Henbury School News

As part of our commitment to the local community Henbury school has gladly funded this edition of the newsletter. As a school we realise how important it is for us to be part of the local community and we have continually been so welcomed and supported by you all. Thank you. This newsletter is really valued and as a school we wanted to show how we support its publication and give back to our local community. Year 11 media students have worked really hard with Marianna, Miss White and the newsletter committee to help produce this edition of the newsletter.

It is really nice to look

Our last “Getting to know you” meeting saw over fifty residents from the local community gather in the library for an evening of entertainment . The cast of ‘Little shop of horrors’ impressed them with a few of their numbers and after a hearty tea (thank you Nick Merrick!) we said goodbye to Chloe Stirk from Linkage. Chloe has worked with the school on a number of projects and has helped to transport many of the elderly to school on a Monday for the “Art community workshop” and also to “Getting to know you”. We have very much enjoyed working with Chloe and we wish her all the best for the future. back over the past few months and see the many events and occasions where we have been able to celebrate as a school. Many of these times we were fortunate to have members of the local community celebrating with us.

“Getting to know you” is held on the last Monday in every month. Transport can be provided if needed. Please ring 9030127. It has been really nice to see many friendships being formed and in some cases friendships being reunited. “Getting to know you” is a happy place to be and we are all very welcoming! We have plans in process for a day out when the weather gets better.

The “Heroes grotto” tea dance was fantastic! Despite the weather sixty residents attended and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. All of the BTEC performing Arts students were outstanding and a big ‘thank you’ goes to Mr Stewart and Mrs Stewart who put a lot of time and effort into the smooth running of the afternoon. I have been inundated with cards and calls of thanks from all who attended. Once again our students were great ambassadors for the school. My lasting memory of the event is looking around to see everyone dancing, the elderly guests, year 10 students and staff all with huge smiles on their faces.

As part of our ever expanding community links Henbury School is donating a new community notice board to the Co-op on Crow lane. This board will display information about local community events as well as information with regards to school. Please take a look at the new board that will be situated on the main outside wall of the Co-op. If you have any events that you would like to advertise we would be happy to do so. Please ring 0117 9030127 or contact Adrian Boyce 0117 9504431 for more information.

As we go to print I am off to meet local residents about a Community Jubilee/Olympic event taking place on Saturday 30th June, 1.00-5.00pm. The school council will be working closely with the Events committee to arrange a super fantastic exciting day for all! The day will be a celebration for the Jubilee and also the Olympic games. There will be games, stalls, entertainment, food and much much more! Please look out for the posters that will be advertising the arrangements closer to the date. There will be the opportunity to get involved with helping on the day. If you think you would like to do this please ring 9030127.

Lydia Greenwood, Assistant Head of Henbury School.

Bristol Charities

Bristol Charities’ objective is to create a focus point for older people in Henbury and Brentry; one which improves their quality of life, and provides a range of services, which are both useful and enjoyable.

The Henbury Centre opened on 10 January 2005, as both a centre for day services and for use by other group and community activities.

The centre is equipped with a kitchen and dining area, a central hall, and a number of smaller rooms for treatments and other activities. It meets accessibility standards, and the outside has access for transport.

The centre provides a number of benefits for older residents of Henbury and Brentry, including;

· A place to meet and socialise with other local older people within a safe, supportive and attractive environment.

· A range of creative activities and excursions to promote self-reliance and to provide a focus for time spent at the centre. Such activities are likely to include music therapy, art therapy, and gentle exercise.

· Regular visits by peripatetic staff offering chiropody, therapeutic massage, occupational therapy, hairdressing and other health related services.

· Access to advice and information, and the opportunity to use IT equipment in order to support individual learning programmes.

· A café for centre users and other people from the area, offering good quality food at affordable prices

· The facility is also available to be let to other local groups

For further details on day services or community use of the Centre please contact :

Irene Cooper, Manager of Care Services at Bristol Charities, 17 St Augustines Parade, Bristol BS1 4UL, Tel no: 0117 9300303, Email: info@bristolcharities.org.uk, Website: www.bristolcharities.org.uk

The Extend Movement to Music Group

The Extend group meets on Mondays at St .Antony’s Church Hall, Satchfield Crescent (extension of Ellsworth Rd).

A very friendly group of older people who have several health problems that are made a bit easier by doing some very light exercises. They play music that appeals to the over 55’s and have great fun while doing our exercises (Laughter is a very good exercise that we do every week).

If you feel like giving it a go, please come along. You will all be very welcome. There is a cuppa afterwards and a good chinwag. Every two months there is a chiropodist comes along to cut nails. Contact Sue if you would like any more information on 0117 956 0571.

