Park Visitors Survey – West Northamptonshire

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West Northants Council manages over 160 parks and open spaces. Parks and open spaces provide vital opportunities for recreation, contributing to the physical and mental health of the people of West Northamptonshire as well as being important for habitats, supporting local wildlife and biodiversity.

The Council would like to know your thoughts on certain major parks that exist in West Northamptonshire. If you would like to comment on more than one park, please complete a separate survey for each park. All of the Parks are listed in the attached link which can be found here: West Northamptonshire Parks Visitors Feedback Survey – West Northamptonshire Council – Citizen Space

Local Area Partnerships in West Northamptonshire

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Local Area Partnerships (LAPS) are now up and running across West Northamptonshire. In total, there are 9 LAPS covering Northampton, Daventry, and South Northants.

Details on these can be found by clicking on this link: West Northamptonshire Local Area Partnerships | Live your best life (wpcomstaging.com)Each LAP is made up of organisations that are working together in Partnership to provide services for their local communities.

Sir Keir Starmer to outline Labour’s vision for the charity sector at Pro Bono Economics (PBE) event.

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  • Labour leader to deliver keynote speech joined by 17 shadow ministers.
  • Major summit to be attended by 150 charity leaders.
  • Charities vital to solving big issues facing UK today, says PBE.
  • New polling shows public agree – they are five times more likely to trust charities than government to understand key issues affecting them.
  • Charities being asked to do more than ever, but with £1.7bn less in government funding and significant drop in volunteers.
  • Next government needs strategy to unleash sector’s full potential.

Sir Keir Starmer will outline his vision for how the charity sector can help deliver Labour’s five missions for Britain in government, as part of a major Pro Bono Economics (PBE) event on Monday (January 22).

The Labour leader will deliver the keynote speech to 150 charity leaders at the Labour and Civil Society Summit in central London and will be joined at the event by 17 shadow ministers, including frontbenchers Wes Streeting, Yvette Cooper and Bridget Phillipson.

It marks the first time in more than a decade that a major party leader in Britain has set out a vision for the charity sector and comes as new polling shows the British public are five times more likely to trust charities, rather than government, to understand the key issues affecting them.

As public services continue to come under mounting strain, the nation’s charities are being asked to do more than ever to support the most vulnerable in society. But in the wake of the pandemic and subsequent cost of living crisis, the sector now receives £1.7 billion less in government funding than it did in 2009/10. There has also been a significant drop in volunteers in recent years, with around 4 million fewer regular volunteers in England post-pandemic.

With no clear vision for the sector set out by a political leader since David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ in 2010, PBE is calling for the next government to treat the sector as a strategic partner equal to UK business, rather than simply a lowest-cost provider of public services, in order to unleash its full potential.

A new YouGov poll of the public, conducted for PBE and the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), found that more than a third (36%) of people think that charities are best-placed to understand the issues affecting people in the UK today, more than five times the number of people who think the government is best-placed

Overall, almost six in 10 (59%) adults in the UK think that government should listen more to charities when thinking about the long-term challenges facing the country, with just 5% saying it should listen less.

And nearly a third (32%) think that government should encourage more wealthy people to support charities, while three in 10 (30%) say that charities should be more involved in decision-making.

Matt Whittaker, CEO of Pro Bono Economics, said:

“The UK’s charities are essential to solving the major challenges we face as a country today. They are equally pivotal to both Rishi Sunak’s five pledges as Prime Minister and Keir Starmer’s five missions for a Labour government.

“The public recognise the importance of the sector and have greater faith in the country’s charities than policymakers at present. Our new polling finds that the public are five times more likely to trust charities, rather than government, to understand the key issues affecting them.

“Yet Keir Starmer’s speech today is the first time a political leader in the UK has set out a strategic vision for how the sector can serve as a partner to government since David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ concept in 2010. Since then, the sector has changed enormously and now has a workforce totalling just shy of 1 million.

“While it has grown in size and become ever more vital to supporting the most vulnerable in society, the charity sector has had to deal with £1.7 billion less government funding in real terms and 4 million fewer volunteers over the same period.

