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RECREATION AND HERITAGE ANNUAL REPORT 06-07

1. Recreation & Heritage at Work

1.1 Introduction from Councillor Margaret Snaith

The preparation of the annual report is always a good time to reflect on the achievements of the past year and the new challenges and opportunities that have come our way. Our business continues to develop apace and we have risen to its many challenges with verve and with vigour!

Extending our outreach and lifelong learning opportunities through new programmes for our Hampshire communities is reaping great rewards; the launch of the Renaissance funded Community Museums schools programme has seen a 12% increase in visits to museums by children in organised school groups and the opening of the craft project `Making Space' in Leigh Park, Havant is providing much wanted workshops for craftspeople and outreach activities in the local community. We shall continue to develop this important area of our work in the year ahead.

We strive to achieve the best and it was good to see the Department recognised for the quality of its performance again this year. Staunton and Queen Elizabeth Country Parks received Green Flag awards - the highest quality national standard for Parks and Green Spaces, and the award of Chartermark for the whole of RECREATION AND HERITAGE is a truly significant mark of the quality of our services and our customer focus as a whole.

Congratulations!

I wish to express my gratitude to everyone in Recreation and Heritage for without their huge effort none of what we do is possible, and I look forward to an exciting year ahead.

Insert Margaret's signature

1.2 Introduction from Yinnon Ezra

Welcome (by Yinnon Ezra)

I am delighted once again to introduce the Recreation and Heritage annual report, which highlights some of the achievements of the past year. In the context of a political and economic landscape that is undergoing significant change, the report bears testament to the huge variety and scale of the activity of the Department and its dynamic response to meeting new priorities both for the Council and for local communities in the County.

Our services are diverse, from Discovery Centres and libraries to museums and archives, to country parks and countryside footpaths, to sporting opportunities in outdoor activity centres and sporting and social initiatives in the local community. Our arts and tourism teams play key roles too in the thriving Hampshire cultural and heritage scene.

Our aim is to help people make the most of living in and visiting Hampshire. The huge value of our services lies in improving wellbeing and enhancing quality of place and we believe both residents and visitors deserve the best possible access to these recreation and heritage opportunities. In many cases, our services are vital, for example, in creating opportunities for personal achievement through lifelong learning or opportunities for children to be able to contribute positively, often when mainstream programmes have not worked or when additional support is needed. In this way, the services of the Department are indispensable to the delivery of Hampshire County Council's ambitions - `Hampshire safer and more secure for all', and the quality of life priorities that support it.

People choose to use the services of Recreation and Heritage. Developing high quality affordable services which meet local needs is our priority. Ensuring that all our facilities and services are accessible to all in the community, that local people are able to contribute positively to their development and that we respond to the priorities and improvements they would like to see, helps us change and develop what we do.

We are working closely together across the Department and in partnership with other Council Departments, local authorities, funding partners and the voluntary sector, so that together we can improve our effectiveness and reach to fulfil our ambitions. We set high standards for our work. Hampshire County Council is recognised as `excellent' by the Audit Commission.

Finding new ways to broaden our customer base is central to our vision of "increasing participation". We do this in the context of significant pressure on budgets, the need to modernise and re-focus our services and the need to develop new ways of working. This is not easy, nor can it be dealt with by a `quick fix'.

Finally, I would like to thank our staff, whose dedication, patience and hard work make all this possible.

Signature

Yinnon

1.3 Our Objectives

Helping people make the most of living in and visiting Hampshire

This is the central vision of "Enjoying Hampshire" - our cultural strategy - which embodies the core themes of:

Stewardship - protecting and conserving the county's cultural and natural heritage for the benefit of this and future generations

Access, Inclusion and Participation - working to ensure that the cultural heritage of Hampshire and its contemporary cultural life can be enjoyed by everyone regardless of social and economic circumstances

Lifelong Learning - supporting formal and informal learning at all stages of life

Economic Benefits - a strong and vibrant cultural life contributes directly to the local economy and creates an attractive environment for business

Sense of Place - reinforcing community identity through the understanding and celebration of cultural distinctiveness and variety

1.4 Our approach

The Recreation and Heritage Department offers a range of services to the public which is of a diverse nature. They are bound together by the fact that people choose to use them. This means it is vital that everything we do is to the highest standard and that our customers satisfaction is at the forefront of our minds. This ethos has lead to the entire Department being awarded Chartermark status.

