Agenda and minutes

Venue: Virtual Meeting - Online access

Contact: Mark Beeley  Email: mark.beeley@rbwm.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

148.

Election of Chairman and Vice Chairman

To elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman for the municipal year 2020/21.

Minutes:

As this was the first meeting of the municipal year, a new Chairman and Vice Chairman needed to be elected.

 

Paul Samuels nominated Karnail Pannu for the position of Chairman, which was seconded by Councillor Rayner.

 

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY; That Karnail Pannu was elected Chairman of One Borough for the municipal year 2020/21.

 

Paul Samuels nominated himself to be Vice Chairman, which was seconded by Councillor Rayner.

 

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY; That Paul Samuels was elected Vice Chairman of One Borough for the municipal year 2020/21.

149.

Welcome from the Chairman

To welcome forum members and invite members to introduce themselves.

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and explained that he would lead the first few items up until the Minutes, before he would hand over to the Vice Chairman who would chair for the rest of the meeting.

150.

Apologies for Absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Zena Pike, Rita Morrison, Barbara Grossman and Sue Evans.

151.

Declarations of Interest pdf icon PDF 219 KB

To receive any declarations of interest.

Minutes:

Councillor C Da Costa declared an interest as she was the Chairman of the West Windsor Hub.

152.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 78 KB

To consider the minutes of the meeting held on 11th December 2019.

Minutes:

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY; That the minutes of the meeting held on 11th December 2019 be approved a true and accurate record.

153.

Parallel Update

To hear an update from Klaartje Millington-Vest.

Minutes:

The first item on the agenda, Future of the Charity Sector, was moved to last on the agenda so that officers who were presenting the item were able to join the call.

 

Klaartje Millington-Vest said that Parallel Windsor, which had been scheduled for June 2020, was now postponed until next year with a new date set of 27th June 2021.Disability inclusion was at the heart of the event and there would be a number of fun activities on the day. They were also looking to launch a hybrid version called Parallel X, which would also have a physical event, along with plans for a live stream. Klaartje Millington-Vest said that Parallel had received a good level of support and would appreciate it if the event could be promoted on different platforms to raise awareness.

 

Councillor Rayner said that she fully endorsed Parallel Windsor and said that it would be great for the group to offer their support to the event.

154.

Our Community Enterprise

To hear about the latest funding opportunities from Maria Evans.

Minutes:

Maria Evans explained to the group that Our Community Enterprise was a fundraising organisation that have a contract with the borough. They offered free advice and were able to help organisations apply to the National Lottery Community Fund. The application process was fairly simple and Maria Evans encouraged groups who were in need for funding to consider it. OCE was currently offering two hours free advice to any organisation, either by going to the website or contacting Maria on maria@oce.org.uk.

 

Councillor Rayner asked for Covid-19 had effected OCE. Maria Evans said that they were a team of four and the first few weeks after lockdown were fairly quiet but had received a lot of support from the borough. More recently, many organisations had wanted help to prepare for the new Covid world, particularly with long term planning and strategy.

 

Councillor Price said that the support OCE provided to organisations was fantastic, and asked how it was being promoted. Maria Evans explained that it was listed on the RBWM website, it was on the local advertiser and around the borough. She requested if members could spread the word on social media and let organisations know of the opportunities that they had available.

 

Councillor Price said that WAM Get Involved had a good newsletter that it could be advertised in.

 

Asma Aziz said that her organisation would like to publicise OCE as they had over 250 community groups on their database which could benefit from what OCE had to offer.

155.

Armed Forces Update

To receive an update from Vanessa Faulkner.

Minutes:

Vanessa Faulkner gave the group an update on the Armed Forces. She explained that she coordinated the armed forces from a HR perspective. VE Day took place in May, with various activities taking place online. The council museum broadcast activities on its YouTube channel. On 27th June, it was Armed Forces Day and again this would be celebrated virtually, with a different theme each day of the week. To support the event, Vanessa Faulkner suggested that members could join the virtual event, read about it and visit the armed forces website. RBWM would know in September whether it had received the Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award.

 

Councillor Rayner said that Vanessa Faulkner had been involved in some great work, particularly helping out around Windsor and overseeing 2,000 food delivery boxes being given to elderly and vulnerable residents.

156.

Membership Updates

To receive updates from members of the group.

Minutes:

Danielle Lane asked what were the plans for the hub during the recovery phases. Councillor C Da Costa said that the West Windsor Hub would continue like normal through the recovery phase.

