The most recent meeting of the Forum took place on Wednesday 21st September 2011 at the Spectrum Centre, Rosebery St Peter's Community Centre, Storer Road, Loughborough LE11 5EQ.

The papers and presentations are available by clicking on the blue link above. The Minutes from the meeting will be added as soon as they are available.

On 13/09 2011 between 4pm and 6pm, the Big Society Roadshow for the Charnwood Area Forums took place at The Moira Centre, Moira Street Loughborough LE11 1AX.

This event was very well attended and supported the principle of ‘Helping to develop the Big Society in your local Community', providing information on Leicestershire County Council's Community Forum Budgets, the Big Society Grant Fund and other relevant funding information.  Community members and community groups came along to the event to find out more about what is being done to support the development of the Big Society in Leicestershire.

For further information please see the link above.

The last meeting was held at All Saints Church Hall, Thorpe Acre Road, Loughborough LE11 4LF, starting at 6.30pm. Local information on the work of Gorse Covert Community Centre and the County Council's projects to minimise was available beforehand together with the chance to speak to local councillors, the police etc.

The main item on the agenda, as a result of a request at the previous meeting, was Climate change, Sustainability, and what actions local residents can take. Presentations were from organisations and groups that are working and campaigning locally, and officers of both Charnwood Borough Council and Leicestershire County Council (who described many current "green" initiatives).

At the end of the meeting the Forum chair, County Councillor Mr Max Hunt, stood down after three years in the position. The meeting agreed that the role will now be shared by local residents John Burnard and Peter Rippon, with Charnwood Borough Councillor, Chris Carter, taking the vice chair position.

To access the agenda and the poster please click on the link below.

The last meeting took place at Rosebery St Peter's Community Centre (Spectrum Centre), Storer Road, Loughborough starting at 6.30pm.

An informal networking and information session took place from 6.00pm and included an opportunity to talk to local police officers and councillors.

Students from Loughborough University gave an excellent presentation detailing the involvement of students in local community work. One of the beneficiaries had actually been Rosebery St Peter's Community Centre. The presentation also illustrated that students manage to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds each year which is donated to both national and local charities.

Over 70 people attended the meeting and feedback received has indicated that most of them enjoyed the inter-active session during which they were able to point out which green spaces they valued, and why they valued them.

Please click above to access the Papers for the meeting.

The last meeting of the Area Forum was held at Gorse Covert Community Centre, Maxwell Drive, Loughborough LE11 4RZ.

Please click above to access the papers.

The last meeting took the form of a community open day at which local residents and groups shared information and talked to representatives of local services in North west Loughborough. It was held on a sunny Saturday at Rosebery St Peter's Community Centre in Storer Road, in Loughborough, from 2.00pm until 5.00pm.

Attractions included a Bouncy castle, a visit by a Fire engine, storytelling for children, making Fruit "smoothies" and refreshments.

The three winning entrants of the quiz, which entailed finding out more about all the groups and services on display, each won a box of chocolates.

Some digital cameras were handed out on the day so that local residents can capture images of the Forum area. These will be displayed at the next Area Forum meeting on 4th October.

A number of people took the opportunity to pinpoint some issues of concern on maps of the area and to talk to local workers about the resolution of these issues. These will be followed up and reported upon at the next meeting of the Forum in October.

Everyone enjoyed the day and comments received included ""It was fun and friendly and we met different groups" and "It went extremely well and I found out lots of useful information."

The last meeting of the Loughborough North West Area Forum was held at Gorse Covert Community Centre.

Nineteen people attended the meeting and discussed progress on the projects bought forward through the participatory budget process. A recommendation was accepted by the Forum to fund the following projects:

BMX track/youth shelter at Jubilee Park;
(to create a local place for young people to meet and socialise) £9,000 has been set aside until the end of May 2010 for this project which still needs much work to confirm whether or not it is feasible. This will include consultation work with residents in the neighbourhood. Should the structure on Jubilee Park not prove viable, the £9,000 will be ring-fenced for projects to benefit young people in Loughborough North West.
The Hut kitchen refurbishment;
(to rebuild a kitchen to a high quality to allow for use by many local groups, including younger and older people)
A maximum of £5,000 has been allocated, depending upon final costs.
Soft play area at Boothwood school;
(to create a safe play area for use by school children and a summer play scheme) £4,000 allocated as a contribution towards total costs.
Youth Zone;
(to purchase WIIs and computer games for use by young people utilising after school clubs at the Hut) £2,000 allocated.

The recommendations agreed above will now be put to Charnwood Together for final endorsement before funding can be released.

The papers for this meeting can be accessed by clicking the link above.

The last meeting of Loughborough North West area forum was held at All Saints Church Hall in Loughborough.

This was a special meeting at which members of the community had been invited to bring ideas about how they think a Forum budget of £20,000 can best be used to meet local priorities.

These priorities are:
Facilities for children and young people
Opportunities for elderly and vulnerable adults
Creating cleaner, greener, safer living environments

About thirty members of the community, agencies and councillors attended and community members described a number of relevant ideas and project proposals. As the meeting progressed community members used "voting handsets" to express their preferences from the ideas put forward.

The results of the voting can be viewed by clicking on the link below.

Forum members seemed to have enjoyed the meeting with comments received including "I enjoyed finding out what goes on in the community", "Everyone was involved and had their say" and "I liked the voting process and the networking between local groups and agencies".

If you would like more detailed information on the process, please click here.

For further information please contact Richard Downing on 0116 3055823 (or email richard.downing@leics.gov.uk) or Paul Goodman on 0116 3058015 (or email paul.goodman@leics.gov.uk).

The last meeting of Loughborough North West Area Forum took place at All Saints Church Hall, Thorpe Acre Road, Loughborough.

Items discussed included plans for the River Soar and Grand Union Canal, an update on the the work of the Priority Neighbourhood team in Loughborough, the NHS Leicestershire County and Rutland Operating Plan, and how the Loughborough Special Rate is spent.

For more information on the River Soar strategy please phone Andrew Hayes, community project officer, on (0116) 3057269 or email AHayes@leics.gov.uk

This meeting was held at 6.30 pm at All Saints’ Church Hall, Thorpe Acre Road, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 4LF

Topics discussed included:
• Finding out about where new homes, jobs and facilities will be located (there is still time to be involved in consultation, for additional information please see:

http://www.leicestershireforums.org/lboronw/news.html

• Learning how communities, biodiversity and the environment will be protected and enhanced
• Influencing the Big Budget in Leicestershire
• Hearing about plans for Loughborough to enter East Midlands in Bloom

There was also chance to raise your concerns and queries about what's been done to improve your local area and local services.

For a copy of the agenda, minutes and related presentations please click the underlined link above.