Come and see for yourselves what it is really like for asylum seeking families and individuals entering the UK. Walk through an interactive multi-media exhibition, and learn first hand why some people have to flee from their own country, and what their real situation is like as they seek refuge.
Swinton Precinct—Unit 9 – 11
Next to Martins cake shop and opposite Timpsons,
(near the Station Road entrance)
Monday 14th – Friday 18th June 2010
9.30am to 5.30pm
If you would like to know more about Escape to Safety, please visit www.globallink.org.uk/exhibitions/e2s/
We are inviting schools and residents associations to the exhibitions, as well as local agencies.
Slots have to be booked for the sessions which take about 1hr – Please come along to this “eye opening” exhibition. Let’s break down the myths and barriers together!
For enquiries and bookings please contact Dina Alia on 0161 831 5451 or email Dinaa@refugee-action.org.uk
Salford has secured funding to build or improve 22 play spaces across the city between April 2009 and March 2011.
One of these sites is at Clifton Country Park. A public consultation event is planned there on Thursday 3 June between 3 and 6pm.
Young people, familes and local residents are being invited to design their own play spaces.
Can I encourage the young people and their parents, who live near the park, to attend the event and have a say in what can be an exciting, challenging and healthy play area.
Hopefully they will be able to contribute towards an asset that will be valued by current and future generations of young people.
I was somewhat surprised last week to be invited into the Leader’s office ond offered the post of Executive Support Member for Adult Social Care.
It promises to be both interesting and challeging. Some of the issues I’ll be dealing with include Mental Health, Older People, Leaerning Difficulties and Independent Living.
It’s a completely new role for me and I’m looking forward to working with Lead Member Cllr John Warmisham.
Salford’s gritting teams have been working around the clock to keep the city moving.
The authority’s five gritting machines patrol 350 miles of the city’s streets each time they go out, concentrating on keeping the busiest routes open and traffic moving.
In addition, the teams can respond to requests where there may be a serious health and safety concern.
Since the first snow fell on Sunday, more than 750 tonnes of salt have been used by the Salford team.
Dave Seager, acting assistant director of Salford City Council’s environment directorate, said: “Supplies of salt are routinely replenished and we can increase our regular order based on the latest weather forecasts. Salt always works best on icy surface but it is effective on snow when used at the right time.
“We often get calls from people saying they’ve not seen the gritters in the snow but we can assure everybody that the teams are working hard to alleviate the problems from this severe weather, particularly on the primary routes across the city.”
The start of a new year and the opportunity to join the staff at Light Oaks Junior School, where I am a governor, on one of their training days.
It was a very enlightening session on Safeguarding. Every month at scrutiny committee I see the numbers and the scale of the problem. But today it was an opportunity to join with the staff to discuss the range of potential abuse and the signs for which they must be on the look out.
Salford teenagers took on the roles of professional architects to create a £450,000 blueprint to transform their local youth centre into a 21st century venue for future generations of young people to enjoy.
The teens unveiled their grand designs at the official opening party for Clifton Youth Centre, which has been converted from a dilapidated 1960s building into a modern youth venue complete with a trendy reception area, IT suite, chill out zone, pool table, coffee shop, sexual health centre and football changing room.
Over the past 18 months, a group of Salford teenagers have project-managed the refurbishment of the youth centre in Clifton Green, which received a £452,000 Youth Capital Fund Plus (YCF+) grant from the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
Peter Cooper, Senior Youth Work Manager at Salford Council, said: “The young people really took ownership of the refurbishment. They pored over the blueprints and decided where we should pull down walls, where we should place the pool table and the type of furniture we should buy.
“There is a misconception that young people just want to hang around on street corners on Friday and Saturday nights causing trouble, but the reality is quite different.
Projects like the refurbishment of Clifton Youth Centre show that if you give young people the opportunity to take part in positive activities, they will go for it 100 per cent.”
The young people also carried out fact-finding missions to recently refurbished youth centres in Sunderland and Bury, and also handed out questionnaires to local residents and teens in Salford about what they wanted from their local youth centre.
Major issues raised by the teens included concerns about security at the venue, which were addressed by the refurbishment scheme.
At the official opening, the young people gave Anne Weinstock, Director of the Youth Taskforce, a tour of the transformed youth centre, which will be open throughout the week and every Friday night and some Saturday nights to provide positive activities for young people.
She said: “The Youth Capital Fund Plus is an example of the huge investment the government is making in the lives of young people and their communities, helping to prevent problems such as anti-social behaviour, under-age drinking and low level crime by offering young people safe places to go and interesting things to do. I would really encourage the young people in Salford to go along to Clifton Youth Centre and find out what is on offer.”
Lead member for children’s services at Salford City Council, Cllr John Warmisham said: “The transformation of the Clifton centre has been a wonderful community effort and I am proud of what our young people have shown they can do, they have really stepped up here.
“Our teenagers are the citizens of the future and we owe it to them to ensure they are given as much opportunity as possible to develop and be part of their community. Projects like this not only provide them with a fantastic resource once they’ve finished, but in putting it all together they will have learned so much.”
Through YCF+ local authorities are putting in place new or refurbished youth facilities in areas where they are most needed.
Involving young people and the wider community in the decision making process and design, these facilities will provide a safe and stimulating environment for young people in the places and at the times young people tell us activities are needed – particularly Friday and Saturday nights.
The council normally meets every two months. In two of the intervening months, June and December, we have policy forums which allow councillors to discuss a specific issue which is of importance to the council.
Today’s forum dealt with the issue of Safeguarding Children.
I have to admit that before becoming a councillor, this was a subject to which I dad paid little attention. I’d read about Baby Peter in the newspapers, but had little idea of the scale of the problems and the issues facing all local authorities.
As a member of the Children, Young People and Families Scrutiny Panel, I’ve been introduced to the subject and, with the monthly report card we receive, have started to appreciate the scale of the problem.
Today’s forum gave us the opportunity to consider some of the actual cases (with names changed to protect confidentiality). With the few cases we were able to consider, it could only scratch the surface, but gave some indication of the wide range of cases our social workers have to deal with.
For me this is an ongoing issue with a lot more to learn
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