 The July Communities Bulletin is here!
Discover community activities, health and wellbeing support, volunteering opportunities, local events, funding information and training opportunities happening across Rossendale this month. There's something for everyone – from sports and family activities to community groups and support services.  In this issue:
Exhibition of cotton mills in 1970s Lancashire returns home Fifty years on, the great documentary photographer Daniel Meadows returns to Lancashire. This facsimile exhibition recreates an original touring show from the 1970s, when these extraordinary photographs were taken, documenting working life in Queen Street Mill, Bancroft Shed in Barnoldswick and even atop a 150 foot chimney stack! Shuttles, Steam and Soot premieres at Queen Street Mill Textile Museum from 8 July 2026 before touring to other Lancashire locations. The photographer visits for an ‘in conversation’ on Saturday 18 July. Daniel Meadows is now widely recognised as a pioneer of twentieth century documentary photography. His archive is now held in the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Back in 1975, the young Daniel Meadows began two years as photographer-in residence to Pendle Borough Council, with support from Mid Pennine Arts. Here, he found himself drawn to Queen Street Mill, and especially to Bancroft Shed, the last surviving steam powered cotton weaving mill in Pendle. Daniel began documenting the life of the mills and getting to know the people who worked in them. From weaver and radical organiser Bessie Dickinson, to Bancroft Shed engineer Stanley Graham, flue cleaner Charlie Sutton and steeplejack Peter Tatham, he created a uniquely vivid portrait of Lancashire’s workers and their disappearing trades.  With very hot weather across Lancashire this week and temperatures possibly reaching 35°C, please take extra care and look out for others. Hot weather can affect people quickly, so it’s important to plan ahead and stay safe.   Do you know someone who has been a reading hero in their community? Is there someone you’d like to see recognised for bringing books to people? We want to hear from and about volunteers who are helping others make room for reading in their lives.
Lancashire’s Police and Crime Commissioner has called on Government to look again at the reclassification of Ketamine to a Class A drug, to protect young people and ensure offenders feel the full force of the law. Commissioner Clive Grunshaw made his call on the reclassification of Ketamine following the launch of Operation Shore, Lancashire’s response to the supply and misuse of Ketamine, building on a successful campaign in the east of the county. It delivers a whole-system approach bringing together prevention, engagement and enforcement to prevent addiction, encourage treatment and support, whilst going after the dealers and gangs that make life a misery for vulnerable people. He has written to the Policing Minister outlining his views, including evidence of increasing health and safeguarding risks linked to ketamine use, the operational picture, and the importance of ensuring national policy keeps pace with the harms being seen in communities.   Now open: Growing Together Award 2026
Entries are now open for the RHS and BBC's The One Show's Growing Together Award 2026. If your community group has transformed an unloved space into a thriving garden that benefits the whole community, let us know! We're particularly keen to hear about projects that have encouraged people to try gardening for the first time, and that involve a diverse range of people. Apply today to tell us what the transformed space means to your group and local community. The overall winner will receive £1000 in National Garden Gift Vouchers, a plaque and certificate. Apply by 11.59pm Sunday 28 June 2026.  It’s a few weeks now since the local elections, which perhaps cemented the winds of change affecting our politics and reflecting wider cultural shifts we are seeing in communities across the piece. Many of you are at the forefront of that, seeing it, working with it, supporting others to navigate changes within their communities and with elected members. We’ve got a couple of events coming up you might want to join – around working with new councils, and with Akiko Hart, Director of Liberty giving a provocation about the shifts we are seeing and how we might respond to them as a sector.
Meanwhile those winds of change will continue to blow over the summer. We’ll know the outcome of the byelection this week, and perhaps have a clearer idea as to the timing of any leadership contest. We’ll know more about how the new leaders and local authorities are bedding down, and how their priorities will play through locally. All of this reinforces the need for strong infrastructure to support resilient communities – the seat we have on the Covenant Council will help shape that and I’d love to hear your views on priorities and what you’d like to see emerge. Do get is touch to let us know how you are working through local changes, and the impact it is having for communities. LSCFT would really value the expertise of the CVFSE organisations across the Lancashire and South Cumbria footprint to help influence LSCFT’s operating model and future neighbourhood thinking and working through attending the above conference.   The Filo Project is an award-winning, not-for-profit organisation providing enriching small group care days for people living with early to moderate dementia and other age-related challenges.
 Welcome to our second June newsletter.
