To consider any communications to be submitted by the Mayor or the Chief Executive.
Minutes:
(a) Barnsley Museums learning Service – Sanford Awards
The Chief Executive was pleased to announce that the Barnsley Museums Learning Service had been awarded two prestigious Sanford Awards for their work at Elsecar and Cannon Hall.
The Sanford Award was an independently judged, quality assured assessment of education programmes in museums. It represented a ‘kite mark’ for high quality education provision which was recognised by schools and other education institutions across the United Kingdom and provided national recognition among the heritage sector.
Barnsley Museums Learning Service was to be congratulated for its excellent work in yet again securing Sanford Award status for their efforts. Ally Beckett from the Barnsley Museums Learning Team was present in the Chamber this morning to hear this citation.
Councillor Cheetham, Cabinet Spokesperson for Place (Regeneration and Culture), asked to add his own congratulation to the Team. This was a really prestigious award and was not the first time that the Service had won it and this demonstrated that the Museums Service was not just a place of history and culture but actually also thrived in educational establishments.
The Mayor also expressed her own personal congratulations to the Team.
The Mayor and Members of the Council then expressed their congratulations to all concerned in the usual manner.
(b) Barnsley in Bloom Awards Evening – 25th September, 2019
The Chief Executive reported on the Barnsley in Bloom Awards Evening held on the 25th September, 2019 when Barnsley had done extremely well. Two hundred and fifty communities participated in the Royal Horticultural Society Yorkshire Region (RHS) competition this summer.
Barnsley had welcomed three new entries this year, two in the ‘Its Your Neighbourhood’ category and the third in the Young People’s Award taking the In Bloom family to a staggering 28 entries.
All in Bloom entries were judged on their community participation, environmental awareness and horticultural quality and the Council was delighted with this summer’s results. Indeed she had been informed that Barnsley had received far more awards than anywhere else in Yorkshire.
Barnsley’s communities continued to work tirelessly in their local green spaces and these awards showed the commitment to improving these for the benefit of everyone.
Councillor Lamb, Cabinet Spokesperson for Place (Environment and Transportation) commented on the fabulous awards evening last night which was a moment of great pride for everyone in the Borough.
He felt that it would be wrong not to recognise every individual contribution that had been made that had enabled those 28 awards to be won. He asked, therefore, to briefly go through the various categories and the various winners including all of those were present at the ceremony in the Town Hall last night:
Charitable Organisations
Barnsley Hospice – Gold Medal and joint category winners for the whole of the region
Large Businesses
Tankersley Manner – Silver Guilt
Parks and Open Spaces – the largest category with 12 entries
Dearne Valley Country Park – Silver Guilt
Cudworth Park Friends Group – Silver Guilt
Friends of Locke Park – Gold
Friends of Monk Bretton Park – Gold
Friends of Monk Bretton Memorial Garden – Platinum
Elsecar Park and Local nature Reserve – Platinum
Fiends of Royston Canal Club – Platinum
Friends of Thurnscoe Park – Platinum
Friends of Wilthorpe Park – Platinum
Churchfields Peace Garden – Platinum
Friends of Wombwell Cemetery – Platinum
Carlton Marsh Nature Reserve – a hat trick – Platinum – the third year in succession it had received such an award
It’s Your Neighbourhood – this was a Royal Horticultural Society category with 5 levels of achievement going from Level 1 Blooming, through Improving, Advancing, Thriving to level 5 Outstanding:
Barnsley main Heritage Group – Level 4 Thriving
Cudworth Environmental Group – Level 4 Thriving
Grimethorpe War and Miners Memorial Group – Level 4 Thriving
Goldthorpe Railway Embankment – Level 4 Thriving
Grimethorpe Community Farm – Level 5 Outstanding
OwdMarthas yard – Level 5 Outstanding
Robert Street Community Allotments – Level 5 Outstanding
Royson in Bloom – Level 5 Outstanding
Wortley Hall Walled Garden – Level 5 Outstanding
Youth Enterprise Award
Greenacre Primary School – Silver Guilt
Gooseacre Primary School – Silver Guilt
Birkwood Primary School – Gold
Oxpring Primary School – Gold medal and for the second year were awarded Overall Category Winner
Parks Services Community Award
Cudworth Environmental Group
The surprise of the night was the Award given to Mick and Lynne White from the Robert Street Community Allotment whose outstanding involvement and contribution to the scheme encouraging volunteers and school children over a number of years had been recognised by being given the RHS It’s Your Neighbourhood Award of Distinction for 2019.
The Cabinet Spokesperson also congratulated the staff of Parks and Neighbourhood Services for the fantastic work they undertook in supporting this competition.
Several other Members echoed the comments made by the Cabinet Spokesperson and particularly thanked the work of officers, school children and volunteers all of whom had made these successes possible.
The Mayor added her own personal congratulations to all involved. She commented that she had attended the Awards Ceremony in York recently when Barnsley had won all these awards. To say she was proud was an understatement.
The Mayor and Members of the Council then expressed their thanks to all involved in the usual manner.