Agenda item

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public.

A verbal presentation was provided from the following people in support of their grant applications:

 

·       Hannah Lane – National Childbirth Trust

·       Kava Johnson – The North Herts African and Caribbean Community

·       Kate Adams and Dani Lister – Samaritans of North Herts and Stevenage

 

RESOLVED: That the Committee allocated:

 

(1)   £920 to NCT (National Childbirth Trust) North Herts towards funding for their breastfeeding and postnatal support group as outlined in 8.1.1-8.1.8 of the officer’s report.

 

(2)   £1,424 to The North Herts African and Caribbean Community towards funding to provide a year of free and some subsidised events and activities for the whole community to attend and learn about African and Caribbean History and Culture as outlined in 8.1.9-8.1.15 of the officer’s report.

 

(3)   £1,200 to Samaritans of North Herts and Stevenage towards funding for their Samaritans National Walk 2023 as outlined in 8.1.16-8.1.20 of the officer’s report.

 

REASON FOR DECISIONS: The awarding of financial assistance to voluntary organisations and the use of discretionary spending allows the Committee to further the aims of the Council Plan.

 

 

Audio recording – 21 minutes 00 seconds

 

The Chair invited the Assistant Community Engagement Officer to provided Members with an overview of grant funds remaining.

 

The Chair invited Ms Hannah Lane to provide a presentation on behalf of the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) in support of their grant application and advised of the following:

 

·         NCT was best known for providing antenatal support courses across the country, with an aim to ensure that no parent is left feeling isolated and to support parents through the first 1000 days.

·         There was a wide network of NCT branches with around 5000 volunteers who provide the support through groups and events.

·         This branch covered the Hitchin, Baldock and Letchworth areas.

·         It was volunteer led and free of charge for users.

·         An application had been made to the Letchworth Area Committee in September 2022 and this was successful.

·         Whilst the aim of the support groups are to help parents with feeding issues, it also offers an important social side for new parents, and helps people feel less isolated during what can be a difficult time.

·         There had been approximately 80-100 attendees to the course since the sessions resumed following lockdown, with an average of 8-10 attendees at each session.

·         The groups had been running for around 6 years, with classes taking place virtually during lockdown.

·         The costs of the group are covered by donations and fundraising, but due to the lockdowns the reserves of the group had become depleted.

·         Any fundraising is for NCT as a whole and is split 30% to the local branch and 70% to the national NCT body. However, any grant funding received can be ringfenced by local branches to be spent on schemes in the area.

 

The following Members asked questions:

 

·         Councillor James Denselow

·         Councillor Chris Lucas

 

In response to questions, Ms Lane advised that:

 

·         This application was to support the breast-feeding support sessions, bot antenatal classes.

·         There was an NHS offer for breast-feeding support, but this was limited to one 30 minute online session, the support offered by NCT was in addition to this.

·         There were some support services run by Children’s Centre, but she was unaware exactly what was offered.

·         NCT was a charity service to provide support to all. The scheme was supported by donations only and it was kept this was to ensure the service was financially accessible to all.

·         Since drop-in session began again following lockdown there had been around 16-20 people attending monthly, across two sessions per month. These people may be the same each time or some may be different.

 

Councillor Keith Hoskins proposed and Councillor Nigel Mason seconded and, following a vote, it was:

 

RESOLVED: That the Committee allocated £920 to NCT (National Childbirth Trust) North Herts towards funding for their breastfeeding and postnatal support group as outlined in 8.1.1-8.1.8 of the officer’s report.

 

The Chair invited Ms Kava Johnson to provide a presentation on behalf of the North Herts African and Caribbean Community in support of their grant application and advised of the following:

 

·         The group worked to draw together community associations, groups and individuals who were servicing the particular cultural needs.

·         It aimed to provide information, advice and guidance, through a programme of events, fundraising, history lessons and cultural experiences.

·         Worked with partners to support the African and Caribbean community in North Herts, but also to spread this across the wider community to celebrate incorporation and togetherness.

·         The long term aim was to have a central location to bring together relevant cultural schemes and groups.

·         Some of the previous schemes run included conversations around racial discrimination, crime and crime prevention awareness and the ‘Mind Your Black” poetry writing scheme. It was hoped these sessions could be developed further and incorporated into future programmes.

·         The group brought together the public and professionals, to hear directly from black people.

·         Talks were run online during the pandemic and were uploaded to YouTube.

·         The group had run a Windrush themed arts and craft week and had run ad-hoc workshops at St Mary’s Church bringing together young people and older people to learn about the Windrush generation.