The fact that the public have a choice whether or not to use our services means that professional marketing is vital to the Department. It allows us to compete with private sector organisations on an equal footing. This is more important than ever, as even though consumers have more disposable income than in the past they are often time-poor and it is vital that our services remain the front of mind choice for the people of Hampshire.

Equal access is a key factor in all that we do, across our services. We consistently strive to connect with `hard-to-reach' groups to enable them to engage with the services we provide. Research is conducted on a regular basis within our communities to identify the wants and needs of these groups and we tailor our service to be more relevant to a wider range of users.

Working together in partnership with other organisations means that we can all achieve more. Good relationships with other Hampshire County Council Departments as well as external organisations are essential to our success. This ethos has led to many innovative and powerful projects being developed.

Staff development is a key principle for Recreation and Heritage. The bedrock of the success of the Department is put in place by ensuring that staff are enthusiastic and motivated. This can only be achieved by allowing opportunities for staff to fulfil their potential and achieve their goals.

2. Working in Partnership

The Recreation and Heritage Department plays a vital role by offering its services to other departments within the County Council and also many other external organisations. These partnerships mean that access to services is vastly improved and enables the Department to make a vital contribution to maximising the wellbeing of the population of the county.

The Recreation and Heritage Department has successfully secured a grant for £120,000 for a further three year's funding from Arts Council South East, to continue and expand the work of Creative Hampshire Partnerships. This was as a direct result of the success of the initial three year initiative. The work meets many of the goals of 'Every Child Matters: Change for Children in Schools', which aims to improve outcomes for children and young people through encouraging schools to offer a range of extended services that help pupils engage and achieve, building stronger relationships with parents and the wider community.

Working with Natural England, the completion of the 'missing link' in the South Downs Way National Trail came a step closer as a result the Inspector's conclusion following his second Public Inquiry into public path creation orders to create a new route. The Inspector agreed with the Natural England and Hampshire County Council, that subject to certain specific issues being resolved, the best route for the South Downs Way was that proposed by Hampshire County Council and Natural England at the Inquiry.

The Hampshire Biodiversity Information Centre is a partnership led initiative, hosted by Hampshire County Council. It has been established to bring together valuable information on Hampshire's wildlife and natural environment, to collate and manage this data and to disseminate to those who need it. The Museums Service has been a very active member of the partnership through both the development phase and since its launch in April 2002. During 2006/7 the service hosted four Strategic Management Group meetings and contributed significantly to the writing of an Audience Development Plan and IT Development Plan for the partnership, both partially funded by Heritage Lottery Fund.

During 2006/07 Hampshire Record Office obtained continued Screen South regional agency funding for Wessex Film and Sound Archive and worked with Hampshire County Council Traveller Education Service on The Living Album Gypsy project.

In response to customer demand the Tourism section has lead the development of a formal partnership agreement between Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, Rushmoor Borough Council, East Hants District Council and Test Valley Borough Council for the joint commissioning and management of a £173k three year project to develop the IT led Visit Hampshire Destination Management System that will promote accommodation, attractions and events for the whole of Hampshire.

The Outdoors Activities Service has worked in partnership with a number of agencies and departments during 2006/07, including with the DfES, to develop the National Manifesto for Out of Classroom learning, launched by the Secretary of State for Education and Skills in November 2006. The service is now represented on the National Advisory Group for Out of Classroom Learning, advising the Department for Schools, Children and Families on the development of outdoor learning across England.

In conjunction with the Children's Services Department, the Outdoors Activities Service has worked to further develop the Trailblazer scheme, with over 50 new schools joining in 2006/07. The service is carrying out joint research with Kings College, London, into the impact and outcomes of the scheme, especially with respect to teacher confidence.

