Pledges 2008-9 Outturn

Appendix 1 Edgbaston Constituency Pledges Mid-Year Progress Report 1.

Set up a “Public Protection Unit “ : Achieved Lead Agency: West Midlands Police The unit is based at Ladywood Police Station and their remit includes domestic abuse, child abuse, vulnerable persons and managing sex offenders. This represents a step change in tackling vulnerability with significant investment in staff and resources. Overall the team consists of 6 domestic abuse officers, 2 vulnerable persons officers, 2 sex offender officers and 6 child abuse investigators and is supported by 2 sergeants, an office manager and 2 administrative support staff.

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Open the “Learning Hub” at University Hospital : Achieved Lead Agency: University Hospital UHB's Learning Hub was handed over from the builder's (Tomlinson’s) in mid August and is now operational. The Hub, next to the New Hospital, on UHB's Queen Elizabeth site, provides purpose built purpose-built training accommodation focusing on broadening access to jobs in health/ social care and construction for unemployed people and existing staff who lack basic skills. Key provision includes: •

ACTIVATE - a week programme including 3 weeks placement within UHB

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Building Health - which aims to broker people into healthcare and construction jobs, normally with 1 week of intensive preemployment training e.g. infection control

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Learn Direct

• •

Healthy Language Skills - a programme developed with South Birmingham College - which aims to improve literacy skills but with a future job in healthcare in mind.

UHB through the Learning Hub has signed up to a Local Employment Partnership with Job Centre Plus. Between now and 2011 the Hub aims to provide employment support to 5,000 unemployed people.

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For further information please contact the Hub (David Taylor) on 0121 697 8200. 3. Appoint a Neighbourhood Advice & Information Outreach Worker Achieved Lead Agency: Constituency Team This was a successful Constituency growth bid for corporate funding, initially for 12 months until March 2009. Through competitive interview an experienced officer from the Quinton Neighbourhood office was appointed and the subsequent vacancy back filled . Surgery sessions agreed and under discussion are as follows :Bartley Green Ward :•

St. Francis Church & Community Centre, 1.30p.m. – 3 p.m. every 1st Wednesday of the month. Drop in service.

Edgbaston ward :•

Woodview Centre , sessions already started at the lunch group every Tuesday 12.30 - 2.00

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Benmore Play Scheme every Tuesday 9.30a.m. –11.30a.m. Elders group. Drop in service agreement to be reached with Mental Health Team (Lester Burke) about referral mechanisms from them but initial discussions have taken place and they are familiar with our service. The team is moving out of Woodview to a nearby location in the near future.

Harborne ward:•

Kenrick Centre, 10 a.m. –1 p.m. every Friday for over 50's)

•

Crossway - 9.30 a.m. -2 p.m. every Thursday by prior appointment

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UHB Hub (employment project) – as an initial introduction the officer has provided a short information slot on their Activate job preparation programme which will lead to referrals for advice .

Harborne and Edgbaston Wards:Discussions about joint work with Karis and Alzheimer’s Disease Society, some referrals already received.

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Quinton ward :•

Welsh House Farm Community School, 9a.m. – 10.30 a.m. Every Wednesday in term time. Drop in service.

4. To produce a comprehensive summer activities brochure for children and young people: Achieved Lead Agency: Children and Young People (CYP) OEP Theme Group The Edgbaston Constituency Summer Brochure was distributed to schools, community centres, libraries and leisure facilities across the Constituency. The Constituency worked with the South Birmingham PCT to produce a section on healthy lifestyles which included exercise and nutritional information. 5.

To produce a programme of activities within the Constituency to celebrate 2008 as the National Year of Reading : Achieved Lead Agency: Constituency Team From April 2008 to December 2008 each library in Edgbaston has followed the national themes and produced a variety of displays, author visits and events. April - theme "Read all about it" Launch of National Year of Reading with displays of daily news from history in each library. Displays of old newspapers at Harborne Library. Word of the week at Harborne Library. Vote for a quote at Quinton Library. Staff Reading Log at Quinton Library - find out what the staff think of the books they read. daily news display at Bartley Green Library. May - theme "Mind and Body Displays in all libraries on health topics including Books on prescription. Two yoga demonstrations at Harborne. Reiki demonstration at Harborne. Young Readers Birmingham - author visits at all libraries (Caroline Pitcher at Harborne, Steve Smallman at Quinton and Linda Newberry at Bartley Green). Display of humorous books at Bartley Green. Open day at Quinborne Centre including Quinton Library presence. June - theme "Reading Escapes" Open Ticket - escape the football - display of holiday reads. Invitation to send a postcard about your holiday read. Football books for children display at Harborne. Desert Island reads and Books out of the World

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(Science fiction) display at Quinton. display at Quinton.

