Eid Mubarak – and beyond!

An email sent from our Chief Executive, Kersten England, to all colleagues on Tuesday, 26 May 2020:

As I wrote this I imagined, I hoped, that many of you were gathered with your household family celebrating the end of the month of Ramadan and the festival of Eid al-Fitr. I’ve been sent many pictures from friends and colleagues of the feasts they have been cooking up and a mini feast of home cooked saag paneer and dahl was the order of the day in this house too! But like Ramadan this Eid was like no other. This was a stay at home Eid. We did not see bustling shops and restaurants, large gatherings of extended family and mosques full for worship. As one message I saw said ‘we will spend this Eid apart so that we can all spend next Eid together’.

This last month of Ramadan saw so many acts of kindness – large and small – in our district from volunteers, community organisations and the workforce of our public sector. It’s been a tribute to the values we stand for, principally that generosity of spirit and care for others which I associate with the people and communities of the Bradford District.

I was particularly taken by the blog written by two of our social workers Asma Ashraf and Hamza Madni posted by the Department of Health and Social Care on its website. And the brilliant efforts of the amazing ‘The Christmas Dinner’ Bradford collective who regrouped to create Eid parcels for Bradford’s care leavers did not go unnoticed by Lemn Sissay, awesome poet and the founder of ‘the Christmas dinner’ project who is a care leaver himself.

I’d like to thank everyone who was out in our neighbourhoods and shopping streets in the run up to Eid, advising communities, shops and takeaways about keeping things safe and maintaining social distancing. I’d like to thank those in the food distribution operation, the area hubs and community centres who made sure no one went without some Eid treats. I also know many of our youth workers, wardens and neighbourhood workers will have had a busy bank holiday weekend whilst some celebrated and others relaxed and enjoyed a break.

Think also of workers across the care sector which remains on the front line of this crisis. A phenomenal effort is going in every day to bring down the toll that Covid-19 is taking on our older residents. We fought alongside our local health colleagues to secure testing for care home staff and residents, to ensure a good supply of PPE, have provided advice and support on infection prevention and control, trained new entrants to social care and provided financial support. But this has been and remains – as it has for hospitals – the most difficult of times.

As we inch out of aspects of lockdown I know intense effort is going into work to minimise the risks of seeing a rise in infection levels in our district.

We are working hard on plans to deliver the local dimension of the ‘test and trace’ programme which will see much greater effort to establish levels of infection and to suppress the potential for local outbreaks and hotspots. Colleagues from public health, environmental health and the neighbourhoods teams will be at the heart of this work with colleagues from health.This programme will require people who have been in close contact with people who have tested positive for Covid-19 to self isolate. This may well affect a greater number of us than previously and we will support anyone who is required to self isolate to do so.

The teams from education, public health infection protection and control, facilities management and home to school transport are at full pelt working alongside schools who are gearing up for a gradual return of pupils to school. No one is under any illusions how important it is for our kids to get the best education possible and also how important it is for this to be done safely without exposing children, their families and staff to unnecessary risks. It’s a delicate balancing act.

Thank you to staff who have supported the reopening of our household waste recycling centres and the resumption of our bulk waste collection service including staff who have been deployed across to help manage the initial rush and lengthy queues outside sites. I hope this will also ease the load on our stellar waste crews who have worked throughout collecting greatly increased volumes on their weekly rounds, rightly dubbed heroes by grateful residents. Thank you to highways staff, city and town centre staff and wardens who are working to create safe town and city centres as more retail reopens.

As you know we are gradually safely stepping up more of our front line services whilst encouraging staff who can work from home still to do so until it makes sense to do otherwise. But some services will take longer to recover and we will continue to support and redeploy staff who cannot resume their normal jobs.

