Ashton-in-Makerfield Community Forum

25/11/06. A consultation process is under way at Ashton Library regarding the proposed improvements to Jubilee Park. A Bryn ward councillor is reported to be continuing to solicit opposition to the Council's plans to extend the sports facilities in the park to include a multi-sports area, including a skatepark.

24/09/06. Jan Johnson, Extreme Sports Co-ordinator at Wigan MBC, is seeking public views on skate facilities in three Wigan parks. She is in attendance at Jubilee Park today between 13.30 and 14.30. Efforts to achieve a skatepark in Ashton have been running for several years, despite opposition from several local ward councillors.

30/07/06. Stubshaw Cross Residents Group in conjunction with the Strongtower project are again organising youth activities in Stubshaw Cross Park this summer. Aided by Paul Fenton, the residents' group are putting on a programme of activities on August 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 8th, 9th and 10th, between 13.00 and 15.00. This is the third year in succession that the residents' group has arranged events to involve young people during the summer.

14/06/06. Along with other changes, Wigan Council has integrated three youth departments into a single Children and Young Peoples Services (CYPS) Department. Wigan Education Department, Children's Social Services, and Positive Futures (The Connexions Service, Education Business Partnership, Youth Service and Education Welfare Service) have been combined, and serve all young people from 0 to 19. The priorities for the department and its principal partners are set out in the Children and Young People’s Plan 2006-2009 for Wigan Borough.

11/04/06. The youth group meeting three times weekly at Jubilee Park pavilion are taking on challenges outside the town. With the support of youth workers from Positive Futures, the group has hiked to the top of Rivington Pike, and is now planning a strenuous walk in Cumbria. They aim to raise funds for a residential team-building course this summer.

02/03/06. Chris Rigby, an Ashton student at Winstanley College, visited No. 10 Downing Street to meet PM Tony Blair after gaining an award for an essay on politics. A member of the Labour Party, 17 year old Chris won the national award in a competition organised by the House of Commons, and intends to follow a political career.

26/09/05. The charity event at the Presidential succeeded in raising £670 and the organisers, Hangman Records, plan to run a similar event on the last Friday in November.

16/09/05. Under an initiative sponsored by the Community Safety Group Wigan Athletic's "Football in the Community" is currently running football coaching sessions in Jubilee Parks every Thursday evening from 6.00pm to 8.00pm until 29th September. There is no charge, and no booking is required, but a parental consent form must be completed for under-16's.

14/09/05. A charity event called simply 'The Gig' will take place starting at 12:30 hrs on Sunday 25th September at The Presidential American Bar in Ashton.
10 top bands are scheduled to appear, including Toxic Lemon, Former Babies, Testosterone, Bingowings, The Randoms, The Ultras, The Hicks, Supamodel, and Riff Raff.
As well as the bands, there will be a free buffet, an open-mic slot for budding musicians to jam, and prize giveaways donated by local businesses including an acoustic guitar signed by all the bands performing. The entry fee is £3.00, with all proceeds going to male testicular cancer charity, Everyman. Enquiries to Ian Graham.

06/09/05. Despite a nasty campaign run by the Community Action Party to smear local young people as 'political stooges' Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust has approved the plans to seek funding for a skatepark in Jubilee Park. The project is intended as one element of a new initiative throughout the borough to "Get Wigan Active" - encouraging residents to participate in physical activity to improve health and fitness. The young people running the BTT website are to be congratulated on their successful campaign.

01/09/05. Responding to requests from young people, Wigan Council for Voluntary Youth Service is working with Wigan Pier Theatre Company to facilitate a thirteen-week project. Working with trained professionals, young people will have the opportunity to gain new skills and take part in a performance. The project begins on Thursday, 8th September at Penson Street from 17.30 to 19.00 and is aimed at young people aged 10 to 15. If this pilot is successful then the project will be extended to younger children. Contact Kelly on 825750 to book a free place.

20/08/05. In a message on the www.ballstotennis.tk website, Councillor Claire Daington threatens that if the young people do not give up their fight for the skatepark in Jubilee Park, CAP councillors will spend the £5,000 dedicated by Labour ex-councillor Nigel Ash elsewhere.

19/08/05. Tennis-mad CAP councillor Don Hodgkinson has offered Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust an interest-free loan for a £7,000 refurbishment of abandoned tennis courts in Jubilee Park. His aim is to create a junior tennis club in the town, but the Trust has turned down the offer in order to provide equitable options for leisure activities in the park.

