ANNUAL REPORT

APRIL 2004 – MARCH 2005

SHIREHAMPTON PUBLIC HALL    STATION ROAD    SHIREHAMPTON   BRISTOL  BS11 9TU 

Tel: 0117 982 9963         E-mail: enquiries@shirecaf.org.uk        Website: www.shirecaf.org.uk  

Company Registration No: 4686738                    Charity Registration No: 1099221

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Contents

Chairman's Statement

Scaf's Aims

Key Working Partners

Acknowledgements

Trustees' Report

The Forum and Other Work Areas

Community Safety Action Group

Shire Greens --- Environmental Action Group

Youth Support Action Group

Accounts for Year Ended 31 March 2005

Independent Examiner's report on the Accounts

Please Support SCAF

SCAF Membership

Chairman's Statement

This is the Forum's second annual report. The Forum became an independent organisation in April 2003. It aims to address the issues raised in a Community Profile of Shirehampton, by strengthening ties and building partnership working between statutory agencies, private enterprise, and voluntary and community groups in Shirehampton.

We have again made excellent progress in delivering benefits to the local community. Our community work is mainly carried out by Action Groups, whose work is described in more detail later in this report. I will highlight a few of their achievements here.

The Youth Support and Community Safety Groups have well-established networks of people in the voluntary and statutory fields. Following our initial success in the previous year, Connexions awarded us a second contract to manage a programme holiday activities, delivered through our partner organisations, and managed by the Youth Support Group. This was part of the Positive Activities for Young People programme. In addition, we were able to extend the programme to cover more young people, following a grant from Bristol Youth Community Action (BYCA).

The Community Safety Action Group has actively followed up concerns raised in a public consultation in the previous year. Their work has encouraged Portway School to take action to improve the behaviour of students in the village, led to a stop notice being imposed on a fast food outlet which was operating without planning permission, provided evidence which helped to establish a Dispersal Area in the village, facilitated contact between the Fire Brigade and local organisations, and led to a nearby forum dealing with domestic violence to extend its area to include Shirehampton.

In the previous year, Shirehampton Greens consulted 350 people of all ages to find out how they would like the Lamplighters Marsh area developed as a community park. They have produced a plan with a series of actions to implement some of these suggestions, and agreed it with the City Council. They have held a series of events on the Daisy Field, including hedgerow planting, orchard planting, seed scattering, and bulb planting.

We could not have achieved as much as we have without the efforts of many people. I am very grateful to my fellow Trustees, all those who have contributed to SCAF's activities, and our funders. We are particularly grateful to Comic relief, who awarded us a two year grant which went a long way to providing us with core funding. This is the most difficult area for us to raise funds. Once again Ash Bearman, our Community Development Officer has been the mainstay of SCAF. Without her skill and enthusiasm we could not have achieved anything like as much as we have.

David Thomas, Chairman

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SCAF's aims are:

* To discuss the issues raised in the Community Profile and come to a consensus of opinion as to the priorities. * To develop a strategic and multi agency approach to address the priority issues. * To establish links and support the work of other local initiatives. To establish a working structure with regular meetings. * Establish good communication between Forum members. * To establish sub groups/working groups to address specific issues e.g. housing, lack of youth activities etc. * To be inclusive and fully representative of all sections of the Shirehampton Community. * To be open to and consult the residents of Shirehampton.

The objectives of the Forum are:

1. To promote the benefit of the parish of Shirehampton and the neighbourhood without distinction of sex, or of political, religious or other opinions by associating the local authorities, voluntary organisations and inhabitants in a common effort to provide facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation and leisure-time occupations with the object of improving the conditions of life for the said inhabitants. 2. The promotion of public safety and prevention of crime 3. The preservation and protection of health

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Key working Partners

The Forum and action groups have created strong and effective working partnerships in the areas of Community Safety, Youth Support and Shire Greens (Environment). These have involved statutory agencies, community groups, voluntary sector organisations, private enterprises, churches, schools, Tenants & Traders Associations and individuals from the community.

Each action groups meets every 4-6 weeks, the action groups decide the focus of work and their work plans. Each group has a Chair, although all members enjoy equal status. All the meetings are attended by the Community Development Officer, who facilitates the development of each group as well as the overall Forum and provides admin support.

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Acknowledgements

SCAF Would like to thank the following organisations & individuals for their support, commitment and enthusiasm over the past year…Councillor Pat Roberts, Councillor Spud Murphy, Dr Doug Naysmith, MP, Penpole Residents Association - Shire Churches – PAYP Partner Organisations, The Police – BCC Parks & Landscape Team.  

