Trust Life
Welcome back to life at the Trust after an extended Easter break, which I hope you all enjoyed along with the Royal Wedding. I did dust off my hat, but have put it back in its box as my invitation didn’t arrive in time. Must be still in the post!
We have now had two Coastal Markets in the Town Square (I would like to thank Russell and Sandy for organising) which have proved to be popular and well supported. We have a Continental market organised for the next bank holiday. In addition, local students are busy organising an event in the Square which will take place in August. They are planning family entertainment and activities from mid afternoon and live music for early evening.
Members of our Management Committee organised a charity fundraising day in April, which supported many local charities and allowed them to raise much needed funds. Another big thank you all round to those who donated, worked, supported and purchased.
Funding from Northumberland County Council for the Community Forum has now finished, however the Trust Management Committee and the Town Council have decided to host community meetings prior to their joint quarterly meetings. So if you would like to come along to air views or have any issues you would like to discuss please join us on the 20th June at 6pm here at the Trust office for the first of what we hope will be fruitful meetings.
In addition, Trust members will be receiving their invitation to our AGM which will be held on July 13th at 7pm – again here at the Trust offices. Last year’s event was lively and evocative taking a retrospective look at the town and how it has changed over the last 15 years. While we haven’t decided on this year’s theme, we will attempt another interesting evening.
The skateboard development is now coming on apace and should be just about complete by the time you receive this Ambler. One thing I would ask is that users of the multi user games areas please have some consideration for local residents. We have tried to resolve the problem of balls flying over the fence on to the road and into gardens by adding a further three metres to the fencing, but it would appear some are intent on causing mischief and deliberately kicking the ball through the netting – which is really not necessary. We would prefer everyone got pleasure from the facilities.
Other news on the Trust front: we submitted the Amble GPX game to a Market Town competition and I am pleased to report that it has been commended in the Social and Community Category for the Action for Market Town Awards in the North Zone. Well done to Anna and her fantastic group of young volunteers who have worked really hard to bring the game to fruition – I’m sure they will enjoy the awards ceremony.
Our REACH contract to deliver employment advice has also come to an end, however we recognise the importance of the service and will continue to offer a reduced service until a new contract has been agreed. So Julie is still able to assist with job search and C.V. requirements.
Now on a completely different subject, if it’s okay with you I’d like to talk rubbish – some may say nothing new there, but I mean the litter kind.
As a child it was drummed in to me that sweet papers etc should be placed in rubbish bins or taken home. Why is it that as we look around there is always litter lying or being blown around the streets? We have sufficient bins placed around the town, certainly rubbish would not have to be carried far to find one. Yet I often see items placed near to or beside bins so why not in them? I really cannot fathom that one out!
One thing that is sure to infuriate me is finding something like a McDonalds carton. To my knowledge the nearest outlet is Ashington, so why is it okay to dump the remains in Amble – or to empty the contents of your ashtray at a kerbside in Amble? Actually it isn’t, and it is not unheard of for me to confront the culprits.
But we have to ask ourselves if as a community we give out the wrong messages. If we drop litter and expect others to clear up after us, then perhaps visitors think they can do the same. So let us lead by example and help keep our streets clean and tidy – let visitors know we are proud of our town and their rubbish is not wanted!
In these days of severe funding cuts, with all services being affected, we can all play a small part. Rather than NCC paying more for litter picking perhaps that money could be redirected to pay for other services.
On the Co-Op front – still waiting for the covers to come off, but it won’t be long and it will be worth waiting for!
Hope the sun continues to shine until we speak again.
Julia Aston
Director, Amble Development Trust
julia@ambledevelopmenttrust.org.uk