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Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs presentation on preparing SME businesses for EU exit:
The scheme which is set to improve traffic flow in the area and provide a safer crossing for those who use this busy road, is due to start next week.
The improvements, which are being completed by Worcestershire County Council, include the upgrade of the existing uncontrolled (Zebra) crossing to a controlled pedestrian and cycle (Toucan) crossing, removal of the existing roundabout near the entrance to the Cattle Market Car Park and an improved road alignment with updated car park access.
To improve the road alignment ahead of the new crossing being introduced, the current mini roundabout needs to be removed and this is the first work to be completed as part of the scheme.
Whilst this takes place, temporary traffic signals will be required. Once the work to remove the roundabout is complete, the temporary traffic signals will be removed as the majority of the remaining works can be completed off the carriageway without any major impact on traffic.
At the end of the scheme the road will be closed overnight for a few nights from 9pm to 6am for resurfacing works. A diversion route will be signposted for vehicles.
For the duration of the scheme, the access to the Cattle Market Car Park from Croft Road will be closed so vehicles wishing to use the car park are advised to use The Butts entrance.
Pedestrians will be unaffected during the works due to the installation of a temporary crossing and minor pedestrian diversions which will be in place at all times.
*** Details by Worcestershire County Council, 02/04/2019 ***
Our next City Session will be held at Pret A Manger, High Street on Friday 5th April at 8am.
Several important topics will be discussed, including some Visit Worcester updates, a Best Bar None update, our consultation document and more!
You can book your place at the meeting here.
See you there!
BID businesses are invited to a planning consultation by Worcester City Council about our city centre. This will be at a business breakfast on Monday 8th April commencing at 8.30am, in the Assembly Room at the Guildhall.
Please let Adrian Becker at the City Council know if you wish to attend – Adrian.becker@worcester.gov.uk – as there is a limit on numbers.
This is part of the South Worcestershire Retail & Town Centres Study 2019 being undertaken by Worcester City, Malvern Hills District and Wychavon District Councils. The study will update the Councils’ evidence base in respect of the retail and commercial leisure performance of the defined city/town centres, provide guidance on the ‘need’ for new retail and commercial leisure floorspace, and provide strategic advice to ensure that the town centres remain vibrant and viable locations.
The study will input to the emerging South Worcestershire Development Plan Review which will guide development to 2041. The Study will also be used by the South Worcestershire Councils to assist in the determination of potential planning applications for new retail and commercial leisure development.
In more detail, the purpose of the study is to:
Tickets are on sale now for the Worcester Community Lottery – a new local lottery to raise funds for city charities and other good causes. The new Worcester Community Lottery gives players the chance to sign up at www.worcesterlottery.org for entry into a weekly draw and to choose which local causes they want to benefit from their subscription.
Mayor of Worcester, Cllr Jabba Riaz, launching the Worcester Community Lottery with representatives of two of the local good causes that will benefit from it – Helen Simmons, Care Manager with Crossroads Caring for Carers; and Graham Heath, Vice Chairman of Worcester Wheels.
Players have a one-in-50 chance of winning a prize, up to a maximum of £25,000. Many local good causes have already signed up to benefit from the Worcester Community Lottery and tickets have gone on sale today (March 26) ahead of the first prize draw on April 27. A 32GB Apple iPad will also be on offer to players who enter the first draw.
The Mayor of Worcester, Councillor Jabba Riaz, said: “The new Worcester Community Lottery is an exciting fun way for city residents to support their favourite local good cause – and they might even scoop £25,000! The great thing about this new lottery is that players can choose exactly which good cause they want to support when they sign up at www.worcesterlottery.org. And if they’re not sure who to play for, they can back the community fund, which the City Council will distribute to good causes.”
Good causes that have already registered to benefit from the Worcester Community Lottery include youth clubs, sports clubs, arts organisations and medical charities. And more are coming on board all the time!
Crossroads Caring for Carers was the first good cause to sign up for Worcester Community Lottery. Care Manager Helen Simmons said: “Crossroads Caring for Carers is here to improve the lives of carers by giving them a break from caring. Worcester Community Lottery is a great way of encouraging support for the important work that we do for city carers. We’re supporting it in every way we can and are hoping it will prove to be a huge success.”
How to play
Players can sign up for a subscription to the lottery at www.worcesterlottery.org. When they register, they will be asked to choose a local good cause to benefit from their ticket purchase or to opt to support the community fund – which the City Council will distribute to good causes. The local good causes that have signed up for the lottery are expected to encourage their supporters to play in order to raise funds for their activities. Tickets will cost £1 each, which will be divided as follows:
The top prize available in the weekly draw will be £25,000. The draw results and winners will be announced every Saturday at 8pm, with the first draw on April 27. Results will be posted at www.worcesterlottery.org , on Facebook at Worcester-Community-Lottery and on Twitter at @WorcesterLotto. Winners will be contacted directly.
