1
BellinghamAssembly
14 June2011
7.00pm – 9.00pm
The Bridge Leisure Centre,
Kangley Bridge Road, SE26 5AQ
Meeting notes
1. / Welcome and introduction to the meeting.Councillor Alan Hall welcomed everyone to the meeting, and introduced Cllr Ami Ibitson and Cllr Jacqui Paschoud. He gave a warm welcome to Cllr Paschoud as the newly elected Cllr for the ward.
2. / Bellingham Assembly Fund update
Cllr Hall explained about the Assembly Fund that is available.
£43,750 is available to assemblies between 2010-12 to spend on projects that meet their agreed priorities. This includes £3750 pot for Cllrs to use at their discretion.
At the last assembly it was agreed that £10,000 should be allocated to community events and festivals. The assembly also agreed to fund the following events:
- Bellingham festival – Saturday 25 June (Cllr Ibitson gave information about the festival – see item 7 for more information)
- HomePark Fun Day - Sunday 3 July (Anthony Scully expressed his thanks for the assembly’s funding for this event, more information on event in item 7)
- Christmas Carols on the Green – December 2011 (Rev. Raymond Singh thanked the assembly for the funding and said that the carols will involve 3 primary schools, and will be the 8th annual service).
3. / Bellingham Assembly and youth event, 10 September 2011
Cllr Hall explained that the next assembly on 10 September will be a roving Saturday meeting, at various venues across the ward.
Part of the assembly will be held at the Gateway youth club, where a mix of young people will be invited to attend from across the ward. The coordinating group recommended that the £6750 allocated for the youth priority from the Assembly Fund should be decided by the young people themselves. Bids for projects relating to this priority will come in and be sifted by the coordinating group to ensure they meet the criteria, then the young people will decide which projects get funded.
The assembly agreed with this process. It was noted that information should go out to schools before the summer holidays. Phoenix offered to help disseminate information.
4. / Bellingham Assembly Fund: presentation from by Lewisham 8th Scout group
The 8th Lewisham Scouts group provided a presentation on a project they wished to be funded for. Cllr Hall explained that there was a small underspend in the £10,000 festival allocation and that this project for £315 could be funded from this.
Caroline Britchford, Assistant Group Leader gave the presentation as Carole Simpson had sent her apologies. Caroline also explained that they didn’t have young people with them as it was a section night.
The project is a intergenerational party to celebrate the groups existence for 85 years. The group want to say thank you to all their supporters and hold a party for their loyal supporters. There will be a show by the young people, bingo, jelly and ice cream. The event will bring young and elderly together, and the group hope to be able to build on this link in the future.
The assembly agreed to fund this project.
5. / Lewisham bowel cancer awareness campaign presentation (Claire Deacon)
Clare Deacon, from The Hub which is working alongside the NHS, gave a presentation on a bowel cancer awareness campaign taking place in Lewisham.
She explainedthat the campaign is targeting Downham and Bellingham wards because of the large target population of 55+ in those wards, and also the high incidence of bowel cancer.
Bowel cancer is the third most common diagnosed cancer in the UK, and the second biggest killer. This indicates that early detection and diagnosis is important. There is a 93% survival rate if diagnosed early. 80% of those diagnosed are over 50 years of age. Men and women are affected; however the campaign is targeting men particularly.
The campaign is using clear language and no jargon so people aren’t confused with medical words. The aim of the campaign is to get people more aware of the cancer and more likely to approach their GP if they suspect they have it. Alongside this the campaign is working with GPs to ensure a more emphatic response when approached about it.
The campaign consists of leaflets, posters, community involvement, and recruiting community champions. These champions will help to push the message out further and as they are respected members of the community they will be able to raise wider awareness. Claire introduced Gary Buswell as a champion in the Bellingham area.
The campaign was at the Big Lunch in Downham, and will also be going to Golden Oldies night, bowls club, and will have a stall at Bellingham Festival.
If people want to get involved in the campaign they should contact Gary or Claire, by emailing or calling 07734103184.
Claire finished her presentation by asking everyone to tell three people they know about what they learned today to help spread the word.
Questions from the assembly:
Q: Will screening kits be available at Bellingham Festival?
A: No, the campaign isabout getting people to take control, go to their GP, and not to wait for a kit when they get to 60 years old.
Q: How ere the areas chosen for the campaign?
A: By working with the NHS, based on target population and bowel cancer rates.
Q: Is screening available nationwide
A: Yes
Q: How will the campaign know if more people are going to their GP?
