Joint Conference- Latest News.The date of the conference has now moved from 6th October to 16thNovember. Being held at Hyland House, as the front cover of Your Home,CHP’s newsletter shows. The date has been changed so some importantissues can be dealt with. __________________________________________________ Great Baddow BMXtra!  It took two years to get there, but it was due to Malin Blom (of CHP and the Chelmsford Partnership) who got it there at all. It was local kids in the area who asked for the track and Malin helped it make it happen. The project looked doomed several times: just finding a location was hard enough. Luckily Great Baddow Parish Council grabbed the opportunity to have the track in Baddow Hall Park.These projects cost a fair amount of money and Malin approached CRF last summer and asked for some help. We granted this project £5000. This was just enough to get the project finished. And finished it was. On 15th October the grand opening took place. What a great bonus for all the young people (and some adults) of the area. Now kids have a place where they can go and have fun and work together. You never know – this could be the breeding ground for an Olympic champion!   The sun shone and it was a grand day! The Mayor of Chelmsford Councillor Bob Shepherd MBE opened the track and joined in! It was great to see the kids working together like this! No pushing or shoving, they all waited in turn for their circuit. The core team of young people who had the idea for the track are forming a committee to manage litter and behaviour on the track. If you ever need to see a great community project, look no further.   We were lucky to have some riders on the opening day who compete nationally in the sport. What a great demonstration of skill!   The Main Man, Phil Charnley Novices were given a helping hand. of DirtWorks, who built the track, with his son Dylan. A visit to the track six days later proved to be a delight. There were around thirty riders of all ages on the track. Mums and dads were watching with smiles on their faces and the riders were still showing great discipline. Without CRF funding this project couldn’t have happened. If you are interested in projects like this why not join us? R.G. Francis A Different lookRG Francis have a new look. The reason is that as we knew them they werepart of the Eaga group of companies, but they always used the livery of theirown. You know the one, I think we all know it now!But things change, and Eaga were bought out by Carrillion Energy Services inMay this year. Although the service will be as good as before they have a newlook. The vans and uniforms all bear the new Carrillion branding, so pleasedon’t worry if they look different when they come round for a repair or aservice – they might look different but they are the same people! Here’s a look at the new branding (it’s very classy)!
____________________About this website.In response to enquiries about this site we were prompted to do a bit ofresearch and look at how it is used. We found the results interesting and thought we would share them on here. So just click here to veiw.The BIG sewer switchoverAt the moment if there’s a blockage in a sewer or wastewater pipe outside theboundary of your property, but connecting to the main sewer, CHP have beenresponsible for sorting it out. But things are changing. A New Law. For all the information click -https://www.anglianwater.co.uk/household/wastewater-services/Private-sewers-and-lateral-drains.aspx#current-reponsibilities
______________________________ Space Saver Upgrade! A great offer from CHP!“Many of the families living in CHP homes do not have enough space to accommodate them comfortably and would like to move into a larger house or bungalow. CHP run a SpaceSaver scheme to try and increase the number of family homes available to their residents. The scheme offers help and financial support for those living in family homes, which are too large for them, to move to smaller homes.
many people have. Now CHP have turned the nightmare into a dream! The incentives for you to move are: · £1,500 per room given up – can be used to pay off rent arrears or recharge costs; · Personal support service while moving through the process from initial contact to the move and in the early stages of the new tenancy; · Cost of removal and if necessary help with packing, disconnection and reconnection of cooker; · Cost of re-direction of post for three months; · Decorate your new home up to the value of £1000 by our in-house team after you have moved in; Please can you share this information with any residents as we are keen to make sure we achieve the target of freeing up 18 family homes in this financial year. For more information, or to register for the SpaceSaver scheme, please contact Annalyse Moore in the Housing Options team on 0300 555 0500. Working in Partnership –CHP and CRF Joint Conference and AGM’s - 6th Oct. 2011
The full agenda and invitations will be available soon; we are working on it. ______________________________________________________________ Habitat for HumanityOver the weekend of the 1st - 3rd July 2011 a team of 6 intrepid CHP staff will tackle the Hope Challenge, a unique sponsored event that involves designing and constructing their own shelter out of scrap materials, and sleeping out in it for two nights. In addition, a 20 mile arduous hike including a 500m ascent that will include challenges en route to test the teams brains as well as brawn. The team consisting of Bobbie Charlick, Kay Caldwell, Debbie Willson, David Hart, Lois Dunne and Ray Canham are busy preparing for the challenge including taking part in a series of training walks and practicing building their shelter.  The CHP teams aim is to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity to help people living in poverty have a safe, decent place to live.
