1.Chairman’s Opening Remarks

The Chair commented on the good turn out at the meeting and welcomed all those who had been unable to attend the last meeting. A number of papers were circulated at the start of the meeting, including minutes of the last two officers meetings and feedback from the Partnership Network event.
Roger also thanked all those who had supported the coffee morning advertised at the meeting last month. He reported that 40 -50 people attended the event and offered to publicise other community events in the same way.

2.Apologies for Absence

Apologies were received from Councillor John Evans, Neil Baldwin, Dennis English, Paul Taylor, Mrs Finn (Penmaen Post Office), Father Ron Jefford, Ann Rice Jones, Pru Robinson, Irene James AM, Don Touhig MP, Peter Gomer (CCBC) and Trevor Jones.

3. Minutes of the Last Meeting

The minutes of the last meeting were recorded as a true record. The minutes are now also on the Oakdale website.

4. Matters Arising

Talent Bank: Granville has to date only received 3 talent bank forms. Extra blank forms were made available at the meeting for those who have yet to complete one.

Officers Meeting Minutes: Two officers meetings have been held to progress the Partnership. There were no questions regarding the minutes circulated.

MUGA: There was a discussion regarding the provision of a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA) at the Comprehensive School site. The Partnership has been asked for their support with this project and therefore Councillor Allen Pritchard explained the project and answered any questions. For the last four years CCBC have been working on schemes for healthier communities by working with local people. The MUGA would provide a flood-lit all weather playing area that could be used by the school, community college and sports associations. The MUGA provides a safe environment for sporting activities.

The process is now at the bidding stage. The first round of four bids has already been successful and Oakdale has been entered under the second round with a cost of £82 - £83,000. The project has the support of the sporting organisations and it would be ideal if a representative from the partnership could be on the steering group. If the bid is successful the work will be carried out during the summer holidays this year with the facility being open for use by September.

Other such facilities installed in other communities throughout the borough have had a big impact e.g. Aberbargoed and Trinant. The MUGA is open to everyone in the community and the police have noted huge reductions in social nuisance and petty crime. The lights at the facility could be metered so that they go out at 8.30 or 9.00pm.

The facilities vary in terms of size and the way they are run. They are not supervised full time but would be overseen by the school and community college during the day in term time. Each facility is fully accessible for disabled people. Some areas operate a booking system so that various clubs and groups can book the area for training sessions. Similar projects have been very successful in other areas and the feedback from the communities has been positive.

A member of the Partnership was then nominated to sit on the project planning board. As Richard Jones had expressed an interest in sporting activities on his talent bank form he was nominated for this position, which he accepted.

5. Correspondence

Granville had received one letter from the Bevin Boys. Unfortunately, they would not be able to make the launch on April the 17th but wished the Partnership well with the event.

6. Roll In Roll Out

Granville had arranged for 2000 leaflets to be printed and these were now ready for distribution. The leaflet advertised the four launches of the partnership, library, book and website and explained more regarding the background to the Partnership. Every home will receive a leaflet over the next few days. The event will take place on Saturday the 17th April between 11.00am and 1.00pm.

The launch will be an open event for people to drop into at any time between 11.00 and 1.00pm. The presentation of the photographs and books will be made to the library on the Friday evening. On the Saturday there will be a number of displays including the Oakdale website and a digital story showing the development of Oakdale over the years. There will also be displays by community groups including the wine club, bonsai, little peeps etc. Ralph will also be available to sign copies of his book.

Granville reported that he is presently working hard to get the press involved and has contacted Derek the weatherman to ask if he will mention the event during the weather on Friday. Volunteers are also needed to help with the day. In terms of delivering the leaflets the Oakdale Focus Group had already established a distribution network but more volunteers are required. It was asked that everyone take a bundle home to deliver to his or her street.

7. Partnership Network Meeting

Robert Onions gave feedback from the Partnership Network Meeting held in Tredomen on March the 31st. The committee thought that it had been very useful in terms of meeting people from other Partnerships and listening to a presentation by the Aber Valley Partnership on what they had achieved. A number of funders had also been present to answer questions on fund raising e.g. the lottery, GAVO, Barclays Bank and the Social Risk Fund. There are a lot of opportunities for organisations to access funding for projects. Information regarding the various funders was circulated for people to take home. If you require any further information or need help with applying to funders GAVO can offer their assistance.

Tim Peppin reported that Caerphilly County Borough had also been identified as a Fairshare area and therefore even more funding is available. Through consultation, disability has been identified as a big issue and therefore this will be taken forward through Fairshare as a project for the County Borough.

