Chesham and Chiltern Villages
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Chesham and Chiltern Villages Local Area Priorities 2012—2013 Review The Chesham and Chiltern Villages Local Area Forum includes the parishes of: Ashley Green, Chartridge, Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards, Latimer, the Lee and and Chesham Town Council During 2012/13, the Chesham and Chiltern Villages Local Area Forum provided funding to a number of projects to address the priorities of the local area. Some of these are set out in the following pages. The projects were undertaken using the LAF’s Local Priorities budget from Buckinghamshire County Council. Local Area Forums The Chesham and Chiltern Villages Local Area What is a Local Area Forum? Forum (LAF) has a devolved budget from the County Council (£54,584 in 2012/2013), which it To help planning and service delivery at a can use to support its action plan. local level, Buckinghamshire has been divided into 19 local areas. The role of the For example, in 2012/13 the Local Area Forum Forum is to agree priorities and used its budget to fund: delegate resources effectively within the local Blue Light course for young people, with area. Bucks Fire and Rescue The Chesham and Chiltern Villages Local Citizens Advice Bureau outreach work Area Forum has identified priorities for the A Movers and Shakers project for Asian men area and what steps can be taken, by the targeting older people. Local Area Forum or others, to address these priorities. The current All projects funded can be found on the final actionable priorities against which the page of this review. Local Area Forum’s budget can be allocated are: Reduce Anti Social Behaviour through initiatives which involve young people in How does the Local Area sporting, recreational, performance or Forum develop it’s priorities? creative activities or programmes designed for 'crime diversion' In March 2010 the Local Area Forum held a Lo- Enhance a sense of community in a village cal Priorities workshop which included commu- or contribute to the sustainability of village nity representatives. On the 19th October 2011, life e.g. facilities in a village hall, keeping another workshop was held to refresh the prior- open a local shop or pub ities and to which young people were invited to Support the local economy and input their views. In November 2012, a Local employment by developing Chesham and Priorities sub-group of the Local Area Forum the Villages as a centre for Arts & Creative was formed to update and re-focus the priorities Industries, Conferences & Events, and determine which areas should be worked on Hospitality/Local Foods/Gastropubs from April 2013 onwards. Reduce the social isolation of the Asian Community in order to increase their capacity to improve the health and wellbeing of all members of their community Members of the Local Area Contribute towards the priorities Forum identified for the Chesham Community Wellbeing Project which aims to tackle The Chesham and Chiltern Villages Local deprivation and increase the wellbeing of Area Forum includes county councillors, the Chesham community district councillors and appointed Develop community transport schemes to representatives from each of the parishes. improve access to facilities and services for vulnerable or older age residents in rural Local Area Forums can also invite other areas organisations to attend and so the Chairman of Improve highways and road safety. CHAP (Chesham Action Partnership) is also a member. Project Reports Blue Light Course This Blue Light Course was part-funded and supported by the Chesham and Chiltern Villages Local Area Forum (£1,970) as part of the local area plan priorities concerning employment skills and diversionary activities. The 30 hour Blue Light course was held at Chesham Fire Station during the February Half Term week. LAF Priorities: The week was designed to give Diversionary activities for young people the experience of Young People and employabil- training with the emergency ser- ity skills. vices and to learn new skills which include team building and safety activities. The course is ac- credited and provides candidates with the opportunity to gain 3 ASDAN accredited points and a First Aid Certificate from St John Ambulance. The joint initiative involved other agencies participating by providing their professional input and included Thames Valley Police, St John’s Ambulance and Addaction. The youth crew are issued with a uniform to wear for the course and participate in activities includ- ing drill ground and fire engine familiarisation, hose running, and kit checks. Other activities include first aid, arson reduction/awareness, radio procedure, knots and lines, chip pan display and home safety checks. Food Trail—Chesham Walkers are Welcome Chesham Walkers Are Welcome have launched the brand new Chesham Food Trail to help people discover the local produce being created, used and sold in the town and surrounding villages. The leaflet features a town centre trail comprising some of the best loved shops and outlets, as well as some hidden gems! There are also details of suppliers beyond the town cen- tre and 3 trails featuring local producers in the surrounding villages, as well as information on local markets. It is hoped that the leaflet will help boost the local economy and also to get local people and visitors out walking, both for health and to appreciate the beauty of the Chilterns. The trail leaflet is both in printed form and as a web download. Chesham and Chiltern Villages LAF awarded Chesham Walkers are Welcome £500 to support printing and design. 