Habitat for Humanity works to break the cycle of poverty housing by supporting local communities in over 90 countries, including the UK, to help them design creative, scalable buildings to suit their needs. They then create low cost micro finance solutions that enable them to stay in and secure their own place in their community. This way the community is an active participant in the process rather than passive recipients of aid. Since 1976 the charity has helped over two million people escape poverty housing and homelessness in this way. We are expecting a full report from Ray Canham on his return so don’t forget to check back in next week. The CRF would like to wish all those taking part in this the very best of luck- blisters and all. It 's great to find out what CHP staff do in their spare time. Miss Fiona Stirling __________________________________________ Now the weekend is over - how did they do?The CHP Hope Challenge team have returned victorious from a gruelling weekend in a very sunny peak district where they won 1st prize for the shelter they built from recycled materials. It had to survive two nights, a severe water proof test and judging by Habitat for Humanity judges and fellow competitors for it's ingenuity, adornments and use of re cycled materials. The team of six spent two nights in their home made shelter and completed the challenge, including 2 ascents of over 500minutes on Saturday and an orienteering time trail on Sunday morning. At the awards ceremony on Sunday morning the teams efforts were highly praised by the judges when they were announced winners.
The shelter build was one of three awards over the weekend, and when all three were added together the CHP team came in 6th position overall out of 36 teams.
The team would like to thank the CRF for their encouragement and support. The teams fund raising efforts mean that at least two families can be helped to escape poverty housing.
The CHP Hope Challenge team have returned victorious froma gruelling weekend in a very sunny peak district where they won 1st prize for the shelter they built from recycled materials. It had to survive two nights, a severe water proof test and judging by Habitat for Humanity judges and fellow competitors for it's ingenuity, adornments and use of re cycled materials. The team of six spent two nights in their home made shelter and completed the challenge, including 2 ascents of over 500 minutes on Saturday and an orienteering time trail on Sunday morning. At the awards ceremony on Sunday morning the teams efforts were highly praised by the judges when they were announced winners. The shelter build was one of three awards over the weekend, and when all three were added together the CHP team came in 6th position overall out of 36 teams. The team would like to thank the CRF for their encouragement and support. The teams fund raising efforts mean that at least two families can be helped to escape poverty housing. CRF would like to congratulate Ray Canham, Kay Caldwell,Bobbie Charlie, Debbie Wilson and David Hart and Lois Dunne who made it and the fine effect that went into building the shelter securing a 1st prize with the group winning a 6th overall. Well done, The CRF would like to ensure residents this is not future housing for CHP.
