Month: September 2021

What’s On In My Town Group Launch Business Support Group

What’s On In My Town, who, for the last 9 years, have been keeping local residents informed on local events and news including traffic, launch their Business to Business (B2B) support networking group across their network.

There are over 20 What’s On pages across the UK with over 150,000 followers. As well as local community support, they have also been advertising local businesses since 2012. Helping businesses big and small to reach a new audience.

In 2018 WOIMTG looked at launching a B2B service, but something wasn’t right with the set-up of the group and what it offered its members. It was a very basic Facebook group and a website that didn’t work or do anything for its members.

Paul Taylor, owner of WOIMTG said “It wasn’t what I wanted or what our members deserved. It had its successes with members helping each other but it didn’t offer value for money which is what What’s On is all about”  

When the pandemic started people had more on their minds then an online networking group. This allowed WOIMTG to reflect and look at the group and decide what was needed to make this work for members.

“Covid taught us all about Zoom and networking online but after you leave the chat what else was there?” Paul said “So I looked at this and decided it was time to bring back My Business Support but making it bigger and better then before offering value for money for small businesses who need all the help in the world at the moment” “Local networking is great but with MBS you can talk and deal with businesses all over the UK”

Tim Mitchell who is part of My Business Support said “When I set my business up over seven years ago, I often felt out of my depth. Yes, I had a business plan and the skills but I suppose I did not really believe I could be a business owner. It was very lonely” 

“Being in a group like this you will be able to get a honest opinion from fellow professionals. Its ok asking friends and families what they think of your ideas but they will always tell you what they think you want to hear.  With my business if My Business Support was around I would have saved myself time and money. I’m looking forward to being part of My Business Support which will plays such an important role for small businesses.”

So why join? first of all, until 1st Jan 2022 its FREE and as Paul promised its bigger and better then before.

My Business Support will offer its members:

  • Online Networking
    Reducing the time you’re away from your business
  • Business Advice
    Ask advice from trusted professionals and your fellow members
  • Business Directory
    Promote your business on the site with your own web page
  • Featured Business of the Month
    A Business,picked at random, will be featured on our website and social media pages,
  • Members’ Offers
    Make use of members’ offers and add your own
  • Members Discount
    Discount on all My Business Support events and workshops
  • Local MBS Groups
    Currently in Kent, Midlands and Surrey with Sussex starting soon

As well as all this there will be MBS Lunchtime Webinars starting in November 2021 and Face 2 Face Networking are coming soon.

To mark the launch of My Business Support membership is currently FREE until the 1st Jan 2022 and the first 2 MBS Lunchtime Webinars are also free

For more information or to join CLICK HERE

Park for Free after Three Dorking Initiative Extended until Christmas 2021

Dorking Town Partnership and Mole Valley District Council (MVDC) are extending their Dorking free parking initiative until 24 December 2021.

The Park for Free after Three scheme, funded by Dorking Town Partnership, allows drivers to park for free every Friday from 3pm in St Martin’s Walk, Wathen Road, Southside and West Street car parks.

The offer, which encourages residents to shop locally and support the town’s businesses, was due to finish on 24 September, but it proved to be a great success and has now been extended until 24 December 2021.

Tickets are not needed during the free parking periods.

Charlotte Whitaker, Business Improvement District Manager for the Dorking Town Partnership, said: “We are delighted to be able to extend this initiative again to support Dorking and its businesses. You will be able to park for free on a Friday after three until Christmas, so enjoy browsing our independent boutiques finished off with a delicious meal at one of our amazing restaurants or pubs. What better way to spend a Friday and start Christmas shopping!”

Councillor Clayton Wellman, Cabinet Member for Sustainable Economy, said: “We are delighted to be able to work with Dorking Town Partnership to extend this scheme again, which benefits businesses and residents alike.

“Parking also remains free throughout the day on Sundays and on bank holidays in all our car parks, as well as every evening from six o’clock; and we have 43 free 30-minute parking spaces across Mole Valley.”

There are posters advertising Park for Free after Three on MVDC’s parking machines. If money is accidentally inserted during the free periods, it will be divided between the Chairman’s charities.

For all the latest news from Mole Valley’s businesses, join the Mole Valley Together Facebook group.

