Agenda item

The Council received a presentation from the AAP Coordinator and the Chair of Derwent Valley Area Action Partnership (for presentation see file of Minutes).

The Council were informed that Derwent Valley was a mix of urban and rural areas located in North West Durham, with a population of over 45,000. The area had a rich heritage of steel and sword making.

The Derwent Valley AAP priorities from 2019-2021 were:

·         Employment, Enterprise and training;

·        Environment; and

·        Health and Wellbeing – specific focus on mental health and suicide prevention.

The AAP had well-developed action plans set against limited resources. Areas with the greatest needs were targeted. The AAP also had cross cutting themes including Older People and Transport and Community Safety.

Delivering sustainable projects was key to the partnership and examples of three such projects were highlighted to the Council, as follows:

·        Beat the Scammers – How to handle nuisance callers - initially piloted in the Derwent Valley area, now extended across the County. The project had received both local and national recognition and was delivered by a range of partners. The project had reached over 5000 older people and helped make residents feel safer;

·        Primary and Secondary Coding Clubs – these sessions included programming, algorithms and IT networks which helped pupils understand, from a very early age, as to how all aspects of coding came together. Each primary school were provided with their own piece of coding equipment for their own use. Due to the success of the project at primary school level, it was extended to secondary schools. Teachers and parents had also been trained to help deliver the activities; and

·        School apple project – which helped encourage children to learn and appreciate the environment in which lived. Cookery and horticulture skills were delivered as part of the project which also helped participants appreciate where food came from. The ‘hands on’ project also included cookery classes, education sessions, learning about food waste, apple swapping and orchard planting.

Other, more recognised events in the area included:

·        Party in the Park (2014, 2016 and 2018) - a free event consisting of live music, activities and information stalls which provided residents with access to information from a variety of partners;

·        Consett Cycle Festival in 2019 - delivered in conjunction with Project Genesis, British Cycling and local members; and

·        Christmas in Consett 2014-2017 - created for residents included competitions, prizes and information.

The Chair and AAP Coordinator finished their presentation by providing the Council with details of a wide and varied range of forthcoming projects.

The Chair thanked the AAP Chair and Coordinator for their presentation.