Published 26th July, 1994. Beechwood Children's Home.
A group of branch members visited Beechwood on Monday.
Interestingly, Lindens was set up as a remand home in 1967.
The Redcot home is geared to children on remand and is part of the County Council's Youth Court services.
Heavy emphasis is placed on discipline through routine and focusing on returning the child to their home within a few weeks, where practical.
Residential Social Work is an energetic and stressful occupation and the staffing is lower than the number of posts would suggest because of the high sick rate and some uncertainty over the future caused by the Residential Child Care Review.
Rev. Dyas.
Rev. Dyas spoke about the distress caused to the parent of a boy who died in a car crash recently when in the care of Beechwood.
He argued we should care for the children in care as much as we should be concerned over Leanne White.
The parents of the child however are distressed by the remarks. Rev. Dyas had not consulted them and to blame Beechwood when the child had only been allocated 3 days previous and had not stayed there a single night is harsh.
Nevertheless, the Evening Post made it a "Page Six" feature with the spin "Out of Control".
St.Judes Neighbourhood Watch.
This was in stark contrast to the attitude of the meeting where local Police presented a more positive view of the home and the staff who run it; and where residents did not adopt the knee-jerk reaction of calling for the closure of the home.
Joan Taylor Resigns.
Joan, our Chair of Social Services for 9 years, resigned at a Labour Group meeting two weeks ago, when it became clear she did not command the confidence of the Group.
David White goes too.
David White, the Director, has relinquished his post and will be making efforts to find employment elsewhere.
This follows an internal inquiry into Social Services which highlighted alarming failures and weaknesses within the department.
Strong Example.
It was interesting to see the political principle of taking responsibility for events within a department in action.
In part, the principle encourages Chairs to take a wider view of their Department's performance;
in part it gives the Dept. a fresh start;
and in part it shows how positions in politics differs from posts in employment - no tribunals here!
Brave Leadership.
I think our branch member and Deputy Leader, Martin Gawith, deserves an honourable mention for his actions.
Mart lead the calls for Joan's resignation when it wasn't clear that the Labour Group would support him.
Tim Bell.
Our new Chair will be Tim Bell, who represents Beechdale.
Tim knows the Social Services area from his 20 years of employment in community and probation work.
New Chief Executive.
Peter Housden, our former Director of Education has been appointed as Chief Executive.
Salopian.
Peter was educated at a Telford comprehensive school and used to follow Shrewsbury Town F.C.
Sherwood Shopping Centre.
The Sherwood Traders have held a second meeting and voted to support the introduction of charges for long-stay car parking.
Boots and Wilkos are now involved.
The Planing Cttee.'s assessment of the Sainsbury's application may now be delayed because of the supermarket chain have not provided evidence on the effects of traffic.
Gedling Miners Welfare.
I attended a public meeting opposed to a supermarket development on the Gedling Miners Welfare site on Mapperley Plains.
Cases.
111 in 1994.
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