Hedley House Opens Its Doors for Vulnerable Young People in Durham

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Hedley House is a supported accommodation project for young people at risk of homelessness in County Durham, to provide safe and secure accommodation when facing difficult circumstances and/or being at risk of becoming homeless.

The project, based in Park Road, South Moor Stanley, is provided by a partnership of Changing Lives, Durham County Council Housing Solutions and Children and Young People’s Services.

The project was officially opened by Councillor Carole Hampson, then Town Mayor of Stanley.

In celebration of the launch, Changing Lives hosted an afternoon tea, which was prepared by the young residents. The event was well attended, with our CEO Stephen Bell welcoming guests from Durham Police, Durham Housing solutions and Durham County Council.

Stanley Strategic Fund open for Applications!

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The Town Council’s new strategic grants fund has been established to provide small cash grants to local community groups, sports clubs and organisations to help them cover their running costs or deliver specific projects. The first application window will open on the 1st April and is open to all relevant groups in the Stanley parish area. For full details and to get an application form, check our Grants page.

Play in the Park Dates Summer 2019

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We are pleased to announce the dates and locations for this year’s summer Play in the Park Events, which can be found on our Play in the Park page HERE

Now in our fourth year, the popular free events have become a firm family favourite in Stanley. This year we are bringing an even more diverse mix of activities to the events – the full programmes will be announced closer to the day. For now, just get the dates in your diary!

Annual Town Meeting – 22nd March 2019

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The Annual Meeting of electors will take place next Friday, 22nd March 2019 at The Venue, Tyne Road, Stanley. There will be tea and coffee served from 6pm for a 6.30 pm start. The Council will be launching the new Stanley Community Fund at the meeting, which is a new source of grant funding to support local groups and organisations which will provide £100,000 of support for local community organisations in the year from April. The fund is a true partnership and will see every pound invested by the Town Council matched from contributions from other funders, including Kevan Jones MP who will be speaking at the launch. All local community groups who rely on grant funding or would like financial support should come to the meeting to get full details of how and where to apply for funding. The Council will also give an overview of the work it has done in the last year and our plans for next year.

West Stanley Pit Disaster Memorial, 16th February 2019

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Saturday 16th February 2019 will be the 110th Anniversary of the Burns Pit Disaster, one of the worst mining tragedies in British History. The Council is holding a Remembrance Ceremony at the memorial as it does every year (in front of NDA at the site of the pit) to remember the 167 men and boys who died that day and all the men who worked underground in terrible conditions to build our communities. As the anniversary falls on a weekend this year, we hope many residents will be able to attend

Council Backs Budget to Build on Stanley’s Success

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Council Budget set for 2019/20

A SERIES of investments, events and initiatives have been greenlit by Stanley Town Council after it agreed its annual budget tonight (22 January).

The Council backed the 2019/20 Budget and has brought forward an ambitious programme to help breathe new life into the town and surrounding villages.

Amongst projects approved are the popular summer “Play in the Park” events for children and parents during the summer holidays, the purchase and upkeep of two new police vehicles to support local policing teams and the town’s Christmas lights, not to mention Stanley’s spectacular annual fireworks extravaganza.

The Council is also developing a new approach to grant funding by creating a Stanley Fund, which will help to deliver more than double the current level of grant support to Stanley groups and organisations at no additional cost to residents by bringing in match funding from local businesses, local MP Kevan Jones and the Police and Crime Commisioner Ron Hogg.

Leader of Stanley Town Council, Cllr David Marshall, said that the new budget would help the town and outlying villages add to the progress made since the make-up of the authority changed in the 2017 local elections.

“Last year was the new council’s first opportunity to look at investment priorities for Stanley and ensure that every penny spent is aimed at making things better for the people of our area,” said Cllr Marshall.

“For too long the Council had not been addressing long-term needs, so we asked the people who voted for us to tell us what their priorities are and how their money should be spent. From that feedback, we created the Medium-Term Plan to help us focus our budget in areas of maximum need where our spending will have the most beneficial impact.

“There is no doubt, the Government’s harsh and unrelenting austerity measures continue to be felt across County Durham and the wider region, but Stanley Town Council will continue to fund projects that improve the lives of people in the Stanley area.”

The Council has been forced to increase its precept by 3% from the level set in the 2018/19 Budget.

“We don’t take lightly any rise in taxation, especially in these challenging times,” added Cllr Marshall, “however we are determined to support our communities in the most meaningful way we can.”

Last year, the Council’s funding enabled Stanley residents to benefit from a five day a week   face to face debt management and advice service provided by the Advice in County Durham partnership in what is seen as a model service in the County. The Council secured a new building for the Just for Women Centre, a multi award winning project supporting vulnerable women in the heart of our community.

The Council launched a new dedicated community wardens service to support commnuities and improve the environment, provided a detached youth service to engage with young people and continued to support PACT House, which has become a vital community resource since it began operating 3 years ago.

“As a Council, we have agreed that these services which are vital to our residents need to continue to be funded. But there is more work to be done”.

