(Attachment: 7)Report (718K/bytes) - Fenland District Council

Fenland’s
Future
Your quarterly partnership e-newsletter
In this
edition...
Welcome
Refesh of Fenland’s
Sustainable
Community
Strategy 2009 - 2012
Mobile Gym soon
to be launched
New MD at Roddons
Fendis
Helping people to
live independently
Dancing for fun and
better health
Halloween fun in
Waterlees
Community Fairs
Working to reduce
Anti Social Behaviour
in Wisbech
Please send your copy of Fenland’s Future to any one in your organisation who is involved in partnership working in Fenland.
Winter 2009

Welcome
W
Gloria Culyer, Chair of the Fenland Strategic
Partnership wishes you a warm welcome to our latest
edition of Fenland’s Future.
Partnership working has come a long way over the
last couple of months. There are signs of successful
collaborative working where ever you look in the
district. Whether it’s our CrimeBUSter making people
feel safer or our Community Fairs giving people the opportunity to have
their say, working together is making a real difference to people’s lives.
Our winter edition of Fenland’s Future provides you with a summary of
just some of the successful projects we have worked together to deliver in
Fenland.
As we are sure that most of you are aware by now, the Fenland Strategic
Partnership Board have approved our 2009 - 2012 Community Strategy,
which sets out our commitment to working together to improve the
quality of local people‘s lives. This edition includes an update of our key
partnership objectives and lets you know when the strategy will be
published.
This is your newsletter, so if you have a story you would like to share, or if
you are on the look out to involve others in your project, please let us
know. Fenland’s Future is coordinated by Fenland District Council. If you
would like to send us an article, all you need to do is click on one of the
‘Submit an article’ links, which can be found throughout the newsletter.
To be sure that your articles will be included in the next edition, please
forward them onto us by the end of February 2010.
Finally, we would like to thank you all for your continued commitment to
working together to tackle local issues, for local people. We look forward
to delivering our new shared priorities into the New Year.
Gloria Culyer, Chair of the Fenland Strategic Partnership and Chief
Executive of Age Concern, Cambridgeshire
Refresh of Fenland’s
Sustainable Community Strategy 2009-2012
To make sure that our
partnership working achieves
the real community impacts
that we all want it to, we have
refreshed our Sustainable
Community Strategy. The new
strategy will enable partner
organisations to work better
together, making the most of all
opportunities in what is
becoming an increasingly
challenging environment.
Our much simpler partnership
structure will consist of an
overarching board, along with
five partnership themes;
Children and Young People
Safer and Stronger
Communities
A Sustainable Environment
Health and Wellbeing
Economic and Sustainable
Communities
Our new and refreshed
Sustainable Community
Strategy 2009 - 2012 has now
been approved by the Fenland
Strategic Partnership Board and
a finalised version will be
published within the next
couple of weeks.
If you have any questions or
would like any further
information about the
Sustainable Community
Strategy or the Fenland
Strategic Partnership please
contact:
Di Atkinson,
Partnership Development
Manager,
on 01354 622337 or
datkinson@fenland.gov.uk.
FENL AND
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP
In this
edition...
Welcome
Refesh of Fenland’s
Sustainable
Community
Strategy 2009 - 2012
Mobile Gym soon
to be launched
New MD at Roddons
Fendis
Helping people to
live independently
Dancing for fun and
better health
Halloween fun in
Waterlees
Community Fairs
Working to reduce
Anti Social Behaviour
in Wisbech
Submit an article
To submit an article to
Fenland’s Future or The
Fenlander please contact
Lucy Watsham, Policy and
Communications Officer
for Fenland District Council,
by telephoning
01354 622592 or emailing
lwatsham@fenland.gov.uk
Winter 2009

