DRAFT MINUTES of the Meeting of the COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT COMMITTEE held at 7.30pm on Thursday 3rd November 2022 in the Village Centre Conference Room.
| Members present: | Claire Majsai (Chair) Michael Avery Tony Lank | Duncan Ranger Bob Sampson Helen Bedford |
Also present: Lorna Cooksey, Assistant Clerk to the Council
Members of public: 3
CE22/23.018. Apologies for absence: There were no apologiesfor absence.
CE22/23.019. Declarations of interest: There were no declarations of interest.
CE22/23.020. Minutes of the Previous Meeting of the Community Engagement Committee: Members received the minutes of the meeting held on 11th August 2022, and it was:
RESOLVED: That the Committee AGREED the minutes of 11th August 2022 meeting.
CE22/23.021. Adjournment for Questions from the Public: The members considered whether to adjourn the meeting in accordance with Standing Orders to receive questions from members of the public in attendance, and it was:
RESOLVED: That the Committee AGREED to carry on the meeting as the members of public in attendance were there to discuss grant applications.
CE22/23.022. Hurstpierpoint Fire Station: A representative from Hurstpierpoint Fire Station briefed the Councillors on three critical fires that have happened in the parish in the last six months. It was discussed that the Fire Station are struggling to hit their Community Risk Management Plan and they were approaching the Parish Council to ask for help in reaching the community. Discussion took place on ideas of how the Parish Council could help promote the ‘Safe & Well’ visits and the need for more volunteers.
RESOLVED:
(1) The committee AGREED that the Parish Council would advertise the ‘Safe & Well’ visits through our Facebook page, Website, Hurst Life article and by sending the information to all our contacts who would be interested.
(2) The committee AGREED to connect the Fire Brigade with Mid Sussex Voluntary Action.
(3) The committee AGREED to invite the Fire brigade to the Fraud prevention talk, Santa Sunday, Networking event and the Annual Parish Meeting.
(4) The committee AGREED that they would help advertise the need for more volunteers by using the Facebook page, website and Hurst Life article.
CE22/23.023. Parish Council Grant Applications:
New Grant Applications to be considered 2022/23:
Grant Budget Total 2022/23: £4,000
Grant Budget Remaining 2022/23: £3,700
| Organisation | Grant Request For | Amount Requested | Date Grant Approved |
| Cycling without Age Hurst & Hassocks | Contribution towards trishaw servicing and parts. | £500 | AGREED TO AWARD £300 |
| Hurst Re-think | To cover promotional and marketing costs for our activities for the next 4-6 months. | £250 | AGREED TO AWARD £250 |
| 1st Hurstpierpoint Scout Group | To purchase new hi-vis vests that fit all members of the Scout Group from 6-year-olds to the adult volunteers. | £242.50 | AGREED TO AWARD £242.50 |
| Hope | Resources for the monthly playtime sessions Hope runs at the Melting Pot Café. | £500 | AGREED TO AWARD £100 |
| Cancervive | Contribution towards our running cost in the office. | £500 | DECLINED TO AWARD GRANT |
The Chair asked for the committee to be aware that there were two more meetings before the end of the financial year and that further applications would be received by organisations such as Sussex Clubs For Young People, The Monday Group and Know Dementia and to consider the committees action plan before awarding grants. The grant applications were discussed in detail.
The committee discussed that the Hurstpierpoint Gym Clubs application was specifically helping towards supporting financially needy families in the parish so would be better placed under a Health & Wellbeing grant rather than a small grant.
RESOLVED:
(1) The committee AGREED to award a grant of £300 to Cycling without Age specifically towards the service costs for both Trishaws.
(2) The committee AGREED to award a grant of £250 to Hurst Re-think.
(3) The committee AGREED to award a grant of £242.50 to 1st Hurstpierpoint Scout Group.
(4) The committee AGREED to award a grant of £100 to Hope towards play resources.
(5) The committee AGREED not to award a grant to Cancervive.
