildings to adapt to modern think about their future and how they want to demands, for example the Big Lottery Fund, Message from Lorrainne, CEO Lorrainne, Message from shape it for many years. Now, as part of our and LEADER funding. Rebuilding Together Big Lottery Project, we are  Deliver rural focused approaches to reduce also encouraging families and households to the pressure on acute services, joining up think how they will plan for, manage and stay in health and social care services through touch if an emergency, like the 2015 floods, initiatives that maximise the impact of heavy snowfall, or extended loss of power were primary care locally. to happen.

 Maintain the current network of rural Post Raising awareness is a major way to protect Offices, to ensure that residents are still able your family, so we have produced a Household to access vital services effectively. Emergency Plan leaflet. I would encourage you all to look this and discuss it with your family.  Invest in community-led, community-owned See page 10 for more details. solutions to service provision in rural areas where a service has been lost due to a Congratulations to our Vice closure or withdrawal. President Olive Clarke OBE who was recently celebrated

 Further investment in community transport for her 50 years as treasurer initiatives to address market failure and to of Preston Patrick Memorial enable rural dwellers to access employment Hall. Olive’s involvement with and services.

ACT goes back a long way

Summer 2017 Summer

-  Encourage growth of, and community and she has always supported engagement with, smaller local schools to our work with Village Halls. protect them from closure.

 Increase access to rural childcare, through the provision of appropriate finance and support for rural childcare providers and

ACT Gazette27 ACT Issue facilities. Remember if you support us - we can better support you! Sign up now! 2

This includes tasks such as: doing the weekly shop; DIY jobs and gardening; accompanying

on a hospital visit; reading the newspaper; and regular company.

The scheme is co-ordinated through the Centre, and delivered by a team of volunteers. It’s advertised using posters, local newsletter and online, but word of mouth has been most successful.

Initial contact is made with the Centre where

Communities Case Study: Wendy or Zelda take the referral, check out Kirkby Stephen some background information (being local Good Neighbours Scheme really helps!) and contact a volunteer to see if they can meet the need. Kirkby Stephen is a parish with around 2000 residents in over 1000 households. There is All volunteers are DBS (Disclosure and Barring a GP practice, range of shops, a primary Service) checked and volunteer meetings are school and secondary school. The nearest held to offer support and training if needed. hospitals are in Penrith - 21 miles away, or Kendal - 27 miles away. Referrals are also taken from Penrith Hospital, the Beacon Centre and other local Kirkby Stephen Good Neighbours Scheme organisations such as Age UK. Many of the has been supporting people in Kirkby referrals are for older people but young parents Stephen and the surrounding area for and others in need have also received help. almost a year now. They have a dedicated team of volunteers who visit people at home Local volunteer Sue Capel said: “I wanted to do to complete odd jobs and tasks, for anyone something useful when I retired from work and of any age, in the local community. thought this scheme was just the thing. I helped someone on a hospital visit, going with them on Background the patient transport, helping them find the eye Kirkby Stephen Community and Council clinic and then helping them home again. It’s Centre is a community managed Local Links good to know that with a little commitment the centre which has become a ‘one stop shop’ for Good Neighbours Scheme can make a information, community support and access to difference to peoples lives.” services, including the library and children’s centre. The befriending visits are usually 30 to 45 minutes a week and volunteers go out when The Centre, which opened in 2011, is aware of the Centre is open so they can make contact if local needs and therefore well placed to start they need to. If people need more help than the new projects to support the community. scheme provides, volunteers can also suggest Residents had been asking for help with small referrals to other services available through the tasks such as DIY and gardening. Having Centre. heard about Good Neighbours schemes, staff at the Centre thought this could be a good way What has been achieved? to meet these needs. The scheme currently has 17 volunteers who

support 21 residents in Kirkby Stephen and the

Summer 2017 Summer

- The Project surrounding area. In the autumn of 2016, using the Good Neighbours Toolkit and a small grant from A relative of one of the scheme users reported: ACT, they put a call out for local volunteers “After a long, lonely time of grieving for the loss interested in becoming Good Neighbours. of a family member, my mum hit rock bottom Following a positive volunteer response, things and I was really worried about her. took off really quickly and they now have 21 Cont. on page 4 ACT Gazette27 ACT Issue residents benefitting from support. Title photo: Wendy Hamilton and Zelda Bromfield with 3 the Kirkby Stephen Good Neighbours leaflet

