To welcome Forum members.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and asked those present to introduce themselves.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Sue Penton-Voak, Allison Bradshaw, Barbara Grossman, Rita Morrison, Louise Warbrick, David Scott, Jane Corry, Haroon Shirwani, Honor Ryan, Pal Sandha and Tracy Muschamp.

To receive any declarations of interest.

None.

To consider the minutes of the previous meeting held on 11^th September 2019.

RESOLVED UNAMIOUSLY; The minutes of the previous meeting held on 11^th September were agreed an accurate record, providing the following amendment was made:

·         On page 9, it was said that a safeguarding training course would take place on 10^th December however this would now be taking place on 21^st January 2020.

To receive a presentation from Klaartje Millington-Vest.

Andrew Douglas gave members a presentation on the work of Parallel. Parallel Windsor would be taking place on 28^th June 2020 and there were plans to establish in the Windsor great park as a flagship event. The event is a community run event that focusses on inclusion of everyone, regardless of disability. The idea was to start together, and finish together and create a shared experience. There would be different distances available, with 100m up to 10k. At different points in the run, there would be checkpoints with activities available. Andrew Douglas explained that they would be working with a number of local organisations and charities to make the day a success and that they had a three year tenancy in the Great Park and were looking to build on the event each year.

The Chairman asked what time the run started on 28^th June 2020, and was informed that the mass participation run would be from 10am-12pm, while the event itself would be from 10am-4pm.

Councillor Rayner said that she went to the launch of Parallel and thought it was a good idea as it involved such a wide spectrum of groups and people.

It was agreed that WAM Get Involved would be able to circulate information about the event via its newsletter and website.

Another question that was asked was about the geographical area. Andrew Douglas explained that it was a national event, and there were plans next year to hold an event in collaboration with the University of Nottingham.

Councillor Price said that one of her residents was looking to create a park run and would exchange contact details with Andrew Douglas.

To receive an update from Vanessa Faulkner.

Vanessa Faulkner, HR Manager at RBWM, stated that they had recently been looking at their policies, particularly recruitment. As a result, those that had been part of the forces were guaranteed an interview if they met the criteria, current soldiers were granted an extra two weeks leave and recent job listings had been sent to the wives and families of soldiers. She also explained that RBWM would be going for the gold award and would be applying in January 2020. She requested that members speak to their organisations and encourage them to sign up and support the Covenant.

Councillor Rayner said that this was a great initiative and had encouraged serving personal to come to One Borough meetings as there were two barracks in the borough. She suggested they could be involved with Parallel Windsor.

To receive an update on Mobile Library, Container Library and Home Library Service.

Anna Fallgren gave the group an outline of the library services that were available. The mobile library was effectively a ‘library bus’ and had over 80 stops around the borough, where all stock could be accessed. While some stops were accessible to the public, a number are for private use and include visits to care homes, schools and community groups. The mobile library is also fully accessible and induction loops are also available.

The container library was stationed in one place each week and had visited places like Woodlands Park, Raysbury, Holyport and Sunningdale. The library was open 7 days a week and on three evenings it was open until 7pm. Again all library stock was available. These services were important to residents around the borough who were not able to travel to their local library.

To receive an update on the opportunities available with GoodGym.

Helen Preedy explained that GoodGym was a new project. It was a national association, with the nearest one currently being in Slough. The project was a community of runners that would complete a community task as part of their run routine. One recent example was where the runners went to a disability school and helped to clear the playground. These were group runs, but there were also individual runs which would involve a visit to an elderly resident and the opportunity to befriend them. This would allow the runner to keep them company and build a relationship with the elderly resident which they would not have had otherwise.

One member asked about the timetable for GoodGym and when runs and activity’s usually took place. Helen Preedy said that for the group runs it was the same time each week, for Slough this was on a Monday but would either be on a Tuesday or Wednesday for Maidenhead and Windsor. The individual run with visit would depend on the individuals involved, for example it might work around when the elderly resident has a medical check-up.

Monika Cembrzynska asked if the visits were one off and whether the runners which would be visiting had been trained in advance. Helen Preedy explained that there was the ability to build a long term link and that runners were given an induction when they joined GoodGym.

Helen Preedy informed members that more information was available on the GoodGym website: https://www.goodgym.org/proposals/windsor-and-maidenhead and that if anyone had any further questions then they could contact Helen on helen.preedy@rbwm.gov.uk.

To receive an update from Paul Hinton.