Now agreed, the Budget will allow the Council to roll-out of its new festive lighting programme to villages and outlying communities within the parish, as well as improve its heritage and events offer with the creation of a ‘Miner’s Sunday’ celebration and greater support for memorial events within the Town Council area and the new Beacon of Light in future years. The Council is also planning to bring community cinema back to the Town by re-commissioning the cinema capability of the Civic Hall.

Chair of the Finance Committee, Cllr Mark Davinson, said: “This Budget allows us to press ahead with our ambitions of making Stanley a better place to live, work and visit. There is fresh impetus running through this Town with the recent investment in our retail offer and the raft of environmental improvements the Town Council has been able to introduce, and long may that continue.

“However, we are not resting on our laurels. If we are asking for more from our residents, it is because we must deliver more. If there is something in your community that needs to be addressed, tell us. We will do all we can to make things better for the people of our parish.”

Full details of the budget are linked below:

2019/20 STC Budget (Approved)

2019/20 Budget Report

Full Council Agenda and Papers 22nd January 2018

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The January meeting of Stanley Town Council is the meeting where the budget will be set for 2018/19, which is the main item of business. Other business to be discussed includes Stanley in Bloom and the Policy working group.  All STC meetings are open to the public. The meeting will be held at 6.30pm on Tuesday 22nd January 2019 at Stanley Civic Hall.

‘-Full Council Agenda 22nd January 2019

Item 6 & 7 – Minutes of previous meetings

Item 9 – Payments & Bank Rec

Item 10 to 13 – Reports

Full Council Agenda 27th November 2018

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The agenda and papers for next week’s Full Council meeting are linked below. It will be a busy meeting, featuring presentations and feedback from Stanley Events on the Fireworks Display, an update from the STC Funded Advice Partnership which provides 5 day a week, face to face advice in Stanley and from County Durham Community Foundation in relation to a proposal to set up a new community fund for Stanley. There will also be a review of the town’s Remembrance Sunday events, proposals for the Civic Hall, Funding of local theatre groups and other business discussed.

All of our meetings are open to the public and residents are welcome to attend and may ask questions relating to the business on the agenda. Please notify the Clerk in advance of the meeting if you wish to ask a question.

The meeting will be held at 6.30pm in the Civic Hall.

‘-Full Council Agenda 27th November 2018

FC November Combined Papers [8.8 MB, PDF]

 

Stanley Town Council signs Dying to Work Charter

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Stanley Town Council has thrown its backing behind a campaign to protect the rights of workers with potentially fatal conditions.

It has signed up to the “Dying to Work” Charter, which is pressing for additional protection for terminally ill employees and is backed by the TUC, GMB and Unison.

The Charter was signed by Council Leader, David Marshall, who said he was proud to back a campaign that was seeking to protect those who require it most, and Beth Farhat, regional secretary of the TUC.

Cllr Marshall said: “We are trying to help protect people who fall victim to unscrupulous employers who utilise a loophole in the law to dismiss poor people who are dying due to illness. It beggars belief that people can sink so low as to do this, but they do.

“We believe that every person battling terminal conditions deserves the choice of how to spend their final months.”

Many workers will get a serious illness at some time in their careers, that may require time off, often for many months, to receive treatment or recover. Best practice guidance has been produced by the TUC and others to deal with cases of long-term illness or return to work for those who are disabled as a result of an illness or injury.

Beth Farhat said: “In cases where there is no effective treatment, an employee can face huge emotional stress, fear and uncertainty. When that happens, trade unions will try to remove any additional stress and worry.

“UK Social Security legislation defines a terminal illness as: “a progressive disease where death as a consequence of that disease can reasonably be expected within six months”, however many patients can have a terminal illness and survive much longer than that… and they deserve to be protected when they are at their most vulnerable.

“We already have cross parliamentary support for this campaign however we need to wait for domestic policy to progress in order for us to change legislation. To do that, we need to demonstrate that authorities and businesses across the country are supporting our cause.

“By having Stanley Town Council sign up to the charter, we’re doing just that. We’re delighted to have them involved and working together, are looking forward to changing the lives of people not just in Stanley, but across the UK.”

Sometimes the nature of the illness is such that the person is unlikely to be able to work again. In other cases, a person may decide that they do not want to work anymore and would rather spend their remaining time with family and friends, getting affairs in order, or simply doing what they want.

However, many workers with a terminal diagnosis decide to continue working as long as they can, either because they need the financial security or because they find work a distraction. Whatever the choice, they should expect help and support from their employer. Unfortunately, the experience of many workers is an unsympathetic employer who puts up barriers to them continuing in work.

Cllr Marshall added: “There are few things more traumatic than being told that you are going to die as a result of a disease for which there is no cure.

“But if a worker with a terminal illness loses their job they lose their income. They can also lose any death in service payments they have earned through a life-time of work – by backing the Dying to Work Charter, we are saying that we do not agree with this, that something has to change and that we, as a society, must do better to offer support to people when they need it most.”