·         There were lots of people coming forward who also wanted to share their experiences and stories. 

 

The following Members asked questions:

 

·         Councillor Ian Albert

·         Councillor Keith Hoskins

·         Councillor Chris Lucas

 

In response to questions, Ms Johnson advised that:

 

·         The workshops would usually take place during the school holidays, so children were able to attend. The last workshop took place in the October half term.

·         They had explored whether the events could be held in July at the start of the school holidays.

·         The £1424 was applied to from both Letchworth and Hitchin Area Committees.

·         They group had not yet worked or offered outreach sessions to nearby schools and colleges.

 

Councillor Hoskins noted that if the workshops took place in July, they could be included as part of the Hitchin Festival programme.

 

Councillor Chris Lucas offered support to the group in speaking to and arranging sessions at colleges. 

 

Councillor Keith Hoskins proposed and Councillor Chris Lucas seconded and, following a vote, it was:

 

RESOLVED: That the Committee allocated £1,424 to The North Herts African and Caribbean Community towards funding to provide a year of free and some subsidised events and activities for the whole community to attend and learn about African and Caribbean History and Culture as outlined in 8.1.9-8.1.15 of the officer’s report.

 

The Chair invited Ms Dani Lister and Ms Kate Adams to provide a presentation on behalf of the Samaritans of North Herts and Stevenage in support of their grant application and advised of the following:

 

·         This application was to help support fundraising for the National Walk 2023.

·         The Samaritans national listening service was run 24/7, 365 days a year and calls would be answered centrally, with the call being passed onto whichever volunteer was free to take the call.

·         Each branch of Samaritans is run individually. The Hitchin branch had recently celebrated its 50 year anniversary, but had been impacted by Covid.

·         There were around 100 volunteers in the local area, and there were always 2 people on shift at one time.

·         The branches were self-funded.

·         There was a hope that the chat services offered currently 3 days per week could be expanded.

·         Samaritans was a listening services and was there for anyone who needed someone to listen, not just for those considering suicide. The service had seen an increase in demand since Covid.

·         The Samaritans offer did not overlap with other support groups or organisations, as it was only a listening service, with volunteers not trained to offer advice but to signpost people to organisations would could offer more specific support.

·         The service frequently saw high demand, with often up to 100 people waiting on phone lines.

·         The branch had not been able to conduct community outreach during the pandemic, but this had been restarted in 2022, including events across Hitchin and the north Herts area. There had also been specific support offered at Hitchin and Stevenage train stations.

·         The events held at train stations were more about talking and engaging with people, rather than fundraising.

·         The branch had previously engaged with schools, but this had stopped during the pandemic and there was a focus to re-start this engagement again.

 

The following Members asked questions:

 

·         Councillor James Denselow

·         Councillor Chris Lucas

 

In response to questions, Ms Lister and Ms Adams advised that:

 

·         The planning for the National Walk was currently in the early days, as the north Herts branch had inherited the organisation of the event from another branch.

·         It was expected there would be a maximum of 200 volunteers doing different length walks and it would be a paid entry fee event. There would be fundraising ongoing alongside this to support the event.

·         The start and finish points, as well as arrangements for water and refreshments needed to be confirmed.

·         The funds raised would go to the national organisation and then be reinvested into the local branches, but it was also important to highlight the local branch.

·         The organisers would look to engage with other partners to help support the National Walk event.

·         The group hoped to be able to engage better with young people and noted that the national organisation attended festivals to encourage young people in attendance to talk about issues.

·         It was not always appropriate for young people to talk on the phone about issues, and often they find it difficult talking to friends and family. The new online chat offered was used more by younger people seeking support.

 

Councillor Keith Hoskins noted that this event could be included as part of the Hitchin Festival programme and that groups in the area with experience of running similar events would be able to offer support.

 

Councillor Richard Thake noted that he was a governor at Hitchin Boys School and would be happy to facilitate a visit. There had been clear immense pressure put on young people over the last couple of years and it was important that appropriate support was offered and Samaritans was an established and respected organisation offering support.

 

Councillor Nigel Mason noted that the issues faced were only likely to increase given the economic climate.

 

Councillor Richard Thake proposed and Councillor Nigel Mason seconded and, following a vote, it was:

 

RESOLVED: That the Committee allocated £1,200 to Samaritans of North Herts and Stevenage towards funding for their Samaritans National Walk 2023 as outlined in 8.1.16-8.1.20 of the officer’s report.

 

REASON FOR DECISIONS: The awarding of financial assistance to voluntary organisations and the use of discretionary spending allows the Committee to further the aims of the Council Plan.