Minutes of June 2008
CLOUGH HALL RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION
MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY 17th JUNE 2008 AT HOLLINWOOD SHELTERED HOUSING at 7.30pm.
PRESENT:-
COMMITTEE :- G Sutton, J Gallacher, C Brough, T Dale, M Moore, C Gallacher.
GUEST SPEAKERS :- PCSO S. Rhodes, Lisa Denney, Mr J Robbins.
GUESTS :- Clr J Evans, Clr S Burgess, Mrs T Evans.
RESIDENTS :- 17
TOTAL ATTENDANCE :- 29
APOLOGIES :- B Collis, M Collis, P Fisher, S Fisher, T Mottram, H Mottram, C Brammer, P Lowe, S Clough, J Neild, C Poole, H Hammond, L Barker, K Lee, M Westridge, M Leese.
Chairman opened the Meeting, thanked everyone for attending and the Speakers, PCSO S Rhodes, Lisa Denney and Mr J Robbins. Chair also thanked Clr's S Burgess and D Richards for distributing Home Office booklet " A Guide to Home Security", positive feed back received from Residents. Chairman then explained the Agenda for this Meeting:-
AGENDA
7.40/7.50pm - Police Update- PCSO Sarah Rhodes
7.50/8.20pm - Lisa Denney - North Staffs Carer's
8.20/8.35pm - Refreshment Break
8.35/9.10pm - Mr J Robbin's "The Law is a Ass"
9.10/9.20pm - Raffle Draw & Close the Meeting
Chairman then provided details of the following:-
- Staffordshire Fire & Rescue - The free phone number to ring for a free home fire risk check, including the fitting of smoke alarms has changed - Now - 08000241999, more information can be found on http://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/
- New - Official Neighbourhood Watch & Homewatch Network Website - Received E Mail from Marion Lewis - Chair, Neighbourhood & Homewatch Network( England & Wales) to advise new Web Site is now up & running, in fact it went live yesterday / www.mynhw.co.uk
- CHRA Quiz Night - Last Quiz Night at Kidsgrove Cricket Club, raised £169 for our funds, thank you to all who attended, the proceeds we intend to use to purchase a microphone system which we hope to have available for our AGM Meeting in July
- LITTER PICKS - We are organising a Litter Pick for Sunday the 27th July - 10.00am for two hours. Meet in the Wooded area which separates Park Avenue and the Football Club.
- CLOUGH HALL SCHOOL
- Our last Meeting/Joint Forum was held at the School on the 22nd May, the School put in a lot of work to provide excellent facilities on the night. Our Committee decided to reward the School with a small donation of £25 which I understand will be used for acquiring seeds/plants for the School Garden. Chairman received a letter of thanks from the School which is available tonight for any member to read.
- A further Community Computer Course will be arranged at the School, I will provide details when received.
- The School, in partnership with Street Scene, Police, CHRA & Tesco, have organised a Tesco Trail litter pick which will take place on Friday 27/06 at 9.45 am, meet behind PMF in Kidsgrove. The School again deserve great credit for organising this and I hope a good few of our Members will join Staff and pupils in this Litter Pick. The Sentinel & Reporter have also been invited.
-The School in conjunction with Planning for Real have organised a presentation at the School on Thursday the 3rd July 2008 at 6.30pm. This will include presentations made by Pupils, Staff, and, members of the Neighbourhood Initiatives Foundation. This presentation will focus on the Young People's Community Consultation Exercise and the work done by pupils at Clough Hall School & St Saviours in the initial process of the Planning for Real concept. If any member wishes to attend, please advise Chairman.
- The School are organising a Summer Fete on Monday the 14th July 2008-2.30pm onwards. Clr John Parsons Kidsgrove Town Mayor, will open the event. Strawberry teas for funds for breast cancer, raising funds for the Bijilo School in the Gambia as well as other charities. We do have invitations here tonight should any member wish to attend. Please attend this event if you can, the School deserve good support for organising this Fund Raising day for very worthwhile Charities.
- SURGERY - WESTMORLAND - Friday the 13th was the last Surgery. It is clear that Social Services have made decisions in respect of the future of these types of Units. The proposed changes will go before Staffordshire County Council Cabinet later this week. Andrew Brunt - Director covering such Units did attend this Surgery and has promised our Chair to advise him when information can be made available.
- NEXT MEETING - TUESDAY 22nd JULY 2008- AGM
Philip Leese will be giving a talk on the History of Clough Hall. The AGM process involves the Re-Election of Officers making up the current Committee. Currently we have an excellent Committee, however, we are keen to increase our Committee by two more members, if you have any interest please advise Chairman or our Secretary Carol Brammer.
- LOTTERY BONUS BALL - Next 12 week round is due, we do have one unallocated number
Please see Correna .