This is not an easy time. We are still managing a crisis. We are easing our way out of lockdown. We are thinking and planning for the longer term journey back to greater prosperity for the people of the district. The future is uncertain. The energy, commitment and passion we have for this place keeps me going and will take us forward. And when it gets tough I find this short poem by Lemn Sissay a comfort:

‘How do you do it?’ said night
‘How do you wake and shine?’
‘I keep it simple’ said light
‘One day at a time’

Bradford City Runs 2017

29 October 2017

Come and celebrate Bradford’s Annual Festival of Running with Bradford City Runs on Sunday 29 October. Our unique event has a choice of three distances: 5K, 10K and Half Marathon along with a totally separate kids’ race. Choose your distance and sign up now at www.bradfordcityruns.co.uk as there are no entries on the day.

All races are chip timed and held on closed, traffic-free roads in and around City Park and the city centre. Adult race finishers will receive a medal and a T-shirt and children will receive a medal.

Even if you’re not running it’s a family-friendly event with stalls and stands and entertainment for spectators.

Adult Races – Course Map

The route takes in parts of Little Germany and the Broadway Shopping Centre, as well as the University of Bradford, Bradford College, City Hall and City Park.

Bradford City Runs will once again raise money for the Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit, based at the University of Bradford. The unit was set up after the tragic Bradford City fire disaster in 1985 and continues to explore ground-breaking treatment techniques for burns sufferers. The 2016 Bradford City Runs event raised £7,000 for the unit and we are hoping to top that in 2017!

More info about the PSBRU can be found here. (PDF)

Sponsor forms for PSBRU can be found here. (PDF)

Kids Warm Up – Bradford City Runs 2016

Hundreds of children and adults have already signed up to take part in this year’s Bradford City Runs, which is designed to welcome everyone from the Bradford district and beyond, no matter how fit or how fast!

Updating the Bradford Council logo

You might have noticed over the past few weeks that we have updated our Council logo. The logo we are now using is based on our civic crest, originally granted in 1976. The crest reflects the wonderful history of our city and the towns which make up our district. The motto on the crest is ‘Progress, Industry, Humanity’, which still chimes well with our priorities today.

The Bradford Council civic crest reflects the history of the city and the entire district

As well as the crest, we are using an updated colour scheme, with shades of green, blue, burnt orange and sand that all feature in the crest.

We have also designed a new simpler version of the crest, with fewer colours and less detail. We will use this in places where it is not possible to reproduce all the details on the full crest, or where the crest will be displayed very small. For example, we are using the simpler version as the icon used to identify Bradford Council on this blog.

The simplified logo will be used where it is not possible to recreate the detail of the full logo

The main Bradford Council website has been updated with the crest and new colour scheme. Some other online systems have also been changed. But some online systems will take longer as our web team will be working with various third parties to get our logo and colours updated. All in all, our web team has identified 120 online systems that need updating.

We are not replacing our logo everywhere at once, so you will still see the old blue and orange logo in some places for a while yet. But as we replace or refresh Council property and materials across the district we will now be using the civic crest.

The old blue and orange logo will now be phased out

Even while we used the blue and orange logo, the civic crest never dropped out of use, and was still shown in certain places. Using only the crest in future will give us a more consistent image and will better reflect the whole of the district and our rich history.

History and symbolism of the civic crest

The civic crest is based on our coat of arms, which was granted in 1976, but has origins as far back as 1847 and the original ‘Bradford shield’.

The crest features a shield supported by a stag and an angora goat, with a boar’s head at the top. The shield includes two bugle horns, a fleece, a fountain and eleven Yorkshire roses. Three more Yorkshire roses are set on each of the collars worn by the stag and the angora goat.

The various elements of the civic crest have links with different parts of the district and their own heritage.

Festival brings three days of fabulously flamboyant family fun

Bradford’s biggest and brightest festival returns to City Park in late July (28-30) bringing a colourful and multicultural programme of arts, activities and entertainment.

This year’s Bradford Festival draws on Britain’s rich cultural talent and features award-winning and highly acclaimed street theatre, music and dance.

Celebrated women’s street theatre company, Circo Rum Ba Ba, brings The Crow House, a silent movie-inspired show using acrobatics, silks trapeze artistry, hat juggling, puppetry and slap-stick comedy.

