An important community appointment for this Wednesday 24th February, it’s the Lewisham Central Ward Assembly and takes place from 7 pm to 9 pm, at the Methodist Church in Albion Way SE13 6BT.
I’ve been involved with the Assemblies as a member of the coordinating group for 2 consecutive years, since the local assemblies were set up in fact, replacing the old Area Forum meetings, and I’m glad I took part to this process and I hope my small input in trying to organize meaningful meetings helped towards better outcomes.
I always felt that in the beginning the assembly meetings were rather over-structured and somehow lacked the spontaneity of community meetings, the set up was that of tightly managed workshop types of situation and since the results were apparent only at the following meeting those that saw only one may have missed the meaning of it all. The way the meetings work has since been reviewed and it’s now a good mixed bag of discussions, public notices and even free roaming around the buffet table.
What has happened though is that through group discussion 5 priorities for the Ward were identified:
- anti-social behaviour and crime
- lack of facilities for young people
- lack of amenities
- environment
- traffic
Bids for funding that met at least one of these priorities were encouraged and this time there’ll be presentations on the outcome of some of the successful bids for the Assembly Funds, so be ready to hear about:
- Hither Green Community Association – Hither Green Signage, Hither Green Week ad Station Regeneration;
- The Ahoy Centre – Youth boating project;
- 4th Lewisham Scout group – Yard play area;
- Grenada Benevolent Society UK – Talent and Cultural Show; weekly social events for elders and Christmas Party;
- LBL Youth Serice – Mural project and Youth Village;
- Tamil Academy of Language and Arts – cultural awarness classes;
- Hither Green Community Hall and Arts Society (HGCHAS) & St Swithun’s Church – Cinema Day;
- New You Health Camp – Boot Camp fitness day.
At this coming meeting there will be a review of the priorities and suggestions for new priorities to focus on are welcome.
Tags: community, Hither Green, Lewisham Central Ward, Local Assembly
