Forum Diary - Updates, Rumours and General Comment

Next week is Refugee Week. There will be a number of events taking place, some at MANCAT. Watch this space for details.....

Wednesday 20th June 2001

Tub protesters out in force again

KEEP OFF IT'S OURS!

The Save the Gorton Tub campaign turned out in force yesterday, joining hands around the tub in further protest at the proposed closure. They will be out in force again on Thursday to lobby the Social Strategy meeting at the Town Hall. If you are interested, they meet at 12.30 outside the Tub, moving on to the Town Hall for the meeting. Monday 18th June 2001

Crunch Time for the Tub?

The meeting of the Social Strategy scrutiny committee takes place on Thursday at the Town Hall. This is where the decision will be made regarding the future of Neptune's Kingdom, affectionately known as the Gorton Tub. For those of you who have not been following the campaign to save the Tub, there is much opposition to the closure of this pool, only a dozen years since it was opened and the only one in Manchester with sloping beach access which makes it accessible to many people who cannot use a standard pool owing to mobility or other health related problems.
We at the Forum have been opposed to the closure of this much needed and popular facility ever since it was made public and have been strong supporters of the Save the Tub campaign
If you can, join the protesters at the Town Hall at 1.15pm on Thursday 21st June where they will be lobbying the committee.
Furthere to the above, on Tuesday 19th June at Noon, the protesters will be holding a "Hug the Tub" protest, joining hands around the building and releasing balloons. If you can get there, get there and join in...

We still have a few printed Newsletters left, so if anybody out there, especially in Gorton Central hasn't got one and would like one, let us know and we'll make sure you get one...

As we said in the Newsletter, there is a lot of interest in Gorton now, with various organisations looking to see what they can do and, in many ways, we can consider this to be one of our successes, having had a hand in bringing Gorton to the attention of the world, but our job is in no way over, the Forum is going from strength to strength and we are forging ahead with our strategy for the future.

The learning centres applications have been accepted and are being considered now. Work continues so that when (not if :) the bids are successful, everything will be in place so that we can get down to work right away. If you want more information, ring the office or e-mail us This is an exciting opportunity for the community in Gorton, anybody will be able to go along and learn new skills, if they want to, and given that there is a good possibility that there will be a lot of development in the East Manchester area within the next few years, and a lot of ensuing jobs, it makes sense that those who have the skills will get the work.

The Local Action Partnership (LAP) is still proving to be a success, and remains a shining example of how co- operation between different groups can work. Here we have unparallelled levels of co-operation between community groups, council departments, the Police, other statutory bodies which can really be seen to be making a difference.

The factfinders are now doing some followup work in light of what we have learned from you so far, look out for them at various locations throughout Gorton in the next few weeks. We are still getting a steady stream of input from both the questionnaires, so if you haven't filled one in yet, click on one of the buttons above and have a go, the replies are anonymous unless you wish to give details, and the information will only be used for research purposes.

The Gorton Wardens are proving to be an asset from what I hear, although they are still concentrating on a few 'hot spots' as far as we know. It is hoped that they will range further as time goes by and cover all of Gorton, although it is recognised that there are only a few of them .....

Goodbye to the Forum Co-ordinator. He leaves at the end of June.

Tuesday 29th May 2001

Now have both surveys up and running, we've had quite a response from the first one, so keep up the good work... The second survey is the Gorton Factfinders one, it's a bit more involved, but we ask you to take some time to fill it in, the results will be put to good use. As always, any information received here will be kept confidential and only used for the purposes of research.

There have been problems with the printed newsletter distribution but we hope to have them sorted today and the areas which haven't received any yet will get them this week.

Not much else happening at the moment, must be down to this election thingy ..... More soon

Tuesday 22nd May 2001

Well, we've finally received all the newsletters and they're now being distributed. Apologies to all who have been waiting, technical difficulties beyond our control.....
Unfortunately, apologies are in order for a mistake which WAS in our control, owing to a communication problem, SMIRTHWAITE's NEWSAGENT did not have their advert published, so a big public apology to them, and if you're travelling in the Levenshulme Road area of Gorton and are in need of Milk, Bread, Newspapers, Magazines, divers groceries and lots of other stuff, including Fags and Beer, GO TO SMIRTHWAITES, you'll almost certainly get what you need. (tell them you read it here, it won't get me off the hook, but it'll help a bit :)

Charlotte from the Gorton and Abbey Hey Project has constructed a survey questionnaire, a copy of which is included in each printed Newsletter. In keeping with our aims and aspirations, it has now been published online, and in light of the way it has turned out, it will be the first of many we hope to run. If you live anywhere in Gorton, please fill it in and submit it to us, we'll make sure the information is put to good use. Just click on one of the buttons at the top of the page

Monday 21st May 2001

Just a quick update. It has been brought to notice that the Monastery Festival images have not been accessible. Well the good news is that the links are now fixed, so if you haven't got round to looking at them yet, or haven't been able to find them, Here. Apologies for taking so long to sort this and thanks to those who e-mailed me to let me know.

