Councillors use funds to help create a cleaner, greener and healthier Hertfordshire

Dacorum

St. Cuthbert Mayne Catholic Primary School and the Gade Valley Primary School
– Barney and Echo, Caught in the Web Internet Safety Project

Cllr Fiona Guest has awarded a grant of £130, for each school, to fund The Barney & Echo Caught in the Web Project which is an educational resource aimed at children aged between 9 and 11 years old. The purpose of the project is to educate children in the correct use of the internet, including strategies to help avoid inappropriate internet use and deal with cyber bullying.

The project includes individual workbooks for each child, a teacher/parent guide with extra lesson plans and a script to produce a play based on internet safety. The Caught in the Web Project will be delivered in class with a provided teacher guide as well as providing wider scope for children to take the project home to discuss with parents. The project also includes a script to produce a play, based on the project, which will be staged for children, their parents/guardian’s and the wider community. The proposed community benefit is to educate children to use the internet in an age-appropriate manner, offering a basis for life-long internet safety.

Cllr Guest: “I am supporting the use of this programme because it will educate children in the safe, appropriate use of the Internet.”

Herts East

Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust (HMWT) – Restoring the visitor hide at Amwell Nature Reserve

Cllr Jonathan Kaye has awarded a grant of £1000 to restore the visitor hide at Amwell Nature Reserve near Ware. The boardwalk to the White Hide was installed over a decade ago. Due to the very wet ground conditions, the boardwalk up to the hide has deteriorated with significant subsidence. If it isn’t replaced it will have to be closed. The reserve has over 2,000 visitors per year.

Amwell is one of the most important places for wildlife in the county, significant for its populations of dragonflies, damselflies and birds. Key bird species that can be viewed from this hide include the gadwall, smew and the bittern! Funding from the Locality Budget Scheme will support the costs of specialist contractors to restore/replace the treated-timber boardwalk up to the hide making it safe and useable for visitors to enjoy the beautiful wildlife and nature.

Cllr Kaye: “We are lucky to have this nature reserve near Ware which is popular with local people in Ware, Stanstead Abbots, Great Amwell and beyond and I am happy to help support Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust in their endeavours to make the relevant repairs that are needed.”

Always Bee You CIC – Enabling adults with learning disabilities to enjoy good quality social and work opportunities

Cllr Jonathan Kaye has awarded a grant of £1000 to help fund professional art tutors, dance tutors, a singing coach and drama storyteller.

Many group members have struggled to get back to normal socialising after the pandemic and feel supported and more comfortable attending the activities provided by the Herts Mental Health team. Many young people have been referred to this service who have lost confidence and friendships due to mental health issues during COVID.

The grant will support 52 adults with Learning disabilities and those recovering from mental health issues to access good quality social experiences during difficult times. The group have been isolated and lonely for long periods of time and are now back to face to face activities meeting with their friends. These activities are supporting people who have struggled with their mental health, and some have been hospitalised during COVID. It also supports parents who have lost all their respite during COVID and desperately need time for themselves to enable them to carry on caring. The funding will also enable the group to express their feelings through therapeutic art classes, dance and drama sessions.
Many of the members have made meaningful and lasting friendships and 100% say they are happier. The funding will also enable the provision of services to more people in East Herts who need our support.

Cllr Kaye: “The work that Always Bee You organises in Ware is priceless. I often see its members in the town centre informally and the activities that are put on go towards alleviating social isolation for many young adults with learning difficulties - more formally I have watched them build lasting friendships.”

An image of some of the adults attending Always Bee You is attached with this release

Hertsmere

Camp Unity – Opportunities for children/families to meet other cultures and foster friendships, leading to greater community cohesion.

Cllr Caroline Clapper has awarded a grant of £300 to run a one-week residential summer camp for children aged 6-11 of all backgrounds, from Sunday 31 July 2022 to Friday 5 August 2022. Children participating in an outdoor camp find it helps to melt social and economic barriers, supports better community integration and promotes greater cohesion between local faith groups who over time have become self-segregating. The camp assists children in developing confidence in their relationship with nature and with their peers from different religious, socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds.

In 2019 the camp received two civic awards - one from the High Sheriff and the other from Hertsmere Borough Council. The 2022 programme is jointly sponsored by several faith communities and hopes to attract 50 or more children. It will include lower-income families and the camp fees are subsidised at a cost of £5.00 per child per day.