Target Rents? What are they and how does this effect you? Click here to read. ________________________________________________ The Future Of Social Housing? Stuart Stackhouse - Chief Executive of CHP) has tried to answer this question. Click here to read. Stewart also wrote a letter to CRF, it's here. ____________________________________________________________________________
reasons for possibly changing the way we work locally - The reasons are here. Just click to download. ______________________________
Essex Works have provided all the information for you, we have two information documents that you can download here and here. _______________________________________________________ The CRF’s response to the changes to Social Housing The CRF have had to respond quickly to the proposed changes to Social Housing brought about by the Coalition Government’s “Big Society” agenda. This has meant working alongside our landlord, CHP, as well as responding from our own perspective to the Government’sconsultation paper- “Local decisions: a fairer future for social housing”. And now we are working alongside Chelmsford Borough Council (CBC) to produce a new Local Strategic Tenancy Policy. We have to say that we are glad that CHP is our landlord when we compare our ownsituation to that of other resident groups and their housing providers. There was no hesitation from CHP when it came to giving a joint response. Sitting down, working side by side with representatives of the Executive Management Team and Board members has been an example of good practice. Within the consultation paper it stated that residents should be involved in producing a new “Local Strategic Tenancy Policy” with the local authority, this being dependent on a revised “Tenancy Standard”. We didn’t let this opportunity pass but acted proactively in sending a letter to the local councillors responsible for housing strategy asking for a meeting. On request we exchanged our written responses to the consultation paper. This resulted in an initial meeting with them on the 8th March 2011. It was a very positive meeting. The Council representatives and we agreed on many of the issues which the changes to housing policy and benefits could raise. To produce this new local strategic tenancy policy there is a need to engage with other resident groups within the borough. Unfortunately, it looks like many residents are not aware of the forthcoming changes to Social Housing. It was agreed with CBC at the meeting that the CRF will send out a letter to residents of other housing providers inviting them to an information evening with representatives of Chelmsford Borough Council with a view to moving this process forward. Chelmsford Borough Council representatives will also be attending our Central Forum meeting on the 16th March 2011to bring all our members up to speed on the developments. The CRF representatives are: Fiona Stirling, (Chair CRF); David Lazarus, (Secretary); Tim Hatcher, (Vice-Chair); and Peter Coleing, (Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) rep of CRF); together with Ray Canham, Resident Involvement Manager of CHP. ___________________________________ The new CHP (www.chp.org.uk) website is up and running! Well done to the team that built it (resident's helped too).
|
A fairer Future for Social Housing– Latest Update.
On the 6th and 7th January members of Central Forum and the CHP board worked together for two meetings to respond to the Government consultation – ‘Local Decisions: a fairer future for social housing’.
By the end of the meetings we had reached a fair agreement of what the response should be. Yes, we had our differences, but that doesn’t stop us making decisions to the benefit to both residents and CHP. There were 30 questions to be dealt with. It was hard but productive work for all.
One of the changes coming out of the consultation was -“[The Government] will also take a power to prescribe by regulation other persons or bodies with which local authorities should consult, such as tenants and local voluntary and community organisations.” This is a huge change. CRF are writing to Chelmsford Council in attempt to set up the chance for our voice to be heard in this. This will mean more work, but it will be a challenge to look forward to.
We will keep you up to date on new developments as and when they occur.And here you are. Click here to see our response.
And click here to see our letter to Chelmsford Borough Council.
Latest News! We have now recieved a reply from CBC. They have agreed to meet with our working party on 8 March. We are now going to confirm the meeting. They will also attend Central Forum on 16 March.
This gives us chance to work with CBC under the new regulations from the Government. We will let you know the outcome as soon as we can.
The 2010 AGM Results
– These are results of the CRF AGM held on the 13th November
This was the first time with the changes made in the constitution earlier in the year that officers were elected by CRF members being able to vote that were present at the AGM.
The term of office for all coordinators and officers has also changed from a one year term to three year term to give the forum more continuity.
As this was the first time this had happened it was felt that it would be better to stagger the term of office in the first year as to avoid a mass election in three years time, allowing continuity to run within the forum.
The results of the election for CRF officers are as follows –
24 CRF members present entitled to vote.
Chair-
Fiona Stirling, 13 votes for, 9 against, 2 abstentions.
Vice Chair –
Mick Hill, 11 votes for, 1 against
Tim Hatcher, 12 votes for, I against
Secretary –
David Lazarus, 16 votes for, 3 against, 5 abstentions.
Fiona Stirling will serve for 2 years.
Tim Hatcher will serve for 1 year.
David Lazarus will serve for 3 year.
We hope to see you all again next year. Spread the word.
______________________
Carbon Monoxide – a new warning.
On 15 Nov 2010 the Gas Safety Trust released a very worrying report that could affect everybody. It appears that many cases of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning are not being reported to the correct authorities. This means that incidents of poisoning are far higher than previously believed. Click here for more information and advice.
____________________________________
We seem to holding our breath everyday, just wondering what the next step will be for the Government. We have been thinking that the best way to keep you informed of developments is to give you links to the best housing news sites that we can find. They are The National Housing Federation at http://www.housing.org.uk and Housing News at http://www.housingnews.co.uk . Just click on the links to find the latest developments. If you of any other websites that would give us regular, reliable news then please let us know.
