COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT UPDATE April - December 2019 Lark in the Park at Cedars Park Community Development – Quarter One 2017 1 EM200248 INTRODUCTION This monitor provides an update of the work of the Community Development Team (CDT) during the first nine months of 2019/20. The team’s focus is on the provision of leisure activities for community and social benefit, contributing to the Council’s corporate priorities. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Attendances at projects and events Table 1: Community Development Attendances during 2019/20 delivered or commissioned by the Q1 Q2 Q3 Total CDT during this period totalled 41,487 which is 3% above target. 2019/20 12,940 20,378 8,169 41,487 This is due to higher than expected Target 2019/20 14,562 17,613 8,201 40,376 attendances at children’s activities and sports development initiatives % difference -11% +12% --- +3% for adults. Attendances are lower 2018/19 17,617 19,774 16,489 53,880 than in 2018/19. % difference -27% +3% -50% -23% CHILD SAFEGUARDING There were 46 child safeguarding referrals made during this period to Hertfordshire County Council’s Children Services or Hertfordshire Constabulary. This is four more than the same period the previous year. 74 children or young people were supported in this process. Of these referrals, the majority related to neglect. Under Section 47 and Section 17 of the Children’s Act, the Council has a legal responsibility to co-operate and provide information to Hertfordshire County Council. The Council received 114 Section 17 or Section 47 requests from Children’s Services during this period, requesting information on families residing in the Borough. There were 123 such enquiries in 2018/19. 60 members of staff were trained on safeguarding by the Community Development Manager during this period. Community Development Update - April - December 2019 2 CHILDREN (Under 11s) Kidz Klub The Kidz Klub playscheme ran at the John Warner Sports Centre during all school holidays in this period, except Christmas. This was a total of 42 days. Attendance totalled 2,711 children; an average of 64 children per day. This was lower than in 2018 due to competing schemes setting up in the Borough. The Kidz Klub Manager worked with local primary schools and Hertfordshire County Council Children’s Services seeking funded places for children. There were also attendances by children with additional needs including ADHD, Global Development Delay Disorder and Autism. Activities have included roller disco, trampolining, swimming, arts and crafts, treasure hunts, Nerf wars and many different sports. Summer 2019 Kidz Klub Summer 2019 Kidz Klub Fit and Fed Fit and Fed is a nationwide campaign that seeks to improve the lives of disadvantaged children and young people currently at risk of suffering from holiday hunger, social isolation and physical inactivity. A Fit and Fed scheme ran over the summer school holidays on the Holdbrook Estate in Waltham Cross. The programme is open to any child, 8-16 years old, who is in receipt of free school meals. 36 children attended the programme and there was a total of 310 attendances. 82% were from the Holdbrook Estate and the average age attending was 10. The programme consisted of two hours of physical activities and one hour of healthy eating (spilt for breakfast and lunch) which was prepared by Community Development staff. Nutritionists from BeezeeBodies attended each week providing nutritional workshops and family cooking activities that challenged the children’s presumptions on healthy eating, their current eating habits and their general knowledge of food and nutrition. Sport and Physical Activity at Fit and Fed Healthy Eating at Fit and Fed Community Development Update - April - December 2019 3 Lark in the Park For the third year running, Lark in the Park offered children, young people and their families free sports and games in five of the Borough’s parks during the school summer holidays. Activities included dodgeball, water fights, Nerf Wars, kwik cricket and badminton at Grundy Park (Mondays), Cedars Park (Tuesday), Cheshunt Park (Wednesdays), Barclay Park (Thursdays) and Holdbrook (Fridays). There were a total of 1,132 attendances. All costs were covered by a grant from the Tesco Bags of Help scheme. Windrush Day Grants Lark in the Park at Cheshunt Park Funding from the Government’s Windrush Day grant scheme was made available for councils and local communities to run projects celebrating and educating people on the contribution of the Windrush generation. £7,000 was successfully bid for to fund Caribbean cultural activities in local primary schools, including dance, song and quilt making, and assemblies in secondary schools. These were delivered by the Society of Caribbean and Africans (Broxbourne). 