Author: Helen

From BWF Chair – Soph Newton:

WOW! What an amazing turn out at Shake Up part Two!

Over 90 people registered and we lost count of exactly how many were there after we got to 70; a fantastic response from our two towns!

The room was alive with energy and an urge to move forward and help the BWF Board keep improving Bowness and Windermere for the benefit of everyone! Thank you so much for coming. Here’s just some of the feedback we received:

“10 out of 10” 
“inspiring”
“Gosh our towns are amazing”
“I had no idea so much was going on”
“So pleased I came”
“What a great night!”
“The energy and the buzz in the room, you could just feel everyone is willing things to happen” 

Now for some action

Many of you signed up for the newsletter, which was Call to Action No. 1. Next, I need you to help create a stronger and wider range of private sector businesses on the BWF Board. By committing to our quarterly meetings you will be helping drive this place forward.  Yep, your attendance is needed just FOUR times a year and we keep meetings to a maximum of 2 hours. Email BWF’s Project Co-ordinator Helen to register your interest via helen@bwforward.org.uk.

You can now expect updates each quarter by newsletter, which will highlight progress on our BWF Key Priorities

– Sustainable Transport
– Public Realm
– Visitor Economy
– Event Facilitators 

We will also use the newsletter to share updates from our Board Members such as the upcoming Community Day on 29th March at Millerground, and many many more! Our first one will be with you shortly. In between times you can always contact us or check out our FaceBook page.

As I mentioned at Shake Up 2 (more than once) the Board can’t do this without your help. If we pull together we can make change happen. Already last night, the sculpture trail gang got chatting to National Trust and SLDC – all are excited about what they can do together! And Windermere Lake Cruises ran out of their Locals Discount cards as so many of you signed up! Small steps yes, but that was just one night!

Once our team is strengthened we can do so much more, ultimately we will need investment and more funding but we can’t begin to ask unless we have a full Board of enthusiastic, hard working people like you!

Another big thanks to Boaters Bar for providing such a lovely venue and great service and to Farraday’s for their yummy crisps and chutneys. Special thanks too to our fabulous Board Members who provided info stalls and some very amusing overviews of their key 2020 projects!

‘You Shook and We Listened’

As we approach the end of 2019 we think January is a good time to bring you up to date on BWF progress at a second ‘Shake UP’ event.

We were delighted to see so many local businesses come together to Shake Up Bowness and Windermere last March. You shared incredible enthusiasm, knowledge and ideas about how Bowness and Windermere Forward can help our lovely towns do, be and look better!

New Chair Soph Newton of Flock, together with BWF’s dedicated Project Co-ordinator who is back from Maternity Leave, is ready to share Bowness and Windermere Forward’s 2020 Action Plan with the local community.

In addition to hearing from the Chair there will be the opportunity to browse the stalls of our brilliant board members. Find out about the key projects set to benefit Bowness and Windermere in 2020 including Orrest Head, Windermere Gateway and The Sculpture Trail.

HUGE thanks to all the lovely folk who volunteered their time this weekend to welcome visitors to Windermere and Bowness at Windermere Train Station!

It was great to see how much the volunteer’s smiles and local information was appreciated by visitors from all over the world.

We learnt a lot and look forward to organising the next event and a rota for busier times of the year.

Thanks to the Lake District National Park Authority all regular volunteers will have access to many great local discounts and perks 🙂

Email helen@bwforward.org.uk to join us!

 Bowness and Windermere Forward, together with LDNPA, are seeking volunteers to welcome visitors at Windermere Train Station.

A number of hour long ‘shifts’ are available on the 18th, 20th and 21st. Volunteers will provide maps to visitors, direct them to the TIC and encourage them to explore Windermere before heading to Bowness.

HUGE thanks to all the volunteers who have signed up so far!

The lovely Erika from AWAZ  is hosting a practical session in Windermere to explore how people can be brought together to develop a joint community integration plan for the area.

 Join Erika and her team on the 11th of October to help make a positive difference in Bowness and Windermere.

And just in case you haven’t heard of AWAZ…. AWAZ is the first ever county wide BME organisation in Cumbria that aims to create strong and vibrant BME communities, fully engaged in the decisions which affect their growth and development. Awaz means ‘VOICE’ in several European, Middle Eastern and Asian languages.

Bowness & Windermere Forward are looking forward to being part of this event at the Marchesi Centre in Windermere on the 28th of September from 10am to 3pm!

Join us to enjoy free samples and find out about the many local opportunities to connect and get active.

We’ll be promoting B&W’s Forward volunteering opportunities, public realm projects and talking to all about the improvement we want to see in the community.

Since their start in April, locals and visitors alike have been enjoying the various markets held on the Glebe, in Bowness. Visitor numbers have been in excess of 5000 at the Sunday Glebe market featuring Prom Art and around 1000 at the Farmers’ market.

The markets are attracting around 60 stalls from the surrounding area, giving visitors a great choice of local produce, as well as allowing Bowness to offer something a bit different on market days.

The markets’ success has been featured in the local media, of which full write ups can be found below:

First Bowness market was a great success – The Westmorland Gazette

Bowness Market success calls for extra dates – Cumbria Crack

The first ‘Shake Up’ Bowness and Windermere event was a great success with over 40 businesses joining us at The Lamplighter in Windermere to share ideas and help shape the future of the area.

Read the full article here:

https://www.cumbriacrack.com/2019/04/04/bowness-windermere-businesses-support-a-shake-up-for-the-towns/

Bowness and Windermere Forward will harness the positivity shared by all to inform future projects, developments and actions!

Join us at Bowness & Windermere Forward first business event on the 28th of March!

We look forward to hearing your ideas about ‘Shaking Up’ Bowness and Windermere for the benefit of local businesses, communities and visitors!

See full event details here.

Bowness & Windermere Forward are proud to present the following events at The Glebe Tennis Courts beginning in late March.

Huge thanks to all our partners for supporting this venture which looks set to create a new offer for Bowness residents and visitors.

Download full details here.