On the 24th November Mr. Stuart Stackhouse (Chief Executive, CHP) will be attending the Central Forum meeting to give his take on how the cuts will affect all of us. We will give details of what he says as soon as possible after the event.
____________________________________
The CRF AGM and Residents’ Conference 2010
A conference like ours takes a while to put together. It took months of planning. So a big, big thanks to Mick Hill, Fiona Stirling, Elizabeth Walker and Tim Hatcher from CRF and thanks as well to Sarah Blackman and Ray Canham from CHP. We never know until the day if it will work, but we are happy to report that it was a great success, one to build on for next years. This year we increased attendance by 30 people this year! This is only our second event like this, so something must be right! Work will start very soon for that!
 |
(Lto R) Sarah Blackman, Peter Coleing, The Ballons go up.
and Martin Dean.
| When the team arrived there was little time to prepare before people began arriving. Balloons and display boards being set up. Very soon the Record Office was bursting with people, people laughing and talking – that was one of the great things about the day – people talking. With cups of tea and coffee to hand people threw themselves into the atmosphere, old friendships renewed and new ones made. |
The AGM
Before long everyone made their way to the theatre for the AGM. Last year’s AGM minutes were read and agreed. And then on to the election of three new officers. The time served has been staggered from one to three years, to help with continuity.
Standing for Chair was Fiona Stirling (unopposed), Mick Hill and Tim Hatcher for Vice-Chair, and David Lazarus (unopposed) for Secretary. Therefore, following the vote, Fiona Stirling became the new Chair, Tim Hatcher - Vice Chair and David Lazarus - Secretary.
 |  |
David Lazarus and Trevor Ainsworth setting up the Dag It didn't take long to create the atmosphere.
stand.
 |  |
Mick Hill And Fiona Stirling Stuart Stackhouse (Chief Excectutive CHP) was there to
oversee the election.
 |  |
Ray Canham (Resident Involvement Manager) Stuart Stackhouse with Mark Shaw of Melbourne,
with the new officers. sharing a laugh.
| More tea and coffee were to be had while the workshops were prepared. Another chance for networking with friends and colleagues before the main event of the day, Question Time with members of the CHP Board and management. |
 |  |
Ray Canham with members of the Board. Questions were taken from the audience. Most of
(L to R) Brian Shedley,Kay Cauldwell, the questions were answered.
Martin Dean and Stuart Stackhouse
Question and Answer Session with the Board Chair and Vice-Chair of the Board, Martin Dean and Brian Shedley respectively, Director of Housing Kay Caldwell and Chief Executive Stuart Stackhouse, together with resident Director David Wisbey answered questions from the floor. It was a very useful exercise and although they all tried to answer all questions on the spot, not all could be given. We will give a full list of questions and the Board’s answers as soon as possible. The questions on the whole seemed to be about the heating problems that last winters severe weather gave us. Here are the answers to the questions asked. Please take a look here for questions submitted before the Conference. And here for those asked at the time. |
The Workshops.
 |  |
| The ‘Handy Hints’ workshop was a great success. | Terri Cochran’s ‘A Small Step For Man’ was fun by the look of it. |
 |  |
Thought provoking stuff in the ‘Ideal Neighbourhood’ workshop. | ‘The Crime Reduction’ workshop gave useful advice about personal and community safety. |
| Well, the day had to end eventually. A tiring day for all the volunteers came to an end with the prize draw and the closing speech, given by Tim Hatcher. |
 |  |
| Vice-Chair Tim Hatcher giving the closing speech, with new Secretary David Lazarus. | Sam Blackman receiving the £250 shopping voucher from Brain Shedley. |
| Well if you missed it, too late. You missed a good day. But then again, only another year to wait for the next. And the team we have working on it won’t let you down. We will give you details of when and where as soon as we can. Just be sure you don’t miss it again! |
_________________________________________
Over 50 and needing a little exercise? Getting a little fitter now will help you get though those winter blues! Just Click here for information on some bargain exercise. If the town centre is not close enough, try the one here in Melbourne.
______________________
Do you worry about the security of your Home?