Mobile Gym
soon to be launched
Thanks to the £261,000 worth of
LPSA Reward Grant funding that
the Fenland Strategic
Partnership has secured, the
new and exciting outreach
Mobile Gym is due to be
launched in early 2010. Working
in partnership Fenland District
Council, Sport England and the
British Heart Foundation, are
working hard to progress the
initial development stages of the
project. A schedule of visiting
times and locations for the
Mobile Gym now complete.
The main aim of the project is to
take leisure services closer to the
hearts of local communities,
breaking down barriers of social
exclusion and increasing the
opportunities for Fenland
residents to access exercise
facilities on their doorstep. The
gym will also provide local
people with a great opportunity
to get to know others living
locally within their area.
We’ve been working with
different people in five pilot
locations, including The Oasis
Community Centre (Waterlees),
The George Inn (Doddington),
Wimblington Parish Council,
Manea Royal British Legion and
Furrowfield Car Park (Chatteris)
to make sure that the project
will launch with success.
As well as offering our residents
the chance to access a gym in
their local vicinity, partners will
also be considering other
opportunities available to the
local community with a view to
developing programmes and
activities to suit their needs.
For more details about the Mobile
Gym Project please contact:
The Mobile Gym Project Officer,
Louise Smith on
01354 622516 or
lasmith@fenland.gov.uk.
New MD at
Roddons
Chris Smith is due to
commence employment as the
new MD for Roddons from 11
January 2010. Coming from the
Norfolk area he is familiar with
Cambridgeshire. Chris has a
partner, Angelina and a 9 year
old son, James.
Chris has worked in housing
since 1995 when he started as a
Rent Officer in Broadland HA in
Norwich. He was subsequently
promoted to AD Housing
Management at Broadland.
From Broadland he went to
the post of Head of Housing
Management in Kings Lynn
& West Norfolk Council
where he was part of the
stock transfer team that set
up Freebridge HA where he
became Head of Housing.
Chris is currently Director of
Housing & Support at
Merlin Housing Society in
South Gloucestershire.
Submit an article
To submit an article to
Fenland’s Future or The
Fenlander please contact
Lucy Watsham, Policy and
Communications Officer
for Fenland District Council,
by telephoning
01354 622592 or emailing
lwatsham@fenland.gov.uk
Winter 2009

Fendis
Fendis, the Fenland Disability Sports Forum
works to increase the number of opportunities
for disabled people to take part in sport and
physical activity.
Fendis brings together disability groups and
individuals that have a varied interest in taking
part in sport and works to support sport
providers to make opportunities a reality.
The indoor bowls project has proved very
popular since its launch in 2008 and is just one
project that demonstrates the successful
partnership working of Fendis.
Over the past 12 months, the March Outdoor,
Whittlesey and Wisbech Indoor Bowls Clubs,
working in partnership with Fendis, now offer
regular opportunities for disabled people to
take part in the sport. The project has provided suitable
equipment and assisted each of the three sites to hold
regular weekly disabled sessions. Two extremely
popular bowls fun days have also been held, with
another arranged for January 2010.
Working in partnership has been mutually beneficial for
everyone involved in this fantastic project. The clubs are
more inclusive and have a wider and more diverse
membership, volunteers have developed greater
personal skills and the participants now have the
opportunity to take part in an enjoyable sport. Above
all, everyone has had the chance to make new friends,
while doing something they enjoy.
Annette Fontaine, Sport Inclusion Officer at Fenland
District Council says, “None of this would have been
possible without the successful partnership working
of Fendis, Fenland District Council, the bowls clubs,
day centres, parents and carers.”
If you would like any more information about the indoor bowls project,
please do not hesitate to contact:
Annette Fontaine, Sports Inclusion Officer at Fenland District Council
on 01354 622508 or afontaine@fenland.gov.uk
Helping people to live independently
Helping people to regain confidence and independence is
at the heart of a one-year project being delivered by The
British Red Cross in Fenland, thanks to funding from
Roddons Housing Association.
The charity successfully applied for £27,200 from the
Community Fund to run the scheme which provides a
variety of short-term support to anyone over the age of 18.
This support, offered by a team of trained volunteers, is for
people who need help following a life-changing crisis or
during an illness. It can smooth the process of settling
back into a normal routine and enable people to regain
their independence and give them the confidence to
continue their daily lives.
The project offers help for up to six weeks, free of charge, and
can include shopping, accompanying to appointments or just
companionship.
After making contact with the group, coffee mornings will be
taking place in each of the 14 sheltered housing schemes to
offer this service to our tenants.
If you feel this project may be beneficial to you, or would like
some more information, please contact:
Tracy Impey on 01354 659724 or timpey@redcross.org.uk
Submit an article
To submit an article to
Fenland’s Future or The
Fenlander please contact
Lucy Watsham, Policy and
Communications Officer
for Fenland District Council,
by telephoning
01354 622592 or emailing
lwatsham@fenland.gov.uk
Winter 2009

