Your Town and Parish Council News January 2022 Safer Internet courses, managing flood risk, - and more

Free webinars: Safer Internet Day 2022 

Two free webinars for professionals and communities to help keep young people safe online, take place next month for Safer Internet Day.

The internet brings many benefits and opens a wider world to young people, but there is also a dark side and it can be a dangerous place.

Safer Internet Day (Tuesday 8 February) aims to celebrate young peoples’ role in creating a safer internet, whether that is whilst gaming and creating content, or interacting with their friends and peers. The theme this year is ‘All fun and games? Exploring respect and relationships online’.

Run by our Community Safety and Wellbeing Team, the two free webinars will focus on how children can create more positive relationships online, through being mindful of their own online behaviours. It will explore the potential risks of gaming and radicalisation and will give advice and resources on how to keep children safe online.

There will be a key focus on the topics of online relationships, personal information, oversharing, gaming, radicalisation and the dark web.

The first webinar, on Monday 21 February, from 10.30am to 12.30pm, is for professionals such as Social Workers, School Staff, Mental Health Practitioners, Children’s Services, Foster Carers etc.

The second webinar is aimed more widely at members of the public and takes place on Wednesday 23 February, from 1pm to 3pm.

Please promote these events via your channels so we can encourage as many people as possible to sign up.

27 January - West Sussex Chargepoint Network event

In November we announced our ambitious West Sussex Electric Vehicle (EV) Chargepoint Network initiative and asked for residents to register their interest providing a local view on where charge points should be located in the county.

We are now interested in hearing from Town and Parish Councils and Village Hall Trusts who own land for community use.

The contract is a concession, meaning that our partner Connected Kerb will incur all the costs for installing, maintaining and running the network.

The way the contract is structured will give community landowners the opportunity to use it, meaning that Parish, Town and Neighbourhood Councils, or any third sector organisation in the county have the potential to benefit from a chargepoint installation at zero cost.

To help you find out more, there will be a free online event via Zoom on Thursday 27 January at 11am as part of Village Hall Week.

You will be able to hear about:

• our commitment to EV charging
• detail on the opportunity for community landowners
• Connected Kerb and the Chargepoints
• delivery timescales
• registration and assessment.

As this is only open to Town, Parish and Neighbourhood Councils and Village Hall Trusts in West Sussex you will need to register for the event using the link provided below.

Ditch the problem!

Well maintained ditches and watercourses can significantly benefit the local community by reducing flood risk and creating habitats for wildlife.

We are keen for riparian owners, who are responsible for the upkeep of their ditches, to clear them out.

Ditches are watercourses designed to drain the surrounding area or hold water. Removing vegetation, grass, weeds, shrubs or any other debris helps water run freely and prevents flooding.

If an area experiences constant flooding, this becomes a nuisance to the community, can restrict access to property, makes everyday living difficult, and results in considerable expense and inconvenience for those that have been flooded.

As part of your ongoing work to support reducing flood risk impacting residents in your local area, we would encourage you to raise awareness and promote what people can do to reduce the risk of flooding.  

The Riparian Ownership and Responsibilities material will provide useful practical information and guidance for landowners and residents.  

When you have the opportunity please would you promote to your community groups and individuals in your area that the information is available via the link below.

Funds available for the voluntary sector

Please share this funding opportunity via your networks with any not-for-profit organisation who you think may benefit.

The Winter Support and Recovery Fund was launched in December 2021 in response to the current needs and impact on the voluntary sector in West Sussex in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. It will run until March 2022 or if all funds are allocated prior to March deadline.

This funding offers support across three identified themes of Mental Health and Wellbeing Support; Reconnecting People and Communities, and Reducing Health Inequalities. It is particularly aimed at supporting people who experience social, economic and health inequalities.

A total of £720,000 has been made available across East and West Sussex with grants of up to £10,000 available to not-for-profit organisations, delivering projects and services under the themes identified.

Further details of the criteria and project examples can be found on the Sussex Community Foundation website below.

Have your say on community risk management

Don't miss out on the opportunity to take part in West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service's Community Risk Management Plan public consultation, which ends this Friday (21 January 2022).

The consultation contains six proposals setting out the direction of the service over the next four years.

You can find these proposals, along with the survey to take part, on the dedicated Community Risk Management Plan website below. Please also forward this to your contacts and residents.

Sussex Violence Reduction updates

Read the first in a new series of Monthly Updates from the Sussex Violence Reduction Partnership and find out what we have been doing - together with other partners in the #SussexVRP - to tackle the root causes of serious violence in Sussex.

Other dates for your diary

Find a calendar of all the 2022 meetings, including committees and sub-committees, due to be held by West Sussex County Council here.

We publish the agenda and reports on the relevant committee page a week before the meeting.