TRA Meeting Notes 12/07/2022

Attendees

Dean (Chairperson)
David (Treasurer)
Kelly
Marlene
Naomi (STH)
Cllr Noel

Apologies

Cllr Whitby
Cllr Smith
Ronnie (STH)
Wendy

Agenda:

Community Center Update

• Centre Refurbishment
  • New Wi-Fi system has been installed and provides free internet for every visitor.
  • New lights have been installed in the toilets.
  • Gas safety check has been completed and is not due for renewal for another year.
  • Electrical safety certificate is due and will be completed by September.

• Partnership with Bury Adult Learning Center.
  • The first courses started Monday 13th June providing English for Ukrainian nationals.
    • Further courses have been proposed to start Monday 5th September 2022:
    • Mondays
      • 09:30 – 11:30 ESOL Phonics @ 5 Weeks ending 03/10/2022
      • 13:30 – 15:30 Get That Job @ 5 weeks ending 03/10/2022
      • 18:00 – 20:30 Mindfulness @ 5 Weeks ending 03/10/2022
    • Tuesdays:
      • 09:30 – 12:00 Get Ready For Work – Confidence & Assertiveness @ 5 weeks ending 03/10/2022
      • 12:30 – 14:30 Healthy Eating On A Budget For Busy Parents @ 6 Weeks ending 10/10/2022

• Partnership with NHS CAMHS service
  • This is under discussion for the 6-week holiday. This will provide services for anxiety and depression for parents and young people in the Whitefield and greater Bury area.

• Funding Updates
  • Funding is being sought for new tables for the community centre, this is a key barrier for more bookings and income generation.
  • We are working on a substantial bid with the lottery to employ someone for the building and charity.

• Remaining works for the building.
  • New front door.
  • New back door.
  • New tables.
  • Further funding will be sought for these items.
    

Youth club

• DBS Checks
  • We have no further contact from Six Town Housing. We have now had to make the decision to fund the DBS checks ourselves, we have researched and found a system that tracks volunteers status for us and can all be completed online, this is £12 per person but we will seek funding for this.
    
• Volunteers.
  • Volunteer recruitment and open evening have taken place, we had 5 people turn who are interested. There are a further 2 or 3 who are interested but could not make the evening. We will carry on discussing their availability.
  • A big thank you to everyone who managed to deliver leaflets for us, we had quite a few enquiries online, hopefully, this will be enough for us to run, we believe we will need around 8 volunteers each evening in order to operate fully.
    
• Youth Club Management
  • We are currently looking at software to manage the youth club registration, communication with parents and safeguarding aspects of the youth club. This is due to cost around £400 per year
    
• Safeguarding courses.
  • Courses have been identified funding needs to be found.
• Equipment and Funding
  • Currently have no equipment or funding for youth club, we are desperately looking for funding streams but these illusive, we are looking at the high sheriffs fund but this does not sit until September. The charity does have enough funding but this will take a significant chunk out of savings and could leave us short. The High Sheriffs fund does allow for retrospective funding.
• Entrance fee
  • Discussion of how much to charge for attending the youth club.
  • Several members wanted to allow kids in for free.
  • Cllr Noel suggested charging £1 and giving food and drink free. The committee agreed that this was the best way forward.

Allotment

• Very quiet at the moment. Lots of vegetables and fruit has been planted.
• First jams and chutney are now available.
• Raised bed has been planted and looks great.
• Volunteer numbers are steady.

Estate Issues

• New Six Town Housing Officer
  • Marlene raised an issue with the new Six Town Housing officer, she is disappointed that they have not introduced themselves and explained what their roles are.
  • The new Housing officer is Rosie and will be at a future meeting.
  • There has been an offer to show the new housing officer around the estate.
    
• STH Communication
  • Tenants have raised an issue with the lack of communication from Six Town Housing. This stems from the inability to see anyone face to face and that everything is online, concerns were raised that some people aren’t online.
    
• New houses on Victoria Avenue, development have not progressed.
  • Cllr Smith to make enquiries on the development and why works are not progressing.
  • No update as Cllr Smith has sent her apologies.
    
• Victoria Square Bins
  • Cllr Smith has had the bins cleared 4 times.
  • Meeting is to be arranged with the management company of the flats.
  • No update as Cllr Smith has sent her apologies.
    
• Fly tipping in ginnels.
  • This has been cleared from the ginnels on Clarence Avenue.
    
• Big Skip day.
  • Interest was given to see if there is a possibility to have a skip day on Victoria Estate.
  • Cllr Noel will speak with colleagues to see if there is a budget to do this.
    
• VCYC access to noticeboards.
  • Naomi (STH) has communicated that we are not able to have access to the notice board and that any information we would like to be placed on the notice board must go to them first.

• Councillor Update
  • Potential changes to bin collection methods but nothing concrete yet.

A.O.B

• Six Town Housing Drop In
  • Dean asked Naomi whether Six Town Housing could provide a drop-in session from the centre each week. This is provided at other centres across Bury but not in Whitefield.
  • Naomi will chase up and update as soon as possible.
    
• Unsworth Library
  • The building is closing at the end of July.
  • We have made contact with as many projects as possible with a view to bringing them to our building.
  • We are in active discussions with a baby and toddler group to run twice a week.