Gorton Community Forum moves into the year 2000 and beyond -
Editorial - first appeared in the November Newsletter

As we stand on the brink of a new millennium, the Forum is poised to become an even bigger, better and louder voice for the community. Plans are in place which will enable us to provide more services to the community and to reach more and more people.

We hope to be opening a new resource centre on Garratt way within the next three months and are working towards the provision of training in core skills, basic literacy, numeracy and Information Technology in an informal setting, along with advice and guidance for those seeking employment or an entry into further education. We are also seeking to encourage those of more advanced years and those with disabilities to experience the Internet and all that it entails, with initial access from our resource centres and eventually by low or no cost home solutions for those most in need.

We will be working more closely with the community in order to inform you about issues which affect you and will continue to publish our newsletter both in printed form and on the web, giving Gorton the widest possible platform.
We will continue to work with local organisations and other bodies in order to ensure that members of the community
are able to get their views across and be listened to.
We will be working with and supporting local interest groups and positively welcoming new groups into the Forum.

We will be working with the Local Area Partnership towards a better, safer Gorton and with the Primary Care Group
and the Healthy Gorton Group, towards a healthier one.

We cannot, however achieve all this by ourselves. We need the support of you, the people of Gorton.
We need you to tell us what you want, be it consultation, information, action, specific training or advice,
we would like you to tell us about the things, both good and bad that affect your lives and we want to know
what you think about what we are doing and how we can do it better.
Most of all we need you, the people of Gorton to become involved in shaping the future of the community.

Gorton has been neglected over the years and we are determined to ensure that, with your help,
this does not happen in the future. We have never had a better opportunity to change things for the better
and we owe it to ourselves to try.

If you would like any more information about the Forum, feel you have something to contribute,
are part of a local group needing support or would like to be a volunteer, you can contact us here,
telephone us on 0161 220 7362 or call in to the Community House between 10.00am and 2.00pm
Monday to Friday, where you will be made very welcome