One of Cardiff’s most exciting, original and eclectic companies, Kitsch & Sync Collective will stage Bedraggled where a trio of bold and brash mermaids shock and entertain onlookers with their feisty and fishy antics.

Audiences will be able to catch a glimpse of a possible future where air pollution hits crisis point in Urban Astronaut by innovative British street theatre company, Highy Sprung.

Internationally acclaimed theatre company, Mind the Gap have worked with cutting-edge Liverpool theatre company The Kazimier to stage Mirror Mirror, a thought-provoking piece about the experiences of people who are considered ‘different’ in today’s society.

Award-winning local interactive performance company, Same Difference, will bring their ‘walkabout, much-talked-about, splendorous, spectacular, scientific discovery machine’ in Sense-O-Matic which explores how we use our senses to discover our environment.

Anyone wishing to sample different types of music will be able to indulge in a rich and varied programme stretching from rock, ska, pop and folk to contemporary fusion, opera and Chinese classical music.

Chief Executive’s blog – June 2017

It’s been too long since I reflected on our work. It has been an extraordinarily busy period. I have kept up with covering my daily activity on Twitter. But I have missed this wider opportunity to communicate with you all.

With the awful events in Manchester at the forefront of my mind I want to thank all our staff. Whether you worked with schools to provide support for young people, spent time in communities and with younger residents listening and reassuring, were deployed as a special as part of the intensified policing, attended the many multi faith and cross community vigils, or got on with the day job whilst the threat level was ‘critical’, you played a part in keeping our communities close, safe and united.

Bradford remembrance after Manchester bombing

I want to pay tribute to our health colleagues at Bradford Royal Infirmary who tended to a significant number of wounded Bradfordians arriving at A&E through the night of the bombing, and to police colleagues many of whom have worked twelve-hour six-day shifts over the last week. We hold the 22 who died, the many grieving, wounded and distressed, and the city of Manchester in our thoughts. We stand together.

General Election on Thursday, 8 June

The events in Manchester suspended campaigning in the General Election. But the election date remains Thursday, 8 June. There has been no let-up in the hard backroom work getting everything ready for polling day. The elections team and I normally have six months to prepare for such a significant event. This time we have had six weeks. The elections team have been flat out. Some have had to cancel long planned holidays. They are a small, dedicated and great team.

Elections staff preparing ballot boxes for the general election

Of course their numbers swell to over a thousand for polling day and the count itself.
If you are taking part this year – getting up ridiculously early to set up and open the polling station for 7 am sharp or having a sleepless night to work at the count – thank you.

I know you will take very seriously our responsibility to ensure everyone who is entitled to has the opportunity to vote, free of undue pressure, and that every vote is counted accurately. As we know, elections are lively and hotly contested in our District. I see this as a sign of a healthy and vigorous democracy in action. We are also dedicated to helping ‘promote the vote’ in the run up to polling day and I encourage everyone to exercise their democratic right to vote!

A few highlights – Tour de Yorkshire

But I want to turn now to just a few of the highlights of the last few months. Our delivery of the Tour de Yorkshire was a triumph. Some 400,000 people crammed onto village streets, rural lanes and iconic climbs such as Haworth Main Street. Bunting, land art and impromptu street parties were the order of the day. And who can forget the umbrella tree in Lister Park? Two of our pieces of land art – the now famous Addingham Ducks and Branwell and the Bicycle (celebrating two hundred years since the invention of the bicycle and of Branwell’s birth) have been shortlisted in the TdY land art competition. Go to the Tour de Yorkshire website and vote for one of them! I saw first-hand just how hard people worked to make the event a success – they did us proud.

