Local news

Spotlight

Chief Executive appointed for Bromley Healthcare
CREDO – new contact details
Annual commemoration ceremony for armed forces at Civic Centre

Quicklinks

Mottingham Movers & Groovers – update
Age Concern Bromley’s Support Planning & Brokerage Service
Getting a Life that Matters – innovative information event for young disabled people to take place in London
Please help your local carers centre
Movers & Groovers project develops social networking communication to extend its reach
Bromley Healthcare Community Forum
Bromley Healthcare Community Governors elected
Consultation on closure of Children and Families centres
LBB Decision on personalisation and charging policy

Chief Executive appointed for Bromley Healthcare

After an extensive search process, involving a wide range of partners and stakeholders, Jonathan Lewis has been appointed as the new Chief Executive, Bromley Healthcare.
Raoul Pinnell, Chairman Bromley Healthcare said, “Jonathan is currently the Chief Executive of the Social Investment Business and will bring a wealth of experience to the role. He will be starting in late summer and we will be in touch nearer the time as we develop a programme for him to meet our stakeholders. He is currently moving to South London with his wife and three young children. Please join me in welcoming him to our organisation.”

Visit the website to find out more about the Social Investment Business.

CREDO – new contact details

Please note that with effect from 25th May 2011, Credo moved to the following address:
The Credo Creative Arts Centre, 67 Cotmandene Crescent, St. Paul’s Cray, Orpington, Kent, BR5 2RA

Tel: (unchanged): 01689 878225.
New email addresses: admin@credoceramics.org
For Jehan E. Haddad: jehan@credoceramics.org
For Jan Lovett: jan@credoceramics.org

For those of you who don’t know the work of CREDO, it is a creative community work project working for the relief of individuals who are recovering from mental illness. It provides work experience to enable clients to develop basic work and social skills and move towards appropriate training and employment.

Annual commemoration ceremony for armed forces at Civic Centre

Date: Monday 20 June
Venue: Civic Centre

Bromley Council will be commemorating members of the armed forces who died in the course of duty. Annual flag raising event will take place at the Civic Centre at 10 am, attended by veterans from the Army, Navy and Royal Air Force. Local MPs, The Mayor, the Leader of the Council and Councillors will join members of the armed forces. There will be prayers and the Bromley Staff Choir will lead the singing of the National Anthem and other music.

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Mottingham Movers & Groovers - update

Some of the local residents involved with Mottingham Movers & Groovers visited Hackbridge Eco Housing development and attended a show case event to see some of the positive changes made in the local community.

The event, organised by the Government led Community Leadership Legacy Programme, also gave the Mottingham residents opportunities to learn about the launch of the Big Society Community Organisers programme and to talk with some of the other groups that attended such as Urban Youth Flex and Croydon Ecology Centre and share some of their ideas.

To find out more about Mottingham Movers & Groovers and see some photos of the event please go to www.moversandgroovers.org

Age Concern Bromley’s Support Planning & Brokerage Service

Age Concern Bromley is pleased to confirm that the funding for the Support Planning & Brokerage Service has been extended to March 2012.

The service provides information, advice and support to older people living in their own homes. It was set up in 2007 with the aim of providing support to people who do not meet the criteria to receive services from Adult & Community Services, or who are self-funding, and choose to arrange their care privately.

So far, the services has visited over 1200 older people in their own homes.
Ellie Boon, the Support Planning & Brokerage Manager, said, “When we visit clients, we spend time getting to know them, and finding out what care or support they would like. This can be anything from help with washing and bathing, to finding someone to do their shopping, help with paperwork and benefits, or to take them to their favourite club or activity. The support the client receives is entirely up to them, and often involves a mixture of free and paid-for services.”

Do get in touch if you would like to find out more, or would like to refer someone to the service. The telephone number is 020 8315 1850 and email is info@acbromley.org.uk

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Getting a Life that Matters – innovative information event for young disabled people to take place in London

An exciting free conference is taking place on 11 June 2011 at Nash College in Bromley. The event will provide young disabled people with complex needs in London key information and support on issues such as accessing higher education, employment and housing and how to manage their own care and development through Personal Budgets and support planning.

The conference, Getting a Life that Matters, is organised by disability charities Livability and Bromley Mencap and is aimed at all young disabled people in London aged 14 – 25 and their families as well as professionals working with disabled people.

The programme includes: speakers with indepth and personal experience of disability issues and informative and interactive workshops throughout the day.

The new Mayor of Bromley, Councillor David McBride, will officially open the event followed by the keynote speaker Dame Philippa Russell, Chair of the Standing Commission on Carers and herself a parent carer. The event starts at 9.30 and will end around 4pm.

A variety of key organizations working with disabled people will also have stalls at the event to provide visitors with information and advice. They include: Livability, Bromley Mencap, Nash College, Bromley Parent Voice, Camden Society, Music Therapy, Bromley MIND, Tree Jumpers, Sussex Health Care, MCCH, Tuck by Truck, Dorin Court Residential Home, Avenues, Burgess Autistic Trust, Advocacy for All and Magpie Dance.
For more information on the event and for a booking form contact: Donna Burgan at Nash College on 0208 315 4800 (Extension 265) or Bromley Mencap on 020 8466 0790.

The event is free but numbers are limited and all visitors must register in advance.

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Please help your local carers centre

Please support your local Carers Centre by purchasing tickets to Carers Bromley’s 20th Anniversary Charity Ball on Saturday 23rd July 2011.

Help is also required with funding aspects of arranging the ball by way of sponsorship (either individually or a donation) and, crucially, auction/raffle prizes. All sponsorship will be acknowledged in the programme.