3 Project Reports CAB Community Outreach Project Many vulnerable people, the elderly, the young, new parents and those with disabilities are not aware that they are able to seek help to improve their lives; or know how or where they could get help; or are too worried or fragile to make the first step. This project supported by The Chalfonts, Chesham and Chiltern Villages and the Missendens LAFs has provided the Chiltern CAB with the opportunity to extend outreach services and offer access to CAB advice at different centres in the area which do not have a regular outreach ser- vice but where people who need them are not able to access them for a number of reasons. In each area, as a result of the funding Chiltern CAB have been able to: Deliver sessions with large groups of older people who are residents of Paradigm Housing offering: LAF Priorities: Older people, Advice on how to stay warm in the winter How to save money on fuel bills Young people, Asian commu- How to save money on other utility bills nity, Employment, Communi- Information about Community Transport Schemes ty Wellbeing. Information about where to get help and advice Signposting to CAB service and other agencies Deliver advice subsequent to these sessions at CAB offices and on site at Paradigm Housing locations. This has involved specialist caseworker advice. Meet with Health Professionals to reinforce the link between stress and health issues un- derpinned by our work in GP surgeries. Meet with neighbourhood police to provide signposting to CAB services. Provide additional capacity to meet the local demand generated. Specifically, the following additional work has been carried out in the Chesham and Chiltern Villages area 6 sessions including Job Seekers group, Job Centre Plus, Probus 50 plus forum and Rotary Christmas Lunch Club Attended Chesham Health Fare to raise awareness of CAB services Sessions in Sainsbury foyer to raise awareness of CAB services Attended sessions at all Chesham Children’s Centres to work with young families, raising awareness of CAB service, offering direct assistance, providing food vouchers, providing budgeting advice , referring to caseworkers as needed. 4 Project Reports Rafe’s Place Active Sessions In May 2012 Rafe’s Place received a £1,970 award from the Chesham and Chiltern Villages LAF to run an ‘active LAF Priority: sessions’ pilot at Chesham Youth Centre over a 6 week Facilities and activities for period. Active sessions provide young people with access young people to activities that are of interest to them such as DJing, street dance and parkour. These were tailored to the specific requirements of local young people, informed by a consulta- tion period. The main objective of this pilot was to test if using students to plan and run the ac- tive sessions would work. The purpose of this was to provide a sustainable solution to youth cen- tres whilst providing valuable work experience for students. Student Recruitment and Training Students were recruited initially through Buckinghamshire New University’s Freshers’ Fair. One student was recruited as part of a ‘professional practice scheme’ for which the student needed to contribute 100 hours in order to pass a module on the ‘Events and Festival Management’ course. All volunteers were inter- viewed by members of the Rafe’s Place core team in order to check suitability for the project. Successful students attended ‘Introduction to youth work’ and ‘safeguard’ training and were subject to CRB checks, provided by Action4Youth. Each student attended training on a total of two evenings. Programme Planning The event planning team worked with Rafe’s Place to schedule active sessions and organise resources. Students were provided with a template timetable, results from the consultation questionnaire and information about student volunteers and their skills. The events team contributed ideas to the plans, whilst Rafe’s Place managed the process Active session implementation Active sessions were conducted over a 6 week period. Rafe’s Place core team members delivered any specialist equipment to the Youth Centre (e.g. mats for parkour or music equipment) prior to the sessions and drove student volunteers to and from Bucks New University to the Youth Centre. A member of Rafe’s Place or a professional was at all sessions supporting the student volunteers and helping to organise the young people.