Issue - meetings

REPORT OF THE COMMUNITIES MANAGER

To update  the Committee on the activities and actions of the Communities Officer, to advise on the current expenditure and balances of the delegated budgets and to consider applications for grant funding.

RESOLVED: That grant funding of £1,500 be awarded to White Thorn Bowls Club to contribute towards the costs of rebuilding the ditch gully and ditch wall.

REASON FOR DECISION: To support community groups and activities in Letchworth.

Audio Recording – Start time of Item – 1 hours, 15 minutes and 35 seconds

The Communities Officer presented the report entitled Grants and Community Update and drew attention to the following:

Grants in the pipeline:

·                     Ongoing discussions were taking place between local community groups and local faith groups to do some kind of multicultural event in the summer which would hopefully take part around the time of the Letchworth festival fortnight. 

·                     The food poverty group had tightened up on the way they received referrals so that the people who needed food got it.  Some people last year were getting lots of parcels from different agencies.  This was now being dealt with via a central point to ensure everyone in need received something rather than too much or too little. 

Chairman’s Volunteer Achievement Awards

·                     Nominations were available on the Council website for all categories of Volunteers. 

·                     Deadline for nominations was 21^st December 2018.

·                     The judging panel was due to meet on 9/10 January 2019 to judge the final categories and then those concerned would be notified, invited and awarded their awards at the Chairman’s Civic Reception in February.

BID Ballot

BID count was going to be the following day so the result was due to be available sometime that afternoon and would be made public on the Friday. 

BUDGET

2017/2018 discretionary grant budget was still being used.  £9,932 available to spend from last year’s budget with the 2018/2019 budget still intact.  In total £25,432 available.

In response to a question from Councillor Cunningham

The part of the report referred to in Section 8.3 was provided by Simon Ellis; so when Section 106 funding was collected for the new developments, it went towards new waste contract.

In response to a question from Councillor Needham

8.1.2.  The Food Poverty Network Group.  A really comprehensive list of who was invited to attend was provided.  The food bank did not attend despite saying they would.

Feed up Warm up

Worked with Shane Cole who had his own street food concession and he was very keen to provide free food for homeless people and rough sleepers somewhere in North Herts.  He came from Letchworth and was homeless as a teenager after coming out of the care system and felt very strongly that he wanted to help people especially leading up to Christmas.  He had been inundated with offers of help.  Letchworth businesses had been extremely generous donating sleeping bags, clothes, etc.  The pilot was starting this evening and throughout December.  He would like to carry on throughout the winter months and take it from there.  Councillor Billing had linked him in with Susie from Best Before Café because he could also use some of that waste food.  She also had a very good ethos having built things up gradually.  He would run the project from Hitchin initially. 

Councillor Needham knew that it was Shane’s intention to offer more than a warm meal from his van and many of the shops had been collecting toiletries  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54