Aladdin, Tamworth Pantomime Company 2012

Well where do I start, Tamworth Pantomime Company produced a fantastic show and had the Assembly Rooms packed.And so the music volume went up and the lights went down ready for the performance to begin.
I'll be the first to admit that I have not been to any of the local pantomime company's previous pantos but have seen some of the cast perform elsewhere in other roles so knew I was in for a treat and with such names as Alex Ferrall, Ian Gibbon, Lee Bates I wondered whether I was going to be the butt of any jokes.

With a relatively small cast and team these enthusiastic locals turned the assembly rooms into a theatre with all the atmosphere of a professional outfit.

The next few hours flew by with some fantastic performance and amazing singing which had everyone joining in with the traditional panto banta as well as plenty of laughter. It's always great to see kids enjoying pantomime (which is why I returned the following day with mine) but its easy to forget how real a play can be for a small child. One of the lines delivered from the panto baddy was that he was going to melt the snow dome which caused a chuckle in the audience but for one young boy this was serious, during the interval the young lad was hiding I the toilets tears steaming down his face because the snow done was going to be melted. A really sweet innocent moment that summed up the great performance we were watching.
It's difficult to mention all the great per danced because they were all fantastic, but I must mention you younger cast members including the evil side kick gaga who put in a great performance.

It was a truly great show and when I returned the following day with my chasten the audience was really into the panto spirit almost drowning out the cast, it was a fantastic experience. There was a great family feel and community fell to the show and it's a credit to all those involved that the audience felt a part of the show, this production kept hold of all the traditional elements of Pantomime including the essential Dame.
Great show well done all.

New Community Gym at Rawlett

Wednesday morning and off to Rawletts school (wearing a suit) to officially open the latest investment the school has made. They have taken an old music room knocked it into another room for a nice big space and with some math funding equipped the new room as a high tech gym.
From what I understand the school is about to clear the financing borrowed to build the AstroTurf and instead of standing still that have made a further investment, knowing they have a great gym they were not satisfied and applied for match funding which I believe is successful and so mirrors and an interactive white board will be installed for enhance PE lessons.

There are a few things that impress me with the school and one of them ic the "can do" attitude, they had an idea and got on and delivered it, fantastic.

So why did I mention the suit, well my briefing sheet said I could have a go on the equipment if I wanted, unfortunately I was not dressed to train.
I'm always made to feel welcome at Rawletts by both the staff and pupils. This week I had the chance to catch up with Claudia Walker who I met at te school last year. Claudia plays for England ladies under 17 football team and so she is a real local inspiration. Before Rawletts opened the gym she was having to travel to stoke for much of her fitness work I think she said daily. So for her it's a reall opportunity, not only for the staff and pupils but the local community are able to use the facility outside school hours on a pay as you go system.

Not only is this a great opportunity but also a great business development got the school, the community and the students.

Great work well done

The Lambs travel to Everton

As I write this there are around 20 minutes left before Tamworth Fc take on Everton in the 3rd round of the FA cup 2012. Tamworth are currently the we one lowest ranked team I. The competition but so what today they carry with them the hopes and dreams of about 5000 traveling supporters and a whole town behind them.

This is a fantastic event and for me it's what sport is about. The best way to get young people involved in sport is through competition and aspiration. Today Tamworth Fc will be playing against a premiership team, the dream of every school boy who plays the game and proving that this is in reach if young players want it and work hard enough.

I don't know what the result will be but I do know that when I travelled down to Wembly for the FA vase final in 1989 I felt a sense of belonging to and pride in the town we live. Tamworth Fc are putting Tamworth on the map raising the profile of the town, of football and of sport for everyone, their doing a fantastic job. I hope supporters continue to follow he club after the FA cup competition concludes regardless of how far we get.

So two final points 5000ish following the lambs today, the first FA cup game this seasion attracted only 1000 to the lamb,

Good luck lads I hope you pull of a nice shock for the north west

Princes Trust Presentation

The Progressive Club played venue to the Team 266 Prince's Trust Presentation celebration. 

The Prince's Trust was set up 35 years ago and has a number of strands including supporting people in need of skills and confidence development through to assistance with business start up. The group presenting here, team 266, consisted of 7 young people from Tamworth who were struggling to gain employment and could develop some of their confidence and skills through Prince's trust.

