Community News 2024 08 19

From scrap to star object
A vintage BBC computer rescued at one of our Household Waste Recycling Centres has become a star of the show at the National Videogame Museum in Sheffield.

Eagle-eyed Ilkeston resident Matthew Bostock spotted the unusual computer at his local recycling centre. He thought it might be of some interest and alerted the staff. It turned out to be a BBC Micro Computer - an iconic 8-bit home computer launched in 1981 to improve computer literacy in schools.

We've now ensured it's gone to a good home by donating it to the National Videogame Museum where it's taking pride of place in a brand-new display chronicling 50 years of videogame history.

You can recycle computers at all nine of our household waste recycling centres, along with lots of other items, including vapes, electrical items and furniture.

Library service - have your say
You can now have your say on a number of proposals which if agreed will change the way we run parts of our library service.

The library service proposals are set out in our new draft Derbyshire Public Library Service Strategy 'A Modern Library Service for Derbyshire' which we unveiled last month.

The aim of the proposals is to keep library buildings open as well as creating a modern, agile, family-friendly and sustainable service across the county. The proposed changes would also support necessary budget savings and reflect changing patterns of library use while ensuring the service remains as accessible, efficient and cost-effective as possible.

A 12-week consultation runs until Saturday 2 November and we're encouraging residents, groups and organisations to have their say by filling out a questionnaire.

Paper copies of the questionnaire will also be available in all county libraries and through the mobile and home library services for people who are unable to fill it in online.

Any queries about the consultation can be emailed to library.consultation@derbyshire.gov.uk.

Find the draft Derbyshire Public Library Service Strategy 'A Modern Library Service for Derbyshire' on the Cabinet meeting agenda, item 5, appendix 2.

'Good' rating for Derbyshire adult care
Our adult social care services have been rated 'Good' by the Care Quality Commission.

The assessment team from the care watchdog said the county council's adult social care services evidenced a good standard of care and support with many people experiencing good, joined-up care.

The CQC report highlighted a number of areas where we worked well, including:

Hospital discharge
Preventing, reducing and delaying people from going into longer term care.
Using direct payments to help people access support to help them live the lives they wanted.

Areas highlighted for development included working with people with 'lived experience' to help shape services and letting people know the outcome of safeguarding referrals.

Free trees for schools
While school teachers and staff across the county are enjoying a well-earned break, we're taking the opportunity to remind you about our project to offer a free tree to every Derbyshire school.

More than 100 people have already registered their interest in claiming a free tree for their school as part of our mission to help plant at least a Million Trees across the county by 2030 to help tackle the effects of climate change.

Each Derbyshire school is entitled to a free tree being paid for by Vertas Derbyshire Limited, the county council's cleaning and landscape maintenance contractor.

Schools should register now to receive their free tree in October/November.

Anyone who has planted a tree in Derbyshire since June 2021 can record it on our interactive map on the Million Trees website.

Exam results for Derbyshire students
While the wait for results is over for A-Level students in Derbyshire, thousands of young people are still waiting patiently for their GCSE results, due out this Thursday (22 August).

We hope students get the results they want and are looking forward to their next steps. And there's plenty of support available if they're unhappy with their results or unsure about what to do next.

It's best to talk to their school or college first, for more information, but there's also help and support available from the National Careers Service, UCAS, the National Apprenticeship Service and Derbyshire Adult Community Education Service.

There's also support available in the form of emotional health and wellbeing apps. We've put together a range of apps that are quality assured and can help manage any stress and anxiety.

Celebrations at Ilkeston library
A free Heritage Day event is being held to mark the 120th anniversary of Ilkeston Library and everyone's invited to join in the celebrations.

The county council-run library was opened on 24 August 1904 by the Duke of Rutland with crowds filling the Market Place to see it open its doors for the first time.

A range of events have been planned by staff with the flagship event being the Anniversary Heritage Day on Friday 23 August from 10am to 2pm.

You're invited to drop in to the event any time between 10am and 2pm and there'll be an official cake cutting at 10.30am by our Civic Chairman Councillor Tony Kemp and Cabinet Support Member for Strategic Leadership, Culture, Tourism and Climate Change Councillor Susan Hobson.

A library for Ilkeston was first suggested in 1879, but it was a gift from Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie that saw it become a reality.

Make your views known
If you, or anyone in your family, uses the support we offer to people with learning disabilities and/or autism, there's still time to have your say on proposed changes to the way we offer that support.

We launched a consultation seeking people's views on options to re-design day opportunities and short breaks provided directly by us. The consultation closes on Wednesday 21 August. Please give your views by filling in an online questionnaire.