Inspire Festival Aug 2013

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Inspire Festival Newsletter August 2013 [pdf] which includes …

Well That Went Well, Shall We Do It Again?

I would certainly like to, although I need your help, as I will need lots of volunteers to make it happen …

How can you get involved?

I have opened a volunteer group on Facebook so we can all keep in touch. I will also start a volunteer mailing list to share information with volunteers who are not on Facebook.

I will also be arranging meetings for people to come along to.

Please join the volunteer group and/or send me a request to join the volunteer mailing list by emailing whatsonnorthwest@hotmail.co.uk.

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Help to Organise the Next Festival

Promotion and Distribution

I need a group of people to support me with the promotion of the festival and also to help distribute leaflets and posters. This will also include promoting important information.

Activity Organisers

Organise activities for the green space area

Workshops before the festival

Workshops before the day of the festival: I thought it would be a good idea if we had a group of activity organisers to provide workshops prior to the festival. These will include making things for the parade and making decorations to make the ambience of the festival extra special. This would also get the community involved and promote the festival, and raise a bit of money towards the running cost of the festival.

Fund Raisers

I need a group of people to help raise funds to cover the running cost of the next festival.

Website

I need someone to create and maintain a new website for next year’s festival.

Maybe there is something else you would rather do – these are only suggestions for now.

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Volunteers on the day of the festival

  • Welcome stand: Giving out information
  • Music & Bands room: Circulation of bands and informing people when the next band is on.
  • Live acts & guest speakers: Circulating participants and informing people when the next group/organisation is on
  • Workshops: Circulating participants and informing people whne the next group/organisation is on
  • Stands and Stalls: Supporting the stands and stalls. This includes helping them to set up, supporting them with their needs (i.e., covering their stalls so they can have a break or deliver a workshop, speech, etc.), and making sure they have what they need.
  • Activity Area: (This was the Enchanted Woodland area; a new theme will be discussed and decided on – suggestions are welcome.) Supporting the participants, including helping them to set up, supporting them with their needs (i.e., covering their stalls so they can have a break or deliver a workshop, speech, etc.), and making sure they have what they need.
  • Activity planners and deliverers: Planning activities and delivering them.

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The Aims Continue

The aims of the festival will continue …

How will this happen?

  • Newsletters: I will be writing monthly newsletters, and encouraging groups and organisations to send me details to feature in the newsletters.
  • Meetings: I will be arranging meetings and a community get together – please see below
  • Promotion: I will continue to promote your groups and organisations through the Glossop Community Group and the What’s On North West group.

These groups are community groups for you to use. Please feel free to post, share, and promote your groups, organisations, and community information there.

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Further Promotion for all the participants

I would like to promote all the participants of the festival in the next newsletter, so please send me brief details and/or post on Inspire Festival’s facebook page.

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The aims and what the festival wishes to inspire

Aims

  • To promote community connections and prevent isolation.
  • To enable groups and organisations which benefit the community and individuals to promote themselves and the services that they provide.
  • To provide a diverse range of activities and entertainment.
  • To provide a fun, engaging, and positive atmosphere.

To Inspire

  • Arts
  • Peace
  • Culture
  • Equality
  • Diversity
  • Wellbeing
  • Fair Trade
  • Sustainability
  • Animal Rights
  • Human Rights
  • Local Community
  • Local Shops and Traders
  • Green and Environmental
  • Positivity and Compassion
  • Protecting the NHS and Public Sector

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Community Get Together

  • Do you run a group or organisation? Would you like to promote it?
  • Would you like to make community connections?
  • Would you like to find out about what is available in your community?
  • Would you like to share your points of view and ideas?

If you are interested in any of the above, please come along to our Community Get Together. The aim is to bring together groups, organisations, and members of the public who are interested in the community, in order to provide an opportunity for the groups to promote what they do.

Groups will be given a 10-minute slot. There are 8 slots (at time of writing!), which are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Priority will be given to groups and organisations which benefit the community.

Once the groups have finished their talks, there will be an opportunity for everyone (including members of the public) to ask questions, make suggestions, share view points, and discuss our community.

The first half of the meeting will last one hour and twenty minutes; it is for the community groups and organisations to talk about what they do. The rest of the time is set aside to allow members of the public to ask groups questions, make suggestions, and share viewpoints and ideas.

Book a place by emailing Nicola at WhatsOnNorthwest@hotmail.co.uk.

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Glossop Community Group

This group enables people to post groups, meetups, events, and information.

This group promotes positive community connections by bringing togetheter like-minded people who share the interests and values listed below:

Community groups Diversity & equality
Events and meetups Hobbies and interests
Health and well-being Compassion and positivity
Supporting the NHS Mindfulness
Arts Peace
Culture Grassroots
Projects/campaign groups Preventing Isolation
Charities Local shops
Human rights Fair trade
Green/environmental Sustainability
Animal rights Local pubs

Please join the mailing list to receive updates and newsletters. If you would like something to appear in one of the newsletters, please email the details to: whatsonnorthwest@hotmail.co.uk.

Find us on facebook!

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Summary of the Inspire Festival

I feel the festival went really well for the first year.

I am particularly pleased about:

  • The connections and links that have been formed. I aim to maintain and develop these links – to prevent isolation and also to enable people to find out about what is available within the community.
  • Everyone involved created an amazing ambience and an enjoyable atmosphere which was diverse so that everyone was able to enjoy it.
  • I feel the non-commercial side of the event was a success and allowed for a more community feel to the day.
  • Money and awareness was raised for good causes.
  • Bringing the community together.

Where I need to improve:

  • The volunteers on the day were fantastic, but there were not enough of us. I need to ensure I have a group of volunteers to organise the next festival and also support on the day. I also need to make sure that I have people to do a specific job, as I feel my lack of direction hindered the volunteers who kindly supported the festival on the day.
  • I also need volunteers to help organise the festival, as I feel that with more people involved, I could have done things more effectively and the end result would be more diverse.
  • I feel a microphone is needed to announce the next sessions.
  • I need to make a back up plan for the next parade, as the band that I was going to use to accompany the parade didn’t come, and with me being so busy I only noticed when the parade was due to set off. I think a great idea for next time would be to get everyone involved in doing a rhythm on instruments. Again, more volunteers would be beneficial for this.
  • Ensuring groups turn up – there were a few groups that didn’t turn up. I am not sure of the best way to prevent this problem, and would welcome your thoughts and suggestions regarding this issue. (Please note: I am not talking about the groups that let me know they couldn’t attend and cancelled for reasons that could not be prevented.)
  • A list of what’s happening at what time to be put up outside the rooms.
  • Have stands and stalls arrive and set up by 12, but only start the other activities/sessions at 1pm to give people the chance to arrive.
  • State that most stalls will be leaving around 4:30 – 5pm but that there are still things available.

It will be easier next time. Why?

  • I have had some experience and developed some new skills from doing the first one.
  • Many valuable connections have been made. Let’s hope word of mouth spreads and enables us to develop more connections.
  • Legal requirements and paperwork – a lot of my time was consumed by researching and ensuring that all legal requirements were complete to the best standards. These documents are now in place and can now be improved by new experiences.
  • Being the second festival, I can learn from the mistakes and make improvements.
  • Having a team of volunteers to help out.
  • There is still some money left from this year’s funding, so we won’t need to raise as much.
  • We will have more time to arrange it.

Thank you, Everyone!

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