In attendance
| Name | Organisation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Andria Birch (AB) – Chair | Bassetlaw Community and Voluntary Service (BCVS) | CEO |
| Sally Gillborn (SG) – Vice Chair | North Notts BID | Chief Executive |
| Julie Beresford (JB) | Bassetlaw District Council (BDC) | Head of Growth & Economic Prosperity |
| Rebecca Bibby (RB) | Bassetlaw District Council (BDC) | Admin Support Assistant |
| Michelle Cleaver (MC) | Bassetlaw District Council (BDC) | Interim Programme Officer |
| Tony Ward (TW) | S80 Partnership | CEO |
| Karen Whitlam (KW) | Citizens Advice North Nottinghamshire | CEO |
| Philip Jackson (PJ) | Worksop Business Forum | Chair |
| Joelle Davies (JD) | Notts County Council | Economic Growth and Regeneration |
| Cllr Steve Scotthorne (SS) | Bassetlaw District Council (BDC) | Councillor |
| Georgia Crossland (GC) | Centre Place | CEO |
| Stephen Marwood (SM) | Environmental Agency | Sustainable Growth Manager |
| Becky Law (BL) | Member of Public | - |
| Tina Masters (TM) | Bassetlaw District Council (BDC) | Media Officer |
| Jo White (JW) – on TEAMS | Member of Parliament for Bassetlaw | Member of Parliament |
Apologies
| Name | Organisation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Tracey Mace-Ackroyd (TMA) | RNN Group | Deputy CEO |
| Cllr Walker-Gurley (CWG) | Nottinghamshire County Council | Councillor |
| Craig Taylor (CT) | Bassetlaw District Council (BDC) | Assistant Chief Executive / Director of Regeneration & Neighbourhoods |
| Paul Stuart (PS) | East Midlands Chamber of Commerce | Head of Business Support |
| Peter Gaw | Inspire | CEO |
| Michael Hirst (MH) | BPL | CEO |
| Helen Azar (HA) | NHS/Talk Zone | Senior Transformation Manager and Head of Health Inequalities at the Bassetlaw Place |
| Robert Harrison | Notts Police | Bassetlaw Neighbourhood Policing Inspector, Wildlife Crime and Heritage Crime Officer |
| Dee Sissons (DS) | Aurora Wellbeing | CEO |
Action Table
| Previous Actions | Undertaken by | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| 4.1 Send GC a Conflict of Interest Form | MC & RB | Complete |
| 6.1 Update Specifications for Children & Young People and Community & Business Engagement | MC | Complete |
| 7.1 Update grant applications - planning permissions | MC | Complete |
| 7.2 Update three business support grants | MC | Complete |
| 7.3 Review documents relating to Business Fit-Out-Grants and early exit from lease. | JB | - |
| 8.1 Look at additional funding which can be accessed and deadlines | Board | ASAP |
| 9.1 Draft Specification for Street Cleansing and send to full board | MC | Before April meeting |
| 10.1 Update the Event Form | MC | Complete |
| 12.1 Update Business Support specifications once feedback received from sub-group | MC | Complete |
| 12.2 Arrange date in March for Worksop walk-around | JB | End Feb |
| Previous Actions | Undertaken by | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| 5.1 Arrange working group to explore matched funding opportunities | MC | Complete |
| 5.2 Memorandum of understanding | MC | Complete |
| 6.1 Send out letter and contract for B&C engagement work | MC | Complete |
| 6.2 Send out letter and contract for CYP engagement work | MC | Complete |
| 7.1 Contact Richard Stone for quote on providing a town centre audit. | MC | Complete |
| 7.2 Follow up with Via regarding street paving. | MC | Complete |
| 7. 3 Working sub-group to be created for Events | MC & RB | Complete |
| 9. Contact Lex Hygiene – further discussion about quote | MC | Complete |
| 10.1 Collect revised quotes for website build | MC | May |
| 10.2 Renew domain name | MC/CM | Complete |
Minutes of last meeting and matters arising
None
Conflicts of interest
- AB - BCVS
- KW - CANNS
- GC - Centre Place
Funding Update - MOU
JB feedback – the technical amendments to the funding around Management and Admin have now been made. There is no allocation from revenue in first year for staffing but ample capacity funding £25K through capital – but nothing from revenue. Revenue deductions to start from year 2. There was a discussion around where the emphasis should be and exploring opportunities for matched funding.
AB and JW – fed back from event at Lancaster House meeting. JW – Successful event where MPs all awarded PiP were in attendance. Emphasised the money is there but need to find ways to stretch and use effectively. Investors/partners/organisers to drawn down and look for opportunity for investment and longevity past 10 years. AB added that it was a positive event with inspiring key messages. Discussion about putting together case studies and draw attention to goals of PiP to leverage additional funding. Suggestion for a working group for matched funding opportunities.
Action: send out an email for participants for working group for matched funding opportunities.
AB – Lloyd’s bank ‘new strategy’ launching later this year and suggested reaching out to Lloyd’s at a national level for alignment.
Action: Memorandum of understanding – received and AB to sign with Michael Wildman and return to Gov this week.
Review Engagement RFQ (discussed after street cleansing)
GC/KW/AB declared COI
MC summarised the Business and Community RFQ – BCVS will coordinate activity across partner organisations to deliver:
- Survey creation
- Engagement campaign materials
- Conduct 10 focus groups
- Weekly community engagement events throughout 2026
- At least 400 completed surveys
- Breakdown into 5 volunteer engagement projects
- Final report summarising data gathered
MC – Clarification over the 5 smaller engagement projects – 1) create and maintain planting displays in the town centre, 2) intergenerational photograph project 3) mosaic celebrating community assets and heritage 4) a film created by communities 5) establish a community advisory group to ensure community voice.
