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Resources for Change are running some more courses in the new year. These are available to all of us in the Big Local area, or involved in activities and community development etc in the Big Local area (i.e. Bronygarth and Selattyn shouldn't feel excluded). They are free, and travel expenses can be claimed, (petrol, child care, etc). We would need to minimise this by car sharing. This is the email I received: Dear residents and activists Some updates below from Big Local Trust: an opportunity to influence the new website, and reminders about networking and learning opportunities. I hope you have also recently received the latest newsletter; if not please let me know. Please find below updated information about the next activities in the Big local learning and networking programme. Also below is a link to a short questionnaire we are running to get ideas for the development of a new website for the organisation that will take over running Big Local in 2012. Please pass this information on to people in your Big Local area who might be interested. Web survey In the last Big Local newsletter we asked for ideas for the website we are developing for the new organisation that will take over running Big Local in 2012. If you or anyone in your Big Local area would like to contribute to this you can complete a very short survey here The survey has just 10 simple questions and should only take a few minutes to complete. Big Local learning and networking programme The next three activities in the Big Local learning and networking programme have just been finalised and details are below. We hope word is already getting out about the events we held in November. People say they found these inspiring and they also helped build new friendships between Big Local areas. If you know of anyone who would benefit from the next round of events then please pass the details on. To enable as wide a spread of people as possible to benefit from these opportunities we can support people to access events through help with travel arrangements and bursaries for travel and support costs. 31 January and 1 February – Site Visit (rescheduled): Village SoS in Newstead, Nottinghamshire During this overnight event in Newstead, Nottinghamshire you will learn how a new community group “Future Newstead” was formed by local people with a vision to bring their ex-mining village back to life. More information is available here Four dates January to April – Learning set about Getting people involved online – neighbourhood websites and social media These four meetings will help you gain confidence in using neighbourhood websites and social media to get local people talking about Big Local. The meetings are for people with hands-on responsibility for doing something online or digital in their area and will be in a ‘learning set’ format which means we hope everyone can attend all four sessions. More information is available here Four dates February to May - Learning set about Building relationships between different communities in your area Is your Big Local area trying to deal with tensions and conflicting priorities between different communities in your Big Local area? If so, this learning is designed for you. The aim of these four meetings is to enable Big Local areas to work together to overcome challenges they are facing by tapping into the knowledge and experience of other Big Local areas. More information is available here Helen Fairweather is our local Resources 4 Change representative and you can contact her via this site because she is a member!

Winter miles, summer smiles is a phrase triathletes and I am sure a few other sports people use. The theory being you get the hard work done in the winter months and reap the benefits during the summer race season. So week 1 of my training proper is complete, and its been a pretty good start. 4 sessions in the gym, 2 swims (1500 drill sets) and finally got out on the bike, a gentle 25 mile ride to Llanarmon in the cold, brrrrr. It also seems to have worked, 3kg lighter than last week!!