Books set in other continents

July - theme "Rhythm and Rhyme" Display of music CD's at Quinton. Check out favourite albums of Harborne Library staff alongside display of music CD's, music DVD's and books at Harborne. Music offer - borrow 2 CD's for the price of 1 at Harborne and Quinton. Constituency wide music quiz to win 20 free music CD loans. Poetry display and sessions with local nurseries and playgroups with a music theme at Bartley Green. Toddler Time Rhythm and Rhyme session at Harborne. August - theme "Read the Game" Displays with a sports theme in all three libraries. Biographies of sportsmen and women at Bartley Green. Sports/Olympics theme at Quinton and Harborne. Summer Reading Challenge for children in all three libraries "Team Reads" - read six books during the summer and receive poster, stickers and a medal. Football fun event with Tom Palmer at Harborne. Kickboxing demonstration at Harborne. September - theme "You are what you read" Author visit by Annie Murray at Harborne. Author visit by Mike Gayle at Quinton. Local History displays in each library including Chad Valley Toys display at Harborne. Getting started in Family History session at Quinton. Local history talks with Andrew Maxam at Harborne. October - theme "Word of Mouth" Display of books enjoyed and recommended by Adult and Teenage Reading Groups at Harborne. Display of borrowers' recommended reads at Bartley Green. Celebrating Black History month at Harborne Library with a display focusing on famous black TV and film actors and actresses. Display of famous African and Asian politicians at Bartley Green. Celebrating National Poetry day at Quinton with a display of favourite poems. Celebrating National Bookstart day at Harborne with a pirate theme for toddlers "Yo ho ho and a barrel of fun". Pirate mask making at Bartley Green. Half term story session and treasure hunt at Quinton - borrow four books and find out where the treasure is hidden on Pirate Island November - theme "Screen Reads" Continuing display of famous black film and TV actors at Harborne. Screen Reads - see the film and read the book - displays of books that have been made into films of television programmes at all three libraries.

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December - theme "Write the future" From chalkboard to e-mail - a display at Harborne about the history of writing showing different forms of communication and changes over the years. Story sessions at Quinton linked to the Christmas fair at Quinborne. Story sessions at Harborne Primary as part of their Christmas fair. Display of first novels at Quinton. Display of writing and printing codes at Bartley Green. Invitation to adults and children to write a short story or poem about Christmas to display in Quinton library. Introduction to family history open session at Harborne. 6.

Run “Edgbaston Snaps” as part of Digital Birmingham Week June 2008: Achieved Lead Agency: Constituency Team The Edgbaston Constituency along with other Constituencies participated in Birmingham ‘Snaps’ as part of Digital Birmingham activities in June. A range of photographs were submitted and these have now been added to the Edgbaston ‘Flicker’ site (www.flickr.com/groups/edgbastonsnaps). These will be used for constituency publicity and a way of attracting more photos for the site.

7.

Deliver “Neighbourhood Charters” in Priority Neighbourhoods inclusive of public sector satisfaction surveys: Partially achieved Lead Agency: Constituency Team As part of the City’s Neighbourhoods programme the Constituencies are expected to undertake Neighbourhoods satisfaction surveys and action plans in the form of charters agreed with local people. The Constituency has been undertaking this work with the following 6 ‘Priority Neighbourhoods’: Edgbaston Waterworks Estate; Roman Way Harborne North Edgbaston, Ferncliffe Road Quinton Welsh House Farm; Central Quinton Bartley Green Bangham Pit and Shenley Fields To date there has been 1 Neighbourhood satisfaction survey/study carried out on the Roman Way Estate. Initial consultation in the Wards has identified key priorities that will be developed along the initial draft document but will be adapted to reflect the local emerging issues and key target areas during 2009/10, as part of the Constituency neighbourhood tasking arrangements. To ensure we have a consistent approach for neighbourhood satisfaction surveys we are negotiating with the City’s Annual Place survey to see whether our specific Neighbourhoods could be included as part of the annual survey in order that we have comparative information.

