Agenda item

Cllr Allison Bucknell outlined the Local Recovery Plan discussions.

 

Points made included:

 

·         Working with the RWB environment group to support eco-friendly projects and initiatives.

 

·         Started a new health and wellbeing group and were starting to discuss and develop projects to address local issues.

 

·         Developing youth provision in the community area, in partnership with town and parish councils.

 

·         Started to develop a Parish forum to discuss locally important issues.

 

·         Ongoing focus on transport schemes via the Community Area Transport Group

 

·         Concern about impact on Mental/Physical and Economic health of our community.

 

·         Local people have offered support and friendship to the whole community in many ways, their experiences and thoughts were a key to the way we move forward through the pandemic and onwards to recovery.

 

·         Informal recovery plan might help the area board see how it can best support community action.

 

 

Attendees were then invited to share their experiences of the pandemic and how their group/organisation had become involved.

 

John Coole – Cricklade Foodbank 

 

·         Publicity – do people know where and how to contact the foodbank

 

·         That the Government food parcels were well received but some people felt that they didn’t need them etc – wasted money

 

 

Deb Skilton – Childrens Centre

 

·         Seeing the same families for interventions etc

 

·         Feedback – mental health anxieties, food issues and nappies. Delay in receiving school food vouchers

 

·         Parental conflicts and Financial issues

 

 

·         Health appointments – GP and dentist issues now reaching new parents

 

·         Concerns re fuel poverty as winter approaches and internet poverty

 

 

Dr Rob Noel – Royal Wootton Bassett Surgery

 

·         That local surgeries had continued to see people during the pandemic

 

·         That there had been an increase in mental health issues during the pandemic

 

·         Lots of help information available on GP websites

 

·         Community connector now working with isolated people getting them back into society again

 

·         Expanding the clinicians - taking on an extra GP

 

·         From Jan 21 a further three consulting rooms would be operational

 

·         That Flu clinics would start on Saturday 3 October

 

·         That the surgery was happy to help with foodbank collections etc

 

 

Angela Jensen – Cricklade Youth

 

·         That there had been some increase in vandalism attributed to young people in Cricklade during the pandemic

 

·         That the Area Board funding for youth work had been well received

 

·         That youth work was being delivered one evening per week at Cricklade Leisure Centre

 

·         Going forward – the needs of young people were paramount, with the hope that funding continues

 

 

Mike Robertson – Bradenstoke Helpers

 

·         That there were continued concerns that may elderly people feel isolated

 

·         Support Database - what support do we signpost these people to

 

 

·         Good support from Wiltshire Council during the pandemic

 

·         Some anti-social behaviour - Lynehan and Bradenstoke, youth related littering etc

 

 

Aridam – Sharot Charity Group

 

·         Good Work carried out with Jane Vaughan supporting families during  the lockdown

 

·         That more fresh food and provisions were needed

 

·         That some families had issues getting to the food bank to pick up food parcels

 

 

Sue Hughes – Royal Wootton Bassett Local Youth Network

 

·         Issues – some young people struggling with separation and no youth group

 

·         That the virtual home based youth work had been well received

 

·         Community support – good work was carried out

 

·         That when some sort of normality returns some people will have to stop volunteering to go back to work etc

 

 

Amy Dallimore -

 

·         Currently running virtual sessions for service families

 

The Chairman thanked everybody for contributions.

 

 

The update from Royal Wootton Bassett Academy contained in the agenda pack was noted