Minutes of Wigston, Blaby and Oadby

Community Group

Date of Meeting: Wednesday 16th January 2019

Place of Meeting: The Bassett Centre

Present – People who came to

the meeting

Dipika Patel (CERT) Karen Davis (CERT) Sarah Blockley (Minute Taker) Lee Worrall Judith Proctor Luke Chapman Josh Pring Maria Rose (D&H) James Meredith Connor Mabbutt Paul Dey Paul Checkland Kate Impey Norah Whittaker (Nursing Community Assistant) Karim Baladi (Police Community Support Officer) Tom McCabe (Anti-Social Behaviour Officer)

Welcome and apologies

Dipika welcomed everyone and

said Richard Harris would not be

coming along today. Everyone

introduced themselves.

Dipika let everyone know where

the toilets were and said anyone

could make tea and coffee for

themselves and put a selection of

biscuits on the table for everyone

to enjoy.

Dipika explained to everyone

about the ground rules for the

group

- Everyone is given a chance to

talk

- Not to talk over someone else

- Mobile phones are to be put

on silent

- Be nice to each other

Communication

Red and Yellow cards were given

out for everyone to use and Luke

said he would like to be the Word

Police today.

Minute from the last meeting

Lee read through some of the

minutes from the last meeting

and everyone said the minutes

were ok.

Judith told everyone that there

might be an allotment made on

some of the land on Blaby Road

Park behind South Leicestershire

College for Blaby Road Park

Community Garden.

Dipika told everyone about the

Partnership Board Meetings that

are held every 3 months at

County Hall and that everyone is

welcome there to talk about what

they think is working well in their

communities and any activities or

groups they go to. Dipika said

Judith did a presentation for the

group at the last meeting and she

did really well.

Talk from Karim, Police

Community Support Officer

Karim said he had been a Police

Officer in this area for 6 years and

knew South Wigston and Wigston

really well and grew up in Oadby.

Karim said as well as himself there

is a Police Officer called Emma

and a Police Community Support

Officer called Rebecca who also

work in this area.

Karim said part of his job was to

help to stop crime happening and

to help to stop people getting into

trouble but also he works

alongside Tom McCabe to help

local people to make the area a

better place to live in. Karim told

everyone to always say hello and

have a chat with any of the local

Police Officers and how much the

Team like to be involved in local

events. Karim asked if anyone

had any questions for him.

- Dipika asked Karim if he was

willing to attend the groups

meeting on a regular basis. He

said yes but if he couldn’t he

could arrange for Emma or

Rebecca to come along.

- Dipika asked if Karim could let

the group know the local crime

rates and he said he would

have a look for the next

meeting. Karim said the main

problems in the Wigston area

was young children messing

around, climbing on roofs and

being naughty. Judith said

both her sons had had their

bikes stolen before, Paul D said

a D Lock is the best lock to use

and Karim said they were as

wire ones break easily and he

would check if there were any

D Locks at the local police

station for sale.

- Dipika asked if everyone would

find it helpful to have someone

talk to the group about fraud

awareness and everyone said

yes, this to be an action for a

future meeting.

- Lee asked about cars going too

fast and making too much

noise late at night and early in

the morning. Karim said the

police do get calls about this

but it is difficult unless the

police see them but always call

the police if you see or hear

anything that worries you.

Karim told everyone the 2

numbers to call if you need the

police

If it’s an emergency call 999

If it’s not an emergency call 101

- Paul D talked about parked

cars blocking pavements.

Karim said there were

guidelines and parking on a

pavement was ok as long as a

wheelchair or pushchair could

get through but if the road was

busy and it was not safe the

police could have a look.

Connor said by the local school

near where he lives parent’s

park dangerously. Karim said

the police do go into schools to

offer advice but he would

contact the local area team in

Countesthorpe where Connor

lives if Connor wanted him to,

Connor said he did.

