Agenda and draft minutes

The Chair welcomed attendees to the meeting

Apologies were received from Cllr David King, Cllr Tim Butcher, Pat Clarke (Friends of Amersham Health), Nicki Whitticase (Coleshill Infant School), Peter Matza (ADRA) and Jane Barnes (Amersham Action Group / Town Council). 

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held 20^th October 2022 were agreed as an accurate record.

·         Questionsfrom membersof thepublic canbe submittedin advance of the meeting to Amersham@Buckinghamshire.gov.uk

·         Buckinghamshire Council updates

Lizzie Wright, Community Board Manager introduced the community matters item. The communications team at Buckinghamshire Council were looking to promote local events taking place this year on social media. Members were encouraged to contact Lizzie with details and pictures of past or future events.

Café 22 the dementia friendly café in Little Chalfont were celebrating their first birthday. The Amersham dementia café based at Amersham Free Church had recruited volunteers and were in the process of appointing a volunteer leader. Roger Funk from Café 22 Little Chalfont highlighted the first birthday party was successful and existing volunteers were hoping to be part of the Amersham café.

Marieke welcomed interested parties to attend a meeting on 27^th February 7pm-8:30pm to discuss increasing biodiversity in Amersham Old Town. The meeting would focus on how local people can work together to protect, encourage and learn about biodiversity. Members and residents were advised to contact Amersham@Buckinghamshire.gov.uk for further information.

Sandra Burns Deputy Head teacher at St Mary’s C of E Primary School highlighted the school was celebrating their 150^th anniversary this year. Further information on volunteering and the celebration plans were appended to these minutes. Interested parties were requested to contact the school at office@stmarysce.bucks.sch.uk.

Catherine Klyhn from Amersham West Guides advised the Guides were seeking volunteers to assist particularly with Tuesday evening Brownies sessions and Friday evening Guides sessions. There were over 200 girl Guides in the west district and activities were focused around serving the local community and fundraising. It was highlighted there was an increasing number of girls wishing to join Guides however, more volunteers were needed.

Lizzie Wright highlighted local bakery Nena were looking to share leftover surplus food to benefit the local community. There were suggestions for them to use food sharing sites TooGoodToGo and Olio which residents could sign up to. Any further suggestions of community groups who could benefit from the offer were advised to contact Lizzie. Further information was appended to these minutes.

Oli O’Neill from Treehouse Amersham updated the Board on the defibrillators installed in the area. The first defibrillator installed at Amersham Free Church went live today. The new and existing defibrillators had been plotted on a map and the information supplied to the British Heart Foundation Circuit. Posters were put up in Amersham asking residents if they understood how to use a defibrillator and to locate where their nearest one is. Defibrillators are automated and test the rhythm of the heart in order to administer the right level of shock. In addition, the emergency services can advise where the nearest defibrillator was located and how to use them. The next stage of the project was to deliver first aid and lifesaving skills training to be held at Amersham Museum, Amersham Free Church and a number of other venues. The Chair thanked Oli for his key work on this project and highlighted details of training sessions would be circulated once arranged.

The Proud of Bucks Awards nominations closed on 12^{th  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.}

• Next Gen Youth Project - Natalie Davis
• Amersham Young Ambassadors – Krissie Hutton
• Bucks Fire Update - Stuart Grosse

Natalie Davis from The Wellbeing Generation gave a presentation on the youth project Next Gen. The slides were appended to these minutes and the following points were highlighted:

• The Board provided funding for youth project Next Gen which sought to empower young people. The Wellbeing Generation was a social enterprise founded in 2020 during the pandemic.
• The organisations aim was to empower and support young people to deal with mental health, anxiety and identity. Levels of anxiety had increased in young people since the pandemic and NHS CAMs had long waiting lists. The programme was a transition for people who needed support but were not on a clinical pathway. A successful programme had already been delivered in Oxfordshire.
• A project at Dr Challoner’s School was starting soon which consisted of yoga and breath worth during PSHE lessons. There were two other programmes which would ensure they could engage with young people in different ways. The organisation offered a variety of programmes from inspirational talks in assemblies, online coaching, in person group coaching and behavioural change journeys.
• The programme in Oxfordshire engaged with 35 young people and 65% reported an increase in wellbeing. The successes of the Amersham project would be reported back to the Board in the future.

The Chair praised the organisation for initiating conversations around mental health. A member of the Board highlighted the Oasis Partnership would be a useful contact as they run workshops and podcasts from Chesham for people referred by their GP.

Krissie Hutton, Youth Participation Co-ordinator, Buckinghamshire Council provided an update on Amersham Young Ambassadors. The following points were highlighted:

• The Youth Project Bucks was set up in response to the Council’s strategy declaration to allocate resources to support young people.
• Young ambassadors were assigned to Community Boards to ensure young people could contribute to discussions and make their voice heard. Community Boards often supported projects for young people therefore, the ambassadors were key for collaboration.
• The two young ambassadors for the Amersham & Villages Community Board were Amber and Shreeyansh.
• As the ambassador role was new and a pilot project the role would be explored and shaped. Currently the ambassadors would assist judging the Proud of Bucks awards and Bright Ideas awards, attend award ceremonies and engage in discussions with schools and organisations that offer youth services.

Stuart Grosse from Bucks Fire and Rescue was unable to attend, therefore an update would be provided at the next meeting.

Ongoing projects, funding and engagement activities.

Lizzie Wright, Community Board Manager gave a presentation on Board updates appended to these minutes. The deadline for funding applications was 31^st January. The funding team were reviewing applications and these would be put to the Board for approval soon.

The Chair highlighted the role of Community Boards in bringing community groups, volunteer groups, schools and residents together to share ideas and deliver projects. The Boards encouraged collaboration to help guide and provide funding where it was needed in the community. It was highlighted Boards did more than just provide funding, they also helped recruit volunteers, enabled discussions and hosted community events.

·         Discussing areas of focus for the year ahead

·         Discussing project ideas and task & finish groups

The Board had received useful feedback from residents about projects and values which were important. These had been grouped together into key categories; strengthening our communities, environment, sport and fitness and health and wellbeing. 

Members and residents were encouraged to put forward project ideas which would be considered in the next financial year. The project form was appended to these minutes.

Lizzie Wright highlighted discussions were ongoing with Buckinghamshire Council parking department regarding various parking proposals in the area. The Council’s highways contractor was changing in April 2023 therefore existing schemes would prioritised for completion. There would be further information about the parking proposals at a future meeting.

Saturday 22 April 2023 – Engagement event

Engagement Event- Saturday 22^nd April 2-5pm, Amersham Community Centre