Cllr Clapper: “Camp Unity runs a multi-cultural, multi-faith residential summer camp experience for primary school-aged children from Hertsmere. Children participating in this camp, grow in confidence in their relationship with nature and with their peers from different religious, socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds. This funding will allow children from lower-income families to attend the camp and I am very happy to support this.”

Cecil’s Horse Sanctuary – Repairs to fencing and shelters

Cllr Caroline Clapper has awarded a grant of £1000 to repair current fencing and shelters damaged in the storms. New Shelters on both sites for protection of the horses from the weather, wood clearing to start open days for Mencap and the public. Spreading of top- soil in the paddocks and also set up individual paddocks for ailing horses.

Cllr Clapper: “I am delighted to support Cecil's who provide a loving home to unwanted, old, abandoned, neglected and abused ponies.”

North Herts

Hitchin Allotments Association – Hitchin Youth Allotment

Cllr Judi Billing has awarded a grant of £600 to help fund an allotment project for the community with a focus on young people. Due to growing demand an additional allotment plot has been added and work is needed to renovate this and put in raised beds etc and prepare it as a space people can safely use.

It will be situated on the Old Hale Way Allotment Site and the work will take place over the autumn and winter in preparation for use from spring 2023. The grant will help to extend the benefits of the project to a wider group of people in Hitchin and the villages around. We need to expand to meet demand.

The testimonials below illustrate the impact this work is having:

Kate Emsley, SEN Lead: “We have been lucky enough to access HiYA on a weekly basis for some years now. We have been able to see how much our students benefit. The practical activities help with memory as students are able to relate to what they have seen or done. It has had a huge positive impact on the student’s self-esteem and enjoyment of learning especially for the students that can find traditional learning experiences a challenge.”

Helena Breeze, Learning Support Assistant: “There is a real excitement on allotment days, our students really look forward to their sessions. They learn proper gardening knowledge and we see them develop and grow their confidence. For example, one child has found it very difficult to communicate with others at school but when she has been to the allotment her confidence there carries through to school.”

Stella Richardson, Rainbow and Brownie Leader: “A visit to the allotment for my Brownies and Rainbows is one of the most popular activities for the girls during the summer. From the minute they arrive they are totally engaged with the surroundings, and they are offered a hands-on experience, digging, planting, watering and tasting! The experience continues after their visit as they often take away a planted seed to nurture at home or harvested veg for their dinner. A number of families have been inspired to create vegetable patches at home”.

Cllr Billing: “Hitchin Youth Allotment is a truly marvellous scheme which gives young people the opportunity to learn about growing food, working together and seeing the results of their hard work. I'm guessing that this summer they have also learnt a lot about the importance of rain to the growing business!”

Images of Young people working at the Old Hale Way allotment are attached to this release

Hertfordshire County Council – Multi culture participatory dance theatre

Cllr Tina Bhartwas has awarded a grant of £1000 to cover the costs of performances in Hertfordshire Libraries of Apple ‘n’ Spice, a multi culture participatory dance theatre piece for children and families. This will include fees for Artistic Director, performers and the puppeteer. The funding will also cover costs for transport, the performer, equipment, planning and development and marketing.

This event will be part of a portfolio for developing the library as a vibrant community asset, it will enable libraries to encompass their vision of enriching their communities by fostering local culture and heritage and provide opportunities for citizens to participate actively in community life.

It brings theatre to the people- giving those that might not normally pay to go out to the theatre a chance to watch a professional show in a local, community setting at an affordable price. The piece literally brings stories to life, demonstrating to children that a story is not just words on a page. It fires their creativity, showing them how better to imagine stories that they read. It shows them stories bring pleasure and enjoyments- reading for pleasure is one of the strongest indicators of educational attainment in children.

Cllr Bhartwas: I am very pleased to support a performance in Letchworth Library of Apple ‘n’ Spice, a multi culture participatory dance theatre piece for children and families. Events like this really enrich their communities by providing an affordable opportunity to watch a show, highlighting creativity and fostering community cohesion.

Garden House Hospice Care – Specialist pre and post bereavement support

Cllr Tina Bhartwas has awarded a grant of £1000 to support the cost of staff time for a Family Support Service to help meet rising demands, especially from young people. The service provides emotional, psychological, spiritual and practical support to patients and families both pre and post bereavement. Helping to reduce feelings of loneliness and anxiety, the service has a positive impact on people’s mental health and provides a way forward at what is a very challenging time. The service also provides training and advice for teachers to help them effectively support the increasing number of children in their care who are experiencing bereavement, providing vital emotional stability for young people at an important stage in their lives.