- Paul D talked about all the

litter that people dropped and

fly tipping and how it spoils

parks and is bad for the

environment

- Tom said the Anti-Social

Behaviour, Crime and Policing

Act can now be used to give on

the spot fines to people caught

littering and fly tipping and the

police have powers to take

people, who do this to court.

Paul D said how plastic

pollution is really bad for the

environment and Tom said the

Council now uses ceramic cups

instead of plastic.

- Dipika asked Paul C to tell

Karim and Tom about having

glue put in his door lock. Paul

C said a while ago someone

put glue in his door lock and he

had to wait until 3am for a

locksmith. Karim said that this

situation had been resolved by

Georgina and Emma. Luke said

putting a sign up saying there

was CCTV was an idea and

Karim said this was a really

good idea as CCTV cameras

were really expensive, Josh

suggested using a Wi-Fi camera

and Karim said this was a good

idea as they look like doorbells.

Dipika asked Karim if people

had their door locks glued a lot

and Karim said no, it was not a

widespread issue.

- Dipika said to everyone that it

was good to be aware of your

surroundings when out and

about and if you see anything

unusual to get in touch with

the police.

Talk from Tom, Anti-Social

Behaviour Team at Oadby &

Wigston Borough Council

Tom said he had been a police

officer for 7 years before joining

Oadby & Wigston Borough

Council and his job was like

Karim’s. Tom said he was an Anti-

Social Behaviour Officer and

Connor explained to everyone

that anti-social behaviour was

behaviour that caused

harassment to others, damaging

property. Tom said racism could

be anti-social behaviour but was

more of a hate crime. Tom said

Oadby & Wigston Borough

Council now had the funding for 5

cameras that would be attached

to lampposts in the local area

sometime this year to help

prevent anti-social behaviour and

could be moved around to help

with other issues. Luke asked

Tom about the Council and Police

using drones and tom said drones

are used but there are laws that

govern how a drone can be used

to protect people’s human rights

and private lives so drones cannot

be used close to schools or roads

or airports.

Tom asked everyone about dating

and meeting people and how they

should be careful meeting

someone they have not met

before. Tom explained about the

ASK FOR ANGELA campaign that is

used in most pubs and bars so if

anyone meets someone in a pub

and something happens that

makes them feel pressured or

uncomfortable they can go to the

bar and ASK FOR ANGELA and

staff would be able to help and

protect them by maybe calling

someone to come and collect

them asking the other person to

stop their behaviour or calling the

police.

Dipika asked Tom if there were

any Keep Safe places in Wigston?

Everyone talked about the places

they thought were safe to go for

help like Police Station, shops like

Tesco and Sainsbury’s, local cafes,

churches Tom said the leisure

centre in Wigston was a good

place and this was open until

10pm. Tom told everyone to

never feel daft calling the police

as they are there to help, Luke

asked if a call to 101 was free and

Tom said no (There is a charge of

15p for a call to 101). Tom said

there were no specific Keep Safe

Places that he knew of and Dipika

and Norah explained to Tom and

Karim that the Keep Safe Place

Scheme was used in the Hinckley

and Bosworth area and shops and

businesses had a sticker in the

window to show people with

learning disabilities that they

could go there if they needed help

as sometimes they can be anxious

and cannot verbalise what help

they need. Tom said again this

scheme was not in place in

Wigston but should be looked at

and Karim said he worked closely

with local stores and would ask.

Norah said the Community

Learning Disability Team still gave

out Keep Safe Cards and would

check with the team about the

scheme. Dipika said it was a

Council led scheme that needs to

be refreshed. Tom said the Ask

for Angela scheme was refreshed

every year. Judith said the Tree

House Café was a Keep Safe Place

but she wasn’t sure if a sticker

was in the window but the lady in

the café was really good and

helpful. Everyone said it would be

better if the Keep Safe Card was a

credit card style. Karim was asked

about knocking on someone’s

door and said if it’s someone you

know that would be ok but

shouting for help would be better

and someone would come out of

their house to help. Luke said

asking security staff at bars and

clubs and Karim said this was a

really good suggestion.

