Producing this newsletter...

“As part of their BTEC Creative Media course; Danielle, Tania, Rhianna, Luke, Paige, Charlotte, Louise, Amanda and Jo have all worked extremely hard to produce this edition. They began the project by looking at all components of a newsletter and then worked on design and layout. They have met with and interviewed various members of the community and co-ordinated incoming requests for articles. They have also been editing and proof-reading before finalising the newsletter you are reading now!

Much thanks goes to Marianna, who has worked with the group to help them understand how to successfully put together a professional newsletter.

Thank you, also, to Henbury School who have funded producing the newsletter – it has been a fantastic opportunity and experience for all involved.”

Miss White, Teacher of English and BTEC Media- Henbury School.

Henbury and Brentry Talent Show 2012

After the big success of last year’s Talent show the Henbury & Brentry Youth Forum are once again going to try and put on another Talent show.

This will be on the evening of Friday 11th May 2012

The Henbury Social Club have kindly given us the hall for the evening.

Performers need to be 11 - 17 years old and live (or have a strong link) to the Henbury & Brentry area.

The talents can be anything from singing, dancing, photography, to painting or sports skills..... and lots more.
This will be a family evening.
If you would like more information about how to enter, volunteer or attend please contact the Henbury & Brentry Youth forum at henburyandbrentryyouthforum@hotmail.co.uk or call Lisa on 0117 377 2614.

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.

Do you know what our Library can offer you?

Danielle and Tania interviewed members of staff at Henbury Library on Crow Lane to find out more, and this what they found.

The library has been open since 1972 and has over one thousand visitors a week. These are mostly 12-15 year olds after school for computers, young mums and over 60s. The library has a range of books for all people. Books can be hired for up to three weeks. They can also rent DVD’s.
Henbury Library offers somewhere quiet and peaceful to come, use the computers, meet up with friends, look for work and help with homework.

For more information call 0117 9038522, or Email: henbury.library@bristol.gov.uk and about opening hours and services, go to http://www.bristol.gov.uk/LibraryViewer?XSL=library&LibraryId=20.

Danielle and Tania, Year 11, Henbury School

Interview with our Community Council Chairman

Ted Marshall, Chairman of the Henbury and Brentry Community Council, met with Louise to discuss what the community Council does and the local area. Ted has worked for the Community Council for 12 years and has been living in Henbury for 30 years in a flat. Ted enjoys reading the history of Henbury and newspapers! He is really keen to engage the younger generation who he hopes will attend and contribute to the Community Council. Ted hopes for the younger and older generation to get along and work together. He particularly wants us all to get involved with putting flowers up and celebrating the Jubilee together. Ted says the new Henbury School is a "Big improvement"!

Louise, Year 11, Henbury School

Henbury School visits Massindi school in Uganda

“On the 11th of February myself, Bethany Dent and Miss Davis went to Uganda in Africa to visit our partner school Massindi Secondary School. It took 8 hours to get there but it was worth every minute.

I had to raise the money to go myself and I did this through fundraising events. I held a fete in Brentry Scout hut amongst other things.

Uganda was amazing I had a great time. The school was so inviting and nice. The students appreciated everything they had and worked really hard. The classes were all silent and in some classes there were one hundred and twenty students. It was nice to see how the money that we raise is used. It made me see that everything we do in school to raise money is worth it. The money we send doesn’t go on stupid things it goes to things they need such as a new Science lab . When we were visiting the building of this new lab was in progress. Everyone was excited. It was nice to see Sandra, Jackson and Kaseem the students and teacher who came down in November.

I am going to be bag packing in Asda on a number of Saturdays to help raise even more money for our partner school. Please come and say hi and have a chat about my trip away. I enjoy talking about it.”

Kayley Husher, Henbury School

Calling all Parents of Teenagers

Sometimes being the parents of teenagers can be a rather stressful job. Do you feel at the end of your tether sometimes? Would you like the chance to meet once or twice with other parents for mutual support? Emmanuel Chapel would like to offer you the chance to do this, maybe over a glass of wine (or coffee) have a natter with folk in a
similar position.

Also...

Do you have a problem thinking what to dish up for meals each day with the ever rising cost of food? Depending on demand we would like to put on a course to help you cook well balanced meals at a reasonable price.

If you like the look of one or both of the above please register an interest and we’ll get back to you with a suitable time for meeting.

Paul Thompson, www.emmanuelhenbury.org.uk, Email: emman.chap@uwclub.net, Tel: 950 1951 or 07840-986169.

Help Bristol Primary School Children with their reading

Do you have a little spare time? Could you give half a day each week in term-time to visit a Primary School to help children who are struggling to pick up reading skills? Community Service Volunteers (CSV) is currently recruiting people to do this rewarding voluntary job. Initial training is provided after which you would be linked with a school. If you are interested please contact Ian Tennant - Bristol Area Organiser - Community Service Volunteers by e- mail: ianltennant@aol.com or by phone on (0117) 9040104.