Funded by Hampshire County Council and Sport England and delivered by Sport Hampshire & IOW, the initiative `Return to Sport' was developed to encourage increased participation in a number of sports by adults (16+) who were inactive or moderately inactive throughout Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. To date over 3,000 people have taken part in the scheme which provided participants with the opportunity to take up a sport that they may not have taken part in for a number of years, if at all. As a result of the initiative a number of new sport clubs have been set up throughout the county and residents have been able to try something new.

3. Making Ourselves More Accessible

The Recreation and Heritage Department services exist to benefit the entire population of Hampshire. This means our aim is to ensure every single member of our diverse population feels that our services are accessible and inclusive. This year we have introduced a vast range of events and facilities which aim to encourage involvement from all groups including ones which are harder to reach.

During 2006/07 Hampshire County Council's Libraries Service hosted a total of 553 ICT-based sessions to teach over 2,000 people how to use computers. As well as basic starter sessions on areas such as setting up email accounts, using the internet etc, more specialist subjects were covered such as, family history on the web, using Family History Online and booking holidays online.

In 2006/07 the Hampshire Record Office (HRO) continued its project to put the majority of its catalogues online. Over 95% are now online, they are fully searchable and changing the way in which people use the archives service. The HRO also supplied DVDs of archive material supplied free of charge to all schools through two projects: the Living Album and Their Past Your Future (funded by the Lottery). This was done with an aim to increase public access to film archives relating to World War 2 and the Home Front.

Calshot Activities Centre and Tile Barn Outdoor Centre have engaged in a range of outreach work, taking team building and problem solving into many Hampshire schools.

The Arts Service has worked on remodelling Hog the Limelight in collaboration with the village promoters to ensure developed programmes that maximise use of limited resources. Hog the Limelight now works with fifty villages, countryside sites and libraries.

The Outdoors Activities Service provide access opportunities in many diverse ways across the county, this includes such things as continuing to fund the Queen Elizabeth Activity centre in Bursledon, to work with young people with specific special needs and the provision of additional support funding to 42 schools and over 450 young people who would otherwise have found it difficult to access the Outdoor Centres.

The IFI (Inclusive Fitness Initiative) is a national project whose aim is to improve access to gyms. Eight sites in Hampshire have achieved IFI accreditation. Sport Hampshire IOW, through its Disability Sports Development Officer, has worked closely with these Centres to achieve that. In the last year two brand new multi-sports clubs have been set up, providing accessible sporting opportunities for children and young adults with varying physical, sensory and learning difficulties.

The Museums Service has worked hard over the last year to ensure that its collections are more accessible to the widest possible audiences across Hampshire. This has taken the form of a major review of how we organise our collections, acquire new objects and make them available for a variety of activities ranging from touring exhibitions and special events and to outreach programmes.

Through the joint Recreation and Heritage Social Services working group, the Museums Head of Learning was encouraged to put together a bid to the Learning Disabilities Development Fund for a museum based project. The bid was successful and a temporary worker has now been appointed to create a community exhibition and enhance personal, learning and occupational opportunities for adults and children with learning disabilities.

4. Working with Communities and Volunteers

Communities and volunteers are at the heart of everything that the Recreation and Heritage Department does. Without the hundreds of volunteers who work within our museums, arts centres and country parks we would be unable to offer the excellent level of service that we do across the Department.

4.1 Volunteers Service

Two hundred young volunteers across Hampshire took part in 2006's Step into Sport conference. Designed to increase and develop awareness, understanding and the skills required for sports volunteering, the conference consisted of interactive workshops, initiative tests, team challenges and discussion groups, all designed to improve confidence and to enhance team working. At the end of the conference, attendees were better equipped to successfully go out and volunteer in their local community; supporting clubs, community groups and other organisations.

The Aldershot Military Museum has attracted six new volunteers to add to their regular volunteer group. This group of volunteers actively plays a role in the everyday operation of the museum: from manning the reception and meeting and greeting of visitors to carrying out historic archive projects. The volunteers come from varied backgrounds and are of all ages - some are retired and two are post graduates. The volunteers bring new skills and all have a keen interest in the success of the museum.

