Junk Fun at The Electric Picture House

News from EPH and Congleton In Bloom.

The Electric Picture House and Congleton In Bloom ran a series of free workshops for children, during half term (27-30 May 2015), based on the theme Space. These workshops were generously sponsored by Congleton Partnership and Congleton Young people’s Trust.

Evie and Lily(4, 7, Saint Mary’s School) Congleton in bloom

Evie and Lily (4, 7, Saint Mary’s)

The aim was to get children attending the workshops to design and create the scenery for the Space and the Planets Exhibition, including images of the solar eclipse, banners and signs, robots from recycled materials.  Many children had the opportunity to get creative, making junk robots, banners and planets which will decorate the exhibition in the polytunnel near Congleton Park during the summer.

Petra Lea, the artist from the EPH who ran the workshops said, “It was fantastic to see the children being creative and using their imaginations to create visually stunning decorations. This included children from as far afield as Handforth and Middlewich”.

Space and the Planets exhibition

Eleven gardens will be created in the polytunnel by local schools, pre-schools, guiding and scouting groups and youth groups each with a planet theme to help enhance Congleton’s bid for gold in the North West In Bloom competition, judged on 20 July by the NWIB regional judges.

Patti Pinto, who is organising the exhibition for Congleton In Bloom said,

“We would like to thank Congleton Partnership and the Young People’s Trust for their support and Petra for running the workshops.  We now have lots of hand crafted items to use to decorate the polytunnel.  These artefacts will compliment the gardens and enhance the atmosphere in the tunnel for our visitors.  The work put in by the children was amazing.  Red paint and glue seemed especially popular for robot making.”

Izzy (10, Marlfields School) Congleton in Bloom

Izzy (10, Marlfields)

For further information on workshops etc. please contact The Electric Picture House, Cross Street, Congleton, CW12 1HQ, tel. 01260 270908, email: electricpicturehouse@gmail.com

Info on Space & Planets exhibition contact Patti Pinto, 07757 611973

Congleton Sustainability Group Meeting Minutes 01.06.15

The latest meeting of Congleton Sustainability Group took place recently 01.06.2015, download the full minutes here.

One area of discussion was public transport:

Congleton Buses Role in Sustainable Transport Plan- J.Mills & C.Kiffin

Peter open the discussion by commenting on the current bus service operating in and around Congleton and the lack of services between the Railway Station and the current Employment Sites, Radnor Park and Barn Road.

JM explained that bus services were delivered in basically 2 separate ways:-

(a)  Commercial aspect / pay their own way

(b)  Supported / subsidised services EG.:-

38  Crewe / Macclesfield  – Evenings / Sundays

42 Crewe / Middlewich / H.Chapel / Crewe – All the time

315 Rode Heath – All the time

Beartown Bus (Total Operation) – All the time.

PM suggested that a simple travel survey at Congleton Station may be a starting point for gauging potential usage on the station /employment sites link.

The issue of school travel was raised JM to look at what data is currently available although it may be circa 2011 ( School Traffic Survey / Bus and Railway travel figs)

 

JM suggested that it may be worth PM having a discussion with Tom Evans (CEBC) regarding how other towns are tackling the sustainable travel element.

PM sees a sustainable travel survey being part of the next Neighbourhood Plan Consultation Questionnaire.

 

Next meeting Monday 6th July, Plus Dane Boardroom, 10.00am.

Latest meeting of the Projects and Finance committee 16.05.15

Latest meeting of the Projects and Finance committee took place recently, please download the full  minutes HERE

Highlights from the meeting:

Steve opened the meeting by recording the sad loss of Margaret, also advising the group that a fitting memorial was being planned and would be discussed later in the meeting.

Projects Update..

A full report was issued before the meeting also added to The Partnership website www.congletonpartnership.co.uk

The project featured were:-

Cycleway Town Centre to Congleton Railway Station.

Towpath improvement now completed, new signage to be arranged by CEBC

Antrobus St Gardens.

Work to start on Tuesday 26th May and should be completed before In Bloom judging. Julie is away but has informed MS of the contactors and their roles. Congleton Town Council streetscape team contracted to do the soft planting and watering.

Cenotaph Project.

Waiting for John Carter to come back with a redesign and new costings. Once received a Cenotaph Group meeting will be arranged.

River Dane Walkway / Cycleway.

Railing safety work has been completed. Some retendering required regarding the work required on the steps. Waiting for start date from G.Butler.

Senior Forum.

A drop in at NLC was organised for 6th May, questionnaires were handed out/completed. MS to record replies.2 visits to be planned at Luncheon Clubs .

A Senior Health Fayre is being planned by CEBC, New Life Church, 1st October, the Partnership plans to be there, it may be a good opportunity to gain volunteers.

Walk about Dec 2014.

Only real work still to do is the painting of the Town Bridge.

 

Date of the next meeting:-

 

Monday 27th July 2015, 9.30am.

 

 

GoTri is coming to Congleton Park on Sunday 17th May

GoTri  is coming to Congleton Park on Sunday 17th May. This will be the first of a series of Go-Tri events organised by Everybody Leisure on behalf of Sports England. In a nutshell it’s a fun, entry level race designed to provide participants with a taste of triathlon. There will be a 100m pool based swim followed by a 4km bike and 3km run in the beautiful Congleton Park! Following The event is open to anyone aged over 14. You can book onto it via Eventbright and places cost between £10 -£15 per person.

This first Go-Tri will be limited to 100 people. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gotri–congleton-tickets-16593951957

 

Bike checks will be offered on the day and bike helmets are mandatory to race. Marshalls and first aiders will be on hand with drinks stations at the start of each lap.