The service relies on voluntary donations and a grant is needed to help meet the increasing demand for support (over 30% of all referrals to the Hospice are now to the Family Support Service). Last year the Family Support Service received 50% more referrals from patients and families, including 85 young people (compared to 56 the previous year). These figures are expected to continue to increase.

In 2022-23 the Hospice expects;

• to receive over 300 referrals
• to provide over 600 counselling sessions and
• to work with about 30 teachers and other school staff

The Hospice has recently recruited an additional part-time member of staff to help reduce waiting times to allow more time to be spent with each person/family and to work more effectively with other services to ensure appropriate holistic support.

Cllr Bhartwas: “I am glad to be able to support the Garden House Hospice Family Support Service based in Letchworth as they face rising demand, especially from young people. This incredible service provides emotional, psychological, spiritual and practical support to patients, their families as well as training to teachers to support children at a difficult time.”

River Hiz Conservation Group (RHCG) –Improving and protecting Ickleford's very rare Chalk Streams.

Cllr David Barnard has awarded a grant of £250 to pay for additional hand tools and protective clothing for volunteers doing outdoor and in-river tasks. River Hiz Conservation Group (RHCG) is a volunteer group working to a Wildlife Trust Plan to improve and protect Ickleford's very rare Chalk Streams. The conservation plan for the River Hiz and its tributaries is a long-term project. The aim is to continue to improve and protect the very rare Chalk Streams in Ickleford, informing the community about Chalk Streams, their unique ecosystems, and the threats to these waterways such as pollution and climate change.

The RHCG is open to all interested people and provides local volunteers with projects to explore, opportunities to try new experiences and make new friends, all working to the common aim of the preservation of the wonderful village amenity that is the River Hiz. This grant will enable all volunteers to be suitably equipped and safely protected when working on projects.

Cllr Barnard: “Our unique chalk streams require constant attention to maintain a healthy flow and environment for fish and plants. Our volunteer groups are essential to this provision. I am proud to support this group”

St. Albans

Sopwell Residents Association – Sustainability & Resilience Sessions

Cllr Sandy Walkington has awarded a grant of £400 towards educational materials and project sessions at the Cottonmill Community & Cycling Centre, including, promotional leaflets, adverts and posters, hall hire, a Community Leaders Engagement’ session, refreshments, ingredients and consumables.

Sopwell is already vulnerable, with significant wealth & health inequalities and the most ethnically diverse ward in St Albans. The grant will help to;

Build community resilience and adaptation to an uncertain future

• Educational/awareness work to increase awareness of climate and ecological issues and practical responses
• Upskilling re repair; insulation; working together
• Support activities that help build community cohesion, networks and support
• Support mental health and well-being for individuals of all ages
• Reduce isolation for minority groups, the vulnerable and elderly

Grow environmental sustainability in Sopwell

• Help and encourage people to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in everyday lives through food, energy, and consumer projects
• Help to increase the uptake and use of renewable energy in Sopwell - to reduce energy costs and build local resilience to energy supply disruptions
• Encourage residents to reduce waste – in food and consumer items
• Encourage repair of consumer items: electrical; clothing; furniture to reduce wastage, save money, and reduce carbon emissions
• Engage the community to protect and restore the natural environment in Sopwell – to include in people’s gardens, and in public spaces

Cllr Walkington: “This summer's drought and successive heatwaves have highlighted in stark terms the need for all of us to change the way that we live and reduce our carbon footprint. This project organised by Sopwell residents will bring these issues home to their fellow residents with an impact that no top-down scheme can match.”

Images of residents repairing consumer items at the Community Centre are attached to this release

Three Rivers

Watford Mencap – Watford Mencap provide vital services to local people with learning disabilities.

Cllr Paula Hiscocks has awarded a grant of £500 to help fund some much-needed garden furniture to provide residents with some shade and a place to relax outside. The home (Berrywood) in Rickmansworth houses 8 adults with learning disabilities. The adults who live at Berrywood are incredibly social, enjoy BBQs and spending their time in the garden.  With the weather being so hot recently and the garden having such limited shade, they haven't been able to enjoy it as much as they would like to. Having some garden furniture and parasol will mean they will be able to spend more time in the garden may it be rain or shine and will improve their quality of life at their home.

