Cardiff Council Update: 23rd July

Here is tonight's update from Cardiff Council, covering: the future of the Sir Thomas Picton statue will be debated at Council tonight; the services available for children and young people over the summer holidays; and the Museum of Cardiff has been shortlisted for a Family Friendly Museum Award.

Future of Picton statue debated at Council tonight

The future of the statue of slaver and Waterloo war hero Sir Thomas Picton will be decided tonight at Full Council.

Councillors will debate whether the statue should remain in the Marble Hall of Heroes in City Hall where it has been displayed for more than 100 years.

The call to remove the statue was made by Cardiff Council's first Black Lord Mayor, Cllr Dan De'Ath, because of Picton's association with slavery and his documented torture of a teenage slave in the West Indies.

The Leader of Cardiff Council, Cllr Huw Thomas, has publically backed the Lord Mayor's request and is creating a taskforce to address the inequalities BAME people face. The taskforce will include representation from Cardiff's Black communities.

The motion, and any amendments and alterations to it can be seen here:
https://cardiff.moderngov.co.uk/mgAi.aspx?ID=20344&LLL=0

The debate is due to begin at 6.30pm and can be watched live here:
https://cardiff.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=149&MId=3533&LLL=0

Summer Holiday Provision in Cardiff

Cardiff Council in partnership with several organisations, will deliver summer provision to those children and young people across the city, who need it most.

A series of opportunities and support, funded by the Council and Welsh Government, will be made available to those groups who are considered to have missed out significantly, during school closures caused by COVID-19.

Cabinet Member for Education, Employment and Skills, Cllr Sarah Merry said: "The Council has been working with schools to identify those children and young people who may be most vulnerable to underachievement and who will benefit most from structured engagement and enrichment activities during the summer break.

"Following the Welsh Government position that the usual Summer Holiday Enrichment Project (SHEP) would not continue this year, the Council has planned a host of provision using a partnership approach, which will mean that our most vulnerable learners will still be provided with much needed support, having a positive impact on their health and wellbeing."

14 school settings will provide activities delivered in partnership with Cardiff Youth Services, Cardiff Play Services, Cardiff Music Service, Menter Caerdydd and Storey Arms Outdoor Education Centre.

Activities will also be provided by external organisations such as First Campus, Cardiff Met, Glamorgan Cricket, South Wales Fire Service, RNLI, Network Rail, Sport Cardiff, Grow Cardiff, WRU, Kier Construction and Cardiff and Vale UHB Nutrition and Dietetics department.

Cardiff Council's Children's Services,Child Health and Disabilities (CHAD) Team will run a bespoke summer scheme for up to 26 young people and Cardiff Youth Serviceswill deliver a host of provision including the youth mentors scheme, street based activities and virtual support.

Cardiff's Child Friendly Team will also be supporting young people aged 11-15 who wish to engage in The Global Social Leaders, a virtual leadership programme to help students to build leadership and confidence skills to assist them in the future world of work. Participants need to commit to only 5 mornings of lessons at a time convenient to them, they then have access to online resources and a pastoral mentor. Find out more information please visit: https://www.globalsocialleaders.com/gsl-summer-catalyst-at-home//

Menter Caerdyddwill deliver a full and varied Welsh language digital workshop programme, free of charge, throughout the summer break, and will also support the Council to celebrate National Play Day on the 5th of August with bilingual digital workshops/videos for children to enjoy. They will also deliver ‘Bwrlwm', an outdoor play scheme providing 2 weeks of fun play opportunities in Welsh, for primary aged children, in locations across the city.

Museum of Cardiff shortlisted for a Family Friendly Museum Award

The Museum of Cardiff has been shortlisted for a ‘Kids In Museums Family Friendly Award From Home' in the ‘best website activity' category for their ‘My Museum' activities.

Although currently closed to the public under Coronavirus regulations the museum has continued its work telling the story of Cardiff through a range of online activities for all ages, with the shortlisting panel particularly pleased with the Museum's work for young people who "were not well served elsewhere." The panel also praised the museum for their "clear presentation" and the way the range of topics "linked back to the museum's social history focus."

The downloadable activities, which are perfect for home-schooling or summer holiday fun were developed in conjunction with local school teachers and designed to support key skills and support intergenerational learning and fun.

The activities explore different themes in Cardiff's social history - for example history detective activities to help primary school aged children explore the city's story during World War One, and animated films and presentations aimed at encouraging older children to explore the past in order to understand contemporary subjects. The ‘Protest! Ideas worth fighting for' activities, for example, explore past activism, empowering young people to stand up for subjects that matter to them as young people today.