Henbury School News

We are happy to introduce the new column from Henbury Secondary School with all the new and what's on.

Life at school is always busy, and this year is no exception. As well as focusing on ensuring all stu- dents achieve their very best, the school offers a wide range of extra- curricular activities to broaden students‘ interests and horizons.

Reintroducing a house system

This year the school returned to a system that hasn‘t been used for a number of years. All students and staff are allocated to one of five houses, and competition between them is fierce! Our houses are named after star constellations, to inspire students to look up to the stars! The names are Aquila (the eagle), Delphinus (the dolphin), Draco (the dragon), Pegasus (the winged horse) and Phoenix (the firebird). So far the advantages of having a house system are proving very positive. Students are able to take on different responsibilities in each house, and each house will take part in charity and sporting events and competitions. Most of all we value the way that all students in a house, of whatever age, mix and work positively together, helping younger students to settle in at school with confidence, and encouraging responsibility and leadership in older students.

Arts at Henbury

Many readers will know that Henbury is a Specialist Arts College, achieving outstanding results for students. We also have a full and exciting programme of activities for local primary schools and residents in Henbury and Brentry. The Community Art Group meets every Monday in school at 4pm. We are also happy to develop other activities in response to residents' requests. Because of the extremely high quality of the work done in school, we were proud this year that the Art team received the National Teaching Award for 'Outstanding Team of the Year' in South West England. If you are interested in finding out any more details about opportunities in Art, please contact John Bennett on 0117 903 0181.

Trips and Visits

This term has been very busy for trips and visits, both at home and abroad. 13 students were accompanied by staff to New York for a week to explore the arts and culture. 18 went to Disneyland Paris for a study break, looking at Business. Two of our students are travelling to Uganda with a member of staff in February, where we have an exchange secondary school with whom we work closely. The two students, Maaya Pandit and Samantha Robertson, have worked hard to raise funds for the trip. We will let you know how they get on in the next edition!

Jumping for joy at Henbury Youth Inclusion Project

....the first Henbury & Brentry Motion Skate park Competition took place on Monday 17 January with 22 riders (BMXs and Mini-scooters). Our young people found alternative funding, negotiated and booked an all–weather venue, did the risk assessments to keep each other safe and made sure of a good turn out. Nick Pepper of L‘Dub Track hosted the Event.

After an initial hour‘s warm-up session, the atmosphere was nail-biting as the competition got underway. 22 young people lined up for three minutes each of freestyle. With whoops of encouragement and support from spectators and other competitors, they thrilled with their skills and tricks. Top effort, top entertainment value!

An hour of acrobatics later - flips, 180s, 360s, bar spins, tail whips – and a number of spills had been had. And guess what! Everyone helped each other out, got up, re-focused and carried on. Judges, Kyle Brulington and Jordan Hyde faced a real challenge marking the competitors out of 5 for each category. The eventual winners were Kane Orchard on BMX and Rob Rimmer on Scooter, with only a small margin between them and, in second place Lee Morgan (BMX) and Kane Davies (Scooter). Congratulations to the winners! The skill and determination displayed by all competitors were celebrated by everyone and highly praised by the experts - Nick Pepper and the Team at Motion Skate park.

The evening was a huge success, with young people keenly hoping for another similar event. A really big thank you and well done to Kane Davies, Jordan Hyde and Callum Fitzgerald for putting the competition together.

Henbury & Brentry Youth Forum get young people clamouring for more!

Henbury Youth Inclusion Project (YIP) was very lucky to receive funding from BS10 Big it Up! to run trampoline sessions at the Brentry Lodge Youth Centre on a Monday evening. The workshops began in January and run until March. This additional activity was set up to enable young people to try something new under the expert supervision and tuition of a qualified trampoline coach and to date is proving to be a popular attraction at the youth club. We are trying to encourage young people to explore their talents and work towards progressing and achieving awards within the sport. It is also hoped that this activity will inspire young people to try new things, gain confidence and meet new friends along the way. Some of the young people are already showing great talent, as demonstrated at the recent BS10‘s Got Talent show.

The trampoline sessions start at 5pm and finish at 7pm during the Manic Monday open session, which starts at 5pm and finishes at 8pm. Manic Monday is open to ALL young people aged 12 – 17. Young people can access and engage with various activities such as table tennis, football, pool, cookery, music and various arts and crafts. Alternatively young people can come along and socialise with their friends in a warm and safe environment.

In the six weeks that the trampoline sessions have been running, the young people have positively followed instructions and have grown in confidence week on week. Feedback received from the young people clearly shows that they are enjoying learning new skills and are gaining confidence in their abilities to achieve.