They all took part in a 12 week course which included many items of problem solving team building and other essential skills learning including first aid and in this case DIY, along with the need to fund raise towards a particular project.
On of their fund raising ideas was to kidnap me as Mayor of Tamworth, a very bizarre experience but a lot of fun.

during the 12 weeks they had plenty of experiences including residential trips, and a DIY project to decorate the Tamworth Canoe Club rooms, this project turned into a larger one when the walls they were painting fell apart and the you people were left wit the problem of finding a new wall covering to put up before the painting began.

The 8 people  that completed the course and gained their certificates last night have been on a fantastic journey and have all now either got volunteer placements of job offers as well as having improved their CV's. One of the participants commented that this course has taught them that you can turn your life around and start again putting your old life behind you.

It was really nice to see these people succeed when in the past they had struggled and the only future they could see was signing on. The princes trust do a great job and of the young people they help 85% of them go on to employment, education or training.

Student fire fighters Presentation

Student Fire Fighting vehicle

Today was a celebration and awards ceremony for the first set of student firefighters to be trained and graduate in Tamworth.

Here I met 7 of the student fire fighters who have attened at 12 week course consisting of one day per week. these young people had recived some excellent training and through 2 displays showed us what they had learnt. this wasn't thoery or playing around this was proper training in fire and rescue from cutting the roof off a car to fighting fires with breathing aparatus.

In the past student fire fighters have had to travel out of Tamworth to do this course, but now we have the fantastic facilities at Belgrave the benefits are fantastic.

A couple of the things I noticed today included 1, the weather 2, the team 3, the attention to detail.
The weather - as i sat in the cold watching I thought to myself how it would have been nice to have done this on a warm dry day, but then stopped and thought, the actual fire and rescue personal don't have a choice if its a real emergency. And today (no offence meant) you couldn't tell the difference between the regular staff and the teenagers.
The Team, these young people came from different school around Tamworth and had not met before but still in the 12 hours they worked together and developed a strong team, they way they used the spinal board and cut the roof off the car was a really team effort and was carried off seamlessly
Attention to detail and discipline, my teenage kid and other children really struggle to tidy up, but these in the team did what they did in the rescue and without a thought put all the equipment back away where is should be without a second thought.

This was a great experience and honour to share with the families, I hope the courses continue and would recommend all high schools to be aware and find out about this opportunity for young people in Tamworth.

Wilnecote & Dosthill Seniors Christmas Lunch

Wilnecote Parish hall played host to the 3rd Wilnecote & Dosthill Seniors Christmas Lunch. I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived at the number of people there, nearly 100 older people from the area had been nominated by people in the community to be awarded tickets to this free event. We were all treated to a fantastic Christmas meal, a Free raffle (prizes donated by the community) and entertainment from Happy Feet Dancing.

Due to another Mayoral ccommitment I had to leave before the dancing started but I was there long enough to welcome the guests and wish them a Happy Christmas and a good new year.not to mention enjoy a great meal that was served tremendously efficiently, 100 people eating 3 courses in an hour

This event, I believe, was organised by Cllr Lee Bates who funded it to the tune of around 1700 pounds from his local community fund.

We were joined by some influential people of Tamworth past and present including Terry and Pat Dix (Pat is chair of Dosthill PACT,  both are former Mayors and Terry was leader and Chairman of Staffordshire County Council), Pat Standon (chair of Wilnecote Residents Group), Brian and Joan Jenkins (former MP for Tamworth and both former Mayors of Tamworth) Brian Beale (county and borough councillor), Tina Clements (Deputy Mayor) and of course Lee Bates (county and borough councillor and former Mayor).

This event also served as a presentation for some Staffordshire Volunteer awards which amongst others Terry Dix was awarded on for the contribution he has made to the Dosthill community. When I get a list of all those who received awards I will add them to this blog

As I said at the event "councils don't build communities, communities build communities" and today the 90 odd people that were there showed that community spirit is alive and growing in Dosthill and Wilnecote.

Another Great Christmas event

BiBs breast feeding peer group

You know the feeling when you get invited to something and your not quite sure what to expect, well today was on of those feelings as I made my way to the Breast Feeding Peer Group graduation at Glascote Sure Start centre.

I was expecting to get there and find half a dozen new moms who had chosen to breast feed their new child, what I was a room fiull of volunteers who not only had chosen to breast feed their babies but also help other moms who maybe struggling to do so. I learnt that the group now had 14 volunteers moms providing advice and support including a 24/7 phone line and home visits. In that last 20 months they have helped 285 moms at anti natal stage. We presented a number of certifcates to the newly qualified peers.