Epsom & Ewell Business Awards Entry Deadline Looms

Time is running out to enter the Epsom & Ewell Business Awards in association with What's On In Epsom

What’s On In My Town are very proud to be associated with this year’s Epsom & Ewell Business Awards 2021. What’s On In Epsom over the past few years has won Best Business For Social Media & Website and, the one we are most proud of, Best Business for Commitment to the Community. Winning these award helped get What’s On noticed and helped the business enormously. 

This year we have decided to changed the normal location based awards to a  general categories awards. Which we hope will make more businesses enter. This year’s awards are as followers.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER

We like to thank all our sponsors for their support not just this year but over the past 10 years. We also like to thank  Go Epsom who are sponsoring the awards program on the night.  

As well as our normal panel of judges this year we will also let members of the public vote for their favourite business in each category, via What’s On In Epsom Social media page. These scores will be added to the judges and sponsors scores to award the winner.

One last major change to the awards is this year the awards will be held on Thursday 18th November at a new bigger venue The Epsom Playhouse in the main theatre. 

Deadline for entries is Thursday 30th September 2021 So Don’t Delay enter your favorite business or enter your own business today. 

For More Details and To Enter Click On The Button Below

CLICK HERE TO ENTER

Card-Accepting Payment Machines Coming To Swan Centre Car Park

Starting on 4 October 2021, with works anticipated to take approximately two weeks, Mole Valley District Council (MVDC) will be installing new contactless payment machines on each level of the Swan Centre car park in Leatherhead, as part of a key project of Transform Leatherhead.

The brand new payment machines will allow drivers visiting the Swan Centre to purchase a parking ticket using a convenient contactless card payment system, in addition to the existing cash method and user-friendly RingGo service (which can be accessed using a phone, smartphone app or via the RingGo website).

The Swan Centre car park will remain open throughout the installation period, although there will be occasional disruption to existing payment machines as these are replaced in turn. Customers are advised to follow the temporary car park signage and use the payment machines on alternative levels or pay using the RingGo service.

The Sainsbury’s lifts will remain fully open and available to use during the course of the scheduled works, however the Swan Centre lifts will not be stopping on levels where installation works are taking place.

Councillor Clayton Wellman, Cabinet Member for Sustainable Economy and Security, said: “The installation of these new payment machines provides residents and visitors wishing to drive to the Swan Centre with a practical, cash-free payment option, making it even easier to visit and spend quality time in Leatherhead town centre.”

Councillor Keira Vyvyan-Robinson, Cabinet Member for Projects, said: “We are delighted to deliver this interim yet significant measure, as part of the wider Transform Leatherhead project. The new payment machines will make paying for parking quicker, simpler and safer for all users of the Swan Centre.”

For full details please refer to the Parking section of the MVDC website. For further information on the Masterplan for the Swan Centre please refer to the Transform Leatherhead website.

Epsom & Ewell Community Open Day For Residents

Free Community Open Day Showcasing Community and Wellbeing Services for Residents

On Monday, 27th September 2021 Integrated Care Partnership (ICP) (consisting of Old Cottage Hospital, Fitznells Manor Surgery, Stoneleigh Medical Centre and Cox Lane Surgery) will be undertaking an Information Open Day of community services available to its patients, and the wider public, at Bourne Hall, Ewell, in partnership with Epsom & Ewell Borough Council.

The Information Open Day will be open from 10am to 4pm and entrance to the event is free.  The exhibitors have been invited to represent a full range of social needs; from mental health support teams – Talking Therapies and Mary Frances Trust, Age Concern, Diabetes UK, Action for Carers, Epsom and Ewell Health Walks as well as the Community Police Team.

Primary Care Networks (PCNs) were established in 2019 with the specific remit to develop social, wellbeing, educational and medical services targeted to the specific needs of its local population.

Bill Cassidy, Business Director at ICP said, “Whilst ICP supports its patients through medical treatment, we believe that many requests for support and advice are borne out of a need for an increased awareness of the wider community support services available.  We felt that as a PCN, and the largest General Practice in the Epsom and Ewell area, we should facilitate this drive to inform our patients and have joined with Epsom & Ewell Borough Council to provide the first of regular open ‘surgeries’, with them kindly hosting us at Bourne Hall for the day.  We hope to deliver these on a regular basis going forward”.