 

For more information please contact Alex Cartney email: alex.cartney@everybody.org.uk

 

 

Youth Forum meeting minutes 21.04.15

The latest meeting of the Congleton’s Youth Forum took place on 21st April, download the full meeting minutes here.

A quick update on some of the Youth Forum projects:

Youth Forum Projects.

 

In Bloom. Application forms have gone out, 1 application received from Bromley Farm YC.

Please action as soon as possible. We supported 4 very good projects last year to support the ‘In Bloom Project’ (now received app from CHS)

Skateboard Park & Chav Fashion Show. It was felt that these 2 projects could well be included within the Celebrating Youth Event.

Bridle Path Maps. GW to source current map provision and discuss same with Matt Axford and Genni Butler. The idea is to create maps that indicate what is available on a given route, distances, points of interest , accessibility etc, put in to young persons ‘Speak’

Once this has been established GW then to discuss with schools to see if this can be handled as a practical project for their students.

For reference there is a major event being organised by Team Congleton for July ‘Every Step Counts’ to encourage walking in the town. There will be opportunity for young people / organisations to become involved, some of this element could be incorporated in both Celebrating Youth Day and In Bloom ‘Space’ projects.

 

Senior Forum meeting minutes 25.03.15

The latest meeting of Congleton Senior forum had taken place, please download the minutes to view all the news!

Discussion – Where do we go from here?

The view of the members present was that the idea of a Senior Forum had positive opportunities and outcomes. Networking and understanding how various of the organisations operate, plus possibilities of working together was well worth pursuing.

It was felt that like the Youth Council Survey and usage of its findings the Senior Forum also needed to know more about residents desires / their understanding of what is available to them.

It was felt that we should get a questionnaire together and use various methods of getting the document out to residents. MS had started to put together a questionnaire and will send out to member for critique and feedback.

Discussion around arranging some ‘drop in’ activities to be able to have face to face feedback from resident was raised and it was decided to hold 1 x ‘drop in’ event and 2 x ‘club’ visits.

We would love you to get involved ! Contact Mike Smith to find out more on email:  ms@congletontowncouncil.co.uk

Congleton Youth Forum meeting minutes 18.03.15

The latest meeting of Congleton Youth Forum took place on 18th March hosted at Eaton Bank Academy. Download the full minutes HERE.

The first item on the agenda was the Youth Info point website www.youthinfo.co.uk, all agreed to add more content to make the site really live.

Youth Forum Projects. 

GW advised the forum that he had put in a number of funding support requests to the Partnership’s Projects and Finance Committee and was awaiting a decision on some of them.

P&F agreed to support the Youth Celebration Day by awarding £1000 to the event so that planning / organising could get underway.

 

The other 5 projects have gone out to The Executive for their decision, MS will advise GW once the result is known.

The 5 projects were:-

Basketball Hoops.

Bridle Path Maps.

Skateboard Park.

Fashion Show.

Congleton Youth In Bloom.

 

GW will be writing out to forum members to find out which of these they will be able to get involved in.

Virtually all of the activities arose from findings in the recent Youth Council Survey, so support what young people suggested themselves.

Projects and Finance Committee minutes 16.03.15

The latest meeting of the Projects and Finance Committee took place on 16th March. Download the full minutes HERE for all the news!

Funding Requests.

 

Funding requests were sent out to members before the meeting for information.

 

Copies of previous funding support and outcomes awarded to The Youth Forum were also sent out and loaded onto the website.

 

Requests were received from :- The Youth  Forum, CCP, Congleton Creative and CSG, the decisions were as follows:-

 

Youth Forum. Support for Youth Celebration Day, Hankinson’s Field/ Congleton Leisure Centre, 11th July.                                              £1000 awarded.

 

EPH/CCP.  Contribution to the development  of a Community Index (Youth / Senior Forum sections) and Full Page Advert for The Partnership (Back Cover)

£500 awarded.

 

Congleton Creative. Contribution towards the Hidden Places Event to be held in 4 locations within Congleton on 16th May.                          £500 awarded.

 

Congleton Sustainability Group -Apple Juice. To purchase both a fruit juicer and press to be used in schools and community events. Currently they  loan equipment from various sources.

                                                                        £335 awarded.

 

All parties have been advised and issued with a ‘terms and condition ‘ document.

 

There was a further 5 requests put in by The Youth Forum totalling £3500, as this would take us above the P&F Committee remit, MS was asked to send these out to The Partnership Executive for consideration. Once their replies have been received a straight majority decision will be made and appropriate action taken.

Congleton Sustainabilty Group meeting minutes 02.03.15

The Congleton Sustainability Group latest meeting minutes are now available to download HERE.

Many projects were in discussion this month, a particular highlight :

 

Team Congleton (Every Step Counts) – R&A Brightwell.

 

Robbie took us through a presentation on both the reasons for and the plans of Team Congleton’s July “Every Step Counts” activity.

He explained the link between activity and the general health of people and how just 1 hours / 5000 steps a day could have a real beneficial effect.

The “Every Step Counts” activity is planned to run from 1st July through to 2nd August and to involve the whole cross section of the community.

The presentation has been made to a wide variety of groups including CeCP, CSG, Congleton Partnership.

Full walking programme being drawn up:-

Primary Schools Activity Programme

Secondary Schools Comp / Award

Nifty Over 50’s TGT 5000 steps a day (approx. 30 mins)

CEO / Staff activity etc etc.

 

Pedometers to be issued (5000)

 

Dates for the diary:-

Sunday 10th May – Inaugural Walk – Astbury Mere

Friday 19th June – PR Walk – Astbury Mere

Friday 26th June  – Activity camp Launch – Park

Sunday 26th July – Grand Finale – Skyline Walk Challenge –  Grand Picnic / Band Concert in the Park.

 

For the rest of the news download the minutes at the top of the post!