This group provides a fantastic service which is not provided by any public service, the advice has been put together with personal expeirence and training all this is done by the 14 volunteers free of charge. I was told of many visits made to new moms homes for periods of 3 hours to help the mom breast feed. The great thing about this 'service' is that just when a mom is at her most anxious and worried about her new baby these ladies can provide calming advice, any mom who can not easily feed will immediately become worried and anxious, today I learnt of how it took some moms around a week to be able to achieve what they wanted, by which stage many would have given up.

So a really good afternoon with some great volunteers from our community.
I never did find out what the knitted breasts were about ????


I would recommend all moms to be or new moms should get in touch with Bibs at Surestart and consider their help with breast feeding or any other anxiety.

Staffordshire Performing Arts Christmas concert

A great afternoon in the warm protected from the cold by the Coton Centre we settled down to a great performance from local people young and adult who performed a wide array of pieces.

We were treated to a Christmas concert  (which this year was in December, we learnt last years was snowed off and so was held in February)which involved a rotation of 6 different groups including sax, strings concert band etc and had children as young as 8 performing.

It was a great enjoyable event.

I didn't realise (and maybe I should) that whilst Staffordshire performing arts carries the Staffordshire logo it is a separate entity and now has to bid for funding through central government. I hope that the good work of this organisation continues and I wish the friends of SPA all the luck in the world in fund raising and organising more concerts in the future.

the level of talent in Tamworth's youth is fantastic I only wish more people knew about it and not the odd few that blight out landscape

Bad Laasphe (Pt2) Fire Fighting

It was a privileged to be able to attend the handover of a new turntable ladder at the Bad Laaspe fire station. The weather was a tiny bit damp, more drizzle than rain, and there was a cold wind as we arrived at the Fire Station, as we rounded the corner into the yard we where greeted by around a dozen appliances and  vehicles plus loads of people.

The handover ceremony started almost immediately after we arrived with the Bürgermeister (mayor) of bad Laasphe making a speech and presenting the chief fire officer with a giant Iveco Key to symbolise the had over of the new appliance. After a few speeches (in German obviously and well translated by the person next to me) I was Introduced and called forward to make a presentation to the chief fire officer, before I left for Germany being on the Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Authority I arranged for an authority plaque to take. I presented my gift much to the pleasure and honour of the Chief fire officer this was followed by Tony Goodwin (Chief Executive of TBC) presenting the station with a gift from the council, we too received gifts  and relaxed to chat.

Our relaxation was short lived and replaced with exhilaration as Tony and I were given the opportunity to go up in the new ladder platform, we both stepped in and the platform began to rise. to our surprise the movement was very smooth and stable without wobble or jolt, before we knew it we were 6 storeys up (100ft 30m ish) swinging around in the air looking down on roof tops and about 150 people below. the feeling was amazing, I would never had dreamt I would have the opportunity to do this but there I was 6 storeys up and not able to speak the same language as the person operating the controls.

Feet back on the ground and legs becoming shaky it was time to join the other guests in the fire station and enjoy some refreshment, conveniently the chief fire officer is also the local brewer and the local Bosch Pils was flowing nicely. Once again the residents of Bad Laasphe were really friendly and we spent allot of the evening talking to both members of their twinning and local fire fighter who made us feel really welcome.

The Fire service in Germany is voluntary (in a similar was to our retained crews a payment is paid however this goes through their employer) and the local community raises funds for equipment, but the dedication of these fire fighters is second to none.

We had a fantastic evening till around 10 o'clock when a days travelling from Tamworth began to take hold and we made our way to our hotel room for the week end.

Bad Laasphe (Pt1) The Golden Book

31 years ago Tamworth and Bad Lassphe (Germany) signed a declaration that we would Twin and build relations between the two areas. This year as Mayor of Tamworth I travelled to Bad Laasphe to sign their Golden book in the spirit of reaffirming this relationship and also attend the handover of some nice fire fighting equipment.
The first thing that struck me about the visit was the genuine welcome we received, and the pleasure they had that we had made the effort. speaking not a word of German made the speeches interesting but not a problem as we had great a translator who had volunteered to assist, not only that but many of the people we met spoke good English too and made us feel very welcome. They still have a real grasp as to the value of twinning and the learning and sharing opportunities that it provides, the weekend really opened my eyes to this and I feel we in Tamworth should do more to raise the profile of the learning that is available through twinning.

