Cotswold Leisure, Cirencester is ready to re-open its doors with an open weekend of fun activities for all the family on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd March.

The Centre was forced to close when its plant room was extensively damaged by 70,000 gallons of flood water after the unprecedented rainfall which hit Gloucestershire in July last year.
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Tags: cirencester | floods | health | open day

Gloucestershire has been named as a Pathfinder authority by the Government for supporting children and young people at risk of or experiencing emotional or mental health needs.

That means that Gloucestershire County Council and Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust (PCT) working together will get additional funding from the Government to support these vulnerable children through their schools. This will be £325,000 for 2008/09, £222,000 for 09/10 and £155,000 for 10/11.

Improving the emotional health and wellbeing of children and young people is a key priority in the Gloucestershire Children and Young People’s Plan. This funding will help implement our Emotional Health and Wellbeing Strategy, which has just been agreed by all the main organisations working with children (January 2008).

Gloucestershire will be targeting four groups of schools, selected on the needs of children in the area - one group in Gloucester, one in Cheltenham, one in the Forest of Dean and one in Cirencester. The project will be evaluated during its second and third years to find out whether it’s been successful and whether it could be extended to the rest of the county.

The Pathfinder funding will help schools develop existing services which have an impact on children and young people’s emotional health and well-being, including healthy schools, work to tackle bullying and a primary mental health worker for schools. It will also build on services already delivered successfully for children and young people by organisations working together, including implementing the Emotional Health & Wellbeing Strategy, services provided by Youth Offending Service (YOS) and health and social care professionals working together to support vulnerable children in care.

General services will be aimed at the whole school community, with more targeted services for children with greater needs and support aimed at vulnerable groups, including children with disabilities and Black & Minority Ethnic children.

It’s hoped the project will have an impact on:

• Reducing persistent absence from school
• Reducing permanent exclusions
• Reducing referrals to social care and CAMHS (Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service)
• Reducing re-referrals to social care and CAMHS
• Increasing the number of children choosing healthy lifestyles
• Raising the educational attainment of children
• Increasing the number of children who are ‘happy’ or ‘quite happy’ most of the time

Cllr Joan Nash, Cabinet Member for Schools, said: “I am delighted that Gloucestershire County Council has been awarded this status. This will build on the good practice already going on in the county’s schools to promote the importance of good mental health. This funding will enable relevant services to target those children and young people who are most in need of prevention and intervention. This will not only impact on their mental wellbeing, but will also improve their overall health and ultimately, their educational attainment.”

Jan Stubbings, Chief Executive of Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust, said: “The award of Pathfinder status is testament to the effective joint working and co-operation that exists between the NHS, County Council and a range of other community partners in Gloucestershire. This extra funding and the opportunities we now have to develop existing services means we can do even more to support vulnerable children and young people and lead on developing best practice which will benefit other areas of the country.”

Gloucestershire is one of 25 council areas named as Pathfinders for the Targeted Mental Health in Schools project.

Source: Gloucestershire County Council

Tags: gloucestershire | education | health

Cirencester’s Cotswold Leisure Centre is due to re-open its doors to the public on March 1st following complex repairs to extensive flood damage, Cotswold District Council announced today.

The Centre’s plant room was damaged by 70,000 gallons of flood water after the unprecedented rainfall which hit Gloucestershire on July 20th. The building and its contents are fully insured and the Council is also insured for loss of revenue at the Centre.

A complex schedule of work and repairs, costing approximately £800,000, has followed a major clean-up operation and the Council and its insurers Royal and Sun Alliance have now named the date for re-opening, bar any unforeseen difficulties.

The Council’s Portfolio holder for Property & Benefits, Cllr Nick Parsons, said: “We fully appreciate that our members have now been without their leisure facilities in Cirencester for more than four months.

“We must not forget that this is a massive undertaking to rebuild the very heart of the centre requiring a great deal of complex work in a confined space.

“Our contractors EIC Ltd are working exceptionally hard to get the building open again and we are looking forward to welcoming members old and new on March 1st.”

Much of the plant room equipment that was ruined, including boilers, electrical systems, control panels and water filtration plant, is taking several months to replace and re-install due to the high-tech components required.

While the Centre has been closed, the Council has provided classes at local schools and offered members the use of its facilities at Tetbury, Fairford, Bourton and Chipping Campden at no charge.

The July flood was caused when road drainage was unable to cope with the rainfall and the subsequent overflow of a nearby lake.

