Here are a couple of links circulated by Avon & Somerset Police to help us keep safe this Christmas.
Neigbourhood Watch Newsletter No 11
The second one with advice from the City of London Police contains the important advice not to use free Wi Fi hotspots for private use when you are out and about.
Henbury Rail Station Consultation
The consultation for Henbury rail station location starts on November 30 2015 and lasts until 25 January 2016
At Henbury Library, Crow Lane, Henbury, Bristol BS10 7DR
from 2pm until 7pm
0117 903 6868
MetroWest Phase 2: Henbury station location consultation
Engine Shed, Station Approach, Temple Meads
Bristol BS1 6QH
Eight members of the Plan Steering Group took on the task of compiling one or more of the twelve sections of our draft plan which was submitted to the Community Development Foundation on 23rd November.
The twelve sections are:
The full document can be viewed or downloaded here
Our draft plan is built on the views expressed by well over 350 local residents who returned a completed survey. We also put considerable weight on the views expressed at the Community Plan Conference in October.
But the plan is only in draft at the moment and needs considerable work to clarify who will be taking the required actions forward and precisely what some of those actions will be. This has to be completed by the third week of February.
If you can contribute in any way or suggest amendments to the draft plan we’d be very happy to hear from you. You can leave a comment using the link just below the title of this post, use the Contact Us menu option or email directly
Significant effort went into setting up the Community Conference on 24th October in Henbury School with great support from members of the Community Action Plan ( CAP ) Steering Committee , Keith Houghton from our Neighbourhood Partnership and Jose Barco from the First Steps scheme who have helped fund the CAP survey and this conference.
On the Conference day we were honoured to have the Lord Mayor, Councillor Clare Campion-Smith, who came mid morning to encourage us along the path to producing our plan and to help us with Prize Draw. It was the luck of the draw that none of the names drawn were actually present so there will be a presentation of the desirable prizes including £100 cash and 2 months full membership of Henbury Leisure Centre. 
The Conference itself commence with a short introduction from Mark Weston, Councillor and Brentry resident, an explanation of the First Steps Programme by Jose Barco and a briefing for the main table workshop sessions by Tim Parkinson.
The morning and afternoon workshop sessions were set up for six tables each. The twelve table topics, which are likely to form the chapters of the CAP were in the morning: Travel & Transport; Arts, Leisure & Culture; Health & Wellbeing; Sport & Fitness; Older People; Community Safety & Crime. In the afternoon the tables were: Education, Learning & Jobs; Community Buildings & Facilities; Youth Opportunities & Services; Parks, O
pen Spaces & Growing; Housing & Development; Getting Involved, Newsletter & Social Media.
Most of the table discussions, which were looking to prioritise the key features for inclusion in the plan, benefited from the presence of Bristol City Council officers or members of Avon & Somerset Police or Local GP Practice. These people kindly gave up most of the day to support our community and we are grateful to them.
Finally it was left to Tim Parkinson to conclude the conference by inviting further assistance in finalising the plan from those present. (The deadline for completion is the third week of February 2016.)And he did this with a loud peal on his handbell!
Post conference note: The best way to keep abreast of how the plan is developing is to follow our Twitter for Plan @handbcap You will also be able follow progress on henburybrentrycommunity.org.uk and the Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hbccnews
As at the beginning of October we have received nearly 350 completed surveys. This achievement is due to the hard work of our newsletter deliverers in July backed up by two months of door knocking by our valued team of Community Survey Volunteers.
The collection of paper surveys has now closed (Delivery points have SAE envelopes fo any latecomers. However it will continue to be possible to complete the survey online for the next couple of weeks with the link https://app.surveygizmo.com/distribute/share-pane/lid/2715047
And we are now working hard to prepare for the Community Conference on 24th October at Henbury School. This will be the first opportunity to assess the results from the survey and start building the Community Plan
The Summer Newsletter is now being delivered to every house in Henbury and Brentry. At the same time a paper version of the Community Action Plan survey is coming with the newsletter.
The Community Action Plan will be built on results of the survey so do please find the 30 mins it will take to complete the full survey. It is so important that we get responses from all parts of our community.
The online version of the survey which you can complete as an alternative to the paper version is available at henburybrentrycommunity.org.uk/survey
Additional paper copy can be downloaded and printed from the above link
To encourage participation in the survey all entrants can opt to be included in the prize draw with the following prizes: –
3 months swimming lessons for adult or child at Henbury Leisure Centre
1 prize of £100 cash
2 prizes of £50 cash
5 prizes of £10 cash
Community Conference February 21st 2015
This event held under the auspices of the Henbury and Brentry Community Council working together with Henbury and Southmead Neighbourhood Partnership was generally judged to be the most procductive and successful of these biennial events we have held since 2005. It was launched on the day by an inspiring talk by Trenna Blundell and Deana Perry from Southmead in which they related how they had set about creating a Community Plan involving the residents of Southmead, the amount of hard work involved and, crucially, how it had already attracted £200,000 funding for Southmead and this in the week of its actual publication.
This introductory phase continued with Lee Brailsford telling how he and his family had built the Brailsford Lights event each December from a very small family display to an amazing fund raising spectacular which raised over £8000 for charity last Christmas.
Then before the 50 attendees began the first workshop session Mark Baker from Bristol Aging Better outlined the challenges and opportunities in front of our community with an increasing proportion of older residents.
The three workshops for Youth, Working and Families, Older / Retired were set an initial task of establishing what groups / activities /organisations were already active in the community and mapping where these took place in the Ward and who was involved.
After a break for refreshments and a chance to inspect the 20 table displays brought to the conference by organisations and groups active in Henbury and Brentry the second set of three workshops as previously were held with two aims: One to establish which of the Neighbourhood Partnership Plan priorites they considered particularly relevant and advise priority and Two to brainstorm what they considered would enhance our community in the way of new opportunities / groups / events
In the concluding general session Keith Houghton informed the assembly that although the Community First funding, £30,000 of which we have had access to for local projects over the last three years had now ended there was follow on funding of £2500 for activities leading to the the creation of a Community Plan. Those present showed their support for doing just that by voting overwhelmingly to apply for this funding.
Please keep up to date with how we are going to utilise the enthusiasm demonstrated during the conference to set about the vital work of creating our Community Plan and getting in touch through our link here if you have any suugestions or questions.
And you can see good selection of photos on the Facebook Page by using this link: Facebook
Tim Parkinson
Here are the minutes