(6) The committee AGREED to move the Hurstpierpoint Gym Clubs grant application into agenda item 6.1 under Health & Wellbeing grants.
CE22/23.023.1 Health & Wellbeing Budget
Health & Wellbeing Grants budget 2022/2023 £1,000
Health & Wellbeing Projects budget 2022/2023 £1,000
New Health & Wellbeing Grant Applications to be considered 2022/23:
| Organisation | Grant Request For | Amount Requested | Date Grant Approved |
| Age Uk West Sussex, Brighton & Hove | To help enable us to provide social activities in the community to help reduce social isolation and loneliness in older people. | £500 | AGREED FULL AMOUNT AWARDED – H&W Projects |
| Befriended | Befriended’s response to the cost-of-living crisis is to provide a free thermal banket to older people living in our community with ten top tips for saving energy. | £500 | AGREED FULL AMOUNT AWARDED – H & W Grants |
| Hurstpierpoint Gymnastic Club | Support of financially needy families who attend the club. | £500 | AGREED FULL AMOUNT AWARDED – H & W Grants |
| Mindfulness and Meditation Group | The funds will be used for the costs of room hire, materials, refreshments and other associated costs. | £500 | GRANT APPLICATION REMOVED PRIOR TO MEETING |
The Chair informed the committee that the grant application for Mindfulness & Meditation Group had been removed as the group could not secure a group to partnership with for a bank account.
The representative from Befriended briefed the councillors on the application and their experiences of how fearful residents are to put their heating on due to rising energy costs. It was confirmed that the thermal blankets would be given to 25 residents within Hurstpierpoint & Sayers Common. The committee unanimously supported this cause and agreed to award the full grant. The Befriended representative left the meeting at 20:09.
The committee invited the representative from the Hurstpierpoint Gymnastic Club to discuss his application. It was confirmed that the deficit of £900 had been cleared from the bonfire night held in 2022. A discussion took place on how families qualify, who makes the decision about who is awarded help and why it had been decided not to advertise the hardship fund. The committee unanimously agreed to support this application in full. The Hurstpierpoint Gymnastic club representative left the meeting at 20:28
The committee discussed the Age Uk grant application and agreed to award the grant in full from the Health & Wellbeing project code line.
The Chair discussed with the committee that over the next 12 months she would be expecting to see an increase in Health & Wellbeing grant applications. The Chair informed the committee that she had met with the headteacher of St Lawrence School, and they were working on a specific project to support the families and children with shortages of food, and they would be approaching the Parish Council for support. The Chair also confirmed that meetings had been held with the Food bank and again an application is expected to be received to help support this much needed resource in the parish.
RESOLVED:
(1) The committee AGREED to award £500 to AgeUk from the Health & Wellbeing Projects (Code 5650).
(2) The committee AGREED to award £500 to Befriended from the Health & Wellbeing Grants (Code 5640).
(3) The committee AGREED to award £500 to Hurstpierpoint Gymnastic Club from the Health & Wellbeing Grants (code 5640).
CE22/23.024. Community Initiatives and projects:
CE22/23.024.1 Budget Monitoring: The committee noted the budget monitoring report.
CE22/23.024.2 Draft Budget 2023/24 for F&G: The committee discussed the Draft Budget in detail alongside the committees Action Plan. A lengthy discussion took place on the Health & Wellbeing grants and project budget. The committee commented that they were already aware of other projects happening in the parish as discussed in agenda item 6.1 and applications that the Parish Council would be receiving. It was agreed due to the current crisis that this budget should be increased so the committee can support where needed.
Cllr Avery left the meeting at 21:32pm.
RESOLVED:
The committee AGREED to present the Draft Community Engagement budget to the Finance & Governance Committee in November with the following changes:
(1) Re-name the item called: Community Events to Community Event Grants.
(2) Increase the Health & Wellbeing Grants (code: 5640) amount from £1,000 to £1,500.
(3) Increase the Health & Wellbeing Project (code: 5650) amount from £1,000 to £1500.
