To elect a Chair from the Group for the 2023/24 municipal year.

Nominations need a proposer and a seconder.

Edward Piekut proposed that Paul Samuels was Chair of the One Borough Group for the 2023/24 municipal year. This was seconded by Karnail Pannu.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY: That Paul Samuels was elected Chair of the One Borough Group for the 2023/24 municipal year.

To elect a Vice Chair from the Group for the 2023/24 municipal year.

Nominations need a proposer and a seconder.

Edward Piekut proposed that the Vice Chair was shared between himself and Raisie Frankum. This was seconded by Raisie Frakum.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY: That Edward Piekut and Raisie Frankum were elected as Vice Chairs of the One Borough Group for the 2023/24 municipal year.

To receive any apologies for absence from the Group.

Apologies for absence were received from Elaine Keating, John Diack, Jane Corry, Louise Warbrick, Caroline Waites, Asma Aziz and Jon Adams.

To consider the minutes of the meeting held on 14^th March 2023.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY: That the minutes of the meeting held on 14^th March 2023 were a true and accurate record.

A poll has been sent out to the One Borough Group distribution list where seven themes, identified from the last meeting, have been listed. Members were asked to vote for the three themes which they think should be prioritised.

The Chair said that he was delighted to Chair the Group and that the meeting was useful in bringing together the council and community groups from across the borough. He was keen to explore further how the Group could be best utilised. The last meeting had been run as a dialogue and a number of themes had been identified. A poll had been circulated and Members of the Group had the opportunity to vote for their top three themes which should be prioritised.

Mark Beeley, Principal Democratic Services Officer – Overview and Scrutiny, highlighted that the top two responses, which were both on nine votes each, were a directory of community groups with updatable contact details and partnerships with local businesses. Funding, communications and volunteers were all joint third.

Councillor Price said that she was surprised, from her impression at the dialogue she thought funding would be top. Valerie Pike agreed.

To receive an update on the work of the group from Rosie Sansom.

Rosie Sansom, Community Development and Volunteer Officer at RBWM, explained that she had been involved in running the tackling loneliness and social isolation working group. This brought together statutory partners and community groups where loneliness was an issue and how individuals could be supported. Anyone interested was able to join the group. A number of themes had been highlighted, including funding, information and public transport. The Windsor and Maidenhead Community Lottery had recently been launched, this was open to all community groups and individuals to buy tickets with a significant amount of money from each ticket bought going to good causes. There were also a number of grant opportunities but it was noted that the amount of information about these opportunities was limited.

The Community Champions Magazine had been created to help share important information at RBWM ahead of it being publicly available, this could then be shared amongst local networks. An asset map was currently being created and would be called the community information hub, this would be a database on the RBWM website which contained information on community groups and features of the borough. The team were investing a lot of time and resource into ensuring that the community information hub was a useful tool. The final theme was transport, particularly bus routes, their accessibility and how walking and cycling routes were signposted. Issues could be considered at a household, street, neighbourhood and borough level, depending on the level of support required.

Councillor Price felt that the work was providing some important links, if the public transport was not in place which was accessible, it could put people off from going out of their homes and lead to further isolation.

Rosie Sansom said that there was a budget attached to the community information hub, but the team wanted to make the tool the best that it could be. Community group information was available in lots of different places and this was designed to bring this all to one place. It would likely be available later this year.

David Bonney said that loneliness and isolation was something that the Windsor Cycle Hub were involved in, he was interested in the work of the group. He also highlighted issues with Windsor’s active travel measures.

Valerie Pike felt that services offered by the library were not consistent across the borough. For example, there had been a session to help those who were not confident with IT at Windsor Library but there had been no session in Ascot Library.

Angelia Huisman, Library and Resident Contact Lead at RBWM, said that most of the IT sessions were run by volunteers. There were a number of sessions available based on demand and capacity, if there was demand in Ascot this could be explored.

Valerie Pike felt that the advertising could be improved for things happening at Ascot Library.

Angela Huisman added that there was a varied range of programmes and activities at Ascot Library which had been planned.

To hear from Viviana Salmon about the various funding opportunities which can be provided by the Berkshire Community Foundation.

Viviana Salmon shared news of the funding which was available from the Berkshire Community Foundation. All applicants were welcome to apply from 26^th June, with priority being given to groups who had not received any grant funding in the previous 12 months. Members were also encouraged to sign up to the newsletter to stay informed of grant opportunities. Last year, £40,000 had been allocated to 27 different groups and projects.

The Chair asked if there were specific grants for different groups of people.

Viviana Salmon said that there were no limitations, the grants were open to all groups.

To hear any updates from members of the Group.

Raisie Frankum, from Maidenhead United Football Club, said that she collaborated with community partners and connected community groups with needs. There was a preventative approach and she was keen to understand how she could work with other members of the One Borough Group.

Councillor Helen Price explained that she had undertaken a new role as a champion for corporate social responsibility. This involved linking with major employers to find out what their needs were and how they could become more involved in the local community.

Baljit Mann, Community Learning and Skills Lead for Windsor, Maidenhead and Slough, said that she worked to understand what the community needs were. They had worked with community groups who were looking for funding. Baljit Mann wanted to ensure that programmes were targeted effectively, a directory would be very useful to ensuring that events were marketed to the right people.

Councillor Douglas said that as part of his volunteer champion role, he planned to reach out to as many voluntary groups as possible to understand some of the challenges.

Laura Daly, from Boyne Hill Library, said that she was particularly interested in connecting with Maidenhead United Football Club and the Windsor Cycle Hub. The summer reading challenge was coming up and the theme was sporting events.

Karun Passi worked for the dementia advisory team, who supported residents living with dementia. Referrals were accepted from individuals or GPs.

Rebecca Mistry was from the Baby Bank, who provided essential items to children across the borough. The organisation had a good number of volunteers but they were always on the look out for more, particularly during school holidays. The Baby Bank were receiving a new van shortly which would help to deliver supplies.

Viviana Salmon said that the Berkshire Community Foundation could help with grant applications and ensuring that community groups did not face any barriers when applying.

Angela Huisman said that the libraries ran a number of activities which were themed, for example learning disability week was coming up and as a result a learning disability achievement exhibition was being launched. Libraries were safe places which could be used by residents.

Barbara Grossman said that Maidenhead Synagogue was not just a place of prayer and hosted a number of events. The Synagogue were trying not to offer online options as they wanted people to be encouraged to attend in person.

Paul Andrerianu, from St John Ambulance said that training programmes were being offered, with a particular focus on first aid training in schools. The ambulance service would be attending various summer fairs and events over the summer. Paul Andreianu was also a member of Rotary, which could help with volunteers, knowledge and funding opportunities.

Steve Sansom said that Age UK Berkshire were looking to develop a borough wide strategy to make RBWM dementia friendly.

Rosie Sansom said that her current focus was on creating the community information hub and also working on a volunteer upskilling programme.

Jo Dixon represented Healthwatch East Berkshire, they were planning  ...  view the full minutes text for item 268.

·         Tuesday 12^th September 2023 – 11am

·         Tuesday 5^th December 2023 – 11am

The next meeting would take place on Tuesday 12^th September 2023, starting at 11am.