Heather James and Sultan Khan – Community Development Service
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AGENDA ITEM 13 Area Committee Meeting - Central Luton Community Development Service Report As part of the Community Development Service’s commitment to improving communication, each area committee will now receive a report on the service as a whole, as well as specialised items of their particular area. The Community Development Service (CDS) - Management /Staffing Information: Cllr. Ashraf is the Luton Borough Council port-folio holder for The CDS, which is part of the Housing and Community Living Department of the Council, managed by Penny Furness-Smith. The CDS comes under the direct line management of Mike McMahon(Head of Housing Strategy & Private Sector) whilst The CDS team is headed up by Sandra Hayes (Community Development Service Manager), supported by an Area Operations manager and 4 area managers (UDMs) and Centre staff; a Neighbourhood Governance Team (Manager and assistant - who are working exclusively in Luton West on the Neighbourhood Governance Project); 2 Project Managers (one specialising in group work and the other in communications) and a Service Support Team. Community Development Service Partnership Day- This was held on 28th July at Chaul End. CDS invited partners both- internal and external – to an event to learn about current work in the section and discuss future plans. More than 30 partners participated and a Compact Disk Report of the presentations is now available. Luton’s Community Centres: CDS manages and runs 11 community centres across Luton: 1 Bury Park 2 Bushmead 3 Chaul End 4 Farley 5 Hockwell Ring 6 Jubilee 7 Lewsey 8 Limbury 9 Park Town 10 Raynham Way 11 Saints We also support two independent Trusts to manage their own centres in Sundon Park and Dallow, as well as Sylam Hall in Marsh Farm, which is a small community building, used mainly by the local school working with young people who have been excluded from school. The local Community Centre plays an important part in supporting and building local communities as can be seen from attached programme as well as the major cross town initiatives i.e.: Community Hubs- CDS is working with partners across town to explore options to improve and develop our existing model of community centre facilities and community development based upon a Community Hubs approach. No decisions have been taken on any revised approach; this is exploratory work at this stage. However the existing infrastructure of community centres and the improvement to school sites through the BSF programme presents a foundation 13/1 which has the potential to enable and support such a development proposal that a community hub programme would present. A Community Hub approach could provide the potential to create modern, accessible, flexible buildings that have the potential to be shared with partners and give communities access to a wider range of services than most of the existing premises currently can offer. The approach to designing Community Hubs is to start with the needs of the community within which it is located,. However, they could have the potential to host a number of features and functions which could include: • Delivery of agreed frontline services such as day activities , youth services , or community health services and support ; • Flexible community space that could be used for and by different activity groups . • Office accommodation which would support moving existing services and staff closer to the communities they support • If appropriate there could be the potential to provide customer Access points supporting access a range of services through a local one-stop shop approach or virtually. Opportunities for social enterprise e.g. Cafes, training, support, advice/ advocacy, health related activities. Community Cohesion Community Centres across the town contribute to the cross Luton work with the communities to help reduce tension. During activity around the town and in the Bury Park area, Community Centre staff made a significant contribution to maintain communities sense of pride and provided positive working solutions whilst working with groups like “Hear My Voice Project” (a national Charity) and “Developing Brighter Future” (a local community organisation) . All of which create opportunities for sharing information; networking and promoting the good work. Emergency Evacuation Centres - Community Centres are called upon in times of emergencies as Evacuation Centres as in the case of a fire in the centre of Luton on a Sunday evening, which led to staff being called in to open up Bushmead Centre as part of the Town’s evacuation procedures Playschemes Project- Summer Playschemes were delivered through all Community Centres this year. A programme booklet was produced which included involving children in design work from last year’s playschemes to help promote the activities and make it appealing to all communities. The booklet was widely available in local schools, libraries etc.. 13/2 Play-work Training up to NVQ L3 was organised through CDS and provided via Train-2-Gain for CDS staff and volunteers. 