Minutes:
Diana’s role at NHFT was Equality and Engagement Manager and it was a treat to have a women’s group. She was more than happy to lend support to this group if required and Forum members we welcome to contact her directly - diana.belfon@nhft.nhs.uk. There were some brilliant women out there and she agreed we should celebrate us! Within the NHS she was working on the mandatory vaccination requirement which, if brought in, would impact on not only existing staff but volunteers, future staff and contractors.
Laura reported they were holding several events including a youth hub at Northampton Library for 18-24 year olds. There had been a decrease in Universal Credit claims for that age group. Face to face appointments were being reintroduced as from Thursday. They were being approached employers desperate for staff, offering increased wages and flexible working hours which was good for women who have the main care responsibility. Previously employers had said no to offering flexible working times but they were now changing their minds.
April reported that Creating Equalz and NDAS were starting a DA recovery tool kit programme on 21 February for black and brown women who had left an abusive relationship. It had been specifically tailored for cultural needs and was a trauma informed programme. It would be online, on Mondays at 10-11.30am and last for 12 weeks. It was not just for women in refuge or who appeared to have complex needs, but any black or brown woman as long as they had left the abusive relationship. This would be led by April and she was also training other professionals to train. Divya would be the NDAS support and she said she was very glad to be on board and would be trained to take group work. https://creatingequalz.co.uk/domestic-abuse-recovery-toolkit/https://twitter.com/CreatingEqualz2/status/1485871250073432068?s=20
Alex – gave an update on funding available - as always, if anyone needed more information or support, please contact Alex@ncf.uk.com
Global Goals Fund for Northamptonshire
The Global Goals Fund for Northamptonshire aims to help build a sustainable and safe future for Northamptonshire communities. The fund will focus on the following themes in 2022 which aim to address: decent work and economic growth; reduced inequalities; sustainable cities and communities; peace, justice and strong institutions.
This is a rolling programme meaning you can apply at any time and the maximum funding award is £3000, for more information please visit - http://www.ncf.uk.com/grants/grant-finder/global-goals-fund-northamptonshire
Arts Council Let’s Create Jubilee Fund
The Let's Create Jubilee Fund will support voluntary and community groups to develop creative and cultural activities as part of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022. This fund has been created by Arts Council England (ACE) with funds from the National Lottery. It is open to voluntary organisations with charitable aims and working towards a common goal which does not have to be based solely around arts and culture.
Groups can apply for amounts between £750 and £10,000. Projects must:
The closing date for applications is 28th February, for more information please visit - http://www.ncf.uk.com/grants/grant-finder/lets-create-jubilee-fund
Family Food Aid Fund
Food charities and other community organisations can apply for funding to support access to food to specifically support families with children and young people.
Grants of up to £2,000 will go to small, local charities and community organisations that meet our eligibility criteria. This is restricted funding that can only go towards supporting families on a low income with children and young people.
This is a rolling programme and you can apply at any time, for more information please visit - http://www.ncf.uk.com/grants/grant-finder/familyfoodaidfund
Cllr Stone – told the meeting about Rights of Women, a group set up around areas of concern for women and to ensure they were kept on the agenda. It was a non-political group. She was also very concerned, through her work with schools and youth groups and around mental health and that girls often did not feel safe in various locations and had asked the Community Safety team to look at this.
Ifeoluwa was a student at Northampton University and was trying to get into volunteering with NHFT working with Mental Health and had been referred to this group only the previous day. Diana offered to speak to Ifeoluwa outside of the meeting. Everyone welcomed her to the group as a new member.
Irene – said it was very heart warming to see how everyone was linking in so well together. She explained the service had previously been with Aquarius and was now with GamCare and she was calling for women to access the services.
Sarah – explained that Irene was on the treatment side and she herself was on the training side. The training was currently online but would soon hopefully be able to offer face to face as well as being able to attend community events. Irene would be attending IWD with a stall. Women were disproportionately affected by gambling, either their own, or someone else’s and it was a hidden harm that needed to be addressed. Since the boom on online gambling and bingo sites it had really exploded. Public Health had started to get involved.
Katy stated that she had attended the training and could really recommend it. Recruitment to the Fire Service was ongoing and there would probably be some more on-call recruitment later in the year.
Tina – the Fire Service had set up a Women’s Forum which was going well having had its second meeting. Linking in with this forum was really beneficial. The Fire Service now had more females than it had ever had and soon they would know the percentage of females in the new draft of recruitment. Community Engagement was still on hold due to Covid but should soon be back up and running so they could attend events. Home Fire Safety checks had been ongoing and if anyone spotted anything in the community please refer in and she would write something up so people could recognise things to spot. Pauline asked if she could attend one of the forum meetings as a critical friend, this was welcomed.
Eleri – Any community events coming up please let Eleri know. She asked GamCare if there they worked with suicide prevention as she had previously working in the Coroners Office and been aware of a family where the husband had taken his own life because of gambling debts leaving the wife and son to suffer the effects.
Irene stated that they supported individuals/families affected by someone else’s gambling and would refer to mental health service Gambling with Lives https://www.gamblingwithlives.org/
Sally – was an elected member of the Federation of Small Businesses which had free virtual network meetings if anyone was interested in attending - https://www.fsb.org.uk/event-calendar/northamptonshire-virtual-networking.html She had also been supporting schools but getting local inspirational people in front of the children. Recently they had a Dragons Den event at NIA with a really good response. She was interested to hear from anyone who would like to get involved.
Pauline stated the network meetings were a really good peer support network especially for those starting up, very friendly and inclusive.
Cllr Stone stated that many of the girl asylum seekers were traumatised and had been sexually assaulted. They were not offered any counselling. They were seriously ambitious and needed support to progress and be guided away from the criminal economy. They did not understand the risk and were easily seduced.
Debbie – informed the group that the Knife Angel, national symbol against violence and aggression, would be coming to the county in May, spending 2 weeks in Northampton at All Saints Piazza, then a drive through Wellingborough before spending the last 2 weeks in Corby. There would be various activities during this time. If anyone would like to get involved please get in touch - forums.nbc@westnorthants.gov.uk
A trial of the required IT equipment for a hybrid meeting was being carried out with the following week’s Disabled People’s Forum. Hopefully this option could be offered for the March meeting.