Home Location Partners Services News Action Plan


    £1,000 up for grabs for new starters

    Prizemoney of £1,000 is on offer for new and start-up businesses in west Wiltshire.

    A competition has been launched by the West Wiltshire Economic Partnership in association with Business Link Berkshire and Wiltshire and member chambers of the Wessex Association of Chambers of Commerce.

    New businesses and those starting up in Bradford on Avon, Melksham, Trowbridge, Westbury or Warminster can enter the competition for a chance to win, with a second place prize of £500. The winner and runner up will both receive a business start up package from Business Link Berkshire and Wiltshire and free membership of their town chamber of commerce for a year.

    Entry forms are available from libraries and Liz England on 01225 355553.

    Judging is under way in north Wiltshire to find the winners of a similar competition. Heats are being judged in Chippenham, May 12; Wootton Bassett, May 17; Corsham, May 23; Malmesbury, May 26 and Calne, June 13 with the winner from each town going forward to compete for the top spot of overall winner to be judged on June 20.

    Heat winners will receive £1,000 and the overall winner will receive a further £1,000.

    The prizes will be presented by the Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, John Bush, at a business breakfast at Lackham College on July 1. Last year the north Wiltshire competition was won by Carol Affleck and Colin Major, of 1st Choice Stairlifts, based in Calne. They, and other heat winners, received £2,000 and an additional £2,000 as overall winners.

    A special prize of a laptop was presented to Alex Maggs for her Malmesbury-based business Sticky Fingers Mobile Children’s Cookery School.

    Stars lined up for Show

    This year’s West Wilts Show promises to be the best yet, with a busy programme of entertainers and celebrity guests over the three days.

    The Show is being held in Trowbridge Park and the Civic Hall on July 28, 29 and 30 and a special preview event has been held to highlight the programme agreed to date.

    Major General The Duke of Westminster will be officially opening the Show on July 28 as part of his role as assistant chief of defence staff (reserves and cadets). His Grace will be spending much of the day in Trowbridge, as guest of the Wessex Reserve Forces.

    Former defence secretary Lord King of Bridgwater will be the guest on Friday, when he will speak at the business breakfast before touring the Show.

    Midge Ure, famous for fronting 1980s band Ultravox and being one of the driving forces behind Band Aid, will be performing at the Show on Friday evening. The star, who lives in west Wiltshire, will be supported by pop choir En Masse and singer Ben Gunstone.

    Seventies glam rock act The Sweet – who topped the charts with tracks such as Ballroom Blitz and Blockbuster – will be appearing at the Civic Hall on Saturday night, supported by comedian Greg Suggitt and Beatles’ tribute band Sgt Pepper.

    Other features of this summer’s Show include the Ultimate Tribute to Bryan Adams on Thursday night, a range of local bands performing on the main stage, and the annual Rotary Club of Trowbridge art exhibition in the Civic Hall over the three days.

    Awards scheme grants £6,000

    Connexions Wiltshire and Swindon is providing further funding for a successful project that brings unemployed young people into contact with employers.

    Connexions has given the North and West Wiltshire Lifelong Learning Partnership (N&WWLLP) £6,000 as part of its voluntary awards scheme, which recognises the valuable contribution made by voluntary and community groups. The N&WWLLP will use the money to fund four more Links2work events in north and west Wiltshire, possibly in Calne and Devizes, throughout the coming year.

    Links2work ran successfully in Trowbridge and Chippenham last year and involved training sessions for young people in job seeking skills, motivation and self esteem- boosting activities, as well as role plays of good and bad interview techniques.

    Young people had the opportunity to meet employers to ask questions and discuss job roles and to make useful contacts. Links2work was organised in association with Labyrinth Training, a company that has been successful in preparing students for the world of work. Many of the young people who took part found jobs or college places or obtained job interviews as a result of Links2work and a variety of employers were involved, including Hygrade, the MOD, Leap Frog Nurseries, Westlea Housing Association, Knorr Bremse and Sainsbury’s.

    Mike Perry, joint manager of the N&WLLP, said the aim of Links2work is to help young people grow in confidence, so that finding a job and attending interviews no longer seem so daunting. “Links2work brings young people and employers together in a supportive and informal environment,” he said. “They can begin to understand each other’s points of view and requirements. We are very pleased to be able to run four more events as a result of the Connexions voluntary award.”

    Connexions Wiltshire and Swindon invited bids for a share of its £95,000-worth of voluntary awards and contracts in January 2005, and 18 projects throughout Wiltshire and Swindon have been successful. In North and West Wiltshire they include an award of £20,000 to The Prince’s Trust in Wiltshire and Swindon for vocational learning projects aimed at vulnerable young people; £1000 to Larkrise Community Farm for help with its one-to-one work with young people with special needs; and £300 to 1st Walcot St Andrews Guides, to allow three young people from an area of social deprivation to attend a guide country camp.

    Several other organisations have also been awarded continued funding from last year, including £20,000 for Relate Mid Wiltshire, for Talk Zone, an out-of-school youth counselling service, and £2,500 for North Wilts Citizens Advice Bureau, for a project aimed at preventing homelessness among young people.

    Rabindra Shah, chief executive of Connexions Wiltshire and Swindon, said: “We are all in the business of helping young people to develop to the best of their ability and to overcome barriers to their success. We are pleased to be able to support the valuable work being done in the community.”