Get Involved!

Henbury & Brentry Youth Forum was formed in March 2010 funded by BS10 Big It up! (which some of you may know as ̳Inspiring Communities‘). It also receives ̳in kind‘ and voluntary support from a range of other agencies. It aims to give our young people a voice, enabling them to take positive control and contributing to the life of the community as a whole. To date, among other things, the Youth Forum has helped deliver the Community Coun- cil‘s Newsletters, been trained in website development, been a part of The Big Idea participatory budgeting short- listing process, organised the Skatepark Event, a theatre trip to Swallows and Amazons and our community‘s big- gest Talent Show.

The aims of the Youth Forum are: · To be a youth-led group with representation from right across the community. · To be a group that helps young people to gain life-skills and develop decision-making skills. · To work at young people’s pace, and allow young people to make and learn from their own decisions even when

these differ from those of adult groups. · To recognise the achievements of young people through awards and rewards. · To help raise young people’s aspirations by giving them safe and positive opportunities to explore their potential. · To help enable inter-generational conversations and co-operation across our community.

If you’re a young person and want to become involved contact our Youth Worker, Lisa Bailey at Better To- gether Project on 0117 377 2614 or email us at henburyandbrentryyouthforum@hotmail.co.uk. If you’re an adult, local business or organisation that wants to volunteer or offer some support ‘in kind’, give Lisa a call or contact her on l.bailey@bristol.gov.uk.

Henbury and Brentry's Got Talent

On Friday the 25th February the Henbury and Brentry Youth Forum hosted their first Talent show at the Henbury Social Club. All the acts were fantastic, and the standard was high with dancers, sing- ers, beat boxing, face painting, trampolining, bmxing, scootering and even a live cooking demonstration. The young people certain- ly showed that there is a lot of talent to be proud of in the area, in- cluding the dancers from the Emmanuel Chapel who didn‘t get a chance to get up on stage at the end (sorry girls) but were fab to watch, so a big well done to all the acts who showed the courage to perform . The evening included a buffet, disco, bingo and a

dancing competition all organised by the young people. The youth forum would like to thank all the per- formers, local residents, inspiring communities, staff and volunteers for their support and kindness. The Youth Forum have been asked if they will run a talent show next year and they are thinking of possible ways that this could be done. Any suggestions, or general questions please contact the youth forum at henburyandbrentryyouthforum@hotmail.co.uk or call Lisa on 0117 377 2614.

Youth Page: It's All Good News!

Young people from Henbury and Brentry have been making the headlines in the Bristol Evening Post and on BBC Radio Bristol.....and it‘s all good news! The media have been reporting on activities in which young people have been involved as part of the Henbury and Brentry BS10 Big It Up! Project.

This follows a grant of £442,000 from the Government‘s Inspiring Communities and Local Government Initiative. A Radio Bristol reporter interviewed the Deputy Head of Henbury School and some of the pupils when the BS10 Big It Up! Pledge was launched. And the good news is that there‘s more publicity to come. Watch this space!

Youth Page: It's All Good News!

Young people from Henbury and Brentry have been making the headlines in the Bristol Evening Post and on BBC Radio Bristol.....and it‘s all good news! The media have been reporting on activities in which young people have been involved as part of the Henbury and Brentry BS10 Big It Up! Project.

This follows a grant of £442,000 from the Government‘s Inspiring Communities and Local Government Initiative. A Radio Bristol reporter interviewed the Deputy Head of Henbury School and some of the pupils when the BS10 Big It Up! Pledge was launched. And the good news is that there‘s more publicity to come. Watch this space!

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.

Henbury Streetz Project

Earlier this year a Street Dance group was formed for young people, based at the Emmanuel Chapel in Satchfield Crescent. Membership is not confined only to members of the church or even youngsters living close by – anyone from year 11 to 14 is welcome. The group was initially called the Henbury Youth Project and there was enough money to fund lessons from professional dancers for a short time.

Jane Leslie, the World Aquathlon and European Triathlon Age Group Champion and mother of Charlotte Leslie, our MP, took an interest in the group and pledged to raise £2,000 for them by cycling 50 miles around Bristol on the day of our Fun Day event. Jane set off in the rain at 8am with her training companion and arrived back triumphantly at 3pm to cheers and applause from the crowds gathered on Barnard Park. Her ride raised the fantastic sum of £2,300 from sponsors and collections along the route.

The group was also successful in their bid for funding from the BS10 Big It Up! Project’s resources and received £4,000.

Having access to this money will enable its members to branch out and include other activities for young people. There are already plans for Beat Box and ‘MC’ing sessions, which have been especially requested by boys – though none of the different activities will exclude anyone.

