Luke John Frost

I often find myself reading reports on engaging people into sports and how hard it is to encourage young people to take up new sports, well I have to admit that for me it has all fallen into place and has become easier to encourage youngsters to engage with sport, whilst learning new skills and overcoming barriers. I have no big qualifications or spent years sat in a classroom to learn how to encourage and engage with people, but what I have done is mastered the art of communicating with people who are fed up of being left behind and having nothing to do in a budget that is easily affordable. It's so easy to overlook an issue than to tackle it head on. That is why I set up the Thornaby Youth Zone, a place where young people can come and have fun, enjoy messing around with friends and making new friends, getting them off the settee and outdoors breaking barriers such as confidence and Isolation whilst educating them in what they call "Soft skills" - Communicatio...

 I have followed the recent on-goings within Middlesbrough and I am surprised that it has actually gone on for this long, when then Labour Councillor Terry Lawton lifted the lid on plans to close the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum (CCBM) and transfer to the Dormans Museum the Middlesbrough Labour Group seem to have laughed him out of town. But the determination and commitment shown by Cllr Lawton to stand up for local heritage and common sense, seems to have brought about news that the closure of CCBM could save the council £137,000 per year.  Whilst savings on a local level is welcomed destroying local heritage is not. But, it seems that is something we are brilliant at doing here on Teesside, Cleveland, Tees Valley (you chose) - we have an approach that heritage is not important and that it comes at a cost that is wasteful. I live in Thornaby, I know what our local authorities are capable off, destroying our heritage without regret is high on the agenda.  But the no...

Over the past two weeks the Thornaby Community Partnership gave local residents the opportunity to have a say on Anti Social Behaviour within Thornaby. Like most parts of the country we have our fair share of issues from adults and youth gathering outside shops to kids setting off fireworks, but what the survey showed was a mixed response to how people felt about ASB, some lived in quiet areas and some lived in densely populated areas in terraced housing. The Image below shows the mixed response to what residents thought over the past 12 month. This period covers the time since the last public engagement events regarding ASB within the town. In the two weeks 89 residents replied to the survey, although the aim was to get 100 responses in that time. The results of the survey can be seen at The Point Community Kitchen at the Hub on Havelock street every Tuesday. Copies can be viewed later in the year at Thornaby Central Library.

So the world is currently in the grip of a crisis, a rather large one at that. Data from leading forums and Organisations have shown the dramatic rise in Childhood Obesity since 2013 and have equated what the future will hold for generations to come. For me, it is clear to see the trends and the frightening prospect of our little isle challenging the real heavyweights of the world in terms of obesity goes to show that for many years we have been lacking the right education and the right leadership from our government who have sat back and been fed the ladles of coinage for ignoring the situation. The way we educate children today about the foods we eat and grow is far more important than ever before. We live in a society that is split down the middle and as research from Leeds Beckett University show where there is high levels of deprivation there is a high saturation of fast food outlets and poor health. There is no evil genes at play, passed down through the generations ...

For several weeks now people have been asking me about why I wanted to set up a Community Kitchen and its simple ... to help those in the town who have fallen onto bad times due to economic pressures or by making a bad judgement call. Either way the town was lacking a place that could open its doors and welcome people with a hot bowl of soup and a cuppa. It's easy these days to get on with life, in doing so we seem to have lost the time we had to be a community and to help one another. So that is why I decided to open 'The Point' But it will be much more than that, it will act as a food bank for those in need with a drop in service for local residents to get the help and advice required to deal with issues. With no judgements made. We will also have a Job Club and a series of training programmes for local residents to attend. One of the biggest questions have been why is it a "Pay What You Can Afford" scheme, that too has a simple answer ... I want a pla...

I have read much lately in the local press about the growing numbers of people living in Teesside who are having to turn to food banks in crisis. Recently in the Northern Echo it stated that in Redcar since July 2013 over 15,600 people have used the food bank. In the past year in Thornaby the food bank at the Baptist Church has handed out more than 1,200 food parcels, in Billingham over 6,000 people used the food bank there.  In Middlesbrough, 5,200 food parcels where given out in 2015 alone. This is of great concern and it is not until you delve into the figures and the spreadsheets that the realisation of the growing poverty gap is widening here on Teesside.  There is estimated to be a further 10,000 parcels handed out through small independent food banks and churches within the area. These are worrying times and we are yet to see the full scale of what the current system has yet to throw at us. Universal Credit changes are coming in the new year and in my opinion I beli...

For many months I have been involved in discussions with the Better Health Programme along with hundreds of residents covering the Durham, Darlington and Tees region. I set out with a plan to ask questions and learn the process whilst at the same time trying to get such a big event to come to Thornaby to engage with members of the public and allow them to have a say in the consultation period. I am happy to report that the Better health Programme informed me sometime ago that they got the green light to come to Thornaby and where looking for the ideal venue. I am happy to say that they chose the South Thornaby Community Centre and this October the people of Thornaby have a chance to have there say and be part of a consultation process that will see big changes to how the local health services are operated. It is now down to the residents to sign up and register to attend, it is not often that persuasion can bring a big hitter to the town, but I am delighted that the BHP have instil...

Earlier today I had the pleasure to attend a conference on family weight management services within Stockton, led by More life and LBU  (Leeds Beckett University) For sometime now, obesity has been on my radar. Being of a fine figure myself I am well aware of the issues that come along with packing the extra pounds, but what amazes me is that there is many people out there who are unaware of the ever bulging crisis staring us in the face. We are becoming blind to the issues that is costing us, not just financially but on health grounds too. 1,000 children in Stockton are classed as severely obese, yet it doesn't make the headlines or the evening news, why ... because obesity has become an everyday issue. In Stockton the impact that obesity has on our economy is £201,000,000.00 - you don't need me to tell you that is a hell of a lot. But trends are showing us that over the past decade we have become more obese and physically inactive. But we are not only to blame, it was v...

Two words that are usually never muttered within the same breath. Two small words that describe the great divide of globalisation since records began. But in this update I am not talking about financial wealth, although that may crop up in sections. But more about the wealth of knowledge and information that survives in communities that face the real struggles in life, those communities that live hand to mouth each day, not due to any fault of their own, but by being left behind by an institution focused on the lining of their pockets and global greed has come to a point where this is no longer hidden, but accepted. I live in a community in the North of England and my community is built up of many cultures, some live in houses 200 year old, some live in terraces and some live in modern lego style properties that are advertised as affordable and great for first time owners. I work within my community and being unpaid it opens the senses to experience first hand on the difficulties t...