Chairman then introduced PCSO Sarah Rhodes to give an update on Police matters in our area
In respect of the spate of burglaries in our area since the 1st January 2008, Sarah confirmed that a number of arrests have been made, the person apprehended at Talke has admitted to a total of 16 - 10 in Cheshire and 6 in our area. Sarah confirmed that since this arrest there were no further incidents of burglary in our area. Sarah advised all residents to treat Security of their properties seriously, be careful, and be safe. The Street Meeting in the Park was visited by 6 members of the Community. Sarah then closed her talk and said that if anyone had issue's/concerns she would talk to them during the refreshment break.
Chair thanked Sarah for the update.
Chairman then introduced Lisa Denney to talk about the work undertaken by North Staffs Carer's.
Lisa advised that North Staffs Carer's are a Charity and is supported by a number of funding programmes including the Big Lottery Fund.
They are based at Burslem at :-
North Staffs Carers Association, 2, Burslem Enterprise Centre, Moorland Road, Burslem ST6 1JQ - Direct information Line is :- 01782 - 831610 / Web Site - http://www.carersfirst.com/
Lisa covered the wide spectrum of work they get involved in which is to provide help & support to Carer's. Carer's have a massive role to fill in terms of providing care for family members, friends etc, covering a wide range of age groups and gave examples of cases she had been directly involved with. It is estimated that there are some 6 million carer's in the UK, approx 62,000 of these in North Staffs, a huge number which is likely to increase.
It is estimated that the work carries out by these carer's saves the Government some £87billion a year, a Carer can Claim £50 a week providing they meet all the relevant criteria. The subject of Direct Payments was raised and these fall into three categories:-
- - Carers Allowance
- - Attendance Allowance
- - Disability Living Allowance
The whole procedure of claiming any of the above requires much "form filling in" and in certain cases Means Testing is involved. Chair pointed out that the subject of direct payments continues to be raised at Staffordshire County Council through the recently formed Adult Care Panel. The whole system needs to be simplified and allowances should reflect the tremendous contribution that Carer's make to our Society. £50 a week for a Carer, many of whom provide 7 days a week care, is a disgrace. Lisa did advise that anyone can contact North Staffs Carer's for help in completing these forms.
Carer Information Packs should be available at all GP Surgeries and Hospitals. The information gleaned from these packs is used as a tool to help Carer's gain current information.
Lisa summed up her talk by stating that Carer's do need as much support as possible, North Staffs Carer's provide :-
Telephone Be Friendly Service-support over the phone for Carer's who can't get away from their Carer's role.
Carer Liaison-young carer's liaison-especially important for children to give them a break from their roles, and allow them just to have fun, being a child again through organised outings and activities.
It is a goal for North Staffs Carer's to create a purpose built Unit to include such things as a cinema, dance club, coffee shop and many other facilities which will help to provide Carer's of all ages with much needed respite.
Chair thanked Lisa for her excellent interesting and informative talk.
Chairman then introduced John Robbins to give a talk entitled "The Law is a Ass"
Mr Robbins began his talk by explaining he had been a Magistrate for some 40 years, now retired. He also explained that the subject of his talk "The Law is a Ass" was a quote from Charles Dickens "Oliver Twist".
The English Legal system was founded in 1195 - Knights Swore Allegiance - Custodians Of The Peace.
The general rules set in 1195 still apply today although the past 50 years have been seen us become more Democratic. Mr Robbins gave us many examples of laws still on the Statute Book, many of these transcribed into today's world are very amusing and the examples quoted were much enjoyed by our Members.
Mr Robbins advised on the criteria required to be a Magistrate:-
He advised that currently 40% of Magistrates are Women; also, 70% are from an ethnic minority background.
Age - must be 27 years old and retirement at 70 is compulsory.
Pay structure-There is NO pay, there are allowances for items such as petrol expenses and if travelling is required a small allowance can be claimed for a sandwich and a drink.
Who can apply, anyone can apply providing they are 27 or over and do not have a criminal record.
Qualifications required - Just good sound common sense, all Magistrates are supported in Court by practising Barristers and Solicitors.
What work is involved - Magistrate must sit on a minimum number of 26 cases a year, 40 cases a year maximum.
Sentencing - A magistrate can issue a maximum sentence of 6 months and a maximum fine of £5000, one exception to the maximum fine would be if there was a serious Health and Safety issue involved, a Magistrate could then impose a fine of £25,000.
Mr Robbins then described and gave is views on the following:-
Community Sentences
Concurrent Sentences
Life in Prison (Not a enjoyable experience, don't believe what you read in the Papers)
Chairman thanked Mr Robbins for his talk and at the request of Members we will be inviting him back later in the year to give his full talk.
At this point the Raffle was drawn and the Chairman then closed the Meeting.
Graham Sutton ( Chair Clough Hall Residents Association) ...........................................