Are you a parent of a baby or toddler 0 months – 3 years?

Are you looking for an activity to do with them that can help development and learning?

If YES we have news of a new activity here in Ashmore Park.

Rhythm Time is an enjoyable experience involving music and singing for babies, toddlers and pre-school children.

What happens at the Babies session for 0-months to 15 months?

• Singing – to help language development. All children sing before they learn to talk
• Dancing – to help eye tracking, balance and spatial awareness
• Exercise – to help with muscle development and to gain more control over movement
• Massage – to help with bonding, relaxation and circulation
• Exploration – to help with hand eye coordination, develop small motor skills and to encourage speech development
• Social – to help parents and children create new friendships

What happens at the Toddlers session for 15 months to 3 years?

• Unaccompanied singing – to encourage children to have the confidence to find their singing voice and to help them sing in tune
• Listening – to aid concentration and to develop the activity so it becomes something special
• Percussion playing – to explore different timbre, to help with coordination and to develop a sense of pulse
• Dancing – to develop confidence, self-expression and large motor skills
• Rhythmic imitation – to develop listening skills and to echo different rhythmic patterns accurately
• Rhymes – to develop and extend speech through the recognition of shape, pattern and form

When and Where?

At the moment the only sessions on offer are the sessions for babies and toddlers. Rhythm Time do offer sessions for pre-school (3 years to 5 years) but these are not currently offered by the Ashmore Park co-ordinator.

Times:

Babies session (0-months to 15 months) – Every Monday 10:30am. Spring term classes run between 9th Jan 2012 – 26th March 2012.

Toddler session (15 months to 3 years) – Every Monday 11:15am. Spring term classes run between 9th Jan 2012 – 26th March 2012.

Where:

St Albans Church, Griffiths Drive, Ashmore Park.

Cost:

First session is free and approx £4.15 per week thereafter. They have a range of payment options which include weekly, monthly and per term.

For further information please click here to be directed to the Rhythm Time website.

During the last 3 years I have been involved in Focus Groups and Tenant Involvement Groups (SIG’s) with Wolverhampton Homes. It all started when they were reviewing Choice Based Lettings/ Homes in the City. I was very interested in the activity and requested to take part in future opportunities.

On Wednesday 25th January 2012 I attended a Special Interest Group (SIG) for Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) within Wolverhampton. Present were Nigel Homer (Area Manager), Louise Ward (Tenant Participation Officer) and 9 tenants from across the city who have expressed an interest in ASB and possible ways of controlling that “crime”.

The discussion was about an upcoming cross city consultation surrounding how ASB is managed. At present in Wolverhampton there are several organisations who deal with ASB - Wolverhampton Homes, West Midlands Police, and Wolverhampton City Council.

One of the questions posed to the group was if ASB management should be operated by a dedicated team instead of having three different organisations manage it, or if it would be better to keep it as it is. The group’s opinion was that it would be best to create a dedicated team as this would bring many benefits.

The opinions of the attendees from this meeting will be forwarded within a report from the Tenant Participation team to the board and the consultation process will continue. There was no definate indication as to what the outcome will be and no indication as to how soon this change would take place.

What is Anti Social Behaviour (ASB)?

You may ask yourself what Anti Social Behaviour is. Well, it is defined as behaviour which can include that following:

• Abusive or noisy neighbours in what is normally a queit neighbourhood.
• Night time noise in properties or the surrounding gardens during the hours of 11pm – 7am
• Threatening, yobbish behaviour
• Fly-tipping
• Graffiti…. just to name a few.

Anti Social Behaviour doesnt just make living your day to day live unpleasent it ruins lives and can make an area feel unsafe and in some cases unwelcome to visitors.

Further information on ASB can be found on Wolverhampton Homes website at this link.

Who can I report ASB to?

If you are a tenant of Wolverhampton Homes and are victim to Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) you can report this to Wolverhampton Homes on 01902 556789 or the out of hours ASB team if the activity happens outside of office hours on 01902 558901. You can also report it by visiting your Wolverhampton Homes One Stop Shop at the enquiry desk and requesting to speak in a private room. Of course, if it is an emergancy then dont hesitate call 999.

