Shropshire

News from our partners Shropshire Towns and Rural Housing

Brian Morris, a tenant at a Shropshire Towns and Rural Housing property in Oak Gardens in Bridgnorth, has scooped second place in the National Federation of ALMOs (NFA) Photography Competition 2018 for his outstanding contribution to community life.

The annual competition aims to celebrate community champions, and Brian was one of just 10 to be shortlisted for the prestigious award.

Brian has been an active tenant for many years now, and in the past six years he has taken on a significant role within his neighbourhood.

Brian. (Photo by Shropshire Council’s communications team)

As a keen DIYer he took on a mission to improve the look of his community, paying particular attention to the garage sites.

He began by painting the garage doors so that they looked brighter and more attractive on the street. He then moved onto adding flower boxes above each garage. He also started adding more flower beds and baskets to the street so everyone can see them when they look out of their windows.

He wanted to create a lovely and striking place for not only himself and his family, but for his neighbours as well. With his positive actions he has achieved this and more – creating a street which helped the county to win gold in last year’s Heart of England in Bloom awards.

People often comment on the difference Brian has made in their neighbourhood and they are proud of the street thanks to him.

Brian said:

“It was a lovely surprise. I didn’t expect it. I just got a certificate through the post with a nice letter and my picture. I couldn’t do it without help from friends and family so my thanks goes to them too.”

Julia Costello, Shropshire Towns and Rural Housing’s local Housing Officer, said:

“It’s really great that Brian has been recognised in this way – he deserves it.

“He is a passionate and enthusiastic gardener who has made such a positive impact on his community, and year after year he ensures that the street looks better than ever.

“He is always happy to give out gardening tips if asked and encourages people to visit his beautiful garden and street with such pride.”

The post Brian scoops second place for his contribution to community life appeared first on Shropshire Council Newsroom.

News from our partners Shropshire Healthwatch

Healthwatch Shropshire is recruiting for a new Chief Officer. We are looking for someone to join and lead our team and share our passion for Healthwatch Shropshire as the ‘consumer champion’ for health and social care services across Shropshire.

Would you like to help people to have their voice heard about health and social care services? Do you want to help change and improve those services?

We are looking to recruit a dynamic, enterprising self-starter with leadership and management experience to become our new Chief Officer, building on the excellent reputation that Healthwatch Shropshire has established locally.  We are looking for skills and experience of partnership working at a senior level, ideally with a good understanding of current health and social care policies and issues.

Working with the Board, you will be responsible for leading the future development and delivery of local Healthwatch services and the Independent Health Complaints Advocacy Service for Shropshire. You will work closely with the Board, in particular the chair and deputy chair and line manage other staff members, ensuring that the organisation works efficiently and performs effectively.

The post is 28 hours per week, Monday- Thursday, with a salary commensurate with experience.  The post is permanent and based in Shrewsbury.

Closing date for applications is noon Thursday 14 June 2018. Interviews will be held on Monday 25 June 2018.

For more information on this post, including an application pack (CVs not accepted), please contact Healthwatch Shropshire at:

www.healthwatchshropshire.co.uk
01743 237 884 or email enquiries@healthwatchshropshire.co.uk

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News from our partners Fastershire

Gwaza Ltd will soon become the first business in the Shropshire Council area to benefit from a dedicated grant, funded by the European Regional Development Fund and Shropshire Council. The £25,000 grant from the Marches & Gloucestershire Broadband Grant scheme will provide Gwaza with access to ultrafast broadband.

Gwaza was founded by John Price in 1967 primarily as an electric fencing manufacturer, known as Salop Fencing Ltd. The company expanded into gate and general steel fabrication serving the agricultural, automotive and industrial sectors. As their distribution into the aftermarket for engineers, agricultural dealers and retailers developed, the company was re-branded as Gwaza Ltd.

Gwaza Ltd

CommsCo have been selected by Gwaza to install a dedicated service of 300 Megabits per second both download and upload, which will significantly enhance the company’s digital capability.

Managing Director Victor Edwards highlighted the key benefits the new service will bring:

“Our IT focus is yielding growth that is outstripping the currently available Internet infrastructure. In recent years Gwaza has invested heavily in technology to streamline and expand our business. We have our own B2B website, catalogue, product information, and ordering portal, providing web shops and ordering portals for a small number of dealers.

“This has led to trialing customer order processing systems which are offered to the dealer to allow them to pass through orders direct from their online platforms. We are also trialing remote warehouses in Europe, operated by our dealers. The dealers also utilise online systems to manage stock, process orders, request deliveries etc. so our broadband infrastructure is crucial.

