- Westhoughton Community Network meets quarterly at venues around Westhoughton, bringing together local voluntary groups and organisations, raising awareness of the wide variety of activities in the town.
- Now in our eleventh year, the inaugural forum meeting took place on 9th August 2011 at Brookfield Hall with groups taking part in the establishment of the community network. You can read more on the background, beginnings and activities of WCN >>> here.
- WCN activity has been hit this year and last due to 'Lockdown' and 'Social Distancing' measures, with normal meetings not possible and all community activities restricted. However we remained in touch and were been able 'meet' via the Internet. Happily, as of July things have begun to get back to normal and over the following weeks and months we have seen activities resume, and venues re-opening and serving the community. A first in-person meeting post-Lockdown took place on 21st September (minutes). Unfortunately, the November meeting was postponed due to a lack of a suitable venue; we hope to meet again in the new year. Keep up to date with community events taking place throughout the year: Fayres | Calendar.
Covid-19 (Coronavirus) Updated 14/12/21
The arrival of the Covid-19, concerns about health and wellbeing of vulnerable groups, and Government advice on 'Social Distancing' meant that community groups were obliged to take action to limit exposure to the virus. As a result, with venues out of action, many groups and their activities had to be suspended; albeit with some interactions able to take place virtually via Zoom. This of course has had a big impact on community life, valuable social interactions and local sport.
The story, impact and information about the Lockdown and virus (including links to Government data) can now be found here.
Community News and Upcoming Events
Meetings of community groups and activities are now resuming at The Hub, the John Holt Centre and other locations. Some groups, such as Women of Westhoughton (WOW) and the George Formby Society have new homes for their activities (see info pages).
- The Rotary Santa Float has been able to return in 2021 with Santa and his elves visiting local estates between 6th and 17th December. Their Christmas Carols evening and meal 9th December. Those who miss Santa can see him on Saturday, 18th December on Market Street.
- From 26/7/21 W.A.S.P. (Westhoughton Age Support Project) Monday afternoon bingo & social sessions at the John Holt Centre have now resumed (1:30pm). No word on the Winifred Kettle Day Centre re-opening, so no Thursday evening session as yet. In August (20th) the group will had its A.G.M. followed by a meal at the Mercure Bolton. These self-organising OAPs delighted to be able to see and be with each other again. The Christmas Party event takes place 19th December.
- Westhoughton Art Group started back at the John Holt Centre on Monday 26th July for its weekly art classes - 9:30am to 12:30pm.
- Looking forward to the new North West Counties First Division football season, Daisy Hill FC, with a new Chairman, some new signings, and a refurbished clubhouse, kicked-off against Chadderton FC at the New Sirs Saturday 31st July (3pm).
- The George Formby Society will now meet each month (last Wednesday from 7:30pm) at Westhoughton Conservative Club for some ukulele playing and a singsong. First meeting 25/8/21. Next 27/10/21.
- Popular Ladies social group Women of Westhoughton (WOW) has now recommenced (2/9/21) its weekly Thursday evening programme, 7:00pm at the John Holt Centre (unless on an outing).
- Friends of Eatock Lodge have organised some Nature Walks (no Funday this year), and Daisy Hill in Bloom will had a morning village Litter Pick on Saturday 4th September (maintenance of planters continued).
- Wingates Brass Band returned to Westhoughton for a special live concert performance with an early evening 3-set concert at Westhoughton Cricket Club on Sunday 29th August - Band at the Oval - followed by a firework display. They are now back rehearsing and performing.
- Whilst both amateur dramatic groups are back working on productions, in September Westhoughton Methodist ADS has its first sell-out show since its 2019 pantomime - a Murder Mystery: 'Who Killed The Holiday Rep?'. The Panto, 'Sleeping Beauty' is on 11/12 & 18/19 February. Following the closure of the Bethel Church, the Bethel Crowd AODS is currently looking for a suitable venue for performances.
- Westhoughton Local History Group had been holding guest speaker events via Zoom on the 2nd Thursday of the month at 7:30pm, recently learning about Brookfield Hall. The are back for their Thursday morning meetings from 21st October.
- Grade II* listed St. James Church (Daisy Hill) welcomed visitors in Church and online for its Heritage Open Days Festival in September (details). The Church has now recommenced its first Saturday of the month community 'drop-ins' (10am-12pm).
Community Group Fayres
Not possible in 2020 and 2021, the late Spring and Summer period always have a wide range of community events: Public Events, School Fayres, Fundays, which we expect will resume next year - watch out for details here on WCN (Fayres).
In its early days a Westhoughton Community Network sub-committee started looking at group participation in joint events covering promotion, on-the-day activities and entertainment, and feeding back to the main group, 2012 saw two Community Fayres bringing together groups at public events held at Westhoughton Market - the inaugural event on 21st April and a second on 24th November. The following year a third event took place took place, Sunday, 2nd June at Westhoughton College as part of the W.A.C.O. 'It's-A-Knockout event.' In 2014, the 'Big Fun Day' took place up at Central Drive on Sunday, 1st June as part of an event involving Westhoughton College and led by Hope Church, who run the Hope (Community) Centre. Now most of the large community events will have had a WCN involvement, and facilitated individual community groups participating in events.
The summer of 2015 saw a brand new event launched to add a splash of colour and fun to the town centre, the 'Westhoughton Yarn Bombing Festival', led by Rainbow Crafts, which place over the weekend of 4th/5th July. A tremendous success and showcase for the community - a credit to organisers and all those involved in knitting the excellent yarn displays. Some great entertainment too from local talent. Further events have followed in subsequent years.
2016 also saw the return of the popular W.A.C.O. event on Sunday, 22nd May, this time raising money to support the Westhoughton Youth Project and local groups, with a madcap team event, attractions, and community involvement. The event was even bigger when it returned 2017 (late May Bank Holiday), with many thousands turning up to see this mix of competition, attractions, entertainment and community stalls.
In recent years the Family Funday at Eatock Lodge, the Barking Berrys Fun Dog Shows and Howfenbury became popular and essential events on the Westhoughton calendar. Hopefully we will see these return in the not too distant future following the enforced haitus in 2020 and 2021.
The strength of WCN is that we are seeing more and more co-operation between groups to help, support and work together on events and activities. Groups coming together for events whether WCN-led or piggy-backing on group-led events, giving a sense of community, friendship and belonging. The tradition of the Westhoughton Carnival living on in new forms.
It is pleasing to see the influence of WCN spreading beyond Westhoughton with the rise of local community group networks around Bolton raising awareness of what is going on locally. In late 2014, near neighbour Horwich had a very successful first event, bringing together some 40 groups and organisations Horwich Community Working Together flyer; and more recently a move to establish a community network in the town. Around Bolton there are fledgling networks emerging as the local council seeks to encourage community engagement including the Green Umbrella Network (2018). In our 10th year, we are happy to talk about our experience with other groups and networks.
Westhoughton Community Network Foodbank Project
As a result of our groups both coming together and identifying a cause to get behind, Westhoughton Community Network has teamed up with Urban Outreach (Bolton) on an initiative to pool resources and work together to put in place a system to collect and then distribute food to the needy in our community; the aim, with the help of volunteers, is to develop a network of collection points around Westhoughton using Community Centres, Churches, Schools… A sub-committee formed, and as a result a number of donation and collection points have been established. More information
here.
class="mail" title="E-mail Westhoughton Community Network">Westhoughton Community Network
