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City of York Council |
Committee Minutes |
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MEETING |
Micklegate Ward Committee |
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DATE |
26 October 2023 |
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PRESENT |
COUNCILLORS J Burton, Crawshaw and Kilbane |
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APOLOGIES |
COUNCILLORS |
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1. Have your say 19:00 - 19:45 (Main church building)
Residents had an opportunity to talk with Ward Councillors about local matters. Representatives from local projects had an opportunity to discuss their projects with funders and find out about potential funding streams. Local Police Team were available to discuss any community safety matters and promoted the Community Messaging tool.
2. Workshop & networking (19:45 - 21:00 Church Hall)
Chaired jointly by Cllrs Kilbane and Crawshaw who opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. Cllr Crawshaw and Michal Czekajlo, Community Officer outlined current ward funding arrangements before Cllr Crawshaw introduction of tonight’s speakers.
Jess Ward, Founder and CEO of Inspire Youth Yorkshire spoke about the mobile youth club, a safe space for young people featuring activities, snacks and positive conversations about topics such as consequences of behaviour, or healthy eating. Over the last year youth workers have been building relationships with local young people and it is hoped that this work will continue. The Mobile youth club was invited to work in York last year and initial trial sessions on Scarcroft Green were funded by the ward. Evidence and feedback gathered during the trial supported successful application to the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) which enabled expansion to three other locations in the city. Currently the club operates on a weekly basis on Scarcroft Green, in Chapelfields, Foxwood and Bell Farm. Recent application to PFCC seeks funding towards continuation for another year.
Abigail Gaines, Friends of Rowntree Park Charity Manager outlined Make Space For Girls, a project aiming to make the park more friendly for older girls. Ward funded summer activities offered an opportunity for older girls to be involved in activities such as TikTok dance, orienteering, nature craft, photography, campfire, cooking, and film making. As well as provision of further activities the project is looking to install play equipment within the park.
Diane Rowsell, The Collective Sharehouse Director outlined the community food support initiative based at Clements Hall. The project is in its third year of operation, with three sessions a week providing food and sanitary product top ups for residents of the Ward. Food and monetary donations from local people, shops and businesses make it possible for the project to continue providing support during the cost-of-living crisis.
Cllr Crawshaw then outlined priorities of targeting areas of social deprivation and encouraging social inclusion that have been the focus of the Ward Team for the past few years and opened the floor to discussion about the way forward.
The following comments were offered.
Current priorities are right and should remain the focus of the ward.
Friends of Rowntree Park see new audiences engaging with the park resulting in enhanced community cohesion. Recent grant from Beneden Health enabled wellbeing sessions which are always fully booked.
We had to re-learn how to socialize after the pandemic and the projects presented today played a significant part in that process.
Presence of positive role models in the community was mentioned as an important part of the community helping young people to learn how to be good citizens.
Cllr Kilbane referred to ward budget that can be used as a start-up funding, providing groups with resources enabling them to be more resilient, help local projects to flourish and become more sustainable.
Cllr Crawshaw introduced Jane Granville, York CVS Funding and Development Officer who spoke about the support CVS offers to charitable sector organisations in the city, including support with fund finding, development of policies, insurance, trustees training and advice on volunteering opportunities. York CVS manages social prescribing, a project featuring referrals from workers based at GP practices to social activities with the aim to improve health and wellbeing. Ashley, the new Grass Root Officer supports existing and newly formed community and voluntary projects with advice and guidance around forming a group and making projects sustainable. Funding page on CVS website provides links to available funding pots as well as guidance on writing successful funding bids. The next funding fair, an event for groups to find out about available funding options, is being planned for early 2024.
Q A question was asked about list of activities and groups in the area.
A There was a ward newsletter produced last year that provided this information. The Ward is utilizing local notice boards to promote such activities. Live Well Yorkwebsite has a directory of groups and activities across the city.
At this point Cllr Crawshaw introduced Jo Meier, Tesco Askham Bar Community Champion. As a Community Champion Jo links up with voluntary projects and can offer support with food and most recently clothing donated at Tesco and then distributed via community foodbanks. Tesco educational programmes cover topics around food growing and production processes, distance the food must travel to reach the shop as well as recycling. Jo outlined the blue token scheme, where projects with the focus on children, mental health and healthy eating can be nominated for in store voting where customers use blue tokens to cast a vote for their preferred project. Three projects are being voted for at a time with the grant awards of £1,500, £1,000 and £500 for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place respectively.
The next person invited to speak was Johnny Hayes, Friends of Rowntree Park - Park Lodge Project Manager. Johnny outlined the project with the key highlights being:
· The Park Keeper’s Lodge has stood empty for over six years.
· A previous plan to convert the Lodge into a holiday let were abandoned in 2019 by the Council following public concerns about Airbnb use for the space.
· The Friends of Rowntree Park (FRP) aim is to convert the unused space into a ‘’Community Space in the Park’’.
· The Exhibition on 28th September has shown how the intended Lodge will be used for meetings, a variety of classes, events, and offices, with room hire as the major source of funding.
· A forward-looking business plan was drawn in 2020 following extensive surveys about the potential use of the space, but COVID delayed the plans;
· The FRP do not have a year-round indoor space which limits its activities.
· The initial £1,000 ward grant enabled to launch the process and helped with securing further grants.
· The project is now going through planning application and enabling funding of £10,000 and £15,000 has been secured from the Community Ownership Fund and Joseph Rowntree Foundation respectively.
· Clements Hall History Group are writing a book about history of the park. Profits from the book sale will be dedicated towards the project costs.
· It is hoped that the Lodge will open its doors and start functioning as a community space in early 2025.
Johnny encouraged the meeting to take part in the online consultation on the future use of the Lodge via https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/Lodge3
At this point Ward Councillors stated their full support towards the venture.
Cllr Crawshaw invited everyone to bring up any other issues with him, or his fellow Councillors and outlined the plan to hold Ward Committee events on a quarterly basis with a focus on specific matters such as parking.
Q A comment was made about an issue with South Bank Multi Academy Trust approach to work with School Governors, community partaking in education diminishing and approach to discipline that may not necessarily work in favour of children.
A It is a matter that Ward Councillors are aware of and is something for the Ward to take back and consider, as it is a complicated issue.
Cllr Crawshaw closed the meeting at 21:00
, Chair
[The meeting started at Time Not Specifiedand finished at Time Not Specified].