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8. Pilot “Art on the Edge” : Achieved Lead Agency: Constituency Team Art on the Edge event was held on 15 February 2009 at the Town Hall with the Constituency Art Partners, Symphony Hall, Town Hall and Dance Exchange this consisted of show casing ‘Edgbaston Got Talent’. Art providers throughout the Constituency took up stands to exhibit their work. A video of the vent will be produced to promote future activities. The establishment of ‘Art on the Edge’ has led to establishment of Edgbaston Constituency Arts Forum. 9. Create a Constituency Address Book : Not achievable Lead Agency: Constituency Team It is requested that this pledge be dropped for this year, as it is proving difficulty to gain sponsorship for this activity. The aim was to use this as a welcome pack for new people moving into the Constituency with sponsorship from Estates Agents. It is not advisable at this time given the lack of movement in the housing market, to pursue this pledge. We recommend that this be revisited when there is an upturn in the housing market. 10. Stage an Edgbaston “Community Spirit Awards” evening with support from local businesses : Pending Lead Agency: Constituency Team Following discussions with the Voluntary, Community and Faith network it has been agreed that rather than single individuals out for awards it would be more appropriate to have a broader ‘Volunteer Celebration’ evening. The categories for which nominations for recognition have been invited are:     

Being a ‘Good Neighbour’ Community Cohesion Working with Young People Working with the Elderly Community Development

Closing Date for nominations was Friday 8 February 2009 . The event will now take place on the 24 April 2009, at 5:30 pm at Harborne Baptist Church. 11 Stage a youth “Big Vote” during Democracy Week October 2008 Achieved

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Lead Agency: Edgbaston Constituency Team Community Chest bids have now been forwarded to Ward Support Officers to request support in organising the event with support funding from the wards. An amount of £350 has been bid for to support, Transport, food and facility hire. Once these bids are accepted and has been confirmed a date and venue will be set. The Youth Real Eyes Group have so far this year participated in 3 events and will be involved in the Children and Young People Youth Parliament on 15 October 2008. 1& 2 events working alongside Soryah Brown in delivering a presentation to young people from Ladywood about the youth parliament. Youth Real Eyes also undertake a questionnaire project amongst schools resulting in approximately 3000 questionnaires being completed during Democracy Week. The result of this will provide next year’s young peoples priorities which will involve a Youth Vote. 12. Stage an inaugural Edgbaston Fun Run : Achieved Lead Agency: Constituency Team/Harborne Carnival Committee The first Harborne Fun Run took place in conjunction with the Harborne Carnival on 22 June. 87 youngsters from local schools took part in four age group runs. The event was started by Cllr Mike Whitby and all finishers received medals for their efforts. 13. Create an Edgbaston “Ground Force”: Achieved Lead Agency: Constituency Team The Constituency have to date completed 3 community clean ups with a fourth one planned in October 08. To date the events have been held in Edgbaston & Bartley Green Wards and have included the areas of: Waterworks Estate (23/04/08) - A community clean up on the estate included volunteers from Michael Page Recruitment Consultants. With agencies located across the country the consultants meet on a yearly basis to carry out a team building exercise. Approximately 30 staff cleaned various sites around the Waterworks estate assisted by Officers from the Constituency Office, Cllr James Hollingsworth and Cllr Deirdre Alden. Equipment and tools for the day were provided by Groundwork. Romans Way – Edgbaston Ward (22/05/08) The Edgbaston Hit Squad carried out clearance work, litter picking and strimming work in the vicinity of Roman Way and Bullace Croft areas. Harborne West staffs were also involved in the exercise.

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Lye Avenue - Bartley Green Ward – Cllr Bruce Lines & Vivienne Barton launched the community clean up in Lye Ave on Thursday July 17th assisted by a number of keen local volunteers, Constituency staff, West Midlands Police & Doddington Children’s Centre. Further dates are planned including Thursday October 30 th Harborne Walkway / Portland Road. A date for the Quinton Ward is awaiting confirmation and a final decision will be made on the remaining Constituency deployment area. 14 . Delivering the Edgbaston Employment Offer: Achieved Lead Agency: Enterprise and Economic Development OEP Theme Group The “ Edgbaston Employment Offer” comprised 6 elements of a strategic approach to the Worklessness agenda linked to possible local actions : Employment brokerage, third sector capacity building, environmental sustainability, retail career options, community transport, and back to work support . This was established in the “ Challenging Worklessness” report presented to Edgbaston Constituency Committee in March 2008. The further development of these ideas has now been subsumed into the emerging BCC Worklessness strategy as characteristic locally derived proposals in the Edgbaston Employment and Skills Plan for 2008-11. However, two actions originally identified: the University Hospital Employment Hub and the inport of the Environmental Apprentice scheme are now operational in the Constituency. Officers, working alongside partner organisations will continue to explore the potential of all identified options. 15. Stage Edgbaston Talent Shows : Achieved Lead Agency: Constituency Team Following the success of the Breaking the Chains event in October 2007 held at Edgbaston High School for Girls, the Edgbaston Constituency team in conjunction with the Youth Service organised an “Edgbaston’s Got Talent” Showcase event. The event was targeted at young people in Bartley Green, Quinton, Harborne & Edgbaston. The auditions for the event took place during October (dates and venues - Bartley Green Leisure Centre – Thursday

