The Dings, Bristol

The Dings Community Meeting – 28th Sep 2022

Minutes

These are the minutes from out last meeting….

  1. Welcome to all
  2. Minutes of the last meeting: Agreed
  3. Missing ‘G’ from the dings sign: Sal to contact Yassin Mohammud our local councillor. The council took the ‘G’ away for safekeeping and have yet to give it back.
  4. Ball Court Lights: They are still off even though the council said they had fixed them. Sal to chase it. Many people are using the court, which is great, please be mindful of noise late at night and putting rubbish in the bins.
  5. Wates: Are building a speculative office block on the corner by the park and railway. They have given us £5000 to open a youth club for 8 – 11 year olds! They have also donated soil to replace the rubble in the planters on the outside of the park and done some repairs to the Safe ‘Ouse as well. A very big thank-you for their help!
  6. The Safe ‘Ouse: We have several groups meeting here most weekdays. However it would be great if even more people were getting use of the building, so if you have a community group looking for space please contact Sal on 07837068823, email sallycaseley@gmail.com private hires are also welcome
    • Free Maths and English Tutoring: The Hub, Students from Bristol University are restarting tutoring from the first week in November.
      • Monday: English tutoring 4 – 6pm, (Primary 4-5pm, Secondary 5 – 6pm).
      • Wednesday: Maths tutoring 4-6pm (Primary 4-5pm, Secondary 5 – 6pm).
    • A young carers group: uses the Safe ‘Ouse one day a week.
    • Older youth 11-18 year olds: 4.30-6.30pm Thursday nights (PLEASE NOTE NEW TIME). Sadly teh young people were promised trips over the summer and these were cancelled with no notice – we have been in communication with the CYN.
    • CYN, the provider for youth work in Bristol is about to have their contract up for renewal. It is unsure whether the new provider will be putting services into the dings.
    • Let’s Play: Youth club for the 8-11 year olds started on Friday the 30th of September. This is a new group and it would be great to see the children making the most of this!
    • Fundraising for the Safe ‘Ouse: It’s great that we have lots of activity in the Safe ‘Ouse but we only have one source of income. Serrie to look at local businesses sponsoring the Safe ‘Ouse so we can keep it open and hopefully make it a resource for even more people.
  7. Help with the cost of Living Crisis: You can call the free “We are Bristol” helpline to get information and advice about the cost of living crisis, including where to get help on:
  8. Warm Hubs – Check out welcoming spaces:
    • Our closest is Wellspring Settlement Cafe at Barton Hill settlement, (not the wellspring surgery!) Barton Hill Settlement, 41 – 43 Ducie Road, Bristol, BS5 0AX.
      • Open Monday to Friday 8:30am – 5pm, Welcome cafe open Tuesday and Thursday 11-2pm.
    • The Somali Resource Centre (same location) is another Welcoming Space,
      • open Mon-Thursday 3 – 5pm and Friday 11-4pm.
    • Other Locations can be found https://www.bristol.gov.uk/residents/people-and-communities/welcoming-spaces/find-a-welcoming-space
  9. Treasurer’s Report: we have approximately £8000 in the bank. £5000 is earmarked for the youth club, some is earmarked for bills, emergencies etc.
  10. Insurance: Nola is reviewing the building and contents. We have separate public liability insurance.
  11. PAT testing: Nola to look into. Do we have anyone who would be able to help the community by PAT testing?
  12. Policies: We have a safeguarding policy, we are working on other policies. If you have experience in the areas of Health and Safety or anti-bullying could you use your skills to help our community association? Contact Sal as before.
  13. Jubilee Event: Invisible Circus were not able to get funding but gave us a great show anyway. We got £500 from Thrive & £500 from Eastside Community Trust. Next year coronation themed? Watch this space….
  14. Thanks: To EE for donating their valuable time and efforts for clearing rubble from the planters on Oxford Street and filling them with Soil donated from Wates.
  15. Noticeboards: Serrie is responsible for changing the noticeboard by the CyclePath. Aleana and Anton will change the noticeboard in the park.
  16. Gardening: We have been cutting back hedges. The youth group is going to take over the planters in the park. We have a load of strawberry plants etc to give to the youth club to plant. The planter in Birkin street has been cleared and new tyre planters with flowers installed (Thank you to Roy Caseley!). Dings walk gardens have been done. Several people on Tyler street and Barton road have adopted a planter. Thanks, everyone for some well-maintained planters – it’s making the area look great! Litter picking and gardening generally every 1st Sunday of the month – check on Facebook for details
  17. Recipe Bags: We did 24 bags for childrens’ families in our last delivery.
  18. Crime: There’s a new Cyberhood watch scheme to train community residents on online risks – Simon to look into. Check out https://www.ourwatch.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer/cyberhood-watch. Car crime: someone trying car doors on Sunday morning – this is an intermittent problem.
  19. Dings Website: Ian Batten has revamped the website – looking great check us out (here!!)
  20. Building Heights: 3 proposed buildings on the other side of the park. The tallest will be 14 stories high, Kingsland Road. Concerned about blocking off light, bouncing noise, wind tunnels like we have near sainsbury’s. There is a planned walkabout this Friday at 11am, meet at the park entrance.
  21. Traffic Lights: The delay is so long that people are skipping the red light and this is becoming dangerous. Reported to the council but if you would like to add your voice, you can report via https://digital.bristol.gov.uk/streets-travel/form-transport-and-streets-traffic-lights-fault-report
  22. Businesses under the arches: are having their rent doubled which might threaten some local businesses. In brighter news, the Dings deli is coming soon (now open).
  23. Silverthorne Lane: buildings are starting to be pulled down for the new developments. The only thing not being demolished is the stone facade on Silverthorne lane with the turrets. Also buildings on Albert crescent and Feeder Road are being demolished – watch out for rats.
  24. Hannah More Primary: They have opened a new community Room which now has access from the outside, toilets and a creche room. This was paid for out of community infrastructure money so will be accessible for use by the community once procedures are in place.
  25. Can you help? We are looking for people to:
    • Sell big items we no longer need in safe ‘ouse storage
    • Update first aid box
    • Advise about policies
    • Litter pick
    • PAT testing electricals used by the youth club
    • If you can help with any of these things, please contact Sal Caseley (contact as before)
  26. Halloween: If you would like trick or treaters, put a pumpkin out. This has now passed, it was lovely to see people making an effort on such a wet night!
  27. Christmas Windows Advent Calender: Each year in the dings households light up their windows on different nights of December with the date number and their choice of display, so that by Christmas Eve there will be 24 windows around the Dings with displays like a giant advent calendar. If you would like to decorate a window, contact Helen Leckiw on 07957544530 or via the facebook group.
  28. Christmas Goodie Bags: for our senior residents will be distributed near Christmas time.
  29. Going Free: Bike and 2 scooters for free in the Safe ‘Ouse.

Date of Next meeting: Wednesday the 14th of December

If you are a Dings resident, wither in the flats or houses, you are very welcome to attend our meetings, have a say, get involved or just find out more about what is going on in your area

The dings neigbourhood association

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Serrie Justine

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