Month: June 2016

Levenshulme 50+ Inspired Peoples Project – Sharing Good Practice “Don’t Get Caught Short”

Please see details below  from the Levenshulme Inspired Peoples Project, about a fantastic local project, shaped and delivered by the Inspire Task Force (local older people who take a direct approach to tackling issues that affect local older people).

The “Don’t Get Caught Short” project was inspired by negative press publicity which highlighted the difficulty a visitor to Levenshulme experienced in obtaining access to a publically accessible toilet. The gentleman was in urgent need but was turned away from a number of shops who explained they were unable to help.

The Inspired Task Force responded by engaging with local business and services to highlight the importance of supporting members of the local community (their customers) and were able to negotiate with them encouraging many to provide access to their facilities.

This project / service has been widely publicised in a leaflet which has been distributed throughout the community. It highlights where facilities are available. Those businesses who are able to offer support have been provided with a window sticker. All businesses have been provided with copies of the leaflet – if they are unable to provide access to facilities, they can quickly refer someone to local services ensuring people don’t get caught short.

Opportunities will exist to replicate this scheme and support will be available through the Locality Networks to delivery similar projects in other neighbourhoods.

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Seating and Sense of Place Document – Amy Barron, The University of Manchester

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Introduction

The 21st century witnessed a momentous transition in modern urbanism with 2008 marking the year when more than 50% of the world population became urban.

Simultaneously, globally improving health, nutrition and medicine have resulted in population ageing significantly affecting contemporary conurbations.

The Age-friendly Manchester programme aims to improve the quality of life for older people in Manchester and make the city a better place to grow old.

In 2010, Manchester became the first UK city to join the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Network of age-friendly cities.

This membership recognised the work that had been happening in the city since 2002 as part of the Valuing Older People (VOP) programme.

Since 2005, work in Manchester has included an urban design element and in 2012, the Age-Friendly Manchester team established an Age-friendly Design Group.

This goes alongside partnerships with the Manchester School of Architecture and Manchester School of Art.

The WHO produced an Age-friendly City Guide, which has a focus on urban design, based on the model of an ideal city for older people.

It has a universal checklist of features that should produce an age-friendly environment. This guide highlighted public seating as a necessary age-friendly feature. Various academic and policy publications have since reinforced this observation, often with a focus on design.

Although crucial, this type of practical guidance carries an inherent risk in that a preoccupation with generating actionable results excludes the equally important, less obvious and more complex, relational dimensions amidst design, people and place (Handler, 2014).

Read the full report here:

Age-friendly Seating Report 04.10.2015

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Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People Living Our Lives

Living Our Lives are workshops and information sharing events for disabled people of all ages living in Manchester. They are an opportunity to find out more about different issues important to disabled people.

Living Our Lives workshops will be spread out through 2016 and early 2017, so let Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People (GMCDP) know what you want to find out about these can schedule it in later this year.

The first few sessions are:
Friday 17 June – Find out about us…
Come along and find out about GMCDP, what they offer, how disabled people are organising together and supporting each other work – and if there time, ideas for places to find useful information.

Wednesday 22 June – Making the Most of your Money
Find out about the different concessions available to disabled people.

Wednesday 6 July – Support with Employment
Find out about what support there is to find work, and also support to stay in work and make the workplace more accessible to you. Richard Neil McRobert from Breakthrough UK will be talking about the support Breakthrough offers to disabled people living in Manchester who are seeking employment.
The workshops are being held 2pm-4.30pm, in Unit 4 at the Windrush Millennium Centre, 70 Alexandra Road, Moss Side, M13 7WD.

For further information and to confirm your attendance, contact Linda, on 0161 636 7535, or email: lmarsh@gmcdp.com

Withington Road First Steps

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500 Fares a Day is the report of the Withington Road Bus Survey and presents the business case for a bus service on Withington Road.

You can read it here http://withingtonroad.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/500-fares-a-day.pdf

 

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A NEW BUS ROUTE THROUGH WHALLEY RANGE?

new bus route
Here is the route of the proposed 85A which we are aiming to get Stagecoach to trial. This is not a replacement for the 16 bus which has now stopped running. We are hoping for a half hour service that will:

Make it easier to get to Withington Road shops including St Margaret School, the medical centre, laundrette, dentists, Mosque and the fabulous Med Cafe.

Mean you can catch a bus from Withington Road to Chorlton, Hulme Asda, Oxford Road and the city centre.