15 applicants have been registered for the training. Swine Flu- Jubilee Community Centre became Luton’s first and only anti-viral distribution centre during July 09. All the groups who operate out of Jubilee were satisfactorily re-located locally during the period. CDS continued to manage the centre but the service was managed and supported by NHS staff distributing “TamiFlu”. The NHS were pleased with the organisation and running of the centre during the period. CDS Projects Neighbourhood Governance Pilot Scheme: This project is now up and running in West Luton and has so far helped organise and run Community Festivals at the Chaul End Centre (for Challney Residents) and Hockwell Ring Centre (for Leagrave Residents) and The Lewsey Festival which attracted approx. 2000 people, 10% of whom agreed to take part in future Neighbourhood Governance activities. The first Local SCS (Strategic Community Strategy) community planning morning was held in Hockwell Ring on 5th Sept with others being planned for Lewsey (26th Sept) ad Challney (3rd October). Health Projects CDS is working with partners across town, in wards selected by the NHS, supporting Health Checks Steering group to raise awareness of the NHS LifeCheck, which is an online health service that will help citizens in Luton assess and manage their own health. Luton Generations Together project CDS joined with partners in successfully securing funding for the Luton Generations Together project. This partnership involves: • Social Inclusion team • Community Development • Planning and Partnership team (Older People) • Integrated Youth Service • Police • Luton Cultural Services Trust Luton Generations Together project will work with all 11 LBC community centres in Luton where there is potential to create and develop intergenerational work of linking all age groups to work together. This will mobilise the statutory and voluntary sectors to work in partnership to celebrate community cohesion and promote diversity of Luton communities by organising community festivals in Biscot, Bushmead, Farley, Hockwell, Marsh Farm, Lewsey Farm, Limbury, Parktown, Rynhamway, Saints, Sundon Park neighbourhoods in 2010 – 11. Luton Migrant Project CDS was also part of the successful application led by Bren McGowan (Local Strategic Partnership Manager) which hopes to help newly arrived and arriving migrants settle into Luton. 13/3 Bushmead Area – Responsible Unit Development Managers(North) Heather James and Sultan Khan – Community Development Service • The creation of a play steering group recently named ‘Bushmead Play Project’, has led to significant progress being made on the development of a report aimed at identifying local play needs. The report should be complete by the end of the year and will be the result of three months of community consultation. Comprising mainly local residents, along with representatives from the Christchurch, local childminders network, Integrated Youth Service, Bushmead Pre-school, Cultural Services, ‘Groundwork’, and the Community Development Service, the group has met twice and now has a constitution and Child Protection policy, agreed aims and objectives, and an action plan. The consultation period will be from 5th October, during which views will be gathered in conjunction with ‘Groundwork’, which will then inform the group of the priorities for the area. These will then be translated into various phases of play development, each of which will be addressed and funding applied for. • Bushmead Play Project is to receive a substantial donation of £4200 from Dunstable Pioneers Club as the concept of improving play/sport for local youngsters was very close to the heart of one of their members who recently passed away. • Plans to extend Room 3 at Bushmead Community Centre have been drawn up and will enable 15 more children to attend the Pre-school per session, improving access to sessions for up to 150 new children. This would also enable more flexible use by the community and increase access to large hireable space. Funds for approximately a third of the estimated costs have been found but staff are looking for more money to meet the full costs. In addition to the extra space, an outdoor shelter in the play area, attached to the building would improve the environment for the free-flow of play for children in all weathers. • Bushmead Users Association was formed in July and met again in September. It’s aim is to encourage user groups and individuals to have a greater say in what happens at their community centre and in their local neighbourhood, and to work together with staff and other volunteers/agencies to make improvements to the building itself and the programme of activities available. The Association, in conjunction with Christchurch and Luton Cultural Services Trust, is currently organising a Christmas Festival and Cattern Day which will take place on Saturday 28th November. It will include Christmas Carols, various stalls, local food such as the Bedfordshire Clanger, a whole programme of 20 minute performances by local youngsters who will also perform their own songs/verses – co-ordinated by ‘Love Music, Hate Racism’, Ladies Morris Dancing, Father Christmas in his grotto and lots more.