//By Sam Dixon, Community Organiser
“In 1880 John Brown & co were listed as being the owners of Aldwarke Main Colliery. The name Aldwarke refers to an area in the Don Valley two miles north of Rotherham South Yorkshire. To the west of Aldwarke is Parkgate and to its East the villages of Dalton and Thrybergh.
Continue reading “Silverwood Colliery Heritage Group – Pop up Heritage Centre”
//By Dan Barron, Community Organiser
Back in August 2021 Cllr Ian jones was promoting a community meeting for those interested in in a community project at Masbrough Cemetery. Attending the meet was Cllr Ian jones, Chris Willis and 5 Masbrough residents. Cllr Ian jones started the introductions and we all spoke about our reasons for attending. Some residents were interested in the meeting because they have family members buried on the site and others have identified their ancestors buried on the site as well as having local connections.
Chris Willis the bereavement officer for RMBC spoke to us all and answered our questions about the cemetery, gave us a tour of the site and was able to talk to us about the current usage of the cemetery. Whilst we were walking around Chris highlighted areas of the grounds that had succumbed to the green overgrowth as we saw grave sites overrun with ivy, shrubbery due to the lack of maintenance. We also spoke about the 2 chapels being 1 of 3 sites in the UK to have both an Anglican and catholic chapel built as a mirror image that also separated the burial land by religion. Chris was very informative and spoke about the current situation of the site, services involved and other Friends of projects that the bereavement services are operating in other areas. Whilst at the site we decided on another meeting but this time we want to get stuck in with a community day of action to start working on the overgrowth of green mass currently residing in the grounds. So we have set up an official Friends of Masbrough Cemetery Group as a page to communicate future activities, events and relevant topics. The group is just over 6 weeks old now and already has 98 members who have joined the group. The page has seen over 1000 photos uploaded to the page as well as interactions asking about relatives, events.
Continue reading “Friends of Masbrough Cemetery”
//By Rob Gooding, Community Organiser
Rob supported the group to get CCTV fitted at the centre after a break in that resulted in the groups garden furniture being stolen, this was achieved through the Housing Hubs funding. Throughout the lockdowns members have supported each other and kept in touch, and even managed to hold a few outdoor sessions on their gardens, as restrictions have eased the group have slowly started to meet up back at the centre for their coffee and cake mornings and members have slowly grown back to pre-covid numbers.
The group decided to highlight some special people who work in the community and held a special coffee morning inviting people that had helped the group over the pandemic. Invited for the celebration were Councillor Biggin (Town Councillor), Rob Gooding (Rotherham Federation), Julie Jones (Tesco Community Champion) and Iain Cloke (Age UK).
//By Sharon Smith, Community Energy Advisor
I met with a client at a drop-in session for one to one advice after having delivered a presentation around priority services register and the warm home discount.
The client was paying £60.00 per month for water which includes ongoing charges and arrears which the client is struggling with and is starting to impact on his ability to keep up with his other energy bills.
We discussed water meters and the client wanted to go ahead and trial one as well as register for priority services on his water – he is already registered for priority services on his gas and electricity.
We called Yorkshire Water and spoke to Jaya, who confirmed client is not on a meter and has annual charges £378.58 with a balance outstanding which currently stands at £988.33.
I explained that the client is struggling financially and was transferred to collections where we spoke to Carly. Carly agreed to reduce ongoing payments to £48.00 which the client pays every 4 weeks, saving him £156.00 per year. We also requested a water meter for the client and it was agreed for an engineer to visit and hopefully fit one in Mid October. It was estimated that this will reduce his bill to £216.00 per year saving a further £162.00 per year after installation. I also registered the client with the Priority Services Register for constant supply and meter readings.
During the conversation the client also mentioned he has other debts and would like a referral to Making Your Money Go Further and then onto Citizens Advice to discuss debt options.
//By Noor Salih, Community Energy Advisor
September has been a busy month for us – from providing advice on the current energy market to ensuring that we hand out our winter warmer packs to our most vulnerable clients across Rotherham. One of our clients is from an active community group, who has had an ongoing complaint with their energy provider about a refund amount and the incorrect information on the bill.
At the community group drop-in session we discussed the complaint process, who OFGEM are and what their rights are as a consumer when making a formal complaint. Our client explained that they have an ongoing complaint within the complaints department over a bill dispute, I showed them how to calculate their bill and went over bank statements to ensure they had received their refund. The refund was received but the bill was showing that our client had also been charged for the refund.
I explained what a ‘customer service failure’ is in the eyes of the Ombudsman and how to speak to their complaint case handler. Our client is now more confident on how to understand their bill, what they are entitled to as a consumer with an ongoing complaint. They received a correct amended bill and got a healthy amount of gesture of goodwill.