“I finally managed to persuade mum, who is a

very private person, to meet a Good Neighbour

volunteer. The volunteer got on so well with The Good mum that they now meet weekly and I feel a lot of the pressure of being mum’s only contact Councillors Guide has been eased. to Neighbourhood Planning “I can see that my mum now has a reason to get up in the morning and this has brought a real breath of fresh air to our lives.” The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) and Locality have published a new

The Learning guide aimed at helping parish and town Communities  The Good Neighbours Scheme works councillors support their community and council because local people are supporting other in deciding whether to produce a local people - we’re being good neighbours. Neighbourhood Plan, and to guide them through the process if they do.  Learn from others - we’ve had good support from ACT to set up the scheme and from a Although its aimed at local councillors, the similar organisation in Bedfordshire, which guide also provides a useful overview for runs several Good Neighbour schemes. anyone wanting to find out more about  Running the scheme from the Community Neighbourhood Planning. and Council Centre provides a base that local people recognise; they can come in to ask for Neighbourhood Plans are statutory planning support or to offer their time to volunteer. documents, used to determine planning applications in a local area. On average they  We had useful training from Cumbria CVS to can take up to two years to complete. support our volunteers in their roles. Both the process of preparing the plan and the  We take referrals from local organisations like Age UK, but we also make referrals when plan itself can result in a range of positive people need more than good neighbour outcomes, including up-skilling the local support. community and allocating land for affordable housing.  When we do befriending, we share the role between at least two volunteers which helps The guide highlights the ways in which parish prevent people becoming too attached. and town councillors can contribute to and benefit from involvement in the Neighbourhood  We are fundraising to help cover volunteer expenses and the small running costs of the Planning process: scheme.  Neighbourhood Planning provides an opportunity to demonstrate the economic and  We are lucky to have paid officer support to run the scheme, we know many other social value of elected parish and town schemes are run entirely by volunteers. councillors.  Councillors can act as community champions Contact Details and advocate for the plan, reporting progress For more information contact Wendy Hamilton: back to the council, enabling dialogue with stakeholders including local businesses, Community & Council Centre Manager, Kirkby landowners and developers. Stephen Local Links, Vicarage Lane, Kirkby

Stephen, Cumbria, CA17 4QX  Local councillors are often best placed to

Summer 2017 Summer

- Tel: 017683 71775 ensure that everyone who wishes to engage in the process is able to do so and that the Email: [email protected] final plan is circulated widely for comment. Website: www.kirkby-stephen.com The new guide is available online here: Visit the ACT website to access the Good www.mycommunity.org.uk/resources/good- Neighbour Toolkit: www.cumbriaaction.org.uk/ councillors-guide-neighbourhood-planning

ACT Gazette27 ACT Issue Resources-Publications/Toolkits-Workbooks 4

The Project

Work began with a review of the existing user

manual which included operating leaflets for

electrical equipment such as the cooker and

the dishwasher, some architects drawings, and

an early Fire Risk Assessment.

The review team agreed that a more structured document, including a Health and Safety policy,

would be more appropriate, and that this would be cross referenced with the existing Hire Case Study Agreement. It was decided to document the risks both inside and outside the building, and Gamblesby Community Centre how these would be managed going forward. Health & Safety document The team searched online to see what other Gamblesby is a fellside village 10 miles halls were doing and whilst this showed they

north-east of Penrith. Gamblesby were far behind some, it was reassuring to see Community Buildings Community Community Centre is on the site of what they were going down the right track. was originally the village school, built in the early 19th Century. The property was What Has Been Achieved? conveyed to the trustees in 1991 and has The team began to develop risk assessments since been upgraded significantly. collated into five discreet disciplines:

Background  Fire risk (using an existing risk assessment);  Hazards inside the building; Improvements to the Community Centre began with a major face lift in 2006 with a new  Hazards outside the building; kitchen, meeting room, store and rest rooms. A  Legionella risk; simple User Manual was also put together with  COSHH (Control Of Substances Hazardous information for anyone using the building. to Health) primarily looking at any chemicals

stored in the Centre. The committee of Management Trustees running the Centre ensure it is fit for purpose They used the IOSH (Institute of Occupational and well used by the community, and they are Safety and Health) approach for writing responsible for the administration of policies assessments and began by creating a Hazard and procedures for this. Check List looking at anything that had the

potential to cause harm. In 2015 new members joined the committee bringing with them experience from working in The hazards were grouped together (e.g. slips industry. It was agreed to utilise this expertise and trips, falling from height, burns and scolds), by adopting a more formal approach to and they documented who might be harmed administration and policy making. and how, and what was happening to control

the hazard. Experience of an incident at work had led one committee member to be particularly aware of health and safety issues and that, like many other village halls, the centre would benefit

Summer 2017 Summer from improvements. The first step was to

- create a Health and Safety File, including risk assessments, for the benefit of Centre users.