Over the past year, many of the volunteers took an active role in finishing the refurbishment of the Boyce Building. They helped paint the exterior of the building, hung doors and aided in putting together the gallery space.

Alongside the regular volunteers group is the vehicle volunteers group that has eight members. This group helps to keep up with the maintenance of our historic vehicles. At the moment they are particularly involved in the upkeep of the Challenger 1 Main Battle Tank, which is most vital, as this vehicle appears regularly at open days and shows.

4.2 Close to Local Communities

The Countryside Service has supported the Hampshire Countryside Access Forum and the New Forest Access Forum to develop its own work and help its members and their networks to drive practical and policy improvements to help provide better access to the countryside.  The Forest of Bere Countryside Access Plan Working Group is a good example of local representatives identifying priorities and taking these forward.

The first New Age Kurling Community Festival at Portchester Community Centre took place during 2006/07. It was attended by seventy people. Kurling is a fully inclusive activity and the day demonstrated that by having a mixture of older people's groups, stroke group, day services etc. The day involved a training session to bring everyone up-to-date with the rules, lunch and then a competition in the afternoon. Fifteen teams took part from all over county with two teams coming from Basingstoke.

The Community Tree was a project to create two mini-exhibitions, one at Eastleigh Museum and one at the Willis Museum in Basingstoke. These projects aimed to celebrate diversity in all its forms amongst the communities of Basingstoke and Eastleigh. The Museums Service worked in partnership with the Ethnic Minority Learning Disability Project Officer. People with learning disabilities were invited to interview people from the local community about their stories. The theme of the tree was used to help unify the exhibitions, with the tree representing the community and the leaves on the tree, offering different stories. As a result of this work the Museums Service has strengthened its links with local partners and values the contribution people in the community can make to many areas of their work.

5. Children, Young People and Families

A major priority for the Recreation Department is children, young people and families. It is essential that our services help shape the next generation of adults. Not only to educate young people but also to ensure that they grow up with a sense of place and pride in their county.

During 2006/07 the Library Service has been taking part in the national Bookstart programme. The Bookstart pack for babies is given out by Health Visitors at an early health check, and 10,479 were given out between April 06 and March 07. Bookstart Plus packs for children aged 18 to 30 months are available from public libraries and community partners like Traveller Workers. In addition, library staff have made visits to supermarkets. Over the year, 11,490 were given out. The third pack, the Treasure Chest, is given to children about to start school. 14,510 were distributed in this way. In addition to this, 60 Booktouch packs were gifted to children with visual impairments, and 144 dual language books given out to children whose first language was not English.

Another important initiative for the Library Service was the Reading Mission, a reading game, which took place during the summer holidays, where children had to read six books. 21,407 children took part aged between 4 and 11. A 66% completion rate was achieved (making Hampshire one of the highest in the country). The Library Service's performance was described as 'exemplary' by Miranda McKearney, director of The Reading Agency, which provides the materials for the game. Quote from parent: "Brilliant idea! My eldest has been struggling to show interest in reading, however the Reading Mission has generated her interest and helped to boost her confidence in her abilities. Therefore making reading together a more enjoyable experience for both of us".

During 2006/07 the Outdoors Activities Service achieved record numbers of young people attending courses, with over 190,000 sessions of taught activities and over 48,000 'bed nights' of residential activity for young people. The service ran a Family Learning weekend at Calshot Activities Centre in November 2006 where over 350 people attended a range of outdoor, sport and arts activities held at the centre. Also the second Allstars Returners course was held at Calshot in summer 2006, providing a progressive follow up course for young people who had previously attended with their schools. From a single group in 2005, this had expanded to three groups in 2006.

Aiming High 2006, run by the Tile Barn Outdoor Centre, worked with 40 young people in the early stages of secondary school who were identified as at risk of exclusion. A seven month programme took these young people on a 'journey' of self discovery which led to the vast majority successfully integrating into their new schools

The Sports:Hall festivals have now become established in the annual calendar for Gosport, and the team enjoyed considerable successes at the 2006 Mini Games. Numbers of athletes flowing into local clubs have increased, and there is now greater athletics coaching and competitive opportunity for Gosport youngsters including 4 `Grand Prix' events each year.