Monday 14th May 2001

At last, the May Newsletter is out, and will hit the streets this Friday. For those of you who can't wait, you'll find it here

As you'll see, it's another upbeat issue and with good cause. There is a lot happening in the area and it's all down to the people out there in the community. It is really good to see so many people getting together in order to improve things. Of course the Forum hasn't been idle either, we've been working with a vast array of different organisations, many of whom are just now starting to look at Gorton as a place where things can be achieved. In many ways, this is a great thing, but we must not forget to acknowledge those organisations who have worked with, and supported us for some considerable time, notably the Central Primary Care Trust (and in its former incarnation the East Primary Care Group) and the William Sutton Trust.

You will also see that the Save the Tub campaigners are still on a roll, the fun day the other week caused quite a splash (I know I know... :) when they stopped the traffic on Hyde Road ... it's just a good thing they picked a Saturday ... otherwise it would probably have been stopped anyway ....!

Talking of which, a little bird tells me that the shops at Reddish Bridge are to receive a tarting up so as not to offend the visitors to the Commonwealth Games (who were never going to use Hyde Road anyway). The suggestion that perhaps they should be hidden behind large TV screens, so that all those visitors who choose to travel into Manchester from the motorway will at least get to see some sport whilst waiting in traffic, has so far fallen on deaf ears ;-)

And of course we've gathered an awful lot of really good information from the Fact finders project, with a lot of help from those volunteers who chose to become involved. I hope to have an on-line questionnaire soon, and we'd appreciate input from all those Gortonians who read this site, watch this space .....

Many of those I've spoken to know that we are committed to bringing opportunities into the area. they will also know that we have been trying very hard to foster links with all manner of organisations outside Gorton. This has resulted in plans to bring two UK Online centres into Gorton. These centres will be places where any member of the community not in full time education will be able to take advantage of the growing number of opportunities afforded by Lifelong Learning. Want to get a better qualification? then you'll be able to come in and see what's available, want to get some basic skills, but don't like the idea of taking tests? we can do that, just want to see what the fuss is about, you'll be able to pop along and have a see... Of course you might not want to have anything to do with it .. well that's ok too, nobody's going to force anybody ... it'll just be nice to know that the opportunities are there won't it?
We've spoken to quite a few people about this and there is a lot of enthusiasm in many quarters. Well, the forms have gone in, and we've got endorsement from MANCAT and Manchester Lifelong Learning (the Gorton North centre is actually part of a massive groundbreaking project which covers the whole of East Manchester, yet will be run by the Forum in tune with your wants. The Gorton South Centre will also be run by the Forum, but in partnership with the William Sutton Trust who, if we are successful, will provide a building for the purpose) All we have to do now is wait and see if we get approval for the plans which should come through sometime towards the end of August this year - so again, Watch this space!

Also mentioned briefly in the Newsletter is the new Gorton and Abbey Community Project which was initially aimed at youth issues (a hot topic around here). It seems that the brief has expanded somewhat, but we will be happy to work with Charlotte, the newly appointed Community Empowerment Worker. If you want any further information about this project, contact the Forum either by e-mail or by Telephone on 0161 220 7362.

The Gorton Wardens Scheme is now officially launched and the Wardens will soon be out and about now that they've finished their training. We'll keep you informed of their progress.

On a final note, you might have noticed that, for a News site, we've not made any mention of the Election...
This is entirely deliberate - the Forum is totally apolitical and therefore is remaining aloof from the process. It can be argued that the result of the election could well affect not only us, but the projects in which we're involved, but in order to be able to deal fairly with all the people with whom we have contact, we must remain neutral. This is understood by all and respected by them. And for those who might have other ideas i'll repeat it

GORTON COMMUNITY FORUM IS NOT ALLIED TO, FUNDED BY, MANAGED BY OR IDEOLOGICALLY ATTRACTED TO ANY POLITICAL PARTY. WE ARE AN INDEPENDENT ORGANISATION AND WHILE WE RESPECT THE RIGHTS OF MEMBERS AND OFFICERS TO HOLD POLITICAL VIEWS, THE POSITION OF THE FORUM IS AND WILL REMAIN NEUTRAL.

What is important though, is that you all use your vote. No matter who you favour, go out and vote for them, it is never a waste of time.

If you get really bored and want to know what we've been up to over the past year or so, you can access the Archive pages from hereThe Complete Forum Diaries

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