je-blog

Liberty Business in Stortford up-date

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 20:32:25 +0100

I would like to invite YOU to Baroosh in Bishop's Stortford on 12 June 2013 to an event "Liberty Business In Stortford".

This is an event that I set-up and it is primarily to provide a great marketing opportunity and experience for small businesses.

All the stands sold out within days. The money raised will go towards professional marketing of the event. It is a non-profit event. Donations will go towards Herts Air Ambulance and our local police.

I may be Mayor in 2013/14 but the event will go ahead whether I am or not.

Further information:
From 11am to 3pm, Baroosh in Bishop's Stortford (37 mins away from London) will have over 30 small local businesses marketing, advertising, demonstrating, promoting and selling.

Visit our local small businesses in Baroosh - network, collect freebies, win a prize... Throughout the day, there will be special guest speakers, demonstrations and entertainment. Remember to enter our prize draw (prizes average c.£100), participate and walk away a Liberty visitor.

Would YOU like to bring something to the day? Let me know.
Sponsor part of the event
Provide items for the event e.g the bags for the goodie bags
Provide a prize
Showcase your business / provide a 10-15min presentation. A musical business will be showcasing their instruments at 12.30. Slots left for showcasing are 10.30am,11.30am, 1.30pm & 2.30pm

Bishops Stortford - #whereitallhappens

Janice
janiceelliott4stortford@gmail.com

www.janiceelliott.co.uk

Liberty Business in Stortford

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 22:15:54 +0100

"Liberty Business in Stortford" has been planned to take place on Wednesday 12 June 2013 at Baroosh, Bishop's Stortford between 11am&3pm. All the stands were booked within three days.

It is a non-profit event. Donations will go towards Herts Air Ambulance and our local police.

The event is to showcase small local businesses whilst providing them with an opportunity to advertise and market as well as network. A number of the stands will provide demonstrations throughout the day.

Would your business like to be part of the day? There is no charge for this although a small donation would be appreciated.

Sponsor part of the event - e.g. numbered balloons for the tables with your logo on one side
Provide items for the event - e.g. goodie bags with your logo on one side, pens...
Showcase your business - e.g. a musical business will be showcasing their instruments at 12.30

Slots left for showcasing are 10.30am, 11.30am, 1.30pm & 2.30pm

Looking forward to hearing from you - janiceelliott4stortford@gmail.com

Get Fighting Fit

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 21:42:53 +0100

Last week I saw another amazing local club in action. BOXFIT has been open in Bishops Stortford for just over a decade and provides opportunities for both men and women (juniors and seniors).

BOXFIT has invited me along to a session but unlike 'Back 2 Hockey' it appears I'll be watching not participating. I am somewhat relieved as 90mins of hockey resulted in a 'beetroot face'. I am however intrigued as to how well I'd box...

One of the amazing edges that BOXFIT has is that it cares about the community. BOXFIT ran a successful fund-raising event for one of our local projects. Funds were raised for 'Thirst Cafe', a vision for a centrally located venue for youngsters which is run by The Charis Centre. BOXFIT illustrated how organised and how dedicated the club is.

The Bishops Stortford Town Plan indicates that “activities for young people” is graded “most important” by 35% of respondents. I'd say - visit BOXFIT situated on The Hadham Road (Rugby Club).

Stansted Airport – Airside and staff areas

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 19:01:48 +0100

With the stop bar down, we were taken in a 4x4 along the runway at Stansted Airport. The runway was covered in black rubber which is regularly cleared with specialist machinery. This was an amazing experience a plane had landed in front of us and there were planes in the distance approaching the runway. We didn’t spot any FOD (foreign objects or debris) on our check.

Amongst the Ryanair planes we saw the new BAA cargo planes Boeing 747-8F. With a 30% reduction in noise and 16% lower emissions than the previous aircraft, these planes appear to have opened up export opportunities. So, one of the most energy efficient aircraft in the world is at Stansted airport. Stansted Airport is a forward thinking airport that invests in infrastructure for the here and now as well as the future. It is “ready for more traffic”. We also saw preparations for the paralympians leaving the UK, on the day after the closing ceremony.

The checks undertaken for staff are as vigilant as those for passengers and we were provided with fluorescent jackets .

The airport also caters for private planes and helicopters, and this appears to be a growing area. The airport is very well equipped to house and take great care of private aircraft.