In January 2006 twenty-five families enjoyed a special event at the Willis museum in Basingstoke to celebrate the release of the film ' Night at the Museum' .

After seeing the film at Festival Place the families came back to the Museum to enjoy storytelling ,artist workshops ,a museum tour and above all to spend the night camping at the museum!

During this year we have worked with Children Looked After on a number of arts projects. Two very exciting projects were with Care Leavers, You and Me Both was a project where we worked with a theatre director and photographer to create a set of playing cards which explored Diversity and Discrimination.

Apartment 7 was premiered at The Lights in Andover in December. Six young women came together to explore what it was like for people in 1880's who were served with Removal Orders and how that compared to being moved from place to place now.

Both projects benefited the young people by not only providing them with new skills and introducing them to new spaces and venues but also provided a way of publicly sharing their achievements, newly found confidence and how they feel they're treated with those who care for them and make decisions about them.

6. Valuing Older People

The Recreation and Heritage Department has a vital role to play in the lives of older people. With many of our services and facilities being heavily used by this age group, our services provide leisure opportunities and ways to maintain a high quality of life.

The Activehearts Scheme delivers interactive workshops such as music participation, reminiscence sessions, arts and crafts and exercise, so residents of care homes have the opportunity to rekindle old interests along with introducing the new. The scheme has been developing a training programme aimed at sustaining the Council's investment in activity provision within care settings. The training has involved eight council care homes who put staff forward to undertake the NCFE, Level 2 National Qualification in "Provision of Activities In A Care Setting".

Staunton Country Park's volunteer scheme is open to willing volunteers of all ages, with no upper age limit - the Park has volunteers in their seventies, who are as valuable as those in their teens. Also through the Active Staunton programme, introduced in 2006, the Park aims to encourage a healthy and active lifestyle for all, with a range of facilities including way marked walking trails and angling membership.

The `Their Past, Your Future' Inter-generational activities were an important project for the Hampshire Record Office during 2006/07. They featured DVDs of archive films about the Second World War Home Front at several planned events across the county in June 2006. A small display on boards accompanied each event. The Cosham branch of the Hampshire Genealogical Society held a special evening for members to which children were also invited to see the DVD and exhibition, talk about the period and look at some artefacts that were brought along, such as ration cards and photographs. Half-term Home Front workshops were held for children at the Phoenix Centre, Andover, and at Headley Down Community Centre, using the DVD and exhibition as a focus. This theme was continued at Gosport Discovery Centre, where several veterans related their stories to a local class over two days, after seeing the DVD and exhibition.

In June 2006 Sport Hampshire & IOW extended its Hampshire Games to include a 50+ event day. The day offered individuals throughout Hampshire and the Isle of Wight a chance to compete in a multi-sports competition held in Aldershot. Sports included badminton, short mat bowls, table tennis and short tennis. In total 141 people took part in the event and were given the opportunity to continue in sport by joining local sports clubs.

The Museums Service has a wealth of social history collections evocative of life in the middle decades of the last century, which means the Service is able to offer reminiscence workshops for anyone old enough to remember old money and pounds and ounces! The museum objects are themed into subjects such as `The Old Corner Shop', `A Great Night Out' or `Busy About the House' and combined with social and creative activities designed to encourage the sharing of reminiscences - providing an hour or two of exploration down memory lane either at a day centre, residential home or club meeting place, or at SEARCH hands-on centre in Gosport with its accessible 20^th century room set. This year more than 100 people have enjoyed joining in a Reminiscence session.

SEARCH museum has established itself as a centre of excellence for training, with requests for courses from museum staff, activity leaders in care homes and other colleagues from Hampshire County Council, which will spread this expertise even more widely.

The Library Service played a full part in the national Silver Surfers' Day and provided 37 events to introduce older people to using the internet and computers. This contributed towards establishing the County Silver Surfers Award for Hampshire.

