Agenda and minutes

Cllr Ms A R Bond, Cllr Miss M V Chamberlain, J Morris (OWBC), G White (Youth Offending Service - IMPACT Team), M Brown (Reality Youth Project),  M McAllister (Reality Youth Project).

RESOLVED THAT:

The minutes of the Forum held on 30 March 2016 be taken as read, confirmed and signed.

PCSO McCabe updated the forum on the current anti-social behaviour (ASB) developing around the Junction Road / McDonald’s area; this is a seasonal trend resulting in plans already being in place for managing this area across the summer. The Police are working with one individual in particular who is the apparent ‘ringleader’ in terms of the reported ASB; it is hoped that this work will curtail the level of ASB experienced before it fully develops.

Members enquired as to any reported ASB in both Oadby and South Wigston in addition to the above; PCSO McCabe stated that South Wigston has remained ‘quiet’ since the beginning of the Junction Road ASB. Oadby has some low-level ASB but this appears to revolve around one individual who the Police are also working with.

Members also queried as to whether the planned approach to ASB in Countesthorpe, namely preventing young people gathering in groups of five or more in the village (bar some excepted locations i.e. parks and bus stops), could have a negative impact on our Borough. The concern is that dispersing groups of young people in Countesthorpe may cause them to congregate in South Wigston instead. PCSO McCabe stated that should the powers of dispersal be implemented in Countesthorpe they are unlikely to impact upon our Borough. Police in our Borough also retain the power to disperse groups of young people is there is an issue.

The Chair informed the forum that, since the last update received from the IMPACT Team where it was announced they were now leaving the Borough to work on other referrals, a new referral to the IMPACT Team has been made and they are once again working in the Junction Road / McDonald’s area in relation to the ASB developing there.

An update on the work of the IMPACT Team since the start of this new referral was expected but, due to apologies sent, it was not possible for this to be provided at this forum.

The update provided at Agenda Item 5 does provide some context as to the work of the IMPACT Team.

Due to apologies sent the following written update was submitted to the forum by M McAllister, Bus Manager for the Reality Youth Project;

“In contrast to some sessions young people have engaged very positively with the Reality Bus from the outset in Wigston. This quickly dispelled a worry we had around being somewhat hidden away and therefore hard to find. Initially Wednesday's sessions started quieter than Friday but this balanced itself out within the first week or two. Now the average numbers across the last half term have leveled out.

On Wednesdays we have ranged from 15 to mid 30's of numbers attending and Friday has been between 17 and low 40's. The averages for the two sessions are 26 for Wednesday and 27 for Friday.

We have positive engagement with the DJ mixing decks upstairs and chill out area as well as both the racing games and FIFA on the XBOX and PS4. Laptops have been popular for both internet access to things like Facebook and multi-player games in addition to pre-installed games.

Downstairs the nail bar has been very well used as has the facility to have hot and cold drinks. The 'Just Dance' game which is played outside the bus by viewing the TV screen through the window inside had been popular with younger members.

The sessions have been supported by members of the Life Church at times, this has been especially useful as they are already known to, and have some sort of relationships with, children and young people attending the bus. This has helped us too in building relationships.  Furthermore, we have worked with the IMPACT team when they have been out while we have been operating. This has allowed a more holistic approach to working with children and young people in the area and we can both signpost young people towards times and sessions we are both working.

A challenge of the sessions, on both days, has been the wide age range of children and young people attending, some of the younger children being siblings of the young people. We have been working hard to develop a format which works for both groups while still giving the young people much needed time and space away from the younger ones.

One addition we are hoping to make soon is some additional board and card games on the bus to offer an alternative to electronic games and give further opportunities to chat to the young people. This would also be of benefit for the children who regularly engage with us. We have also spoken with the IMPACT team about them trying to facilitate some more structured times on the bus around issues affecting young people, for example using the 'drugs awareness box'.

One the whole it has been a very positive start to working in the borough.”

M Smith expanded on the written update by explaining that the current ten week block of sessions will soon be ending. The Reality Youth Project has already  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

J Cooke discussed with the forum the purpose of the ‘Step Out’ project in South Wigston. The project undertook a consultation with South Wigston residents to highlight areas of development that would be important to them; the main concern raised was a lack of youth provision in the area.

A working group focusing on youth provision, comprising local churches, residents and professionals, was developed and on 19 March 2016 a pilot event took place on Blaby Road Park; this event provided various activities for young people to participate in based on information gathered over the year. 200+ young people attended the event and valuable feedback on which activities are preferred was collected.

Following on from the pilot event an application for £11,000.00 in funding has been made to the Conservation Volunteers Community Fund. This money would be used to provide a 6 month trial period of youth provision within the South Wigston area.

The group has also explored possible venues for the youth provision to take place in including the Bobbin Factory and the Bassett Street Community Hub. St. Thomas’ Church has already agreed to host activities in its Church Hall once or twice a week.

31 Coffee, on Saffron Road, has also offered the use of their premises to provide youth activities from 6pm onwards; these would take the form of the occasional teenage event or open mic nights. The Chair stated that a similar approach has been taken at El’s Cafe in Wigston and would be a good starting point for J Cooke to research the feasibility of such an approach. J Cooke then mentioned that 31 Coffee’s current trading licence may prevent these activities taking place; members suggested that the most appropriate course of action would be for the proprietor to inquire about amending the licence terms with OWBC.

Members asked if there had been any further consideration given to leasing an empty shop on Blaby Road as a base for youth provision in the area. J Cook stated that this would be a long term idea whilst the current plan is a pilot. That said the South Wigston traders are looking at shop leases for the scheme as an option.