JB – clarified the costings is over 12 months engagement and evaluation.
SS – question if volunteers involved in the smaller projects could matched funding be leveraged?
JW – One key factor to feed into the community engagement is to try and approach those who feel disconnected from society, (i.e. non-voters). We need to focus on these people to give them a sense of belief and ownership. Would like to see the consultation make a special effort to engage with this group of people. Door knocking is the best way to engage people. Look at houses who don’t vote – data is held and can be accessed.
JB – agrees with JW and reiterates the organisations listed are best place to do the engagement and have a degree of trust. Community and voluntary led projects have been invaluable.
Board decision – feedback to AB and KW they are happy with the engagement proposals, but stress would like to see more door knocking and more focus and on targeting the group mentioned.
Action: MC put together formal letter and draw up contracts.
MC summarised the Children and Young People RFQ – BCVS will coordinate activity across partner organisations to deliver:
- Survey creation
- Engagement campaign materials
- Translated materials
- 7 Focus Groups
- Weekly community engagement events throughout 2026
- Completion of at least 300 surveys by target community members
- 4 volunteer community engagement micro projects, led by local VCSE groups and codesigned by the target communities,
- A final report in the required format summarising all data gathered and key themes identified
Board decision – happy to proceed
Action: MC put together formal letter and draw up contracts.
Discussion surrounding visibility on the high street. TW suggested using one of the available units in priory centre. JB responded that a unit was used for engagement with the priory centre and previously market stalls have been used.
Further suggestion, to use upcoming scheduled events as a forum to discuss engagement and PiP.
JB suggested a link to fusion energy café events – to enable engagement work to happen.
Capacity funding update
MC – update on capacity funding including officer time and the original BCVS consultancy work.
Walkaround
MC – Spreadsheet has been created and broken down under the interventions categories. This was circulated to board last week. Indicates short-, medium- and long-term projects.
MC – asked for clarification on the details to be provided for the report to Gov due by 30/04 for projected spend and first year projects. The report should include capacity funding spend and forecast, any board changes, and information about planned and delivered projects. Another report is then due in September.
Board decision – provide high level report on the requirements.
Safety
High Street safety and reduction in crime rates came high up on the initial engagement done last year. MC discussed with Richard Stone about the potential for conducting a safety audit. Suggestion for Rob Harrison (Bassetlaw Neighbourhood Policing Inspector) to be involved.
KW – safety query about CCTV on high street where there are cold spots. TW Camera coverage in Worksop sufficient. Suggestion to ask the for further clarification from the engagement that was previously conducted if there was more CCTV installed in the town centre would people feel safer?
JB – main area is Central Avenue – council carpark not covered. Suggestion for RH and TW to meet with Richard Stone about current CCTV already in place.
TW – raised possibility of having a mobile unit which can be deployed and being seen as deterrent. SM asks would it put people off coming into town centre such as visitors? Suggested the need to seek advice from Richard Stone about mobile CCTV unit van.
Action: MC to contact Richard Stone for quote on providing a town centre audit.
Events
JW – Events – BID for party in the park/square at Retford very successful brings community together same time each year. AB agrees.
Board discussion around potential events to bring tourism to Worksop. SG – BID can’t put one on in Worksop – due to logistics but would support one out of town such as the CANCH. Board discussion for proceeding with booking an event Branded event for PiP. GC confirmed Centre Place are looking for an event in June. Discussion by board about incorporating with Heritage Day.
Action: set up meeting for subgroup to create a PiP event.
SG – BID have an external provider to do events, a lady called Suzanne. Said she would pass her details onto BDC.
JD raised discussion about opportunities for EMCCA funding for infrastructure. Opportunity for further funding is visitor economy such as working with the brand Robin Hood brings – further opportunities for tourists to local high street. Funding from this to encourage people into town centres?
To note - Last meeting for JD – thanks and best wishes. Nicola taking over.
Street Cleansing
MC – Contract underway instruction for Glutton machine – for interim street cleaning.
Street cleansing RFQ sent out to 6/7 suppliers but only received 1 application from Lex Hygiene. The quote is for approx. £27 K for 1 deep clean. The quote is based on 14 operatives, 7 vans and overnight work over 4 weeks.
SG asked to clarify what the council does as standard to ensure this work is not asked for as art of the quote. SM suggests discussing with other areas in receipt of PiP funding to see what companies are being used in other areas. KW asks about street furniture; does it need cleaning or replacing?
Feedback from board – confirm day rate / and see if can trim the area (e.g. take out priory centre).
Action – MC to contact VIA and get them to replace the cobles. PJ – concerned with VIA taking cobles off and putting tarmac down.
Action – Contact Lex Hygiene and revisit the quote, what would need to be scaled back to try and get the quote nearer to £15K.
JB – suggest audit to document current street furniture. Highlight what can be repaired or needs to be replaced. JD - Greater Carlton have PiP funding and possibly working with Nottinghamshire County Council for Via to do a full audit. Suggestion that if Via can do the audit work – JB and JD to explore this further.
Website
MC – Domain name – already set up and is up for renewal in June. Currently 3 quotes from last year for website.
Action – MC to collect new and revisit existing quotes.
Action – Pay for the domain renewal.
Meeting dates for 2026
- 15 May 10am-12pm Hybrid – Bridge Skills Hub
- 23 July 10am-12pm Hybrid – Bridge Skills Hub
- 18 September 10am-12pm Hybrid – Bridge Skills Hub
- 19 November 10am-12pm Hybrid – Bridge Skills Hub
Any other business
New members – Board agrees to accept Melanie Smith from RNN group as replacement to Tracey Mace-Ackroyd.
12:06 – meeting closed.
Last Updated on Thursday, April 30, 2026