Click here for a little advice from the Police.
For even more advice, this time from the Home Office, give this one a look. Go on, click here.
Cook your Best!
In March and April, Great Baddow residents took part in a six-session beginners’ cookery course put on by the Area Forum.
 |
Designed for those who had not had the opportunity to learn to cook before, the course took place in the relaxed and informal atmosphere of Hatleys, a sheltered unit in Barclay Close. Tutor Sandra Rolfe ensured the students enjoyed themselves - and they certainly worked hard!
|
|
They learned how to shop wisely and produce nourishing, tasty and low-cost meals. They also learnt essential food preparation skills and after each session took home the food they had cooked – perhaps the best bit!
_____________________________________________
Longmeads House is a large Victorian building with grounds, and an important feature of the village. It was built by Robert Woodhouse in the 1880s and remained in the family until it was acquired by the Seabrooke family in 1930. The estate was acquired by Essex County Council in 1950 and is now the village's community centre.
Funding for Longmeads House
One of the hidden gems in Essex is in Writtle. Longmeads House is the Community Centre for the village, meeting place for the Parish Council, and a wonderful but ageing building. After all, it was built in the 1800s.
Old buildings have the habit of falling apart, don’t they? Well, the good people of Writtle don’t want this to happen to Longmeads House, so they have an ongoing programme of maintenance. They came a little unstuck a while ago, running head first into fire regulations. Until the fire regulations could be met, no more work could be carried out.
That was where CRF came in. We donated £500 to help Longmeads complete the work to meet the regualtions.
On 5 May 2010 Christa Bringloe was called out of retirement to present the cheque.
Christa (Centre) presents the cheque to Alan Wilson (Chair of Writtle Community Assocation)
behind him hides our own Fiona Sterling, and behind her is Jennie Labous, her husband Paul is on the right.
Members of the forum enjoy a glass of wine before the presentation.
________________________
Sid Grover
Many people have suffered a severe loss in the last few weeks, Sid Grover, family man and Forum member passed away on 8th April. Chairman of Broomfield and North Chelmsford Area Forum, Sid, 75, was popular with all; he always seemed to have a smile on his face. All his local and Central Forum friend’s will miss him very much.
He and his wife Iris were both born in Greenwich and married in Lewisham. He was in the Royal Military Police, a builder and decorator by trade, and to top that lot, a Bingo caller. He retired in 2000, and they moved from their home in Bury St. Edmunds to Chelmsford.
He was a keen golfer, playing over in Little Waltham at the Regiment Way Club. His arthritic ankles unfortunately put an end to that. Sid joined the Forum in 2004, and gave much of his energy to it. Being from the building trade, he was always helping out his neighbours doing odd jobs.
He leaves four children, six grandchildren and six great grandchildren who he adored. He will be missed by all that were touched by his life.
Sid (left) with Gary Noble at this years EGM
_____________________
Flaternaty Easter Fun
What a great idea. Combine having fun and helping to clean up your local environment. This was the idea from Flaternaty, to have a litter pick and follow that with an Easter Egg hunt. Of course, promoting Flaternaty Residents Assoication as well. So the kids got 2 to 3 hours of excersise, and some chocolate as well! The event was planned by Flaternaty with much apprieciated help from Gary Bellamy of CHP, who also helped on the day. In the photograph is Colin Rolf (Flaternaty), Jo Wanmer (Flaternaty), Gary Bellamy (CHP), and helper Lance Rolf. All the children in the picture are those that took part - a big thanks to them. They were asking when the next event will be, so there is no time to rest on your laurals. Eric Clift and Caroline Jervis of Flaternaty helped out to, but were unable to be in the picture. All in all, a great event. Well done Flarernaty, we look forward the the next event. |
| Central Forum Away Day |
In 2009 the Central Forum had an idea. They had experienced a really stressful year. What with the new framework to work on, and the day-to-day running of an organisation that represents over 7,000 residents, things were coming to a head. They needed to think. They needed the time and the place to do it. So it was decided that they would have an Away Day at Five Lakes near Tiptree. It was somewhere to think and work together.
