Wiltshire Voluntary Sector Forum Network

Wednesday 2nd July 2014, Bridge House Trowbridge

Notes of Meeting

Welcome and Introductions Chair: Jackie Crowther, Senior Development Worker.Core Agenda Item: Military Integration

Speaker: Sue Harper and Tony JacksonThe Army is currently undergoing a level of change, the key points around this being reviews on how the Military population are to be more home based and part of your community. It also addresses the balance around the current regular/reserve balance and (contrary to popular belief) how the Army are still recruiting, whilst downsizing particular aspects. In the Military personnel are key and recognizing this involves addressing particular issues around integrating soldiers back into Civilian life, considering training and career progression, and Veteran integration. This also addresses how the military can be of value to the communities into which they integrate through a Military and Civilian partnership.The role of the Army Integration Team will be to facilitate these key points with a number of specific initiatives including a tactical HQ; offering support for soldiers and their families across the South West and administration and logistics support; command the Army Reserve and Cadet force in the South West; and to also connect with local Government and Society. Initiatives around the premise of Civil engagement include events such as commemorations, remembrance, and Armed Forces day but also in the Cadet forces. Statistics show that Wiltshire has a significantly higher Army population in comparison to other areas of the UK. Specific goals for the Army Engagement Team working towards 2020 will be rebasing, regenerating the Army Reserve and the transition of soldiers back into society.

Question and Answer Session

Question/Comment – Would locally base regiments be able to assist with local projects ie. Restoration projects.Tony – Yes, allowances would have to be worked out around the workload of the soldiers but that’s certainly a conversation we could have.

Facilitated Networking Attendees participated in a facilitated networking session

Core Agenda Item: Local Area Boards

Speaker: Steve Milton, Head of Communities and Area Boards(Unfortunately Steve Milton was unable to attend, a summary of his presentation was given by the DEVELOP’s forum host, Jackie Crowther. Aspects of some questions relating to Area Boards were fielded in part by Leanne Homewood of from Speedwatch )Wiltshire is a BIG County, covering 3,255 square kilometres stretching from the Cotswolds in the North to the New Forest in the South.This is a challenge for the Council, how can we connect with our communities and respond to their local needs? How can we ensure local people have a say and that those voices make a difference? How can we make sure that local people are able to work with us to tackle issues that affect them where they

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live? To help the Council connect with local communities, it has set up 18 Area Boards. The Area Boards bring together elected councillors, parish councils and partner organisations like the Police and NHS to take decisions that affect the area. The Boards meet in the area, in town and village halls to make it easy for people to get involved and take part. They are supported by a community area manager and local service officers. The Boards have an annual budget of over £1.5m to support local projects, local groups and to help tackle local issues. The Boards help sort out local issues – like flooding, speeding, poor air quality (although there is not a lot the Boards can do about dust blowing in from the Sahara), health concerns, jobs and public transport. It can consider anything the community is worried about. Speedwatch is a good example… (Leanne Homewood explains the process behind reporting an issue with the area boards) “You would raise the issue with the area boards, they will discuss it see what information they have on it. They will then arrange for strips to be put across the road, they are called a metracount. The strips collect information over about 7-10 days on the volume of traffic and the speed of the traffic. There are three varying thresholds. The first is where the strips show there is no speeding issue. If the 85th percentile of the average speeding vehicle is from 35 to around 39, that area would be eligible for speed watch. So I will get that information and make contact with that team. If it’s higher than 39, then they would go on the speed programme…”

As the money available to the Council decreases, so we have to help enable communities to do more for them. With our help and support, with grants from the Area Boards community groups are doing much more for themselves than ever before. And that means more volunteering. Area Boards are also: Using local evidence to help communities identify priorities for action, transferring Council land and buildings to community groupsAwarding grants – over £6m over the last five years and that funding has helped groups deliver over 2000 projects with a value of over £18m - that is a BIG investment and a whole lot of community activity. Giving young people the chance to decide how to spend the local youth budget. Letting local people decide how local highway money should be spent and we going to go further to give people more say about the services they receive. We know that by connecting people and getting them talking, things happen. We have a wide network of contacts at community area level and we keep in touch with email, Facebook, twitter and our own dedicated social media sites called Our Community Matters – a virtual online newspaper that is owned and managed by the local community. We have recruited volunteer community reporters who post news stories, events, videos and reviews and every week a bulletin is sent out to over 10,000 local people – keeping them in touch and making them aware of what is going on in the area. We have a wide network of contacts at community area level and we keep in touch with email, Facebook, twitter and our own dedicated social media sites called Our Community Matters – a virtual online newspaper that is owned and managed by the local community. We have recruited volunteer community reporters who post news stories, events, videos and reviews and every week a bulletin is sent out to over 10,000 local people – keeping them in touch and making them aware of what is going on in the area.

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Final Business The next Wiltshire VSF is taking place on Thursday 16th October in Salisbury Methodist Church. The theme for the next VSF is ‘Impact’

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