WHAT'S ON: Thurcroft

KIVETON PARK INDEPENDENT ADVICE CENTRE: A drop-in session, with no appointment necessary, will be held on Thursday 2-4pm at the Welfare Hall in Thurcroft. To contact (office hours) 01909 773966.

BIG LOCAL PARTNERSHIP MEETING: Minutes of the last meeting on April 4 at St Simon and St Jude’s Church. Paul from Keystone Builders attended the meeting and gave an update on the Pavilion. Everything is now in place and work will commence on April 18. It was agreed that the money will be released on a monthly basis to Keystone. Small Grants Presentation, Round 4 – six small grants totalling £1,225 were presented to the community. Mick Mosley attended the meeting on behalf of the Allotment Society and spoke about the allotments on Sandy Lane. He advised that thefts now totalling over £5,000 have taken place from the allotments. Security fencing is required to make the allotments safe and secure, then it is hoped the local children will be able to use the allotments to get hands-on experience at growing and looking after plants and vegetables. The schools are already involved by bringing children to the allotments, and would like to work with Big Local on this project, who have agreed to fund the additional money. Match funding has already been secured for a section of the fencing. Suggestions made to set up a sub-committee to include the allotments, Big Local and possibly the schools. The chair welcomed all to the meeting. Updates: Four organisations have applied including One Stop Advices Services. Recommendations will be given at the next meeting. It was advised that the following bills need to be paid for the Pavilion: the engineer, Award Energy, architect and inspection (RMBC). It was agreed to take the money out of development projects and small grants to pay for these. Playground – RMBC has ordered the new playground and Big Local has placed the order for the camera. The playground should be ready for installation at the end of May. Tiny Explorers – it was agreed to set money aside for an extension or office space inside, and to meet with the head teacher at the school to make sure she is aware of this. Events – Carnival: the carnival held on April 1 was a success, and several people want to be involved with the main carnival in September including St John’s, schools, Scouts and possibly Hot Shots. Gala – a planning meeting to take place on April 18 at the Pavilion. The gala needs to be organised as a team, not just one person. Easter event – was held on Easter Monday, a good event though not as well attended as last year. The Top Club had an event on at the same time. £156 was raised from the raffle. The committee may look at having an Easter egg hunt next year. Litter Picks – the next litter pick takes place on May 7. Queen’s 90th Birthday – to be held on April 21. Over 160 tickets were sold. Training – A Big Local training event to take place on April 16 in Sheffield. The next meeting to be held on May 9 at St Simon and St Jude’s Church. 6.30pm.

THURCROFT WELFARE COMMUNITY HALL BOWLING CLUB: The club is looking for new members. The club has qualified bowling coaches and provides all equipment along with free training sessions on Saturdays from May through to the end of August 10.30am-noon. The club has 12 teams and 12 club trophies to play for over the season, usually on a Sunday. Once registered with the British Crown Green Association and the South Yorkshire Crown Green Bowling Association (£32.10) for the first year, after that members only pay club fees which are currently £45 adults and £5 under 16s. Contact club secretary Alan Bucknall 01709 542050.