7. Awards and Accolades

During 2006/07 the Recreation and Heritage Department has proudly been the recipient of a number of high profile awards and accolades. This is testament to the hard work and dedication of the Department's staff.

Staunton Country Park and Queen Elizabeth Country Park both have been awarded with the Green Flag.

Hampshire Record Office received a major accolade in the designation of its entire holdings by the Museums Libraries and Archives Council as a collection of outstanding national importance.

The County Sports Partnership, led by the County Council's Sports Development Unit, successfully completed the "Towards an Excellent Service" assessment - a rigorous examination recognised as the premier performance management standard for the sector.

All 18 museum sites were awarded full Accreditation status by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) in July 2006. Originally launched in 1988, as the Registration scheme for museums and galleries, the main aim of the Accreditation scheme is to encourage museums to achieve an agreed, national standard in management, user services, visitor facilities and the management of collections.

The Charter Mark was awarded to the whole of the Department, a significant mark of quality services and customer focus.

Silver Surfer Council of the Year award for Community Support Unit's partnership with IT Services; citation recognised that "...the Council has supported IT imaginatively by linking it with community events and by making sure that life-long learning is embedded into the services it provides".

7.3 Accreditation Matrix Table

8. Events, Exhibitions and Festivals

Events and exhibitions are a great way to engage with the public and keep them coming back to our sites. They stimulate a passion for the subject which is being exhibited and encourage an interest in the culture, heritage, countryside and activities within Hampshire.

Record Office and Museums staff jointly produced an exhibition about Hampshire's links with slavery, the transatlantic slave trade and the 18th and 19th-century abolition campaigns. It was initially displayed at the Record Office and timed to coincide with the national commemoration of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act. The exhibition has continued to tour museums, libraries and community centres around the county.

The Record Office took also took part in the Backtrack Bus event at Copythorne and spoke to members of the public including a number of children. A range of facsimile material, such as maps and photographs, was made available and the occasion proved to be a useful opportunity to build up links with a newly-formed local history group.

The Outdoors Activities Service organised, managed and ran a major national outdoor learning residential conference for field studies teachers and centres at the Royal Hotel, Winchester in January 2007. Opened by the Mayor of Winchester and Yinnon Ezra and John Coughlan, Director of Children's Services and addressed by Councillor Kirk, the conference attracted 160 delegates for three days of debate and discussion focused on outdoor learning.

In the summer of 2006 Hampshire Record Office participated for the first time in the Hampshire Food Festival. An evening event was arranged which demonstrated the wide range of food-related material held in the Record Office, using exhibitions of photographs and documents ranging from manuscript recipe books to rationing records. A selection of culinary films from Wessex Film and Sound Archive was shown, local jams and ice cream were on sale, Women's Institute members attended to sell home-made cakes, and visitors were given copies of old recipes to try at home.

A 3-day multi-sports competition for 6-16 year olds held annually at Aldershot Military Facilities in North Hampshire. The event is the largest of its kind in the country and sees some 3,000 plus youngsters taking part, not to mention the support of a number of volunteers, officials, coaches, team managers and Sport Hampshire & IOW staff. The event comprises three smaller events: the Parallel Games ( a dedicated event for youngsters with physical and learning difficulties), the Mini Games (for 6- 11 year olds) and the Youth Games (for 11 -16 year olds). Competitors took part in five sports at the Parallel Games and thirteen sports at the Mini and Youth Games. For many participants it is a first opportunity to take part in an event of this size and all are encouraged to continue in sport with exit routes clearly communicated.

On 28^th to 30^th July 2006 Hampshire Museums Service took `The Hampshire Museum's Gun Room' an exhibition of Antique Airguns and sporting shotguns to the Game Fair in Romsey. The objectives were to raise the profile of Hampshire's firearm collections, to raise the profile of Havant Museum with people living in Hampshire and to raise the profile of Milestones Museum with tourists visiting the area (through the distribution of discount vouchers for the site). The exhibition was a great success receiving 2,244 visitors over the three days. Visitor numbers to Havant showed a marked increase after the event as a result of contacts made over the three days.

