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JULY 2009
Our First Grant!
We have received the wonderful news that we have been awarded a £4000 Community Pride Grant to help us develop the project.
This will initially help us to develop the website and database together with a range of promotional materials. We then want to set up a community laptop (for those who don't have access to a computer) and to start creating a network of 'Street Champions' who can help us ensure that everyone in the area knows what we are doing and can be invited to get involved.
We need to match-fund this however, so will be looking for fun ways that we can continue to raise money for the project. We are already planning an 'Auction of Promises' for October so please let Belinda (belinda@cheltenhamconnect.co.uk) know if you have anything to offer. We are also hoping that we can run a fund-raising event as part of the 'Buy Local Christmas Market' that we are planning for December.
The Big Picnic Lunch on the 19th was rather a wash-out, but we hope that those that braved the weather had a good time and we need to say a big thank-you to the members of the Cheltenham Ukulele Band who turned up to entertain us.
We still meet every Wednesday evening in the Exmouth from 7-9pm. This is a very informal get-together where members of the core team can meet for a catch-up and anyone new can come and meet some of those involved. Now that we have more people onboard we are thinking of making one Wednesday a month a more formal meeting for those that want to know more.
You are always welcome to email anyone in the core team if you have any questions. Our email links can be seen on the left-hand side. We will try to respond as quickly as possible, but we are all active working people outside of Cheltenham Connect so please bear with us if it sometimes takes a while. We don't have an office so have to manage emails and phonecalls within our normal daily lives.
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Cheltenham Connect Activities
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Our four action groups are now really starting to develop their activities and we currently have 124 signed-up members.
We still have to work out, however, how we keep in touch with people who want to support us, and to know what we are doing, but don't currently want to join an online action group. This monthly newsletter is one way for us to do that. We hope that you will find it interesting, but you can easily unsubscribe by following the link at the bottom of the email). By next month we hope that the newsletter will have a 'sign-up' link and its own archive link where everyone will be able to access both new and old editions.
CC Buy Local
The Buy Local group is looking at running a 'Buy Local for Christmas' campaign throughout December and has started to plan a one week 'Buy Local Christmas Market' that will be held under cover in the gardens of The Exmouth Arms. Mobenn Marquees have offered to become a sponsor and are helping us work out what the costs will be. The Gloucestershire Echo have already run a full page article about the idea and we have had more than a dozen enquiries about stalls. We are looking for local producers and craftspeople and will try to ensure that people can share the spaces available. We will also be looking for choirs, musicians and entertainers who would like to provide market visitors with some festive cheer! We hope that this can then become an annual event.
We will be printing 'Cheltenham Connect Local Product' stickers to help encourage people to buy and will be developing a Cheltenham Connect Logo emblem that can be added to the business cards and promotional material of local suppliers, trades and craftspeople.
This group is also looking for funding to pay for a local history project that will see 100 local traders being provided with framed histories of their shops together with a fold-out map providing a historical walking trail of the South Cheltenham trading area. We hope to partner in this with the St Philips and St James' Area Residents Association (SPJARA) who are overseeing the renovation of the Norwood Triangle. They are currently fundraising for the outreach section of the project which will celebrate the centenary of the Tramroad.
CC Go Green
The Go Green group is concentrating on three core issues: Energy, Food and Transport and is looking at how we can make these seem relevant to local people. The team are going to take one street and see if, by everyone learning and working together to reduce their home energy consumption, they can make a real difference.
They are also looking at the possibility of launching a 'Save our Bees' campaign in partnership with the Co-op.
What matters to the Go Green Group is that they don't simply replicate all the information that is already available from other organisations, but that they make going Green more interesting, meaningful and fun for everyone involved.
They are actively recruiting new members and are holding an open meeting on the 20th August for anyone who is interested in helping them develop their ideas (venue to be confirmed). Please email becky@cheltenhamconnect.co.uk for more details.
CC Skillspace
The Skillspace Group ran an extremely successful first networking meeting at The Beehive. One of the things that was discussed was that people are more than their job titles and how we all achieve a good work/life balance. With this in mind it has been decided that, from now on, the name of the group should change to 'Skills and Livelihoods'.
The group is developing resource and skill-shares and is looking at how it can work more effectively within the community. It is also exploring the possibility of setting up a mentoring scheme.
The next networking meeting for this grup is on the 11th August at The Beehive, Montpellier Villas
7.30 - 9.00pm. Anyone representing a local business, who lives or
works within the Cheltenham Connect area is very welcome. Please email belinda@cheltenhamconnect.co.uk for more information.
CC Community
The Community Group now has a number of exciting ideas that it wants to explore. These include a swap, share and save scheme, petcare and holiday-watching, garden and crop-shares, a babysitting network, a Health and Wellbeing Group (including a 'Nurture' Group for people having a stressful or difficult time), CC 'Elders' lunches, a Musicians and Entertainers Group and an Artists and Craftspersons Group (although these might move to the Skills and Livelihoods Group). It is currently looking for co-ordinators who would like to help develop one or more of these ideas.
The first open development meeting for the Community group is on Monday 10th August at 7pm in the top room of the Exmouth Ams on The Bath Road. Anyone in the Cheltenham Connect area is welcome to attend. Please email wendy@cheltenhamconnect.co.uk for more information.
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The Big Damp Picnic Lunch
A few images to give you a flavour of our afternoon!
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Our Sponsors |
We now have a wonderful list of sponsors and we are immensely grateful for their help. They include:
But we are actively looking for others. Please let us know if you can help in any way.
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