Free trees from the Woodland Trust

As it has before, the Woodland Trust is offering community groups, youth groups and schools the chance to apply for packs of free trees for delivery in March 2014.

Applications are being accepted up until 9 January next year. Whether groups are
interested in helping wildlife; creating a faith, or inter-faith, green space; planting for
remembrance, creating a community garden or allotment; or just want to enhance their local area - any community groups are very welcome to apply for free packs of saplings.
 
They have over 3,000 packs to give away in spring and they come in three sizes – 30 saplings, 105 saplings and 420 saplings in various themes (hedge, copse, wildlife, wild harvest, year -
round colour, working wood, wild wood and wetland).
 
Find out more and how to apply from the Woodland Trust

Are you passionate about your local NHS and care about its future?

NHS England has called on the public, NHS staff and politicians to have an open and honest debate about the future shape of the NHS in order to meet rising demand, introduce new technology, and meet the expectations of its patients.

Join them and have your say at the Berkshire West Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) Call to Action events being held this November.

These events provide an opportunity for Berkshire West residents to come and meet GPs, representatives of other NHS services, and their local councils to discuss health plans for the next five years.

Date: Tuesday 12 November
Time: 7.00pm-9.00pm
Venue: Kennet room, Reading Borough Council, Civic centre, Reading, RG1 7AE, Headley road, Woodley, RG5 4JZ

Date: Thursday 14 November
Time: 7.00pm-9.00pm
Venue: Shaw House, Church Road, Newbury RG14 2DR

Date: Tuesday 19 November
Time: 10.00am-12.30pm
Venue: Oakwood centre, Headley road, Woodley, RG5 4JZ

To book your place at one of the events please email: nhs.calltoaction@nhs.net  or telephone: 0118 982 2709.

All feedback from these meetings, as well as national events and online contributions via NHS Choices, will be published and used to help shape a longer term strategy for the NHS.

Become a ‘wildlife warrior’ at the Nature Discovery Centre

The Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust is running a ‘wildlife warriors’ activity on Wednesday 30 October for youngsters between 8 and 16 years old to have a go at practical conservation work.

Ed Sweetman, project officer with the Linking the Landscape project, explains: “There are lots of things that young people can do to help their local wildlife. This ‘taster’ session will show them how to use tools safely and have a go at clearing paths, cutting reedbeds and clearing scrub.”

The ‘wildlife warriors’ runs from 10.30am to 12.30pm at the Nature Discovery Centre, Thatcham and starts with a safety talk and explanation of the tools that will be used during the activities. Then the warriors will get a chance to get stuck in and find out more about local wildlife. 

Ed Sweetman adds: “We hope the youngsters will want to come back for more ‘wildlife warrior’ activities that we plan to set up in the spring with a Team Rangers group.”

For more information and book your place, please contact the Linking the Landscape team on 01635 500886 or wbll@bbowt.org.uk.

VACANCY: Reading Refugee Support Group - Manager

Reading Refugee Support Group – Manager

£29,000 per annum (pro-rata) 30 hours per week + pension – six months fixed term contract

Reading Refugee Support Group provides essential advice and support to Asylum Seekers and integration services to those with Refugee or other status in the UK.
 
They are looking for an experienced manager, preferably with an advice service background, to lead our paid and voluntary staff during a period of significant change.

You will work with their capable and engaged trustee board to help review services and develop the opportunities they have already started to explore for partnership working with other local organisations, whilst ensuring that we continue to provide the assistance our clients need.

A job information pack is available to download at http://www.rrsg.org.uk/3.html Applications should be sent to admin@rrsg.org.uk to be received no later than midday Monday 4 November.

Interviews will be held in Reading on Friday 15 November. Regrettably we can only contact short-listed candidates. 

Neighbourhoods Conference 2013, 30th October, Reading Town Hall

Strike Action by Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) is in dispute with the Government over changes to the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme and conditions of service, and they have announced that further strike action will take place on Saturday 19 October from 18:30 to 23:30.  The timing of this action may mean that you are more likely to be at home, entertaining or visiting friends – whatever you are doing this Saturday evening please ‘Take Extra Care’.

Although Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) has contingency plans in place, during any period of industrial action they will have significantly fewer resources. They will therefore be prioritising ‘life critical’ incidents, such as house fires and road traffic collisions where people are trapped.

RBFRS will still be responding to 999 calls but they are asking members of the public to take extra care to reduce the risk of fire and road traffic collisions. 

For further details of advice and guidance please visit their website www.rbfrs.co.uk.