Cllr Hiscocks: “It is so important that our young people and adults can live as independently as possible. I hope this will help them buy their garden shades and chairs so they can enjoy this amazing summer.”

Watford

Watford Council - Remembrance tommys (silhouette statues that depict the British military of World War One) and a memorial bench

Cllr Asif Khan has awarded a grant of £1650 to support the remembrance project which is growing year on year and brings immense pride to not only the North Watford area but the town as a whole. It will also help to supporting veterans as the tommy's are bought from the Royal British Legion.

Cllr Khan: “I am happy to fund additional Tommy statues and a memorial bench to mark Remembrance Day. One of the Tommy statues will be unknown statue of women at war, which is designed to help the commemorate and recognise the bravery and sacrifices of women in war. The bench will be fixed permanently and would be a reminder for future generations understand the sacrifices of the fallen for our own freedoms that we all have.”

An image of Cllr Asif Khan and the memorial bench has been attached to this release

Herts Musical Memories – Musicial Therapy for Dementia sufferers

Cllr Nigel Bell has awarded a grant of £500 to help pay for sessions to bring people living with dementia and their carers together to improve physical and mental wellbeing through musical therapy.

Supporting the day to day running costs of the charity will also help with freelance professional singers who join the groups and help lead each session and with general admin costs.

The charity has lost many of its members to the pandemic and more people have gone into care homes then at any time in its five-year history. The services provided are important for those living with dementia to help them stay healthy both mentally and physically. The £500 requested will significantly help to relaunch and promote the sessions and ensure people in Watford are able to access this wonderful service.

Cllr Bell: “I am very pleased to support 'Herts Musical Memories'as the work they do is so important in helping our residents who suffer with Dementia and the vital support and partnership work with their families and carers.”

Watford Borough Council – Remembrance Day poppies

Cllr Stephen Giles-Medhurst has awarded a grant of £315 to support the fixing of poppies to lampposts during the period of Remembrance. Over the years the poppies have received extremely positive feedback from the local community and a real sense of pride. It has brought local communities together as residents help place the poppies and this is growing year on year.

Cllr Giles-Medhurst: “The display of lamp post poppies each year in Watford grows and is a massive act of Remembrance that I am happy to support with this grant but also to erect and take dowe. Watford Remembers those that have given there all.”

One Vision – Racking for a Food Hub

Cllr Mark Watkin has awarded a grant of £750 to help the charity store and distribute food from racking which will help volunteers so they don’t have to lift heavy crates and help in making bags for delivery from a larger floor space.

Cllr Watkin: “One Vision was set up to help families who struggled through the pandemic by providing them with food parcels and cooked meals. With the economic crisis facing even more families, the need for their service has grown not diminished and this money will enable them to store and control the food donations they are now receiving inin bulk from generous local stores.”

Mustr Ltd – Pop up story book

Cllr Mark Watkin has awarded a grant of £750 to pay for the creation of Good Wood Gang story animations, to be accessed in Goodwood Park via QR codes.

The grant will help create an immersive, exciting and inspiring storybook experience by bringing to life the park's history, landscape and social value through timeless storytelling. The project will inspire children and adults alike and improve health and wellbeing by promoting the outdoors.

The team behind the Good Wood Gang; "The Good Wood Gang is alive and we have the support of our local councillors to thank for it! What’s more we will be hosting our official launch event at the Watford Fringe in October - marking a giant leap towards our vision of harnessing our fantastic local parks to inspire children to dream and make stories. The financial assistance from the HCC Locality Grant has helped us massively."

Cllr Watkin: “This exciting innovation of creating a virtual fantasy based on the amazing history of Goodwood Rec accessed through QR codes displayed around the park will add a new dimension of pleasure and awareness to the families and school children who use it. Our parks are so important to our communities, and this will provide a strong draw to those who might otherwise not visit it.”

An illustration from the Good Wood Gang story is attached to this release

Welwyn Hatfield

Welwyn Hatfield Community and Voluntary Services – School Uniform for Ukraine children’s entry into school

Cllr Peter Hebden has awarded a grant of £200 to support a mutual group in Welwyn Garden City who are supporting around 25 Host and their guests. There are a number of children who have been given a placement at local schools but the mothers being on Universal Credit are struggling to purchase school uniforms. The schools are mainly in the Peartree Ward and the school does not currently have any second-hand uniforms.

