Communities: tips, toolkits, trustees and guidance

Community Libraries Toolkit
A toolkit has been produced outlining good practice for community libraries.  It is aimed at increasing the involvement of community volunteers in the delivery of library services, and communities wishing to establish a community library.  The toolkit is available here.
  
Marketing Guidance for Small Community Enterprises
A marketing guide for small community health, care and wellbeing enterprises has been published.  The guide includes advice on things like establishing online presence (including websites and social media), how to engage with public sector commissioners and creating the right message.  The guide is available by clicking here. 
  
Social Media Tips for Trustees and Boards
The Guardian have shared advice and tips for Trustees and Board Members who are considering using social media as a way to improve transparency but also boost the profile of their organisation.  For more information please click here. 
  
Volunteering and Benefits Guidance
NCVO has published guidance for potential volunteers who are concerned that volunteering could affect their state benefits.  The guide aims to help support recipients of such benefits to be able to volunteer, without affecting their benefits.  The guide is available by clicking here. 
  
Dementia Friendly Resource Pack
A resource pack for organisations wishing to become more dementia friendly has been published.  The resource pack aims to provide a recommended framework to enable organisation to become more dementia friendly.  For more information please click here. 
  
Fundraising Guidance for Trustees
The Charity Commission has published new guidance for Trustees addressing how they oversee their charities fundraising.  Trustees must ensure that fundraising reflects the values of the charity.  For more information please click here. 
  
Courtesy of Norfolk Community Action

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Rural Housing Enabling in Berkshire

How do we sum up a year (April 2015 - March 2016) that presented more challenges than opportunities for delivery of rural affordable housing?

A new government was hell bent on introducing new legislation that would seek to end the housing crisis, but on the basis of homeownership and reducing planning obstacles for developers. As anyone working in rural communities will tell you, it is the absolute lack of access to rented tenures in the countryside that are the real problem for the lower paid. 

Traditional ‘affordable’ housing tenures began to look as though they would be cast aside. The Homes & Communities Agency, already no longer funding social rents by the end of 2015 announced that there was no grant to fund so called affordable rents either.  

The Housing and Planning Bill introduced (Enacted May 2016) a new definition of ‘affordable housing’ that includes a new tenure, ‘Starter Homes.’  What was immediately obvious was that Starter Homes were for outright purchase on the open market and were only ‘affordable’ by dint of a 20% discount on the purchase price and limits on resale for 5 years. The developer is able to provide the discount because he is no longer required to pay any other S106 contributions on these types of houses.

In addition to ‘Starter Homes, the Bill (Act) introduced the Voluntary Right-to -Buy for people renting Housing Association properties, but on rural exception sites we have always promised that these homes cannot be sold under right-to buy.  

The year has been dominated by uncertainty and as a result Arlene Kersley, CCB’s Rural Housing Enabler has focused much time on the national picture and responding to consultation after consultation to try to ensure that rural affordable housing is still recognised as a cornerstone in keeping rural villages sustainable.  Many of you may have seen the regular online blog written by Arlene during the year which is also featured in our e-bulletin.

So by December there were question marks over the future of the project. The gravity of the situation meant that we had  Arlene as the keynote speaker at CCB’s 2015 AGM.  Truthfully she has never been a ‘glass half empty’ character, but it certainly felt that way.  We are happy to report that we are still here a year on, though we are having to review how we will fund future activity, as our traditional model is unlikely to be sustainable.

Locally things have not been any clearer.  

The Berkshire wide Strategic Market Housing Assessment was finally published in February.  Berkshire Unitary authorities cannot have been too surprised that the findings indicated significantly higher housing figures than previously planned for.

Rural Parishes in Berkshire cannot be blamed for feeling under siege and exhibiting a reluctance to step-up for rural exception site development with all of this uncertainty.

The Berkshire Rural Housing Partnership, celebrated its 10th anniversary in September 2015, however funding cuts threaten the future of the project.  Record cuts at Local Government level and funding changes in development grant for Housing Associations have resulted in a significant review of priorities.