“Charities sit at the centre of everything the nation aspires to – from the health of the economy to the quality of life we enjoy. It is vital then that the government which comes to power following the next general election does what it can to help the sector unleash its full potential.”

New year new lights for Northampton based charity

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Staff at a Northampton based charity will experience a brighter future thanks to an energy efficient office lighting upgrade supported by a grant from Northampton Town Council.

Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire, who operate from headquarters on St Giles’ Street, were recently awarded £5,000 from the council’s Climate Change Grant Scheme.

The offices are now fitted with new, high output LED halo panel lights, which are expected to save the organisation almost £1,600 a year in running costs and use 72% less energy than the original light fittings – equivalent to an annual CO² saving of 2.18 tonnes.

The lighting upgrade also includes motion sensors in lesser used areas of the building, to switch on lights on only when they are needed.

Councillor Andrew Stevens, Chair of Northampton Town Council’s Environmental Services Committee and Climate Change Forum, said: “We are delighted to support Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire through our Climate Change Grant Scheme, as this new lighting will reduce the organisation’s carbon emissions and operating costs, helping them to continue their support of voluntary organisations within the county.

“The grant scheme is part of the council’s commitment to reducing emissions in Northampton, while raising awareness of the challenges posed by climate change, and we encourage community groups, charities and schools to apply if they have an idea that could have a positive environmental impact.

“Small changes can make a big difference and we hope that this example will inspire others to consider what they could do to help tackle climate change and also save money on their energy bills.”

Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire is the local infrastructure organisation for Northampton, providing information, advice, training and support to other voluntary sector organisations, acting as the strategic link between the sector and statutory organisations such as health and local authorities, and delivering direct services such as community transport and befriending.

Becky Thornton, Development Manager at Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire, said: “We are grateful to the Town Council for providing this funding, as our old lighting was costly to run and emitted poor light levels.

“Each fitting had a maximum lifespan of 15,000 and the spent fluorescent tubes were difficult to recycle, possibly ending up in landfill.

“As well as the electricity savings, these lights have a lifespan of up to 50,000 hours, hugely reducing maintenance costs, and LED panels are much brighter, creating a more pleasant environment for our staff and visitors.”

To find out more about the Climate Change Grants scheme and the Town Councils other grants, please visit: https://www.northamptontowncouncil.gov.uk/grants

 

 

VIN is awarded the Community Health Champions Fund

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Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire has been awarded the Community Health Champions Funding for the next two years.

The Community Health Champion volunteers shall promote healthy lifestyles and have a focus on sharing information on health-related matters, including long-term health conditions, and signpost to the services and support available. Working in partnership with Public Health West Northamptonshire, this programme will deliver Volunteer Health Champions across West Northants, with the Local Area Partnership Area (LAP) known as Central (N4) being a priority area. The N4 Local Area Partnership (LAP) has identified respiratory disease as a priority area for action. Respiratory disease covers a wide variety of conditions, including common conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer, infections such as pneumonia and flu, and less common diseases such as interstitial lung disease and mesothelioma. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, respiratory diseases (those affecting the airways and lungs) were diagnosed in 1 in 5 people in England and were the third biggest cause of death.

The Breathlessness Pathway is a programme of work being developed to address inequalities in respiratory care. It aims to better understand the experiences of those groups most vulnerable to health inequalities and respiratory conditions, and develop initiatives to address inequities in access, outcomes, and experiences. Within this the Community Health Champions Award is pivotal. Over the coming months VIN will be working with a range of stakeholders (including the VCSE) to drive this programme.

Russell Rolph (CEO of VIN) states:

We are delighted to have received this funding from Public Health West Northamptonshire and look forward to engaging with stakeholders and the community on this piece of work. This is hopefully the first of many volunteer programmes which will address specific health inequality themes through the provision of advice and information. It gives an opportunity for members of the public to dip their toes into the world of volunteering, receive training and support and see some remarkable outcomes for their efforts. If anyone is interested in volunteering for this programme then contact info@voluntaryimpact.org.uk in the first instance and we will be back in touch.