There is lots going on at THCAT and around the Heath just now so do take the time to read them, keep yourself informed and see what you can do to help.
Minutes of THCAT Meeting
Tuesday 28/11/17 (7-8:30pm)
St.Paul’s Church
(24 attendees)
Apologies for absence: Chris, Barbara, Alison Butler, Surel
Small groups to share actions they have taken (big or small):
- Hannah delivered Chronicles, litter picked and reported rubbish
- Flora Sandes pub spokesperson: trying to save the pub as a community hub. Support for this campaign has been extremely good.
- Mohammed delivered CR7market leaflets to schools and spoke to the mosque to try and hold one of our meetings there.
Christmas Market and ice rink: Andrea, Van, Mohammed and Ian
- The ice rink has now raised £1,500. A race night at the Prince George and a raffle is hoping to raise more funds for it.
- There will be 4 penguins to go round the rink with 35 people allowed at a time. 2 volunteers are going to supervise.
- The Christmas market will have 30 stall holders offering arts and craft as well as local food (with hygiene certificates). They will be situated outside Ambassador House, Tesco, Job Centre and Prince George.
- There will be an indoor market in the Salvation Army Hall with 20 stalls from local clubs. Also children’s workshops.
- Volunteers are greatly needed on the day.
- It is suggested that the Council should be approached for extra litter bins, a community clear up rubbish collection and a good street clean at the end of the day (Linda)
- The next market date is Saturday 27th January 2018 to coincide with the Trumble Gardens Illumination installation.
- The Christmas tree will be set up near the Clocktower on Sunday 10thDecember at 2pm. Some decorations will also be placed on the railings outside Ambassador House and the alley way to the ice rink decorated for the 16th.
- Jamie will give some awards
- It is suggested that control barriers should be used for the ice rink (check with the ice rink company if they have them - Andrea , and if not, request from the council - Linda).
- Jamie will support our request for police presence available on the day.
Meetings with Council: Regen team and empty shops campaign
- The Council and our team have agreed to meet every 6 weeks. The next meeting is on Wednesday 13th December.
- No business interested yet in taking any empty shop but Mitra and Andrea have contacts.
- Ambassador House is being looked into by the Council but we must keep them focussed on action with the many landlords who own the property but leave it empty.
- Mitra bought an interesting display of clothes hangers (made into a Christmas tree) from one of her contacts. She also knows of a retailer who might be interested and she contacted Richard Green about it.
The Leisure Centre: Next steps. Jamie
- Fusion have lost their contract with Croydon Council to run leisure centres in Croydon.. GLL have been given the new contract for the next 20years. Many attendees queried why such a long-term contract was awarded but Jamie does not have the answer. He will try and find out as well as answers to other questions raised. The next meeting is at the Leisure Centre on Monday 11thDecemberat 7.00pm.
The Street Action Project: Linda & Gaëtane
- The 2 year project funded by the Peoples Health Trust was detailed for the new attendees.
- A monitoring visit by a Grants Officer from the Trust, Mary Carruthers, took place on Tuesday 23rd November with 4 Street Leaders taking part: Marley, Chetna, Beulah and Mary. 2 more Street Leaders were due to take part (Cynthia and Obi) but the rep only had 3 hours for her visit.
- Many examples of improvements in the targeted streets were displayed.
- The Grants Officer was duly impressed and wrote a very positive report from her visit.
Don’t Mess With Thornton Heath (DMWTH) leaflets: Graham
- Graham gave out several maps of Thornton Heath with the targeted streets highlighted in pink.
- Nearly 4,000 leaflets will soon have been distributed.
- Some attendees offered to help distribution which Graham welcomed.
- The leaflets are having an impact on the cleanliness of the streets.
Parks & Community spaces: Andrea, Jamie, Graham
- Trumble Gardens update: 50 people joined a meeting there.
- The contractors are failing to keep the park in good order. We must keep the pressure on them to do so.
Pond Project: Pete
- The roundabout at the Pond is drab so the project is to try and improve it to make it brighter and cleaner.
- £500 is available from the Council for more work there.
- Next Sunday, more shrubs are to be planted.
THCAT Facebook: Ian, Van
- An interruption was made by a new attendee who is a resident of St.Paul’s Square (Christina) about the difficulties for people to access THCAT if they are not IT proficient.
- Ian suggested that our website could be updated with names of Committee members, history of THCAT and updated aims. Van confirmed that this could be done.
Brigstock House Christmas event: Van
- The event is to take place on Thursday 21st December between 3-5pm at the refugee centre.
- Donations of food, books,toys etc are welcome and Van offered to collect if necessary.
Youth Group: Magdalena
- Magdalena runs a youth group around the theme of music to empower young people.
- Her new initiative More Than Able has the support of Croydon Council and other organisations.
- We will look for ways we can collaborate.
CR7Culture: Chetna, John L
- Chetna explained that more artists are welcome to join the Light Festival due to take place 27 January 2018 (4-9pm)in Trumble Gardens.
- It is a free event with workshops.
- Advertising for the event is being sorted out.
Date of next meeting: Tuesday 9th January 2018 (Venue TBC)