Following last December’s very successful Victorian Christmas Weekend, the Shotley Bridge Business and Community Partnership has decided to hold a similar event on Saturday 27th November 2010.
A committee has been formed to organise the event and all businesses and community groups are being encouraged to take part.
Proceeds from this charity event will be shared between Willowburn Hospice and Shotley Bridge Village Trust’s Britain in Bloom initiative.
The ‘Blooming Shotley Bridge’ group’ held a walkabout in the village today to decide on the boundary for the Britain in Bloom Neighbourhood Award, for which the Village Trust intends to register.
It was also looking at potential sites for improvement within the Conservation Area.
The ‘Shotley Bridge’ entry signs on the River Derwent Bridge, on the A691 near Shotley Grove Road and on the A694 near the Spa Grounds are to be used to define the extent of the neighbourhood, but whether to go beyond Snows Green as far as Elm Park has still to be decided.
Photographs, for display at the next open meeting of the Trust, are to be taken of the potential sites that could be improved or planted with bulbs and flowers. An action plan and funding will need to be discussed at the next meeting of the group.
Following the last open meeting, volunteers from the Village Trust met today to form an action group with a view to ‘greening up’ the local area. Helen Douglas, Civic Pride Officer, Northern Area, attended to offer advice and assistance from Durham County Council.
The Group intends to register the village in the Britain in Bloom Neighbourhood Awards. But the first step is to identify suitable sites for treatment and to decide on the boundary for the scheme. Then an action plan will need to be devised to prioritise projects and funding sourced.
It is hoped that the Shotley Bridge Business and Community Partnership will give their full support to the initiative.
[Click on the photos to enlarge]
At the Trust’s Open Meeting last night a cheque presentation was made to the North of England Children’s Cancer Research Fund. The money was collected by the Shotley Bridge Business and Community Partnership as part of their Victorian Christmas Weekend in December.
Amy Vella of Imago handed cheques totalling £1487 to Colin Peacock, who gave a talk about the Research Fund.
Thanks go to the local business community who helped raise the funds, particularly Imago and the North East Carriage Company, each raising a third of the total.
Garth Johnson of the Trust, who organised the charity collection, said: ” We distributed around 30 collection boxes and every box was returned with money in it adding up to over £400. We are also particularly grateful to the Carriage Company for donating all of their takings over the weekend. Let’s hope the Partnership can come up with more ideas to raise even more money at a future event in the Village.”
2400 households in Shotley Bridge and Benfieldside should receive a copy of the Shotley Bridge Directory through their letterboxes over the next two weeks.
The Directory, which was published by the Trust last December, provides information on community facilities, clubs and groups in the village and at Snods Edge. It also includes a map of the area together with information about the history of the village and the Village Trust.
If you do not receive a copy, pick up one from local businesses or Consett library. Alternatively you can download it here.
Shotley Bridge Village Trust 