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2nd October 2008, Woodview Community Leisure Centre – Wednesday 8th October 2008, Four Dwellings Leisure Centre – Wednesday 15th October 2008, Harborne Hill School – Wednesday 22nd October 2008). These heats proved successful with over 50 young people taking part. A “look alike” panel (similar to the one in the Television version of the show) acted as the judging panel, and in keeping with the spirit of the TV programme, the panel of judges had the use of buzzers to “stop” any act that fell below their standards. There were some anxious moms and dads waiting and watching as their children went through their paces; two acts even became one when two individual acts who did not quite reach up to the mark joined forces and became a powerful double act. The heats saw a wide range of performers such as solo singers, girls groups, dancers, rappers, gymnastics, violinist, bangra drummers, solo instrumentalist this shows that Edgbaston really has got talent. The Buzz camp gave the performers an ideal forum to polish up their act. The final was held at Bartley Green Technical College on 11 December 2008 and all performers have taken part in a showcase at Art on the Edge at the Town Hall on 15 February 2009. 16. Edgbaston Foundation Charity Day/Week : Achieved Lead Agency: Edgbaston Foundation/Constituency Team The Edgbaston Constituency Director has met with a cross section of Schools, businesses, Colleges, Universities to explore the feasibility of staging Edgbaston Foundation Charities Day/Week. There has been a wide range of support expressed for developing this activity. The options put forward were: (1) Edgbaston Foundation raised funds for its chosen charity for the year. (2) Edgbaston Foundation supports a framework (provision of fund raising activities/packs - golf event; fund run; sponsor read; bike ride around the park etc) to help Schools, Colleges, Universities, community groups and businesses. (3) The Edgbaston Foundation on an annual basis selects a national fund raising activity and promotes it locally to coincide with the respective activity i.e. Red Nose Day; Sport Relief; Comic Relief; and Children in Need. These options will be forwarded to the newly appointed Edgbaston Foundation Guardians for consideration.

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17. Develop an Edgbaston Constituency Play Plan : Pending Lead Agency: Constituency Team Inward investment to enable this comprises two elements : •

A corporate Big Lottery bid

•

An individual Constituency Big Lottery bid

Both bids were successful. The former will entail the appointment of a team of 6 Play Workers to cover Edgbaston & Northfield. Staffs were in post in late October and after induction it is anticipated will be operational by January 2009. The second element will consist of 2 x 18 hour posts and a 22 hour post detached play workers deployed exclusively in Edgbaston. All recruitment is handled at the corporate level . Because of unforeseen events this process was delayed but is now underway. It is anticipated that staff will be in post by summer 2009. The full Edgbaston Play Strategy will be presented to the May meeting of this Committee. 18. Edgbaston Alcohol Abuse Awareness Campaign: Achieved Lead Agency: One Edgbaston Partnership The Edgbaston Alcohol campaign was launched on the evening of the Harborne Lights switch on and also included the South Birmingham PCT Health & Well Being Bus in the Harborne & Edgbaston Wards. The Health Bus in partnership with Aquarius delivered advice and information on a range of health and alcohol reduction issues. Friday 5th December saw "The Big Drink Debate: Is the West Midlands Drinking Itself to Death” take place on Harborne High Street. The survey is one of the largest ever undertaken in Birmingham and its aim is to identify the role that alcohol plays in people’s day to day life and how it affects their health, safety & well-being. The final event was in Partnership with the Varsity Public House and the Kindle Street Theatre and featured “The Ride Home”. This involved actors & pub visitors connecting together on an intimate and intense journey home in which each participant witnesses a night out gone wrong. A young lady, Hannah, befriends the participants and leads them on a whirlwind ride moving from party, to taxi, to ambulance, to hearse!

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