Agenda item

·      Monica Bergh – Youth Voluntary Services Coordinator, Bucks Council

·      The Energy Doctor – Victoria Nash; Better Homes, Better Health, Bucks Council

·       Ukraine Refugee Support – Cheryl Lane, Senior Refugee Welfare Officer, Bucks Council

Presentation – Youth: Monica Bergh (MB)

MB introduced herself and said she worked in the Family Support Service as the Youth Community Co-Ordinator. Her job was to support youth work and develop it in the voluntary and community sector across Buckinghamshire.

There were various ongoing projects, one of which was at Burnham Youth Club because their full time Youth Worker was unwell. MB stated that the team attended sessions, led the youth work and also supported repairs to the building.

MB stated that they did not know the issues for young people in Burnham, so Community Youth Rangers would be conducting a survey in the area with young people. She confirmed they were working with the Family Hub group to find out if there was any community work or collaborative projects we could work together on.  Andy Chapman had been looking into running a round table in Burnham to discuss with those that delivered youth work.  This could for example be with the Scouts, Brownies or lunch clubs. MB said this was on hold for the moment but was in the future plan.

MB introduced her colleague Debbie Hulme, and said she would like to organise young people and ambassadors to represent the Community Board to ensure it was speaking with young people as well.

MB said her team was happy to support and develop any initiative or answer any questions. If the Community Board felt something was needed to resolve an issue, MB said she would be happy to discuss a proposal.  For example, detached projects were being run in towns where youth engagement was difficult and they were also helping to run First Aid programmes (which could be rolled out in Burnham) to teach young people on what to do if there was a knife crime incident or if someone had taken drugs and was feeling unwell and/or struggling.

Questions:

John Carey (JC) stated that when Community Boards started it was mooted there would be a Youth Council for the area, and that he and Councillor Dillon had actively started working on this. However, it did not come to fruition. JC said he had been involved in youth work all his life and had been a school governor. He understood that a young persons voice was very important and asked how we could serve young people if we didn’t know what they desired. JC requested that the idea of a Youth Council be reinvigorated. Louise Hayday (the Burnham Parish Council Clerk) was also keen for this so JC asked what the views of others were.

MB reported that her colleague, Krissie Hutton, was trying to raise Ambassadors in each town, so even if there wasn’t a Youth Council, they could sit on Buckinghamshire Council’s to represent their areas. MB suggested that she meet with JC separately to discuss this further – Action 01 (JC/MB).

Manjit Kaur Bassi (MKB) said that MB had mentioned the youth support in Burnham and asked if this was something that could be replicated in Stoke Poges - for example, the setting up of a youth club etc. MB stated this was a countrywide initiative and her team would be happy to develop. She advised that they didn’t run these sorts of clubs, but would be able to identify people that could bring this together. MB suggested they meet to discuss further – Action 02 (MKB/MB)

Carol Linton (CL) asked MB how the Youth Council could be progressed. MB requested Makyla Devlin (MD) introduce her by email to CL and JC and anybody else who was interested – Action 03 (MD/MB).

Presentation - Buckinghamshire Council Domestic Resource Efficiency Service – The Energy Doctor – Victoria Nash (VN)

VN gave a presentation on the Energy Doctor scheme – see slides attached.

VN confirmed that this scheme provided home energy visits for residents, to educate them on how to reduce their fuel bills by installing physical measures as well as low cost measures, and also to help reduce our impact on the environment through climate change.

              Questions:

              Gita Street (GS) introduced herself as a retired teacher of Dropmore Infant School. In terms of connecting with people, GS asked if it would include schools as they would have families who they could potentially refer. VN thought this was a good idea and not something they had done before. She felt it might be better to include in a school’s newsletter or for the school to make direct referrals.

              GS enquired if this scheme applied to homeowners or just rented properties. VN confirmed that it was owner occupiers and private rented housing. However, she recommended that anyone in whatever circumstances they found themselves in should contact “Better Housing Better Health” as there were a range of support schemes available. Even if they didn’t quality, there could be some other form of help.

VN stated there was an information leaflet which could be circulated. MD said this would be circulated with the minutes – see Action 03 (GW).

Presentation - Make Every Contact Count – Graham White (GW)

GW gave a presentation on the “Make Every Contact County” scheme – see slides attached.

This scheme, run by Public Health in Buckinghamshire, encouraged people to have healthy conversations to help them consider what they might be able to do in their own lifestyles, to make healthy decisions and make positive changes to their health and wellbeing.