Agenda and minutes

Welcome

Cllr Amrani welcomed attendees to the assembly and congratulated Father McKenna on a wonderful hall. Cllr Amrani handed over to him to say a few words of welcome to attendees.

Lindsey Makenna,

Thank you for having your assembly meeting here – it is lovely to be here it has very long road for us getting to here to our new hall. One of the first encouragements we had 7 years ago was when the assembly provided a small grant. It was a huge encouragement to us.

When you consider the grant process, it is important to realise that even if it is a small amount of money the actual encouragement it gives to small organisations far outweigh the money itself.  We were very encouraged by that. Since then we have been able to access various trust funds to realise our plans.

We are just waiting to finish upstairs and are looking for funding for that. We have some out buildings as well. Work is by no means finished, but it is great that the assembly is back here this evening. The halls has been hugely welcomed by the community. It’s not a church hall - it is a community hall, a place in a very densely populated areas where there are very few places like this we are very keen to offer the space to our community.

Crystal is our bookings secretary and I hand over to her to tell you more about accessing the hall.

Crystal – It is a real privilege to be here, lots of bookings, a jumble sale and lots of birthday parties and baby showers. We would love to have you and have some very special discounts for one off events do come. We want to be a blessing to the community and used and to be enjoyed by you. Please take a broacher and we would love to see you here

Cllr Amrani thanked them and for having us for the assembly meeting, delighted to be in this wonderful hall.

We will be hearing from volunteers about the project

Catford South Residents have been asked to help support them by making donations at this meeting. If you have bought anything with you we are very grateful. Please leave it with the food bank stall or by the tea and coffee area before you leave tonight.

To find out more about the Whitefoot and Downham Community Food Plus Project, who they support, ways to donate, and how to volunteer, follow the link herewww.wdcfplus.org.uk follow on twitter@wdcfplus

Theresa Webb speaking on behalf of the food project

Due to problems with the technology the PowerPoint Presentation is unavailable but is available on www.lovecatford.co.uk

Theresa: Lovely to be here this evening I am here as a consultant nutritionist for the food bank, based over at Hope Church on Whitefoot lane, we have a wonderful collection of donated food from attendees here this evening. Thank you for that.

The Whitefoot and Downham Community Food Plus Project was set up by Cllr Janet Daby on 2013 to combat some of the deprivation in the Whitefoot and Downham area. Since 2013 I am one of the volunteers. It takes place on a weekly bases. It is an award winning project, the Mayor of Lewisham and Heidi Alexander have spoken in support of us.

The Project is there to support people experiencing hardship and poverty. Our focus is on provision of food and work with partners and voluntary agencies in the area, such as Mind, Pastoral services and so on. Community volunteers come together to learn how to provide the support and advice and the provision of food. We also work with Supermarket partners such as Lidle or Sainsbury’s who donate surplus food to the food bank such as perishable foods, bananas, lettuce, cucumber etc…at the end of the day. We provide toiletries, eggs, juice, tins, packets and so on.

If you are interested in supporting this you can donate food, as many have given generously this evening. Also a website called www.localgiving.org you can donate money to the project through that. Actual food bank is on a Thursday night at 7-8.30.

Supports a range of visitors, approximately 30 visitors per week, but actually supports around 70 people individuals as well as families. The area is like an open plan space divided into reception, where visitors are welcomed. We support people to try new food and with new recipes and de mystify some of the ingredients, we are working to help on nutrition and always looking at encouraging good health, as well as engaging partners and volunteers.

Heidi Alexander said (paraphrased) ‘The Whitefoot and Downham Community Food Plus Project provides a lifeline for many in our community who are suffering real hardship. The fact that so many people are struggling to put food on the table in 21^st century London is a tragic reminder of how divided our city can be. The response of volunteers, churches and community organisations is inspiring throughout Lewisham and one of the very best examples is The Whitefoot and Downham Community Food Plus Project’ She continued to praise the hard work of everyone involved in the project.

Anything that we have left over goes to AFRIL who support refugees. We work with them so nothing goes to waste, we are minimising food waste as well.

I have a number of leaflets at the back on how to donate, you can also volunteer, any questions?

Q. How can you refer?
A. Self-referral and also a number of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

The team are working to find practical recommendations to improve the lives of residents struggling with low incomes and high living costs. The Commission is keen to hear from residents. We are asking you to help by participating in a short discussion exercise as part of this agenda item.