Cllr Parsons added: “Thousands of buildings were affected by the floods and the Cotswold Leisure Centre was just one of them. The Council is satisfied that the building and its drainage meet the required standards for all but the most exceptional cases.

“However, we cannot be sure that there will not be a repeat of the unprecedented circumstances of July. As such, the Council has agreed to spend £100,000 on further flood prevention measures to further protect the Centre as best it can.”

In addition, Royal and Sun Alliance have engaged an expert hydrologist to report on water run-off and drainage outside the boundaries of the leisure centre.

The vast majority of Cotswold Leisure Centre’s staff have been re-deployed by the Council during the closure. Their new roles have included life guarding at the town’s open air pool, helping to collect flood-damaged furniture and providing extra help to cover holidays across Council teams, such as planning, printing, licensing, visitor information centres, housing and museums. Staff have also hosted roadshows around the District highlighting changes to the Council’s waste services.

Tags: cirencester | floods | gloucestershire | health

Recent figures suggest Gloucestershire has one of the highest levels of smoke-free compliance anywhere in the country.

The figures submitted from all six local authorities in Gloucestershire show an extremely high level of people and premises stubbing their cigarettes out. As a whole, Gloucestershire made 3204 visits to businesses between July 1st - September 30th, returning smokefree premises of 99.75% and signage compliance at 82.8%.

And around England, the national picture is also very strong, with nationwide compliance reported at 97.8% for smokefree premises, and 83.3% of premises displaying the required signage.

Lizzie Willis, a Smokefree Enforcement Officer, explained how keen people were to follow the new rules:

“We have had to issue a few verbal and written warnings, but so far haven’t needed to issue any fines - in fact the vast majority of people are enjoying the new legislation.”

Cabinet member for Housing and Health, Andrew Gravells said:

“Being an ex-smoker myself I understand how difficult it is to break the habit. I want to thank both the residents and businesses of Gloucester for their cooperation and efforts to make the new no smoking law a success. Gloucester has adapted extremely well and has become a healthier city in which to live, work and socialise.”

“These results are very good news for the county”, said Shona Arora, Director of Public Health.

“In the year following Scotland’s smokefree legislation, hospital admissions due to heart attacks were halved,” she said.

“If we can achieve similar successes we will have moved a long way to improve public health within the County”.

Tim Dowan, the county’s smoke free liaison officer, added:

“Gloucestershire’s businesses have embraced the new laws and taken a very positive approach to the changes, but, while we are very happy with the results, we can’t afford to be complacent.

“Winter is coming and people could be tempted to light up inside to protect themselves from the elements. However, we will continue to be vigilant and remind people that anyone found smoking in a place where they shouldn’t is likely to receive a fine of £50 and anyone allowing smoking in a place required to be smokefree could receive a fine of up to £2500.”

Kate Gegg of Gloucestershire Smoking Advice Service added:

“People are fed up with having to nip outside for a cigarette; we have a team of professional stop-smoking specialists who are ready and waiting to help them stop.”

You can contact Gloucestershire Smoking Advice Service on 08454 22 00 40 or contact Tim Dowan, Smokefree Public Places Liaison Officer, on 07985 126601

Tags: gloucestershire | health

A special scheme set up by Cotswold District Council to help older people get fit and feel more confident is proving a new lease of life for many.

Active and Able was first launched in Autumn 2005 and boasts 23 weekly classes in postural stability and Tai Chi at 13 different venues. The classes, designed to help reduce the risk of falls, improve balance problems and help people with bone problems, are all run by trained fitness instructors.

Classes have a range of participants, both male and female, and not only do they provide health and fitness boosts, but they also help members find new friends and rediscover lost confidence.

Betty Pollard from South Cerney is one resident who has been reaping the benefits of the Active and Able scheme. The 86-year-old has been attending Wednesday afternoon classes for almost two years after suffering a series of nasty falls. The former tailor and shop assistant said:

“I had lost my confidence completely and these classes have helped me a lot, because my confidence is slowly coming back.
“It’s so important at my age to be able to be independent and be out and about and I’m sure these experiences are helping me.”

All classes run for an hour, and a typical session would involve a warm up exercise – to stretch arms, legs and knees – before taking part in a range of stamina and balance exercises.

Each class costs £2.80 per session, which includes health and fitness assessments.
If you think these classes could be for you, please contact Jeanette Hughes at Cotswold District Council on 01285 623450.

For a full list of the classes on offer, please visit Cotswold District Council’s website at www.cotswold.gov.uk

Tags: gloucestershire | health