So signing the golden book. Every visiting dignitary that Bad Lassphe has is invited to sign the golden book, this is kept in the Rathaus or town hall and serves as live reminder of the recent history of Bad Lassphe. I quickly scanned the book to see what to do and who else had signed it the first page I opened at random was on from 1985 and contained the signature of the greatly missed Sammy Munn. Having taken a moment to inform the councillors of Bad Laasphe of his sad passing it was on with the ceremony which was attended by local councillors and the local press.

So with the book signed by myself, the Mayoress and Tony Goodwin the chief exec of Tamworth we retired to another room where we had time to met and chat to members of the twinning group in Bad Laasphe and councillors of the area including exchanging stories about the Staffordshire Hoard and previous twinning triumphs.

Kibblestone and a load of Scouts

I have to admit i had never heard of Kibblestone and also knew very little about the Scouts (I was a member of a different uniformed organisation for boys the Boys Brigade) so I was a little unsure as to what to expect when I received an invite to their Born Survivor weekend. Just add that i was only there for a few hours.

So the site is just outside stone and had 1200 scouts from the age of 10 upwards taking part in a number of activities and camping there for the weekend. There was loads to do an well organised ration of activities some of which seemed to be just fun whilst others were of great learning value and sharing of skills which can be seen on TV practised by the head scouts Bear Grylls (top bloke check him out on google or discovery channels).
 I ran into a group of scouts from Tamworth just at the point they had finished a team building exercise which included building a shelter, lighting a fire with a flint and making a cup of tea on it. I did miss the cup of tea however got a full description of what it was like from on of the scouts, apparently she didn't like it as it was like warm milk and a bit weak.
This was done just up the hill from an area where scouts were gutting and cooking trout on open fires, great life skills and new horizons, one of the leaders mentioned that a number of scouts started off saying they didn't like fish but once they had prepared and cooked it they nearly all ate it.
Away from the main site across the road there were yet more activities in the trees including a fantastic yet little scary set of apparatus for scouts to climb either racing each other or using teamwork and communication skills, for me these looked scary and high let alone to a 10 year old but they just take it in their stride.

How high is that.

These activities along with live music, inflatables, activities on Trentham lakes made for a fantastic event for the youngsters of Tamworth and Staffordshire.

Scouting along with other organised youth groups provide some fantastic life skills and a sense of belonging and worth in the world as well as fun, they do a great job and should be recognised.



Shakespeare in the Glade. Much Ado About Nothing

English countryside, British weather, outdoor venue and a group oozing with passion, what more do you need to bring a Shakespeare play to life ? well after Friday evening I would say absolutely nothing else is required.

At the kind invite of Alex Farrell and Ian Gibbons of Turnright Productions I was joined by a number of civic heads from around Staffordshire and North Warwickshire as we traveled the very short distance to Middleton hall for a performance of Much Ado About Nothing. During my A levels I had looked at some Shakespeare but not this particular play.

The outdoor setting was fantastic in the walled garden at Middleton hall with the addition of a few gazebos to fend off the rain and nearby thunder and lightening, The rain did not put off any of the cast who took to the stage at 6pm prompt and did a fantastic performance full of passion, commitment and professionalism. I sat there genuinely wound up by the actions of some on stage, I had to keep reminding myself they playing a part and not to judge the actor themselves should I meet them after the show, they were extremely convincing. Maybe I shouldn't pick individuals out but the poor chap that Dogberry (Ian gibbons) kept smacking round the back of the head got some proper clouts. All the actors & actresses brought the characters to life in the most convincing way.

As Mayor I get to meet the "Chain Gang" (the other civic heads) regularly and so when we go to an event such as this we get to talk about it the following day or weekend. Well I can report that they all loved the performance and were full of praise for the small cast and show they did for us.

A big thank you to all who have put this on and a thank you for the contribution to the Mayor's Charity the RNLI, great evening enjoyed by all.

Pride of Tamworth Awards

Now in its second year the Pride of Tamworth Awards landed at Drayton Manor for the Presentation.

The evening went really well as we were treated to a performance of dance and singing from by the children from Birds Bush School and choir followed later by 2 performances from 2 students of QEMS who played the piano and violin.

And then came the awards,

I do not have a full list of the runners up and winners so i will just talk about generalities.

The Pride of Tamworth Awards celebrate the huge contribution that both individuals and groups make to Tamworth and there were a vast amount of nominees from a wide range of backgrounds. Some had been volunteering for many years some only a short time, some had used their skills to influence, some had provided manual labour. They all had one thing in common and that was they have all made a difference to Tamworth and none of them had done it for an award.

