Cambridgeshire County Council has published their 2024/25 Business Plan - which provides a summary of our long-term vision and ambitions for Cambridgeshire, planned activities for the next five years, as well as key budget allocations and new savings and investments for the next financial year. 

In addition, the refreshed Strategic Framework 2023-2028 sets out how we have been making progress towards the council's vision of a greener, fairer and more caring Cambridgeshire. 

Visit our YouTube channel to watch videos on the work we're doing in support of our vision and keep an eye out on our Facebook page for new videos launching soon. 

We're working closer to communities in Cambridge City to support residents to develop their own local climate initiatives and help create a greener Cambridgeshire. 

Our Cambridge City Child and Family Centre have been hosting a variety of green-themed events, like creating bird feeders and play activities created from recycled materials - with the aim of supporting families to 'reconnect' with nature, 'repurpose' what they no longer need, and 'reuse' or mend things which are broken or old. 

Through these events, families have been able to learn more about the importance of looking after their local environment, as well as the simple steps they can take to encourage wildlife into their gardens and homes. Regular clothes and book swaps at the Centre have also helped to promote sustainable living. 

The Centre has also introduced pollinator patches and bug hotels into their garden areas to promote biodiversity and encourage visiting families to explore the natural world.

The project is supported by Cambridgeshire County Council as part of its closer to communities pledge outlined last year, which aims to move decisions and services as close as possible to local people and communities. 

To find out more about upcoming events and activities, visit the Cambridge City Child and Family Centre Facebook page. 

Residents aged 40-74 and registered with a GP in Cambridgeshire may be eligible for a free NHS health check.

Health checks assess your general health, and record height, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels. It is recommended that health checks are carried out every five years. 

Healthy You provide health checks within the local community, with appointments taking around 20-30 minutes to complete. Results are received immediately and include tailored lifestyle advice and information on specialist support if needed. 

For more information, visit the Healthy You website. Sign up to an appointment online, call 0333 005 0093 or text healthyu to 60777.

As part of the budget proposals agreed earlier this year, the council will invest £43m over the next two years into highways.

This will be to deliver improvements which both repair and prevent potholes, improve drainage, and preventative work on roads, footpaths and cycleways (including soil affected roads). 

A total of £5m was committed to deal with soil affected roads and work has already begun. Last month, work started on the A1101 Bates Drove in Littleport and will be completed by 9 May. 

Between now and next year, we have another nine locations to focus on, including the A1123 Hill Row Causeway, A603 Cambridge Road, B1050 Shelford Road and B1049 Twenty Pence Road. Last year, the A10 at Milton and the A141 Fenland Way in Chatteris were completed.

Our highways team will be working hard to keep disruption to a minimum and carrying out general maintenance work at the same time, such as vegetation clearance, drainage, signage, and road markings. Read the full story on our website. 

Vape recycling has been introduced at all nine of Cambridgeshire's Household Recycling Centres.

The new vape recycling bins offer a safe and environmentally friendly way for residents to dispose of single use and reusable vapes.

Disposable vapes contain lithium-ion batteries which can catch fire if damaged. Three million vapes are currently thrown away each week across the UK, and research by Material Focus shows that electrical items including vapes disposed of in the wrong bin cause more than 600 fires in refuse collection vehicles and at waste sites every year.

Collected vapes are transported to a facility where materials are separated and cleaned before being sent for recycling.

Anything containing batteries, including vapes, should never be placed in your waste or recycling bins at home. Batteries are the biggest cause of fires at recycling and waste management sites and in collection vehicles.

Find out more about recycling in Cambridgeshire, and find a Household Recycling Centre near you, on our website. 

For the first time ever, young adults across Cambridgeshire with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), have helped shape their journey to adulthood by co-designing an event with Cambridgeshire County Council.

The event is for 14 to 25-year-olds with SEND, as well as professionals, parents, and carers. It takes place from 10am to 2pm on Friday 3 May 2024 at Burgess Hall, St Ives - providing crucial information and resources to empower young adults with SEND and their families and carers.

Before the event, Cambridgeshire County Council is offering a mix of in-person and online sessions. They are taking place from Monday 22 April to Thursday 2 May. Find out more and register here. 

Navigating the path to adulthood can present unique challenges. Understanding the complexities of transitioning into adulthood including education, employment, independent living, and accessing support services, is paramount for their future success and wellbeing.

Find out more and register for the event here. 