Dancing for Fun
and better health
Roddons Sheltered Housing has
been working closely with a
number of partners from around
the district, including Age
Concern, Living Sport and
Cambridgeshire and
Peterborough Sports Partnership
to deliver our ‘Fit as a Fiddle’
programme. Fit as a Fiddle is
funded by the Big Lottery Fund
as part of their well-being
programme. The programme has
provided 16 Scheme Managers
from Roddon‘s sheltered housing
schemes with a fantastic
opportunity to gain a recognised
qualification in Armchair
Exercise.
Armchair Exercise classes are fun
and informal, and designed to
improve a person’s strength,
balance, coordination and
mobility. The opportunity to
take part in one of these
light-hearted classes will be
offered to all tenants across the
14 housing schemes. In the
near future, we’re also hoping
to be able to offer residents
from the wider community the
opportunity to take part.
Tara Howlett, the Mobile
Scheme Manager for Roddons,
has just completed the first of
the courses and said “I found it
most informative and
enjoyable”.
If you would like to take part in
one of the new classes, or
require any further information
please contact:
Suzanne Scrimshaw,
Acting Project Manager for
Roddons Housing Association,
on 01354 660789.
Halloween Fun in Waterlees
On 24 October, the Learning
Communities Partnership
organised a Halloween event at
the Oasis Community Centre, in
the North Ward of Wisbech. The
event helped to promote
Family Learning Week, with the
aim of encouraging local
people to discover new arts and
crafts. The event also provided
people with an opportunity to
find out about and sign up to
skills development courses
available within their local area.
The North Ward Learning
Communities partnership
consists of a number of key
agencies including the Oasis
Centre, Cambridgeshire and
Peterborough Learning Trust,
Cambridgeshire NHS, Fenland
District Council, Norfolk and
Waveney Enterprise services,
the local Children's Centre and
the College Of West Anglia.
The event was a
great success,
with over 100
people of all
ages attending.
Five new
families
registered to
attend the
Children's
Centre and fifteen people
enrolled on skills
development courses.
If you know somebody who
could benefit from one of
these courses, or would like
some more information
about the event please
contact:
Hetty Thornton, Fenland
District Council’s Senior
Community Development
Officer, on 01354 622482 or
hthornton@fenland.gov.uk
Submit an article
To submit an article to
Fenland’s Future or The
Fenlander please contact
Lucy Watsham, Policy and
Communications Officer
for Fenland District Council,
by telephoning
01354 622592 or emailing
lwatsham@fenland.gov.uk
Winter 2009

Community fair
your voice - your choice - your future
September saw the launch of
the new and exciting
Community Fairs, offering our
residents the opportunity to
meet a large number of
partners in a convenient
location close to their homes.
The fairs were extremely
successful and proved very
popular with both customers
and partner organisations.
There were a variety of stalls
offering information from
careers advice to finding out
how to get involved in local
sports groups.
March was home to Fenland’s
first Community Fair on 28
September at Neale Wade
Community College. As soon as
the doors opened at 5.00pm,
residents piled into the fair to
enjoy a great selection of
entertainment, whilst finding
out about local services and
having a nice cup of coffee.
Anna from March said, "Mum
told me we were going to the
Community Fair and I said 'oh
great', but I've really enjoyed it.
It's told me loads of great
information, and from a young
person’s perspective. I’d
definitely recommend people
to go to the next fair".
Partnership working plays a key
factor in the success of these
Community Fairs and provides
a great opportunity for our
residents to learn about the
new initiatives taking place
within the district, and also
offers them the chance to
influence local services in a
relaxed and informal setting.
They also provide the perfect
opportunity to establish how
the community feel about their
local area and whether there are
any issues or improvements
that could be made to enhance
their quality of life.
Nearly 500 people from all over
Fenland attended one of the six
community fairs. The feedback
received has been extremely
positive, with a number of
suggestions on how to offer
even better services in the
future. The next round of
Community Fairs is due to take
place early in the new year and
if you feel you would like to
attend, or even if you have any
ideas about how the fairs can be
improved, feel free to contact:
Dan Horn,
FDC’s Head of Housing and
Neighbourhood Services,
on 01354 622470 or
dhorn@fenland.gov.uk
Working to Reduce
Anti-Social Behaviour in Wisbech
During July 2009 Roddons
Housing Association and
Cambridgeshire
Constabulary began to
receive complaints of drug
dealing and anti-social
behaviour related to an
association-owned property
in Wisbech.
The agencies gathered
information and monitored
the address and in late
September 2009, Police
carried out a warrant to
search the property.
This search resulted in Class
A drugs being found and the
occupant being arrested. It
also transpired that the
person had been illegally
sub-letting the property
from its legal tenant.
During house to house
enquiries, disturbed
residents gave evidence that
the property had been used
for drug dealing, with
numerous people visiting
both day and night, shouting
and swearing and discarding
drug related items in public
areas.
Roddons Housing
Association is now
applying to the Court for
possession of the
property, and along with
the Police are continuing
to monitor other
properties linked to the
address to ensure that
further anti-social
behaviour is minimised.
Submit an article
To submit an article to
Fenland’s Future or The
Fenlander please contact
Lucy Watsham, Policy and
Communications Officer
for Fenland District Council,
by telephoning
01354 622592 or emailing
lwatsham@fenland.gov.uk
Winter 2009