National Citizen Service piloted in East Riding

YOUNG PEOPLE in Beverley and Bridlington have been helping out in their communities as part of a Government pilot scheme.

The 15 and 16-year-olds, who have finished year 11 at school, have been volunteering and organising in a number of events throughout the summer holidays to make a difference to the area they live. They are working under the National Citizen Service (NCS), a national pilot scheme announced by Prime Minister David Cameron in February 2011.

The NCS is a flagship Government initiative, offering a fun but challenging voluntary, personal and social development programme for young people which will enable participants to become confident and socially active young adults. Piloting in summer 2011, it offers places for 15 to 16-year-olds at the end of school year 11.

The NCS in this area is run in conjunction with East Riding of Yorkshire Council and led by young people’s charity Catch22. It provides 15 and 16-year-olds with a voluntary, personal and social development programme throughout the summer holidays. Each participant will get a certificate signed by the Prime Minister and those completing the ASDAN Community Volunteering Qualification will earn themselves 30 UCAS points to help towards university.

The young people from Bridlington and Beverley who volunteered for the scheme have taken part in a course on team-building skills, have learned about their own local communities and have developed their own social action plans.

Young people in Beverley have taken part in a healthy lifestyle event at Beverley Leisure Centre, helped to create a sensory garden in Coronation Gardens after stray cows caused damage as well as volunteering at the Humberside Fire and Rescue open day at Beverley Fire Station.

In Bridlington, the young people have organised a sun awareness campaign in conjunction with Cancer Research UK and made UV bead bracelets to give away, they have organised a litter awareness campaign in conjunction with Keep Britain Tidy, which included beach cleans on the north and south beach. Both events have been supported by the Bridlington Lions and Christ Church Community Action Team.

Councillor Julie Abraham, portfolio holder for children, young people and schools at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said: “I am so impressed by what these young people have achieved in their community. Young people have had a bad press after recent events in parts of the country and this proves that they should not all be labelled the same. It is a great example to demonstrate the hard-working and community minded children and young people we have in the East Riding.”

Kevin Allen, youth support service manager at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said: “It shows that, given the chance, young people can make a real different to their local community. Activities of this sort certainly help to promote a more positive view of young people in their communities at a time when news items often feature a more negative one.”

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Rats! Is the rodent problem about to get worse?

RATS ARE A PERSISTENT PROBLEM in the East Riding. But while complaints about rats are falling - possibly due to severe winters killing many off - there is a real fear that the problem may be about to get much worse!

Official figures from the East Riding Council show a downward trend in the number of overall complaints received by them about rats in recent years. There were 2,443 complaints in 2007/08, 1,148 in 2008/09 and only 626 complaints in 2009/2010. However, there is a concern from public health professionals that problems with rodents - and other pests - will increase as public expenditure cuts bite into local authority budgets.

The Royal Society of Public Health brings together practitioners involved in championing public health and on the issue of Pest Control has warned:

Local Authority cuts will bring about widespread changes to the way pest control is delivered across the country. New and different approaches need to be found if we are to continue going forward in the way we deal with the pest problem, which remains at the forefront of the fight for improving public health.

Hull has seen an increase in rat infestation in its city centre and riverside areas in recent months - but the Council's ability to tackle this will be severely hampered due to the public spending cuts that the authority is facing. Is this a scenario - an increase in rat problems, and a decrease in funding to tackle them - one that we are likely to face in the East Riding?

Rats are considered a public nuisance. They can carry a wide range of diseases that are potentially harmful. Leptospirosis (Weil's disease) can be fatal to humans. Other diseases, such as Toxoplasmosis and Salmonella, affect both humans and animals, and parasites living on rats can present a further hazard. Rats are omnivores and will eat almost anything and they contaminate everything they encounter with droppings, urine and hairs.

Rats use the sewers as a convenient route to travel through - a rats 'tube system'. Yorkshire Water are responsibile for keeping them clear of rats, but there is also a duty on local authorities to ensure land and buildings in their district are kept free from the rodents.

The East Riding Council says on its website that it has no statutory duty to investigate or treat any pest infestations, and therefore only provides a chargeable pest control treatment service. It says that it can take up to 8 weeks to treat an infestation. Further information is available at: East Riding Council - Pest Control.