Please don't forget that CRF are volunteers. They don't get paid for what they do. That's quite a job, but worth it for the benefit of our communities.
They decided to have a day out to work on the agenda for the next 18 months. They were lucky to have the presence of Ray Canham (Resident Involvement Manager), even if he didn't start his official job until the following Monday. Thanks, Ray. There were so many things to work out, so many changes in the air. And it worked. This last year has proved it, if you noticed. Just take a look at the new framework. You might be surprised.
Getting away from the day-to-day environment and going to Five Lakes was a brilliant idea. So good, in fact, that they did it again this year on 26 February. They met again at the same place, out of the committee environment, and planned for the next 18 months. Wait unitl you see what a little bit of creative thinking can achieve. Just watch this space !
 Brains working overtime! L to R: Colin Rolfe, Mick Hill, Ruth Jarvis, David Stevenson, David Lazarus and Christa Bringloe |
Working together, David Lazarus and Christa Bringloe
The 'posh' table ponders issues. David, on the 'workers' table makes a point.
They all had a great creative day The ideas for progress were inspiring. This is the way to work. At the end of the day all went home tired, but happy. It's good to know where you are going in the next 18 months. So a big thanks to all. We hope that the plans work out. CRF Chair, Peter Coleing, announced that he will be stepping down this year. That means more changes to deal with but with the members of CRF working together like this, it's only a small hill, not a mountain, to climb.
Here they are! (l to r) Mark Shaw, Colin Rolfe, Ruth Jarvis, David Lazarus, Elizabeth Walker, Fiona Sterling, Karima Ali, Christa Bringloe, Tim Hatcher (front), Mick Hill and David Stevenson.
___________________________________________________________________________________
AGM APPROVES CHANGES TO CRF CONSTITUTION The Central Forum has worked hard for several months to bring the CRF Consitution up to date and in line with recommendations of the Tenant Services Authority (TSA). Members and interested residents were invited to an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on 18th February at Chelmsford City Football Club's social club to consider and vote on the main proposed changes to the Constitution. Thank you to all who turned out on such a rainy night. The most significant proposed changes were that:
Members unanimously voted for these changes. Full details of the amendments made to the Consitution will be found in the minutes of the EGM, which will shortly be posted on this website. Click on 'On Your Doorstep', then Central Residents' Forum.
|
Self Help for people with Bi Polar Disorder
Central Forum member David Lazarus and others have recently formed a self help group for people with Bi Polar Disorder.
When Bi Polar is managed there is hope of a stable and fulfilling life. The newly formed Chelmsford MDF branch is an informal self help group that meets monthly. Meetings provide the chance for sufferers, carers, families and friends to meet and share experiences and to devise and improve coping stratagies. Meetings offer the chance to give and recieve help in managing the condition.
Chelmsford MDF meets in the confrence room at Chelmsford CVS, 47 Broomfield Road (Press button D to enter) on the fourth Thursday of the month between 7 to 9 pm. Entry and membership are free.
For futher details visit http://www.essexinfo.net/chelmsfordmdf , email chelmsfordmdf@hotmail.com phone 0845 439 4472
_____________________________________________________ |
Goodbye Old Friend!
From 1 September 2009 our old, but wasteful, friend, the standard light bulb, over 60 watts (and all pearl bulbs) are no more. They are banned. Although you will see them in some shops for a while, when they have been sold out they will not be replaced.
There’s no need to explain the reasons for this, I’m sure we all know about Global Warming by now, and the new low energy bulbs have been widely available for years, (If you are like me, you have a cupboard full of them). The price and the quality have improved over time. Don’t forget, they save around 80% of energy to the equivalent old style bulbs. If you have a dimmer switch, bulbs are now available that will work with them.
Worries?
 | Many people are worried about warnings that the new bulbs contain Mercury. They do. But then again, so do fluorescent tubes and they have been around for years! The bulbs contain a tiny amount of Mercury but unless you are breaking them several time a day it‘s not likely to do any harm. Just sweep a broken bulb carefully, into a plastic bag, and it can be disposed of at the council recycling site. Over the next few years all old style bulbs will be withdrawn. Not before time! Save some money and in a small way, the planet! |
_____________________________
|
| |
|