Integrated Care Partnership is the largest General Practice in the Epsom and Ewell area with a list of circa 33,500 registered patients.  It has sites at Old Cottage Hospital, Fitznells Manor Surgery, Stoneleigh Medical Centre and Cox Lane Surgery, all based in and around Epsom and Ewell.

Mole Valley District Council supporting The Great Big Green Week 2021

The Great Big Green Week takes place between 18 – 26 September 2021. Mole Valley District Council (MVDC) is supporting the initiative and encouraging local businesses and residents to join in.

The Great Big Green Week is the largest event for climate and nature ever seen in the UK, with thousands of initiatives celebrating community efforts to tackle climate change.

MVDC is encouraging residents and businesses to make a pledge to do more for the environment . The pledge can be found on the MVDC website. 

MVDC’s website already hosts a range of Climate Change and Sustainability pages with information about what people can do to reduce their carbon impact, where they can find out more and details about how Mole Valley District Council itself has started its journey to becoming carbon neutral by 2030. 

MVDC has also facilitated the opening of a Mole Valley Climate Hub in the Swan Centre in Leatherhead, during September and October. The hub, which is operated by local volunteers, aims to engage a wider audience by hosting a range of educational events promoting the benefits of living a lower carbon lifestyle.  There has already been a positive reaction since it opened and has provided an opportunity for many local people to understand more about what they can do to have a positive impact on the environment.

Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Claire Malcomson, said, “I’m really pleased to be supporting the Great Big Green Week.  If we all make our own pledges and make even small and simple changes to our own lives, we can have a massive impact on the environment.  We all need to take our own personal decisions about what we can do to have a positive impact on our environment.  A suggestion is to join in with our Mole Valley Lottery and choose to support our Environment Fund, or have a look at our Mole Valley Go Green pages for ideas.  ”

More information about getting involved can be found on the MVDC website as well as on The Great Big Green Week website.

 

Afghan Refugee Resettlement

Councillor Stephen Cooksey, Leader of Mole Valley District Council

Leader of Mole Valley District Council, Councillor Stephen Cooksey, said: “Mole Valley District Council is looking forward to welcoming Afghans who have been displaced from their homes and has pledged to resettle at least two households.

“We have previously resettled a number of Syrian refugee families under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme and are now set to support Afghans who have supported the UK military in Afghanistan and who put themselves and their families at considerable risk in doing so.

“We are now seeking offers of accommodation from private landlords who want to assist and who have properties that are ready to let in Mole Valley within the next few months. Properties need to be self-contained with 2, 3 or 4 bedrooms, in good condition with the required and health and safety certificates, within walking distance of local facilities and public transport and rents that are close to the Local Housing Allowance.

“You can also help by volunteering to assist Afghan families resettle into their new homes and, if you are interested, please email:[email protected]

“Translators who speak Farsi/Persian (Dari and/or Pashto) are also sought and, if you can help, please email:[email protected]

“A further way to help is by making donations to charities working with refugees such as the Red Cross, Refugee Action and Refugee Council. Furniture donations can also be made to Besom, while toys and clothes can be given to local charity shops.”

Council responds to South Western Railway consultation

Serious concerns highlighted

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council is formally responding to the South Western Railway (SWR) consultation on changes to its timetables due to come into effect in December 2022.

SWR has stated that, after the pandemic, overall passenger demand would recover to around 76 per cent of pre-Covid levels. The company has therefore proposed to provide 93 per cent of the capacity it had before the pandemic struck, resulting in service cuts at peak and off peak times.

The council is responding to the consultation raising significant concerns with these proposals.

The council believe the proposed changes will have a negative impact on the environment, as by reducing the frequency of train services at Epsom, Stoneleigh and Ewell West stations, travellers will be left with less sustainable transport options. This could lead to increased car use with the negative consequences relating to carbon emissions, air pollution, congestion on roads, noise and borough residents’ health and wellbeing.

The proposals fail to take into consideration the transport need created by future housing growth both within Epsom and Ewell and the surrounding areas serviced by the rail stations within the borough.

The claim that the proposals will see services return to 93% of pre covid capacity does not apply to services running through Epsom. According to the consultation document, services to Epsom will be significantly lower. The reduction in frequencies at Epsom, Stoneleigh and Ewell West is therefore vastly disproportionate compared with the rest of the South Western Rail network.

The borough’s excellent connectivity is a major contributing factor for local businesses and a reason that many choose to base themselves here. By reducing the frequency of services, the council is concerned that this will make businesses less likely to locate in Epsom and Ewell.

