20/11/2008 - Together We Can...in Appleby

Residents in Appleby will be given the power to change their community for the better next week (W/C 24 NOV) as part of a radical scheme.

'Together We Can' is an action plan that will enable people to engage with public bodies and influence the decisions that affect their communities. 

From removing chewing gum from the pavements to antisocial behaviour, residents will get the chance to say what they want to fix in Appleby.

Local service providers including Cumbria County Council and Eden District Council, Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service, NHS Cumbria, Cumbria Constabulary and other community and voluntary organizations, including Eden Community Outdoors, will work together with people in Appleby to target areas of the community that they want to change.

Monday and Tuesday will see a host of activities at Centre 67 on Chapel Street, including a circus skills session for 13 to 19-year-olds on Tuesday evening at 6pm, a youth café with cookery demonstrations at lunchtime on every day except Friday, and a ladies night with activities for young women aged 13-19 at 6pm on Monday evening.

At 7pm on Tuesday evening, immediately after the circus skills, youngsters will be given a taster session in Free Running - an acrobatic sport-cum-performance art played out on everyday obstacles such as railings, walls, pillars and steps as practitioners compete to run, jump and flip over and around obstacles as smoothly and elegantly as possible.

On Tuesday afternoon residents are invited to a multi-agency drop-in session. NHS Cumbria will be offering free health checks including blood pressure tests, and advice on alcohol and smoking issues; councillors from the town, district and county councils will be on hand to help people, and Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service will give home safety advice and offer training on emergency resuscitation. 

Also there will be Cumbria Highways for residents to discuss road issues as part of the town’s Community Travel Plan, trading standards will offer consumer advice and a time banking session will take place allowing volunteers to offer their skills and time as a swap for someone else’s. Age concern, Eden Carers, Eden Community Alarms and Cumbria Council for Voluntary Service complete the roster for the afternoon event that runs from 2pm – 5pm in the Market Hall and Supper Rooms in Appleby.

On Wednesday afternoon Cumbria police will be out in the community from 4pm to 8pm on their Streetsafe Operation in Glebe Road, Glebe Close, Glebe Crescent, Murton View, and Murton Close.

That evening at 7pm wannabe acrobats can venture to the trapeze taster session for 13 to 19-year-olds, and the following day there will be a woodwork presentation and art gallery, also at Centre 67, and Friday sees Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service staging a mock car crash and showcasing their road awareness training from 7pm to 9pm. 

The organisations involved in Together We Can want local people to play a successful part in guiding, directing and supporting the distribution of resources and delivery of services in their local communities.

Cumbria County Councillor Barbara Cannon, cabinet member for communities, said: "Together We Can will allow local service providers to come together with the people of Appleby and make a positive difference. The project recognises that public bodies don't always have all the answers to the specific issues in a specific area.

"I believe that local people are the experts at understanding which services work well in their area, and which don't. Together We Can aims to put local people in a position to influence improvements to local services."

Together We Can is an opportunity for all local service providers to make connections with residents in Appleby. There will be events going on throughout the week-long project to show how the different services work together to make a change in the area.

ENDS

Media enquiries to Media Officer Chris Little on 01228 226334.