A Health and Safety sub-committee was formed with one long term trustee, a second with three years service, and a more recent member of the committee. Between them they

ACT Gazette27 ACT Issue had experience from education and industry. Gamblesby Community Centre 5

A scoring system from 1 to 5 helped prioritise work required to reduce risk, considering both

the ‘Consequence’ and the ‘Likelihood’ of injury. A higher score indicates greater risk and a need to take action. Actions that were felt Managing Risks for appropriate and suitable were documented with your Village Hall an ’owner’ and date to be completed. Village Hall volunteers from Thwaites, Eamont Drafting the Health and Safety Policy was Bridge, Thursby, Holme, Kirkby Thore, Natland quite straight forward after reviewing examples and Gamblesby joined us to help review the found during earlier research. A statement was guidance and information available to support added describing how the committee agreed to Village Hall Committees in managing risk. manage Health and Safety in the Centre giving details of the sub-committee members. Following the December 2015 floods, the Prince’s Countryside Fund is supporting ACT to The Health and Safety document began to assist Village Hall committees to consider the develop to include: a Building Plan marked with range of risks they face and any actions they safety features; Access Statement; Premises can take to mitigate them.

Community Buildings Community Licences; Hire Agreement; and Fire Evacuation Procedure, with some Accident and Damage Reporting Procedures and a number of other statements also added.

It was adopted at the 2016 Annual General Meeting and a laminated copy kept for users in the Centre. The document will be reviewed annually but the risk assessments are under continual review. They drive improvements by identifying the hazards to be eliminated or managed on an on-going basis, and act as records for the Centre. Those present considered the main risks to be The Learning mostly about everyday management issues: health and safety; licensing; governance; New committee members can bring new skills people management; and managing money. and experience, but they also bring a ‘fresh pair of eyes’ with which to assess existing practise. The next stage in this two year project is for a resource pack to be drawn up and commented Forming a sub-committee, rather than one on by our valiant participants, before we issue person carrying out the task, has helped to the pack for trial with 50 halls in the autumn. share the workload and the learning which is now embedded within the committee. ACT can provide village halls with free information sheets covering a wide range of Health and Safety is a shared responsibility for topics including: the whole committee. To ensure it is regularly reviewed, it’s been added to the monthly  Health and Safety meeting agenda and the sub– committee carry  Health and Hygiene out site inspections prior to each meeting.  Fire Safety

 Insurance Cover

Summer 2017 Summer

- The document has become more than just a  Making your hall accessible Health and Safety file; additional user material  Trustees Roles and Responsibilities is added and will be developed further into a comprehensive document available for the If you would like to be involved in the pilot, or to benefit of all users of the Community Centre. access information for your hall please contact us at ACT (details on back page). Further information and Guidance

ACT Gazette27 ACT Issue Contact ACT, see back page for details. 6

Free Buildings Valuation Community Buildings Event When was the last time you checked your ACT recently held another well attended event buildings sum insured? The Village Hall team in Copeland to support people working with at Norris and Fisher offer a free valuation Community Buildings in Cumbria. Twenty-four service for existing clients. representatives from thirteen village halls from around the North and West of the County came Interested in a long term policy? A 5 year long together in Parton Village Hall, near village hall policy with substantial discount is Whitehaven. also available.

We were fortunate to have Helen Conway from For more information call: 023 8026 9009 or Copeland Community Fund to share updates visit: www.villagehallinsurance.co.uk

on application guidance for the fund and to answer questions. It was particularly useful to

hear about the sort of evidence which funders Want Broadband Community Buildings Community are interested in, to show how their money will in your hall? make a difference to people (not just improvements to the building.) Providing broadband and WiFi connectivity in village halls is a great way to help deliver ACT is very grateful for the support of the Fund services and activities in rural locations. which made the event possible. Call The Phone Co-op on Tel: 01608 434 084, quoting ‘ACRE’ to find out more about:  Preferential rates on broadband and other services for village halls  Access to a £250 start-up fund, for details visit: www.thephone.coop/startupfund

You’ll also be supporting ACT as we receive a small commission for village halls receiving a quote from Norris and Fisher and those signing up to a service with The Phone Co-op.

Participants took place in lively discussions Don’t forget this short guide from Connecting about how they manage the risks associated Cumbria about ‘Broadband and WiFi in Village with hiring out their premises. They also shared Halls’ available here: www.cumbria.gov.uk/ great ideas and things they have tried in eLibrary/view.asp?ID=90417 conversations about innovations.