Addingham ducks street art for the 2017 Tour de Yorkshire

Branwell Bronte Worth Valley Young Farmers land art for the 2017 Tour de Yorkshire

Young riders in City Park for the start of stage 3 of the 2017 Tour de Yorkshire

Praise for how we keep children safe

Recognition of the strength of our team work also came in the inspection of our partnership work on domestic abuse and its impact on the lives of the children of our District. If you haven’t read about the report of the ‘joint targeted area inspection‘ team it is worth doing so. It made me proud of what we do. The report speaks of the commitment of front line workers to serve the best interests of children, of low turnover and high morale amongst social work staff, of great partnership work focussed on the needs of the child, and a quality of work which is making a positive impact on vulnerable children’s lives. The inspectors also commented on the scale, complexity and challenging nature of much of the work. And of course there was learning. We are not complacent. We will address the points raised and make improvements. But across the trade press – the journals that cover our business – there was widespread recognition of just how strong our work is.

Congratulations to Sue Dunkley, our HR Director. She is officially the public sector’s HR Director of the year! This is great news for Sue and Bradford. She was nominated by some of our Future Leaders who conducted a very sophisticated promotional campaign which got everyone talking about what’s happening here in our organisation.

And finally huge thanks to our refuse collectors and customer service staff. They are part way through implementation of significant changes to how and when we collect the bins. We are introducing ‘all in one recycling’ where residents can now recycle more and put it all in one bin. We are also moving over to ‘alternate week collections’. This isn’t an easy change to make. But it’s happening and being handled – on the whole – extremely well.

Waste and recycling advisors helping with the changes to bin collections

Best wishes

Kersten

PS, as always, for more regular updates, you can follow me on Twitter: @kersten_england

17 years of success for Silsden walking bus

This week is Walk to School Week, a national campaign to get children and their parents active. The added advantage of walking to school is that it cuts down the number of cars near a school at the start and end of day. The reduction in the number of cars reduces the amount of air pollution around a school at this peak times as well as making it safer for children, particularly if they are crossing a road.

James Brass, Environment Officer for Bradford Council, met with Cath Smith, a Teaching Assistant at Aire View Infant School, to find out how their walking bus helps families in Silsden.

• How long have you been doing the Walking Bus?
  • 17 years
• Why did you set one up?
  • Reluctantly at first – it was a big responsibility! The Road Safety Team came to give a talk and inspired the school to set one up. I ended up leading the first walks and never looked back.
• How many children join in and has it grown?
  • We began at Waterside (on the east side of Silsden) with around 12 children with one parent supporting. Later on, we started a Walking Bus on the west side of Silsden. Sadly we have just one Walking Bus after one of our friends, a leader passed away.
• How do you organise the walk?
  • We set up local ‘bus stops’ picking children up at different points along the route. Parents receive a letter and sign up if they want to join with the times and days they want. When we receive new children to the school they get information about the Walking Bus at induction evenings.
• How have you managed to keep it going?
  • Dedication and I enjoy it!
• What do you think are the main benefits?
  • Road safety is the first priority. You’re in touch with different people. It’s quite visible in the community and people respond to you. We have supported a wide range of families. It helps children to gain their independence. including one boy with autism who has got used to the Walking Bus coming everyday. The walking bus also allows mums to get to work and saves parents time.

• How about the children, do they enjoy it?
  • Yes, they enjoy it and we are getting new recruits. Sometimes we sing songs or do some of the maths problems from class. If the kids are quieter, we just talk. When they get a bit older they start to walk at the front and gain confidence. At one time we were helping to train guide dogs because they needed to learn how to walk with children and adults. So the children got used to walking with dogs too.
• Have you got any advice for others setting up a walking bus?
  • Get it set up, don’t let the barriers stop you, you will enjoy it. Once it’s set up it runs itself. There’s chance to socialise and the school is open for parents to come have a cup of tea. You need some commitment and it helps being a school employee.
• Is there anything schools can do to help parents and families set up a walking bus?
  • Contact the road safety team to get help.
• Have there been any other activities with the Walking Bus?
  • The kids did some running to school events where they raised money for charity. They also got to try a police speed camera and were involved in setting up the 20 mile an hour zone and having a Pelican Crossing built. We did a winter campaign last year giving out bright tabards as part of a ‘be seen’ campaign.
• Are there any other considerations if you are planning to set up a Walking Bus?
  • It’s a big responsibility, and you need to have paediatric trained.