FUNDERS: Comic Relief, Bristol City Council, GBF (Now Quartet Community Foundation)

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TRUSTEES' REPORT

Dr David Thomas                   Shirehampton Public Hall Community Ass’n
Mr Tim Baynes Clarke             Shirehampton Baptist Church Mr John Hardy Kings Weston House
Mrs Thelma Tillett                   
Iwan Jones                            Avon & Somerset Constabulary
Mrs Sandra White                  Penpole Residents’ Association

Jenny Bird was appointed as an additional Trustee in November 2004. The Trustees appointed David Thomas as their Chairman, Tim Baynes Clarke as Vice-Chairman, Thelma Tillett as Treasurer, and John Hardy as Company Secretary.The Trustees are the managing body of SCAF, and are responsible for finance and assets, and employing any staff. The Board of Trustees are supported by a Steering Committee, also known as the Full Forum, and by a variable number (currently three) of Action Groups, which will be formed or dissolved as the need for them arises.

The Trustees developed and approved a number of Policies and Procedures during the year. These included the following: Equal Opportunities Policy, Complaints Procedure, Grievance Procedure Disciplinary Procedure, Child and Vulnerable Adult Protection Policy, Confidentiality Policy & Environmental Policy. They also considered a draft Health and Safety Policy, but deferred approving it until certain aspects were clarified. They consider that these policies and procedures meet the City Council’s baseline standards.

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The Forum & Other work areas 

The Aims of the Forum are set out on page 2. The Full Forum met 5 times during the year. The main purpose of the Forum is to enable the Action Groups to report on their activities.

There is a very fruitful interaction between the various groups in these discussions, and each group benefits from the inputs from members of other groups, and from SCAF members who are not also members of a group .In addition to the work of the action groups SCAF also has an extensive database of over 140 contacts, which continue to strengthen ties between current partnerships, attract new members and also support and contribute to the work of other organisations both statutory and voluntary sector working for community regeneration in North Bristol. 

* Continued to raise the profile of Shirehampton within Bristol City Council

* Contributed to VOSCUR & Bristol City Council Regeneration Strategy & Conference Event

* Exhibited at the Business in the Community Event. Publicised and supported local group events

* Contributed to VOSCUR North Network, VOSCUR C-Net & Bristol Development Trust Network

* Used as a contact point for information about local organisations & services

* Kept the Shire community informed & involved through regular local articles in Shire Newspaper

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COMMUNITY SAFETY ACTION GROUP

Planning for Real: This consultation exercise was completed during the year. It aimed to identify the top three concerns of residents. The analysis indicated that litter, antisocial behaviour and road safety were of greatest concern to residents. The community safety group devised a series of actions as a result of this exercise in all three areas. For example:

1. These responses included action taken by Portway School following the attendance of the headmaster at a community safety meeting. As a result, the school has reduced the length of its lunch break and has worked with pupils to ensure that they have an understanding of the negative impact that pupil behaviour can have on the wider community. A HMI inspection subsequently at the school commented that there had been a definite improvement in pupil behaviour within the school.

2. Action taken by the forum was key to obtaining a stop notice for a fast food outlet that was operating without planning permission and contributing to antisocial behaviour and the fear of crime within the community.

3. The landlord of a local public house was taken to task about the negative impact that his customers were having on local residents in the area. This intervention resulted in a distinct improvement and there have been no further complaints.

4. The forum has secured the installation of at least six new drop kerbs on the Cotswold estate. 5. Matters raised at the forum were used as part of evidence presented at an antisocial behaviour case conference in order to instigate new legislation in the form of dispersal zones covering the majority of the area.

Fire Safety: Avon Fire Brigade have attended meetings and the forum has facilitated contact with local groups and the school in order to present key messages about fire safety and to fit free fire alarms.

Domestic Abuse: Concerns were expressed within the forum about domestic violence, its prevalence within the community and the lack of multiagency working within this area of crime. As a result of this concern, the issue was raised at a multiagency forum operating within Lawrence Weston and it was agreed that the Lawrence Weston Forum would be extended to cover Shirehampton and that its name would be changed to reflect the wider geographical area.

Neighbourhood Watch: Links have been forged with NHW and there is now a regular meeting of watches in the area that is affiliated to the forum. This has been very useful in providing feedback to the forum, both in terms of current community safety issues and in supplying a barometer about the success of any initiatives.

Neighbourhood Policing: This concept has been introduced to the forum as a new initiative being driven by government. It is anticipated that the forum will play an important role in the development and implementation of this policing concept in due course.

Inspector Iwan Jones, Avon & Somerset Constabulary Chair, Community Safety Action Group

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Shire Greens - Environmental Action Group

Events:

Bulb and tree planting - The Council and BCTC provided us with new orchard trees to renew and extend the existing orchard. A number of us turned out to do the final planting after the Council had pre-dug holes to a suitable depth. The trees have flourished and the Council contractors have been watering them over the dry weather. We also had a number of bulb (mixed woodland daffs etc) planting events on the Daisy Field during the late autumn & early winter, planting several thousand bulbs which flourished this Spring.

Nature Walks: There was a very interesting seed gathering and scattering walk last September and Rupert Higgins (Wessex Ecological Consultancy) also kindly led us on a wild flower walk this spring over Lamplighters Marsh. There were more than 30 people and we hope to make these annual events since there is so much interest.