Suggestions for new things to try in Community Eden Village Halls Buildings included: running a Gardening Club; offering Post Office services; organising craft Network group fairs to raise funds; and offering the hall as a If you’re involved in running your village hall venue to fly remote controlled helicopters for

and use Facebook, why not join the Eden

Summer 2017 Summer young enthusiasts. - Village Halls Network?

As always, feedback suggests that all those Local volunteer Chris Rush has set up the attending really appreciated the opportunity to group which is a great opportunity for village meet others and share experience. hall volunteers in Eden to discuss ideas and

Join us for our next event: share experience.

Sat 7 Oct, 10am - 2pm To join, simply contact Hellen Aitken at ACT ACT Gazette27 ACT Issue Warcop Parish Hall (see back page for details) 7

Article contributed by ‘Insure your Village Hall’

Step 3 – Establish the risks The risk is the likelihood of someone being harmed by the hazard.

You need to establish your event’s risks and decide whether you have done enough to reduce them. You should list the measures you A Brief Guide to Risk have already taken to control the risks so that Assessments you can decide whether you need to do anything else. Whether it’s a firework display, a summer fete or the turning on of the Christmas lights, events Classify the risks into high, medium and low can be very important to a community’s sense and then for each risk consider whether or not it of identity, by providing a focus that brings can be eliminated completely and if it can’t, people together. However organising an event decide what you have to do to reduce the risk brings with it a number of key responsibilities. to an acceptable level.

Community Buildings Community Organisers become responsible for the Step 4 - Record your findings safety of everyone at the event, including You should list your findings so that you have a the public and any employees or volunteers record of all significant hazards, the nature and even if the event is free or in aid of a charity. extent of the risks and the action required to control them. It is advisable to complete a risk assessment for your event. This will help ensure that it runs Keep this record for future reference and so as smoothly and safely as possible. that you can demonstrate to interested parties that you have identified any significant risks A risk assessment is simply a careful and the control measures that you have put in examination of what could cause harm to place. people so that you can weigh up whether you have taken enough precautions or should do Step 5 - Review and revise more to prevent harm. Your risk assessments will need to be reviewed and updated if any of the risks change while Step 1 - Identify the hazards you are planning the event. Plan your event on paper, listing the activities and equipment that will be involved. Then think For further guidance or for a no obligation about the hazards relating to each activity and quote contact Insure Your Village Hall on 0330 piece of equipment. 123 5990 quoting reference BGRA 16 or visit us at www.insureyourvillagehall.co.uk A hazard is something with the potential to cause harm, such as any trip hazards, the Other village hall insurance providers movement of vehicles, high noise levels and are available. Shop around to get the the like. best for your hall.

Step 2 – Identify who could be affected Contact ACT for free copies of the ACRE For each hazard that you identify you should Village Hall Information Sheets including:

list the people who could be affected. Amongst ‘Village Hall Insurance Cover’ - a guide to Summer 2017 Summer

the different classes of insurance which a

- others this would include volunteers and members of the public. village hall management committee should consider, and ‘Health & Safety legislation You need to consider who will be attending the and village halls’. event i.e. children, older people and people with disabilities. See back page for ACT contact details.

ACT Gazette27 ACT Issue

Charity Commission - Top Queries Reusing Paint in the Community The Charity Commission is encouraging use of its online guidance and services which are Community organisations often have premises available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Top that they need to decorate yet do not have a large budget. Community RePaint can help! queries received by the Commission are:

 How to change your correspondence or Community RePaint is a non-profit distributing email address company that collects reusable, leftover paint and re-distributes it to individuals, families,  How to request a new password communities and charities in need, improving  How to get a copy of a governing the wellbeing of people and the appearance of document paces across the UK.

Community Buildings Community  How to submit an annual return In 2016 the network redistributed over 332,000  Response times for general queries - The litres of low cost, good quality paint to 3,505 Charity Commission aims to respond to community groups, charities and voluntary queries within 15 working days. organisations and over 28,000 people in social need. To read the full article with web links to the relevant online Charity Commission guidance We can, potentially, supply you locally with and services visit: paint as and when you need it by using one of www.gov.uk/government/news/use-the-charity- our 70 autonomous schemes across the UK. commission-website-to-answer-your-query Alternatively, we can supply larger quantities of remanufactured paint in a range of 19 colours plus brilliant white. Charity Trustees Decision Making For details of how to order or donate paint, or Charity boards have to make difficult decisions to set up a Community RePaint scheme, visit: on a regular basis. The Commission's ’It’s your www.communityrepaint.org.uk Decision’ guidance offers advice for trustees about how to approach decision making, and key things to consider. Public Works Loan Board As a reminder, when making decisions Town and Parish Councils can borrow money trustees have a legal duty to: for capital and infrastructure projects such as  Act within their powers community buildings. The Public Works Loan  Act in good faith and only in the interests of Board (PWLB) is the statutory body that lends the charity money to local authorities for such capital projects.  Make sure they are sufficiently informed