“Currently Gwaza is fortunate that many of their customers access their website and order portals outside of normal business hours, in a bid to avoid congested Internet traffic. By having access to an ultrafast synchronised service Gwaza customers will be able to order on demand, significantly improving the customer experience and ensuring next day delivery targets.

“To accommodate the increased level of order fulfilment, Gwaza anticipates hiring additional staff once the new systems are embedded and new customers are attracted. In time, Gwaza anticipates needing to invest further in their warehouse and packing facilities to accommodate the increase in demand.”

Nav Mohammed Technical Director from CommsCo said:-

“Upon initial engagement with Gwaza, it became apparent that they required an ultrafast connection due to the nature of their business and bandwidth required for effective operation. Gwaza also needed a find a solution that would provide bandwidth expansion to allow for continued growth.”

A dedicated Fibre to the Premises connection was identified as the most reliable and economically viable technology solution to fulfil the customer requirement.

Nic Laurens, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for broadband, commented:

“It’s great to see a Shropshire business benefitting from this grant scheme, which can fund up to 100% of the cost of installing a superfast broadband connection. I would encourage any business or business park owner struggling with broadband connectivity to investigate their eligibility for one of these grants, which are part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

“You might be surprised to hear that the Marches & Gloucestershire Broadband Grant scheme is under-subscribed and the last thing we want is to have to hand money back to Europe at the end of the project. The clock is ticking and all grant applications must be submitted by the end of December 2018.”

The Marches and Gloucestershire Broadband Grant gives eligible businesses up to £25,000 to fund the installation of a superfast broadband connection.

If you run a business which cannot access speeds of over 30Mbps, and you are not already part of any current superfast broadband rollout plans, then you could be eligible for a grant.

Businesses wishing to find out more, please go to the following page on the Connecting Shropshire website: http://connectingshropshire.co.uk/business-broadband-grant/
Registering for the grant is a simple and easy process, but all applications for the grant must be completed before December 2018.

Businesses can also benefit from further business support through the Marches Growth Hub and get access to free support from a Business Adviser. For more information, go to: https://www.marchesgrowthhub.co.uk/about-us/shropshire/

Contact

Dawn Thompson, Fastershire Communications Lead, email: dawn.thompson@herefordshire.gov.uk

Further information

About Fastershire

Fastershire is a partnership between Gloucestershire County Council and Herefordshire Council to overcome the market’s failure to provide high speed broadband across both counties. It uses funding from central government’s Broadband Delivery UK matched by the local authorities, ERDF, EAFRD and the Marches LEP

• Phase 1 of the project enabled 83% of premises in Herefordshire, and 82% in Gloucestershire, with access to speeds of 30Mbps or over. This coverage has been achieved through commercial investment and a project contract delivered by BT Group.
• Phase 2 of the project it is expected to increase coverage in Herefordshire to 95%, and 97% in Gloucestershire through a contract with Gigaclear and BT Group.
• The project’s vision is that “by the end of 2019/20 all residents and businesses in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire will be able to order the broadband service they need, and a high percentage will be using faster broadband to do more online, boost business growth and achieve their potential.”
• The project has developed a strategy http://www.fastershire.com/about-fastershire/strategy which outlines the approach adopted.

About Connecting Shropshire

The Connecting Shropshire programme is bringing superfast broadband (with a download speed of at least 30mbps) to parts of the Shropshire Council area where it isn’t economically viable for commercial companies to do so.

Since 2013, Connecting Shropshire has provided over 56,000 premises in the Shropshire Council area with access to a superfast broadband connection.

More information is available on the Connecting Shropshire programme website: http://connectingshropshire.co.uk/

About Superfast Britain

Superfast Britain is a Government programme of investment in broadband and communication infrastructure across the UK. Run by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, this investment helps businesses to grow, creates jobs and will make Britain more competitive in the global race.  The Government:

• is supporting investment to provide superfast broadband coverage to as many premises as possible beyond the 95% level achieved in December 2017
• is also introducing a broadband Universal Service Obligation so that by 2020 everyone across the UK will have a clear, enforceable right to request high speed broadband
• has provided access to basic broadband (2Mbps) for all for those who do not currently have coverage otherwise
• is supporting investment to stimulate private investment in full fibre connections by 2021.

Administered on behalf of Government by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), Superfast Britain is transforming Britain by promoting growth, enabling skills and learning, and improving quality of life. For further information: https://www.gov.uk/broadband-delivery-uk

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News from our partners Marches Growth Hub

Rural businesses in Shropshire have just days left to tap into EU funding that could help grow their organisation and create new jobs.