You can find out more about the Lewisham Poverty Commission here:

Web: www.lewisham.gov.uk/inmyarea/Pages/Tackling-poverty-in-Lewisham 

Email: povertycommission@lewisham.gov.uk

Lewisham Poverty Commission – Simone Van Elk  

We understand that poverty that exists in Lewisham. Lewisham poverty commission formed in February in depth look at Poverty across the whole borough. highlight some of the problems people still face, a group of local councillors, one of the things it wasn’t to do is to hear from residents what makes it difficult to make ends meet, we are aware that people have a wealth of knowledge about things happening on the ground in their local area as well as things going on with their own friends and family.

We are here to ask you a number of questions - on the boards around the room, there are post its on your seats to look at these questions and fill in any ideas on posts its and put them on the boards and right up the notes and ensure that they feedback to the commission.

The commission is helping to come up with some practical ideas, we don’t think we will solve the problem, but we want to try and come up with some ideas that can make things slightly easier. We have been talking across the borough, we have met with the Whitefoot and Downham food project and are talking to residents to get their ideas. We are going to lots of assemblies

Q. The absence of money from Govt must be an issue. What resources do you have
A. We are trying to come up with practical steps the council can take, the

commission wants to reflect things that are changing nationally, things happening generally and things specifically that the council can do such as discovering what is it that makes housing unaffordable for people and looking at things that might make things easier for instance.

The notes taken from the exercise will be on www.lovecatford.co.uk when available.

We welcome the 3rd & 8th Catford Brownie Units who are excited to share with us how the assembly funds enabled their Pack to share an exciting, educational and fun trip to London and a sleepover on HMS Belfast and what they learned from the trip.

Find out more about joining your local Rainbows, Brownies or Girl Guides here www.girlguiding.org.uk

Feedback from The 3^rd and 8^th Brownies on their Assembly funded project

Janette Cunliffe

Janette introduced herself and her colleague and was delighted to tell us we were joined by a brownie.
We have come to say thank you we couldn’t have done it without you. The money you gave us meant that the costs were not prohibitive for all brownies. It enabled everyone to be included who wanted to go.

We went for our sleepover at HMS Belfast on the Bank Holiday weekend. We got the bus all the way up to London Bridge which was quite a novel experience for many of the girls, and was really quite exciting. We dropped our bags off at HMS Belfast and we walked over Tower Bridge to tower hill, the children were wondering what happens if the bridge goes up, but we told them they wouldn’t fall in as it hardly ever goes up, then suddenly the bridge went up and the kids loved it! It was very exciting. We went to Victoria and went to Girl Guiding headquarters and had lunch. One of the highlights for the children was when we went to the royal mews and had a look at everything. We saw the Queens big golden coach, the brownies were absolutely fascinated. We went to Green Park and let off some steam in the play area, then we all went back to HMS Belfast for our sleep over.

Before the trip we had a call from a concerned parent that her daughter was feeling very nervous and didn’t want to stay over. we gave the Brownie the chance to come for the day and said a if you are worried your parents can collect you and take you home at the end of the day… but we said if you change your mind you are welcome to stay. We were delighted that an hour in she had changed her mind and asked to stay - so a very nervous 7 year old, who was really worried, was able to gain new confidence and independence

When we were back on the ship we had pizzas on the ship and we made 7 foot flags and decorated a mug and had hot chocolate in them and had our sleep over and they actually slept as we had worn them out!

Next morning breakfast on the ship then a learning session in the classroom on the ship dressed us up as sailors and they told us all about what it’s like to be a sailor and they told us all about it. We were given a special tour in all the parts of the ship the public don’t normally get to see – we even sat in the driver’s seat…

It was amazing and so interesting 24 girls out of 30 went on the trip and we couldn’t have done it without out you and your help. We were very exhausted at the end of it but it was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

What the fund is, how you can access the documents you need, and general guidance.

All documents and guidance will be put on www.lovecatford.co.uk when they are ready. You will be sent email notification of the opening of the fund.

We have been collecting your feedback to make a long list of assembly priorities for our action plan. So we can shortlist, please use your stickers provided to tell us the priorities that matter most to you by placing them on the posters around the room.

As you know – for the moment - the Catford South local Assembly has £15000 in funding to help develop community projects to make our area even better

We allocate the full £15,000. £2,500 of this is put forward under councillor discretionary funding.

Here are the things you really need to know about the funding:

When will our fund open…?

·         It will be open by the latest of Monday 31^st of July 2017 – possibly earlier.