 Take account of all relevant factors To apply for a loan, Parish Councils require  Ignore any irrelevant factors borrowing approval from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG),

 Manage conflicts of interest

Summer 2017 Summer

- obtained via the Association of Local Councils  Make decisions that are within the range of (CALC in Cumbria). Repayment terms are decisions that a reasonable trustee body between 5 and 50 years and repayments are could make. recouped from the precept income.

Read the Commission’s guidance online here: For more information visit: www.dmo.gov.uk/ www.gov.uk/government/publications/its-your- index.aspx?page=PWLB/PWLB_pc_lending decision-charity-trustees-and-decision-making ACT Gazette27 ACT Issue 9

ACT News ACT Come chat to us at the Show!

Household Emergency Planning ACT will be at the following local Cumbrian Shows, raising awareness of Household ACT is encouraging households to consider Emergency Planning and Community how to be better prepared in the event of an Resilience. Come and pick up your free emergency and we’ve produced a simple Household Emergency Plan leaflet and ACT leaflet to help you do this. balloon!

Families and households can better cope with  Sat 1 July - Skelton Show emergencies by preparing in advance and www.skeltonshow.com working together as a team. The leaflet  Wed 26 July - Ulverston & North Lonsdale includes practical suggestions for: having a www.ulverstonandnorthlonsdaleshow.com plan; what to put in an emergency ‘grab bag’;  Thurs 10 August - Appleby Show how to stay informed; and responding to an www.applebyshow.co.uk incident.  Sat 12 August - Dalston Show

We’re offering to provide, free of charge, www.dalstonshow.co.uk enough leaflets for communities to distribute to  Mon 28 August - Keswick Show every household. We hope this will be of www.keswickshow.co.uk

interest to all communities, whether or not Visit the show websites for more information. you’re already involved in local activity to improve resilience. Cumbria Flood Recovery Fund As well as helping to distribute the household leaflet parish councils and other community Financial support is still available to individuals, groups can help to spread the word by families, and community groups affected by the including an article in local newsletters and December 2015 Floods and Storms. discussing the subject at local events and meetings. What you can apply for:  Individuals and families whose homes have If you’re also interested in looking at flooded – help towards uninsured recovery Community Emergency Planning, and how costs and flood resilience measures. your group can do more to encourage, discuss  Community groups and organisations whose and plan for improved resilience in your premises have flooded - help towards community, we would be happy to come and uninsured recovery costs and flood resilience discuss this with you. measures.

wellbeing and rebuilding projects. - or download the leaflet on our website here: https://tinyurl.com/ya6n5kvx  Flood Action and Community Emergency Response Groups - support towards This work is part of ‘Rebuilding Together’, a three year community flood resilience and emergency BIG Lottery funded programme to build the resilience of people, communities, and organisations in Cumbria, planning measures. helping them prepare for events similar to the devastating floods of December 2015. The programme is Contact Cumbria Community Foundation on

ACT Gazette27 ACT Issue Tel: 01900 825 760 or to apply online led by Cumbria CVS and delivered in partnership with ACT and Cumbria Action for Sustainability (CAfS). visit: www.cumbriafoundation.org 10

ACT welcomes new Lake District Partnership staff member - Vibrant Communities

In partnership with South Lakeland District Rose Lord has joined us as the new part time Council, ACT has been helping members of the

Officer for West Cumbria supporting Lake District National Park Partnership to ACT News ACT communities in Allerdale and Copeland with explore the presence and value of Vibrant Emergency Planning, Community Planning and Communities and what can be done to support other projects or initiatives. them.

