Last night’s meeting was chaired by councillor Peter Macfadyen, who welcomed councillors, staff and members of the public including guests that came all the way from Monmouth.
Registered charities Active and in Touch and the Frome Carnival Committee spoke about the work they do and the challenges they face. Both organisations rely on volunteers and donations, they receive financial support from Frome Town Council and are now making use of Volunteer Frome. They were praised by councillors for the work they do for Frome.
FTC Community Projects Officer Kate Hellard outlined the work FTC has done with small communities, engaging people in their local communities and bringing them together. The group wholeheartedly agreed this type of work was beneficial to small communities as it inspires ownership and community cohesion.
Kate also presented an update of Volunteer Frome. FTC worked together with SPARK Somerset to create the volunteering platform, based at the Town Hall which brings together local organisations and residents and the people who can help them. Kate said the response has been “really encouraging. A lot of work has gone into this, what we have is working”
FTC Resilience Manager Anna Francis presented her vision for Frome to become a zero carbon town, and outlined the strategic priorities such as conducting transport research, promoting active travel, improving cycling routes and encouraging lift shares. Anna asked Councillors to adopt these strategies and also to work with SSC to secure funding for an in depth transport study. It was agreed to adopt the strategic priorities and to bring together a pop-up workshop to agree the full strategy and Action Plan.
FTC Communications and Marketing Manager Rachel Griffin took to the microphone to speak about the Discover Frome Information Point, which has been located at Black Swan Arts since the beginning of July. The project has been well received by the public, offers a warm welcome to visitors in its Town Centre location and provides essential information to the public. Councillors agreed to underwrite the costs of the service from June 2018 until March 2020.
