Agenda and draft minutes

PC Toby Gorwood, of the Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team updated the meeting on the crime levels within the Ward. 

ASB:  There had been incidents of a perpetrator on a roof of a local building but this had stopped as the person had moved out of the area.    

Burglary:  There had been some burglaries on sheds and garages in the north of York.

Between 16-24 May Road Policing and Firearms Teams had been in action in their downtime.   The pattern had now moved to the Clifton area.

Q

What were the Huntington incidents?

A

PC Gorwood said that there had been sporadic crime mostly in New Earswick and this side of the link road.

Q

A resident asked if anyone had been caught for these crimes.

A

PC Gorwood said that the incidents were domestic related and were circumstantial rather than unsecure garages.

Q

A resident asked why had it stopped.

A

PC Gorwood said that it was hard to tell, there were possibly a number of reasons such as they had been caught, left the area, been remanded or had been in hospital.

Q

A resident raised the issue of the large area of green on the Birch Park Estate.  They had rung 101 to report teenagers climbing on fences, but said they could not get a reply and they did not feel the issue was serious enough for a 999 call.  The youths also brought mopeds in.

A

PC Gorwood said that if a resident felt they wanted to get in touch with the team they could email them on snayorknorth@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk which would be seen by the team or, alternatively, contact him directly on 01609 643430.  The non-emergency email was general.enquiries@nothyorkshire.pnn.police.uk.  The Teams website could be found at Northyorkshire.police.uk/neighbourhoods/york-north.

Q

There had been an issue of the safety of cyclists coming out on Anthea Drive/New Lane junction -  have there been reports of accidents?

A

PC Gorwood said that they were not aware of any accidents at this location but there had been issues on Brockfield Park Drive.    He said he would look into it to see if any incidents had been reported.

Q

Concerns raised about the Brockfield Park Drive exit onto New Lane, cars were often parked near the last house and there was the potential for a ‘pile up’ as it was creating a bottleneck.  Could the double yellow lines be extended?

Q

The issue of parking in cycle lanes was raised, in particular past Huntington School where there was not a lot of clearance for cars.

A

PC Gorwood said that unless there were double yellow lines any parking would not be enforceable.

Jasmine Howard gave a presentation on the Ways to Wellbeing Project being undertaken in the four Priory Medical Group Practices.   The project was being run by York CVS in conjunction currently with Priory Medical Group and as part of a pilot, the results and outcomes had been independently evaluated by York St John University.   The aim of the project was to help the 10% of people who were lonely or socially isolated and went to their doctors because of their situation.   The aim was to promote Social Prescribing by connecting people within their local community with a view to supporting and improving their lives and wellbeing and thus reduce the use of GP appointments for social issues.    People were also enabled to live at home safely for longer.   Some people were visiting their doctor because of their emotional wellbeing (mental health) or long term conditions such as CPD or diabetes.   It was noted that Huntington and New Earswick Ward had a higher than average population of 75+ year olds than the York average and were therefore disproportionately affected.

Jasmine said that when a person was referred to Jasmine directly from the GP an informal meeting was held at the local surgery, where they could have a cup of tea and discuss what life is like for them.  From this meeting ideas could be discussed and agreement reached as to how their lives could be improved and steps that needed to be taken to make the ideas come to fruition with the help of others.    People were encouraged and supported to do the activities or join the groups they want to until they are confident to carry on on their own.  Transport could also be provided for the first time activities    The project also provided help and support on benefits, debt and housing support. 

The benefits of social prescribing were found to be increased confidence and wellbeing, decreased loneliness and decreased use of GPs time.   People were also helped to engage with their local community and be better able to manage their condition for example being part of groups, having a befriender, joining choirs and art classes and the feedback was that they felt a ‘weight had been lifted’.   Routine was of great importance and it helps people to focus and become more resilient.  

As a result of this project 80% of people referred had a greater sense of wellbeing, 75% had and improvement in confidence and there had been a decrease in reported loneliness and a 20% decrease in GP appointments.

A resident asked how a person would know about the project.

Jasmine said that a person would be referred through their GP.  She was based in the local surgery.  The project would also accept self-referrals or referrals from nurses or councillors.

is time saved by not going to the GP?

GP consultation time is being better used for people needing medical treatment.  Such referrals were more about ‘quality of life’.   Jasmine explained she was here tonight in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Sam Watling from Film at the Folk Hall gave a presentation about what the Group had been doing and how they were moving forward.

They operated out of the New Earswick Folk Hall and they evolved from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Loneliness Project.    It was aimed at people for whom the cinema is financially out of reach.  The service was initially set up by Christine Cook after speaking with Joseph Rowntree Foundation and was a non profit organisation run by volunteers that showed one film on the last Friday of the month for local people.  They had renamed their Group FATFH.  They had an average of 39, 55, and 67 attending and there were eleven volunteers and 25 members.  Membership was for twelve months and cost £5.   They had a Facebook page.   They needed 60-65 people each showing to cover the costs.  Their website is www.filmfolkhall.com.   Programmes were available tonight and they had started questionnaires.  They had successfully held children’s events that had been funded by Ward Committeeand had organised a successful Awareness Raising event.   We hosted a conversation between Abigail Scott-Paul from Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Dave Johns who was an actor in the film I Daniel Blake following its showing.  

They were showing ‘Still Alice on 26^th May at 7.00pm and tickets were still available from the Folk Hall.   They were also supporting the Dementia Action Alliance and working with Minds in Motion on the Life Stories Project.  CYC and Dementia Forward would also be in attendance at this event. 

The Group was now self sufficient in terms of equipment and they had an induction loop available for the hard of hearing.    They were looking to target harder to reach people locally and they planned to do a local piece about the Folk Hall celebrating the important anniversary.  

A resident said that it was difficult to get to the Folk Hall from the north end of Huntington.

There was a suggestion that parish clerks could be approached to put information on their noticeboards. 

Anne Parkinson from Wilberforce Trust gave a short presentation about the work the Trust undertook and how they were bringing their work into Huntington and New Earswick Ward.  They were looking for funding from the Ward Committee to help them carry out their work.  They had recently recruited twenty volunteers from the Ward.

The Trust started in 1833.  As of April they had been awarded the Council’s contract for supporting people with sight and hearing loss advice.  If anyone had sight or hearing loss they should speak to the Trust.  They now had a new Community Hub at the front of the building.  They had found that recently diagnosed people were now becoming less socially isolated.  The Trust could help with transport e.g. providing a bus, they try to put the bus driver into the shoes of someone with sight loss.   The Trust were also working with Action on Hearing Loss and would like to spread the word locally.  Their official launch was planned for Thursday .

A Wilberforce Way Walk challenge had been arranged for 24thJune 2017.   This involved six walks in one day.  Last year they had raised over £6K and they hoped to exceed the target this year.

Anne was asked how they related to York Blind and Partially Sighted Society  

She said they were complimentary but could supply some different kinds of equipment eg tv hearing loops and doorbells, and there was a social inclusion group.  They were also working on a “Street Charter” in the city centre with other disability forums and agencies.  

There were no issues raised.

Councillors thanked residents for attending the meeting.   The meeting closed at 7.00pm.