Tag Archives: volunteers

Enderby Community Library on track to launch in May

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In its latest communiqué regarding progress towards the operation of Enderby Library being taken over by the community, Enderby Library Management Committee has announced that it expects to launch the new service in early May 2016.

In January 2014 Leicestershire County Council announced it intended to “protect” its 16 bigger libraries but wanted to save up to £1.4 million a year by transferring 37 of its smaller branches (including Enderby) to their respective communities. Where no community expressed interest, the Library would almost certainly close.

 

Under the auspices of Enderby Parish Council, a comprehensive business plan was drawn up in September 2015 and subsequently accepted by the County Council.

A Library Management Committee comprising enthusiastic volunteers and parish councillors was established in August 2015 to oversee the transition process and a number of meetings have been held since then to arrange implementation of the business plan.

Operation of the Library depends entirely on the commitment of volunteers and the Library Management Committee have been pleased to receive offers of help from local people covering a range of ages and experience.

Some core volunteers are being trained by the County Council and they, in turn, will eventually pass on their skills to other volunteers as the community service gets under way.

One of the aims was to improve on the existing Library offer and develop the Library as a ‘community hub’ rather than just offering the traditional library services. The management committee have visited and consulted with other similar community libraries and are endeavouring to incorporate the best practice.

Development of the Library as a community hub requires all types of skills and there will be an ongoing need for volunteers with a variety of interests and skills to commit as much or as little time as they are able. 

The Library will close week commencing 25th April 2016 for refurbishment after which time the Community Library will be launched.

On its launch, Enderby Community Library has revised the existing opening times to be 2pm-6pm, Monday-Saturday. The Parish Council conducted a survey early in the process to determine how the local community viewed the Library service and their preferred opening times. Enderby Library Management Committee will review the opening hours periodically and, dependent upon the volunteer commitment and customer demand will consider increasing these hours.

Anyone interested in volunteering at Enderby Community Library are asked to contact the Volunteer Co-ordinator, Mrs. Maria Hetherington, by email via this link
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Library Management Committee submit business plan to save Enderby Library

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Enderby LibraryA Business Plan, outlining the way forward for Enderby Library following the withdrawal of funding by the County Council, has received approval from the Enderby Library Management Committee (ELMC), set up by Enderby Parish Council on 12th August 2015.

The Management Committee, made up of Parish Councillors and volunteers, held its inaugural meeting on 27th August, at which time the Committee considered the contents of a draft business plan raised under the auspices of the Parish Council on behalf of the community.

In order to properly scrutinise the draft business plan and consider any amendments, the ELMC resolved that it would meet again on 3rd September to finalise the document.

At the 3rd September meeting the Management Committee appointed Mrs. M. Hetherington as Volunteer Co-ordinator and resolved that the business plan be approved and submitted to Leicestershire County Council the following day, Friday, 4th September (deadline date for submission of the business plan).

If accepted, the next significant milestone will be formal acceptance of the business plan by a meeting of the County Council Cabinet on October 7th.

Enderby Parish Council currently has 4 vacancies on the Council. Anyone interested in learning more about the role of Councillor or taking an active role as a volunteer in Enderby Community Library are asked to contact the Clerk, Ms. S. Hansford, Tel. 0116 2753711, or email enderbyparish@btconnect.com.

Volunteers step forward to secure the future of Enderby Library

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Enderby Library Needs YouAs an austerity measure, Enderby’s Library was threatened with closure by the Leicestershire County Council but Enderby Parish Council and a host of volunteers have stepped forward to keep Enderby’s Library open.

The Parish Council website reports that the Parish Council registered its interest in keeping the library open and this was accepted by the County Council.

After a great deal of discussion with the County Council and much negotiation and training of Council staff and volunteers, Enderby Parish Council, at its meeting on 12th August 2015, set up the Enderby Library Management Committee.

Five council members were appointed to serve on it, plus the chairman and vice-chairman, in an ex-offico capacity and volunteers were invited to join the Committee.

Of the members of the public who were present, five joined immediately, a sixth was volunteered by her husband and two others who had expressed a desire to serve on a Management Committee will be contacted with the details of what has happened thus far.

The Management Committee will meet at Enderby Civic Centre, at 6.30pm on Thursday, 27th August to consider a draft business plan.

Any alterations to the draft plan will be taken to the next meeting of the Committee on 3rd September, just ahead of the deadline for the submission of the business plan to County Hall which is Friday, 4th September, 2015.

The business plan is an intricate document but training in drawing one up was given by the County Council and the Council’s Clerk has spent many hours – and probably sleepless nights – working on it.

The plan, it is hoped, will include the library being open for 24 hours per week, more than it is at present.

Committee meetings will be open to members of the public and will be advertised in the same manner as any other Council and/or committee meetings; on parish notice-boards and on the Council’s website. The Parish Council’s Facebook page and Twitter feed will also carry news of what is happening.

View Enderby Parish Council’s website

Enderby Parish Council invite residents to attend a “Befriend Enderby Library” meeting

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enderby community library logo 269x164As part of a continuing campaign by Enderby Parish Council to secure the future of Enderby Library, the Council is inviting residents to a meeting where it will outline its plans and detail how members of the community can be involved.

The decision to proceed with an application to run a Community Library in Enderby was taken at a Council Meeting earlier in the year and following an in-depth public consultation to gauge support for a Library in Enderby.

In January 2014 Leicestershire County Council announced it intended to “protect” its 16 bigger libraries but wanted to save up to £1.4 million a year by transferring 37 of its smaller branches to communities.

Where nobody comes forward there is strong possibility the Library will disappear.

The Parish Council stepped-in following Leicestershire County Council’s decision to close a number of its libraries unless the local communities affected undertook to ‘take over’ their libraries and run them in partnership with the County Council’s Library service.

The meeting will take place in the Civic Centre on Thursday June 18th 2015, commencing at 6pm.

Members of the Parish Council’s Library Working Group will be present, as will representatives from Voluntary Action Leicestershire who are working with the Parish Council in formulating a sustainable business plan.

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Horses help out at Fosse Meadows nature reserve

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Horses help out at Fosse MeadowsA traditional technique to remove timber from woodland using horses is taking place at Fosse Meadows nature reserve, near Sharnford.

Horse extraction, a process rarely used nowadays, involves sympathetically extracting timber from forest or woodland, in consideration of the sensitive nature of the wildlife.

Unlike mechanical equipment, horses are light, quiet and manoeuvrable, minimising damage, avoiding compaction to the woodland floor, and producing no exhaust or noise pollution.

The horses are being used at Fosse Meadows in order to protect significant trees in the Arboretum, and to have the least amount of impact possible on the wildlife, such as otters that are visiting the site.

Stuart Freeman, a qualified horse logger, will be carrying out the work using his two horses Breeze and Queenie.

He said:

“Horses have been employed to pull timber from forests and woodland in the UK for centuries, but this declined after the Second World War due to rising costs of labour, and an increasing demand for timber led to the mechanisation of extraction.

“Whilst mechanised systems have reduced the direct cost of forestry operations, the potential damage it can inflict on woodland resource and the environment has become an important issue.

The horses are both trained to work in all aspects of horse extraction and we operate a range of implements.”

The work is taking place from Wednesday 12 November and is expected to take around a month.

All the timber from the site will be used locally.

For more information, and to find out about volunteering opportunities at Fosse Meadows, contact James Poynton, Green Space Engagement Officer at Blaby District Council.
Email:  james.poynton@blaby.gov.uk or call 0116 272 7704.