In Ampthill
"The Question is not what your Community can do for you, but what you can do for your Community"
Community = a group of people in one place, namely the historic Market Town of Ampthill, in the heart of rural Bedfordshire, with its rich history & its bright future! But only if we work together and engender some Community Spirit into the Town!
Community Spirit = the feeling of belonging to a community & the active participation of residents in that community.
How Can I Get Involved?
| Volunteering | Clubs, Societies, Voluntary & Community Groups | Get Your Voice Heard | Planning the Town's Future | Representing Your Town |
"The Question is not what your Community can do for you, but what you can do for your Community"
Community Spirit = the feeling of belonging to a community & the active participation of residents in that community.
Volunteering - giving freely of your time and energy to a cause you wish to support.
There are plenty of voluntary and community groups crying out for volunteers in the town and in Mid Bedfordshire. To find out more visit the following:
Volunteer Centre Bedford - this local charity's website allows you to search for local volunteering opportunities
Indeed one of the major schemes that requires volunteers is the Ampthill Good Neighbour Schemes, with details set out below. This will undoubtedly engender some much needed Community Spirit into the Town:
Volunteers Needed for Ampthill’s ‘Good Neighbour Scheme’
You may remember when you completed the Town Plan Questionnaire you overwhelmingly supported the notion of setting up a Good Neighbour (or Town Care Scheme) in the town. Well your help is now needed!
No doubt you recall that a Good Neighbour or Town Care Schemes provides the link between those townsfolk needing help and those who are willing to offer it.
Well two sets of volunteers are now required:
Anyone willing to be involved either as a member of the organising group or as a volunteer helper, please contact: Mark Smith on 0234 354366 (Work) or 01525 402560 (Home) or email mark.a.smith@ampthill.org.uk.
Clubs, Societies, Voluntary or Community Groups
There are many clubs and societies in the town, which are again crying out for your involvement. Equally, if you are new to the town, your involvement could quickly lead to a whole set of new friends. Click here to access the database of Ampthill based Clubs, Societies, Voluntary and Community Groups.
Are you concerned about local issues within the town and want to influence issues that may affect you? Well you need not feel powerless, as it's now very easy to start an online petition and indeed set up web pages that reflect and support you point of view. Why not visit the following websites to find out more:
Petition Online - as the name suggests, this website allows you to set up an online petition on any issue
Action Network - is a BBC website to help you do something about issues that matter to you. We make it easy for you to get together with other people and start making a difference in your neighbourhood. You can find information and advice, see what's going on in your area, get in touch with people who share your views and even start a campaign online.
Just Do Something (formerly Citizens Connection) - thought of a way to improve your area and you want some advice on achieving this aim then this website can help
Lets Fix Britain - a site that allows you to become a member of a campaign to fight against incompetence and apathy that pervades Private & Public Organisation
The Big Conversation - the Labour Governments initiative, that is aimed at seeking views directly from yourselves.
You can also e-mail 3 Counties Radio (3cr@bbc.co.uk), The Times & Citizen Newspaper (editorial@bedstimesandcitizen.co.uk) or The Beds on Sunday Newspaper (letters@bos.demon.co.uk) to express your feelings on any matter.
A word of warning - groups in the town have been very successful over the past few years in campaigning against developments in the town (i.e. Ampthill Against Aerial, Ampthill Against Building in a Conservation Area, Ampthill Against Super Store and Associated Car Park, Campaign Against Rural Development). However, it could be argued that from the outside you could regard Ampthill People as Negative in their outlook! So be constructive in your criticism and Campaign For Ampthill to be a better place to live, as no where is perfect!
Ampthill's Town Action Plan
The Ampthill Town Action Plan represents the culmination of over 2 years work by a Steering Group and various subject Focus Groups. Groups looked into he future of the Town with regards to these areas:
Business and Retail Development
Ampthill’s Farmers Market
Housing
Education, Training and Employment
Sports, Social, Leisure and Entertainment, Youth and Community Facilities
Tourism
Highways and Public Transport
Health and Social Services
Police, Other Emergency Services and Community Safety
Environmental Issues
The implementation phase of Ampthill Town Plan has begun with a new Implementation Steering Group formed & headed by Nigel Milway (milway@btinternet.com). If you have an interest in joining one of the 5 implementation groups (Business; Infrastructure - Housing + Highways & Public Transport; Community - Sports, Social, Leisure & Entertainment, Youth & Community Facilities + Tourism + Education, Training & Employment; Services - Health & Social Services + Police, Other Emergency Services & Community Safety; Environment) contact Nigel. The Town Plan Implementation Group will be working closely with the Town Council to ensure that recommendations become a reality.
You can view & download copies of the reports:
AMPTHILL ACTION PLAN - SUMMARY REPORT
AMPTHILL ACTION PLAN - FULL REPORT
This has been produced in the Adobe Acrobat portable document format (PDF) which requires you to have the free Acrobat software on your computer. If you do not have the necessary software, please click here to go to the Adobe website where you can download it. To download the report – simply hold your cursor over the name of the report (above) and click the right button on your mouse and then choose ‘save target as’, and choose where you want to save the file on your hard drive (usually 'My Documents')
For more details on the Town Action Plan click here.
Ampthill Community Liaison Forum
From 29th January 2004, the new Community Liaison Forum for Ampthill will come into being. This quarterly forum will allow you to: -
Express your concerns to the members of Ampthill Town Council, Beds County Council, Mid Beds District Council and Mid Beds Local Strategic Partnership, as representatives from all these organisation will be present.
Access additional funding for local voluntary and community groups that are based or operate in the town. A budget of approximately £3000 per annum will be available for this purpose.
Find out how you could become a Town Councillor on 3rd May 2007
Getting into politics is not the 'dirty' exercise that much of the media would have you believe. It can be extremely rewarding, in terms of the 'feel good factor' of serving your local community. If you ask most people that enter local politics, they do it to make a difference and not for personal gain.
However, the past two elections for Ampthill Town Council, in 1999 and 2003, saw only 11 people stand for the 12 places, which meant those people became councillors without facing an election. This was not uncommon across the whole of Mid Bedfordshire. However, it could be argued that by been apathetic about who represents you, you risk finding that you are represented by small minded, self serving, opinionated individuals, who are largely responsible for bringing 'politics' into disrepute. Certainly, a few town & parish councils in Mid Beds have just those sort of individuals on their councils, as part of the great unelected set of people that represent us! So don't just moan about the town Council, do something about it next time and 'Get Involved'!
Elections take place on a regular basis for the various tiers of local government. So why not consider standing at the next elections for Ampthill Town Council (May 2007), Mid Beds District Council (May 2007), Beds County Council (May 2009) or for the Parliamentary Seat of Mid Bedfordshire (probably 2009/10).
You could join one of the branches of the local political parties: Mid Beds Labour Party, Mid Beds Liberal Democrat Party, Mid Beds Conservative Party or you might consider standing as an independent candidate. If you want to become a Politically independent Councillor, you can find advice on the Politically Independent Candidate Website.
For more details on local government in Ampthill and in Mid Bedfordshire, click here.
Don't be Apathetic, Get Involved
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