THURCROFT CRIME AND COMMUNITY SAFETY FORUM MEETING: Held on February 16 in the Gordon Bennett Memorial Hall. The minutes of the last meeting held on October 6, and matters arising, were approved. Peter, John and Charles Street – wardens have recently visited this area and reported that it is in a bad state again. Due to the Queen’s 90th birthday, Streetpride has put these streets forward for a Clean Sweep to take place over a weekend. The Big Local Gala to be held on July 30-31. There has been an issue around green bins to Streetpride, but unsure if the bins in the middle and back yards were the existing ones or new bins. Equipment to be brought in to remove the contaminated bins, and suggestions made to do some door knocking and raise awareness of what can and can’t be put in green bins. A question arose if there were any changes planned with regards to green bins as they have been taken away in Swinton. The chair to send an email to Streetpride asking if there are any proposals to changes in green bin collections. Environmental Health still looking into the legislation regarding safety hazards around the caravan parked in the garden of a property on Katherine Road. Thurcroft Youth Club – has been contacted to see if the young people would be interested in taking part in a litter pick on Katherine Road. The landowner agreed to pay for a skip and make a donation to the Youth Club – it was agreed that the litter pick will take place in warmer weather. Alan Concannon, SYP, hopes to attend the Thurcroft Parish Council meeting on March 31 to give an update on local policing, and reported that all officers are now based at Maltby Police Station and will become one big team from April 4. A Concannon will be covering Thurcroft, Brampton, Ulley, Brookhouse and other areas if resources are required. The current PACT area is Thurcroft Pit Top. Residents have been asked to continue reporting any issues through the 101 number. The chairman asked if Sharon Hulley or an inspector will be attending the meeting on February 22 with the owners of Thurcroft pit top site. It was felt an officer with authority was required to attend, and arranged to try and address some of the issues around off-road motorbikes on the pit top. A Concannon confirmed he would be attending the meeting. The chair to contact Chief Inspector Jason Harwin to request for a police officer to attend the meeting. It was suggested to do some publicity around motorbike legislation and prosecutions that have taken place to deter people bringing off-road bikes onto the site. Thurcroft Play Area (Section 106) – a meeting to be held on February 17 with Daniel Stowkes from WCCTV, and bring equipment and cameras along for the meeting to look at, in the Gordon Bennett Memorial Hall. The chair stated it will not be an easy process, the group needs to research thoroughly to avoid making mistakes. It was stated that if Big Local were to pay for the CCTV they would not have to undertake a tender process, but decided to have discussions with Steve Ruffle to confirm this. Big Local is not a constituted group and does not have its own bank account. However Rotherfed, which is a charitable organisation, acts on behalf of Big Local as its accountable body. Suggestions made that Rotherfed could act on behalf of Big Local to place the order for the CCTV equipment. A discussion ensued around monitoring and evaluation of the CCTV as this cannot be done by members of the community due to confidentiality. The Area Assembly representative was unsure if the police had resources and RMBC is currently going through a CCTV review and has put out a tender. There is also the possibility the group could purchase CCTV through the RMBC tender process with the possibility of a discount. There is also the option of investigating Doncaster Police which monitors the equipment through a central CCTV hub, but would incur costs to monitor. Thurcroft Crime Awareness – Facebook account currently has 779 members. There is a similar site for Maltby which is successful in raising awareness of various issues in their area. Thurcroft Crime and Safety Meeting – the group agreed it would like to continue with the meetings and meet every three months. The next meeting to be held on May 10 in the Gordon Bennett Memorial Hall.

FRIDAY CLUB: Moira, Irene and mums assisted the young ones as they played games including snooker, darts, board games, plastic ball and noughts and crosses.

ALZHEIMER’S AND DEMENTIA MEMORY CAFÉ: Meet on first Tuesday of each month at Gordon Bennett Memorial Hall, Green Arbour Road 1.30-3.30pm.

ROTHER VALE COMMUNITY BAND: This is a brass band set up to provide an opportunity for anyone who wishes to play or learn a brass instrument. The band practices every Saturday at Thurcroft Parish Church 9.30-11am. The band provides participants with a brass instrument and expert tuition for a weekly subscription of £2. Contact Pam 07759496810. To book the band, contact Pam 07759496810. www.rothervalecommunityband.com or follow the band on Facebook Rother Vale Community Band.

THURCROFT LIBRARY: Chatterbooks Monday 3.30-4.30pm, School Road, in term time.

THURCROFT COLLIERY AND VILLAGE WEBSITE: Photographs, maps and newspaper cuttings wanted. All material sent in will be returned to the sender. Contact Fred Gething 01709 542461, [email protected], thurcroftcolliery.weebly.com. 

THURCROFT WELFARE BAND: Has vacancies for a front row and back row cornet player, also a bass player. The band is presently working on its summer programme having had success in competitions at Butlins in January and Bradford in March. The band is looking forward to concerts, details on its website. To book the band for a party, fundraising event or gala, visit www.thurcroftweflareband.co.uk. The Senior Band is playing on May 28 at Branton Garden Centre 1.15pm. The band practices each Tuesday and Thursday 7.15pm.