Report on Big Local activity for September 2023
Big Local North Cleethorpes: September 2023 activity update
This is the September 2023 edition of our monthly updates on what Big Local North Cleethorpes has been up to. Many projects and activities are ongoing, but some updates are new this month and the latest ones are covered in this summary.
If you are interested in more information or want to follow up on anything outlined below, please contact us at Big Local North Cleethorpes: hello@biglocalnorthcleethorpes.org.uk or karl@vanel.org.uk or 01472 897337 or check the website for more information: (www.biglocalnorthcleethorpes.org.uk)
Arts, Leisure, Culture and Heritage
Discussions between TransPennine Express and We Are Fish are continuing, with the long term aim to redevelop the Cycle Hub building on Cleethorpes Station as a community/young people/arts venue.
After the Urban Arts Festival in Cleethorpes in August, we’re planning new arts activities for local young people and exploring ways to display and promote all the art and artists that were involved in the festival and sponsored by Big Local. More updates by the end of October.
Our crafts and arts groups continued to meet in the shed this month and the ancestry group meets in the front room and all are proving as popular as ever.
Supporting Young People and Families
Plans for running some urban art workshops with local young people have been a little delayed, but this will get underway later in October. Some will be in the Big Local shed and some at locations such as Sidney Park and the Pavilion and Carr Lane allotments.
The Green Influencers group at Reynolds Family Hub is back underway now that term has started and is proving very popular once again. They are preparing for a Halloween party so that the children can enjoy the garden that they are working in.
The group at Beacon Hill Academy has also restarted. Their themes are; reducing plastic use; healthy living, healthy minds, healthy planet; and reducing energy use. St Peters youth group is also back underway with their gardening project with the aim of preparing a sanctuary for the children.
Families experiencing hardship in our North Cleethorpes target area have continued to benefit from small grants and gift cards to help with food purchases, utility bills, access to the internet, IT equipment and other ad hoc needs on a case by case basis.
Supporting Older People
Big Local will be having a stand at the older people’s advice showcase day on 11th October at Cleethorpes Memorial Hall. We’ll be providing all kinds of community safety messages including a new KOPS newsletter focusing on identity theft and promoting messages about safe ‘trick or treat’ night. All are welcome to join us on the day. Ted will also be filming our Big Local older people work in action on the day.
The Keeping Older People Safe (KOPS) initiative continues to circulate information and advice to older people across North Cleethorpes. www.keepingolderpeoplesafe.com
Copies of the Stay Safe guide (funded through Safer Streets East Marsh) can still be picked up from 82 Grimsby Road, and we’ve distributed more copies around Cleethorpes groups recently. www.staysafenel.com
We’ve had a few more referrals from the Police this month to provide personal alarms to local residents who have either been victims of crime or are concerned about ASB. The offer of community safety equipment is now very limited, but please keep referring households if the need arises.
We continue to work to develop Neighbourhood Watch initiatives or similar neighbourhood groups in the area and continue to work closely with the local Neighbourhood Policing Team on this effort. Karl attended the national conference on Neighbourhood Watch in London in September to find out if any national best practices can be applied in North Cleethorpes, and we’re still on the lookout to support local residents who are interested in building the community in their streets.
Environmental
The community allotment spaces at Carr Lane allotment site continue to develop through We Are Fish and are engaging the local community. Community Feasts have continued (Mondays 4-6) and more and more residents, parents and young people have been getting involved on the site.
Sam from VANEL is continuing to support We Are Fish with their Green Influencers funded group and projects. And the Green Influencers groups at Reynolds Street Family Hub and Beacon Academy continue to work on their green projects.
The planning committee for the Acquacultured Salmon Farm has been put back from September to November 2023.
Community and Partnership working
The Sussex Rec Pavilion has now reopened and groups that were once using the building have returned. Police surgeries continue there, as do ward surgeries. A launch event was held in September to welcome the community back into the building. We Are Fish are now very involved in the day to day running of the building and its upkeep and development. It’s great to see this community venue being able to open up once again after its temporary closure.
We Are Fish also continue to run the PitStop in the Park in Sidney Park for the benefit of the community.
Building work has now begun on the redevelopment of upstairs at 82 Grimsby Road to reinstate it as a residential flat instead of office space. The flat should be ready by November for a tenant to move in to. VANEL and Capacity Buildings Ltd continue to use 82 Grimsby Road as their office address but did not have the need to retain actual office space – hence the decision to turn the floor back to a flat again.
And we continue to reconfigure the downstairs community spaces with new furniture and layout to ensure it is as useful as possible for groups to use. If you’re interested in booking the community space for meetings, please contact us.
A new video has been produced (thank you Ted and Hammond House Productions) to showcase what Big Local is all about. This new video can be watched on the CleeTV YouTube channel here:
https://youtu.be/L4XilpHlMdM?si=oLkWl4-LbmNnyer9
The CleeTV channels have been reconfigured after some previous technical issues and the whole presentation of the Big Local website and our video channel are being reworked over the next month or so. Three more short videos are also being prepared to showcase other, specific aspects of the local work Big Local has been doing. These will become available over the coming months with Older People up first.
Our ‘cost of living’ activities continue to enable us to continue to distribute small grants and gift cards to people in need and refer them to the later life partnership, citizens’ advice and credit union for support with financial hardship. We can also help with community problem solving and link them to our councillor and police drop-in sessions at the hub as well as offer help and support ourelves in the hub with VANEL’s help.