1,259 children participated in these activities. Family Events National Playday was held at Cheshunt Park on Wednesday 7 August. The good weather saw approximately 1,500 people attend and enjoy the inflatables, slip and slide water play and sports activities. The team also worked with CHEXS on their annual VegFest celebration at Grundy Park on Sunday 7 July. The event is centred around the conclusion and judging of the primary schools’ growing club competition. Approximately 1,200 people attended. National Playday at Cheshunt Park Community Development Update - April - December 2019 4 YOUTH (11-19 YEAR OLDS) Year-to-date attendances at youth projects, delivered or funded by Community Development, at the end of December totalled 9,064 which was 21% below target. This was primarily due to the lack of additional youth provision during school holidays because of to capacity issues, the end of the satellite sport club initiative and the cancellation of the monthly X-plosion youth disco due to rising costs and declining attendances. The attendance figures include both mainstream (discos, music, sport) and youth diversionary/detached youth projects.1 Weekly youth diversion projects target primarily those locations where there is greatest need for positive activities for young people. The Borough’s weekly youth programme comprised the following 14 projects as of December 2019: Table 2: Weekly programme of youth activities Mondays Thursdays • BoxCleva project at Cheshunt Boxing Club • Flamstead End detached youth work • Pound Close Multi-Sports • Next Generation Project at Boundary Park (with Catalyst Housing) • Grundy Park Multi-Sports Tuesdays Fridays • Wormley Multi-Sports • Grundy Park Friday Night Football Project • Women & Families Multi-Sport Session in Turnford • Detached Youth Project in Hoddesdon (with Safer Places) • Friday Youth Sport Night at John Warner Sports Centre Wednesdays Sundays • Holdbrook Multi-Sports • Junior Parkrun at Cheshunt Park • Cheshunt Park Multi-Sports • Broxbourne Youth Council (fortnightly) Impact of Youth Projects Whilst the Borough and the XS Project’s youth Table 3: Nuisance youths attending youth projects provision is not limited solely to those young % of “nuisance youth” attending people involved with anti-social behaviour (ASB), Period one of the programme’s intentions is to act as a Broxbourne Council youth projects positive alternative. A ‘nuisance youth’ spreadsheet 2017-18 25% records details of all young people coming to the Q1 2018-19 30% attention of Community Safety partners. Of the 130 names on the list, 25% have attended at least one Q2 2018-19 27% Borough run or funded youth project during this Q3 2018-19 26% period. Officers continue to work with colleagues in the police and the Council’s Community Safety Q4 2018-19 24.5% team to focus provision on those neighbourhoods Q1 2018-19 19% where there are higher levels of youth disorder. Q2 2018-19 25% Q3 2018-19 25% 1Diversionary projects are designed to provide a positive alternative to anti-social behaviour. They operate in neighbourhoods where community safety partners have identified youth disorder as an issue and the projects are open to all young people in that neighbourhood. Detached youth work directs youth workers to the locations where young people congregate, compared to traditional, static youth clubs. Community Development Update - April - December 2019 5 Broxbourne Youth Intervention Programme £256,000 was received from the Police and Crime Commissioner for the Broxbourne Youth Intervention Programme. An outreach worker from the St Giles Trust has been working with 43 young people who have been identified by their schools and partners as being vulnerable to being involved with gangs. The information sharing process involves the schools, the police, Hertfordshire County Council, Broxbourne Council and the London Borough of Enfield as there are cross-border issues. It is intended to expand the project to other secondary schools in 2020. As part of the programme, YC Hertfordshire has delivered two TRACKS projects to support young men at risk of this lifestyle. The programme aims to develop young men’s confidence and self-esteem and equip them with the knowledge, ability and attitudes to make positive choices concerning a range of influences and issues within their lives. The Herts Sports Partnership received funding from Sport England to set up Sporting Chance projects in each district to act as a positive alternative to youth violence. A boxing project was piloted at St Mary’s High School and engaged with 26 young people regularly between June and December. Police and Crime Commissioner Funding £4,500 was successfully bid from the Police and Crime Commissioner to deliver sport and physical activity sessions for families at the Safer Places domestic abuse refuge in Turnford. This has consisted of a regular two hour session each week open to all residents plus additional day trips to leisure and sport facilities. Although there is a high turnover of residents at the refuge, there have been 244 attendances at the project. Satellite Sport Clubs Satellite Sport Clubs were part of Sport England’s Youth Strategy and the Sports Development Officer has worked with the Herts Sports Partnership, local sports clubs and schools to set up clubs in local secondary schools.