Are you looking to start a new business? Why not get free help and support from the Coleshill Hub in conjunction with the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce. Please contact the hub or Business Coach Rita Booth on 07799359659 for further information.
Training Courses held at Coleshill Town Hall on Tuesday evenings, get in touch with Charlotte on 07947139769 for more information.
Good News, So Far
To recap the project so far, CASPER stands for Coleshill Art Space Project Everyone Respects. It has a Delivery Group made up of Mayor, Councillor Tony Battle, in the Chair and representatives from the Town Council, Parish Church, a local artist, the Civic Society, the Coleshill School, Love Coleshill and the Coleshill Post.
The Delivery Group has agreed to work with Peter Walker, who is the Artist in Residence at Lichfield Cathedral. He specialises in sculpting in hard metal, such as bronze.
There is an agreed crowd funded amount that is for a corten steel and bronze sculpture of around 11 feet in total height. It will be unique to Coleshill and capturing 2-3 key themes of the town’s history and heritage. The Delivery Group has seen the sketched idea but are keeping it a secret. The Borough Council has an agreement for it to be sited for a £1 rent per annum at the former coin-operated toilet site. The plan is to remove the grill bars but retain the front wall, as it provides separation from the road.
There is going to be an unveiling on 22 September but the Delivery Group is to work with various organisations to turn the day into a CASPER Family Fun Day. This will be a co-ordinated day of activity with a number of organisations all helping:
Then the Appeal!
The statue itself is fully funded on a ‘collaborative’ arrangement. In other words, by working with the sculptor, we are getting it for less than normal cost. However, the Delivery Group and Peter Walker jointly filled out an application for further funding from the Arts Council that has been unsuccessful.
We now need to appeal to businesses, voluntary organisations and residents to help further. The Delivery Group is making a fresh appeal for some additional business sponsorship or donations. These are needed for:
Light show As part of the sculpture promotion, we want to project a show of Coleshill’s heritage onto the wall of the parish church, on the side nearest to the Croft. As the Arts Council bid application was unsuccessful, we need to fund it other ways if we want it as part of the 22 September events.
Carved wooden benches. Dan Green, local wood carver has agreed to part-subsidise this but we need to finance the other part!
Entertainment. For the Family Fun Day, we need to hire bouncy castles and other attractions or pay for agents who can provide them.
Under-lighting. This was also suggested for below the statue but that would need separate funding to be possible.
Heritage Tour Markers. More of this below, but we need individual sponsors for 12 bronze, brass or wooden historic interest markers to be fixed around a trail.
If you are able to help on any of these, any donations can be taken via the Town Council offices now and do not suffer any crowd funder fees. We are looking for small note donations from residents and something of a few hundred pounds from businesses. Contact Colin or Megan at the offices or phone 01655 463326.
Heritage Trail (“Green and Yellow Tours”)
There is a separate application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a Heritage Trail (“Green and Yellow Tours” with the colour combination based on the town crest and bus shelter colours). The decision on this HLF application is expected in mid-June but we have to assume this might not be successful as well. We are looking at ways the trails could be started without funds (e.g. brass pieces onto wooden posts or features that Tame Valley Wetlands might provide). This would be as a last resort and perhaps the cheaper markers could be replaced over time with better quality designs as money was raised.
As described above, the High Street site location for the main sculpture will have two (or possibly three) of the town’s preferred themes. The Delivery Group are keen on the idea of having guides in green and yellow attire, taking these Heritage Tourism Trail tours, with markers which depict other points of the town’s heritage. Therefore, there could be a small stagecoach wheel, teacup, elephant, Roman centurion, highwayman mask, etc. all dotted around a 2-mile circuit of the town. This is subject to landowners’ permissions.
Ideally a rota of 3-4 Green and Yellow Guides would be needed which might be in exchange for tips or a small fee. We already have some people offering to be tour guides. However, again, please get in touch with Colin or Megan as below if you know someone wanting to get involved as a tour guide on a voluntary or small fee basis. The idea would be that the tour detail would be provided to the guides in a file form, so you don’t need to know it all.
