The Zone - Advice and Information
Facts and information
Thank you to Theresa Healy, Housing Assistant at Spring Street for providing a number of interesting articles. Please have a browse below
Cannabis law
On
What does this mean for me?
If you are over 18 -
- You will have your stash confiscated, and probably just receive an on the spot warning.
- The police may still arrest you if you are near where young people and children hang out (school, youth club, parks etc), or if you are causing problems by smoking in public.
- It is still down to individual police discretion whether they arrest you or not. Remember, even if you do not get arrested, you could still receive a court summons, and receive a sentence, and a criminal record.
If you are under 18-
- You should be arrested and taken to the police station where an appropriate adult (parent / guardian, social worker) will be called.
- If it is your first offence, and you admit it, you may be given a reprimand and referred to your local Youth Offending Team.
- If you are on your Final Warning, it will go to court.
Supply
Supply is a much more serious offence. Now the law has changed, the maximum sentence for supply of cannabis is 14 years. Remember, this includes buying a bit extra for your mates, and even passing a spliff! The law will view each case with discretion, but you never know.
Community safety
The term ‘community safety’ is now widely used by academics, police officers, politicians, local authority workers and others involved in localised action against crime.
It is often invoked as a generic, all-encompassing phrase for ‘crime prevention’ or ‘crime reduction’, and appears to mean many things to many different people.
Most people care deeply about the neighbourhood and community in which they live, and many play an active role in making their neighbourhood a better place to live. Now that we have come together the next phase is to establish a culture of Respect.
Arson is the largest single cause of fire in the United Kingdom and can lead to loss of life, serious injury and financial hardship in our communities. The cost of arson fires in Hampshire is estimated to be over £100 million per year. In 2003 to 2004, 69% of all fires in Hampshire were arson and this reflects the national trend. The Government has set a target of a 10% reduction in arson by 2010.
Oldham Council Housing Strategy and Community Safety Unit, in partnership with First Choice Homes Oldham, have recently launched a new policy and procedure for tackling Anti - Social Behaviour. This is to meet and reflect the recommendations and changes introduced by the Anti - Social Behaviour Act 2003.
• The total of personal debt in the
• Personal debt in the
• The total of credit card debt in the
• It is estimated that two million households are living on a financial knife-edge, and would be plunged into serious debt in the event of an economic downturn or change in personal circumstances.
• 14 million adults (35%) are reliant on overdrafts to get through the month.
• 3.5m people are overdrawn permanently.
• Two million people in employment begin the month overdrawn, even after they have been paid.
• 10% of single people believe their finances are out of control.
• 41% of single people have already suffered a financial crisis at some stage, compared to 28% of married people.
These debt facts show that personal debt in the
For more debt facts and free, confidential advice on their debt should contact The Debt Counsellor.
Domestic Violence is any incident of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional) between adults who are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality.
Domestic violence can affect anyone. The majority of domestic violence is perpetrated by men against women victims. However, men can also be victims of domestic violence perpetrated by women. Domestic violence can also occur in
Among many others, this behaviour may include:
- constant criticism
- pressure
- disrespect
- isolation
- harassment
- constant questioning
- withholding money or other material things
- destroying belongings
- making threats
- being demanding.
There may never be any physical violence in a relationship like this, but the result to the victim can be devastating. In the majority of families where there is domestic violence, children are also victims. They get hurt by accident or the perpetrator may also deliberately harm them. Even if they are not physically hurt, they are always emotionally affected.
Recycling facts
Recycling is integral to living a ‘greener’ life, but many people don’t really understand the environmental benefits of separating their rubbish for this purpose. Whilst it is perhaps clear that the less we recycle the more landfill space we use, there are also other environmental plus points of recycling which are less widely appreciated. And there are many plus points, all of which add up to recycling being a crucial activity in combating climate change.
Below are some interesting facts on recycling which may help you understand more about why this is so important:
- On average every person in the
- Every
- Every eight months the
- Over Christmas as much as 83km² of wrapping paper will end up in
- Recycling two glass bottles saves enough energy to boil water for five cups of tea.
- It is not known how long glass takes to break down, but it’s so long that glass made in the Middle East over 3000 years ago can still be found today.
- Each tonne of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 4000 KW of energy and 7000 gallons of water.
- Incinerating 10,000 tonnes of waste creates one job, land-filling the
- The energy saved by recycling one plastic bottle will power a computer for 25 minutes.
- Once an aluminium can is recycled it can be part of new can within six weeks.
Oldham’s Top Recyclers
Householders in parts of Shaw and Chadderton have made a new waste collection system a great success. On average Oldhamers recycle about 20% of their rubbish, but in these areas residents recycle around an incredible 35%. That’s 4% above the national average!Residents are able to take advantage of a weekly kerbside food waste collection for all food waste. Not only can fruit and vegetable peelings be recycled, but also all left overs! All this food waste is taken to a special in-vessel composter, where it is turned into compost for agricultural land in only 10 to 14 days! Food collections from Shaw and Chadderton pick up about 11 tonnes of food waste every week – that’s the weight of 2 elephants!The Council is also trialling brown wheelie bins in these areas instead of black boxes. This gives householders more room to recycle glass, cans and plastic bottles.
Oldham Council’s Waste Minimisation Manager Mark Husdan said ”Here in Oldham we are constantly working to improve collections and increase the amount of recycling we collect. The scheme has worked really well thanks to the support and efforts of Shaw and Chadderton residents”.
Why do we need to reduce the amount of rubbish?
We produce more waste now than ever before. In fact the average Oldham household creates the equivalent weight of a small car in rubbish every year!
This rubbish is buried in holes in the ground called landfill sites where it rots over many years, polluting our environment today and for generations to come. Our waste cannot continue to be disposed of like this - we need to start making less rubbish.
Useful recipe websites
Theresa Healey, Spring Street, June 08
Did you know that you can speak to tutors at Spring Street about any other courses available through Oldham College. The tutors are in the building from 11.30 - 2.30 pm every Wednesday. You can simply turn up and find out what is available. You can also speak to Lee Wilds, our Learning Development Worker, who is based at Spring Street and is around for the Wednesday sessions.
