Get online

Free internet classes continue to run every Monday, 10.00am – 12 noon.  If you want to learn how to email, shop, or do research online then this course is for you. Gain confidence and open up a whole new world!

Get active

Looking to improve your fitness? Then try our popular weekly Zumba classes held on Monday and Thursday evenings in Thirsk Town Hall, 6.00pm-7.00pm.

Get creative

From June onwards, there will be artist-led workshops in life drawing, willow weaving, patchwork and embroidery.

Saturday morning kids art club is a favourite with our younger customers, giving children a chance to work creatively in a range of different art forms. There are two sessions, ages 8-10 years and 11-18 years; classes take place during term time only.

Exhibitions

Our current exhibition features work by North Yorkshire Open Studios artists and runs until 25 June. See a beautiful range of jewellery, textiles and ceramics celebrating natural forms.

From 8 to 29 July our exhibitors will be Flux, a group of artists all based in Yorkshire who work in a variety of materials. Entitled ‘Fired Up’ their work will include hand thrown vessels, resin sculpture and kiln formed glass. Workshops and demonstrations will run throughout July in conjunction with this event.

From 1 August to 21 September, we are pleased to host an exhibition by jeffjosephine designs, the creation of local artist Sophie Elm. As well as cards and prints, we will be selling two books illustrated by Sophie, ‘The Treasure at North Berwick’ and ‘The Sea Dancer at St Abbs’ (author, Jennifer Doherty). There will also be painted furniture and ceramics to tempt you.

Mmmm… cake!

Why not call in and have a browse or enjoy some lunch in our cafe? Our menu includes homemade soup, quiche with salad and a mouthwatering selection of cakes. Opening times for the café and exhibitions are 10.00am – 4.30pm, Monday to Saturday.

What next?

For more information about any of the above, please contact Janice McVay, Courthouse Manager on 01845 526536, email Janice@ruralarts.org or visit the Rural Arts website: www.ruralarts.org. Alternatively call in to the Courthouse and pick up a programme.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS SEMINAR IS NOW FULLY BOOKED
To add your name to the reserve list email Susannah Maxwell, Action for Market Towns Administrator at susannah.maxwell@towns.org.uk.

Do you constantly struggle to find the right funding for your town’s projects?

Once you find funding do you need to know how to bid for it successfully?

If this is something you struggle with, help is at hand. AMT’s Market Towns Academy, in partnership with North Yorkshire County Council, is putting on a training session especially for community groups and town councils working in Yorkshire towns, to help you solve these sticky problems.

Following this course you will be able to:

• Find appropriate funding for your particular project
• Understand the bidding process
• Bid successfully for the funding on offer

Why is this training for you?

AMT’s Academy training draws on its extensive experience of working with community groups and town and parish councils in small towns and villages across the country for the past 14 years.

Our Finding Funding training is specifically designed for such groups and has proved to be extremely popular.

When?

Wednesday 15 June 2011
9.30am – 1.00pm

Where?

Rural Arts, The Courthouse, Thirsk, YO7 1QS

• Download directions and parking information here {opens pdf}

How much?

North Yorkshire County Council has kindly subsidised this training which means we can offer a special price of just £15 per person.  This event is only open to attendees from Yorkshire & Humber.

Places are limited, however, so we can only accept a maximum of two bookings per organisation. Please book as soon as possible as we expect this training to be full long before the date.

For further information contact Susannah Maxwell, Action for Market Towns Administrator at susannah.maxwell@towns.org.uk. or on 01284 756567

What next?

• Find out more about the Market Towns Academy
• Share ideas on financing your market town projects in the AMT Forum

This event forms part of a 4-year programme of events, joint funded by AMT, the Big Lottery Fund and North Yorkshire County Council. The aim of the events is to give towns:

• the skills they need to make their towns sustainable
• valuable opportunities to learn from best practice and from each other

Insights from marketing specialist

This event was facilitated by Susan Briggs, a North Yorkshire-based marketing specialist, who gave a practical insight into low cost, effective marketing activities, including:

• Deciding on a Unique Selling Point (USP)
• Which promotional tools work best, and when?
• Quick, simple ways to market on the web
• Writing press releases to get no-cost publicity and
• Easy fast ways to massively improve print material – and do it without a big budget

Susan’s presentations certainly hit the spot, with delegates describing them as ‘sensational’ and ‘first class’ on their evaluation forms.

