Agenda and minutes

Cllr Mark Dormer welcomed everyone to the meeting and explained because we are in the pre-election period anything remotely contentious or political will be skipped over.

The meeting was recorded and transcribed by an AI voice recorder for note taking purposes.

There were no declarations of interest.

·       Questions from members of the public can be submitted in advance of the meeting to Amersham@Buckinghamshire.gov.uk

·       Updates from Town and Parish Councils

·       Buckinghamshire Council updates

No specific issues raised by the public or parish councils.

Action: If anyone wanted to schedule community issues or requests for future meetings they should contact Lizzie.

Town & Parish Council Updates:

All invited to send questions or requests for future meetings. 

Some of the events that were mentioned by the participants were:

o   A wildlife day on the common in Coleshill, organized by Jon on the 7^th July. 

o   A fate at Chesham Bois on Saturday 15^th June. 

o   An Altogether Amersham event on 6th July at the King George playing fields.

o   Summer Fun Day at Woodrow High House on the 30^th  June.

Buckinghamshire Council updates: 

A high-level update was previously circulated, covering information on the housing strategy, fostering, Bucks Online Directory the Household Support Fund and consultations.

Housing Strategy - Buckinghamshire Council is developing a Housing strategy that sets out their vision for a strong housing offer in the county. 

·       The strategy aims to address the challenges of affordability, quality, supply and diversity of housing, as well as supporting vulnerable groups and preventing homelessness. 

·       The strategy is currently in draft form and will be subject to public consultation later this year. 

·       The strategy will also align with the Council's corporate plan and other strategies such as the climate change and health and wellbeing strategies. 

Fostering -The discussion on fostering focused on the following points:

·       Buckinghamshire Council is looking for more people to join the fostering community and support children in need. 

·       There is a Bucks package for foster carers that includes benefits such as council tax, free car parking and leisure centre access. Fostering | Buckinghamshire Council

·       Household Support Fund - The household support fund is a scheme that provides financial assistance to households that are struggling due to the impact of COVID-19. 

·       The fund was extended until the 30th of September and can help with costs such as food, utilities, rent, council tax, and other essential bills. 

·       Buck Online Directory -If groups are organizing activities and offer services to the local community this can be shared on the Bucks Online Directory. Contributors can sign up for their own account where they can manage activities.

·       The ‘Your Voice’ Bucks Citizen Space website was also referenced as it is a place to see all consultations that local residents can respond to in Buckinghamshire. Your Voice Bucks - Citizen Space

·       Nate Sence – Restore Hope

·       Claire Nugent – Youth Offending Service

·       Courtney – Amersham Youth House

·       Emma Jeans – Woodrow High House

Restore Hope Amersham: 

·       Nate Spence from Restore Hope gave a presentation about their project of developing a community hub at the former St. John's Methodist Church in Amersham. He showed a video that explained the vision, the design, and the funding needs of the project, which aims to serve four main areas of need: youth provision, mental health and well-being, family support, and advice and guidance. The link to the video is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPUVu3EZ_-M

·       Nate also shared some of the results of their public consultation, which showed a high level of support and agreement from the local community. He invited the participants to visit the building and to explore potential partnerships and collaborations with other organisations that could use the space and offer services and activities for the community. They need to raise around £3milllion for the project which will increase their annual expenditure to £1.3 million. Nate said they were planning to submit their planning application in July and hoped to open the doors by September. 

·       Fiona, from Restore Hope, presented the results of their public consultation process for their new community hub project in Amersham. She said they spoke with over 50 professionals, service providers, church leaders, council members, and local authority representatives, as well as more than 25 families and young people. They also participated in local working groups, held a consultation fair, and conducted a survey with 118 responses. She said the main areas of need that emerged from their conversations were youth provision, mental health and well-being, family support, and advice and guidance. She said they received a lot of support and feedback from the community, and they are looking for partners, funders, and like-minded organizations to join them in their vision. She also shared some graphs and slides to illustrate their findings and their proposed design for the community hub.

·       Action: Anyone who would like to arrange a tour of the building and discuss potential partnership opportunities should contact Nate. (All attendees)

Youth Justice and Support Team: 

·       Claire Nugent from the Youth Justice and Support Team, which works with children who are on the cusp of becoming involved in criminal activity or have received statutory outcomes from the court, provided an overview of their service.

·       The team provides a bespoke reparation service for children who have to work in the community as part of their court order. This involves working on weekends and weekdays to facilitate engagement with various initiatives and organisations that can benefit both the community and the children.

·       The team also conducts risk assessments to ensure the placements are safe and suitable for the children and their needs.

·       The team is looking for more volunteers to support the children in different roles, such as appropriate adults, youth panel members, community engagement mentors, and education tutors. She shared the contact details of Deb Stevens, who is the volunteer coordinator.

·       The team is interested in finding more opportunities for community reparation and collaboration with local partners, such as charities, youth clubs, sports clubs,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Projects, engagement and funding

The chair gave an update on recent activity and engagement on behalf of the Community Board.

·       There are now over 1000 Facebook which represents 4% reach in the board area. Followers.

·       The Volunteering Fair on the 5^th June was a great success, thanks to Lizzie for organising.  There were lots of organisations who promoted opportunities on the day. There's also a brochure to accompany the event in both hard and soft copy, it lists the various volunteer groups in the in the in the area. If anyone would like a copy, please contact Lizzie.

5 September 2024, 6:30pm (MS Teams)

Thursday 5 September 2024 6:30pm MS Teams