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Issue 29: 26th July 2017

BID BACKS BEGGAR CAMPAIGN

Stratforward is backing a new summer awareness campaign around rough sleepers.

BID members will have seen the Stratford Herald’s wraparound on the ‘Think Before You Give’ campaign, with information from Rough Sleeper Engagement Officer Ann John-son and organisations including Warwickshire Police, the Street Pastors and the District Council along with its ‘Link’ Project.

It comes after a recent presentation to BID members where it was revealed that many of the "beggers" in Stratford are not actually homeless and can individually collect tens of thousands of pounds from people over the course of the year. An appeal was made to BID businesses to encourage their staff and customers to support the Stratford Link Pro-ject - a joint initiative by agencies in the town which offers tailored support on the ground to those who really need it, everything from housing and benefit support to showers and food - rather than donate to individuals on the street.

Stratforward Director Joe Baconnet said: “We too are appealing to all those who visit, work and live in Stratford-upon-Avon to give responsibly to recognised organisations

In this issue

Begging Campaign

Skimming Machine Found

Old £5 Notes

Tourism Awards

The Showcase Stratford

Rotary Duck Race

Literary Festival

Diary Dates

that support local homelessness initiatives rather than indi-viduals on the street.

“It’s so important to understand that giving directly to indi-viduals begging can perpetuate the cycle and it isn’t helping the individual.

“Stratford people and our visitors are generous and there is a certain section of the street community that are blatantly taking advantage of that generosity of spirit.

“Better that the generosity of those currently giving is tar-geted towards those organisations and groups that can make a difference to those genuinely in need.”

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NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICE OFFICER SPOTS SKIMMING MACHINE

If you used the NatWest Bank cash machines in Rother Street on Sunday, you may have fallen victim to a skimming device later found in the ma-chine by a member of South Warwickshire Rural Neighbourhood team.

The device was recovered from the machines by PC Craig Purcell, from the Shipston Police Safer Neighbourhood Team, who also caught the people involved.

PC Purcell found the machine after using it on Sunday while he was off-duty.

He said: “I rarely use cash machines these days but whenever I do I always pull on various sec-tions of the machine with my fingertips to make sure no card reading devices have been at-tached. These devices are usually tailored to specific cash machines and blend in very well with the facia. Without a good pull to dislodge them you'd never know they were there.”

The officer did exactly that on Sunday, finding a device. He pushed it back in place and waited for a man who returned to remove it, following him back to a car and calling 999 so officers could stop it before it left and ar-rest the suspects.

Two men aged 38, one from London and one from Essex, have been charged with being in possession/control of an article for use in fraud under the Fraud Act 2006 and were due to appear in court.

The Old £5 note

A number of BID businesses have reported customers attempting to use the old (Elizabeth Fry) £5 note. The old fiver ceased to be legal tender at the beginning of May. This may be a couple of isolated incidents but it may be worth checking that your staff know about what is or isn’t legal tender.

Old Bank notes can still be exchanged at The Bank of England, but please check with your banking provider as to whether they will exchange notes if you accidentally take one.

More info here at www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Pages/about/exchanges.aspx

DON'T FORGET YOUR AWARD ENTRY

Don't forget to get your entry in for the Coventry and Warwickshire Tourism & Culture Awards 2017.

BID businesses have celebrated success in previous years and we'd love to see more fly the flag for Stratford in the awards.

Entries close on August 11th - visit www.tourismandcultureawards.co.uk/ categories-to-enter for more details

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SHOWCASE STRATFORD CELEBRATES SUCCESS

Local businesses were centre stage at the stunningly successful Showcase Stratford last week, which named teenager Georgia Paton-Durrant from Shipston-On-Stour as The Face of Stratford 2017.

Georgia won the title after an X-Factor type vote involving expert judges in front of a 300-strong audience at the event at Stratford Arts House last Thursday, which celebrated fashion, beauty, music and dance.

The 16-year-old student, who is currently waiting for her GCSE re-sults, beat off competition from hundreds of other hopefuls who had entered the annual competition to win a modelling contract from UK agency Model Students.

She said: “Being given an opportunity like this is truly amazing, I’ve always dreamed of becoming a model and now I am being given the platform to do it!”

The Face of Stratford competition was part of an evening that showcased local independent Stratford businesses including Suits You Sir, The Rock Choir, Aspire, Gemini, Knights Fine Jewellery, Sew Me Something, Something Different, Shakespeare In Love, El Greco, The Little Gin Company, Leon Hale Hair, The Bear and The Loft.

Organiser Rachel Ngombe, from BID business Gorgeous Obsession, said: “The inspiration for the Showcase and the Face of Stratford is to demonstrate to everyone the amazing talent we have in this town. Not just talent for music and dance but also for business.

“It is an opportunity for young and old to get up on stage and strut their stuff whether they want to sing, dance or model. But it is also an opportunity for the many talented independent businesses in Stratford to work together to show what they can do. “

“Running a business is hard and often lonely but a project like this brings people together to share experiences and skills and to develop relations which in turn can benefit the whole busi-ness community.”