Rose has a strong background in heritage A lively workshop considered some of the management and conservation planning; ingredients of - and catalysts for - community having worked for both the National Trust and vibrancy. The partnership were given North of England Civic Trust. information about Community Led Housing, the creative use of Community Buildings, followed Previous work has included supporting by an inspiring presentation from Annette community groups to develop and deliver Carmichael about the story of Broughton’s heritage led projects involving research, Community Led Plan (Duddon Parish). interpretation, heritage audits, surveys and appraisals. Rose has also supported groups to The question, for the strategic partnership of access funding through the Heritage Lottery businesses and agencies, was ‘what can you Fund and Big Lottery Fund, as well as regional do to make it easier for communities to be more and one-off funding sources. vibrant?’ ACT will continue to support the partnership as they move forward with some of Rose is interested in the role the historic their ideas to help communities identify needs environment plays in shaping people’s day to and take actions to address them. day lives and is keen to help communities explore ways to share and celebrate the more unusual and lesser known heritage of their local Cumbria Rural Panel area. On the 29th June the Rural Panel was launched with on the street surveys in four ACT Annual General Meeting communities across Cumbria, identifying key Rural issues. Friday 8th September Sedbergh People’s Hall The Rural Panel helps ACT to gather information on pressing rural issues that it can At this years AGM we will have a presentation then use to: and discussion on Rural Housing and the new  Engage people in meaningful debates to Community Led Housing Fund. identify solutions.

 Disseminate information. We will also be celebrating the success of some of the county’s Village Halls with awards  Promote action. for Innovation, Community Engagement,

Summer 2017 Summer The survey asks people to identify the services

Overcoming Adversity, and Good Governance. - most important to rural life and to suggest what We would welcome anyone who would like to one thing would make rural living easier. attend, you do not need to be a Member. If you The survey can be completed online: https:// would like to join us, please book in advance by cumbria.citizenspace.com/voluntary-and- contacting Dani or Kerry on Tel: 01228 817224 community-sector/rural-services-survey or by or Email: [email protected]. calling ACT on Tel: 01228 817224 ACT Gazette27 ACT Issue 11

Community Branch Fund

£20m Community Branch Fund – for Post West Funding Event Offices with no other suitable retailer within half Thursday 6 July 2017 a mile. These Post Office branches or 10am – 3pm Outreach and Satellite services play a particularly vital role in the local community. St Michael’s Church, Falcon Place, Workington CA14 2EZ Applications are expected to be below £10,000 OtherNews Speak directly to funders; access essential (or below £2,000 for Outreach or Satellite funding information, advice and support; Services). Visit: postofficecommunityfund.co.uk network with other local organisations.

Funders include: Heritage Lottery Fund, the Big Community Asset Lottery Fund, BBC Children in Need, Cumbria Fund County Council, Cumbria Community Foundation, Hadfield Trust, Francis C Scott Sports clubs and community organisations can Trust, Charity Bank, Copeland Community now apply for investment from the Community Fund and the Office of the Police and Crime Asset Fund – Sport England’s capital fund Commissioner. dedicated to enhancing the spaces in local communities that give people the opportunity to This FREE event is aimed at all local voluntary be active. organisations and community groups in the Allerdale and Copeland area, but especially This fund has a value of £15m per annum with those new to the funding arena. the anticipated size of bids between £1000 and £150,000. Visit: www.sportengland.org/funding/ Please book to attend one of the two sessions: community-asset-fund/ 10am – 12 noon 1pm – 3pm

Training for managers This event is FREE - Book your place today!

of older buildings and Tea and coffee (refreshments) will be provided professionals at registration (am and pm). Registration will be open at 9.45am and 12.45pm respectively. 9.30am - 12.30pm on EITHER: Tues 11 July, University of Cumbria, Carlisle To Book: Thurs 13 July, Kendal College Download more information and a booking form from our website: http://cumbriacvs.org.uk/ Build your understanding about improving older training-and-events buildings for weather and flood resilience and energy efficiency with a fully-funded half-day Complete and return the form to Cumbria CVS [email protected] course from CLASP.

The course, Retrofitting for Flood Resilience Cumbria CVS Training and Energy Efficiency, will be helpful for those We offer a comprehensive programme of

who look after buildings (both commercially and training for staff, trustees and volunteers. At

Summer 2017 Summer

- in the community) and is also ideal for Cumbria CVS we know that everyone’s training professionals in social housing, planning, needs are different. Tell us what you want and building control, surveying and construction. we will work with you to develop and deliver specialised learning that fits your needs. The course offers Level 4 accreditation for Tailored training at affordable prices. continuing professional development (CPD). Contact us on 01768 800350 or email: [email protected]

ACT Gazette27 ACT Issue To book visit: cafs.org.uk/events 12

Using a defibrillator before the emergency services arrives increases the chances of a person surviving a cardiac arrest by up to 70%.