Noel Young reported that there are a lot of people with disabilities and learning difficulties that would like to get involved in community activities. It was suggested that this might be a project that could be taken forward by a sub-group and various organisations could be invited to the meetings to provide information and advice e.g. CHAD, Caerphilly Access Group and the Local Health Board (Ian Fido).

Concern was expressed that there had been no representation from the police at the last two meetings. The Partnership is in touch with the police and they have offered to attend when the Partnership wish to address specific policing issues. Inspector Hocking Brown will be attending the launch on the 17th. As the police have recently undergone some changes it was suggested that they be invited to explain what their role will be over the coming years. It would also be a good idea for a member of the Partnership to sit on the Crime and Disorder panel.

The U3A groups that meet in Blackwood and Newbridge were also mentioned. Members from U3A could be invited to a meeting to explain how people can get involved.

For groups needing premises to hold events and meetings it was mentioned that in addition to the Community Centre there are a number of other buildings in the village e.g. the Rugby Club. The Voluntary Sector Forum held bi-monthly is also another way of finding out what is happening locally. It would be a good idea for a representative from the partnership or any local groups to attend the meetings. If anyone wishes to attend these meetings speak to GAVO.

Tim then briefly explained that the Partnership needs to start to think about developing a local action plan, which would identify where the Partnership wants to go in the future. Once issues of concern have been highlighted the Partnership can then start to take projects forward. In terms of funding for projects the annual GAVO Funding Day will take place on the 13th of July at the Oasis Christian Centre. In addition to those mentioned at the Partnership Network meeting there is also the Keyfund, which can be accessed for community projects.

Karen from GAVO also briefly explained about the Grantfinder that GAVO operates from their Caerphilly office. The Grantfinder can identify potential sources of funding for projects by searching a database of thousands of funding bodies.

Granville spoke about the digital story telling project that had been presented at the Network meeting. Using information technology members of the community told stories about the past and present by narrating over film. The story of Oakdale would be very appropriate for this project.

Granville then also went on to talk about the letter he had received from the Bevin Boys, who had lived in the village 60 years ago. They had been conscripted to work in the coal mining industry during the war. This could also make a very good digital story telling project. One member of the partnership has also written a history of her Chapel. The Bevin Boys will be going to St Fagans on Tuesday the 11th of May and visiting the Oakdale Institute there.

8. Audit Commission Meeting

Roger explained how members of the committee had been invited to Tredomen for a meeting with the Audit Commission. Many Partnerships were represented at the meeting, all of which are at different stages of development. The meeting was to look at how Partnerships had been set up in Caerphilly County Borough and the problems they had faced. Roger mentioned that in Oakdale the community had worked largely by themselves to get the Partnership up and running compared to the Community First areas. It was explained by Councillor Rob Gough that this was largely down to capacity and that in the future as well as Jan, Tim and Karen at GAVO there will be new Co-ordinators appointed with CCBC to work with the partnerships in Non-Communities First areas. It was also important that the idea of establishing a Partnership for the Oakdale area came from local people themselves.

Roger Morgan from the Planning Department at CCBC was also introduced to the group. Roger will try to attend meetings when he can and can be contacted regarding advice on planning issues.

9. Partnership Logo

Granville explained that there had been two officers meetings to discuss the logo. An appointment had been made with the Headmaster of the Comprehensive School along with the Head of Art and Head of Information Technology. The launch of the logo will take place in July and the judge will be local artist Michael Organ. It is hoped that we will have three winners. Richard and Paul have promised sponsorship so only one more must be found. An overall winner will then either be chosen or the artist could amalgamate the three into a design.

10. Any Other Business

Could anyone with an email address forward the details to either Granville or Karen. The bank account has been opened but is currently in the processing stage. Richard will speak to Paul regarding the sponsorship money. The Partnership will need to think about public liability insurance as an organisation, particularly if it intends to hold a carnival in the future. Granville commented that there is no telephone in operation at the Community Centre. A power point will be needed for the launch in order to set up the digital presentation. At present this is disconnected. The partnership proposed that they would pay for the first three standard charges for the telephone line if it could be re-connected. It was agreed that Doreen would speak to the other committee members at the Community Centre.

It was suggested that a carnival sub-group might be set up for next year. A newsletter sub-group also needs to be created. For any sub-groups please fill in the talent bank forms and return to Granville.

Date of next meeting. 5th May, 6.30pm Oakdale Community Centre.