Gearing up for the general election

There will be a general election on Thursday 8 June 2017. If you live in the Bradford district, here is the information you will need to make sure you can vote.

How to register to vote

If you are already registered to vote, you do not need to register again to vote in the general election. If you are not registered to vote, you will need to register by Monday 22 May to vote at the general election.

The quickest way to register to vote is online at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote. Or you can contact our Electoral Services team on 01274 431360.

How to vote if you will be away on 8 June

If you will be away on 8 June, you can apply for a postal vote or you can appoint another person to vote on your behalf by applying for a proxy vote.

The deadline to apply for a postal vote is 5pm on Tuesday 23 May and the deadline to apply for a proxy vote is 5pm on Wednesday 31 May.

Statement by Kersten England

Kersten England, Bradford Council’s Chief Executive and Acting Returning Officer, said: “Following confirmation by the House of Commons, our elections team are now gearing up for a General Election on Thursday, 8 June.

“I am confident that we will deliver a fair and robust elections process so that the citizens of Bradford District are able to exercise their democratic right to vote.

“We have started the process to identify around 240 polling stations across the district and appoint around 1,200 staff to ensure the 343,690 electors currently registered to vote in a Parliamentary election can cast their vote either in person or by post.

Remembering the Holocaust

Victims and survivors were remembered at a special ceremony in Bradford’s City Hall on 27 January, 2017.

Guest blogger, Nigel Grizzard, Researcher, and Bradford Jewish Historian writes about how his family and community continue to be affected by the Holocaust.

It is 72 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz Death Camp on January 27th, 1945 by the Allied Forces and it is right that we remember those horrendous events of the Nazi era from 1933-1945.

The theme for this year is ‘How can life go on?’ proposed by the Holocaust Survivor and profound thinker the late Elie Wiesel, after the Holocaust and I want to tell you my thoughts.

The further away we get from the Holocaust, I as a Jew, wonder whether we are getting closer to it, more and more information comes out the Holocaust, and the past which has been closed off now becomes more open as documents are found and research has been done.

I was born in 1952. The generation of Jews after the Holocaust and I had a comfortable childhood in London, but as I’ve grown older I’ve had the chance to research and it has left a profound effect on me. In 1976 I moved North to work for Bradford Council.
My family who bear the name Grizzard came to London in the 1840s and 1850s from Amsterdam in Holland. On my father’s side we were British Jews of Dutch ancestry – but from many years ago.

Chief Executive’s blog – January 2017

We are already half way through January 2017. I hope it’s not too late to say Happy New Year! I hope 2017 is a great year for you, your loved ones and for the Bradford District. I intend to do everything I can to make it so!

First of all I want to thank all our staff who worked over the Christmas holiday period. Whether out gritting, refuse collecting, providing services to elderly and disabled people, or being there for individuals and families in crisis, you kept the District running. As an example of the kinds of things staff contend with, I know that we and our partners dealt with a significant spike in domestic violence incidents, which is a depressing aspect of the Christmas holiday period.

The first few weeks back have been full on – from dealing with the ripple effects of the fatal shooting on the M62, to the liquidation of the Bradford Bulls. The meeting of the Council’s Executive last week was one of the most intense and thoughtful I have been involved in. The Council Chamber was packed with residents as elected members considered the potential closure of a residential care home, changes to payments to foster carers, the potential closure of Queensbury swimming pool and the introduction of car parking charges in some of our town centres. This is what local democracy is about – taking responsibility for making difficult judgements about how the interests of the District are best served, and being prepared to be challenged in public about them. We know that there will be more meetings like this, as we work through implementation some of the tough choices that will be required in the coming year.

And in the midst of all of this there are some great things happening.

I spent much of the weekend before last in Peel Park watching the British Cycling National Cyclo-Cross Championships. It was a fantastic event and thrilling to watch as hundreds of cyclists, from teenage to over 70, careered up and down the increasingly muddy banking in the hunt for the coveted national winners’ jerseys.

