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You Can Help to Make a Difference and Make Your Community a Better Place to Live Remember the Protest Walk back in January? Our community came together with one voice? We need that voice on a permanent basis, to have a say in <strong>Bamford</strong>s Future. In <strong>Norden</strong>, for example, which is a similar size to us, they have come together to form Community, Social and Volunteer Groups which allows them to have a say in what happens in their community. As a result, they have a park, gardens, landscaping, allotments, play areas, community playing fields, library, and a school doubling as a Community Centre offering varied activities. They hold an annual carnival, Christmas festivities, and village amenities to be proud of, most of which are Community led. In <strong>Bamford</strong> we have mainly residential properties, which have been developer led across every spare piece of green land, with absolute minimal community facilities. It feels like we have been sleepwalking in <strong>Bamford</strong> for the last 40 years, the proposed development on our precious Green Belt was a wake-up call. No matter what the outcome of this issue, (and we’ve now got to wait till next summer to find out) it’s fairly certain that things are not going to remain the same for the next 40 years. We need a combined community voice so we have a say in the future of our village, and bring a real community spirit to <strong>Bamford</strong>, to do this we need to act now. To do this we want to set up a community lead GROUP and need YOU to get involved. We are forming a group called Friends of <strong>Bamford</strong>. That will provide a central hub for activities within our community, a sort of ‘umbrella’ group, made up of a number of different community groups bringing our community together. We need to recapture on a permanent basis that real community spirit we experienced on the protest walk back in January. Ambitious? Absolutely, but recent events show we can really come together and we must act. We are looking for a number of volunteers to help plan and organise seasonal events on the village green. To get the ball rolling, we are kicking things off with a Halloween themed fete on Saturday the 28th of October <strong>2017</strong> from 2pm until 4pm. This will take place on the Village Green opposite Tesco’s, we want this to be a catalyst to organise a number of scheduled events throughout the year. To make this a success <strong>Bamford</strong> needs YOUR support. There will be lots of fun to be had and many prizes to be won with a dog fancy dress competition and show, pumpkin competition, kids haunted wood, face painting and cake competition. Please don’t just think it’s a good idea, but ‘they’ will do it. You are ‘they’, and even if you don’t want to be physically involved, maybe you can participate in other ways, e.g. sponsoring events or prizes if you own a small business, providing ideas or marketing the events through leaflet deliveries. We have appointed a treasurer and we will be setting up a bank account and registering the group. Any funds raised through events or donations will be used to re-invest in our community whether this be future events or improving the area, with some initial ideas to invest in making the Green opposite Tesco’s into a useable community space. If you would like more information on how you can help to support us or have any ideas regarding the group please contact us by our Facebook page or email ‘friendsofbamford@gmail.com’. Please follow us on our Facebook page ‘Friends of <strong>Bamford</strong>,’ to receive periodic updates. Promoting Community Spirit by creating and enhancing different Community, Social and Volunteer Groups, and connecting them under one banner, representing many diverse community interests. To make <strong>Bamford</strong> a better place to live, and to have fun while we’re doing it. Visit our website www.streetwisemag.co.uk for all the info about the Streetwise magazines 65