D Cliffe finished the ‘Step Out’ update by inviting members to attend the groups ‘Community Picnic’ at Crow Mills on Saturday, 6 August. This event is being planned by the South Wigston ‘Green Spaces Group’ and is linked in to the ongoing conservation work undertaken by Brocks Hill Country Park staff.

Due to apologies sent the following written update was submitted to the forum by J Morris, Community Inclusion Officer for OWBC;

“Continuing the success of the Something to Do Project in Wigston, the project has been extended to South Wigston. The aim of the project is simple to give residents of South Wigston especially two targeted areas: Bennett Way and Lansdowne Grove something to do!  

Kane Radford, Mark Smith and Jane Morris are working together to maximise funding streams, resources and contacts to develop healthy ASB diversionary events open to all.  We have consulted with partners and residents in South Wigston such as Jessie Cooke, Dave Cliffe, Police, Food bank and the Step Out group to attain what activities residents want. Some activities are still in the planning stage and will include:

§  Skipping Workshop, Tuesday 31st May 1—3 held at Bennett Way = 8 children 2 Adults attended,

§  Body Combat, Thursday 02nd June 1 till 3pm held at Bennett Way,

§  Fun Day 26th July 1 till 5pm Bennett Way (Inflatable climbing wall, exercise activity and publicity launch of activities planned over the summer holidays),

§  Summer Holiday Sessions being planned will be held on Blaby Park and canal will include:  Fishing, Family Rounders, Table Tennis and finish with Supersonic Boom,

§  10 week of Streetdance and also Boxercise are being planned (talks with Parkland school regarding room hire).  A nominal fee will be charged to sustain the activities or to buy equipment, and

§  Cooking sessions at The Community Flat, Boulter Crescent linking with South Wigston Foodbank. “Ready Steady Foodbank Cook!”.”

Members picked up on the fishing project offered as part of the Summer Activity scheme; M Smith explained that a selection of fishing equipment was purchased through some combined OWBC budgets for the purpose of offering a long term fishing project option. The first event in this project, undertaken in partnership with the Wigston Angling Society and the Angling Trust, took place on Friday, 1 April 2016 and 19 young people, plus adults, participated. The idea of the scheme is to get young people into fishing and provide an intergenerational activity where young people and adults alike can share their skills and interests.

The Chair added that a member of the Youth Council had participated in the first fishing event and had subsequently spoke passionately about it at the following Youth Council meeting; members agreed that the project is a brilliant one for young people to be involved with.

D Eckert and J Advani provided members with an update on the current work of the Borough’s Youth Council. As part of this they mentioned that, whilst the group is currently looking at Supersonic Boom 2016, the Youth Council is looking quite seriously at recruitment and how it engages with young people in the Borough.

The Youth Council is looking to increase its use of social media as a means of raising its profile in the Borough. This will include the use of ‘paid for’ advertising with a spend of £5.00 allowing for 3 months of ‘pushed’ advertising; this means that users of Facebook who meet certain chosen criteria, i.e. aged 11-19 and living within Oadby, Wigston or South Wigston, will see advertising for the Youth Council appear in their Facebook timeline.

Over the last month 2,000 people have seen the Youth Council’s Facebook page with a fair proportion of them then interacting with the page itself. This is a good indication that advertising Youth Council meetings via the Facebook page, as well as the traditional emails, would reach a wider audience and potentially increase the number of young people attending meetings. Similar advertising / promotion will also be undertaken on the Youth Council’s Twitter and Instagram pages including the promotion of Supersonic Boom 2016.

D Eckert also updated the forum on the UK Youth Parliament’s ‘#DontHateEducate’ campaign and how it ties in to their Hate Crime Awareness Project. This project will see the development of resource packs for teachers and youth practitioners aimed at allowing for the delivery of lessons and activities that tackle hate crime.

The Chair made it known to the forum that D Eckert is also the Borough’s Young Citizen of the Year 2016 for which the forum commended her on her achievement.

M Smith spoke on the progress of organising this year’s Supersonic Boom youth festival. As of the evening of the forum it has been agreed that this year’s event will be hosted on Blaby Road Park on Wednesday, 17 August from 1pm - 5pm. The park has been booked appropriately to secure this date.

The hiring of the stage for the event has also taken place with documents finalising the booking expected to be received within the next week. This year’s stage comes from the same company as 2015’s but is of a solid design and not an inflatable; this means that should the generator be switched off as per last year that the stage will not come down onto a performer.

‘Acts Wanted’ posters have started to be distributed via social media and email, and will shortly be appearing on the Borough’s digital notice boards. Physical copies of the same poster, and the event poster, will soon be placed around the Borough on notice boards, in shop windows and along the frontage of Blaby Road Park. A number of previous year’s acts have already come forward wishing to perform again as have a number of stall holders who were recently contacted.

M Smith also shared that for the first time in several years that Supersonic Boom will have a dedicated website (www.supersonicboom.co.uk) that he is currently building. This should hopefully be live by Friday, 10 June to coincide with the wider release of the event’s posters.

The forum also heard that the Youth Council has elected the Borough’s two Young Leicestershire affiliated clubs, the Oadby Youth Centre and the Wigston Club for Young People, to be the recipients of any monies raised through this year’s event. Last year £525.00 was raised for the Air Ambulance despite the event finishing early due to poor weather; it is hoped that this figure will be much larger for 2016.

Finally a general request was made to Members to aide in the promotion of Supersonic Boom 2016 and, if they are available to do so, to consider volunteering as a marshal on the day of the event.

None raised.