In Berkshire only one Housing Need Survey was completed during the course of the year, in Theale.  Stratfield Mortimer had a survey to inform the Neighbourhood Plan there at the beginning of the year, but it was with some concern that the Regulation 14 version of their plan made no reference whatsoever to local needs housing.  This was rectified in their examination submission.

The Rural Housing Enabler continues to advise parishes across West Berkshire, although in the future housing need surveys will need to be funded directly by Parish Councils. CCB is sincerely grateful to our long standing Rural Housing Partners that have stuck with us throughout the years.

Neighbourhood Planning

During the course of the year Arlene was made a Locality Neighbourhood Planning Champion in recognition of the work done to date in training groups and providing support to the Hurley and the Walthams Neighbourhood Plan (HWNP) in Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead. 

By the end of March the HWNP will have completed its Regulation 14 consultation and be preparing for submission for examination.

Arlene also conducted a facilitated Neighbourhood Planning Workshop for Crowthorne Parish Council to determine whether Neighbourhood Planning will add value there.  We were pleased to see that in March the Binfield Neighbourhood Plan was made as Arlene had provided training to this group to help them get started. 

Further Neighbourhood Planning Training is planned for 2016-17.

CCB: Helping Berkshire residents to reduce energy bills

Chalvey Grove Children's Centre

This has been a busy year (April 2015 - March 2016) for our outreach work which has focused on helping people to reduce home energy costs in Berkshire. The majority of education and advice work has been targeted to low-income families, with talks also given to frontline workers who support low income families, and community groups.

Berkshire Community Foundation (BCF) Family Home Energy and Education Project

Funding received from BCF enabled Helen Dean, Project Co-ordinator, to run 15 drop in sessions in Children’s Centres across Berkshire. Helen was able to advise 114 families on how to reduce their home energy costs. 

Ten of the fifteen sessions were run in Slough, which has the highest index of multiple deprivation in Berkshire. In addition, 23 frontline workers at the Children’s Centres were also briefed on how they could advise and signpost their clients. They stated that they would expect to pass on this advice to 395 families over the next six months, and staff that were trained estimated that over 40% of their clients were fuel poor. Helen was able to give a talk to an English lesson at one of the Slough Children’s Centres, and since then has been asked to give talks to a further 6 English lessons for parents. 

Britwell Mother & Baby Group, Slough

Scottish Power Energy People Trust (SPEPT) CCB Family Home Education and Advice Project

CCB are very grateful to SPEPT for funding a year’s project starting in September 2015, to carry out 54 drop in sessions at Children’s Centres across Berkshire. From September to the end of March Helen has run a total of 40 sessions, either 1:1 consultations at a drop in sessions or a talk to a group of parents at a mother and baby group or an English lesson. This has allowed 349 families access to a valuable advice.

There have been new partnerships formed with WEA (Workers Education Association), Slough Lifelong Learning, and Slough Health Visitors. 

Evaluation forms completed by families after they receive a 1:1 consultation, or a group talk indicate that 83% said that they would look for a better deal on their energy.

Front-line workers at Children Centre’s have also been briefed by Helen. Julie Harris, a Family Support Worker stated that some of her families had economy seven heating, and struggled with using it, and the cost of it. Helen was able to provide her with a handout on how to use Economy Seven heating properly. Julie was able to pass this on to many families and in particular to one of the mothers she was supporting. As a consequence, this mother no longer needed to top up her heating using electric fires in the evening, and was able to save money on her electricity bills. 

Big Energy Saving Network (BESN)
CCB was granted funding from BESN for the first time this year allowing Helen to advise 101 individuals and train 55 Health Visitors in Slough and Wokingham. The talks to Health Visitors were very well received, as a comment on an evaluation sheet shows - “Excellent advice, very useful for staff awareness” Sarah Parsons, Head of Slough Children’s Services.

Charlotte, pictured with her children

Helen was able to help one mother called Charlotte re-negotiated her direct debit increase. Charlotte saved £25 a month from the original proposed increase from the energy company. She also carried out a cost comparison for her gas and electricity when her tariff ended, and was able to save £539 per year by switching supplier!