A raffle on the night also raised £200 for the Shakespeare Hospice.

BUSINESSES URGED TO TAKE THE PLUNGE FOR ROTARY DUCK RACE

Stratford businesses are being given the chance to get involved in the second Shakespeare Charity Duck Race following the success of last year’s event.

Tickets are on sale for the race, organised by Stratford Rotary, which takes place on Saturday, August 26th at 2pm.

This year organisers plan to launch twice as many ducks - 2,000 instead of 1,000 - including cor-porate ducks that businesses can buy to pit their wits against one another.

Last year BID businesses got involved, with the Stratford Alehouse winning the Duck Trophy.

To buy a corporate duck, visit www.mydonate.bt.com/events/shakespearecorporateduckrace.

For other entries, ducks are £2 and people are allocated a number which co-ordinates with a numbered duck. This can be done online at www.mydonate.bt.com/events/shakespeareduckrace2017.

There is a cash prize of £150 for the winning duck, £100 for the second duck to cross the finish line and £50 for the third winning duck. A fourth prize of a family ticket has been donated by

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Stratford Butterfly Farm.

Money raised will go to the Shakespeare Hospice’s new Children and Young People’s services.

This year’s Duck Race is sponsored by Puddle Ducks, one of the UK’s leading swim schools for babies and children, with support from others including BID members Stratford Alehouse, Lodders Solicitors and Stratford Upon Avon Boat Club.

Tickets will be on sale at Daisy Chain Gift Company on Chapel Street and Rohan on Sheep Street as well as at other venues in Stratford over the next two months.

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BIG NAMES UNVEILED FOR LITERARY FESTIVAL'S AUTUMN PROGRAMME

Stratford Literary Festival has revealed some of the top names that will be part of its short programme in autumn.

The festival continues its 10th anniversary celebrations with its autumn programme featuring an array of top authors, from BBC North America Editor Jon Sopel and war reporter Fergal Keane to human rights campaigner and former head of Liber-ty Baroness Shami Chakrabarti CBE.

On September 22nd, to coincide with the Stratforward-organised Stratford Town Centre Food Festival, award-winning food writer and chef Yotam Ottolenghi is appearing with his recipe part-ner Helen Goh to talk about their new collaboration Sweet.

Fellow chef, restaurateur and TV presenter Rick Stein OBE will be at the festival on November 8th, and the autumn series will round off with an event in partnership with the RSC on Novem-ber 16th in which bestselling writer Robert Harris will be in conversation with Mike Poulton about the challenges of adapting his trilogy Imperium which will be premiered later the same evening at the RSC Theatre.

The festival includes half-term activities with a Moomin-themed day of events on October 25th including workshops with Escape Arts, a puppet show called Mischief and Mysteries in Moom-invalley and competitions to win Moomin merchandise.

The autumn series is sponsored by Ely Street-based property specialists Sheldon Bosley Knight and all events, except Robert Harris, will take place at the Stratford ArtsHouse. Tickets are from £8 to £14 and can be bought from the box office 01789 207100 or online at www.stratfordartshouse.co.uk. A full programme is available at www.stratlitfest.co.uk.

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Dates for your diary! If you have an event you would like us to list here please email Sandi - sandi@stratforward.co.uk

Stratforward improving business in Stratford-upon-Avon town centre All information correct at time of publication.

Contact Us - Give us a

call for more information

Stratforward

10-11 Sheep Street

Stratford-upon-Avon

CV37 6EF

Main Line

Joseph & Sandi

01789 292718

Events & Finance

Ruth, Tor & Pauline

01789 299011

Town Hosts

07879 361735

July

21st to 4th Sept Warwickshire schools summer holidays

24th to 1st Sept Summer holiday activities for children at the RSC

26th Closure of applications to participate in the 2017 Food Festival Trails

26th to 4th Sept Birmingham schools summer holidays

August

3rd & 24th Stratford Races

10th to 13th Bulldog Bash

12th Book Binding Workshop @ The Shakespeare Centre

21st Food Festival trails tickets can be reserved.

26th Stratford Rotary Duck Race in aid of Shakespeare Hospice.

28th Bank Holiday

September

3rd Dragon Boat Racing

7th to 10th Open Heritage Days

WC 11th Stratforward Networking Event

16th New Place Garden @ Shakespeare’s New Place

22nd Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh @ The Artshouse

23rd & 24th Stratford Town Centre Food Festival

26th to 3rd Oct Stratford Music Festival

October

1st to 31st Stratford Halloween Festival

11th & 12th Stratford Mop

18th to 21st Hey Li’l Man @ The Bear Pit Theatre

19th & 20th Stratford Runaway Mop

23rd to 24th September 2017

www.stratfordtowncentrefoodfestival.co.uk

6th & 7th May 2018

www.stratfordfestivalofmotoring.co.uk

30th June & 1st July 2018

www.stratfordriverfestival.co.uk