Local organisations will give a short presentation on local services and activities in the Ward.
Minutes:
1. Representatives from Goldhill Adventure Playground: Dee Dixon (Playground Manager), Max Hiley and Josh Dixon (Senior Playworkers) were present at the meeting.
Josh began by explaining he started as an apprentice at Goldhill 10 years previously, and now had a senior role which he enjoyed. He had undertaken training, including sports courses. He also visited Marriott Primary School as a behaviour mentor. Goldhill provided a mentoring project to support schools and parents to keep pupils at risk of exclusion / those excluded, and people with learning or behavioural difficulties.
Goldhill was described as being more of a community hub, with open access play in the evening between 3.00 – 6.00pm, Stay and Play groups, and Breakfast Bingo with a mixture of age groups.
Dee informed those present that people with disabilities attended once a month to enable them to have an activity day out.
Goldhill also worked as a food bank in partnership with Fair Share and other agencies, and use of the food bank was increasing. Donations came from Tesco and other suppliers and were collected by Goldhill from areas such as Lutterworth every day. Mixed pallets were received from Giving World, and purchases made on products such as washing liquids, nappies and ladies sanitary wear. Also The Bridge sent sanitary wear as they had more men than women staying at the centre. Bread and fruit was received daily for distribution.
Parents could donate towards items from the food bank, but it wasn’t expected.
Dee explained that when it first started, it was for the children in the playground and their parents. Then workers started cooking a meal on Tuesday nights. Now there were 40-50 children plus parents eating on a Tuesday. The food bank was also expanding as Goldhill were receiving recommendations through resource centres, social services, Helping Hands and the Salvation Army. People were told to visit fortnightly to the Food Bank but would not be turned away if they visited more often. The Foodbank was open from 9am to 6pm weekdays. It was reported that grant funding from The Lottery was coming to an end which helped pay for collection costs, food, petrol etc.
Josh was one of five apprenticeships at Goldhill, all of who had moved on to full time jobs. Josh was also congratulated as he had won apprentice of the year.
Dee informed the meeting that it cost £320k to run Goldhill each year.
The Chair said it was a good service to have in the community and was inspirational and was part of the adventure playground that people did not see.
Further information on Goldhill Adventure Playground can be found online at http://www.goldhilladventureplayground.org/
2. Louise Wylie and Zak Winstone were present from Eyres Monsell Club for Young People (EMCYP), and a short video of activities provided was shown.
Louise informed the meeting that EMCYP was a voluntary section youth centre for people aged 8-19 years, and that the majority of staff were locals from the estate, who also had an understanding of young people’s needs.
The youth club offered activities five nights a week which included junior, senior volunteers and inclusion sessions, and was the only youth group on the estate. The club offered the following sessions amongst other activities:
· Inclusion Group – Ages 8-19years young people with additional needs
· Senior Session – Age 12+years
· Junior Club – Ages 8-12 years – it was considered important to engage with young people at an early age to prevent involvement in Anti-social behaviour
· Bounceback Fitness Project – funding was received for the project from Community Meeting Ward Funding, and from Leicester-Shire & Rutland Sport, but funding was due to end in October. The project was aimed at young people aged 12+ with mental health issues, and encouraged them to take part in physical activity and exercise to improve wellbeing, develop confidence and emotional resilience.
EMCYP would be focussing more in terms of mental and physical health and wellbeing support, which would be the basis for future funding applications. The Club had a Crowd Funding page on social media – the amount of money needed each year was £85k. A minimum of three years funding was needed to support staff and young people.
The gym area was a small space which the Club wanted to make bigger. Local people and residents of Cooper House also used the gym, which had a personal trainer, Zak, who had risen through the volunteer structure and was now a member of staff, providing training sessions and circuit classes.
The Club had also branched out and had a new café run by young people, staff and volunteers, who would also receive leadership training.
Further information on EMCYP can be found on their website https://www.eyresmonsellcyp.co.uk/
The Chair thanked both groups for all of the work they did. She added there was a parallel between the two groups with a lot of similar activities. She suggested that the two groups meet as an opportunity to help each other. They were also advised to apply for the Chairman’s Fund from Leicester City Council, contact big companies such as Comic Relief and Big Lottery. The two organisations were advised to submit videos on what they did when applying for funding, as both organisations provided more than just youth services. Ward Councillors would also speak to the City Mayor to discuss funding, as they were great example of how community cohesion worked.