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NEWS • FEBRUARY – MARCH 2009 ‘KG Youth Space’ livens up Friday nights in Lower Morden A new youth space in Lower Morden is offering local teens a place to hang out and take part in various activities thanks to the efforts of four teenage girls. The four young women – Emily Morris, Emma Martin, Tamara Elliot and Georgina Mitchell – identified the need for a space where local teens could meet and take part in activities on a regular basis. The girls submitted an application to Merton’s youth opportunity fund. With residents’ needs top of the council’s list of priorities, their bid was successful and helped to cover rental payments 4 Fighting fear Merton’s Overview and Scrutiny Commission is undertaking a review on fear of crime in Merton. The review, chaired by Councillor Peter Southgate, aims to identify why fear of crime is disproportionately higher than the level of crime actually recorded in Merton. Fear of Crime is the number one concern for residents according to the annual residents survey but Merton is consistently rated in the top five safest boroughs in London. In order to understand the needs of residents in reducing this fear, councillors are meeting with a range of interested parties, including local police, and the borough’s crime reduction partnership, Safer Merton. A number of areas will be investigated, including local initiatives that have transformed previous less welcoming areas into safe and welcoming environments. If you have any views on the issue of fear of crime and how it can impact on people leading their lives we would be interested to hear from you. Find out more 020 8545 3390 or barbara.jarvis@ merton.gov.uk and purchase equipment. The ‘KG Youth Space’, located in King George’s Playing Fields is open every Friday evening from 6pm-9pm and is available to all young people in the Lower Morden area aged 13-19 years old. Young people can make the most of themed evenings with organised activities, electronic games, cooking and food preparation activities, sexual health education nights and fundraising events. Find out more For more information on the youth opportunity fund at www.merton. gov.uk/youthopportunityfund The four teenagers celebrate their success My Merton correction On page seven of the December / January edition of My Merton we featured an image of the National Trust’s Morden Hall Park in connection to Merton Council funding. Morden Hall Park is a free of charge community facility owned by the National Trust and neither managed nor funded by the council. We would like to apologise for any confusion this may have caused. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History Month 2009 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) History Month takes place every year in February. It showcases the achievements and issues facing the LGBT community. Merton Council is committed to celebrating the borough’s diverse society and for the second year running we will be holding a range of events for the LGBT community. This will include an LGBT film festival, several talks and an LGBT history exhibition in the civic centre from 9 February. Find out more More event details are available at www.merton.gov.uk/ community/lgbt, so watch this space. To join our LGBT mailing list contact lgbt@merton.gov.uk or call 020 8545 3156. IN BRIEF Playing for success Two of Merton’s out-of-hours learning venues, Tooting & Mitcham FC study support centre and The Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum study centre, have achieved recognition for ‘Quality in Study Support’. Merton’s Playing for Success initiative combines education and sport to create an exciting learning environment for young people. Students in Merton attend after-hours learning sessions at a sporting venue and participate in activities aimed at improving their literacy, numeracy and IT skills. Get yourself a happy soul The award-winning Happy Soul Festival returns to Merton in March with an exciting range of new world class film screenings and events to celebrate Black and Asian experience and well-being. This year there will be premieres of films especially made by young people across London for the Happy Soul Youth Awards. The free festival will take place at community venues in Merton and at the Odeon cinema in Wimbledon. Find out more www.happysoulfestival.co.uk or 020 8682 5983 Adult Education – New prospectus out now Try something new in 2009 or add a skill to your CV. Merton Adult Education has a wide range of courses to suit everyone. Find out more www.merton. gov.uk/ adulteducation or 020 8543 9292
Ravensbury Park new play area opens In November pupils from Cranmer Primary School and the Mayor officially opened the new play area at Ravensbury Park. A BIG Lottery cash injection of £20,000 has helped fund the play area, meaning better value for money for the council tax payer. The park now includes a stage, a slide, climbing boulders, swings, and a wheelchair accessible roundabout. The play area is fully accessible so children with disabilities and special needs will also be able to enjoy it too. The refurbishment was recommended in the Free Play Strategy 2007-12 developed by the council and Merton’s voluntary and community sector in consultation with children, young people and their families. Ravensbury Park has also been shortlisted for funding in the London Mayor’s ‘Help a London Park’ competition. Find out more If you haven’t voted please do so before 30 January 2009 at www.london.gov.uk/parksvote/ vote/?park=ravensbury Pollards Hill library update Construction is well underway at Pollards Hill library but until the newly refurbished library is ready, an alternative book borrowing service is available at the New Horizons Day Centre. The centre also offers a homework club for school children. The library’s Open Learning Centre is still open but is operating from the nearby Red Hut Children’s Centre, offering a drop in service for computer users, IT training sessions and European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) classes. With the library central to the community of Pollards Hill, the £1 million lottery funding is expected to lead to improved local educational opportunities, resulting in better employment prospects and a healthier community. Find out more www.merton.gov.uk/libraries Merton is number one Merton’s dazzling winter fl oat won fi rst prize in the New Year’s Day Parade winning £7,500 for the mayoral charities. A team effort from Merton schoolchildren, councillors and the Wimbledon Guild proved a winning combination to beat off the competition from over 20 other London boroughs. Mayor of Merton Councillor Martin Whelton said: “We are delighted with our success in the parade. So much time and effort went into the fl oat, it created a huge visual impact.” Merton Active Plus holiday courses 2009 open for bookings Bookings are now open for Merton Active Plus, the revamped holiday activities scheme run by Merton Council, which offers great value for money health and social opportunities for young people in the borough. This year the well-attended courses are running in half-term holidays as well as the Easter and summer holidays. Other changes include the arts courses, ‘Creating fun’, which have a new range of schemes on offer. February half-term will see a number of taster courses being run to allow people the opportunity to try out the schemes before committing to a whole week at Easter or in the summer. The popular watersports courses are once again on offer this year in Wimbledon Park so book now for the Easter, May, Summer and October holidays. Other courses include horse riding and athletics. Find out more www.merton.gov.uk/activeplus Contact leisure@merton.gov.uk at 020 8545 3664 FEBRUARY – MARCH 2009 • NEWS R E S P E C T – fi nd out what it means to you Young residents at the Respect launch Merton Council has signed up to the national ‘Respect Standard for Housing Management’ which tackles issues surrounding anti-social behaviour (ASB) by teaching and encouraging people acceptance and tolerance of others. As part of this standard to help reduce ASB on estates in Merton, the council has committed to being responsible for six core elements including prevention and early intervention, empowering and supporting victims and witnesses, enforcement and continuing to work in partnership with the police and other partners. Find out more www.merton.gov.uk/respect 5
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