You dont need to know if the housing status of the offender of the ASB. By housing status this means if they are a Wolverhampton Homes Tenant, Private tenant or owner occupier of a property.

If you are not a Wolverhampton Homes tenant but a private tenant you can report the matter of ASB to your landlord’s Estate Agent (if you have one) or to West Midlands Police on 0345 113 5000 or the NEW non emergancy hotline 101.

Stop Hate in Wolverhampton

Also discussed at the meeting was the launch of “Stop Hate in Wolverhampton” campaign which launched on 24th January 2012. For more information please see our article.

How do I get involved?

To get involved  in these “Focus Groups” and Special Interest Groups (SIG’s), simply click here to read more on how you as a resident can get involved and help change specific things which matter to you and your community.

I have been involved in various SIG’s and Focus Groups across the 3 years and enjoy every one that much that I ask the Tenant Participation Team for more ways to get involved and I have looked at applying to be on the Review Panel and also the Tenant Board 2012. For me, my community matters.

Last night’s Wednesfield North PACT meeting marked 20 years since the meeting was established as the ‘Ashmore Park Police Liaison Meeting’ in March 1992 – congrats to all those who have made the hundreds of meetings happen over two decades.

PACT priorities set by the community were:

Priority 1: ASB in alleyway between Peacock Ave & Meon Way.

Priority 2: Patrols on Broad Lane South.

Priority 3: Ashmore Park shopping precinct – continue to monitor the area for ASB.

If you are reading this post via email or RSS you may need to click here in order to read the minute-by-minute coverage of the meeting.

Photo: West Midlands Police

Update 31/01/12: The victim has been named by the Express & Star as former Moreton Community School pupil Chris Bains.

An 18 year-old male passenger has died and three others have been injured in a car crash on Mill Lane, Wednesfield.

Police first reported the incident around 2pm today (Sunday), further eye-witness reports were then posted on our Facebook page throughout the afternoon.

Later around 6pm, West Midlands Police confirmed that a male passenger in the car had died at hospital.

West Midlands Ambulance service later released the following statement:

One man has died and three people have been injured in a road traffic collision in the Black Country.

West Midlands Ambulance Service was called to Mill Lane, Wednesfield, shortly after 1.25pm today.

Four ambulance crews, an incident support officer and a rapid response vehicle attended along with the Midlands Air Ambulance crew who attended by car.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: “Crews arrived to find a car that had come to rest against a tree.

“There were four people in the car one of whom, a man who was a passenger in the car, was confirmed dead after arriving at New Cross Hospital.

“The other three, two men and a woman all in their twenties had spinal, rib and arm injuries and were all taken to the same hospital. The driver was one of the men. All three were in a stable condition on arrival at hospital.”

WV11 would like to pass on our deepest condolences to the everyone involved.

The 59 bus service will pick up and drop off from stand ‘G’ at Wolverhampton’s bus station as of today and will no longer call at stand ‘E’.

Stand ‘G’ is in the middle tier of the station and means that users of the 59 service won’t have to walk/run as far to catch their bus, bonus!

Over 100 residents packed into Essington Community Centre on a cold January evening last week to vent their anger about Arriva’s number 68 bus service.

Council officers listened to resident’s complaints and promised to address all of their concerns.

South Staffordshire Council and Essington Parish Council, Councillor David Clifft, said after the meeting: “I’ve heard it all before, empty promises. Arriva are paid to deliver a public service which they are not doing. Like their buses they didn’t even turn-up at the meeting to field questions.”

Councillor Clifft added: “I felt the public meeting was a complete waste of time, no one really listened to the residents. I will continue to fight for a better service for the residents of Essington.”

Our House is the story of Joe Casey who, on the night of his sixteenth birthday, takes Sarah, the girl of his dreams, out on their first date. In an effort to impress her with bravado, he breaks into a building site overlooking his home on Casey Street, which is owned by Mister Pressman, a high-end property developer. The police turn up, at which point Joe’s life splits into two: the Good Joe, who stays to help, and Bad Joe, who flees.

The story then continues, following both good Joe and Bad Joe’s lives through alternating scenes and the lyrics of some very well know Madness songs.

Last night we went to the Grand Theatre to see “Our House” performed by a cast from Coppice Performing Arts School, Ashmore Park and we did not come away disappointed.