A: We are working with GPs, and monitoring data before and after the campaign.
Q: Are there any foods that you shouldn’t eat?
A: Healthy eating and a good diet has a big impact generally; but there are no particular foods that should be avoided.
Cllr Hall thanked Clare for coming to the assembly.
6. / Neighbourhood community safety service presentation (June Al-amah)
June Al-amah gave a presentation on the new community safety service at Lewisham Council. The presentation can be found on the Bellingham assembly website.
The new service has been in existence since April, following a re-organisation of the anti-social behaviour, warden and community safety teams. The new organisation does not include patrols that were undertaken by the wardens previously. The new team will work with various partners, for example registered social landlords, Safer Neighbourhood team, schools. When anti-social behaviour affects more than one person then problem solving partnerships will be used; for example in Byron Place and HomePark in Bellingham. Solutions might include CCTV, acceptable behaviour orders, arrests etc.
The team will be available to the public through various means, for example at assemblies, Bellingham Festival, and dedicated surgeries. The next surgery is on 12 July at Bellingham Lifestyle and Leisure centre; and residents can drop in to meet officers, who can also take casework confidentially.
The larger team is split into three areas, to mirror the police clusters, and Bellingham ward is in the south area which stretches from Forest Hill to Whitefoot and Catford South. The other two areas are north and central. Karen, Byron and Lisa are dedicated officers working in the south of the borough.
The hours of operation of the new teams are 9am – 5pm. The service is not an emergency service (999 should be called for this) but messages can be left out of hours.
Questions from assembly:
Q: How do you work with victim support?
A: For example through Home Security programme for those that have been burgled or at risk of being burgled.
Q: Does Victim Support just become involved when there is a crime?
A: Yes, the new team can also work on preventative approaches such as restorative justice programme
Q: Are your staff trained councillors?
A: No, but they are trained in restorative justice approach. If someone reports a crime we will deal with it and refer to victim support if appropriate. We work in parallel; e.g. talking to the landlord while the victim goes to victim support.
Q: What about before a crime is committed? The service sounds like the emphasis is on after a crime.
A: If a crime is reported we explore to find out more to prevent it escalating, we also work with re-offenders to reduce re-offending; and undertake preventative activities like the Elder Abuse awareness day where prevention advice is given on home safety for example.
Q: The wardens were a good deterrent of crime.
A: 40% of burglaries are through an open door or window. If people take responsibility then this would be much lower.
Q: So there will be no more patrolling?
A: PCSOs will patrol, but not our service
Q: Is it likely they will come back in the future?
A: No, visible presence will be by the police. Where there are particular issues the police might provide extra patrols.
Q: Reduction was due to budget, when was it agreed to take away the patrolling element?
A: A Mayor & Cabinet decision before Christmas
Q: How many wardens were there? What happened to them now?
A: There were around 35, some are now doing neighbourhood safety officer role in new service, others were made redundant.
Q: What is SmartWater?
A: It is a property marking system, with unique ID code for each property. If goods are stolen then they can be identified. Stickers are put in windows and at the end of streets to say it is a smartwater area, this will deter burglars. They are £15 per pack, and a lot were distributed around the borough recently. We are working to get funding for Neighbourhood Watch members.
Q: Any stolen property been found yet with SmartWater?
A: None yet. But it is used more as a deterrent.
Q: There are lots o void properties in the community. Do Lewisham think that void properties can be handled by the service?
A: This is the sort of issue we can refer. We will find out who the owner is and pursue to ensure property is kept in safe order.
Cllr Hall thanked June for coming to the assembly.
7. / Community updates and any other business
Bellingham festival – Saturday 25 June. 11.40am church celebration, 12 noon festival start with the Mayor opening the event. Finishes at 4pm.
HomePark Fun Day - Sunday 3 July, 1-6pm. Anthony Scully thanked the assembly for the funding for this event, and drew people’s attention to the flyers on the tables. The community is taking back ownership of the park after its history of anti-social behaviour. The anti-social behaviour team gave funding for an outdoor gym and garden to prevent anti-social behaviour and give young people something to do. People have expressed concerns about going to the park, but now there are more organised activities and lots of people there it is a much safer park. Come to the park on 3 July as there is lots on offer.
Cllr Hall thanked the Cllrs, local assemblies team, and thanked and congratulated the scouts for winning their funding. He also thanked June and Clare for their presentations.
Cllr Hall then thanked the assembly for coming and closed the meeting.
No declarations of interest were made at this meeting