Community Party

Today is the AGM of Springfield, Beech Hill and Gidlow, wrapped inside a community party, organised by the community.

There’s:

Face painting; balloon modelling; a roving magician; a help yourself arts and craft table. Ryan (last years community awards winner) is singing from 2-3pm. And there’s music and an opportunity for local talent to plug themselves into the PA system

Food is provided – a sandwich and cake for adults; Hot dog, ice cream and a juice for kids; with vegan and gluten free options.

There’s tea and coffee for sale.  

Phil (who pitched to set the community bike offer up at Cash & Chips) will be offering free bikes that he’s sourced from Gear Up at the Brick and there’s an offer to join a womens bike ride group.  

There’s an opportunity to learn more about the Family Craft Club and the organisers of the community group and join in, in many ways. 

A swap and share table enables local people to promote local businesses or share stuff that they have more of than they need.  Baby veg plants and sunflower seeds for example will be on the table tomorrow. 

The AGM bit will take part in a public living room style area of the garden, on inflatable sofas with camping tables. We’ve prepared an easy to read AGM report which will accompany Ey Up – Wigan West Community News and the community report.  People will be able to chat to people who are already involved about the many ways they can get involved and perhaps suggest some of their own.

To get things going we’ve started with these ideas:

We’d love people to join the organising group, especially people who are well connected to their street or community and run or do good stuff locally.  We’d love someone to join us who likes to look after the money too.  We meet every 8 weeks or so, but some also see each other quite regularly during the week at community stuff.

If this isn’t for you there are different ways you can get involved:

Join an organising group for the dog show, community parties or the community awards.

Come to the Cash and Chips or Pies and ££s events to support and vote on community ideas, or put your own idea forward.

Get involved with the community play stuff, or family craft club or maybe organise (with support) your street to become a play street.  

Get involved in keeping the community clean and green.  Join a litter picking group, join in with the Give it a Grow gardening club, get involved in improving Diggle St Park or look after a patch of land near you.

Be social.  Come along to any of the social groups to meet other people and have a bit of fun.  Grow your own social group (with support if needed)

Get involved.  Come to the parties and events.  Support the dog show. Vote in the community awards.  Suggest ideas to make the place we live in be the best it can.

Chat to more people that you are yet to know. Get to know more people who live on your street. Make an effort to say hello to people who don’t look like you.

We’ve a commitment easel and membership forms so that people can sign up.

People will also have time to change their minds as we’ll have a follow on get together – ‘the after party’ to welcome new people in and agree who forms the core organising group, how we’ll meet, and the way we’ll make consensual decisions together.  We’re intending to move away from formal structures this year – with some jobs that need doing consistently like looking after the money.  The Chair, we’re going to change to a Convenor and we’ll roll that role around.  

It’s the first time we’ve tried this, and we’re not sure how it might work, but we noticed at the last AGM the seemed to attract people who liked meetings and given that this community wants more parties (out of which spring magnificent new creations) we are looking for the party people! And, if we really want to make a breakthrough change then we need to stop creating structures that mirror power structures that no longer serve us.

Look forward to sharing the insights and happenings from the day.