It is the contribution that these people make that makes Tamworth Tick, these people provide the glue that holds our communities together in fact if it weren't for the contribution these groups make we would not have a community just a set of buildings with beds in. And Tamworth would be a much duller place.

Rawlett fashion show

When I received and invite to a fashion show at Rawletts I had to admit I wasn't sure what to expect. 

This show was put together with purpose and an eye on the outcomes. A selected group of students were given the opportunity work outside curriculum hours to design, create outfits for a fashion show. The students were picked specifically as they had all showed signs of low confidence and the school was after a boost to rectify this potential issue. Working through the project the girls not only had the chance to design clothes but also learn key life skills in regards to design, pattern making, purchase of material, presentation, make up and performance skills, all from one project.

So what did we see? 
We were treated to a display of around 30 designs of the "little black dress" all were unique and well designed and made, this was followed by a selection of others.
We could see clearly that these girls were proud of what they had achieved and were happy to walk up and down a catwalk displaying their work. It was certainly hard to believe there was a lack of confidence in any of the girls in the show.

All those involved did a fantastic job and it was a privilege to have been able to join parents in watching what their girls had made and achieved, and that sense of achievment came over from all involved. It was a great example the use of a little inovation in tackling potential challenges before they manifest themselves.

Speed Indication Devices for Amington

Following requests from the public and the matter being raised at PACT I have requested that the section of Tamworth Road Amington near to Florendine school recieves a set of temporary Speed Indication Devices to slow traffic down.

These will be in for a 3 month period from September to December and will light up to display whether or not a car is speeding as they aproach, these devices also record vechile speed which i will be looking at after the period. the great thing is even when the illuminated signs are turned off they are still recording speeds of cars etc.

I will Publish more information on this when I get it but in the mean time SLOW DOWN

Coton Green Pre-school Garden opening

This morning I was asked to open the new pre-school garden at Coton Green, It was great there was not only a load of space for the kids to play and learn but with the help of volunteers and fund raising they have a great sensory garden and wild flower bed.

Some of the funding for this project including the wooden bridge and bench was supplied by County Councillor Ben Adams' community fund which is available to community groups from their county councillors. This i felt was a great use.

There was a sense of pride in the kids there today who once opened walked round the garden watering plants with their watering cans, some sat on the bench and read books not forgetting to take a plastic frog along to listen too.

A little oasis in the middle of the community

Rawlett Sports Celebration Evening

Had a wonderful evening at the Coton Centre last night attending the Rawlett Community Sports College Sports Celebration Evening. As I type this I am trying to think of anything missing form the evening, I know that sounds negative but the evening had the lot, an aspirational guest speaker -Craig Heap, a celebration of sporting success for the schools teams, awards and accredited qualifications for sporting work, celebration of individual's achievements in and out of school, dance/martial arts/gymnastic displays and even teachers being put on the spot. So it had everything i could have possibly wanted in the evening.

There were a fanastic amount of certificates given out to a variety of sports people and these included accredited Sports Leader Level 1 awards. These are not just about being good at a particular sport but are also about organisation skills coaching etc etc and not only take good performance on the pitch into account but also require a significant amount of classroom based work to achieve. As I sat and watched these being handed out i thought about the life skills that will be falling out of these achievements and that will stay with these young people for the rest of their lives. One phrase that was heard a few time was "sport changes lives" even one small steop at a time I feel it can and these awards can clearly be linked to that phrase.

Throughout the evening there was a sense of enthusiasm and achievement not only from the young people but also the staff and rightly so. The sports leader level 1 awards given out last night menas Rawletts have double the national average for a school, what a fantastic position.

There were 3 displays last night including karate gymnastics and boys dance. The great thing for me is that through the schools celebration of sports and performance arts a group of boys were able to perform without the stygma that I remember boys being subjected to when I was at school.  The karate not only involved a huge range of moves but this was also done to music and perfectly in sync. For those who know me I am fond of gymnastics and really enjoyed the dispaly we saw last night which included gymnasts from all years of the school and involved a very much acro style, it was fantastic to see so much going on on stage at teh same time.