Each ticket will consist of six numbers and each number will be between 0 and 9. Each week’s draw will see a six-digit winning combination picked. Prizes will be given to players with tickets that match the first or last two-six numbers from the winning combination. Match all six in order and you win the top prize.
All players have a one-in-50 chance of winning a prize. The prize breakdown is:
Good causes
Local good causes have been signing up for the Worcester Community Lottery since February and more are coming on board all the time. More than 30 good causes are available at www.worcesterlottery.org for players to choose to support. Each good cause has a dedicated page on the website and receives 50% of every £1 ticket sold via that page. The money is paid directly to them each month. The good causes also benefit from the lottery’s community fund –which the City Council distributes on an annual basis. Good causes do not have to pay to sign up for the Worcester Community Lottery and they are provided with free marketing materials to promote the lottery to their supporters. To register as a good cause with the Worcester Community Lottery, organisations need to meet a range of criteria, including being not-for-profit and provide community activities or services to the benefit of Worcester residents. A full list of criteria is available at www.worcesterlottery.org/good-causes/terms.
Operating the lottery
The City Council has brought in Gatherwell Ltd to operate the lottery. The company already runs successful draws for Aylesbury, Portsmouth, Melton Mowbray, Gloucester and around 50 other councils across the UK. Worcester Community Lottery has been approved by the Gambling Commission and will be run as a “low risk” model that will not encourage gambling. Players will only be able to take part by signing up in advance, there will be no “instant reward” element and the prizes are relatively small. The marketing of the scheme will focus mainly on the potential for supporting local voluntary, charity and community groups.
Notes
The following is a list of good causes that, at the time of publication, players of the Worcester Community Lottery can choose to support.
Survivors
Crossroads Caring for Carers
Worcester Community Action
Perdiswell Young People’s Leisure Club
Friends of Fort Royal Community Primary School
The Battle of Worcester Society Charity
Worcestershire Wildlife Trust
Worcester Talking Newspaper
Opera Worcester
Worcester Wheels Community Transport
Worcester Cricket Club
Worcester Warriors Community Foundation
Disability Sport Worcestershire
Active Communities Worcester – Freedom Leisure
Maggs Day Centre
Worcester Live Charitable Trust
The Elgar Festival
RSPCA Worcester & Mid-Worcestershire Branch
St Paul’s Hostel Worcester
Kinship Carers UK
C&T
West Mercia Rape & Sexual Abuse Support Centre
Worcester Festival Choral Society
Worcester Rowing Club
Worcester Heritage & Amenity Trust
Worcester TheatreMakers CIC
Herefordshire and Worcestershire Earth Heritage Trust
Chestnut Community Action Group
*** Press release by Worcester City Council, for publication on 26/03/2019 ***
This year the Worcester BID and Cockerhoop Creative are working in partnership to bring you the After Worc Feast Street.
The After Worc Feast Street will be held on the first Thursday of every month alternating locations from Cornmarket and New Street to Cathedral Square and top end of High Street. Starting at 4.00pm until 11.00pm.
Stall pitches are free for all BID Businesses. You are required to bring your own stall set up, in keeping with the look and feel of Digbeth Dining Club.
This Friday, Comic Relief are asking the nation to come together to dance in the street!
It would be wonderful to see Worcester represented so we are looking for businesses who would love to get involved in supporting this incredible charity.
We will be putting together a ‘One Worcester’ video where we will visit your premises to record your teams and perhaps your customers, stepping out and having fun whilst also raising money for Comic Relief.
We’ll come armed with t shirts and red noses, and we will share these videos and tag your business in and across our social media channels, while also sending them to Red Nose Day and the local media.
In order for us to complete the video to upload, we would be looking to visit you on Thursday or Friday morning this week to record them.
If you wish to sign up, please contact the BID office on 01905 731612 or email info@worcesterbid.com by 4pm tomorrow (Wednesday 13th March).
Worcester BID has appointed three dynamic new board members Anja Potze, Sam Pisani, and Richard Wheatly, to join its executive team.
The new appointees are well-known to Worcester’s business community. Anja Potze is the owner of Anja Potze Fine Jewellery, Sam Pisani is the manager of Cathedral Square, and Richard Wheatly is the manager of Boleros.
The appointments mark an exciting new phase for Worcester as the city is set to enjoy huge financial investment in the near future.
