Over Christmas and New Year we were faced with the challenge of floods and bad weather and I would like to thank our emergency services and our Council staff for the way they responded to dealing with these problems that the conditions created, including the flooding of one of the town’s residential homes in Ifield.
In the first weeks of the New Year it is customary to think of making plans to improve health, often with ambitions of weight loss or increasing exercise. I know that my wife has been planning my New Year’s resolutions which always include weight loss and to increase exercise. To support you in keeping to your resolutions the Council is trying to help local residents with a supermarket initiative to encourage you to make, and stick to, healthy eating New Year plans.
Our Wellbeing advisors will be visiting the town’s stores in January and February offering advice, tips and ideas for healthy shopping and eating habits. This includes the basics of understanding food labels, tips for getting the best value for your money, ideas for making easy swaps and choosing food for a healthy and balanced diet. To find out when they will be visiting your local supermarket, and to book your place on a tour, call 01293 585317.
In the New Year we are all considering how to stretch our budgets to the meet our needs. This is also true of the charity and voluntary sector. The Council awards grants to local voluntary and community services and there is still time to apply for some small grants, up to £1000, for the 2013/14 year.
Funding is usually awarded to not-for-profit voluntary groups and community organisations to assist with the costs of providing new or existing community services, including setting up and running projects, activities and events that are of benefit to Crawley residents.
The Council is particularly keen to support proposals with links to local priorities such as pump priming or capacity building activity. It also wants to promote volunteering, cultural development, supporting youth and community development. Organisations have until the 17th February to apply for small grants of up to £1,000. Further information and applications forms are also available online at www.crawley.gov.uk/grants.
Councillor Dr Howard Bloom
Leader of Crawley Borough Council