·         We will be including the outcomes of tonight’s priorities gathering exercise into the guidance documents.  – your applications should link in to the assemblies priorities

·         As soon as it opens - all the information will go up on love Catford website and will be emailed direct to you. If you have not left your email here tonight please ensure you do.

·         So don’t worry if you forget everything I tell you now it will all be on the website.

What is the deadline?

We are working to a deadline of Thursday the 21^st of September at 11pm…

This gives you over 8 weeks to apply – however and I ask this with absolute love but please don’t delay getting your applications in.

If you have the perfect project you want to apply for – do it as soon as possible – it really helps me out if I don’t get 30 applications in on deadline day.

Before you make your application what should you do?

1 - Firstly read, re read and read again the guidance notes that come with the documents.

2 - Please use the correct application form, which can be downloaded

I’m afraid we can’t take applications submitted in other formats as these forms need to be standard for all 18 wards in Lewisham.

3 - If you have the means please do fill it in using a computer.

Hand written applications are very difficult to process. However as Catford South fully embraces being an age and dementia friendly community we understand if you have to hand write it.

However, we ask that you get hand written forms in early so they can be typed up and that there is an email contact on it

4 - Barbara and I are here to guide you and offer general advice, Barbara as part of her development remit will also be able to help you with your application if needed.

When you apply what will happen

1 - When you email me your application you will get a receipt email. Please save this. If for any reason your do not receive a receipt email then - do contact me again to confirm I got it.

2 - Once all applications are in - they will be assessed and put forward by the coordinating group. Anyone from the community can be a part of this group, so if you are interested in joining please contact me or Barbara

3 - If you application is successful you will need to come to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

i)                  Local resident speaks about his petition for Sandhurst Rad Traffic calming - Kristian Salvesen

Kristian has designed a petition calling for the Council to Install effective measures to reduce speeding and traffic related problems on Sandhurst Road, SE 6

Access the petition by using this link:

www.lewisham-consult.objective.co.uk/portal/petitions/kristian_salvesen_2

ii)                Setting up a small group to help develop a petition regarding increasing issues on Bellingham/Randlesdown Roads – Jeff Worthy

Local residents are concerned that this area is increasingly becoming a hot sport of fly-tipping and other issues and would like to petition the council to help improve the situation. Part of this will be to set up a petition to hold a public meeting. If you want to sign up to the working group there will be a sign up sheet with Lucy at the end of the meeting

iii)             Community Neighbourhood HealthPartnership – Barbara Gray

Neighbourhood health partnerships cover 4 wards of Catford South, Grove Park, Whitefoot and Downham. We are hoping more community groups from Catford South will get involved with his partnership – which may lead to potential funding opportunities

The second meeting of the Neighbourhood Health Partnership is happening on Monday 17^th of July, Ringway Centre, Baring Road Lee, SE12 ODS, 2pm -4pm. for more information about this meeting please contact Barbara Gray on raekinda@hotmail.co.uk

iv)             Age Friendly consultation – Lucy Formolli (Positive Ageing Council) 

The Council is applying to join the World Health Organisation (WHO) Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities. As part of this process we need to establish a baseline measure of how age-friendly the borough is now. We are therefore seeking your help to do this by participating in our survey. Your feedback will inform and shape our age-related work across various council service areas. It will also help us understand what is most important to you, where we are doing well and what could be improved upon.

This consultation is being undertaken to establish a baseline measure of how age-friendly the borough is. It will ask questions around the eight themes that the World Health Organisation have identified as important for quality of life for older residents. These are: outdoor spaces and buildings; transport; housing; social participation; respect and social inclusion; civic participation and employment; communication and information; and community and health services.

You can access this Age Friendly Lewisham consultation online: www.lewisham.gov.uk/agefriendly

Hard copies are available tonight as Catford South is Age Friendly. Please take some for your relatives friends and neighbours who are not online

To find out more or to join the positive ageing council contact lucy.formolli@lewisham.gov.uk
www.lewisham.gov.uk/pac

i)                  Local resident speaks about his petition for Sandhurst Rad Traffic calming - Kristian Salvesen

Kristian spoke to the attendees alerting them to his petition and asking them to sign it to try and encourage more traffic calming measures and better enforcement of the 20 MPH zone on Sandhurst and Sangly road.

i)                  Setting up a small group to help develop a petition regarding increasing issues on Bellingham/Randlesdown Roads – Jeff Worthy

Local residents are concerned that this area is increasingly becoming a hot sport of fly-tipping and other issues and would like to petition the council to help improve the situation. Part of this will be to set up a petition to hold a public meeting.