Afterwards I spoke to Mr Bassett and Mrs Middleton as I felt I had to say how impressed it was that the school also celebrated the sports success of it's students outside of school. We saw certificates presented and well as hearing stories as to what they had achieved on a county, regional, national and sometime international level. This for me was great as it not only celebrated their success but also rasied awareness of some of the sports including crown green bowling horse riding, snow boarding and ice skating. One that did stand out for me is the success of a student Claudia Walker who plays Girls Football for the girls England squad, not only this but she also travels to leicester every weekend to do coaching and training of others. she came across as well presented and polite, she was a pleasure to meet but more importantly she must be a huge inspiration to the other students there and across Tamworth.

In the above photo you can not only see Claudia Walker but will notice she is also wearing Craig Heaps medals. Craig was last nights guest speaker and was invited as a British Olympian competing in the 2000 Sydney games. This blog entry is getting a bit long and i would not do Mr Heap justice but i will say he made a fantastic inspirational speech about starting from nowhere to achieving a dream and daring to try. He started gymnastic as a 9 year old bouncing around the house and then went on to have 2 golds at commonwealth and compete in the Olympic games, yes he is talented but he also knew what he wanted and worked for it. great inspiration to us all.

Fantastic evening I know i have missed a lot of what I wanted to say but there was just a huge amount of stuff going on.

End of road works gets moves closer. with Road Closures

So after weeks of mild irritation and only one complaint the road works around Ventura feel like they have always been with us but as you drive round you can see the signs of progress. Curbs have been moved, signal heads are up and holes are beginning to fill back up. It is no difficult to see the extra width and more tarmac that is going down as well as better pedestrian crossing points some with signals too.

Progress have been rapid and despite a few moans about the early start time the overnight working has been successful.

This week there will be a significant change to the retail park and we will all be struggling with overnight road closures, these are needed so that the roundabouts can bee resurfaced properly and efficiently.

Later this week the road between the large (sainsbury's roundabout) and Banatynes Gym will be closed over night with temporary traffic lights on the roundabout. this will allow for the roundabout to be closed a third at a time to be resurfaced overnight. so some nights traffic will travel the wrong way around the roundabout. there will also be diversions along the dual carriage way of Riverdrive including using using both sides for two way traffic.
so that's as clear as mud for you,
Basically the Bonehill road A453 will have overnight closures between Tame drive/Bittescote drive and Venura Park road.
If i can get a map i will share it here


As I write this I do not have all the details and what I get more I will update this blog.

Tina McBain's Coffee, Chocolate and Chat Morning

The first of this years Mayor's Charity events took place in Peel's Cafe, Tamworth, and was organised completely by Tina McBain with some help from Ian I'm sure.
The morning was relaxed and enjoyable with a variety of different people coming through the door top support Tina and also the RNLI. The picture we are holding was Lent to us by the local branch of the RNLI who have recently raised the money to buy the D-Class lifeboat featured in the pic. Some of the money i will raise this year will go to keeping that lifeboat running.

During the morning a raffle was ran along with guess the weight of the cake, these raised over £100 on the day and tickets for the raffle are being sold until Friday 24th June so final totals are not in yet.

It was a really good morning in a nice venue looking out at Tamworth Town Hall.
Big Thank you to those who donated including Cabury's Tk Max Asda and many more. also thanks to Nicola Oates for her support. Finally we must all Thank Tina and Ian for putting this fundraiser on and kicking off a year of raising money for the RNLI.

Don't forget you can still donate via   http://www.justgiving.com/Christina-Gibbons

St Peter's Church AGM + Gala Day

Saturday 11th June 2011 and I attended an open morning at st Peter's church right in the middle of the Silver Link loop.  This building is now 7 years old and is not only place of worship but also a set of community rooms both small and large.

The open day kicked off with a display from the Dance group that uses St Peters and we were treated to ballet displays and street dance displays, through out the day the fire service had an appliance on show and there were many other activities such as face painting and origami to get stuck into. There was a great sense of community and a sense of worth.

What I felt was clearly on display was that whilst anew big building may be a catalyst to changes a community facility can not become that purely by having a new building it's the people that make it a community facility. There are a number of groups who use the church which may otherwise be empty or closed during those hours. these groups are sometime small groups of interested people who meet in a relatively informal environment whilst others are structured classes like the dancers or Zumba groups. But if it wasn't for the drive of individuals these groups would not exist.
I was told the prior to the church being built the old community centre only had one group using it now there is something going on most mornings and evening at st peters church so the building has given an opportunity to do something that wasn't there before but the people the ones that make it happen. I got a real sense of that when I visited. the sense of community was certainly healthy and reaching into the area. A great success for all involved.