I'm going Totally Locally Calderdale - a great place to shop

The Todmorden Local Heroes Food Festival is taking place between August and October in various locations around Todmorden. The aim is to promote and celebrate all locally produced food, in its many forms with markets, tasting sessions and much more.

The first event takes place on Sunday 1st August at Fielden Wharf. The second event is on Saturday 4th September at Todmorden Market and the third event is a Harvest Festival at the Unitarian Church on Sunday 3rd October.

For more information visit: www.localheroesfoodfest.co.uk

Totally Locally Calderdale wins the prestigious Association of Town Centre Management (ATCM) Action Award at the World Congress of Town Centre Management in London.

The award was given for the best marketing and branding strategy to increase vitality and viability into town and city centres.  Totally Locally was competing with entrants from all over the world and other category winners included projects from Belgium, Sweden and Ireland.  Martin Blackwell, Acting Chief Executive of the ATCM said “Totally Locally Calderdale is a superb, innovative shop local campaign and thoroughly deserves the award.”

Beth Ward, Totally Locally Manager said “she was absolutely ecstatic to win the award. It is an honour to be recognised by the national Association of Town Centre Management and fellow professionals from around the world. It is thanks to all the people who have supported the campaign by shopping locally that we have managed to put Calderdale on the international map. To me this is not about the award but about making our towns and villages a great place to live, work and visit”.

Totally Locally is proud to say that it has used only local companies based within Calderdale for everything from print, to bags, to design and communication. The campaign was the brainchild of Chris Sands from You Are Here Creative based in Halifax.

Since Totally Locally Calderdale was launched in October 2009 many businesses have reported an increase in business. Residents have recognised that collectively they can make a big difference to the towns and villages they live in by spending just £5 a week in the local economy. As the campaign says, if every adult in Calderdale spent just £5 a week in their local shops then that would account to an extra £40million per year going into the local economy.

Portfolio Holder for Economy and Environment, Cllr Barry Collins said “England may be out of the World Cup but Calderdale has topped the world for our Totally Locally campaign. Congratulations to Beth Ward and her team and to all the people and businesses that have supported the campaign over the past 8 months. The Council has backed this project from day one and it is important for the local communities that we continue doing so in these difficult financial times”

Totally Locally is funded through the Council’s Economic Taskforce which was set up to assist the district during the recession.

http://www.atcm.org/atcm-awards/index.php

Yorkshire in All its Glory is a photographic exhibition taking place until Yorkshire Day (1st August 2010) at Heart Gallery in Hebden Bridge. It aims to celebrate the Yorkshire locality and soaks up the peace and solitude of our valleys, crags and moorlands.

Artists and writers have sought out the stunning beauty of Yorkshire for years. They have been inspired by unspoilt and breathtaking scenery and seduced by its landscape. This exhibition hopes to stir those emotions in our visitors and tempt them to buy a piece ofYorkshire to take home with them!

Nationally, and internationally acclaimed local photographer Nigel Hillier has been involved with hundreds of advertising campaigns worldwide and shot many famous faces including Angelina Jolie, Pierce Brosnan, Gary Barlow and Peter Kay.

Steve Morgan lives in Hebden Bridge and is a nationally acclaimed photographer who has many years experience working with Greenpeace and WWF.

 Jason Elliott is well known locally for his photographic project ‘500 faces of Hebden Bridge’ to celebrate 2010 being the year that the Packhorse Bridge in the centre of Hebden Bridge will be 500 years old.

Miniature dry-stone walls by local artist Tony Wright, lead singer of Bradford based band Terrorvision, are also available to buy alongside his breathtaking photographs taken with his friend Stuart Humphrey.

Jefferson Hammond has over twenty years experience of photographing the South Pennines landscape, predominantly in black and white.

Hilly Fletcher’s ‘Eating Disorder’ series of fine art photographs were first exhibited at Heart Gallery in 2007 where they were spotted and as a result taken to thestudio NW London.

Sarah Mason has a strong individual style that is fresh and natural and specialises in locations in Yorkshire and the North West.

10 months in planning, 8 great photographers, 1 great Gallery!

For more information visit: http://www.heartgallery.co.uk

Don't miss your chance to visit the fantastic Hebden Bridge Arts Festival from 26th June - 11th July 2010. 

Festival time is here again and there is lots lined up for all you performance-hungry people out there! Music? Choose from classical, folk, bhangra, blues or jazz. Literature? Take your pick from performance poetry, history, humour or Booker-prize winning fiction. And if theatre is what you want, there are premieres of six new plays and two great family shows.

And don’t forget the comedy, exhibitions, open gardens and a brand new venue in the form of a bus!

For more information visit the Festival website on: http://www.hebdenbridge.co.uk/festival/2010/index.html

It’s the 500 year anniversary of Hebden Bridge, and Element Jewellery wanted to join in the festivities by celebrating creativity.

Element Jewellery would love for you to get creative and help them launch their hand-made charm range by designing your very own charm that will then be made available for sale at Element Jewellery.

Be inspired and let your imagination run wild to create a charm that will be worn by many.

The winning designs will be created in time for a launch of the charm collection on Saturday the 14th of August at Element Jewellery, where the winners will be revealed.

Winners will be selected by a judging panel consisting of the Element Jewellery team and talented local jeweller, Catherine Woodall.

For more information visit Element Jewellery's website at: http://www.elementjewellery.com/