First, I must apologise for accidentally labelling our last newsletter as an April edition. I’m so sorry for any confusion, it was human error. It is very embarrassing, and I’ll do my best to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I’d like to think the mistake serves as a reminder that this newsletter is written by a real (and slightly flawed) person, not an AI robot - but I suspect not! We’re sharing a second newsletter this month because a whopping 75% of responders to our poll said they’d prefer a shorter, more frequent format. Please do let me know what you think.  Thank you to everyone who has already responded to the consultation on the Local Transport Plan (LTP) - Implementation Plan.
 Welcome to our quarterly stakeholder newsletter, where we share key updates from our service and beyond.
In this issue, you'll find:
 World Cup 2026The FIFA World Cup 2026 is set to be the biggest football tournament in history, with 48 nations, 104 matches and games taking place across the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Millions of people across England will be looking forward to another summer of football. Households will be planning gatherings, pubs and venues will be filling up, England flags will appear from windows and cars with conversations about team selections, predictions and penalties will dominate workplaces, social media and family WhatsApp groups. For many, the World Cup is about much more than football. It's about belonging. It's about national identity. It's about shared experiences and memories. Even if you're not a football fan, you'll know the World Cup is happening. For many families, it will be a celebration. For others, it will be something very different. Whilst excitement builds in some homes, tension is rising in others. Whilst some people are planning where they'll watch the matches, others are quietly wondering how they will get through them safely. This is because major football tournaments continue to be associated with an increase in domestic abuse incidents. Research examining England matches found that reports of domestic abuse increased by approximately 26% when England won or drew and by 38% when England lost. As someone who spent many years supporting victim-survivors as a domestic abuse caseworker, World Cups and European Championships always brought additional concerns. Safety planning conversations became more frequent. Clients would talk about changing routines, arranging somewhere safe to go after matches, ensuring phones were charged or identifying who they could call if things escalated. Anyone working in domestic abuse services, safeguarding or policing will be familiar with this pattern, but many members of the public are not.  HAPPA (Horses and Ponies Protection Association) is delighted to share that Andy Black, Café and Kitchen Manager at The HAPPA Café, has been awarded Bronze in the prestigious VisitEngland Awards for Excellence.
Andy first received recognition in November last year, when he won the Unsung Hero Award at the Lancashire Tourism Awards in Blackpool. That award placed him among 17 category winners invited to go forward to the national VisitEngland Awards for Excellence, held on 3rd June 2026. Now in their 35th year, the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence celebrate the very best of England’s tourism industry, recognising quality, innovation, best practice and outstanding customer service.  Bringing together public, private and third sector organisations to tackle affordable warmth, housing standards, health and wellbeing
You are invited to the Lancashire Affordable Warmth Forum. Hosted by Cosy Homes in Lancashire, the forum brings together public, private and third sector organisations to tackle affordable warmth, housing standards, and the health and wellbeing of Lancashire residents.  Children and volunteers from Rosegrove Neighbourhood Watch enjoyed a fantastic day at Evergreen Forest School, West Bradford, on Sunday 7th June 2026.
The trip provided local children with the opportunity to explore the outdoors, learn about nature, meet animals, discover woodland habitats and take part in a range of exciting hands-on activities. Throughout the day, children enjoyed woodland adventures and wildlife habitats and developed new skills through outdoor learning. What is a Local Plan? The Local Plan sets out the vision for how Rossendale will be developed over the next 15 years, in line with national policy and legislation. We must identify land to meet the housing, community, infrastructure and employment needs of the next 15 years. It will protect land for open space, biodiversity and sport. The Local Plan will be examined by an independent Planning Inspector, and used to determine planning applications in Rossendale.  Six More Lancashire Places Added To The Priority Places For Culture List. Here’s Why It Matters.9/6/2026
The government just named its cultural investment priorities. Lancashire now has eight of them.  Last week, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport published its new Culture Priority Places list - 81 local authority areas across England identified as priorities for cultural investment, targeted specifically at the places where deprivation is highest and cultural engagement is lowest. For Lancashire, the news is significant.
Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool were already on the list as existing Arts Council Priority Places. They’ve now been joined by six more: Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Preston, Rossendale and Wyre. That’s eight Lancashire places in total on a list of 81. A significant concentration for a single county, and a clear signal that the scale of need here has been recognised at the highest level.  The latest Wellbeing Newsletter from Vita Health Group is now available.
This month's edition explores:
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
July 2026
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed