Welcome to SPJARA!
Here's the latest news from our part of Cheltenham
More colourful utility boxes
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HOMES FOR REFUGEES
A MESSAGE FROM THE COUNTY COUNCIL Gloucestershire County Council has launched a scheme called Homes for Refugees, to provide short-term supported accommodation to help refugees to rebuild their lives in the county. The scheme is for refugees who have been granted asylum, meaning they have the legal right to live and work in the UK, having fled conflict or persecution in their own country. Once an asylum claim is approved, an individual is generally only given a short notice period to leave the accommodation provided by the Home Office, and do not have enough time to make longer term plans, such as securing employment and more permanent accommodation. The Homes for Refugees scheme gives this group of new refugees a little more time to look for their own housing, secure benefits, find employment and work out their next steps. The structure of the scheme is similar to Homes for Ukraine: UK residents provide spare rooms, properties, or annexes as accommodation and are offered a monthly ‘thank you’ payment of £600 to cover extra household expenses. The short-term placements last up to 3 months, and both hosts and guests get wrap-around support during this time. Guests will receive professional help to look for employment and long-term accommodation, so that they are ready to move towards independence by the end of the placement. The Homes for Refugees team offer guidance to hosts throughout the placement and can also support them if they wish to turn the arrangement into a longer-term formal tenancy. There was a very positive response to the Homes for Ukraine scheme, with over 800 hosts welcoming Ukrainians into their homes, but we need more people to come forward to offer refugees a safe place to stay so they can start to rebuild their lives. At the link below you will find: · an enquiry form to get in touch with our friendly Homes for Refugees team · more information and some frequently asked questions · links to a digital poster that can be shared or printed. Please display these in any suitable locations you have. Let us know if you would like us to send you hard copies. www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/homes-for-refugees SPJARA visit to Javelin Park
Javelin Park is that immense structure just south of Gloucester beside the M5. It generates electricty from the waste that it burns. SPJARA set up a visit there on 14 August. We were a small party and given a full tour of the facility, from the loading bays where our rubbish arrives through the prepartion store and the furnace that generates the steam that drives the turbines. The power generated is enough to meet the needs of some 25,000 homes.Living as we do downwind from Javelin Park, it was good to see the effort made to ensure the air that emerges after the process is clean. You can see more here UBB (ubbgloucestershire.co.uk). Above is a photo of us all, kitted out for the tour. Many thanks to Vanessa Angelo-Thomson for organising this outing for us. We plan to repeat the visit later in 2024. Latest planning news
We have commented on the plans to convert the former Lloyds Bank in Bath Road into a "community church, proposals for two new houses behind 16 Upper Bath Street and a plan to modify 14 Park Place. We submitted our comments earlier in the summer of 2023. In September, we learnt that in the case of the proposed church the approved plans were amended to remove the threat to trees. As to 16 Upper Bath Street, the earlier plans were withdrawn, and a new more modest proposal for a single storey house has since been approved. It is now under construction. You can read all our recent submissions to the Council and other planning news here. Brightening up the Bath Road
Working with our neighbouring residents' association, NARA, we obtained a grant from the county to help brighten our favourite local shopping street. We installed and planted two new planters on the build-outs outside the Co-op (see photos). The Co-op helps to water them. We've moved the old planters that were there before to the Norwood Triangle - see below. Meanwhile, Rhys Cowe, our artist, has decorated several new utility boxes in Bath Road (see opposite). ....and brightening up the Norwood Triangle
In May last year we moved the old planters from the Bath Road to the Norwood Triangle and planted them anew - see photos below. Many thanks to Diana Winsor and her husband Ken for the planting advice and assistance here and in the Bath Road. 920021Roundabout branding repaired
Huge thanks to the Cook Shop and Lizzie Smith, its owner, for their incredibly generous funding for the repair to the Bath Road roundabout's "branding" which was damaged recently for the umpteenth time. (See pictures below of earlier damage to a panel and now repaired). We are deeply appreciative and very much hope that SPJARA residents will consider reciprocating this by supporting the Cook Shop. And thanks too to Chantal Freeman who was out doing the work at 7AM on Easter Sunday morning before the traffic. The Bath Road shopsNow, more than ever, we realise what a great set of shops we have on the Bath Road. Please support them.
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SPJARA: who, what and where is it?
SPJARA* is the Residents' Association that covers the roads and streets of Cheltenham shown on the map below. The name SPJARA comes from St. Philip and James Church which lies at the centre of our area. However, we have no formal link to the church.
Why not join SPJARA? It's just £5.
We look forward to meeting you soon
* SPJARA started life as 'St Philip and St James Area Residents' Association', but a name change to its initials SPJARA was agreed in 2018. Hence the rather awkward name!
Why not join SPJARA? It's just £5.
- We help to protect and improve our area -
- see Stuff we Do
- We help local people to meet and socialise -
- see Social Events
- We get things done
- We are always looking for ways to make our area better.
We look forward to meeting you soon
* SPJARA started life as 'St Philip and St James Area Residents' Association', but a name change to its initials SPJARA was agreed in 2018. Hence the rather awkward name!
THE SPJARA AREA