All questions should be directed to Marty, Preparing for Adulthood Lead, at Martine.Simpson-Thomas@Cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

A campaign has been launched to find carers for people with learning disabilities who have experienced domestic abuse.

The initiative - the first of its kind in the country - is a joint scheme between Cambridgeshire Shared Lives and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (DASV) Partnership.

The aim of this campaign is to recruit Shared Lives Domestic Abuse Carers - a paid role with carers being self-employed and the scheme paying their fees.

This will provide a person-centred, long-term support approach for survivors of domestic abuse, acknowledging the impact abuse can have for people specifically with learning disabilities. People can offer support just for a few hours in the daytime, for an overnight stay, or for an extended break.

For further information, please email cambridgeshiresharedlives@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

May is Local and Community History Month and to celebrate Huntingdon Library will be hosting a range of events, activities and drop-in sessions. 

Join the special launch event on Saturday 4 May for the visiting Chivers exhibition, followed by a drop-in session with Huntingdonshire Archives - offering a unique opportunity to take a behind the scenes tour and learn about preserving historic documents. 

Other headline events include a talk delivered by Stuart Orme from the Cromwell Museum on the Huntingdon witch trials, 17th century 'Cromwell crafts', and a family history research session. 

Huntingdonshire Archives will also be offering drop-in events at Yaxley Library throughout May, where you can find out more about local and community history. 

For more information and to find a full list of events, enquire in-person at Huntingdon Library, visit the library.live website, call 0345 045 5225, or email Huntingdon.Referral@cambridgeshire.gov.uk. 

Jason Ramtohul has recently joined the Cambridgeshire Skills team as their new Information Advice, Guidance Careers and Progression Officer.

Based in Huntingdonshire, Jason will be working with new and current learners to offer impartial information, advice, and guidance - supporting individuals in making informed decisions about education, training, and career options. 

Jason will be offering information on local opportunities, providing personalised advice, assessing skills and needs, referring residents to support services, and empowering them to take control of their development. 

Adults over the age of 19 can arrange free one-to-one support (anywhere in the county) by calling 01353 613013 or emailing cambsals@cambridgeshire.gov.uk and requesting an IAG appointment.

If you would like to get in touch with Jason directly, please email jason.ramtohul@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

An area of former county council owned farmland in Girton is to be developed into a new community farm. 

With the support of the Communities Service and the council's Rural Assets Property team, Hope CIC, a local not-for-profit organisation that provides support services for vulnerable families, has secured the land to expand their service.

The area will be transformed into a local community asset and will be farmed by volunteers from Hope CIC. Produce will be used for two schemes - a mobile food hub, and a paid-for fruit and vegetables box scheme, with any income generated put back into the mobile food hub programme in order to fund items for struggling families. 

First beginning in Cambourne, Hope's mobile food hub - 'Hub on the Go' - now operates across six other villages in South Cambridgeshire where there was no access to a food bank - allowing residents struggling with increasing costs to access fresh produce and essential items. 

Sarah and Katie from the South Cambridgeshire Communities Service have been working to support Mahesh Hettiarachchi, founder of Hope CIC, and his team of volunteers over the last two years, and have witnessed the growth and the support for the community that Hope provides. 

The community farm is Hope's latest project, but other initiatives also include a bike repair surgery, hub café and shop, and digital skills drop-in sessions. For more information, visit the Hope Against Poverty website, or contact Community.SouthCambridgeshire@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

The Care Together team is now able to share the outcome of our recent Older Adults Social Inclusion (OASI) Grants Process 2024-2027, which received applications in December 2023 from Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations across the county.

These grants aim to support older adults to remain independent in their own communities, whilst promoting healthier lifestyles and opportunities for social interaction outside the home.

Countywide, Care Network Cambridgeshire will be funded to deliver their wellbeing service - which supports independence and encourages vulnerable adults to access other support in their community.

To find out more about district outcomes in Cambridgeshire, please refer to our overview document. 

Processes to allocate any remaining budget will also take a place-based approach and endorsement will be sought from the county council's Adults Leadership Team. In some districts, there is very little unallocated fund and in others, where there were fewer successful bids, the amount is greater.

Please contact the Care Together team if you have any queries: care.together@cambridgeshire.gov.uk  

Please note that the recent 2024/25 Care Together Seed Funding opportunity, which closed on 26 April 2024, also allows for piloting of new activities to support older adults for 12 months - generating evidence of impact for subsequent applications for other sources of funding. The outcome of this process will be announced in a future edition of Cambridgeshire Matters.