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Did you know...? 

BRIDLINGTON HAS SEEN MORE COMPLAINTS about rats than any other area in the East Riding over the last two years! 

With 111 complaints about rats reported to the East Riding Council then the seaside resort has emerged as the area with the most problems. Beverley was next in the 'rats league' with 88 complaints, Hessle had 85 complaints and Cottingham had 72.

This compares to only 13 complaints in Hedon over the same two-year period, while in Hull, between August 2009 and July 2010, there were 592 total rat complaints.

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Council recognised in 'Best Service Team' awards

EAST RIDING council’s streetscene team has been given a customer service excellence award which recognises the team’s innovative ways of working (see the Association of Public Service Excellence website). The team were finalists in the Best Service Team: Building/Facilities Cleaning category.

Assessors were particularly impressed with the way staff work closely with communities to provide the services they want. Two schemes in particular were singled out as showing best practice. The first was a pilot in the Holderness area to improve service delivery by training staff to take on several roles in rural parishes. The second is a consultation with residents in an area of Bridlington about what they would like to see planted.

The pilot scheme in Holderness has seen staff who have traditionally taken on grounds maintenance roles trained to carry out a wider range of tasks including grass cutting, strimming and sweeping, minor pothole repairs, sign washing, litter-bin painting, and pruning hedges including those over-hanging signs and footways.

Small teams of around three were given specific villages in the pilot area to work in, which they visited every three weeks during the summer months. Communities representatives have been consulted on the work they would like to see done, and for their feedback on what has been achieved.

At the same Awards Event in September, Hull City Council were not only recognised as finalists in the Overall Council of the Year category, but the council-owned contractor Kingstown Works Ltd actually beat the competition to win the Best Information and Communication Technology Initiative.

Links: 

East Riding Council

Hull City Council

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Bumper Bank Holiday Beaches!

Resorts throughout the East Riding are preparing for a bumper bank holiday weekend.

WITH SUNNY WEATHER predicted this weekend, thousands of visitors are expected to make their way to the East Riding’s coastal resorts - especially Bridlington.

If the weather in Bridlington is as good as predicted an extra land train will be laid on to support the Spa Light Express land train and the Spa Light Explorer coach. This will increase the frequency of services - and the number of passengers that can be carried - between the resort’s brand new park and ride facility at South Beach and The Spa Bridlington.

This weekend’s bank holiday is the first since the new park and ride facility in South Cliffe, near Bridlington has been fully open. The popular facility is expected to be well-used this weekend by families from throughout the East Riding and beyond looking to park there and make their way into Bridlington.

Land trains and coaches from the facility usually run every ten to fifteen minutes, but this weekend the service could mean people wait less than ten minutes to be picked up.

Numbers in Bridlington should be further swelled by two popular events at Sewerby Hall and Gardens - a thoroughbred car rally and a Roman re-enactment event. Visitors can view the many historic vehicles on display and chat with their owners. The popular country house and gardens is also served by regular land trains which run to and from Leisure World, on Bridlington’s North Beach.

The warm weather predicted for the weekend is also expected to lure thousands of people to the region’s other beaches, including Hornsea and Withernsea throughout the bank holiday week.

For more about Bridlington see www.bridlington.net. For more local activities, see the What's On guide on the Hedon Blog.

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People from throughout the country have been delighted by The Spa Bridlington’s summer show for 2010.

Britain’s Got Variety started last month and has been entertaining audiences visiting Bridlington from across the UK as well as people from the local area. Customers who have seen it have described it as ‘wonderful’ and ‘absolutely outstanding’.

The show features international female impersonator Ceri Dupree, ventriloquist Paul LeVent (pictured) and violinist Victoria Yallop as well as singers and dancers performing musical medleys including the songs of Take That and Mamma Mia.

It will run every Wednesday and Thursday until Thursday, 9 September.

Tickets can be booked by contacting The Spa’s box office at the venue or on (01262) 678258. Online bookings are also available at www.thespabridlington.com

The show costs £12.50 for adults, £10.50 for concessions or £8.50 for children. A family ticket for two adults and two children costs £38.

Source: East Riding Council

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