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News and events update August 2013
Here's an update on recent events and what's planned for the next few months. Everyone is welcome - do come and join us! 

  

Recent events

   

Bath Road Music Festival 14th - 16th June 
  

music festival

  

The music festival was a lovely weekend - even though the weather on Sunday was awful!  Bands were all different tastes from heavy rock to disco electronic but it had a lovely family feel to the weekend. Thanks to everyone who helped out and especially Sam for booking all the bands.

  

 

 

Cheltenham Green Doors 22nd - 23rd June 

 

 

The third Open Homes weekend went extremely well, as you can see in this coverage from the Echo. We even participated in the main Cheltenham Science Festival! We are now working with Transition Town Cheltenham and Vision 21 to further develop the concept and to share with people what they can do to live more sustainably. 

 

  

 

Bring and Share Picnic Sunday 14th July

We had a beautiful sunny day for our picnic in Naunton Park with the Friends of Naunton Park and the Swap, Share and Save group. It was a lovely informal event - we even had some new members turn up with amazing chocolate cakes!  Rounders was good fun too, although we had to rope in some kids from another community picnic.

  

Skillspace

Recent events have included a fascinating talk from former BBC editorial manager Bob Lloyd-Smith about working with the Corporation and how it's led to his new role in work psychology and coaching, and advice from Mike Lewis of Fredericks Foundation on what to do when the Bank says no.

  
Connect Streets

Thanks to the generosity of the council we now have two lovely new planters on the Norwood Triangle and the new cycle racks are now being installed on the Bath Road. The trees that we planted in the Bath Road residents' gardens are growing well and we are hoping to have more planted next year.




We ran into problems with the boundary sign idea though as the County Council's Highways Department were unhappy with the locations and innovative design that we wanted and the final costs exceeded the environment fund grant that we had been given. Rather than keep fighting the case the working group have decided, instead, to look at developing a Buy Local Project (hopefully in partnership with the local sustainable transport agenda) that would have the following elements:

Bath Road street branded street banners 

The painting of the lower section of the Norwood Roundabout
(by a professional sign-writer and using the Bath Road brand)

The painting of all the signal control boxes
to incorporate the Bath Road brand

A competition to encourage shop owners to brighten up their facades etc.

A second round of planters to bring flowers and greenery into the road

Branded Bath Road shopping trollies

Branded Bath Road bags

Posters and leaflets promoting sustainable forms of transport and the importance of local shops and traders
(hopefully in association with our local schools) 

Local surveys and discount schemes

Local cookery and re-skilling courses
(through Cheltenham Connect)

A dedicated Buy Local webpage giving ideas, links and discounts.

 

Forthcoming Events

 

Meet and Drink Wednesday 4th September Suffolk Arms

We're continuing our monthly get-togethers on the first Wednesday of every month at venues in south Cheltenham. Anyone is welcome to come along for a drink and a chat in a relaxed and informal environment. Come and join us in the Suffolk Arms or contact Scarlett on scarlett@cheltenhamconnect.co.uk for more information.

 

Skillspace Talks 
Everyone is welcome to our monthly talks at 7.30pm on the second Tuesday of each month in the upstairs room at the Beehive. For more information contact belinda@cheltenhamconnect.co.uk 
 
  
Skillspace Talk: Tuesday September 10th

 
Jonathan Pollinger from Intranet Future will be talking about social media. Jonathan's talks are always popular as they're full of useful hints and tips, so do book the date in your diary.
  
Laptop Friday at Coffee & Co., Montpellier
Every Friday between 9ish and 12ish we meet up to work alongside each other, drink coffee, share ideas and chat. For those of us who work from home and spend a lot of time on our own it's an opportunity for networking and to meet other local people. There might be one other person or a roomful - do come along and join us! Our new venue has made us very welcome and even offers 2 for 1 coffees! Here's a photo from our 3rd birthday.
 
 
Find out more on our Facebook group www.facebook.com/groups/laptopfriday

   

Connect Business Thursday 26th September


We have a full programme of speakers and exhibitors lined up and hope to make this year's event even bigger and better than last year's! Our speakers include Martin Horwood MP, Claire Carter from BBC Radio Gloucestershire and magician and motivational speaker Tom Elliott. The event at The Forum in Lansdown Road is free to attend, although there's a cost for the networking lunch. For more details and to book please visit www.connectbusiness.org.uk

Quiznight
  
We're hoping to organise another quiz in the autumn, following the great success of March's event. Date soon to be announced.
Helpers needed for Cheltenham Half Marathon
  
The organisers of Cheltenham's Half Marathon on Sunday 15th September have asked us if any readers of this newsletter would like to support the event as marshals to direct runners and spectators, provide information or help set up the event. They're offering free entry into the Gloucester 10K in February as a thank-you!
  
The event is expected to attract around 3,000 runners, many of whom are raising money for local charities. It includes a school's challenge encouraging primary schools in the area to promote health and fitness in the weeks leading up to the event. For more information please contact Fleur Ross-Harris on fleur.ross-harris@go2events.org.uk  or phone 01225 473848.

 

Anyone for line dancing?
 

Someone has offered to run line dancing classes in the area (which sounds great fun) and we will let you know as soon as we have a date and venue. 

 

Local clubs and groups    

You can see a list of local clubs and groups via the Local Organisations link under the Local Links box at the left-hand side of our website. Please let us know if you are running anything that you would like added.
  
Cash Draw winners: win 20% of the take!cashdraw 
We would love more people to get involved in the Cash Draw as it only costs £1 a month and really helps us to cover our ongoing costs. You can print out the standing order form here or email our treasurer Dave for more details dave@cheltenhamconnect.co.uk

  


Volunteers needed!

We'd like to organise some events for older members of the comunity, and will be holding a planning meeting in the next few weeks. If you'd like to get involved, or have some suggestions for what you think people you know might enjoy, please contact Vanessa on Vanessa@cheltenhamconnect.co.uk
 Join our Events Team

  We're also looking for new people to join our events team. You don't need to commit a lot of time, and it's a great way to meet new people. So if you'd like to help organise an event later in the year, can spare an hour or two to sell raffle tickets at an event or even have a secret desire to be an elf at the Christmas Fair, Scarlett would love to hear from you.  

 

 

 

Cheltenham Connect is run entirely by local volunteers who really care about their community.

 

It's all about People Power!  

 

The Cheltenham Connect Team