Cllr Hebden: “Many Ukrainians have fled their country with nothing and knowing nobody and to help the children to integrate into our community is so important.”

Welwyn Rugby Football Club – Updating changing facilities

Cllr Fiona Thomson has awarded a grant of £1000 to update the club changing facilities to include showers in every changing room. Increasing number of changing rooms from 4 to 6. Upgrading the changing facilities in the clubhouse will make them safe and fit for purpose. The Rugby Club runs 23 squads including a Women's XV and Girls at U12, U14, U16 and U18. All play and train on Sundays along with the Junior Boys. The central shower block is not used on a Sunday and the current changing facilities are not fit for purpose. The new arrangement will also eliminate all current safeguarding issues.

Cllr Thomson: “Welwyn Rugby Club is an asset to the local community, running 23 teams including touch, walking and mixed ability rugby alongside its mini, junior and senior boys, girls and men's and ladies’ teams. The existing changing rooms are no longer fit for purpose, and I am pleased to award some Locality Budget funding toward their refurbishment which will eliminate any safeguarding issues.”

Before and after images of the changing rooms at Welwyn Rugby Club are attached to this release

East and North Hertfordshire Hospitals' Charity – Creating a SafeSpace for children and young people at the Lister Hospital

Cllr Fiona Thomson has awarded a grant of £500 to help fund the SafeSpace Appeal.
Providing emotional and psychological support & initiatives for the most vulnerable children in the community whilst at the paediatric assessment unit.

• Bland and clinical ceiling. These are especially beneficial when children are laid on a bed having intrusive examinations.
• An interactive sensory ceiling panel: this ceiling panel is lit and beams colours and patterns onto the floor. It can create interactive games for distraction
• An information corridor and waiting room area: with age-appropriate literature and information, this area will be aimed at older young people. There will be lockable phone charging units and potential for a mobile gaming unit.
• A breaking bad news area: this area will be decorated in a more sombre colour scheme and will have comfortable seating and a low table for drinks/ tissues etc- the furnishing will create a softer home from home environment.
• Purchase supports for bathing: bathing is stressful for the children with complex needs so the seats will enable them to be bathed in a supportive manner. Bathing is important for each patient’s wellbeing and care and these seats will also assist family members who want to help.

The project has been carefully shaped by Children’s Matron & Florence Nightingale Scholar- Elizabeth Franklin- Jones MBE. Working with her team, Lizzie has identified items and equipment that will support children and young people who have a tendency to violence and anger or are sensitive to noisy and stressful environments. Their aim is to reduce stress and anxiety and to promote wellbeing and mindfulness.

In the last three years, the likelihood of young people having a mental health problem has increased by 50% with one in six children diagnosed with mental health disorder, an increase since the Covid-19 pandemic. 20% of children and young people coming to the Lister do so as a result of a mental health crisis and can be at risk of self- harm, overdose and/or suicidal thoughts. The SafeSpace project aims to create an environment where children and young people feel calm and distracted from the clinical tests and assessments.

In 2021, 400 referrals were made to the hospital charity funded mental health community link worker for enhanced community support, to try and reduce continuous presentation at A&E:

Cllr Thomson: “The SafeSpace project at the Lister Hospital provides emotional and psychological support & initiatives to the most vulnerable children in our community while attending the paediatric assessment unit. I am pleased to award Locality Budget funding to support this project which aims to create an environment where children and young people feel calm and distracted from clinical tests and assessments, helping to reduce stress & anxiety and promote wellbeing and mindfulness.”

Images showing examples of rooms in the paediatric assessment unit are attached to this release

Headway Hertfordshire Limited – Support and care of those affected by a brain injury

Cllr Tony Kingsbury has awarded a grant of £500 to support the delivery of services for a highly vulnerable group of people with brain injuries. Headway Hertfordshire are the only organisation in Hertfordshire offering this service and has been for 20 years. (Every 90 seconds someone is admitted to hospital with a brain-injury). Clients have commented on how much they have benefited and how much the support has changed their lives

Cllr Kingsbury: “Headway do great work to support those with a brain injury. Having had a discussion and been talked though how they provide this help to local people, I certainly felt that my support would be worthwhile to help those affected, especially given increased demands for Headway's services.”