Agenda item

The Area Council Manager provided members with an overview of performance for Quarter 3 and all contracted Services.

It was highlighted to members that following the publication of the report a number of figures in the statistics table required updating including:  Activities involving Young People under the age of 18 had changed from 25 to 43, People Achieving a Qualification/Accreditation had changed from 0 to 5, this was as a result of a number of students from Angel Voices who had received The Associated Board of the Royal Schools Music (ABRSM) qualification and People Receiving Training should be 25, all of whome were from Penistone Grammar School who had put 15 students through peer support mentor training.

Twiggs Grounds Maintenance continued to meet their targets with 12 groups worked with, all of which were established, there had been 22 individual projects worked on which were either independent projects or requests from Councillors, 14 social action initiatives and 20 activities with businesses.  There had been an improvement to work with schools as more were opening up to visitors following the pandemic and further work had taken place around the Take a Seat Campaign.  There had been a number of staffing changes but regular meetings were being held and a fortnightly update was provided to the Area Manager.

Age UK had commenced their new contract with some new staff members and there had been 28 regular volunteers with 2 new ones being trained up.  There remained a challenge with recruiting drivers for the Community Car Share Scheme, new ways to attract drivers was to be explored.  Men in Sheds continued to go well with 21 regular attendees.  Members heard that they were in the process of moving to a new venue near Scout Dyke. 

Members were provided with a comprehensive update of all the projects and initiatives that Age UK had been and continued to be involved in around the Penistone Area.  It was suggested that Age UK be invited to the Area Council Meeting to be held in April 2023 to provide members with a more detailed update of their contract.

DIAL had submitted their last report for the previous contract as they had commenced their new contract in January 2023.  There had been continued face to face advice in Penistone Town Hall by appointment only, and whilst not as many clients could be seen, it was deemed as the most effective way to help people, particularly when helping to fill forms in.  In comparison to quarter 1, the amount of people accessing the service had significantly reduced from 170 to 37, this was a consequence of returning to face to face appointments.  However, there was a lot of added value to the contract in that centralised funds from the Council supported the phone service which included 89 contacts from the Penistone Area for Quarter 3.  DIAL were also providing additional support through energy advisers and More Money in Your Pocket events planned for the area.

The Supporting Young People Grant Fund had 4 projects being delivered.  Ad Astra continued working in Penistone Grammar School delivering weekly groups and one to one sessions to support young people with emotional wellbeing, concerns from Year 7 children around transition from primary to secondary school and friendship groups amongst other things.  12 Sessions had been delivered since the project started and there were discussions with the school to look at young people from the group sessions accessing the schools peer mentoring qualification in the future.    

Penistone Grammar School are going to be supporting 50 students with a level 2 qualification in peer mentoring, of which 25 students had received a one day training session with a third year medical student and workbooks had been submitted for marking with a view to gaining their qualification later in the year.  A number of inspirational speakers had been invited into the School to speak about a number of issues to enhance their knowledge of the wider world.

Angel Voices had 5 pupils gain their ABRSM qualification and 6 more had been approached to audition for TV talent shows such as Britain’s Got Talent and The Voice Kids.  Money raised by the concerts has helped a number of charities and Cawthorne Village Hall.

Girlguiding West had commenced their Girls Going Away Badge which would enable girls to learn and prepare for being away in preparation for the proposed events at Kingswood to be held later in the year.

Members were provided with a brief overview of the work undertaken by the Area Team during Quarter 3. 

RESOLVED that the report be noted.