Cyclocross championships in Peel Park, Bradford

Cyclocross championships in Peel Park, Bradford

I discovered that Bradford is the base for some of the brightest stars of the sport, who will undoubtedly be representing Great Britain in world championships. Thanks to our Principal Parks Manager Ian Wood and all Council staff who worked to make this event such a success – those in the know tell me that Peel Park is the best Cyclo-Cross event course in the country.

David Hockney, probably the world’s most famous living artist, and a son of Bradford, turns 80 this year. As part of the celebrations we will open a new Hockney Gallery at Cartwright Hall in July. Before that – again at Cartwright Hall – we will host items from the Royal Collection. This is a collection of extraordinary gifts given to the Prince of Wales in 1875 by over 90 rulers of the Indian sub-continent. This is the first time in 135 years that they will be collectively displayed.

Enamelled Gold Inkstand from the Royal Collection Trust

Enamelled Gold plate and attardan from the Royal Collection Trust.

Back to cycling and over the May Day bank holiday weekend the whole District will be caught up in the carnival that is the Tour de Yorkshire. The final day of racing on Sunday, 30 April begins in City Park and a large part of the route snakes its way around the District. We will be working with communities and businesses to decorate the route and get ready for a bumper holiday weekend. So plan your viewing spot and get that bunting out!

Why we all should rally round…

The Council’s adult social care service provides a valuable support to older members of our community. Whether it’s through home care, day care, provision of equipment, care home placement or support for carers, the Council plays a critical role in improving the quality of life for some of our most vulnerable neighbours, friends and loved ones.

Funding challenge

There is a substantial cost associated with providing this support, yet in the last few years the funding received by the Council to carry out all of its functions has reduced significantly, with further savings still to be made in the next few years.

By 2020 the Council’s spending power will be half what it was in 2010. These cuts have implications for the district as the Council is having to make tough decisions about what it does less of, what it does differently and what it stops doing altogether.

Increasing cost and demand

In addition to the reduced levels of funding, we face increasing costs and rising demand for services. The number of older people in the district is growing, which adds further to the pressure on services, including adult social care. Earlier this month the Local Government Association published a report on the pressures facing the care system. Population projections from the Office for National Statistics estimate that there will be an extra 16,000 people aged over 65 living in the district in 10 years time with that figure rising to an extra 41,000 over 65s by 2039.

Source: ONS

People can make a difference

There are some inspiring examples of ordinary people across the district rising to the challenge and taking on a greater responsibility for themselves and each other, with simple acts of neighbourliness, kindness, volunteering and community action. One approach which has provided great support to many has been use of the free Rally Round service.

What is Rally Round?

Rally Round is an online service which allows friends, family, neighbours and care staff to work together more effectively when looking after a loved one or service user.

Rally Round – small tasks, big impact

The new online service has been launched in Bradford to help people stay in their homes for longer, improve health and wellbeing and reduce isolation. This is also linked to our People Can campaign.

Rally Round allows a network to be created around a person with care needs. Anything that the person needs help with can be listed as a task. Then, trusted friends, family members, neighbours or staff involved in their care can see this, discuss it, agree to take the task on and let everyone know when it has been done.

It is a voluntary-based neighbourhood support service and is free to use.

Rally Round works on desktop computers, laptops, tablets and mobile phones and a daily or weekly email provides a useful reminder of what people have agreed to do.

Lyn Sowray, Assistant Director of Adult and Community Services – Operational Services, said:

“Rally Round is an exciting new service which has been designed to support people to maintain independence and improve their health. The online system is easy to use and can be securely accessed at any time to make life easier and safer.”

Visit Bradford’s Rally Round website to find out more or register.

Further information

If you are a person receiving or giving care, or an organisation with clients or service users and would like to know more about Rally Round, for more information please contact Mike Halliday, Commissioning Officer in Adult and Community Services: email mike.halliday@bradford.gov.uk or phone 01274 431931.