Phoebe Dawson, BID Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted to welcome Anja, Sam and Richard to join the BID board – their expertise will prove invaluable to our team.
“Anja, Sam and Richard are recognised in the city as successful leaders in their fields. They understand the challenges faced by Worcester businesses and will be able to provide practical support during their tenure.
“City centres are facing a challenging time, but Worcester continues to buck national trends and the next few years promise to be an exciting time with millions of pounds worth of investment already committed.”
Each new board member brings a different skill set and varied life and work experience to the board.
Anja takes great pride in being one of Worcester’s independent traders. She is a member of the Worcestershire Ambassadors, as well as a governor at Tudor Grange Academy. Anja won the ‘Heart of Gold’ award in the national Small Business Awards for her ongoing commitment to causes including Worcester Hospital’s Breast Cancer Unit, and as a Patron of CG5.
Anja said: “I moved to Worcester and have made it my home and I’ve always tried to give back to the city that so welcomed me and helped make my business to make it the success that it is today. I’m delighted to be able to support other businesses in this new role.”
Worcester boy Sam Pisani has managed Cathedral Square since 2014. He spent his formative years at Christopher Whitehead School and has since had senior roles at retail management giant MJ Mapp, and at Mitie Managed Services where he worked on the N.Power contract in Worcester.
Sam said: “The development of Cathedral Square has been a proven success for the city and now Worcester is looking at its next phase of investment and development, I’m looking forward to sharing my learnings from managing the prosperous Cathedral Square.”
At just 29, Richard Wheatley is the youngest member to join the board. He started his hospitality career in a professional kitchen aged just 16, rising to become head chef at 21, before switching to a front of house role. He was the head chef at Worcester’s Glass House before moving to Bolero, and is one of the founders of the city’s incredibly popular Gin Festival, which brought over 2000 people to the city over May bank-holiday weekend 2018.
Richard said: “Worcester is becoming known for its excellent restaurants and bars and I’m delighted to have been part of this transformation. The city’s festivals are also attracting thousands of people to the county every year and it’s a lively community that is thriving and with the right help will really flourish.”
For more information about Worcester BID, contact 01905 731612 or info@worcesterbid.com or visit www.worcesterbid.com
Worcester City Council is asking city residents and businesses for their views on the potential introduction of new powers to tackle anti-social behaviour in the city centre. The council is aware that the effects of anti-social behaviour can be costly in different ways. It causes distress to members of the public, it affects local businesses and puts huge pressure on services through calls on police time, hospital visits and 999 calls.
The Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) can restrict activities in a certain area, thus prohibiting negative behaviours that affect the quality of life of residents and visitors to the city centre. A breach of a PSPO is a criminal offence and can be enforced.
The council is considering introducing a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) in the city centre that will address anti-social behaviour experienced by residents and visitors.
If introduced, the PSPO will prohibit:
If the PSPO is introduced, any person found by police, community support or designated council officers to be in breach of the proposed requirements would be guilty of a criminal offence under the Anti-social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014. They could receive a Fixed Penalty Notice of up to £70 or, if prosecuted, face a maximum fine of £1,000.
In practice, the City Council and the Police would work together and take a phased approach to help people change their behaviour, before resorting to a fine.
Councillor James Stanley, Chair of the City Council Communities Committee, said: “Worcester city centre is not a hot-bed for anti-social behaviour, but there is always room for improvement. However, residents will probably have different views on which of these powers we should introduce, so I want to really urge people to have their say at www.worcester.gov.uk/voiceit.”
The consultation runs for eight weeks until April 24 and can be completed at www.worcester.gov.uk/voiceit. Printed copies can be requested by calling 01905 722233.
Our ‘Worcester Cares’ partners, St. Paul’s Hostel have asked us to invite you to attend their annual event which will outline their services to some of the cities most vulnerable people.
The event will be held on the Wednesday 27th March from 7:30am-9:30am at the Army Reserve Centre, Pheasant Street.
St. Pauls have provided the following message:
“With permission from the Commanding Officer, 104 Regiment. Royal Artillery, Worcester we are delighted to invite you to our Public Event on the 27th March 2019.
Join us for a hot breakfast roll prepared and served by the St Paul’s Catering Team. Followed by a brief presentation on how St Paul’s, by using a Trauma Informed Approach, is changing lives and changing perceptions of homelessness.
We will then hear from our Keynote Speaker, Sean Williams, from The Forge Secondary Short Stay School in Redditch. Sean will be talking about how trauma impacts a person, often from an early age, and how building relationships can help people change.
We look forward to seeing you and please do book your place soon.
The St Paul’s Team.”
You can book your place at the meeting here.
Click here for more information about the Worcester Cares initiative.