Cllr Amrani introduced Jeff Worthy, a local resident from Crantock Road who is a strong voice on this ward assembly and the coordinating group.

Jeff worthy. I have taken photographs of the areas I wish to discuss tonight - everyone should have them please look at them…the area I am looking at is Bromley road that run from Denby road to the junction of Bellingham and Randlesdown Road.

The pictures are self-evident! As a general point I think this area has declined badly over the last 5 years…the site of the corrugated iron photo used to be a scaffolding yard that has just been left to rot. It is designated as light industrial usage, but I don’t see any light industrial use on it at the moment. We can’t leave it looking like this… originally they put an advertising hoarding around it but apparently they had to take it down. The owner of this site did that and put up the corrugated iron.

It is not just about the corner site, as bad as it is, at the shops of that stretch of road there is a lot of dangerous paving. Who is responsible for maintaining this stretch of pavement and what are they doing to get it fixed. The vehicles parking on the pavement is making the paving worse.

There is a car wash in Denby road, my understanding is that there have been letters going from the Lewisham enforcement team promising all sorts of action, but nothing has still been done.

Domestic rubbish, as you can see in the pictures. That rubbish is there all week when residents putting rubbish out any day of the week even though it is not being picked up until Tuesdays. The Fox’s then get into it and it goes everywhere.

We have a few ideas. Can we get TfL involved as 4 bus stops go along there, can they find some money to do some improvements there? Why hasn’t the enforcement action been more effective if carried out at all? Who is responsible for fixing broken paving, you could really hurt yourself and when will we get to grips with this awful eyesore on the corner. It’s a disgrace.

How are we going to take this forward? We have suggested that we start a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Your chance to tell us about event or activities you
are doing or ask some questions

If we run out of time for AOB, remember you can ask follow up questions by sending them to lucy.formolli@lewisham.gov.uk who can pass them on to the appropriate person.

You can also let us know about any community information you would like us to post on www.lovecatford.co.uk OR Tweet for you on @Love_Catford

These items will be included in the Catford South email newsletter and tweeted widely to our followers and beyond

New posts are added all the time so please keep checking it out. If you have left your email with us this evening you will be included in the Catford South news email

AOB (I = Information / S = Statement / Q = Question / A = Answer)

Q. At an earlier meeting there was talk about changes to food waste recycling is this happening?
A. Yes it is happening in October, you will get information though the post soon and your new food waste bin if you are getting one. Look at the website for information.

I. We received funding from the assembly meeting last year for the Diamond Club to put on a holiday from home scheme for older people. Well it is starting on 1st of August there are still places available if anyone knows anyone who might like to come along – especially for people who can’t get away any more. Please talk to me about it at the end as there are still some places available. This has been advertised with the Positive Ageing Council as well.

I. I am from Carers Lewisham, we are based in Forest Hill but now we work in neighbourhoods, if you are caring for someone and feel that Forest Hill is too far, we are looking to do outreach in the community. If you know anyone who has an attendance allowance or caring from a member of the family they can come along and see us.

I. We are based in Rushey Green and we have an event for 50+ on the 15^th of July, amazing day, food fun dance, everything done is by people who are 50+ information is on the Love Catford website

I. Friday mornings 11-12 we are holding reminiscence groups that meet in the library. We have lots of artefacts and stories. Please do come along for tea and coffee and talking about school days. Anyone can come along.
 

I. Catford film have been supposed by this assembly for a number of years, next weekend Catford Film are showing La La Land as an outdoor showing. Starts around 8.30 9.30 Saturday 15^th July on Catford Broadway.

S. Last year Catford had a Shakespeare event, Catford Upon Avon - We need more things like that.

Q. The toilets across the road have been removed we can use the toilets in the library, will the library be open 24 hours if someone is caught short?
A. Toilets are disappearing sure to costs…Lewisham local are working with the council to develop a toilets for public use scheme, working with local community and businesses where toilets are being taken away, it’s not ideal but they are trying to develop this scheme.

Q. How will the outcomes of these priorities exercise will be given to residents –
A. it will be put on the website www.lovecatford.co.uk

I. Lewisham Pensioners Forum set up in 1986 to be the voice of older people, we have a meeting bi monthly forum meeting on the 26^th of July, 10.30 civic suite, making our voices herd after the election. We all feel we will be suffering as older people. We have a regular NHS  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.