They were amazing. From the second the young cast took to the stage to the final curtain call the audience we’re enthralled. The musical numbers had us tapping our feet and the characters we believable and incredibly well-played. Sitting high up in the Grand Circle it was easy for us to see the cast exiting the stage and we were impressed by the professionalism of all involved staying in character until the were well out of sight.

A special mention must go to Jay Wiley (Joe Casey) for some very speedy costume changes when switching between Good and Bad Joe, and to Stephen Clifton (Vegas Minister) for a very brave costume choice coming onto stage in front of cast and audience of his students in a white “Elvis” jumpsuit!

Each and every individual on the stage looked like they both belonged and wanted to be there, from the dancers in the chorus to the lead actors/actresses who gave it their all and the teachers who had given up their weekends to support both on stage and off. The dedication of all involved is a credit to the school and to Wednesfield as a whole.

They deserved the rapturous applause they left the stage to and we can only hope that they enjoyed performing for us as much as we enjoyed watching them!

Our House was first performed by the pupils of Coppice Performing Arts School in Spring 2011 and images from those shows can be found on the school website.

The section of road from Amos Lane junction to near High Street, including the traffic island is going to be resurfaced. Some roads will be closed while the work is carried out, and there will be restricted access into and out of side roads. This should only be for a limited period with clearly marked local diversions  in place.

The working times and dates will be as follows:

Sunday 29th January 8am onwards
Sunday 5th February 9am onwards
Monday 6th to Friday 10th February 6.30pm to Midnight

Some work will include using noisy machinery to take out the existing road surface. The highways agency have apologised in advance for any inconvenience. and ensure residents every effort will be made to keep noise to a minimum and to complete work as early as possible.

Access to frontages will be maintained as far as possible. However at certain times, when work is taking place directly in front of the entrance to your properties  access may be temporarily restricted. Pedestrian access to premises will be maintained. Site staff will be on hand to assist with any difficulties.

For further information please contact Mick Wolverson on 01902 555679 or Khalid Akhtar on 01902 551841.

Three Wolverhampton organisations have teamed up with a national charity to try and help reduce hate crime in the city.

Together with the Mayor, Safer Wolverhampton Partnership and Stop Hate UK, Wolverhampton Homes have launched a campaign to raise awareness of hate crime in Wolverhampton.

‘Stop Hate in Wolverhampton’ aims to raise awareness of hate crime, which can be linked to disability, sexual orientation, age, race, ethnicity or gender identity.

Only 18 hate crimes were reported to Wolverhampton Homes last year. There were 252 reported to the police in Wolverhampton, which is a reduction of 32 incidents compared to 2010 figures of 284.

However, according to Stop Hate UK, for every hate crime that is reported, eight go un-reported.

Say ‘No’ to Hate Crime

You can sign up to an online pledge to stop hate in Wolverhampton by visiting Wolverhampton Homes website.

There is also a Facebook page where people can show their support and people can support the campaign on Twitter by using the hashtag #stophate.

WV11 wholeheartedly supports this campaign. We have pledged online and hope you do to!

The residents of Ashmore Park are planning a family fun day to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June.

Tuesday 5th June 2012

The event will be held on Tuesday 5th June 2012 at St. Alban’s School and a programme of events is in the process of being arranged.

So far planned events include: a Bouncy castle, Children’s Fancy Dress Competition, Bands, Sports events (for all ages) and a Community Art Piece which all can be involved that will be displayed in Ashmore Park Library. There’s much, much more planned, including Ice Cream, Burger and Candy Floss vans on site.

Family Tea Party

During the afternoon we will be holding a family tea party (bring or purchase your own food), tables and chairs will be provided along with Tea, Coffee and soft drinks free of charge.

Entry will be free

The fun day will be free and everyone on the estate is invited, so please come along and join in the fun!

Get involved!

Residents are hoping to make it day to remember, so if you’d like to help with the planning, or can offer help on the day please contact any of the following:

Ashmore Park Community Centre – 01902 552490
St Alban’s School – 01902 558825
St Alban’s Church – 01902 732317
WV11.co.uk – 07855 409 319 / info@wv11.co.uk

We look forward to celebrating with you!