Agenda item

To receive any verbal reports from Members regarding Ward matters and Outside Organisations.

The Chair led a discussion on ward matters and outside organisations including:

·                Citizens Advice North Herts - Councillor Ruth Brown;

·                Royston First BID - Councillor Ruth Brown;

·                Town Twinning - Councillor Ruth Brown;

·                Melbourn Area Youth Development - Councillor Carol Stanier;

·                Coombes Community Centre - Councillor Carol Stanier;

·                North Herts CVS - Councillor Tony Hunter.

Audio recording – 1 hour 27 minutes 45 seconds

The Chair led a discussion on ward matters and outside organisations. The following issues were discussed:

Citizens Advice North Herts

Councillor Ruth Brown advised that:

·                They were experiencing increased demand for their services and expected this to continue to increase;

·                They were only doing face-to-face work in Letchworth at the moment and were operating a mixed model of delivery;

·                There was no news on when face-to-face services would re-open in Royston or Hitchin at the present time, but this was under consideration;

·                NHDC had agreed an additional £50,000 funding for this year because of the demand they were experiencing for their services.

Royston First BID

Councillor Ruth Brown advised that:

·                The ‘Shop Safe, Shop Local’ campaign jointly run by North Herts and East Herts continued to receive funding from the EU with hand sanitiser being provided;

·                An Easter Bunny trail would be organised to encourage footfall into the Town;

·                The Christmas lights which had been organised with the Town Council had been a great success with no negative comments;

·                BID levies had been received from many businesses and the remainder had been topped up by a grant from NHDC so funding was secure;

·                The AGM was on Wednesday 28^th April at 5.30pm on Zoom and they were looking for more members for their Advisory Council and one member to represent local businesses for their Board.

Town Twinning

Councillor Ruth Brown advised that:

·                A bilingual quiz had been held with French twin town La Loupe on 6 March on Zoom which had gone really well.

Melbourn Area Youth Development

Councillor Carol Stanier advised that:

·                Councillor Stanier had recently become the representative for this organisation;

·                They had not been able to run scheduled workshops due to lockdown;

·                They were hoping to hold the workshops at Easter but were aware that if these did not take place they would need to return their grant to NHDC;

·                They had sufficient funds secured to run two years’ worth of clubs;

·                They were very concerned about the impact of lockdown on young people not having social interactions and had been sending packs out to homes and refurbishing laptops to ensure young people could take part in digital activities;

·                The youth work contractor Groundwork had had some staff changes and were struggling to recruit staff so different options were being considered such as holiday-only clubs;

·                They were looking for a bigger venue which could be in Royston if there was anywhere suitable;

·                There was a further meeting the following week.

Coombes Community Centre

Councillor Carol Stanier advised that:

·                The Centre had a new trustee with all the necessary skills and were always looking for other people;

·                Bookings were coming in from interested groups so finances were adequate;

·                A new nursery was starting in what had been the Rainbow playgroup meeting room;

·                There was an ongoing problem with the drains which would be looked at by NHDC.

North Herts CVS

Councillor Tony Hunter advised that:

·                North Herts CVS had some new trustees;

·                They ended the year with a grant from Lloyds Bank Foundation which was close to £30,000;

·                They have been working really hard during the pandemic across the district and the Chair passed on his thanks to all staff.