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St
Clement's Hall protest |
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St
Clement's Church Hall is a valuable community resource paid
for by the people of Leigh over many years.
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Update
17/03/05
Leigh Horticultural Society have joied the campaigh to save
the hall and have offered £2,000 towards the cost
of refurbishment. The Society has been using the hall for
many years and doubt that they will be able to find an suitable
alternative venue.
Update 17/03/05
In
a letter to Leigh Times (15/03/05) a spokesman for the Save
Our Hall reports that questions are being raised about "how
the Hall came into being, who paid for the building and
who owned the land in 1924 when the Hall was built".
If any one has any information on these points, please let
the SOUL group know (see below).
Another letter points out that "the hall was built
using money raised by the people of Leigh; the Church only
owned the ground on which the hall was built. And the hall
was, indeed, built as a centre for the community to use".
Update 17/03/05
Plans for an Arts Centre in Leigh are close to collapse
with the group behind the project running out of venues.
A spokesman said "It looks like St Clement's Hall is
under threat now and that's the last large place in Leigh
that could be used"
Update 23/03/05
Southend West's prospective Labour Party Candidate, Jan
Etienne, lends her support to the Save Our Hall (SOUL) campaign.
She said "I have written to the church and signed the
petition to help save the hall from closure. Already it
has 2,000 signatures that show the strong feelings at a
local level. The hall is a most valuable resource in Leigh".
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It
is used by many thriving local groups for meetings and events
and its loss would seriously damage the viability of these organisations
to continue. Without this venue many community activities would
have to be scaled down or terminated for good.
Since the loss of the town's Community Centre to Southend's
Adult Education, St Clement's Hall has become in effect Leigh's
de facto community centre.
The building itself enhances the character of the town and contributes
significantly to appearance of the neighbourhood.
The Bowling Green alongside the Hall is also leased from the
church with only a six month notice period to quit. The combined
site forms a very large parcel of land which will have property
developers drooling. The
Church says it is obliged to sell the site at the highest price
it can get. This will almost inevitably mean that it will be
sold for flats with disastrous consequences for Leigh. |
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People who
are concerned about this should:
- Join
the Save our Hall (SOUL) action group. Contact Chris
Ward at Gusto delicatessen, 54 Elm Road. See Community
groups
email: mail@gotogusto.co.uk
- Support
Leigh Town Council's efforts to secure a lease for
the Hall. This attempt has lately been rejected by
the church.
- Sign
the petition (already 2000+ signatures!) held at Gusto,
54 Elm Road
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- Enrol
on the electoral roll of St Clements Church Parish.
It's easy! Just pop in to Gusto,
pick up a form and post it in the box at the church.
You will then be eligible to vote at the PCC meeting
on April 24th to overturn the decision to close OUR
hall.
- Register
your objection with Fr Havey at frkenneth@leighhill.plus.com
- Write
to Leigh Times
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| Message
in a Bottle |
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Message
in a Bottle is a new way of reassuring those who live
alone and saving lives. The bottle is kept in the
fridge and contains details of the person's next of
kin, medical condition and doctor, so that the information
can be found easily in an emergency.
It can be a simple but effective life saver.
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| The
Community Plan for Southend-on-Sea |
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Working
together to build a better future for Southend.
The
Community Plan for Southend was launched on 12th March
2003. The Community Plan is an important plan. It
is about the future of Southend and sets out the priorities
for the town over the next ten years. It
will not be just another plan – the Community
Plan is about bringing all the existing plans and
strategies for Southend-on-Sea together, so there
is one joined up approach to making Southend a better
place to live, work and visit. A
group called Southend Together has been set up to
achieve these priorities and bring about a better
Southend.
www.southend.gov.uk
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| Southend
Community Profile (from the Southend
Community Legal Partnership) |
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high percentage of elderly population reflects the nature
of coastal towns and there is an increasing number of
ethnic minority groups and asylum seekers moving into
the Borough.The unemployment rate is higher than the
Eastern Regional average and the Council have noted
the poorly skilled workforce in their Best Value review.
The percentage of people with poor literacy and numeracy
levels in Southend are higher than the Eastern Regional
average which might lead to an increase in reliance
on face to face advice, especially in welfare benefits
and debt. |
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Southend
has been ranked amongst the top 24% of deprived districts
across England, with particular levels of deprivation
in most wards (with the majority of wards ranking in
the top 20% of deprivation in both need per thousand
and total need).Local studies have identified transportation
and accessibility as a major barrier to new investment
in the Borough, a barrier which may hinder clients needing
to access legal information and advice services. The
Borough has the highest number of income support claimants
in the Eastern Region and is therefore an area with
much poverty and deprivation. |
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| Active
Communities |
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"The
Government's vision for active communities is of strong,
active and empowered communities - increasingly capable
of doing things for themselves,
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defining
the problems they face and then tackling them together.
It is a vision in which everyone - no matter their
age, race or social background - has a sense of belonging
and a stake in society."
To find out more visit www.homeoffice.gov.uk
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| Civic
Pioneer Initiative |
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Encouraging
local involvement in decision making.Efforts to encourage
local people to help shape local government policy
were given a boost today as Home Office Minister Fiona
Mactaggart,
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announced
that a further nine local authorities will join the
Civic Pioneer initiative.
To read the government report, click
here
or
visit www.homeoffice.gov.uk
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| Active
Citizenship Centre |
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The Home
Office agenda to increase community engagement. In
simple terms active citizenship is about taking part!
Citizenship
can be more than putting a cross in elections every
few years. Individuals are capable of creating a better
society through a direct and positive contribution
to their communities.
To find out more visit www.active-citizen.co.uk
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