People in Bolton can now come together as part of a new community alliances to make a difference to the place they live in.
The Community Alliance in each area of Bolton, formerly replaces area forums, where people would gather to talk about the issues in their areas and find resolutions to problems such as litter and sustainability.
The alliance programme is designed to put residents, businesses and charities at the forefront of these issues and gives them a chance to make their town a better place.
The first meeting for Bradshaw, Hall i'th 'Wood & Harwood will take place tonight (Tuesday, January 16) at 5pm at Greenway Hall i'th' Wood.
The meeting will be a chance to network with organisations and people in the areas who can help towards doing something to help the community, such as a litter pick, or a tree planting orchard.
The Halliwell Community Alliance launch meeting took place last week.
Cllr Rabiya Jiva who represents the Halliwell ward, said: "We're very excited to see our new community alliance come together here in Halliwell.
“This has a great potential to be a new and innovative way of bringing people from all over the ward together to help decide what our community needs and hope we can go about meeting those needs.
“I would encourage everyone to follow what we do, see what your community alliance can do for you and think about what you think your area needs. I'm sure we'll see great things very soon."
At a launch meeting at the All Souls Church, people volunteered to litter pick at the end of the month.
The week of action will take place from January 22 till January 28 where schools, groups and organisations, residents and places of worship can still sign up to take part in the ward wide clean-up.
Gwyneth Bailey is part of the group and runs the social media.
She said after the first meeting: “What a wonderful turn out at All Souls tonight, with a lot of organisations signing up to support our Week of Action and a ward wide litter pick at the end of this month.
“A great response from the schools and other organisations, individuals too.... I'm a little overwhelmed and very grateful to all who contributed.
“Lots of learning too with great ideas from participants. I just hope we can capture it all. Notes and an action plan will follow.”
The alliance has also announced a repair café where people can take along anything that can be carried and repaired, at St Andrews on Hope Street.
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The project is being rolled out in a phased approach starting in Bradshaw, Halliwell, Horwich South and Blackrod, Kearsley, Rumworth, Smithills and Tonge with the Haulgh.
Each area has its own area co-ordinator that is on hand with advice, support and guidance on connecting with new people and learning how to be self-sufficient.
Follow the group on Facebook to keep up to date.
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