(4) In Parish Council Events reword the notes section to say St Law Fair Parish Council Stand.
(5) In Community Events Grants reword the notes to add in Sayers Common events including the coronation.
CE22/23.024.3 Review of Action Plan: The committee noted the changes to V4 of the action plan. The Assistant Clerk was asked to update the Action Plan to include the updates within this agenda including the youth offer meeting, communication meeting etc… The committee also noted the briefing note outlining a proposal to change the action plan format.
RESOLVED:
(1) The committee AGREED to adopt V4 of the Community Engagement Action Plan.
(2) The committee AGREED to creating a new version of the action plan in May each year and archiving the status updates in a separate document that will always be available to refer back to if required.
(3) The committee AGREED for the Assistant Clerk to update the Action Plan and bring V5 to the next Community Engagement meeting in January 2023.
CE22/23.024.4 High Street Update: Cllr Bedford informed the committee that Santa Sunday would be happening in December but a scaled back event. Cllr Bedford explained that due to several reasons the organisers hadn’t yet managed to complete a grant application form for the Parish Council but asked for the committee to agree in principle in supporting a grant for £500 towards insurance and items to be given to the children attending such as sweets, bubbles, balloons etc.
RESOLVED: The committee AGREED that in principle they would award a grant of £500 towards the Santa Sunday event from budget line: Tourism & Attractiveness 5610. The committee AGREED that the Chair & Clerk could make the final decision on this grant.
CE22/23.024.5 Networking Meeting: The committee were briefed on the Hurstpierpoint & Sayers Common Community Forum event. Cllr Bedford asked for a save the date email to be sent to all Councillors.
CE22/23.024.6 Hurstpierpoint Village Centre Action Plan: The committee discussed possible actions from the Hurstpierpoint Village Centre Action Plan and the Clerks proposal. The Committee thanked the Clerk for her work on this. However, they felt that unfortunately, at the current time the proposal was likely to be received negatively from the Traders
RESOLVED: The committee AGREED to defer this agenda item for the time being.
CE22/23.024.7 Annual Parish Meeting 2023: The Chair asked for comments on the Annual Parish Meeting and the committee concluded they would like to grow on the success of the last two years.
RESOLVED: The committee AGREED to holding the next Annual Parish Meeting at the Village Centre focusing on a volunteering theme and building on the success of the last two years.
CE22/23.024.8 Youth Provision Meeting: The committee noted the youth offer meeting had been held in October 2022. West Sussex County Council confirmed that they would no longer be funding universal services for young people such as youth clubs. It was confirmed that these meetings will continue and the next one will be held in six months.
CE22/23.024.9 Hurst Meadows Volunteer Group: The Chair confirmed that the volunteer group has now come under her responsibility, and it would be great to expand but currently this is not possible with the demand of all the other Parish Council work.
CE22/23.024.10 Hurstpierpoint Food Bank: The Chair confirmed that the last meeting was very positive and felt encouraged that the Parish Council could help support the volunteers to increase the food banks visibility. The Chair confirmed that another meeting has been arranged for the 10th November 2022.
CE22/23.025. Publicity: The Committee noted the following:
CE22/23.025.1 Communication: A communication meeting was held on 20th October 2022 between the Chairman, Clerk, Chair of Communication and the Assistant Clerk. The Chair briefed the committee.
CE22/23.025.2 Website: Regular updates and maintenance of the website is carried out by the Parish Office to ensure all our policies, reporting and financial information is up to date. The Hurst Meadows page now has available the Orchard Booklet and the Allotment page has a newly produced allotment map showing all the plots and the size of the plot.
CE22/23.025.3 Social Media: The Facebook page continues to grow and is regularly used by the Parish Office. The page currently has 790 followers.
CE22/23.026. Information Items, Correspondence Received and Requests: The Chair informed the committee about the Fraud Awareness Talk on Wednesday 23rd November at 6:30pm and encouraged everyone to attend. The Assistant Clerk was asked to email all the Councillors the information.
Meeting Closed: 21:55pm