VACANCY: Healthwatch Wokingham Non -Executive Director

Board Governance & Compliance Non-Executive Director - Vacancy

This portfolio holder will provide leadership in the Board to ensure good governance in the way that Healthwatch Wokingham Borough conducts its business.

They will:

• Support and guide the Chair and Board on all issues, including leadership and governance of Healthwatch, to enable it to fulfil its statutory responsibilities as applied by the Healthwatch Commissioners.
• Oversee the (non financial) compliance of statutory and regulatory requirements of the Company
• Ensuring the Board follows best practice in its Governance
• Comply with the Code of Conduct for Directors of Healthwatch Wokingham Borough
• This post is responsible for staff leadership, management and administration of the organisation in the execution of the Board’s policies and decisions.
• Have a knowledge of either the health or social care system.

For further details please click here.

Buy Early and Stay Warm

With Autumn in full swing and Winter fast approaching CCB is encouraging people to stay warm and heathy in their homes, we have made available two free, practical guides to help rural communities keep warm and cut bills this winter.

The Energy Efficiency and Affordable Warmth community guides have been produced by CCB's national body, Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE), in partnership with Calor Gas.

The Energy Efficiency guide explains how families can make simple changes at home – such as insulation, draught-proofing, and low energy lightbulbs –to reduce bills.

The Affordable Warmth guide focuses on how communities can help households to stay warm and avoid falling into fuel poverty. It explains how the most vulnerable households can get help from the Government towards their heating bills.
The guides can be accessed by clicking here

One of the solutions recommended in the guide is the bulk buying of heating oil, for those homes that heat their properties with oil. CCB runs an oil-buying scheme called the CCB Oil Club which helps members save money on heating their home. Last month we got a price of £0.5395 ppl which was 5 pence per litre less than the average of £0.59ppl (all prices + 5% VAT). Our next ordering deadline is 31st October for delivery in November. For more information about the scheme please click here.

Broadband 'roll-out' is raw deal for rural communities

The Community Council for Berkshire's national body ACRE have spoken out at the raw deal rural communities have continued to suffer in the ‘piecemeal’ roll-out of the broadband project across the UK.

The statement came after the Commons Public Accounts Committee accused the Department for Culture, Media and Sport ‘mismanaging’ the project by awarding all of the rural broadband projects so far to BT.

ACRE said that one of the main issues was the patchy information being release by many local councils as to the exact coverage for the roll-out plansdespite an earlier pledge to ensure this happened from the Secretary of State Maria Miller. This was making it hard for people to identify whether their homes would be covered and for alternative models of delivery to be created.

You can read the full statement by clicking here

New guide to community rights - You've Got the Power

The government has given legal powers and new opportunities to preserve what they like and change what they don't like about the city, town or village they live in. Whether they want to stop the local shop closing, get more homes built, or improve local public services, this guide aims to point communities in the right direction.

It also gives just a few examples of the thousands of people, in hundreds of communities, who are already using their rights to make changes for the better where they live. There have been over a thousand uses of Community Rights during their first year.
 
The new guide is available at GOV.UK.

Enterprising libraries receive funding

Ten ‘enterprising libraries’ will receive a share of £450,000 to help local people get
started in business, the Department for Communities and Local Government and Arts
Council England announced. 

It is part of wider action to support local economic growth, Enterprising Libraries turn library spaces into incubators for business ideas by provide coaching, advice, meeting spaces, and IT support to people interested in developing a proposal and taking it to the market. The projects are focused on fostering entrepreneurship by supporting budding business minds in the local
community who are interested in becoming self-employed. The funding being
announced will help more people access the same kind of services across the
country. The Arts Council’s recent research programme, Envisioning the Library of
the Future highlighted the potential of libraries to be catalysts of local economic growth and enterprise.

Read the DCLG and the Art Council England article here.

Launch of Hermitage Parish Plan Refresh

Congratulations to Hermitage for holding a successful launch event for their parish plan Refresh.  

The launch took place on the 18th September at Hermitage Village Hall and attracted about 50 people to come along and see what it’s all about.  Hermitage has had two new housing developments in recent years and it is hoped that the plan will bring together the whole community to work on some of the actions. 

The Village vision group has put together an action plan for the village which includes the wish for faster broadband; greater awareness of what activities are going on in the village, through the website, newsletter and other means; updating the village design statement; keeping an eye on new developments; building a new village hall that will be suitable for everyone; and increasing the health and fitness of the community. These are just a few of the new aspirations.  Several new volunteers signed up on the night to help with projects including some of the newer housing developments. A detailed report on the local Flora and Fauna of Hermitage was also produced for the refresh and this can be found on www.hermitage.org.uk.