Would you be interested in learning basic life support skills? Community Public Access We can carry out training sessions in your Defibrillators community to teach you about what to do if somebody starts choking, bleeding, has a heart Do you have a Community Public Access attack, is unconscious or suffers a cardiac

OtherNews Defibrillator (CPAD) in your community? arrest.

If Yes… We can also carry out specific training sessions for CPR and the use of a defibrillator. These Is it registered with the North West sessions are free but could be the difference Ambulance Service? If it is not registered with between life and death. us, we can’t send someone to it in an

emergency! So where can you put a CPAD? Do you check it regularly? We ask for you to 85% of people will have their cardiac arrest in check the CPAD weekly and report these their home, so strategic placement of CPADs is checks to us via our online system on a essential. monthly basis. There are many CPADs on village halls, Are the pads and battery in date and schools and local shops but we work with lots working? You will find the expiry date on the of companies and charities and can pretty pads themselves; it is important to keep the much put a CPAD anywhere. CPAD in good working order as it could be called upon at any time. One on-going project with the Community Heartbeat Trust and BT involves placing Does the cabinet open easily? It is important CPADs in telephone boxes. Telephone boxes to keep the keypad well lubricated if it is are generally central in rural communities and mechanical, just like any door look or it can in the residential areas in more urban become stiff. communities.

If it’s an electronic lock: has the electricity been off recently? Sometimes the electronic cabinets can go back to their default settings if there has been a dip in the power.

Have you carried out some community awareness training? It is not a legal requirement to be trained on a defibrillator but if you are faced with a cardiac arrest it will give

you some confidence to deal with the situation. Carrying out training in the community will also make people aware of how to access the CPAD in an emergency. We’ve also worked with a company which has

Summer 2017 Summer developed a solar powered CPAD for

- If No… placement in more remote areas such as golf Would you be interested in placing a CPAD courses. in your community? When cardiac arrest strikes you must act For more information, please contact Lauren quickly in order to increase a person’s chances Watson, Chain of Survival lead for the North of survival. Having a CPAD in the community West Ambulance Service, Tel: 07812 303 929 would allow a defibrillator to be on scene or Email: [email protected] ACT Gazette27 ACT Issue before the emergency services arrive. 13

Protocol will help find vulnerable

missing people Future Flood Risk Management

Know someone who has dementia or who Following the devastating damage to homes, cares for someone with dementia? Cumbria businesses, and key infrastructure caused by Constabulary is improving the way itself and Storm Desmond in December 2015, the partners go about finding vulnerable adults who OtherNews Environment Agency (EA) has developed an have gone missing. extensive list of possible options on how we could better manage flood risk in the future. The constabulary is adopting a risk-reduction tool already successfully used by other police The possible options, as well as work that has forces which, where adopted, will significantly been delivered and programmed to be increase the likelihood of missing people being delivered by the EA, have been mapped for the swiftly found safe and well. river catchments that we’re working with: the Eden, the Derwent and West Cumbria, and the The Herbert Protocol is a form which the family Kent and Leven. or carer of a vulnerable adult completes with information, such as a photograph, travel Visit: https://tinyurl.com/y7bqyorv for the full EA patterns, favourite places to visit, and health article with link to information on Google maps, information. It is retained in a safe place and is and ‘Future Flood Risk Management in immediately available to police and search Cumbria’ - a general overview and ‘how to’ teams in the event that the person goes guide for using the Google map. missing. We’re also hosting a number of community Detective Inspector Brian Murray of Cumbria drop-in events across the County. These are Constabulary said: “The first moments after we an opportunity for you to discuss future flood receive a missing person report can be crucial. risk management with us and also receive When we receive a missing person report there advice on personal and community resilience, is a necessity to take down as much detailed and information on our operational responses information as possible about who the person to flooding. is, what they look like and where they may visit.

Community Drop-in programme of events: “Taking down all this information can be time- consuming and set back efforts to locate the  Tues 4 July – Greystone Community Centre, person. Going through these details with a Carlisle 3-8pm. Lower Eden (Warwick Bridge, Low Crosby, Rickerby and Carlisle). police officer at a highly upsetting and stressful time can also be difficult for families and carers.  Thurs 6 July – Sands Centre, Carlisle 3-8pm However, if the Herbert Protocol has been Lower Eden (Warwick Bridge, Low Crosby, completed then we are essentially able to hit Rickerby and Carlisle). the ground running and move quickly on to  Fri 7 July – The Assembly Room, Kendal Town trying to locate the missing person. Hall, Kendal 3-8pm. Kent & Leven (Kendal, Burneside, Staveley, Ings, Windermere, “The protocol will help everyone from the police Ambleside, Grasmere, Backbarrow and to families and carers be best prepared for an Troutbeck Bridge).