One of the justifications for reducing services through Epsom is because Epsom station is also served by Southern Rail. Southern Rail also reduced their services during the pandemic and there are no certain plans that these services will return. Southern Rail only run services into London Bridge and Victoria. There will be a disproportionate impact on many of this borough residents who travel to Waterloo and other transport nodes on this route, including Wimbledon and Clapham Junction. Further, Ewell West and Stoneleigh are not served by Southern Rail and will be impacted more significantly than Epsom Station in terms of reduced frequency of service.

As trains are being phased out under this proposal, there will be no capacity should passenger numbers require an increase in services.

To read South Western Railway Timetable Consultation Click Image Below. You have till Sunday 19th September to have your say. 

CLICK IMAGE FOR MORE DETAILS

Publication of Mole Valley’s Draft Local Plan Approved

Mole Valley District Council has agreed to publish its Regulation 19 draft Local Plan from 20 September to 7 November 2021.

Following discussion at an extraordinary Council meeting on Wednesday 15 September 2021, the Council agreed to publish its draft Local Plan. This version of Mole Valley District Council’s (MVDC) draft Local Plan, Future Mole Valley, has been updated to incorporate feedback received during a comprehensive public consultation from residents and key stakeholders in early 2020 in the Regulation 18 stage of the Local Plan process.

Changes to this iteration of the draft Local Plan include, but are not limited to, working to a lower overall housing target in the district and almost halving the amount of Green Belt, while in turn increasing the amount of brownfield land allocated for development. The publication of its draft Local Plan at the Regulation 19 stage is the next step in MVDC’s ambition to adopt a sound Local Plan that sets out how development in Mole Valley will be planned over the next 15 years and identifies locations for new homes and other development, whilst continuing to protect the countryside.

The seven-week publication of the draft Local Plan is not a formal public consultation, but still presents the opportunity for anyone to view and comment on the Plan and supporting documents. The Plan is available to view on futuremolevalley.org, as will instructions about how to submit a comment from Monday 20 September 2021. Hardcopies will be available at MVDC’s offices in Dorking, the HelpShop in Leatherhead and libraries in the district. For more information, please call 01306 885001 or email [email protected].

Following the seven-week publication period, the next stage will see MVDC make a final decision early next year whether to submit the Plan, supporting documents and comments received to the Planning Inspectorate for examination.     

Councillor Margaret Cooksey, Cabinet Member for Planning, said: “I cannot stress the importance of agreeing and adopting a Local Plan for Mole Valley. Without one, we risk losing control of where and how much development takes place in the future; the government will take away our responsibility. It is vital that we are able to dictate development and protecting our countryside on our terms. Do take a look at the Regulation 19 draft Plan and supplementary documents. Any comments you make will be reviewed, together with the Plan, by the Planning Inspectorate. You have until 7 November 2021.”

Mole Valley Community Lottery – support your community

Sign up and support your local community today and not only will you be in with the chance of winning weekly cash prizes up to the £25,000 jackpot, but, if you enter before 30 October 2021, you could win £1000 of John Lewis vouchers!

The Mole Valley Community Lottery is a lottery for the people, by the people of Mole Valley. It’s a fun way to help local good causes without giving up precious time. Tickets are £1 in the weekly draw where you get to choose exactly which local group you would like your money to go to.

50p of your ticket is paid directly to the cause you choose to support, with an additional 10p going to an Environmental fund run by Mole Valley District Council which benefits climate change initiatives in Mole Valley. 20p covers the prize fund and the remaining 20p covers the administration costs associated with running the lottery.

Unlike larger lotteries, 60p of your ticket purchase comes back into your community and the odds of winning a prize are much better, at just 50:1. It really is a win-win, even if you don’t win a prize you can be content in knowing that you are making a real difference to where you live.

Councillor Claire Malcomson, Cabinet Member for Climate Change said: “Since its launch in July, the Mole Valley Community Lottery has raised more than £2,755.20 for local charities and so far, 44 local groups have signed up. If you know of a local group that would like to raise more funds, please see the website for how to take part.”

To buy tickets go to www.molevalleylottery.co.uk.  There is a draw every week, on a Saturday.

The draw, including the John Lewis vouchers, is on the 30th October and the results will be announced at 8pm on the lottery website.