1. Minutes for last meeting

Minutes from the Board meeting on the 17th March were reviewed and agreed with no amendments

No Matters arising

2. Proposed New WAP Projects

Kate put forward two new potential WAP projects for agreement by the Board. These projects would be an addition to WAP action plan 2009/10.

Project 1 – Recession Road Show
NNCP have asked that all Local Area Partnerships consider running a Recession Road show in their main town / village.  Two Area Partnerships, Fakenham and North Walsham have already held their Recession Road Shows and Kate had spoken to the co-ordinators from both these partnerships to find out how well attended they were, how much work was involved in holding the Road Show and how productive they thought they were. In both cases the co-ordinators felt that turnout was poor (only 15 people attended the Fakenham event for the whole day). They also thought that the value to the community did not exceed the cost and effort it took to put the Road Show on. Fakenham had 20 different service providers present on the day, all of which had also put lots of work into arranging time out of the office and information for their stand. With a poor turn out they felt it was not a good use of their time.

Taking this information into account the WAP Board did not support NNCP’s request for WAP to run a Recession Road Show in Wells. However, the Board did feel that a project should be considered that helped address the more apparent problem in Wells – debt.  Jim Wallace from the Wells and Fakenham CAB would like to work with WAP to develop a joint project that helps local people manage their debt problems and reduce the level of debt experienced by local people. Angie Barker also asked to be involved in designing this project as in her role as Parent Support Advisor she works with many families experiencing debt problems. The Board agreed that Kate would work with Jim and Angie to develop a debt management project to present back to the Board for agreement at a later stage. 

Project 2 – Confidence Building Course
Art Therapist and Counsellor, Jeanne Norman has been working with the North Walsham Area Partnership to deliver self esteem and confidence building courses to a group of people who suffer from depression and social isolation issues. Her course has been very successful and she would like to run a similar course for people in the Wells Area. Kate has met with Jeanne, Louise Bennett, Matron at Wells Community Hospital and Anne Egan who runs the Hope & Smile club in Wells to discuss this project further. Both Louise and Anne felt that there is a real need in and around Wells to provide a confidence building / self esteem course as many people suffer from depression and other mental health related issues. It was proposed that Kate work with the above people to develop this project further and supoprt the process by seeking funding for the courses. Jeanne would be the practitioner who delivered the course which would be held at Wells Community Hospital. Referrals would come from local GP’s and Ann would support the project by offering a longer term service for people after the course had finished.

The Board agreed that this project would benefit the community and asked Kate to continue with this piece of work and to include the project in the 2009/10 action plan.

JW, AB & KP to develop debt management project

Kate to develop this project

3. Project Update

Kate presented the full written report the Board, the following sections were discussed and comments made.

Housing:
Kate reported that WAP Assistant, Emily Grecas had contacted all Parish Councils to offer assistance with any existing housing projects they were currently working on or to help set up a housing society using the Homes for Wells Model. WAP has a ring fenced budget to support this work of £4,500. The only two Parishes to reply to Emily’s correspondence were Blakeney and Walsingham. Both stated that they did not need help from WAP at this present time as they were pursuing plans to build affordable houses on either Exception Sites or areas of the village already allocated for affordable housing. Both were keen to stay in touch with WAP re their housing projects but did not need help at this time.

The Board discussed this issue and proposed that WAP should not waste any more time in trying to engage with Parish Councils on affordable housing projects. If there is no appetite to set up housing societies in the villages at this time then alternative uses for the budget should be sought. The option of using some of the money to produce a ‘how do’ guide for community groups or Parish Councils to use in future was discussed. It was agreed that this would be a useful document to produce and the Board agreed that Kate would further develop this option with the help for Homes for Wells. 

Youth Project:
Kate reported that both the CATS project and Walsingham Youth projects were going well. However, the Walsingham Youth project is due to end in September as funding was only secured for 12 months from Sept 2008. Kate is in the process of seeking new funding from the Norfolk Community Foundation to continue the project for a further 12 months. The funding bid is being considered by the Community Foundation panel in July, if this bid is unsuccessful she will need to approach alternative funders. This could mean that money for a further year might not be secured prior to the 2008 / 2009 funding running out.

Kate asked the Board if they would consider funding the gape in provision whilst she sought longer term funding to keep the project going. The Board agreed that continuity with this project was vital and that Kate and WAP Treasurer Peter Rainsford should review the WAP budget to ascertain if WAP had enough money to temporarily fund the Walsingham Youth Project. A recommendation would then be bought back to the Board at the next meeting

Wells For the Future:
Kate asked the Board how they would like information about the Wells for the Future Project to be reported to them at future meetings. Kate informed the Board that Minutes from the Project Programme Board would be made publicly available on NNDC websites after each meeting and that paper copies of minutes would be available from the Wells Library. The Board asked that Pete Lynn make a verbal report to the Board at each meeting as the Wells for the Future Project was a significant project for the area and WAP.

Kate to talk to HfW about ‘how to’ guide

Kate and Peter R to review budget. Kate to present to Board in July.

Pete and Kate to note for next meeting.

• SCIRA & Wind Farm Development

Kate reported that she had been in contact with the PR Manager for SCIRA (Energy company responsible for the development of the Sheringham Shoal Off Shore Wind Farm). SCIRA are keen to make links into the local community and want to work with WAP on joint community projects and provide funding opportunities for local groups. Kate sought views form the Board on this as the wind farm development is a controversial issue for both residents and visitors to the area.

After some discussion, the Board agreed that WAP’s role would be to help local groups access any funding provided by SCIRA, ensure that local people and visitors had access to information about the project and a chance to have their views heard. A future role would be to help SCIRA develop jobs for local people and work with schools to encourage training and future opportunities for our young people. The Board felt that it was crucial that WAP stayed independent from SCIRA and were not seen as working for them but along side them.

• Partners Update

Reg reported that the pensioners club had received a visit from Louise Bennett from Wells Community Hospital to discuss the possible options for the development of the Hospital.  Reg was concerned that a similar exercise had also taken place with older people who attend the Nelson Club, he felt that there should be a way of older people having a single voice and that work shouldn’t be duplicated. It was agreed that Kate, Reg and Louise would meet outside if the Board meeting to discuss this further.

Elaine Kelly informed the Board that APHS would be holding a Family Fun Day on the 5th July to help raise the profile of the school and make people aware of the new facilities that were available to the public.

Angie Barker reported that the Fathers Forum was going well and that they would be holding an open session for fathers to attend on 6th June.
She also reported that APHS were holding 4 one off sessions for parents that were designed to help families look at issues like cyber bullying, safe internet use, learning styles and how to help children with homework.

Kate, Louse and Reg to meet

• Any other Business

None

• Date of next meeting

21st July, Wells Library 7.30pm