Summer 2017 Summer

- unanticipated emergency." Events have recently been held for:

The protocol is named after George Herbert, a Upper Eden Catchment (Appleby, Pooley Bridge veteran of the Second World War who sadly and Eamont Bridge): 27 June died whilst missing and seeking to get to his Upper Derwent (Braithwaite and Keswick): 28 June childhood home. Lower Derwent & West Cumbria (Cockermouth,

Find out more here: www.cumbria.police.uk/ Workington, Flimby, Maryport and Wigton): 30 June ACT Gazette27 ACT Issue Services/ReportAdvice/Mental-Health.aspx 14

Voluntary Social No Cold Calling Zones

Car Scheme Communities across Cumbria are being urged

The Voluntary Car Scheme provides transport to set up their own No Cold Calling Zones to to members of the community of any age deter rogue traders and unwanted callers. A (under 16’s must be accompanied by an adult) self-help toolkit for establishing No Cold Calling Zones has been launched by Cumbria Trading OtherNews who cannot make their journey by public or private transport. Standards.

Typical journeys include getting to the shops, What are No Cold Calling Zones? doctors, dentists, making public transport The aim of a No Cold Calling Zone (NCCZ) is connections and visiting friends. Passengers to work in partnership to reduce the overall pay a contribution towards the cost of the incidents of rogue trading and distraction transport. burglary throughout Cumbria.

For more information, contact: Quite simply, NCC Zones are about local Katy Wood - Voluntary Transport Officer residents or communities having the Tel: 07788 396194 confidence to say "No" to uninvited sales people and to warn rogue traders and cold Email: [email protected] callers that they are not welcome in an area. Web: www.cumbria.gov.uk/voluntarycarscheme No Cold Calling Zones are created to Discounts for Volunteers discourage doorstep callers from visiting a particular area. The zones are easily The organisations listed below have come identifiable by signs visibly promoting the together to reward volunteers who give up their message that cold callers are not own time to either co-ordinate or drive for the welcome. Traders are urged to respect Voluntary Social Car Scheme. residents' wishes and not to cold call within the  Dewhursts (Hair Dressers), Keswick clearly defined area.

 Port Road Garage, Carlisle No Cold Calling Zone Toolkit  Rootz (Hair Dressers) Barrow in Furness Zones can now be set up by residents and  Handy Andy’s Car Wash, Dobbies, Carlisle local communities using a self-help toolkit. Whilst every area may not be suitable,  The Gallery (Hair Dressers) Carlisle advice and guidance will be provided.  Windermere Auto Centre, Windermere The toolkit includes a step by step guide with  HQ Auto and Leisure Centre, Penrith draft letters and voting forms. Door stickers and  Mae’s Tea Rooms & Gallery, Uldale street signs will also be provided following

 The Old Engine House, West Walls, Carlisle consultation with key partner agencies ahead of the launch of a Zone.  Penny Farthing Coffee House, Cecil Street, Carlisle Visit the Cumbria County Council website for

 Blueberry’s Tea Room, Alston links to the toolkit, associated documentation,

Summer 2017 Summer

- and list of existing No Cold Calling Zones in the For full details of discount offers visit: county: www.cumbria.gov.uk/tradingstandards/ www.cumbria.gov.uk/voluntarycarscheme consumers/nocoldcallingzones.asp

If you’re part of a business that is looking to Or contact Trading Standards on: give a little back to the deserving volunteers, Tel: 01539 713594 please contact Katy (details above). Email: [email protected]

ACT Gazette27 ACT Issue

Carlisle, Eden contact: Previous editions of the ACT Gazette online at: Hellen Aitken - Development Officer www.cumbriaaction.org.uk/ Tel: 01228 817592 ResourcesPublications/ACTGazette Email: [email protected] ACT would like to thank the following for Barrow, South Lakeland contact: supporting our Community Buildings Advice Fran Richardson - Development Officer Service for 2017-2018: Tel: 01228 817593 Email: [email protected]

Allerdale, Copeland contact: Rose Lord - Development Officer Tel: 01228 817225 Email: [email protected]

01228 81 7224 81 01228 To speak with Lorrainne Smyth, ACT Chief

Executive, or contact ACT reception:

Tel: 01228 817224

Email: [email protected]

©ACT 2017. This publication may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium provided that it is reproduced accurately and not used in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as ACTion with Communities in Cumbria copyright and the title of the publication specified.

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