Susan is offering further support through her free online masterclass and ‘how to’ articles.  For details see: www.tourismknowhow.com

Practical example from Congleton Beartown

A good example of a town that had gone through the process of identifying its USP, and had developed a brand to promote it came in the shape of Congleton. Margaret Williams and Dawn Gibbons gave an inspiring and enthusiastic presentation about Congleton Beartown.

• See the Congleton Beartown presentation here (opens pdf in new window)

One fascinating aspect of the Congleton experience was that they had commissioned a Feng Shui study of the town, so they could really understand how local residents, businesses and visitors felt about the town’s current offer.

• Download the Feng Shui report on Congleton Town here (opens pdf in new window)

Delegates left the event enthused and full of new ideas, with 100% of delegates who completed evaluation forms reporting that they now had a much better idea how to improve the marketing of their towns.

What next?

• Find out about other Networking Events
• Find out about Training Events

• This event is now fully booked
  

Susan Briggs, a North Yorkshire based marketing specialist, will offer a practical and straightforward insight into low cost marketing activities that work, including:

• Deciding on a Unique Selling Point (USP) – some practical examples and options
• Which promotional tools work best, and when?
• Very quick, simple ways to market on the web – whether you have a website already or not
• How to write press releases to get no-cost publicity and attract more funders
• Working together – collaborative approaches and ideas that nearly always work
• Not just ‘yet another leaflet’… easy fast ways to massively improve print material – and do it without a big budget

Practical sessions will be interspersed throughout the day so the learning is interactive and fast moving.  You should go home feeling enthused, excited and not just clear about what you have to do next to improve your marketing – you’ll have already started it before the end of the day!

You will also be able to hear from one town which has done just this and, having identified their USP, have used it to promote their town with award winning results.

Download the programme for the day: How to market your town – seminar programme

Venue: The Courthouse, Westgate, Thirsk, YO7 1QS

Detailed directions, parking, transport and hotel information will be circulated to delegates nearer the time of the event.

If you have any questions about your booking, please contact Dawn Dowds, Action for Market Towns at dawn.dowds@towns.org.uk or call 01284 756567

We have set up a dedicated online forum to give you the opportunity to exchange ideas and queries with each other and with us before and after the event, to let others know you’re going, or to ask any questions you would like answered on the day. 

• Go to the How to market your town – Networking Forum

Get ready to be inspired at the first North Yorkshire Towns Alive Market Towns seminar in Thirsk on Wednesday 1 July!

Packed full of fun but practical presentations and workshops, the day will be themed around Action for Market Towns’ campaign to make market towns more ‘Prosperous Places’ – even in the midst of recession.

Hear all about the success story of your home for the day – the award-winning Thirsk community cinema – and get tips on how to run your own community project to make your town a more vibrant and prosperous place.

Benchmarking to shape your town’s future

Then let Catherine Hammant lead you through the Benchmarking process, the award-winning project that she pioneered with 14 towns in The Welland Valley which gives you the tools to find out how your town is faring in a number of key areas – and then use the findings to shape your town’s future. We’ll get down to the nitty gritty with a group activity session to focus on what could make your town a more prosperous place, and to plan your next steps.

Share your successes and your dilemmas

An introduction to the Action for Market Towns website and online community will help you share your resources, success stories and dilemmas with other market towns around the region or even around the country, for those times when you can’t meet face-to-face.

Yorkshire & Humber Market Town Awards presentation

And last but not at all least, we’ll hear from those who are blazing a recession-busting trail through the region with the presentation of the Yorkshire & Humber Market Town Awards 2009. Don’t miss out on this chance to get the winners’ stories first-hand and ask them just how they did it.

All in all, it promises to be an award-winning day! Tickets start at just £15 for AMT members and include a delicious lunch and refreshments.

The programme will run from 10.30 am-4.30 pm with refreshments served on arrival at 9.45 am and opportunities for networking at the end of the day. Places are limited though so to book yours now, complete and return the booking form (click to download) to Steve Leatherbarrow.

Where: Thirsk Community Cinema (The Ritz), Thirsk, North Yorkshire

When: 10.30 am – 4.30 pm (refreshments from 9.45am)

Cost: £15 for AMT members; £25 for North Yorkshire (non-AMT) attendees; £35 for other attendees from outside the county

This event is organised by the North Yorkshire Towns Alive Programme – a collaboration between North Yorkshire County Council and Action for Market Towns supported by the Big Lottery Fund.