Tai Chi and relaxing exercises for over 55’s

Every Wednesday at the New Kingsland United Reformed Church, in Passage Road at the corner of Standfast Road, top Tai Chi teacher Frank Pring teaches, especially for over 55’s, these gentle and relaxing exercises. The class is just £3 and runs from 2-3.00pm. There is no need to book, just turn up and enjoy!

New Transport Support for Older People in Henbury and Brentry

The Henbury and Southmead Neighbourhood Partnership has launched The Older People’s Transport Fund. It has been set up so more Older People can get to the groups and activities which help combat isolation and support their health and wellbeing. This Fund is being administered by Southmead Development Trust.

How the Older People’s Transport Fund works

Anyone running an activity for Older People in Southmead or Henbury and Brentry can use the fund to hire transport to enable more older people to take part.

* Decide who needs the transport and when: your group identifies people over 65 who need transport to come to your activities or events or a trip which they want to go on

* Decide who can provide the transport: Contact a transport provider to get an estimate from them of the cost and make a provisional booking – Southmead Development Trust can advise you about transport providers.

* Contact Southmead Development Trust: ask for Steve Haddow or Tracey Burnell and tell them what your event/activity is, how many people over 65 want transport to it and how much you’ve been quoted for it

* Southmead Development Trust confirms if the Transport Fund can support your activity. The Transport Fund will fund up to £50 per event/activity.

* Confirm your transport booking: get back to your transport provider and confirm the booking you’ve made and ask them to invoice Southmead Development Trust for payment, putting ‘Older People’s Transport Fund’ on their invoice.

If you organise activities for Older People in Henbury and Brentry and want transport to enable more people to benefit from your group contact Steve Haddow or Tracey Burnell on 0117 9503335

Lunch for Elderly Residents

Following our successful lunch for some of our senior residents last year we are planning to repeat the venture again this year on 1st June. We would like to invite anyone who would be interested to contact us as soon as possi- ble. You would need to be over 70, living in Henbury or Brentry, alone or as a couple and be able to feed yourself etc. You would be picked up and returned home and we can accommodate a wheelchair if necessary. We can also cater for diabetics or vegetarians if notified in advance. For further details please ring Chris Pratt on 9833468 as soon as possible as there will only be a limited number of places.

Christmas Hampers for the Elderly

In December the members of the Events Group assembled and delivered 36 large Christmas Hampers to elderly people right across Henbury and Brentry. Everyone was very pleased and surprised to receive their hamper and several 'young' ladies were happy to also have a kiss from Santa, who was helping with the delivery!

This project was hard work but very rewarding. However, as always, we could make use of more volunteers to help with this and other community projects and events so if you feel you could spare some time (however limited that may be) please contact Chris Pratt on 9833468.

Community Conference 2011

Local People create Action Plan for Henbury and Brentry

The Conference took place on Saturday 5th March at Brentry Lodge Youth Centre. More than 50 local residents and people working in the area took part. After Chair Paul Thompson reviewed progress from the 2008 Conference, Amy Hillier set the tone with an upbeat presentation on the achievements of the BS10 Big It Up! Project (aka In- spiring Communities).

Residents then worked to explore issues and plan improvement around three key issues: Young People, Older People and the broader theme of Developing the Community. The tone was relaxed but workmanlike as residents raised issues then worked together to identify solutions and improvements.

Key issues included:

• Young People: Crime and Safety; Things to Do and Work, Training and Education
• Older People: Transport, lack of sheltered accommodation (where you can keep your pet); the need for more social clubs and groups; intergenerational contact between young and old people
• Developing the Community: improving street scene (litter, dog mess); increasing use of the Green Spaces; the need for a Community Centre; Traffic, parking and transport problems. It was encouraging to discover when everyone came back together to share their work that many issues were com- mon to all – and that ideas for how to move forward are already out there.

An Action Plan will now be put together, with input from residents, voluntary groups and statutory services. It will be combined with similar plans from Southmead and presented to the Neighbourhood Partnership on 5th July for approval. If you would like to help develop the Henbury and Brentry Action Plan please contact: Keith Houghton, Henbury & Southmead Area Co-ordinator, Telephone: 0117 922 2135 or e-mail: keith.houghton@bristol.gov.uk.

A newsletter specifically for older residents

Bristol Older People’s Forum (BOPF) is a non-political organization which is part of the National Older People’s Forum and is affiliated to the National Pensioners Convention. It is supported by Age Concern Bristol and Help the Aged. It is a voluntary organization existing partially on donations and partly financed by Bristol City Council. The Forum is the main co-ordinating organization for older people’s groups and older activists in Bristol.

