Agenda and minutes

Cllr Peter Bernards, Chair of the Forest Hill Assembly welcomed everyone

to the meeting and introduced Cllr Sophie Davis and Cllr Leo Gibbons.

·         FHS Planting at Forest Hill station and town centre- Forest Hill

  Society

·         Mothers Springboard Programme- Shabina Ahmed

·         Colourful street trees in the Horniman area of Forest Hill- Stuart

       Checkley

·         Cheseman Street Community Vegetable Plot- Written Update

·         Forest Hill Family Festival: A weeklong series of workshops and

  events for parents & children- Written Update

·         5 New Bollards at the entrance of the Green- Written Update

·         Red Ribbon Living Well – Drama Production

·         FHS Planting at Forest Hill station and town centre- Forest Hill

Society

As in previous year’s members of the Forest Hill Society and its supporters did planting work at Forest Hill station and in the town centre with members of the public joining us in watering, weeding and planting. While we try to choose plants which regenerate annually not all succeed in this, and a lot is dependent on the weather. Funds were therefore needed to replace missing or damaged plants, compost and other materials and renew where necessary.

In autumn 2017 a general tidy up and pruning for the planters and station forecourt area took place to prepare the areas for the dormant winter season and to prepare the ground for Spring bulbs. In spring another gardening session occurred in order to assess any damage to the planted areas during the winter and to plant late bulbs and prepare for summer planting. Around May any areas needing work were addressed and plants for the summer sown. Help with watering and weeding is a continuous thing which volunteers undertake. All the work is undertaken under the auspices of the Forest Hill Society but members of the society are joined in these activities by others from the general community who either wish to learn more about planting or, having no gardens of their own, like to be able to spend some time doing gardening work. The recycled tyre planters in Perry Vale were painted by members of the Rockbourne Youth Club working with a local artist and additional recycled oil drums were planted up added to this cluster creating a “pocket park”. This year we have also been collaborating with the Groundworks/Energy Gardens team and anticipate that this collaboration will continue. Events are publicised on social media and in the Forest Hill Society’s newsletters.

·         Mothers Springboard Programme- Shabina Ahmed

Benefit and child tax credit changes are pressuring more women to get work. But many feel ill-equipped, and can’t see how to overcome the practical barriers they face.

MSP is an early intervention work-readiness programme. supporting mothers into employment, education, training/volunteering and enterprise.

We provide workshops with an essential crèche service, professional coaching and a support network for local mums.

Our signposting service helps address the barriers that mothers face whilst raising a family and seeking employment.

  We have 3 aims:

1.    Prepare mothers for the world of work, addressing the barriers they face and settle them in long-term employment or education within 1 year.

2.    Raise confidence and aspirations so that mothers will pursue work they are passionate about.

3.    Create a sustaining support network of local mothers.

We have just secured £10,000 Big Lottery funding which will help deliver another programme in November 2018.

We are seeking other funding, and would like to expand across Lewisham and other London boroughs.

Thank You for giving us our start

·         Colourful street trees in the Horniman area of Forest Hill- Stuart

Checkley

Individual residents have already raised 50% of the funding for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

The 2018/19 Forest Hill Assembly fund will focus on one or more of the following:

Youth engagement and provision- looking for activities that will appeal and support new and existing schemes young people. These could include those that are Art, Music, Drama and Sports based. We are also keen to open up the criteria to include ideas around exciting intergenerational projects.

Making Forest Hill more attractive and healthy  - looking for proposals that will help to keep Forest Hill streets clean and appealing. This could include the planting of trees and flowers or a proposal that would increase street art or improve an area.

Community events  – looking for proposals around events that include celebrations, e.g Christmas or events that engage residents and local groups offering education and relevant information to the Forest Hill area, as well as being fun.

Supporting local Traders – looking for proposals that could support and promote Forest Hill as a vibrant town centre and the Kirkdale area for local businesses.

How much is available? 

There is £12,500 available for the Forest Hill ward in 2018–19.

You can apply for a maximum of £2,500 for each individual project.

What can it be spent on?

The priorities highlighted have been identified by residents, community groups and local businesses who have attended the Forest Hill Assembly Meetings. We want to fund projects that aim to tackle these important issues raised by the local community. The money could be used to start up a project, support a group to develop new activities, or support a larger project that has secured funding from other sources.

How to apply

Go to The Lewisham Council website: https://www.lewisham.gov.uk/getinvolved/localassemblies/Forest-Hill-Assembly/Pages/default.aspx

Download the Assembly Fund 2018/19 application form, fully complete and email to maya.onyett@lewisham.gov.uk. There is further important information on page 7 of this form.

Closing date for all proposal forms is Friday 7 September 2018.

Voting on projects will take place at the Forest Hill Assembly Meeting to be confirmed.

                      Forest Hill SNT Update July 2018- PC Michael Hill

Firstly in relation to crime within the ward. The top three offences at present are Theft with 20 offences, Theft from a Vehicle with 15 offences and Residential Burglary with 15 offences. With the motor vehicle related offences, the main items of property stolen from vehicles are leisure and sports equipment, cash and credit cards and tools/machinery.

Looking at the London Crime Rate comparison listings for May 2018, Forest Hill has 8 victims of crime per 1000 residents compared to Lewisham Borough again having 8 victims of crime per 1000 residents against a London average of 8 victims of crime per 1000 residents as well.

Finally, I have sent out an e-mail to all the residents on our contacts list regarding the GDPR or General Data Protection Regulations. Basically for those that may not know what this entails, GDPR is Europe's new framework for Data Protection Laws which the UK has to adopt from its current Data Protection Act Laws of 1995.

The e-mail I sent was to advise residents that the e-mail they have or are due to receive from the Metropolitan Police Service on how we manage your data is a genuine message. Once you receive the e-mail from the MPS it will explain fully what will happen. Basically, we will not be passing your details to any third party as before and from an SNT point of view, we only hold your information for a crime prevention point of view, basically as before, if any crimes increase in a particular area, such as Burglaries then we will notify those residents on our contacts list to make them aware of this crime trend. And as usual, if you no longer wish to receive crime prevention advice or alerts to crime trends, then all you have to do is e-mail us and we will remove your details, notifying you of this.

Contact email : SNTPL-.ForestHill@met.police.uk

On 3 May, the people of Lewisham elected Damien Egan to be their new Mayor.

Damien stood on a bold and radical manifesto to change our borough. Some of his priorities for the next four years include: improving our secondary schools while maintaining the standard of our primary schools and early years education; delivering 1,000 new social homes; developing a public health approach to youth violence; doubling the number of living wage employers in Lewisham; resisting any attempts to close Lewisham A&E or downgrade the hospital; and establishing a new greening fund to enhance our green spaces.

The assembly allowed residents to ask the new Mayor questions.

·         Feedback forms – agenda items next meeting

·         Join the Forest Hill Assembly Coordinating Group

Cllr Bernards highlighted the importance of completing the feedback forms and invited members to join the coordinating group which plans the assembly and discusses local issues and updates. If you would like to join contact maya.onyett@lewisham.gov.uk for further information.