APPENDIX 4

“…the event was well attended, well received and we also had lovely weather which was a bonus! Visitors to the Heritage Open Days weekend had an enhanced and positive experience of Middleton Town Centre” Frances Fielding Economic Development Officer

Rochdale Council

Recipient: Middleton Town Team

Project: Middleton Grand Day Out

Fund: Projects Fund

Awarded: £600

Middleton Grand Day Out provided fun activities in the Town Centre on Saturday 13 September 2014 to coincide with the National Heritage Open Days Weekend/Golden Cluster activities. Middleton Town Team were approached by the Middleton Townscape Heritage Initiative to work in partnership over the weekend and came up with the idea of using a land train to take people on a guided tour of the town and visit some of the heritage buildings that form the Golden Cluster (Old Boar’s Head, Edgar Wood Arts & Crafts Church, The Old Grammar School and St Leonard’s Church). The land train was well received by the local community and travelled the route of Middleton Gardens, The Edgar Wood Arts & Craft Church, Middleton Arena and Middleton Gardens on a 20 minute loop. The rides were free and local actor Colin Meredith dressed as the character of Edgar Wood to tell stories on the train and provide a commentary on the history of Middleton. The event was an opportunity to bring visitors into the town centre with a variety of activities including a teenage market in Middleton Gardens, Merlin’s Magic Show, live

“Middleton Grand Day Out activities were monitored with clicker counters used to record user numbers. 331 people took a ride on the land train that ran from 11am to 4pm, 3 x trips per hour, 15 trips in total, average 22 people per trip. A total of 417 people visited the marque located at Middleton Arena” Frances Fielding Economic Development Officer

Rochdale Council

music performances, small children’s rides, bouncy castle, face painting and M24 Arts organised craft sessions and created a tree of hands. A vintage fire engine was located outside the Middleton Arena and a marque where children could dress up in Victorian clothes and participate in Victorian games. Middleton Grand Day Out was the highlight of last year’s Heritage Open Days weekend and successfully promoted heritage activities and attracted these visitors into the Town Centre and vice versa.

Recipient: Maxine Holden

Project: Talented Young Dancer – Mia Linnik Holden

Fund: Ward Fund and Projects Fund

Awarded: £500

Mia Linnik Holden is the current World Ballroom and Latin Juvenile Champion with her dance partner Elliot Blant-Harwood and the current UK National Champion. A grant was awarded to Mia to contribute towards the expenses associated with her competing on behalf of Team Great Britain at the WDC Dutch Championships in Assen and the WDC World Championships in Paris during November and December 2014. Mia and her partner Elliot competed in the under 14 and under 16 sections and made all finals in the under 14 section and semi finals in the under 16 section which was a fantastic achievement for their first junior competition aged just 12 and 11 years old. In addition to Mia representing Team Great Britain, she had the opportunity last year to appear on Strictly Come Dancing Children in Need Special alongside professional dancers Anton Du Beke and Natalie Lowe. Mia and Elliot danced a foxtrot and quickstep on the show as ‘Team Glitter’ and won the Pudsey glitter ball trophy, and they were proud to participate in a charitable event that raised £32,620,469 for Children in Need. As a young Middleton resident, Mia provides an excellent example to other children from her school and the local community of what can be achieved with focus and dedication. Mia has encouraged other pupils to take up the healthy activity of dance from witnessing her success and she has been nominated for the Rotary Club’s ‘Young Citizen of the Year Award’ that recognises and celebrates the achievements of Middleton’s young people.

“…to attend international competitions as this increases her skill level, exposure and enables her to compete against the best in the world representing Team Great Britain” Maxine Holden

(mother of Mia Linnik Holden)

Recipient: Youth Services, Rochdale Council

Project: Limefields Fun Day

Fund: Projects Fund

Awarded: £499

An afternoon of fun and music was held in Limefields Park, Middleton with activities including a mini assault course, climbing wall, rodeo bull, Link4Life sports games, wet sponge throwing, face painting and henna art. The mobile youth bus was available for young people to enjoy access to computers and consoles as well as receive advice from Early Break about the dangers of drug and alcohol use. Rochdale Council was encouraging young people to make the most of their summer holidays with the annual Safe4Summer campaign that provides information about a host of fun local diversionary activities to prevent antisocial behaviour and safety messages from the Police, Fire Service, the Council and other agencies. Young people and other members of the community received the chance to perform on a special Tower FM stage. A great opportunity for local young people to showcase their musical talents at a family friendly event to be enjoyed by the whole community.

“The talent of young people from Middleton was positively promoted. The event was a success due to the vast amount of support from the local community” Jill Amos Youth Worker

Rochdale Council

“It was a fantastic, well-attended event with the Gardens bustling throughout the day. It was great to see our community groups providing entertainment on the stage and we’ve had great feedback which has been terrific to hear” Ashleigh Franklin