//By Rachel Cole, Projects Officer
The Centres reopened on Monday 19 July and the following week I popped to see Peter at the Dorothy Taylor Centre on Leverton Way, Dalton. It was lovely to meet Peter and the other members of the group. I have been speaking to Peter on a regular basis for the past 8 months so it was lovely to put a face to his name. The group currently has 6 very active members, however, they are hoping the numbers will grow now that restrictions are being lifted. Peter has been doing a fish and chip run every Friday for the local residents, this will continue but the residents will now enjoy them in the Centre. The group meet every Tuesday and Friday and do various activities. From my budget I purchased a slow cooker for this group as theirs has recently failed its PAT test. They were so grateful as it will enable them to do their monthly cooking sessions. I look forward to working with Leverton Way Tara and all the other groups in my area.
//By Claire Stinson, Community Support Worker & Karen Jay, Community Support Worker
One of the guys has got a job, albeit on agency but the guys from Good Work have contacted him and are going to support him to get a full-time job. He’s worried about buying boots etc. for going back into work so we gave him the contact details for Access to Work to see if they can help. He’s so happy with what we’ve done that he’s told his ex-wife to come and see us, along with her ex-partner. He’s chuffed to bits and said thanks to talking to us, it gave him the kick he needed to get things done.
Unfortunately, his job with the agency didn’t work out, because it didn’t suit him and the barriers he faces daily but he’s still being supported by Good Work and his job hunt is going well. With the support of Good Work, they will ensure the next job will be more suitable to his needs. Until then, he will still be getting the support from Social Supermarket to make sure he can still feed himself and his daughter.
We also had a conversation about his TV license, he’d been paying £25 since 2018. He said he was going to leave it, until I calculated that it would be nearly £500, they owe him. His eyes lit up and he said he’s going to call them back. TV licensing investigated it for him and they’ve agreed he’s paid too much. He’s now got his TV license free until the end of next year and will be getting a cheque for two hundred pounds.
//By Rob Gooding, Community Organiser
I met with Emma about Sunnyside Supplies. So far, the group have delivered over 2000 food parcels over the pandemic to customers in the Bramley and Ravenfield area,
The group are wanting to turn the food bank into a social supermarket with a social café after visiting the Rotherham minister, the group have asked for advice how to do this as well as help with changing the constitution and putting risk assessments in place by the 6/7/2021 as this is the date the group want to make the transition.
The group already have 22 existing members wanting to access the supermarket when it opens and are planning a big advertising push on Facebook alongside a leaflet drop.
The proposed changes were adopted at the group’s AGM on 29/06/2021 along with a new committee to help run the social supermarket and café. The group have asked to become Rotherfed members and are wanting to run money management sessions in the café.
//By Rachel Cole, Projects Officer
As part of the Community Pride initiative, we have been providing 40-yard roll on roll off skips on a quarterly basis for the past few years. We hold them in different areas of the village and they have always been very well accepted and much needed.
Due to the Covid 19 pandemic and the restrictions in place, we have not been able to have any skips in the village and the last one was in late 2019.
Litter picks have continued throughout the pandemic to help keep the village tidy, however, people have been unable to get rid of the larger items.
On Saturday 26 June we ordered two community skips for the village, one went on the Miners Institute carpark and one at the top of the village on Loxley Road. Also, for the first time we hired a man with a van to collect rubbish from people’s gardens which they were struggling to get rid of. This proved to be really successful with over 14 houses asking for help. This is something that we definitely do again.
Eight volunteers helped manage the skips and the new local MP Alexander Stafford attended as did both the new local elected members for the Thurcroft and Wickersley South Ward, Zach Collingham and Thomas Singleton, who all got stuck in and helped people to get their items onto the skip. The Rotherham Advertiser also came along and took a couple of photographs, which will hopefully be in this week’s newspaper.
By 11.30am both skips were full and ready to be collected. We will look at having another skip in a month or two at the bottom of the village so the whole village has been covered.
All in all, it was a very successful Saturday morning.
//By Sam Dixon, Community Organiser
Part of a listening that came from a local resident suggested that something needs to be done around how women feel in their community. Do they feel safe? Are there black spots recognized within the neighbourhood that women avoid?
I approached RUCST (Rotherham United Community Sports Trust) as I was aware that they were already working with women in other areas. RUCST were already looking for another opportunity to replicate their current program of work so we were able to quickly turn our ideas around and start our project.
The project consists of 14 weekly walks in and around Herringthorpe Valley Park, some sessions delivered to help women recognize services that can support them and a self defence session.
The first few sessions have been really successful, with different women from different backgrounds attending. Everyone is getting to know each other and we’re slowly building up relationships, the conversations are getting more in depth and I aim to get some more opinions and see how the community could work together to improve going forward.