Feedback from the Community

Project Presentation

Dipika asked Judith if she would

like to tell everyone how she felt

doing the presentation and what

everyone thought about it.

Judith said she was really nervous

at the start but once she got going

she was not so frightened, it was

not like being in a classroom and

everyone was quite friendly.

Judith said it was the first time

she had been to County Hall or

done anything like that before but

she managed to say everything.

Dipika said the last Partnership

Board Meeting was on 10th

January and Lee was there. She

said everyone talked about

employment and what prospects

there were for paid and unpaid

work. Everyone said there was

not much paid work around for

people with learning disabilities

but there were volunteering

opportunities, Lee said there were

things like gardening jobs. Dipika

said the next meeting would be

on 21st March at County Hall

starting at 10am and finishing at

1pm and it would be nice for

more people to go along. Connor

said he would like to go and he

can drive there, Judith said she

would go and Maria said she

would talk to Sally at D&H about

going. Paul D said he would like

to go but he goes to a gardening

club but would try to go. Dipika

told everyone that transport

could be sorted if anyone could

not get there and if anyone did

want to go and couldn’t get there

to let her or Karen know. Kate

said she would think about it and

Paul C said he was not sure.

Paul C said he had not thought

anymore about a singing or drama

group but on 24th September and

30th October at Countesthorpe

College there would be a show

that anyone could go and see,

tickets would be £4. Dipika asked

Paul to keep the group up to date

with any other shows.

Vote for Chairperson, Treasurer

Dipika asked everyone if they

would like to put themselves

forward to be the groups

Chairperson or Treasurer. Lee

and Connor both said they would

and would do a presentation to

the group at the next meeting at

the Bassett Centre, Dipika and

Karen said they would help with

the presentations. Connor said it

would be like a General Election.

Dipika explained that the

treasurer would deal with all the

groups’ money for tea and coffee,

hiring the room, any equipment

for the group and Dipika and

Karen would support both the

chairperson and treasurer.

Events going on in the area

- Drop in group at Elliott Hall on

Albion Street, South Wigston

every Wednesday from 10.30

to 12.30

- Drop in group at Blaby Social

Centre in Blaby every Thursday

from 1.30 to 3.30

Dipika sked everyone if they

thought there was enough

happening in Blaby, Oadby and

Wigston for people with learning

disabilities? Paul said he goes to

Place to Grow that he really likes,

and Paul D and Judith talked

about how they like rambling,

Judith told everyone about the

group that meets at The

Methodist Church on Blaby Road

every Saturday about 9.15 and do

a walk from 9.30 to 10.30. Dipika

suggested inviting the Local Area

Co-ordinator to come along to a

meeting to help with developing

ideas for more groups.

Game of skittles

Unfortunately Dipika and Karen

have not been able to sort out a

group outing to play skittles so

the next Locality Group Meeting

will be at Bassett Street, but

because everyone said they would

like to do this Dipika and Karen

will try and sort skittles out for

another meeting and everyone

will be invited along.

Actions for next meeting at The

Bassett Centre on Wednesday

27th February 2019

- Everyone to think about if they

would like to be the

Chairperson or Treasurer and

think about a presentation

they could do to the group.

- Look at inviting someone to

talk to the group about fraud

awareness.

- Ask the Local Area Co-

ordinators to come along and

support with developing ideas

for more groups.

- Norah to check with the

Community Learning

Disabilities Team about the

Keep Safe Scheme.

- Karim to find out the crime

figures for the area.

- Talk about who else we would

like to invite to our meetings

next year.

- Everyone to think about

different activities for the

group try.

The next group meeting will be at

The Bassett Centre from 1.30pm

to 3.00pm and it is okay if anyone

wants to come along at 1.15pm

and bring their lunch.

Next Meeting at The Bassett

Centre

Wednesday 27th February 2018

from 1.30pm to 3:00pm at The

Bassett Centre