80 children attended our halloween event at Gordon Bennett Memorial Hall.
Make it Happen Event II – 19th May 2014
Steve Gunn was the winner of the High Street Voucher
Congratulations to Michael Langford
Michael Langford won the £50 High Street Voucher at the Thurcroft Big Local Easter event today.
Big Local Information Centre
The Big Local Steering Group decided that they would like to open an Information Centre to promote Big Local in the village and give the community an opportunity to learn more about it, what it can offer and to get their ideas. They also hoped that more local volunteers would come forward to support the Big Local.
The Big Local Information Centre on Green Arbour Road, Thurcroft, officially opened on Saturday 12 October 2013. Its opening hours are 9am until 4pm on Fridays and 10am until 2pm on Saturdays. These days were chosen as they are the busiest days in Thurcroft. I am based there on Fridays along with another volunteer and the Centre is cover by volunteers on Saturdays. It is hoped that when more volunteers join, the Centre will be open on more days.
The first couple of months were very quiet, with only a few people popping in and out, I think this was partly to do with the time of year (weather being cold and rainy) and people not really knowing it was there. At the beginning of December we joined the Parish Council to turn on the Thurcroft Christmas lights. The Big Local organised face painting, stilt walking, fairground rides, a magic show and much more. It was a fantastic event which made people more aware of the Big Local and the Centre. Since that event more people have come into the shop to find out more and offer their ideas. We have also gained some new volunteers, although we are always looking for more!
Thanks to new volunteers the Centre is now also open on Tuesdays from 4pm until 7pm. This is just for a trial period to see if many people pop into the Centre. Meetings relating to the big local i.e. Gala, Play scheme etc. are now held in the Centre and the following groups/activities are also being held in there too.
RMBC Job Club
This Job Club has just recently started and is run by RMBC. It is held on a Wednesday from 3.00pm until 4.30pm and is a great service to offer the local community.
Keyring Group
Keyring is a charity who supports vulnerable adults to live independently in the community. A group of people who are part of the Keyring group live in Thurcroft and are going to start holding their meetings in the Centre on Monday mornings.
It is hope that the Centre will become more and more popular and the Big Local will continue to grow.
(Rachel Cole)
Litter Pick 18th January 2014
Thanks to everyone who took part.
Thurcroft Big Local 2014
Happy New Year. Thurcroft Big Local Partnership continues to work together with all residents to put together a plan for the village to spend £1m over the next ten years to make the village a “place where people want to bring their children up in the future.”
Members are keen to involve all village residents in activities, events and training during January 2014. The Big Local Information Centre on Green Arbour Road continues to be open both all day on Fridays and Saturday mornings. In addition, efforts to clean up the village continue with a Big Local litter pick organised for Saturday 18th January 2014, meeting at the Big Local Shop at 11am.
Everyone is welcome to a free information session open to all on funding for groups facilitated by Peter Foyle of South Yorkshire Funding Advice Bureau which will be held at 6.30pm on Monday 20th January 2014 at Arbour Drive Community Centre on Arbour Drive. This session will also include details about the Star People Awards available to Thurcroft residents for individuals with ideas that can improve the village, both big and small, that they are willing to lead.
There will also be a free briefing on social investment and making the best use of the Thurcroft Big Local money facilitated by Sam Keighley of Local Trust to be held between 10.30am and 12.30pm on Saturday 25th January 2014 at Gordon Bennett Memorial Hall on Green Arbour Road – this session is also open to all residents.
Helping Residents Spend £1 million on their village
Link to Article on Thurcroft Big Local by Dominic Smith
Cath McCartan Speaks at National Conference
Thurcroft Christmas Lights On A Great Success
Some photos from the fantastic christmas lights switch on in Thurcroft on 6th December 2013
Fantastic brass band played carols for all to join in
Dan was in the village and did a great show in the bottom club. Facepainter Jo could be found in the Big Local shop.
Minnie and her friends came to join us in the celebrations
Tim switched the lights on at 6pm
Thank You Mandy
On Monday 4th November 2013, Thurcroft Big Local Partnership thanked the outgoing Local Trust representative Mandy Wilson for her hard work in supporting the group to get started, help people get involved and supporting the group to put together a profile of the village.
Mandy has played a key role as critical friend for Thurcroft Big Local making sure the initial steering group reached out to as many people in the village, providing a key link with the Local Trust and other partners. Following interviews, the Thurcroft Big Local Partnership has chosen Alister Shaw as their new Local Trust Rep. Alister will be the key link to the Local Trust enabling the Partnership to develop a Community Plan for the village. Alister is an experienced and successful neighbourhood renewal and regeneration practitioner with a proven track record of facilitating the positive transformation of communities and neighbourhoods.
At the November 2013 Partnership meeting held at Arbour Drive Community Centre, Tim Leach was also thanked for chairing the Big Local steering group during the last year, helping taking Big Local forward in Thurcroft , producing the community profile and help with setting up the Partnership. The new chair of Thurcroft Big Local Partnership is Alan Bucknall. The Partnership presently consists of 12 residents, 1 representative of the Parish Council and 1 from the Borough Council. Meetings and events are open to all residents and the Partnership is keen to involve everyone in the work it undertakes.
Residents have created a Big Local partnership which will lead on creating a local plan using the ideas of local people. Once the plan is agreed with the Big Local Trust, the Partnership can start to spend the money on the plan’s priorities. Big Local is lottery monies coming back to communities that have been overlooked for funding in the past. A percentage of each lottery ticket bought is given to the Local Trust and it is this money that is being used to fund the big local programme. The aim is for people to make their communities better places to live in, now and in the future and will up to the residents of Thurcroft to decide on how this money is spent.
More details on Big Local in Thurcroft can be obtained from the Thurcroft Big Local Shop at 46c Green Arbour Road open on Friday and Saturdays, by phoning 07964 693527 or by email .