Big Local North Cleethorpes Activity Update for May 2022

This is a short update on what Big Local North Cleethorpes has been up to during May 2022. Many ongoing initiatives mentioned during April continued this month. If you are interested in more information or want to follow up on anything outlined here, please contact us at Big Local North Cleethorpes: (Email: john@vanel.org.uk or karl@vanel.org.uk)

Arts and Culture

The Cleethorpes Culture Festival took place at St Aidans Church and Community Centre mid May and was a great success. Over the Saturday and Sunday there were 200 people per day and contributions of art work to be displayed at a posh gallery in Louth were collected.

Craft sessions for local people continue to meet in the community shed at 82 Grimsby Road on Tuesday from 12 to 3pm.

Supporting Older People

Cleethorpes people will now benefit from extra Scams and Fraud sessions this year through a new project which VANEL is delivering across NEL. Scam sessions have already been planned with several groups, but if you have a social group that would like a session please contact Karl.

We continue to distribute “The Little Book of Big Scams” and the first have been provided to Cleethorpes Charity Shops for them to hand out. A good number have now been provided to the Cleethopes Neighbourhood Policing team. They are still available for residents via the Big Local office.

We continue to support and encourage Neighbourhood Watch and neighbour led groups. Daubney Street Neighbourhood Watch Group is an example of a group planning activities for their neighbours during the Jubilee weekend, and we are also supporting them with home safety materials for their street. Other groups across wider Cleethorpes were also supported through the process to close their streets for the Jubilee weekend.

The Community Safety Partnership (CSP) recently awarded a commendation to the Keeping Older People Safe (KOPS) initiative which operates primarily across Cleethorpes (with key support from Big Local) and West Marsh. This is a nice acknowledgment of all the activities being delivered with support from partners such as Big Local and VANEL and aimed at directly supporting older people in Cleethorpes.

We can still provide small items of personal and household security equipment to residents in DN35 7 and DN35 8 postcodes. Please check the website or contact us for details of what is available and to make a request.

Supporting Young People

Two families with young children in North Cleethorpes received chromebooks funded by Big Local this month. Both families had no usable access to IT for the young people to use, and hopefully these donated laptops with help.  Referrals have been received for a few more families in need in North Cleethorpes and are being assessed.

A new outdoor sandpit has been ordered for the Reynolds Family Hub garden. Part funded by CYC The Hangout and the rest by Big Local North Cleethorpes, this will provide a welcome activity for the young people at the centre. The space for the sandpit has been prepared by the young people themselves to get rid of the existing rotting sand pit wood. The sand from the old pit will be reused either in the plant beds or donated to a Cleethorpes school to add to a rocky pebble ‘beach’ as part of a nature area.

Support work continues with a number of local young people. An example is a small group of young people are meeting soon to consider starting a manga/animation group.  Many other local young people are also part of Green Influencers supported groups tackling environmental issues.  One local young lady recently made presentations on Green Influencers to other people. New groups are in the early stages of being setup at Beacon Academy.

Environmental

Beacon Hill Allotment in Cleethorpes has now become the second allotment site in North East Lincolnshire to start up an Allotment Watch. This will allow plot holders (many elderly) to keep safer and more secure on site. The scheme will be rolling out to other allotment sites in due course.

We have also connected Beacon Hill Allotment to the Green Links funding scheme which has purchased a polytunnel cover to help maintain and improve their community space on site.

As well as supporting Daubney Street with their Neigbourhood Watch Group, we are also providing support for new planting in planters and hanging baskets in the street from a match funded Green Links funding pot.

A plastic pick up/litter pick was organised on the beach under the pier. Without moving from that spot, the Green Influencers group managed to collect:

36 pieces polystyrene
22 cigarette stubs
3 polystyrene cups
1 plastic beaker
1 drinks bottle
3 rock lolly stick
7 forks
1 straw
1 stirrer
5 lolly sticks
7 bottle lids
2 food containers
1 plastic dolly bottle
1 KFC drink cup plus lid
2 broken spades
1 fish
2 wet wipes
14 wrappers
15 random bits of plastic
2 bits of polystyrene aeroplane

The resident led committee working towards a Pocket Park near North Beach in Cleethorpes continue to meet monthly and gain support. The next step will be a meeting with the Council Officers and elected members to discuss the best way of putting the plan into operation. JM is to ask elected members to apply some pressure to get the process underway.

Initial contact has been made with the Environment Agency in an attempt to get expert advice on the advisability of draining Chapman’s Pond and its proximity to the Humber Estuary, we are waiting for someone with the relevant expertise to respond.

Community and Partnership working

The Community Mini-Hub @ 82 Grimsby Road, Cleethorpes, DN35 7DP

As pandemic restrictions have eased, we have been proactively promoting and making more use of our community hub with staff and visitors now using the facilities 4 days per week. We need to start proactively encouraging more Cleethorpes people to use the building and its facilities:- a small upstairs meeting room is available for hire – maximum 3 people @ £10/hour – discounted for North Cleethorpes residents and groups @ £5/hour. Half day and full day rates including access to kitchen and bathroom facilities, community shredder and photocopier by negotiation for Cleethorpes residents. We can offer ground floor meeting room space however, this is currently in high demand – so always by negotiation.

Contact: liz@vanel.org.uk or telephone: 07562 206376 to discuss your requirements

Four Clee Clubs are now running weekly at 82 Grimsby Road. We have an Ancestry Group; a Model Making Group; Craft Group and a Gardening Group.

For more information about anything above, please contact us.