9. Investing in the Future

During 2006/07 the Recreation and Heritage Department continued to invest in the future of our services. Whether it is conserving the countryside, investing in staff or capital investment we are constantly striving to ensure that the Department meets both the current and future needs of Hampshire's population.

Investing in Our Services

The Outdoors Activities Service has built and opened a £350,000 extension to the Hampshire Mountain Centre in November. Formally opened by Councillor Snaith, the new facility provides 75% more dining room space, and provides a multi activity room and new kitchen area for groups at the Mountain Centre.

During 2006/07 six libraries underwent an extensive refurbishment programme and reopened in Romsey, Fair Oak, Milford-on-Sea, Fareham, Elson and Bridgemary. All the new refurbishments were extremely well received by our library users.

At Calshot Activities Centre the designs were completed and the budget developed to build a major expansion to the indoor climbing walls in order to meet the ever increasing demand for indoor climbing at the Centre.

Countryside Services Officers have successfully managed improvements to the access network in accordance with priorities identified in the county's Countryside Access Plans. The County's Local Transport Plan has allocated £900,000 over 5 years to pay for these improvements, which aim to provide improved access for walkers, cyclists and horse riders and to give easier access to the path network to people with mobility difficulties.

Due to demand from the organisations supported by the Arts Service, the Grants System has been remodelled to ensure transparency and consistency, stability in the arts infrastructure and greater investment in smaller and community organisations.

£40,000 has been invested at Danebury Iron Age Fort to enhance access and conservation at the site.

Investing in Our Staff

In the Forest of Eversley area an officer has been recruited with the one of the main aims being to bring together all the organisations involved, in some shape or form, in improving access to the countryside area.  This has enabled new networks to be established and shared aims and objectives to be identified and taken forward.

Sport Hampshire & IOW with Hampshire County Council has launched the Hampshire Talented Athlete Scheme. The first scheme of its kind in the country, the athlete-centred support programme has been designed to give Hampshire's most talented athletes access to as much support as possible in order that they can reach their full potential. The scheme gives applicants the flexibility to select support packages best suited to their circumstances including grants of up to £550.

During the past year the funding achieved through the SE Hub has enabled the Recreation and Heritage Department to grow provision for schools across the breadth of the Museums Service. With four new SE Hub posts and a restructure of the team the Department has rolled out an area infrastructure to support and inspire active learning from museum collections, across the county. As part of this programme of change the service has also recruited and trained more than thirty people to lead school sessions, as and when required. Last year 35,000 pupils in booked school groups benefited from these fantastic opportunities, an increase of 12% on 2005/6.

10. Financial Summary

The net revenue expenditure of the Recreation and Heritage Department detailed below was £37.5 million - or just 57 pence per Hampshire resident per week! Spending on Recreation and Heritage services in 2006/07 was again in line with the approved budget - which included efficiency targets for the Department.

Please note that expenditure is lower than in 2005/06 because of a technical change in the way services are charged for occupying buildings.

11. Performance report

In 2006/07 visits to libraries, museums, archives, arts centres, outdoor activity centres and countryside sites, by both local residents and visitors to Hampshire have continued to thrive. In 2006/07 there were more than 9.2 million visits to our main sites and facilities!

Restoring the role of the library and Discovery Centre at the centre of local communities remains a key objective. Although the total number of library visits fell slightly due to the temporary closure or relocation of facilities into smaller premises during refurbishment work, significant increases in visits have been seen at those libraries where refurbishment has now been completed. The Library refurbishment programme has continued with a further six libraries completed during the year.

The Museums education programme has been extended exceeding the target for the number of school children visiting museums in organised groups during the year. At our Outdoor Centres more than 196,000 instructed sessions for young people have been delivered by qualified instructors in a range of activities from kayaking to dry-slope skiing.

The satisfaction of residents with a range of cultural services was surveyed in 2006. For the first time this was carried out as a postal survey therefore the results are not directly comparable with previous surveys. Residents satisfaction with libraries continues to be very high and satisfaction levels of library service users are even higher with both children and adults who use our libraries expressing satisfaction levels above 90%.