Colin Greatorex /Megan Davies 01675 463326
It was with great delight that Councillor Tony Battle visited the Woodlands School on Friday 18th May to present his cheque for the mayoral funds he’d raised during his year as Mayor of Coleshill Town Council.
The exciting news is that Cllr. Battle has also been re-elected as Mayor of Coleshill for a second term and is presently deciding which charity, or charities to support for his 2018-2019 term.
The visit to Woodlands added to the pupil’s excitement as they were spending the day celebrating and learning about the Royal Wedding, which happened on Saturday 19th. Many of the pupils and staff were dressed in red, white and blue, there were union flags up in and around the school and the Mayor was asked to join in the Wedding Quiz by using an interactive iPad. Unfortunately, he didn’t win, as some pupils knowledge of the royal family was really excellent, and thus exceeded the Mayors!
During the assembly the Mayor presented the Deputy Head Claire Cookson with a cheque for £2300, which has been specifically ear marked for a new and bigger bubble tube for the school Sensory Room and also an interactive area too, to enhance the pupils experience and enjoyment in this special facility.
The Mayor was very touched to be presented with a super silver dish engraved with the school’s thanks for dedicating his fundraising work to the benefit of this exceptional school.
The visit also incorporated a tour of the school, which the children loved as it gave many of them chance to meet Cllr. Battle and tell him all about their royal celebrations. The deputy head was keen to show off the items being produced on the school’s ‘Lazer Blazer’ cutter which can cut and engrave on any base material and is currently being used to produce items to be sold at the monthly Community Café & Honesty Shop, held at the Town Hall.
The pupils now have their own pop-up shop at this monthly café and shop to sell the items they make with the Lazer Blazer and also some furniture items that they restore and upcycle. This gives the pupils great experience not only in school learning these practical skills but in running their stall and interacting within the community and serving customers. This opportunity is soon to be expanded to support some pupils working in the kitchen to help prepare drinks and light refreshments for visitors, thus all working together in partnership with the volunteers who offer their time to run the shop and café.
It is wonderful that the Town Council and Woodlands School are working together in this way and local Father Hudson’s residents are now planning to join in soon and also have their own pop up stall to sell some of the items they make at their Day Centre, like soap and bath bombs thus raising awareness of their services and integrating their members into a more active role within the Coleshill Community. It is wonderful to bring all different aspects and skills and groups within this wonderful community of ours together, to build strong bonds between all partners and work in collaboration with all residents and people thus creating unity, acceptance and support for all.
PRESS RELEASE – TRAVELER ACCESS
The Town Council is aware that there are travellers located at Water Orton and Castle Bromwich and that some of these vehicles are on the move today.
Since the Improvements to Memorial Park project, we have a combination of tennis courts, bollards and barriers keeping vehicle movement to within the car park and away from the grassed areas. The cricket pitch is completely sealed off by barriers, trees and bollards. The outdoors staff have checked that the barrier near the leisure centre is locked and secure and I have inspected that all the other barriers are in good working order so the football pitches cannot be accessed by vehicles from any direction.
During today, we have, with councillor agreement, not closed the Park Road main entrance barrier. What we have done is to park a council van in the entrance such that only a small vehicle can pass alongside (i.e. no caravans, motorhomes very easily). We will await the closure of the nursery and the end of cricket practice this evening before the Park Road barrier can stay closed overnight.
We have a cricket matches this weekend on Saturday and Sunday and will liaise with users to have the barrier opened by day and closed at night.
With the movement of cricketers, footballers, nursery parents and shoppers, there are often more cars in the car park anyway now, making it less easy and attractive to manoeuvre and park caravans, etc. The additional security measures restrict movement to only within the car park.
While we take the traveller threat seriously, there is also a need to look after the growing number of legitimate users of the Memorial Park, which is why we are acting with the measures described.
Yours sincerely
Colin Greatorex
Town Clerk, Coleshill Town Council