Grants of up to £170,000 are available through DEFRA’s Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) and could be used to construct or improve business premises or to buy new equipment and machinery.

The grants are available for food and drink manufacturers, tourism attractions and for most rural businesses with less than 50 staff. Grants start at a minimum of £35,000 (£20,000 in north Shropshire) and applicants can apply for up to 40 per cent of eligible costs: however, for certain ‘not for profit’ tourism projects, the intervention rate could be higher.

The Marches Local Enterprise Partnership is particularly encouraging applications from farming businesses that want to diversify into non-agricultural activities and environmental and land based rural businesses wishing to expand, but expressions of interest for a grant must be registered by 31 May 2018.

Roger Phillips, Chairman of the Marches ESIF committee, said:

“It is important to recognise the important role that farmers and small rural businesses play in our local economy.

“Our participation in this DEFRA grant scheme will help those rural businesses deliver their growth aspirations, which in turn will support their rural communities.”

Expressions of Interest for funding bids must be submitted by 31 May 2018. For more information and advice on how to apply, contact the Marches Growth Hub on 0345 6000 727 or email enquiries@marchesgrowthhub.co.uk.

Marches Growth Hub

• The Marches Growth Hub brings together all national and local business support in one place for the first time and is fully aligned to the Government’s ‘Business is GREAT’ campaign.
• A comprehensive business support website – www.marchesgrowthhub.co.uk – and dedicated enquiry line – 0345 6000 727 – provide businesses across the whole Marches region with access to funding, support and advice. All resources are available to enterprises of all sizes, from start-ups to large employers.
• This is supported by physical hubs in Telford at the University of Wolverhampton’s Telford Innovation Campus, at Skylon Park in Hereford and at the Food Enterprise Centre in Shrewsbury.

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A commemorative album to celebrate 100 years of the Royal Air Force was presented to Councillor Ann Hartley, Shropshire Council’s Chairman by Tim Morris, Wing Commander from RAF Cosford, at a meeting of Full Council last week (Thursday 17 May 2018).

RAF 100 book

Shropshire Council is rightly proud of its inclusion in the keepsake called “100 years of the RAF”, and was only one of two councils chosen to contribute, along with RAF Shawbury and RAF Cosford.

It will now be made available to Heads of State throughout the Commonwealth and UN, as well as serving RAF officers, ex-service people and attendees at key celebration events.

Councillor Karen Calder, who said a few words during the presentation, said:

“We were so pleased to be offered the opportunity to contribute to this beautifully-designed album which reflects on the RAF’s history and achievements, as well as celebrating the work it is currently doing and looking forward to the next 100 years.

“It goes a long way to recognising the great working relationship between Shropshire Council, RAF Cosford and RAF Shawbury.”

The album is just one of the many things happening across the country, and the world, to celebrate the RAF’s 100th year.

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News from our partners West Midlands Association of Directors of Adult Social Services

Councils across the West Midlands are working with Alzheimer’s Society to raise awareness about dementia as part of Dementia Action Week (21-27 May 2018). 

The dementia campaign led by Alzheimer’s Society is also being supported by West Midlands Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (WM ADASS), which represents the 14 councils in the region.

One of the key ambitions of the branch is to improve the diagnosis of early onset dementia and the quality of dementia services across health and social care in the West Midlands.

ADASS West Midlands logo

WM ADASS will also be supporting the Alzheimer’s Society report “Dementia – the true cost: Fixing the care crisis” in a bid to lobby government for more funding and influence government policy and society’s attitudes towards dementia.

Martin Samuels, Co-Chair of West Midlands ADASS and Strategic Director for People at Dudley Council said:

“As members of West Midlands ADASS, we know that local government has a vital leadership role in promoting dementia friendly communities.

“Our adult social care teams across the region continue to work with their partners and local communities to ensure those living with dementia, and their family and carers, get the right support.

“However, councils have been under sustained funding constraints for many years and continue to be so. We know this cannot continue, and as a region we remain committed to lobbying government for fairer funding.

“With the number of people living with dementia set to grow, we welcome the Alzheimer’s Society report ahead of the Government’s forthcoming Green Paper on social care reform.”

Andy Begley, Shropshire Council’s director of adult social care and housing, and Co-Chair of West Midlands ADASS, added:- 

“One of our key priorities at West Midlands ADASS is to ensure there is a truly personalised and integrated health and social care service for people with dementia.

