GOOD NEWS - 22nd December

Fleetwood will be in the news in the New Year as the BBC came to Town last weekend to interview members of the community. The topic was how cost of living challenges are impacting health and wellbeing and in particular, the opportunities for children to enjoy sports and fitness activities as swimming pools and facilities across the UK face reduced footfall and income. Among those interviewed was Adam Diver, a local resident, social prescribing link worker and one of those involved in the successful campaign to reopen Fleetwood's pool following the pandemic. He spoke about how swimming and exercise have huge benefits to everyone's physical and mental health. The feature is expected to be aired in the New Year - we'll share the details soon.

And a reminder of the FREE swimming offer at YMCA Fleetwood for FY7 resident children, supported by Fleetwood Town Council. > See the Fleetwood Town Council website for information and to sign up for the offer

Fleetwood gym, Maxi Fitness, is supporting Armed Forces Veterans' wellbeing with an offer on membership for the New Year.

There's a free 3-day trial pass then after you have enjoyed the great facilities and classes veterans can get a longer membership at a special discounted rate. Call into Maxi Fitness on Lofthouse Way, by Fishermans' Walk tram stop to find out more or you can contact Maxine at the gym through the Facebook page here.

We'll be sharing more information on local gym memberships and fitness classes in the New Year editions of the GOOD NEWS.

Health & Wellbeing is one of the themes of the Fleetwood Regeneration Framework document now available to read and comment on. The proposals within will help shape the Town for the next 20 years and residents' views and suggestions are absolutely crucial to the planning and delivery.

The document says, "Healthier Fleetwood’s work directly aligns with the framework's objectives to ‘Make Fleetwood a healthy, sustainable town’ and also ‘Ensuring local input and influence'. In developing the regeneration framework the town must further support Healthier Fleetwood and learn from its community capacity-building approach."

That means continuing to listen to residents about what's important to them, providing an independent forum for residents' suggestions and encouraging them to become realities in the Fleetwood community. If you have an idea you want to share ... our monthly Open Meetings resume in February 2023, you can call in to our Wellbeing & Community Information Centre at Affinity Lancashire or come and say hello at any of our drop-in events. We look forward to supporting the outcomes of the consultation and helping residents to play their part in Future Fleetwood. Please do take a look at the Fleetwood Regeneration Framework, it's online at www.wyre.gov.uk/future-fleetwood-partnership-board and email your comments to regeneration@wyre.gov.uk by Sunday 1 January 2023.

Although the Christmas & New Year holidays will affect some of the opening times, the Fleetwood Warm Spaces are now welcoming visitors. Look out for the red house and heart logo around the Town, pick up a leaflet from venues including the Library, Market and GP surgeries and the list of Warm Spaces is also available to see online on the Healthier Fleetwood website here.

There have been some fantastic community-led appeals and support campaigns over the last few weeks - winter warmth packs, gift parcels and food hampers have been distributed directly to families and individuals and through the schools.

Among these are ... the duvets and warm clothing supplied by Fleetwood Town Council. Cheryl Raynor, chair of the Council dropped off this batch with Deputy-Head of St Wulstan's & St Edmund's school, Jess Storton. The packs will be passed on to families referred by the schools.

Staff and students from Fleetwood Town Community Trust delivered over 150 food hampers to local residents, dropping off at locations around Fleetwood including Westview Community Association, Salvation Army, the Children & Family Wellbeing Services centre and The Pantry.

Thank you to everyone who has donated and volunteered at this time of year. Places are still available at the FREE Christmas Day Dinner hosted by residents and for residents. Offers to volunteer on the day are also greatly appreciated. Further details can be found on the Facebook page here or call Heather on 07958 558135.

If you need some help over the holidays or the winter months, do you know your emergency numbers and are you prepared for severe weather?

There are lots of steps you can take to prepare yourself for winter. From checking your flood risk to getting your flu jab, to knowing who to call in a power cut - Wyre Council has put together some handy information for local residents. > Visit the Wyre Council website here.

Have you been following our online Advent Calendar, thanking individuals and groups in the community? This week we have featured among others, three terrific resident-led groups: Fleetwood Autism Buddies, S.P.A. Fleetwood and Wyre & Fylde Community Defibrillators Fundraising. We also acknowledged the work of the local churches and took the opportunity to thank our chair of residents Pauline Kennedy for her amazing contribution. > See the full Advent Calendar on the NEWS pages of our website here.

Our Information Centre at Affinity is closed now for much of the holidays. The Centre will be open 11am - 3pm on Friday 30th December, closing for the New Year's weekend then resuming our usual opening hours from Tuesday 3rd January. We'll be keeping an eye on our social media and email throughout if you need to contact us during the break.

Our thanks again to the management and staff at Affinity Lancashire for all their support over the last year and since we opened our original unit in April 2021. The Information Centre literally gives us a shop window to share the great opportunities in the community and a base to meet local residents and partner organisations. We anticipate continuing to work alongside Affinity for the early part of 2023 ahead of joining the community hub at Fleetwood Hospital later in the year. > See the Affinity Lancashire website for all their latest news There's no bulletin next week (29th December) so the GOOD NEWS will return for 2023, on Thursday 5th January. Until the next time ... take care and we hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.

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