COUP#3: Who's in the House?

Baroness D’Souza, the Lord Speaker visited Portsmouth on Friday 14 February. Her visit was part of the House of Lords outreach programme designed to build greater awareness of, and engagement with, the House of Lords and to find out which issues people in communities are engaging with.

The Lord Speaker started by visiting the British Red Cross (BRC) Office in Commercial Road, in an event organised by Portsmouth Council. She had the opportunity to speak to Red Cross Staff working in Portsmouth on international projects and local refugee projects as well as some of BRC's service users in the city. The session touched on refugee orientation & destitution support, restoring family links & outreach work, and education & engagement initiatives with young people.

Following that session, Baroness D’Souza addressed a networking lunch hosted at HMS Nelson to welcome continued progress through the city's community covenant, consider the role of the House of Lords in defence and the military expertise of its members. Invited guests included veterans & armed forces families, armed forces welfare organisations, as well as charities and community groups interested in defence and overseas issues.

Finally, the Lord Speaker gave a short speech to a COUP (Community Ownership Unit Portsmouth) networking session which included a Q&A session to discuss issues facing local government, social enterprises and the voluntary sector. A key focus was how local groups could engage with House of Lords members in specific issue areas.

Speaking ahead of her visit to Portsmouth, the Lord Speaker said:

 “Although a large part of my role is presiding over business in the Chamber, another equally important aspect of my job is to try to explain the work and membership of the House to people who are largely unaware of it, or still think of it as an institution filled with aristocrats". 

Read 'Effective campaigning worksheet'

Notes:

1. Baroness D’Souza is the second elected Lord Speaker. Her role involves presiding over business in the House of Lords chamber and acting as an ambassador for the House of Lords. See the Lord Speaker website for more information.
2. The House of Lords Peers in Schools programme is a continuing outreach programme which sends members of the House into schools and colleges across the UK to give talks in support of the citizenship curriculum.  For further information, see the House of Lords outreach webpage.
3. The armed forces community covenant is a voluntary statement of mutual support between a civilian community and its local armed forces community (including veterans) - it encourages local communities to support the service community in their area. Portsmouth signed its armed forces community covenant in March 2012.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS) would like to hear your thoughts

HFRS are currently working to improve their home safety capability for the most vulnerable members of our community.

The majority of fires that occur in the home can often be avoided and affect the most vulnerable members of our community. These people may; have a physical/mental disability, live on their own, smoke, are alcohol/drug dependent and/or are over the age of 65.

HFRS want to reduce these fires and their associated injuries and fatalities, part of this work will be the creation of home safety products and literature for vulnerable people. The idea being that these tools will be designed to work as safety trigger tools for them to stay safe in their own homes.

To ensure HFRS use the best communication channels and create products and literature that will genuinely help and work as a way of reminding people of how to stay safe, they would like to hear your thoughts.

Ways to share your thoughts:

North Portsea Island Consultation

Eastern Solent Coastal Partnership are consulting the public on a shortlist of 5 options for reducing the risk of coastal flooding over the next 100 years in North Portsea Island.

Community drop in events will be held:

Tuesday 25 February, 12-8pm Portsmouth Outdoor Centre (Eastern Road, Copnor, PO3 5LY)

Wednesday 26 February, 12-8pm Innlodge Hotel (Burrfields Road, Copnor, PO3 5HH)

Thursday 27 February, 12-8pm Mountbatten Centre (Alexandra Park, Twyford Avenue, PO2 9QA)

More details can be found at: http://www.escp.org.uk/north-portsea-island-consultation

Landscape Consultation

Portsmouth Cathedral is embarking on an ambitious project to redesign its landscape and create a much improved Cathedral precinct.

They have commissioned landscape architects Askew Nelson to develop ideas for the landscape. Integral to the design process is public consultation and they are keen to engage with the local community and all stakeholders to develop a design which meets the needs of all who use and have an interest in the Cathedral precinct. 

More details can be found at:

http://www.portsmouthcathedral.org.uk/landscape.htm

Action News Portsmouth

The latest issue of the newsletter of Community Action Portsmouth is now available on line by clicking here.

It gives information about forthcoming events, consultations, funding and awards, training opportunities, resources, campaigns, advice and volunteering.

Email either Jacky or Hollie at Community Action in Portsmouth to be added to the email distribution list, or with information, comments or suggestions for future editions.

Carry a flag to celebrate Commonwealth Day

On Monday 10 March, Portsmouth will be raising the Commonwealth Flag in Guildhall Square as part of 'Fly a Flag for Commonwealth' - a nationwide initiative to celebrate Commonwealth Day. 

The event will be attended by the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth, representatives from High Commissions of some of the Commonwealth countries, councillors and other guests. A military parade will march into the Guildhall Square, which will then be followed by the reading of the Commonwealth Affirmation and then raising of the Commonwealth Flag at 10am. 

In addition to this, the event will launch the 'Portsmouth 2014 Commemorations Programme marking the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings and the Centenary of the outbreak of the First World War'. To recognise the commitment of the Armed Forces from the Commonwealth, the flags of the Commonwealth nations which played a role in the D-Day landings and the First World War will be raised on the flag poles in Guildhall Square. 

How you can become involved 

Dynamite - Launch Party

Dynamite, a group for disabled young people is having a launch party, an Information Fair and Future Opportunities Event for all disabled young people aged between 11 to 25 years old.

When: Wednesday, 19th February 2014, 10am - 2pm

Where: Action Stations, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

(http://www.historicdockyard.co.uk/actionstations/)

This is a TICKET event, which will give you FREE access to all the facilities including Lazer Quest & the Helicopter Flight Simulator.