* BV 170a includes a count of visits to the Museum website pages

* 2005/6 visits to principal countryside sites re-based

12. Recreation and Heritage Hits the Headlines

Media coverage plays a vital role in informing the public about key policy decisions and publicising services and events run by the Recreation and Heritage Department.

In 2006/7 126 press releases were issued for Recreation and Heritage - 20% of the total number of releases issued across the County Council and 469 media enquiries were dealt with - 13% of the total for the County Council. Even more impressive is that of the 633 pieces of media coverage that came about as a result of these activities and others, 477 - 75% were positive and 13% were neutral.

Recreation and Heritage services continue to be popular with the media as they offer something for all ages and therefore reach a wide audience. Everything from book fairs to bird boxes in the county's care homes and lambs at one of our country parks has been covered, by the press, radio stations and television.

Library refurbishments and the development of Winchester's Discovery Centre have continued to attract media attention - the stories require consistent media briefings to ensure that the public are kept informed and up to speed with all developments and more importantly why they are necessary.

Novel approaches to use of the media to inform the public have proved a huge success with a four page supplement that was produced for the Hampshire Chronicle to give members of the public a flavour of the highly successful Anne Frank exhibition that hit the front pages of several newspapers. Audio that could be downloaded was placed on the media centre website to bring campaigns and events to life, such as Silver Surfers and the Wessex Children's Book Fair, and in turn these were used by many local and regional radio stations.

In addition Calshot played host to CBBC when they presented their show from the activity centre and regional stations visited several other Recreation and Heritage attractions for their `What's On' guides.

The Department is working on many exciting projects and by using new methods and working in partnership with the media this should ensure continued positive coverage.

13. Cultural and Communities Select Committee

In July 2006 I was delighted to be appointed as the first Chairman of the new Culture and Communities Policy Review Committee. Earlier in the year the County Council made the decision to change the way members carry out their role and the Policy Review Committee was reconfigured.

I would like to thank all colleagues, members and officers who have helped the committee during the past year, a year which has been both challenging and enjoyable.

The Committee's formal role is to assess the progress of the Department in developing relevant cultural policies for the county, to examine how those policies are implemented and to conduct best value reviews. We meet formally once every second month, however I have been keen to ensure that the members gain a greater knowledge of our services by taking familiarisation visits to Recreation and Heritage sites around the county.

In Autumn 2006 we commenced a review of our own Library and Information Service, this was due to the impact of recent debates into the future of the public library service on a local and national level.

The coming year presents new challenges for the Department and I look forward to the committee playing a vital role in ensuring that everything the Recreation and Heritage Department does has a long term benefit to the people of our great county.

Councillor Keith Chapman

Chairman, Culture and Communities Policy Review Committee

13.1 Recreation & Heritage Policy Review Committee Table

Culture and Communities Select Committee

14. Highlights of the Year

· Charter Mark award for whole of RECREATION AND HERITAGE, a significant mark of quality services and customer focus

· Launch of Renaissance funded Community Museum schools programme leading to 12% increase in visits to our museums by children in organised school groups

· Extension of outreach and lifelong learning opportunities by Hampshire Record Office and significant increase in remote access to digitised archive material

· Record levels of sessions delivered in Outdoor Activity Centres including targeted activities for young people and families

· "Making Space" craft project opened in Leigh Park providing workshops for craftspeople and outreach activities in the local community

· Funding secured from Arts Council South East to continue the highly successful Creative Hampshire programme in Hampshire schools for a further three years

· 4% increase in adult participation in sport and physical activity, achieving and surpassing Local Public Service Agreement target two years ahead of schedule

· Silver Surfer Council of the Year award for Community Support Unit's partnership with IT Services; citation recognised that "...the Council has supported IT imaginatively by linking it with community events and by making sure that life-long learning is embedded into the services it provides".

· New mobile library fleet introduced; some vehicles equipped with People's Network computers (public access internet terminals) to increase of the reach of the service

· Staunton and Queen Elizabeth Country Parks received Green Flag awards - the highest quality national standard for Parks and Green Spaces.

· Six libraries re-open after extensive refurbishments.