If you reside in a parish in West Berkshire and are interested in finding out more about Parish Plans please contact CCB's Community Development Worker, Tessa Hall at Tessa.Hall@ccberks.org.uk for more details.

Spurious Village Green applications ended

Changes announced by Defra means it will no longer be possible to block local
development by making spurious village green applications. Loopholes in the system
have been abused by people looking to stop local development. As well as having a
negative effect on the rural economy and reducing the value of land – often by over 90%–
it reduced the availability of rural homes, facilities and hospitals across the
country.

From now on, applications relating to land which is regularly used for local
recreation will have to be made within a year of the land’s use, rather than two.
Similarly, landowners will be encouraged to allow local communities to make use of
their land, as they will be able to protect it being registered as a village green
through new landowner statements. Last April, the government took the first step in
reducing village green abuses, by closing a loophole that made it possible to submit
applications on land which had already been earmarked for development.

Further information at GOV.UK

CCB Reaches 40 and bids a fond farewell to Baroness Jill Pitkeathley OBE

This year’s Annual General Meeting was an extra special one for us as it also marked the 40th year of the our charitable work improving  the quality of life within Berkshire’s communities.

Guests at the AGM, held at The Barn in Purley-on-Thames on the 3rd October, included many mayors and deputy mayors from throughout the county who were invited to take a trip back 40 years to  CCB’s inaugural meeting on the 15th September 1973.  CCB was then known as the Berkshire Community Service Council with the purpose of ‘becoming  a centre to give information and advice to voluntary organizations in Berkshire.’

Jill Pitkeathley, then a social worker and chair of Reading Citizen’s Advice Bureau, attended the inaugural meeting as a member of the Executive Committee.

The next 40 years saw Jill Pitkeathley take on a number of roles within the organisation including Trustee, Chairman, Vice President and, in 1998, having been made a life peer in 1997, she became CCB President.

She chose the 40th anniversary to step down from this role and said: “Thanks to the commitment, quality of delivery, flexibility and innovative way CCB has reacted to the need of its communities, it is now in a strong position to continue to proactively help communities in Berkshire for the next 40 years. Furthermore I have CCB to thank for introducing me to my husband David Emerson, CEO of  the Association of Charitable Foundations in 1981. It took another 25 years for us to get married but that’s another story!”

The last 40 years has seen the organisation change significantly. Tim Parry, Chief Operating Officer commented: “Our work over the years has included a wealth of projects, improving the lives of many individuals and communities throughout Berkshire. I’ve been with the organisation for 11 years and the pace of change is a real challenge now. We have a very strong team and it is their determination which will carry us forward for the next 40 years. 

After the official part of the AGM was closed guests were invited to join the team for celebratory drink and a slice of 40th Birthday Cake.

Community Action Award 2013-2014‏

Are you involved in an exciting, innovative project to tackle fuel poverty in your local community?

The Community Action Award Scheme will recognise best practice amongst those who are working to tackle fuel poverty and improve energy efficiency in their local communities. Supported by DECC and British Gas, 15 awards will be made to community groups, third sector organisations, health agencies, local authorities and other public and not-for-profit organisations in England that demonstrate innovative approaches to tackling fuel poverty in one of the following three categories:

Winners will receive £1.5k to develop or enhance their project; a free place at the NEA Annual Conference in 2014; plus practical and financial support to hold a community celebration event. Following the events four of these will be name as national winners and provided with an additional £2k to further enhance their initiative.

THE SCHEME WILL RUN IN TWO PHASES

The application criteria are for each phase are identical, there are however small differences in the number of awards made in each phase. The same project may be submitted for both phases, however if organisations are successful in phase 1 they will not be considered for phase 2. Phase 1 - Nine awards will be made. Each winner will initially receive £1.5k and a place at the NEA conference in 2014 (worth £450). At the end of the phase an overall winner from each category (three in total) will be awarded an additional £2k to further develop their initiative. The closing date for phase 1 is 31 October 2013. Phase 2 - Six awards will be made. Each winner will receive £1.5k and a place at the NEA Annual Conference 2014. At the end of the phase one overall winner will be awarded an additional £2k to further develop their initiative. The closing date for phase 2 is 14 February 2014.

»A copy of the full application process can be downloaded here.

HOW TO APPLY

There are two methods for applying:

Online: »Go to www.nea.org.uk/communityaction. You will need to create a user profile first; this will enable you to save your application and amend it until you are ready to submit. NEA members will be able to use their existing membership log-in details.

Download: »You can download the application form here (Microsoft Word) and return by post or email.