With a c. 20% reduction in passengers over the last 5 years (from what I calculated), the subject of Air Passenger Duty appears to be a hot potato. Is it affecting the use of the airport? The MD, Nick Barton would say “yes”. Of course today, Nick Barton was exceptionally busy presumably concentrating on the sale of the airport that is currently owned by BAA. We were fortunate to be accompanied by Marcella M”Rabety and were later joined by Chris Wiggan.

Bishop's Stortford Police, their work & their gym project...

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 18:12:37 +0100

In September 2012 I spent 10hrs with the Bishop’s Stortford Police on their late shift. I was able to observe how the Bishop’s Stortford and Hertford intervention Teams responded to a sample of incidents throughout that shift.

During that time I experienced some nonsense and nastiness the public displayed towards our police. The police team were outstanding at dealing with what appears to be a regular aspect of the job. Personally, I was exceptionally well looked after and felt part of a co-ordinated team.

Throughout the shift I observed incidents including two arrests. I was able to gain an understanding as to how calls/incidents are handled from the beginning to the end.

In summary, I would like to praise the teams who carry out first class work together for the benefit of our residents and visitors to the town. I would also personally like to thank their Sergeant who explained the broader picture of how they operate and explained cases as they were unfolding including how they were prioritised. Thanks to the on-duty Sergeant and his teams, I was able to gain inside knowledge about our police force in addition to that I already have from working with our local well-known neighbourhood teams.

If anyone would like to assist the local police force with an in-house gym project, please let me know.

Stortford and Women

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 19:47:04 +0100

The 2012 statistics indicate that women are still reluctant to start a business but that doesn’t appear to be the case in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire. As larger businesses close, women are opening up high-street, on-line and home-based businesses that are diverse, encouraging local shopping and are visually pleasing.

Record percentages of the working population surveyed in the GEM UK Report 2011 indicated that they were running their own company or thought that they would start to do so within the next three years. Does Bishop’s Stortford have record breading percentages of female entrepreneurs?

Business growth is welcome and such business growth is interesting. Today I met Sophie Noble who is the proprietor of Traditions, a high street hairdresser. Tomorrow I am meeting Rebecca Callaghan of Rebecca Callaghan Photography, a new business c. 3mths old. Tomorrow evening I am attending the Dingwuddles launch party. Dingwuddles have offered 1,000 free videos clips on their website after I asked them to film our lovely town. The tweet on 12 June 2012 stating “@dingwuddles 'Help The High Street Campaign' coming to Bishops Stortford 1st!” was the start to an extraordinary journey. Last week they filmed our central under 12s play area on Sworders Field. This video can be viewed at: http://dingwuddles.com/listing-details/itemid/475/sworders-field-playground--bishops-stortford

Video of Sworders Field under 12s play area, Bishop's Stortford

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 19:27:20 +0100

http://dingwuddles.com/listing-details/itemid/475/sworders-field-playground--bishops-stortford

All the 4s' Sponsored Walk 2012

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 20:19:14 +0100

Mrs Christine Bonner, Mother of Cpl Darren Bonner who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2007, visited Bishops Stortford as part of her sponsored walk in aid of The Royal Anglian Regiment. I was very impressed with her resilience and willingness to seek some good out of such great misfortune. Christine was clearly delighted to meet her family at the end of the ninth day of her project, at The Bishop's Stortford Town Council offices. I greeted Christine and soldiers of The Royal Anglian Regiment along with our Mayor, the Beds and Herts Army Cadets Force, councillors and others. Bishop's Stortford raised in excess of £1,000 - more than takings from other towns on the route. Thank you to all those who donated. More about the 150mile, ten day walk through Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex on http://www.allthe4s.co.uk/

5 April 2012 Park Opening - press cuttings

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 19:46:48 +0100

Press cuttings from The Observer during the period of fund-raising

http://www.hertsandessexobserver.co.uk/Bishops-Stortford/50000-plan-to-give-Bishops-Stortford-play-area-a-facelift-30122011.htm

http://www.hertsandessexobserver.co.uk/Bishops-Stortford/Ice-cream-celebration-at-Sworders-Field-03042012.htm

http://www.hertsandessexobserver.co.uk/Health-and-Beauty/Health-News/Play-area-total-close-to-letting-the-games-begin-26012012.htm

5 April 2012 (park opening)

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 18:39:07 +0100

I received a cheque today from Viridor Credits for £6,000 for the Bishop's Stortford Play Area under the project "Childrens' Play Counts". It reminded me of the opening on 5 April 2012.

Here is a copy of the invite to the opening using "The Best of Bishop's Stortford"

http://t.co/wbZPopus