Paul Hinton explained that Plastic Free Royal Borough was a local environment group that was an extension of the ‘Surfers Against Sewage’ campaign. He was part of the Windsor group but there was also a sister group in Maidenhead. The aim of the group was to encourage business to use less single use plastic. They had a good relationship with RBWM and had three councillor representatives; Councillors Rayner, L. Jones and Stimson, who was the Lead Member for sustainability.

If a business was able to eliminate three items of plastic, it would become a champion. So far, 8 businesses have become champions while 5 more were in the progress of becoming one. Examples were Zero Joes, Windsor and Eton Brewery and the Treehouse Café. The group also works with community groups to try and reduce their reliance on single use plastic. Work had also been done with the boroughs schools with Upton House being the first plastic free school in Berkshire. Challenges involved the number of volunteers and Paul Hinton asked the forum if anyone was interested to get in contact with him, especially if they were interested in becoming a plastic free organisation.

To receive an update from Belinda Dixon.

Belinda Dixon explained that Optalis gave advice and support for those that were living with dementia. They had recently started a drop in session that was held once a month, on the first Thursday of the month from 10.30am-12pm. They had a multi-faith community but did not have a significant number of Asian patients, and Belinda Dixon was looking to change this. There were three members of the team based in Windsor Day Centre and it was important to get the message out there so that families could get the help and support that they needed.

One question was asked about the training that volunteers received. Belinda Dixon said that training was provided for volunteers and that they had a good uptake on volunteers after their initial training.

To receive an update on the above titled item.

PC David Bullock gave members an update on the work of Thames Valley Police around the borough. He said that work had been done to tackle serious crime, in particular varying tactics, gathering intelligence and ensuring that officers were placed in the right place at the right time. There were introducing a new strategy to convert youngsters away from crime and exploitation through new activities and drama groups.

Another area of focus was on the night time economy and the roll of enforcement as well as safeguarding. PC David Bullock had been part of the creation of the ‘Street Angels’, a team of volunteers that would look after those that were vulnerable after a night out. Volunteers have been out every weekend since the programme started, and have helped over 40,000 people.

Another safety programme was the Windsor Safety Hub, which was open every Friday and Saturday night. They also had assistance from a paramedic at the hub up until May, but due to a lack of funding this was no longer the case. PC David Bullock confirmed that they would look to reinstate this aspect of the hub if the funding was there.

To receive updates from Forum members.

Paul Samuels said that there would be a reception held on 9^th July 2020 from 7pm-9pm at Taplow Court to thank local groups for their contributions. In Men’s Matters, which was about living longer and living better, they had guests come to talk about health and wellbeing, with a good number attending each meeting. He confirmed that Taplow Court would be able to host a future meeting of One Borough, either in March or June 2020.

Sandeep Sidhu said that she was currently part of a study in East Berkshire to engage with women from the BAMER (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee) community who had experienced domestic abuse. She wanted to get their opinion of the services which they had received as a result and wanted to link with community groups. She encouraged those present to promote the work of the Hestia Domestic Abuse Service in their organisations.

Elaine Keating informed members about the progress of the girls policy forum and that they had recently purchased a number of reusable water bottles using grant funding and would be happy to work with Paul Hinton and Plastic Free Royal Borough to see what more they could do.

Nicola Davidson informed the group that there would be a Partnership Day on 15^th January 2020.

Liz Barr, from WAM Get Involved, explained they had received funding to help encourage groups to recycle. Volunteers would knock on doors and promote recycling opportunities to residents, for each hour RBWM would pay £5 into a pot that chosen organisations could apply for. WAM were looking for 5/6 organisations to join the scheme, with the volunteers being trained by WAM.

WAM Get Involved would also be hosting Adult Safeguarding training on 22^nd January 2020.

Monika Cembrzynska said that the Stroke Association were looking for volunteers. It was also important to check blood pressure and make sure people were aware of the dangers. They were looking to set up a stand in the new year that would promote awareness of strokes.

John Diack updated members on the Maidenhead Neighbourhood Watch. A particular focus was on protecting the old and vulnerable and the group was in the process of applying for funding for a project aimed at this age group. The organisation was also looking for volunteers.

Date of the next meeting is to be confirmed.

Members noted that the dates of future meetings would be: (all 11am)

-       Tuesday 17^th March 2020

-       Tuesday 16^th June 2020

-       Tuesday 15^th September 2020

-       Tuesday 8^th December 2020

The venue for each meeting would be communicated to members in due course.