Projects:

* The Council has completed the new fencing for the Daisy Field.

* Ralph Hack, Ash Bearman, and Gary Brentnall are working on improving the footpath along the river beside the playing fields.

* The Greens are working on designing and writing text for interpretation panels to be sited at the entrances to the Daisy Field and the River Path (The Yellow Brick Road), and at the viewpoint on the Field. Katie Robson has produced a draft leaflet with information about wildflowers, birds and wildlife in the Lamplighters Marsh area and Ralph Hack is working on local history. Richard Fletcher and Ash Bearman are writing funding applications. We'd like to thank Mandy Levers of the Avon Gorge and Downs Wildlife Project who met with Dave Williams & Renee Slater for her time, materials and excellent advice on interpretation panels.

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YOUTH SUPPORT ACTION GROUP

The past year has seen another very significant input into the support of young people, especially those most at risk, within the community of Shirehampton and the surrounding area.

Over the last 15 months the action group has made successful applications for funding from two sources, a further £12,000 from Connexions and £3,500 from BYCA. Thanks to this support the group has been able to put together a program of activities for young people over each of the school holiday periods for a wide range of young people aged between 8 and 19.

Further the Support Group has been supported in its work by a group of partner organisations who have planned, organised, led and provided the activities for the young people. Thanks are due to the Lawrence Weston Youth Inclusion Program, the police, particularly PC Helen Coates, (based at Portway School), The Learning Mentor team at Portway Community School, Sea Mills Junior School and the L'Dub BMX Club to name the main partners.

Last summer (2004) the Summer Scheme at Portway Community School was sponsored by the group, and celebrated it's 10th successful year - over 9 days over 100 local young people aged 8 to 14 years old were able to participate in a whole range of fun activities. Through out the holidays our partners provided a whole range of programmes with activities and opportunities that challenged young people, broadened their horizons or helped them develop new skills or enhance existing ones.

Activities provided over the last year include:

Residential camp in Bude, Cornwall including surfing, canoeing and caving. Karting, Fun day @ Lawrence Weston Community Farm, Llama trekking, Dance sessions, Ten Pin Bowling, Horse riding, Art & Pottery, Quad Biking, Judo, DJ workshops, Murder mystery, outward bound activities, and special programmes such as - Bristol Old Vic Summer Theatre School, Self esteem and confidence raising activities, Rewards for improved performance in school through the learning mentors. Football camp & the formation of a Samba band for primary school children in Sea Mills.

This coming year (2005 - 2006) sees a continuation of many of these activities as the Connexions grant has been renewed for a further year. The longer term future is uncertain as there has been no announcement of similar awards being made available to community groups to continue these activities targeted at the "at risk" young people in our communities. We trust that the government will replace the previous scheme with a new one and that the good work done in the community through the action group by our partners will continue and be successfully financed.

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Accounts for the Year ended 31 March 2005 (1)  

Statement of Financial Affairs 

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Independent Examiner's report on the Accounts

Report to the Trustees and Members of the Shirehampton Community Action Forum on Accounts for the year ended 31st March 2005

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year (under section 43(2) of the Charities Act 1993)) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to: " Examine the accounts (under section 43(3)(a) of the Act) " Follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charities Commissioners (under section 43(7)(b) the Act) " State whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of Independent Examiner's statement

My examination was carried out in accordance with General Directions given by the Charities Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently, I do not express an audit opinion on the accounts.

Independent examiner's statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention: 1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respect, the requirements to keep accounting records in accordance with section 41 of the 1993 Act and to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Act have not been met: or 2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed: Derek Griffin Dated: 22/6/05

Name: Derek J Griffin ACMA Address: Glenhaven, Scot Lane, Chew Stoke Bristol BS40 8UW

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PLEASE SUPPORT SCAF

SCAF is a registered charity. We need to raise a minimum of £20,000 per year to keep going, and we rely on donations and grants for our survival. Please support us if you can. Your donation can make a real difference to the Community Action Forum.

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SCAF MEMBERSHIP

SCAF is a membership based organisation open to all, living and/or working in Shirehampton - why not join us?

Individual: As a member you will have voting rights at general meetings of the Forum, choose the Trustees and influence the general policies of the Forum. You will also be kept regularly informed of Forum Activities. The annual membership subscription is £5.

Group: As a member your organisation will have voting rights at general meetings of the Forum, choose the Trustees and influence the general policies of the Forum. You will also be kept regularly informed of Forum Activities. The annual membership subscription for organisations is a minimum of £5, but we hope you may be able to donate a larger amount.

Local Companies: Please consider us for support, or join us as affiliate members for an Annual rate of £50 per year

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Please return this membership slip to:

Ash Bearman, Community Development Officer Shirehampton Public Hall, Station Rd, Shirehampton, Bristol, BS11 9TU

Tel: 0117 982 9963

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