Category Archives: big local

Local groups get £5,000 from Radstock & Westfield Big Local

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Radstock and Westfield Big Local Dragons Den winnersTen community groups, charities and good causes have shared £5,000 thanks to the Big Local Radstock and Westfield Dragons’ Den event.

The event was attended by 130 local people and guests.  Seventeen groups had 90 seconds to pitch their ideas, asking for up to £500. Each group was the quizzed by the three dragons: Debbie Ladds from Local Trust, Suzanne Norbury from the Somerset Guardian and Owen Stephens from the Rotary. Local residents were then asked to vote for their favourites.

Breast cancer survivor, Helen Adams, was given overwhelming backing from voters after she was joined by her young children to tell her story and why she wanted to see a Coppafeel day held in Radstock.

Radstock Museum received funding to restore the clock on the front of the museum and pay for a museum café makeover.

A Circus Fun Giant Picnic which will bring together families in Clandown for a Sunday get-together. Performances at Radstock’s Victoria Hall will be more illuminating from now on thanks to funding towards new lighting and young actors from Confessions of the Youth Theatre Company will be making drama accessible to more children by offering affordable sessions.

Mums and babies are also in for a treat when the NCT Baby Cinema comes to offer screening that welcome babies.

Football Friends, a group of young players from Tyning, were given cash to help buy sports and storage equipment to bring together youngsters looking to play the game together while would-be musicians will have a chance to learn guitar thanks to free taster lessons.

Regular Zumba classes will be hosted by charity SWALLOW to give its members with learning difficulties the chance to enjoy the exercise classes.

2MD Regeneration’s role in Big Local

Julian is a Local Trust Rep. Since 2012 he has provided support and guidance to the Radstock and Westfield Big Local Partnership.

Woolavington and Puriton get Big Local Million

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The lucky people of Woolavington and Puriton have today heard that they are to receive over £1m from Big Local Trust. Along with 49 other communities in England they will receive the Big Lottery funding of over the next 10 years.  Each community is given a ‘Big Local Rep‘ to work with, and the lucky people of Woolavington and Puriton (near Bridgwater) have me!

Big Local is about bringing together all the local talent, ambitions, skills and energy from individuals, groups and organisations who want to make their area an even better place to live. Residents will identify the issues in their areas that they want to address and work together to put a plan together for how they will do this.

The four programme outcomes for Big Local are:

  1. Communities will be better able to identify local needs and take action in response to them.
  2. People will have increased skills and confidence, so that they continue to identify and respond to needs in the future.
  3. The community will make a difference to the needs it prioritises.
  4. People will feel that their area is an even better place to live.

I’ll be heading over to Woolavington and Puriton later today to start talking.  If you’re from Woolavington or Puriton and want to know more, do get in touch.

Big Local Lottery

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Pleased to say that I’ve been appointed as a Big Local Rep.  Big Local is a Lottery funded programme to invest £1m over 10 years in 150 communities in England.  The programme is very much about communities making decisions for themselves about how to spend the money, and the role of the Rep is to support, facilitate and oversee the process.  There are 70 Reps across the country, with other local appointments including Dominic Murphy (of Creating Excellence) and Sophie Cowdell (of Common Places).

Some Big Local areas are already up and running, and I’ve been asked to pick up support for Radstock and Westfield.  Also going to be working on one of the “Wave 3” communities, but sworn to secrecy on which one until after the official announcement on 10 December.