They fight for the rights of older people and were instrumental in campaigning for Free Bus Passes, among other things. Membership is free and open to anyone living in Bristol over the age of 55. There are currently over 2,600 members. As a member you would be asked to fill in a questionnaire occasionally. This would be completely anonymous.

The quarterly newsletter contains relevant articles, letters and ideas together with helpful information and contact details. It's FREE and well worth reading. So if you or anyone you know would like to receive it regularly just send your name and address to:

Bristol Older People’s Forum

c/o Age Concern

Canningford House, 38 Victoria Street, Bristol, BS1 6BY.

Share your Garden

If your garden has become too much for you to manage, there could be something you could do about it.

GardenShare Bristol is a project which tries to match up people who have underused or unmanaged gardens (because of their physical mobility problems or other reasons) with people who want to grow their own vegetables etc but have nowhere to do it.

By sharing some or all of your garden with a local grower you can get a free supply of home grown vegetables as well as regular visits from someone in your neighbourhood. There is a particular demand at the moment from growers in Clifton, Southville, Bedminster and Totterdown.

For more information please phone Abbi on 077 7039 1521 or visit the website at:

www.grofun.org.uk/gardenshare.htm

The above article appeared in the Spring issue of the Bristol Older People’s Forum (BOPF) Newsletter.

This is a great idea and there must be people in the Henbury and Brentry area who either would like to work a garden but do not have one, or have one but are no longer able to manage it. If you are one of these people, contact Garden Share for details.

Lunch for our Senior Residents

Fifty of Henbury and Brentry’s senior residents attended a lunch at Henbury School on Thursday 3^rd June. They were picked up from their homes by mini buses and were served a delicious three-course meal in the school hall, which had been cooked by pupils of the school assisted by PC Nick Merrick. There was live music during the meal which was followed by a few games of cash-prize bingo then music to sing along to. Each guest went home with a small bag of home baked cakes for their tea.

Members of the Events Group were assisted by several girls from the school volunteering with Young Bristol, our own PCSOs and Community Safety Officers. Henbury School very kindly allowed us to use the hall and facilities free of charge. We would like to thank all those people who helped and say a special ‘Thank You’ to Nick, his wife, Lisa, and all the young people involved in making the day such a success.

There have been a lot of very favourable comments from the guests, who all seem to have had a really enjoyable day. Many are asking when the next one will be!! We would hope to be able to organize other events for the older generation of our area at a later date, so watch this space!

The afternoon was funded entirely by money collected during the Fun Day and the Christmas Cracker events last year. We would like to thank all those who gave so generously.

The collecting buckets will be out again this year!!

A new mobility shop on Satchfield Crescent, Henbury

A husband and wife team (Mark and Marie Davies) who have moved into Henbury, opened a shop after ten years working from their home in Lockleaze. The shop sells a wide range of walking frames, scooters and home comfort aids from the new premises, at very competitive prices. They also service & repair mobility products. They have received a positive support from clients old and new for the shop.

Existing clients of the firm include The Mall at Cribbs Causeway and Bristol Zoo, both have been supplied with mobility scooters for use on site by their customers, which they also maintain. They also have clients as far away as Cardiff, Newport, Cheddar and Weston.

Planning the future of Henbury and Brentry

The old swimming pool site
Supermarket group ALDI has recently purchased the old swimming pool site on Crow Lane from Bristol City Council. ALDI intend to submit a planning application to build a supermarket and housing on the site. Residents will be able to comment on these proposals as the planning process unfolds. However, this is the third suggestion for the re-use of this site as previous proposals for housing and a church have been withdrawn. It would seem that several parties have attempted to identify what we both need and want from this prime site, and what the community can sustain from a business perspective. It seems therefore, that the community needs to have more influence on the planning proposals that affect us.

Bengoughs House closes, Brentry House to follow?
Bengoughís House, a 40-bed elderly people's home in Henbury, closed in January. It was run by Bristol Charities who will now convert the site (incorporating the neighbouring area once occupied by the John Milton clinic), into a very sheltered housing scheme, aimed at providing elderly people a more independent life. Additionally, we now hear that Brentry House, another 40-bed elderly peopleís home run by Bristol City Council is also under threat of closure. Whilst the new very sheltered housing provided by the Bengoughís facility will undoubtedly be a more suitable home for some, the local, 24 hour, specialist, City Council provided care offered by both Brentry House and the old Bengough's House is much needed by many elderly people in our area.

How to have your say:

Apart from your right to review and comment upon planning applications submitted to Bristol City Council in your locality, how can you influence what building and development happens where you live and work? 

• The issue of developments in Henbury and Brentry will be discussed at our Community Conference on 28th June 2008, at Wesley College from 9.30 to 2.00pm.
  
• If you would like to join the campaign to save Brentry House from closure, please contact Carole Pyle on 0117 950 4000