Allenton Big Local's Christmas event at Allenton Market on 19 December 2015 proved very popular with local residents, especially the children. We asked 50 people what they thought of the event - 72% said it was Fantastic, 28% said it was Good, and absolutely no-one rated as OK, Poor or Rubbish.

Consulting with local people

During the event, we took the opportunity to consult with residents to get their views on how Allenton Big Local should be investing Big Lottery funding. Of the 50 people questioned:

78% agreed with our Strengthening the Community theme
66% agreed with our Improving Life Skills theme, and
70% agreed with our Creating Opportunities for Training and Employment theme.

We also asked residents what other areas of activity they thought we should be spending money on. You can read the full list of responses here. As the Christmas event was targeted primarily at young families, it's no surprise that the ideas of those questioned focused around activities and facilities for children and young people, including suggestions to improve local parks. However, other local issues were highlighted too, with suggestions for activities to help integrate people from different cultures, a community growing project, craft activities, opportunities for young people to volunteer, help with weight loss, training courses, activities for older people, and a desire to have a coffee shop or cafe in the area.

Some of these things are already being addressed by Allenton Big Local. A coffee morning for older residents is being trialled in Allenton, and we are offering financial support for training courses through our Bursary Scheme. The development of a Community Hub at St Martin's Methodist Church on Flint Street will include the development of a community cafe.

Your comments on the Christmas Event

It's fair to say that Santa's presence at Allenton Market brought a real buzz and a great festive feeling. Here are just a few of the comments we received about the event from those who attended:

This is the best I've seen the market in all the years I've lived here.
The Santa is excellent - really, really good.
Brilliant event - my son loved it, especially the reindeers
The best, friendliest Santa we've ever seen.
It was a joy to see the effort put in for the Allenton kids. Well done. More things like this should happen more often.
A great way to bring something good to the area and kids. Hope to see it again.

We are always interested to hear the views of residents. We use feedback from local people to help steer the budget and decisions on activities as we develop our plan.

If you would like to share your views or ideas, please email info@biglocalallenton.co.uk.