Food and drinks can be purchased from the café. 

To book your place, please email: dynamiteproject@hotmail.co.uk 

or telephone: 07825 185608.

This event is supported by: Portsmouth Youth Parliament, Portsmouth Disability Forum, Portsmouth Parent Voice and Portsmouth Children's Trust. 

Nelson Ward Funding Event - 22nd February 2014

The Nelson Community Panel has funds to award to groups working with residents in the Nelson Ward, they are holding a funding advice event on 

Saturday 22nd February 

from 10am at the 

Stamshaw Community Centre, 

69 Wilson Road, 

Stamshaw, 

PO2 8LE

For further details or an application form look at the blog http://nelsoncommunitypanel.wordpress.com or ring Trish Webb on 023 9284 1698

This presentation, containing examples of groups that have be funded already, will be shown at the event

Nelson community panel presentation

Alert: Notice to appear in court email scam

The Business Crime Reduction Centre (BCRC) is warning people about a new email scam that threatens victims with court action.

The emails say you have been notified and scheduled to appear for a court hearing, and contains specific dates, times, locations and reference numbers. 

 It asks you to download a copy of the “court notice” attached. The downloadable.zip file actually contains an .exe file (a file that executes when clicked) containing a virus.

For more details on this and other scams go to http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/blog 

There is also information to help you in reporting fraud and internet crime, prevention and support organisations, campaigns and resources to download and information on the different types of fraud.

Find out more about FoodCycle Portsmouth!

How can you help? 

FoodCycle Portsmouth have volunteering opportunities to suit everyone! 

FoodCycle Portsmouth is a new volunteer project based at the the John Pounds Centre working to reduce social isolation and food poverty in the community. 

Come and find out more about volunteering roles: from Hub Leaders to ad-hoc 'FoodCyclers' at the FoodCycle Portsmouth information session on: 

Tuesday 25th February 

6-7pm 

At the John Pounds Centre Cafe, Queen Street, Portsea 

FoodCycle Portsmouth are looking to recruit volunteers into a number of 'Hub Leader' roles; session leaders, food collections and donor relations, fundraisers, community engagement and volunteer coordinators. These are regular volunteering roles, probably around 8 hours/month with a year-long commitment. They offer great work experience and levels of responsibility to help drive FoodCycle Portsmouth into a successful Hub. 

Alternatively, if you aren't able to commit to offering your time regularly, you can always sign up as a FoodCycler on an ad-hoc basis to help in the kitchen, welcoming guests or at events.

Promoting Health and Wellbeing – an event for people affected by cancer

26 March 2014 

09.30am – 4.00pm 

Venue: The Mountbatten Leisure Centre, 

Alexandra Park, Portsmouth PO2 9QA 

Have you been affected by cancer and would you like to find out more about how you can help yourself to feel more in control of your health and well being? 

Sessions will include:- 

Eating healthily 

The benefits of physical activity and how to get started Managing anxiety, worries and fears 

There will also be an expert panel to answer your questions along with a variety of information stands promoting local services 

For more information or to book your place: 

Call 01904 756410 or email: csweldadmin@macmillan.org.uk 

Introducing FoodCycle Pompey

Uniting the community so no good food goes to waste

FoodCycle Pompey is a new project based at the John Pounds Centre to bring the community together whilst addressing issues of food poverty and food waste. 

FoodCycle is a national organisation running volunteer-powered community projects across the UK – working to reduce food poverty and social isolation by serving tasty, nutritious meals to vulnerable groups. To find out more about who FoodCycle are, watch this short video.

The FoodCycle Pompey Team are currently looking to recruit volunteers into a number of 'Hub Leader' roles; session leaders, food collections and donor relations, fundraisers, community engagement and volunteer coordinators. 

Alternatively, if you aren't able to commit to offering your time regularly, you can sign up as a FoodCycler on an ad-hoc basis. 

There will be an information session for volunteers soon, so keep your eyes and ears open for further information! Please share the story of FoodCycle with family, friends and colleagues! 

The FoodCycle Pompey Team think this is an exciting opportunity for the city and can't wait to get started!

BIG Recycle has 6,000 residents now signed up

Over six thousand Portsmouth households have now pledged to bin their bad habits and be more environmentally friendly thanks to the Portsmouth BIG Recycle scheme.

The campaign was launched at the end of September 2013 by Portsmouth City Council to help improve recycling rates in the city. Even though lots of residents participate in recycling, Portsmouth currently only recycles 23% of its household waste - one of the lowest rates in the country - so we could all do a bit better.

If we can boost our recycling to at least 30% we could generate around £150,000 more a year, which helps protect other council services.

Since the launch, over 6,000 households have signed up to the scheme, funded by over £500,000 allocated by the Department for Communities and Local Government to reward residents for doing their bit.

Every month, each household that has signed up to the scheme is entered in to a prize draw, 81 households are then randomly selected, and if they are found to be recycling in the right ways, they'll be rewarded, with the top reward being £250 cash.

So far only 10 households have missed out on prizes (with a combined total of £350) as they were putting the wrong things in the recycling bin such as the wrong types of plastic, metal foils, food waste, general rubbish and even clothing. If you're stuck with where to get rid of old clothes they can be recycled at bring banks, which can be found on the roadside of many main roads in the city.

Register for free by visiting bigrecycle.portsmouth.gov.uk or calling 023 9243 7843

For more information on recycling in Portsmouth go to the Portsmouth City Council web page www.portsmouth.gov.uk/waste/15862.html