bringing up their children on their own. Or they might be very capable people who are struggling with the demands of new parenthood. Home-Start Royston & South Cambridgeshire are now settled in their new home at Valley Farm in Meldreth, and over the last year has helped over 114 local families, with a total of 261 children, by providing support either through their Home visiting service or Family Support Groups. The majority of families are referred to Home-Start by their Health Visitor or other Healthcare Professional. However, over 30% of families refer themselves to the service, recognising that they need support. Home visiting is where a trained Home-Start volunteer offers a family support, friendship and practical assistance in their home for 2-3 hours once a week, at a time that’s convenient to the family. The kind of help offered depends on what’s needed perhaps a friendly face to chat to once a week, or taking the children to the park for a couple of hours whilst the parent catches up on paperwork, housework, has some exercise or even catches up on some sleep. The same volunteer visits the same family each week, so families have a regular friendly face coming in. As one mother put it: “I look forward to the weekly visits from my volunteer who gives me much needed breathing space, a listening ear and real friendship.” In addition, family groups take place once a week, on Thursdays at the Methodist Church Hall, Queens Road, Royston, on Fridays at The Hub in Cambourne. Families may be family group members, have a home visiting volunteer or combine the two.
COFFEE STOP Every Saturday 10.30am to 12noon Rombouts coffee & biscuits for 70p at All Saints’ Community Hall There are toys for the children to play with and a play leader organises a programme of activities, for example, drawing, painting, singing, sandwich making or dressing up. Activities are arranged for
Parish but also the District and the County). The list can be endless – no doubt we can all think of one or two.
www.melbourn.org.uk/speakers-corner/ www.melbourn.org.uk/speakers-corner/
A good ol’ moan! Everyone gripes and grumbles about something, whether it’s waiting too long in a queue, missing post or poor restaurant service. But apparently although we enjoy a good moan, when it comes to complaining we British all too often shy away from confrontation. Partly because we don’t like the hassle, or we don’t think it will do any good. Perhaps we don’t want to be seen as the ‘moaning’ Victor Meldrew, or simply don’t know how or who to moan to. Most of us won’t make a complaint, no matter how badly we’ve been mistreated. Yet complaining is straightforward, so why do we consider it too much trouble?
On the door step Melbourn is a great village – it has a lot to offer, but it does have its faults. Speakers’ Corner can be found on the village website. It is a blog where you can put your point of view on village issues or have something to say about other peoples discussions. It is the place for locals to ‘gripe’ and ‘grumble’ or just make an observation. Feel free to point out problems with speeding traffic, intimidating youths, littered streets, holes in the roads, overhanging branches, dog mess or problems with the councils, (not just the
One of our biggest problems is the assumption that somebody will already be dealing with the ‘situation’. A neighbour perhaps has let the authorities know or the appropriate authority has been patrolling the street and seen the problem. The Police have their faults (lots), but they also need the help of the public to identify problem hotspots. As do local councils. No point expecting them to know where there are potholes, bad lighting, overhanging bushes or disturbances in the village if no one informs them. In the real world there is not a ‘copper’ standing on every street corner or some official walking every path and road checking for problems – much as we feel there should be. (I know! ‘We pay enough’, I hear you say!) If you do have an issue and you want to tell someone about it, pick up the phone and let them know. Alternatively, put your complaint or problem on the site. Somebody in authority WILL be looking at it, we will make sure of that. As this site is open for others to leave their comments, someone may already have the answer your looking for. You DO NOT need to leave your real name on the site, a username is fine. We do ask you to fill out the form with correct details, but you can be assured your details are not revealed to anyone. We hope to feature many of the issues in the Melbourn magazine, so everyone in the village, not just those lucky enough to have the internet, will be able to get to know what’s going on. If you know someone with a problem but without access to the internet then why not help them by putting their problem on the site.
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