And,

The traders will benefit through increased business and their staff can get to/from work more easily.

It will be easier to nip in for last minute shopping on the way home.

Increased passive surveillance by passengers queuing and travelling on the bus will mean a safer shopping environment.

Stagecoach are interested in the idea. They are supporting improvements to Withington Road and have donated £500. Plus, the bus stops are already there so no serious investment needed. But, they do need see that there is a demand.

If frequent buses along Withington Road would make your life easier then please complete this very quick survey so we can put a strong business case to Stagecoach and make it happen!

withingtonroad.org/bus

Volunteer needed:
Withington Road ShopWatch will be getting going during July for a 6 month trial. This will bring together traders/businesses, the police and local residents groups to make Withington Road shops and the surrounding area safer. We are looking for a volunteer to be the scheme coordinator.This will not be an onerous task, as the frequency of incidents is fairly low. It will be the first time our local shops have worked together in a common interest.

Ideally you will live locally, be a regular visitor to the shopping area and interested in getting this scheme up and running.

We’ll be using the Littoralis DISC system as used in the city centre. Littoralis are waiving their usual set up fee as they are keen to test out their system in a smaller shopping environment like ours and we have agreed they can use our experience as a case study..

The Withington Road Survey results pull no punches.

They demonstrate both a need and a desire for change. 239 people responded…
…over half volunteered to help deliver improvements!

There are over 1200 comments, gripes, suggestions and ideas. The results clearly identify what needs tackling and how they should be improved.

Read the results on the website: Survey

 

 

Tell us what you think about Withington Road Shops and you could win a prize
Take the survey at www.withingtonroad.org/survey
Withington Road First Steps is bringing together shoppers, traders, local residents and the council.
Our goal: – To make our local shopping area…
“a safe, attractive and thriving high street where people want to shop, work, live, access services, trade and come together.
You could win a meal for 2, a car valet or shopping vouchers…
So far around 150 people have given their thoughts and ideas. Everyone was impressed with the model made by Class 3J of St Mary’s Primary School.
Many people wanted to see better use of the wider pavement areas, with good quality and attractive seating and planting mentioned a lot. Removing street clutter (redundant signposts etc.) and taking care of existing planted areas would help.
By far the most expressed wish for shopping was for a decent bakery. Opticians, traditional fish and chips, independent greengrocers and a butchers were also in demand. The idea of regular street markets was popular with farmers, crafts and street food markets suggested.
A lot of people miss the No. 16 bus and a popular suggestion was to divert some No 85’s to become 85A’s.
There was lots of support for the Save Nello James campaign, matched by complaints about the state of the building and grounds.
There was a lot of concern about the difficulty of crossing the road at the northern end (towards Tescos)of the shopping area. Parking on the pavements, and on double yellow lines was a cause of annoyance. The pavement between Nello James Centre and May Road needs resurfacing and the hedge cutting back.
Better street cleaning, including along the side roads, and overflowing bins was a concern for many. The fly tipping hotspots were also identified a lot. There were also complaints about the back alley which exits on to May Road, the 2 short ginnels on the main shopping parade and Tesco’s waste facilities.
Anti-social behaviour, the drinking area and begging caused concern for some, and 2 people mentioned prostitution around Carlton Road.
Tell us what you think at www.withingtonroad.org/survey

jess nello first steps
Meeting: Tuesday 25th August

While it was the Whalley Rangers who applied for the First Steps Funding, it was the concerns and observations of local residents that resulted in our proposal being successful…

Withington Road First Steps is about getting residents, traders and shoppers talking about the Withington Road Shopping Area. Its about finding out what we like and hate, about our ideas and aspirations, and developing a shared vision for what this local centre could be.

Get involve in Withington Road Project

Start any discussion about Withington Road and invariably opinions are divided. Many dislike the area to the extent they will not use it. People often complain about street cleanliness, anti-social behaviour, business practises, the impact on local residential areas. This is the first time everyone will be asked to give their views with the aim of making Withington Road somewhere everyone feels welcome.

  • Business owners and traders will be asked about what affects them and their ideas for a better trading environment
  • Pupils from St. Mary Primary School have made a model of the street which you can use to flag the issues you think are important. Your ideas for making things better can also be identified and shared
  • And an online survey will collect the views from as many local residents, shop workers and shoppers as possible
Withington Road
Withington Road

 Visit the website at for more information: http://withingtonroad.org/

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/withingtonroad