Middleton Town Centre Management

Recipient: Middleton Town Centre Management

Project: Middleton Christmas Launch 2014

Fund: Events Fund

Awarded: £3,000

Middleton Christmas launch event begins the countdown to Christmas with social and economic benefits for the town centre with the event attracting many visitors and shoppers. Middleton Town Centre Management hosted the start of the weekend of activities on Saturday 15 November from noon with Revolution Radio entertaining the crowds with music and presenting numerous live acts to the stage including Middleton Band, Middleton Popstars, Glenda Ann School of Dance, Joey Matthews and Langley Theatre Workshop. Market stalls offered shoppers a wide selection of festive goods plus Christmas food and drink with complimentary mulled wine and hot vimto. The crowds were entertained throughout the afternoon with a fun fair, a magic show performance from Merlin the Magician and Santa made an appearance to hand out presents. At 6pm the Mayor of Rochdale with the local MP and Township Chair joined Santa and children’s favourite Iggle Piggle to switch on the Christmas lights from the stage on the Entertainment Circle in Middleton Gardens. The crowds were encouraged to sing a number of popular Christmas songs before they were treated to a spectacular fireworks display that brought the event to a close. A Reindeer Parade through Middleton Gardens and children’s fun fair continued the Christmas entertainment on Sunday 16 November. Santa was pulled on his sleigh from Middleton Shopping Centre to Middleton Gardens. Children had the opportunity to greet and be photographed with Santa and his reindeer. Middleton Christmas launch has been an annual family event for the past six years that has created a sense of community spirit and promoted Middleton Town Centre as a destination for leisure and recreation as well as shopping.

Recipient: Link4Life

Project: Middleton Holiday at Home 2014

Fund: Events Fund

Awarded: £15,000

Link4Life hosted a programme of activities aimed at children and young people during the summer holidays (from 23 July to 29 August 2014). The Middleton Holiday at Home was originally conceived by the Township Committee as a response to a lack of co-ordinated leisure opportunities for children and young people during the summer holidays and consequent problems of anti-social behaviour and nuisance. A successful programme of activities was delivered engaging many young people and groups/organisations within the Township during the summer of 2014 to build upon the success of the previous year. The programme was delivered in a number of Link4Life facilities and many community venues. With the support of local sports clubs and community organisations, the programme delivered exciting activities that young people may not have had the opportunity to try. Link4Life made in kind contributions in respect of officer time to oversee and develop the programme and all administration costs involved with the programme. A promotional brochure (see Appendix 4A) was produced to market the programme throughout the Middleton including 4,000 copies for general distribution to children and young people through local schools and other appropriate outlets, ie libraries, community centres and SureStart buildings. In addition, the brochure included Link4Life’s Go4it Summer Fun brochure, which gave details on all activities delivered by Link4Life. This brochure went out to every primary aged child in the Borough. Feedback from some of the providers extracted from the end of programme evaluation report is detailed in Appendix 4B. Middleton Holiday at Home made a significant contribution towards increasing sport, art, culture and leisure opportunities for children and young people during the summer holidays across the Township delivered by Link4Life and other providers.

“Middleton Holiday At Home makes a

significant contribution to the wider offer of summer holiday sports, cultural and arts activities for children and young people across the Township delivered by Link4Life

and other providers” Leigh-anne Carnall

Activities Programme Coordinator

Link4Life

“Notable highlights were the Community Tennis Camps which attracted over 270 more children compared to 2013 (396 children in total) as well as the Middleton Children’s Centres events, who achieved an 82% increase in attendance in comparison to the previous year. In addition, the Sunsport Wheelchair Festival has seen one participant, who is an essential wheelchair user, undertake a sporting qualification following on from the project and also became a support worker on the programme”

Leigh-anne Carnall, Activities Programme Coordinator

Link4Life

Recipient: Alkrington Community Association

Project: Alkrington Community Centre Extension

Fund: Ward Capital Fund

Awarded: £6,000

Alkrington Community Association aimed to improve the community centre’s facilities as the current building was restrictive concerning the number of people it can accommodate during dance nights and private functions, children’s/young adults dance sessions, etc. The centre can have up to 80 people attend their monthly dance events and this number can increase to 90 people at Christmas. The grant awarded contributed to the construction of an extension at the rear of the building that would create a conservatory type glazed structure that benefits from natural light. The main hall has been extended along its full length with an additional six feet to increase the capacity of the function space. New electrical and lighting points have been installed and existing radiators re-sited before the hall was redecorated to enhance the appearance of the venue. The centre has reported an increase in bookings and enquiries for use of the main hall and local families were able to attend the centre’s first Christmas party for many years. More dancers are able to take to the floor at the monthly dances and the numbers attending the weekly Monday evening sequence dance have increased from the mid 20’s to 46 dancers. This valued community facility will now be able to develop and attract other activities and groups to use the centre.

“…people seeing the extension completed have said how impressed they were and as a result we have had more bookings and enquiries for use of the main hall” Kevin Newton

Alkrington Community Association

“…young people and families were

signposted to sustainable exit routes for

these activities to give them the

opportunity for regular engagement”

Jonathan Hayhurst

Sports Programmes Co-ordinator,

Link4Life

Recipient: Link4Life

Project: The Big Games 2014

Fund: Projects Fund

Awarded: £1,025

The Big Games event held on Sunday 29 June 2014 at Middleton Arena provided exciting

and diverse activities for young people of all ages and abilities. More young people attended

this year’s Big Games than previous years as they were given the opportunity to engage in

new free activities such as Chameleon Adventure High Ropes Course, portable climbing wall

and a portable bike track. The most popular activity proved to be the High Ropes that

combined four different climbing activities – Jacob’s Ladder, Cargo Net, Crate Stack and

Leap of Faith. This equipment was guaranteed to keep the most adventurous entertained.

The event allowed the activity deliverers to signpost young people to weekly activities which

they offer within the Township and boroughwide. Taster sessions in a range of sports

including kayaking, football, squash and tennis were provided plus face painting and arts and

crafts were popular activities. Also a giant ‘gladiator style’ inflatable was installed in the large

pool with free swimming sessions.

Link4Life’s Big Games is a legacy project of the London

2012 Olympic games that promotes positive active

lifestyles and all registered participants received a

free goodie bag that included a water bottle and flyers

detailing further health initiatives targeted at children

and young people.