Energy Best Deal

CCB carried out 10 Energy Best Deal sessions which comprise of talks on reducing home energy costs, switching supplier, insulating your home, claiming benefits that you are entitled to, and top tips for reducing energy use at home. Five talks were given to front-line workers, advising them of ways they can advise and signpost the families they support in reducing their home energy costs. This included talks to staff and volunteers of The Better Care Project which provides support to older people after they have been in hospital. Five talks were also given to community groups.

Providing invaluable training and advice to Berkshire’s Community Buildings

Aldworth Village Hall Opening

CCB’s Community Buildings Advice Service (CBAS) has had another successful year (April 2015 - March 2016). The membership increased to 61 halls, 105 enquiries were answered on a variety of topics and 19 visits were made. 

Eight training sessions were held on topics including funding, building maintenance, health and safety and using a hall as emergency accommodation.

The emergency accommodation meetings attracted more than 50 people from 33 halls and was funded with a grant from Southern Electric Power Distribution Resilient Communities Fund.  Most of these training sessions were held in both east and west Berkshire. CCB is grateful to Landmark Trust, Greenham Common Trust, Insure Your Village hall and local authority emergency accommodation officers from Wokingham and West Berkshire and who provided speakers for these meetings, thus supporting volunteers in running their halls. 

Halls continue to provide a focal point for community activities for people of all ages. Many other hall committees are embarking on fund raising to improve their buildings. The dedicated volunteers that run them use their spare time to ensure that these public buildings are fit for use in 21st century as well as complying with the legislation that affects them. The CBAS service CCB provides helps ensure that they are not alone in their endeavours. Being a member of CBAS ensures they get answers to queries, regular training opportunities and guidance on legislative issues. 

Several communities have been working to raise funds to improve or replace their halls. New halls were opened in Hermitage and in Aldworth which was officially opened by Lord Illyffe, in March 2016. 

Two CBAS newsletters were compiled and distributed during the year and further updates on legislation were also circulated. In addition, Government consultations affecting halls were circulated. Information sheets on equipment and services requested by hall trustees were collated with help and suggestions from other hall trustees, saving committees time and effort in researching topics themselves. 

If you have any questions relating to our Community Buildings Advice Service please get in touch with Wendy - wendy.dacey@ccberks.org.uk

Learner's in Newbury say YES to food but NO to waste

Emma Barnett from WRAP

Love Food Hate Waste Training 12th July at Shaw House 

CCB recently put on some great training with Emma Barnett from WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) in the beautiful Oak Room at the West Berkshire Council owned Shaw House for 15 learners.  This small group was very engaged with the subject which provoked lots of discussions and tips being shared. 

Attendees came from local children’s centres, the Women's Institute, environmental groups, allotment and gardening groups.  Interested individuals also attended. We heard about the background to the campaign and how it started; the results of research into food waste, with delegates guessing which foods we waste most before the results of the research were revealed. Tips and advice on how to prevent food waste in your household, as well as hands on activities on portion control, freezing left over food, storage, dates and packaging. 

Attendees also gained some good recipe ideas and learnt how to spread the message to our friends, families, work colleagues and community groups.  The training was very timely for members of the W.I. because they are campaigning nationally at the moment on unnecessary food waste. 

Comments made from delegates attending included:

‘The morning was full of useful information, I especially enjoyed the hands on activities’
‘I enjoyed being in an interactive group, we shared lots of tips’
‘Emma was an excellent trainer, very clear and good at moving us on’

The training was FREE to attendees thanks to funding from the Adult & Community Learning Team as West Berkshire Council.

CCB will offering some more FREE Love Food Hate Waste training in October.  Please keep an eye on our website and e-bulletin for details. 

CPR & Defibrillator Awareness Workshop, Theale

Theale now have 2 external, public access defibrillators and more are planned . The Parish Council thought it would be a good idea to familiarise people with them in case they ever have to use one. To book a place please contact Theale Parish Council