Although the group is now financially better off there will always be the ongoing need for further funding to enable the activities to continue. Bristol Rover FC is holding a Festival of Community Activities prior to and during the home match on 16^th October, starting at 12noon. On this occasion the Club has very kindly offered to have a bucket collection for the Henbury group. The entire group of collectors – adults and children – have been invited to the match as guests of the Club. The young people have also been invited to perform at a home match next year.

This venture is entirely a community activity and not affiliated in any way to Council or youth services. As such we should applaud and support them in every way. They are giving the youngsters of our community activities which they specifically want and in so doing hopefully are providing them with a sensible and confidence building structure to help guide them into their future.

Summer feedback - A message from the young ones

“This summer was really busy, there was well loads going on, young people got involved in various activities that gave us kids the chance to experience different things and learn new skills.

Young people went away on day trips, residential weekends as well as helping in the community events. The activities gave young people something to do, a chance to do something positive for our community, and gave the more challenging kids the chance to see how to behave whilst they were on trips.

Our greatest achievement was climbing Snowdon organised by PC Nick Merrick. Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales and England. We also spent three days fishing, not every one’s cup of tea but we really enjoyed it.

The Youth Forum spent a day working with Matt Dowse at Kingsweston House, looking at all the “Big Idea” bids for HBCC & Inspiring Communities. This was not as much fun but it had to be done! And we were rewarded for our work.

We would like to thank loads of people, the Community Council and all the other funders for giving youth groups money that was used to pay for the trips. And thanks to all the residents, staff, volunteers, and groups that helped to run holiday activities.

Our next big project is to organise a Talent Show, hopefully for the February school holidays next year. We believe that everyone has a talent – even if they don’t know what it is yet. We are looking for individuals and groups to take part or help run the evening, so please contact us if you are interested. “

Kane Davies, Reece Wigston-Richards, Harry Alker - Henbury & Brentry Youth Forum Members.

If you would like more information about the Youth Forum you can contact us through Lisa Bailey on 0117 377 2614.

7 projects benefit from your Big Ideas!

In July, Henbury and Brentry Community Council asked for your ideas about how to spend £25,000 on projects that would engage and inspire young people aged 11-14 in our area.

57 ideas were submitted either through the website www.bs10youridea.com or were posted in the ideas box in Henbury Library. The ideas ranged from building a new swimming pool to litter picking teams to clean up the local area! We always knew that there would be too many ideas put forward to put to the public vote so we arranged a short listing process which involved young people from the youth forum and senior members of the Henbury and Brentry Community Council. The short listing took place at the end of July. To get shortlisted the idea had to:

Be realistic and practical

Support young people in our area to be inspired

Be exciting and engaging (young people were on the short listing panel)

Help young people to build self confidence, get involved and do well at school

Take place from September 2010 to March 2011

Provide value for money

After much discussion we came up with a list of 19 ideas that we thought should be put to the public vote. We grouped the ideas together in packages that added up to £12,500 each. This meant that we would be asking members of the community to vote for two packages so that we could spend the whole £25,000.

Voting opened during August and ran for two weeks. In total there were 443 votes cast, either through our website, through the ballot box in Henbury Library or during the public meeting that was held on Saturday 4^th September. Thanks to all of you who turned up to the meeting and to all of those people who made the voting such a success. We hope that everyone who wanted to vote was able to do so.

THE RESULTS The two winning projects were:

Get Modern – a project to provide funding to renovate and improve three youth venues in the area. Total grant £12,500 (£4166 for each venue).

To complete the final refurbishments to the Scout Hut Renovation, including hand rails for the access ramps, flooring, kitchen patio to the rear of the building, repainting the hall floor and providing new and improved kitchen equipment.

To fund the creation of a youth cafe at Emmanuel Chapel, providing furniture, paint and facilities for the youth group.

To provide equipment to the Youth Centre including a TV, new computers, gym equipment, a sofa and new kitchen equipment.

All of these projects will improve the facilities in the area and we hope that it will mean that more young people will take part in the activities that take place. All of the youth venues will be advertising their improvements in the next newsletter! The Get Modern idea received 33% of all votes cast and was the project with the most votes.

Get Creative – a project to provide creative opportunities for young people in the area.

- To fund a project to buy musical instruments and pay for tuition for as many young people as possible (£4,500).

- To provide funding for the Community Talent Show which will be put on by the Youth Forum in February next year (£2,500).

- To provide funding for the Henbury School Community Fun Day which will be run and organised by young people (£1,500)

- To pay for the street dance project and music project running at the Emmanuel Chapel for a year (£4,000)

These creative ideas will mean that a lot more young people can take part in inspiring and exciting projects. The Get Creative project received 28% of all votes cast and was the project with the second highest number of votes.

By the time the next HBCC newsletter goes to print many of these projects will have taken place or be about to happen. We look forward to sharing some exciting stories with you soon!

Henbury and Brentry Community Council