Carers Bromley aims to raise £10,000 in this anniversary year in order to help us to continue to provide valuable support to carers - with a particular focus on identifying more young carers and providing training for carers of those experiencing Dementia.
If you are able to help with any of the above, please speak to Karen Waldron at Carers Bromley on 01689 888966 or email karen.waldron@carersbromley.org.uk.

Any assistance at all would be greatly appreciated.

Movers & Groovers project develops social networking communication to extend its reach

CLB launched the Movers & Groovers Project this spring in response to the Big Society’s vision of involving everyone working together in their local communities. In an approach new to the Borough, the project draws on the power of social networking sites to provide informal and flexible communication. Using Facebook, text messaging services and brand new website, Movers and Groovers sets out to engage with the hardest to reach in the community, encouraging individuals to have their say on local issues.

Jo Guest, CLB’s Community Cohesion Officer explains how it works. “The idea is to give the Movers and Groovers the opportunity to be involved as much or as little as they want. The way our Mottingham group has evolved gives you an example of the flexibility of this approach. One group of residents have decided to hold regular but very informal meetings, to discuss issues that matter to them and set about planning about how to resolve these issues for the benefit of everyone. Another group have signalled their involvement by signing up to a text messaging service to receive news of local events. Others have opted to join the Mottingham Movers & Groovers Facebook page and keep informed that way.”

Movers & Groovers also supports and works with voluntary and community organisations working in the area, like the Mottingham Community Association. Jo is keen to expand this area of her work. She explains, “I would very much like to involve more organisations working in the Mottingham community, so that we can increase the impact of this growing network. If your organisation is delivering services in Mottingham, please get in touch. And for those of you working outside this area, we are developing a Movers & Groovers in Penge later this year.”

For a full outline of the work and reach of the project, please go to our new website www.moversandgroovers.org. Alternatively, contact Jo Guest by email jog@communitylinksbromley.org.uk or phone 020 8315 1917.

Bromley Healthcare Community Forum

You will all be aware that Bromley Healthcare has now gone ‘live’ as an independent social enterprise delivering the community health services formally run by the PCT. Its stated commitment is to put the patient at the heart of what it does. One way Bromley Health care wants to do this is through the Community Forum they asked Community Links Bromley to establish in the New Year.

The forum has been active in electing new community governors - see separate article. However, as always, the more people involved the better, so why not join the forum yourself. Membership is open to anyone who is a patient of Bromley Healthcare, cares for someone who uses the services or is a volunteer or staff member of a voluntary organisation directly supporting them. Join today and play a part in shaping local services.

Contact Stephen Blann 020 8315 1907 at Community Links Bromley or download a membership form. See you at the next meeting on 2nd June, Bromley Town Church.

Consultation on closure of Children and Families centres

Part of the proposals to reduce the council’s budget this year and next year included a radical reduction in the number of Children’s centres in the borough. This year planned new centres will not open but next year several existing centres are planned to close. There is currently a consultation on this issue. The proposals are:

Community Vision, based in Penge and the Blenheim centre in Orpington will remain open with “enhanced services” and will act as a hub for either side of the borough. “These centres have been chosen because they are in the areas of greatest need and because they provide full day care for children thus allowing families to return to work”
There will be one other centre - Hawes Down, for children with disabilities and their families, which is currently under construction.
The council is looking for “partners” to take on remaining centres - but there will council funding for them to do so. There is an implication in the wording that the centres may not remain entirely as children’s centres – although the council recognise they will need to refund the government if they do not provide services for children any more.

Here is a list of the centres affected and their services

James Dixon - Drop in or play sessions. Crèche. Health/counselling/advice, information
Burnt Ash, Plaistow - Drop in or play sessions. Crèche. Health/counselling/advice, information. Little Ashes pre-school is on the same site.
Elmers End - Drop in or play sessions. Crèche. Health/counselling/advice
Biggin Hill - Drop in or play sessions. Crèche. Health/counselling/advice, information. A pre-school provider is also based at the centre
Churchfields, Beckenham - Drop in or play sessions. Crèche. Health/counselling/advice and a variety of information. The school has a maintained nursery.
Poverest Adult Education Centre, Cray Valley West - crèche
Manor Oak, Cray Valley East - Crèche. Maintained nursery in school.
Royston, Penge - Crèche. Pre-school and maintained nursery on school site.
Princes Plain, Bromley Common - Full day care. Crèche. Maintained nursery in school.
Widmore Adult Education Centre, Bromley Town -
Cotmandene, Cray Valley West - Crèche to link with ‘The Centre’ located opposite.
Castlecombe - Has a maintained nursery on site.
Mottingham - Has pre-school on site.
There is not a specific question about the principal of closing the remaining centres; the specific consultation questions are:

Do you agree that we should continue to fund Children and Family Centres in the areas of greatest deprivation?
Do you agree that these centres could act as service hubs for an area of the borough?
Do you agree that we should provide a service for disabled children and their families through a children and family centre?
Which centres should we continue to fund?
Which services delivered, through Children and Family Centres, should we continue to provide?
Where we cease to fund centres fully, it may be feasible for building to continue to be used by services. How could this be organised and funded?

Send any comments to Val Haskey, CYP Secretariat (Room E47), Children and Young People Department or e‑mail to c&fconsultation@bromley.gov.uk by 17 June 2011.

LBB Decision on personalisation and charging policy

The portfolio holder for Adult & Community Services, Cllr Graham Arthur, considered a report on the 18th March about the consultation on the proposed new personal budget and contributions policy for adult and community services.
There were eight proposals in the consultation and following the consultation there were a number of changes suggested to Cllr Arthur, demonstrating, he said, the value of consultation for organisations, individuals and the council. Download a briefing here and visit the LBB website for report to the portfolio holder and on the consultation’s results