 

David Scott, Head of Communities, said that the support cell was ongoing and that they were contacting daily those that were on the shielding list. The cell was working with hubs across the borough, with volunteers proving to be a valuable resource. While it was feared that some resource would be lost due to volunteers returning to work, many had decided to continue volunteering. The recovery phase would likely be a long term issue that would go on for many years.

 

Councillor Rayner said that there was a sense of community spirit across the borough.

 

Jane Corry gave an update on the work of Norden Farm. They had been working with disadvantaged groups and school, with work ongoing. A local poet had created a poem on how to get through lockdown, which had been published on the website. One of the big challenges had been how to work with groups that were not online. Norden Farm had received funding for a new project which would be launching towards the end of July and there would be a ‘Life on the Farm’ event which would be live streamed. There were free places available on various activities for disadvantaged groups, including things like weeklong courses in dance and arts.

 

Councillor Stimson informed the group of the Climate Change Strategy that would be going to Full Council the week after this One Borough meeting. Care and wellbeing in the community was a focus and the town strategy would involve community groups and organisations moving forward to carbon neutral.

 

Anthony Lewis asked when leisure centre and swimming pools may be able to reopen. David Scott said that there was no certainty yet. Restrictions had been lifted in town centres and the impact of this would come through in the next few weeks. There was a hope that early July may be confirmed by the government, with a fortnights notice likely before reopening.

 

Councillor Price said that questionnaires had been sent out to staff of leisure centres on how to reopen and what approach needed to be taken, so there was a lot of work ongoing to reopen leisure centres across RBWM.

 

Valerie Pike asked if there would be any priority for elderly users. David Scott said that a lot of thought had gone into how to invite people back to using the leisure centres, and this was something that was being looked at by managers.

 

Sheila Holmes passed on an update about the Older Persons Advisory Forum. Councillor Greg Jones had agreed to become the Champion for Older People in RBWM and to represent the Older Persons Advisory Forum and the older people who live in RBWM. They were using technology to communicate with members but it was evident that older people in RBWM would welcome the opportunity to have a named  ...  view the full minutes text for item 156.

157.

Future of the Charity Sector

To have a discussion, requested by Cllr Helen Price, on what the future of the charity sector might look like.

Minutes:

Jesal Dhokia, Transformation Project Manager at RBWM, updated the group with the work that they had been doing. An initial platform had been created with 700 volunteers and around 200 of them had said that they would like to carry on volunteering. They had worked with and supported groups, with £20,000 in grant funding being made available. A dedicated webpage had been created on the RBWM website where there was a map of organisations across the borough and a ‘organisation finder’ tool. There were over 2,600 residents in the borough who were on the shielding list and staff from across RBWM had been deployed to help them. This group would continue to receive call from volunteers and RBWM staff.

 

Looking forward, Jesal Dhokia explained that they had been looking to design an app which organisations could add their details to. This would enable residents to be sign posted to relevant organisations and groups which were appropriate to their needs, with the app looking to be launched at the end of June/early July. The goal was to have a service that identified with local people and would ensure that the three major towns that made up the borough were covered. There was an ambition to deliver a joined up and connected service across RBWM and they wanted to make sure that the user experience was taken on board. The pilot for the app would initially be in Windsor before spreading across the borough. Jesal Dhokia reiterated her passion for the project, and said that it could make a real difference in the community.

 

Councillor C Da Costa said that she was excited by this project and welcomed other parties that were interested in taking this forward. Covid had brought people and groups together and this could start something significant.

 

Councillor Rayner said that Jesal and her team had worked very hard in trying to support the community and suggested that this item came back to future One Borough meetings so that the group could be informed of further updates. Councillor Stimson agreed and said that the support from Jesal’s team had been excellent.

 

Councillor Price said that on a national level the charity sector would be challenged and suggested that groups should alert each other if they got into difficulties.

 

Maria Evans said that Our Community Enterprise was keen to get involved with the project and explained that they had been involved in work designed to encourage charities to consider if they should be working alone or in coordination with others.

 

David Scott reminded members of the group that One Borough had its own directory with key contact details of the organisations that were part of the group. This would improve communication between groups and encouraged any group that had not yet submitted their contact details to get in touch. He also said that the Berkshire Community Foundation had received additional funds from the government and they had distributed money locally. They were keen for organisations to make applications, with grants  ...  view the full minutes text for item 157.

158.

Dates of Future Meetings

The dates of future meetings are as follows: (all 11am)

·         Tuesday 15th September 2020 – held via Zoom and streamed on YouTube

·         Tuesday 8th December 2020 – held via Zoom and streamed on YouTube

 

Minutes:

Members noted the dates of future meetings.