“In Shropshire we have developed a joint strategy with our colleagues at Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group which details plans and developments that will help us drive forward the change that is needed to improve the lives of local people living with the condition.”

You can view Shropshire’s Dementia Strategy 2017-2020 here.

For more information about Dementia Action Week visit www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-involved/dementia-action-week

For more information about WM ADASS visit www.adass.org.uk/community/west-midlands-region or follow us on Twitter @WMADASS.

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The following decisions were made by Shropshire Council’s Cabinet at its meeting today (Wednesday 23 May 2018).

To see the full agenda and papers, click here.

These items on the published agenda were discussed and approved in line with the recommendations:-

• Scrutiny item -- Task and Finish Group findings re Community Infrastructure Levy etc.
• Financial Outturn 2017/18
• Data Protection Policy

Video of the meeting:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHvp2D0YqYs

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Shropshire case study

What’s stopping you? You can fit fostering around your family!

It’s Foster Care Fortnight (14 – 27 May) and Shropshire is appealing for more people from all walks of life to come forward to meet the needs of local children.

Fostering – Foster Care Fortnight 2018

One of the common barriers to potential foster carers is a concern over the effect it will have on their own children… but as Anne from Whitchurch explains, the impact of having other children in your home can actually be extremely beneficial. 

“I’d always wanted to foster, and my husband did too – in fact his best friend when he was younger was fostered so he knew what it involved. But as a working mum with three children of my own, I had to ensure the time was right.

“I remember ringing years before we were accepted and being informed that we needed a spare room. The foster care team pointed out that it was important for our own children to retain their own space as it could cause resentment.

“We went away, thought about it and realised that we had to have our own children fully on board if this was going to work.”

They then waited until they had that spare room and decided to apply again.

“We talked it through as a family and decided to apply. At first we had quite definite ideas about the ages of the children we wanted to foster.  Initially, although were approved as carers, we did respite during holidays and weekends, so just short periods of time.

“The ages of the children ranged from under five to teenage, and you soon realise that their ages don’t matter:  it is a child or young person and they all need that time and support.

“We now have a long-term placement of two siblings and couldn’t be happier.”

Fitting fostering around your family 

So how has the rest of the family dealt with the decision to foster?

Says Anne:

“One of the most positive things we have got from this is the impact it has had on our children.

“Watching them welcome these young people into our home and make them part of our family has made me very proud of the young adults they have become. And it works both ways. The whole family is inspired by the children we foster, many of whom are dealing with some very difficult circumstances in a very mature way. We as a family can safely say we are proud to foster.

“Looking back, many friends were very vocal in trying to deter us because we had our own children – whilst others were really supportive. Now they have seen what it’s done for us, a couple of them are fostering themselves!”

Fitting in your work with fostering 

One of the biggest misconceptions around foster caring is that you can’t combine it with holding down a full or part time job. But, as Anne says, that’s not true.

“I’m teaching part time, but far from being a hindrance I think it has actually helped. I still have that ‘adult time’ to myself and I think that is important for you and the children you foster as you then value the time you have and make sure you use it to best effect.

“The application and training process can sound daunting, but that too worked out well for me. A couple of friends were also on the course, and that helped, but everyone was supportive and it was great to be able to pick up the phone and speak to someone if I had a problem.”

Tapping into support 

Another cause for concern amongst many prospective carers is worrying “will I cope?” As Anne says, the support on hand from Shropshire and other foster carers means that you’re never alone.

“There’s a ‘buddy scheme’ that puts you in touch with an experienced foster carer.  My ‘buddies’ were wonderful – a lovely couple who let me know they were there when I needed them.

“The bond and trust you build up with your social worker is also important. Right from the start it has felt like a friend coming for a coffee. Always in touch, always ready to deal with any concerns. And that support goes from right from when you apply to each new placement. There’s a whole network of social workers, other foster carers and – very importantly – your family who are there for you.”

Anne’s advice for potential carers 

“If I were to talking to anyone thinking of fostering I would say ‘just apply and find out more’. My top tip is to remain open and open-minded. Listen to what your family thinks and make them very much part of the process, and also be open with the children who come to live with you and be prepared to listen to them.

“Finally, enjoy what you’re doing. When it comes down to it, the children and young people you are helping are just that – children and young people. Yes, some may have issues and it is not all hearts and flowers… but it can be one of the most enjoyable and rewarding things.”

If you would like to know more about fostering, please call 0800 783 8798 or visit http://www.shropshirefostering.co.uk/ – you’ll never know until you make that call. Don’t think “I can’t foster” – think ‘I can’.”

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