19/08/05. Following revelations about his alleged spoof posting on www.ballstotennis.tk, Leader of the Community Action Party Peter Franzen is threatening to report the moderator of this website and the young people operating the Balls To Tennis website to the police. It has been made clear to the press that the Balls To Tennis website is completely independent of this or associated websites. Whether Councillor Franzen wishes to prosecute Ashton teenagers remains to be seen.

14/08/05. 'Community Action' Party councillors, upset by Ashton young people's independent thinking, are branding them as New Labour Fraudsters.

10/08/05. Local young people - frustrated by the attempts of CAP councillors to oppose skatepark facilities in Ashton's Jubilee Park - have started a campaigning website called Balls to Tennis.

28/06/05. Despite opposition from all six local Community Action Party councillors and Ashton Central Community Association, plans for a skatepark in Jubilee Park are finally to be submitted to Wigan MBC by Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust.

01/04/05. CAP councillors are subsidising tennis lessons in Jubilee Park to enhance use of the tennis courts.

03/06/04. Young people attended a meeting of the Ashton & Bryn Township Forum Skatepark Group to discuss the design of the proposed skatepark and how best to liaise with local residents.

10/05/04. At the Annual General Meeting of Captain's Lane Youth and Community Centre the Management Committee agreed to participate in securing a skatepark for the town.

08/03/04. Ken Barston presented a report to the Ashton and Bryn Township Forum on the proposed satellite skatepark and said that Jubilee Park was the preferred location following work by the Youth Service and surveys of local residents carried out by the young people. The meeting agreed to support this by seven votes to four. Labour Councillor Nigel Ash said that he had asked for £5,000 to be retained in his Brighter Boroughs budget to support the project. Captain's Lane Youth and Community Centre would be asked to be the lead agency in securing grant funding for the skatepark.

15/12/03. Jan Johnson, Extreme Sports Co-ordinator, was invited to a meeting of the Ashton and Bryn Township Forum to discuss the proposal for a skateboarding facility in Alexander Park. Alternative sites - King George V Playing Fields, Bryn Rec and Captain's Lane Centre - were proposed, and she agreed to examine all these sites and report back.

Community Forum Reports

January 2004. Further youth activities have been arranged at Captain's Lane Youth and Community Centre under the auspices of Kate Holland and Leena Ray.

June 2003. A youth group had received permission to use the pavilion in Jubilee Park on Wednesday afternoons as part of Positive Futures.

March 2003. J Sudworth reported on a joint project between Captain's Lane Centre and local youth to improve the area of land behind the Centre adjacent to Captain's Lane footpath.

13/12/01 Young people from Ashton met members of the Youth Service, Councillor Millington and a representative from Captain's Lane Centre at Ashton Town Hall to discuss youth issues. Chaired by Laura Stokes, the meeting discussed youth needs, and agreed to pursue the provision of a wheelie bin, possible siting of a shelter and seating on the Captain's Lane site, and youth representation on Captain's Lane Management Committee. It was agreed that a further meeting would be held in the New Year to determine progress.

September 2001. PC Atherton has arranged a disco for local young people to be held on 26th October at the NUPRO.

June 2001. Wigan Youth Service have produced a leaflet outlining summer activities for Ashton youngs people. Events are open to all young people of 11 and over (parental consent form needed), and cost is only 50p including food. Further information from Jean on 776019.
Activities last from 19.00 to 21.00, and include a barbeque. Venues are as follows:

31st July	Jubilee Park
7th August	Ashton Market
14th August	Stubshaw Cross Park
21st August	Bamfurlong

June 2000. Ashton youngsters will be singing and dancing in Jubilee Park at a music event to be held on Friday July 7th from 18.30 to 20.30. For further details, contact Sharon Saunders from Wigan Youth Service on 828829.

February 2000. Detached youth workers are operating from Captain's Lane Community Centre on three evenings a week, and a youth project is due to start in April.

November 1999. The Chair reported that Captain's Lane Youth and Community Centre continued in operation with the Ashton Early Years Playgroup, youth band rehearsals and football. The youth activities programme funded by the National Lottery Charities Board Grant had come to an end with the completion of the Grant, and discussions were taking place regarding future use by local groups, organisations and departments of the Wigan MBC.

April 1999. Plans are being developed for a Millennium Snapshot competition, in which pupils from local schools would be invited to submit photographs of the town for judging. Jack Sudworth was co-ordinating the project, and a grant application was in hand.

October 1998. PC Harmer attended a Youth Link Representative Training Day, promoting the work of youth forums and a co-ordinated approach to youth work in Ashton.

August 1998. The Group heard details of the summer project carried out at Captain's Lane Youth and Community Centre involving local youngsters.

July 1998. Some 70 young people took part in a Youth Activity Week at the Three Sisters site. The event was supported by the local police.

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