To hear from Jesal Dhokia.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the order of agenda items be changed, so that the Embedding Community Response Project Update was the first item to be considered.

Jesal Dhokia, Transformation Project Manager, gave an update on the project. In Clewer and Dedworth, the various project groups had been meeting. The physical environment group had been looking at the adoption of green space, with a plating project up and running which had also received external sponsorship. Around 19 fruit trees had now been planted as part of the orchard. The food network group were helping children to cook and eat healthy meals, in partnership with the West Windsor Hub. The next meetings of each sub group were updated on the RBWM Together website so that if anyone was interested they could get involved. The young people group was working in partnership with the youth engagement service and a few workshops had been held with green earth.

Councillor Stimson said that the project was fantastic and congratulated Jesal Dhokia on the progress on the project so far.

Jesal Dhokia said that the Maidenhead project was progressing well, with five sub groups currently meeting. The Windsor model had been copied, with each group chaired by someone who was independent. In the health and wellbeing sub group, the health lead had been brought in and the group was investigating health inequalities. The physical environment sub group had recently held a sustainable project, which was great in bringing people together from the local community. There was a joint partnership with Maidenhead Cycle Hub planned on electric bikes. Other sub groups included the employment and skills sub group working with the library and the Department for Work and Pensions was setting up a job club for younger people. The group would be looking to advertise adult learning summer courses and Jesal Dhokia asked any organisations which ran programmes to get in touch. There had been a community empowerment meeting at Maidenhead Library, which was working with People 2 Places and All Saints Church Maidenhead, to see how to get people involved with visiting heritage sites.

Councillor Bhangra joined the meeting.

Councillor Davey asked if the Windsor bike hub were involved with the project. He asked if all of the information on the various sub groups was available on the RBWM Together website.

Jesal Dhokia said that the Windsor bike hub had been mentioned at previous meetings. She would be looking to meet the bike hub with regards to sustainability.

Councillor Davey asked if he could be sent the link to the green space information on the website.

ACTION – Jesal Dhokia to send Councillor Davey link to the information on green space on RBWM Together.

Councillor Price said that Windsor Food Share was part of the food network and they had recently identified seven challenges on why some people could struggle with food over the coming months. The job club had started up and was working with local employers.

Councillor Stimson said that the Maidenhead Chamber of Commerce was the gateway to the Kickstart scheme. They were able to offer job opportunities of 25 hours a week and employers would be provided with £850 to spend on training. All Saints Church was currently working with three local schools on a sustainability programme, this could be coordinated with the sub group.

Councillor Singh joined the meeting.