As we approach the end of 2024, it is good to take stock and have a look back over what has been a very busy year for us all here at Nidd Plus.
We started the year by completing Explore Nidderdale, our brand new guide to where to stay eat and visit in Nidderdale. The project was done on a punishing schedule of 6 months, and we are very grateful for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund grant via North Yorkshire Council that made the project possible. Our hope is to update and publish a new version every 2 years.
We also published our first Impact Report in the middle of the year–the culmination of over 2 years of training on impact reporting, then surveying our clients and assembling all the data, and writing the report and conceiving the design. We are very proud of the result and hope it gives all who work with us an insight into what Nidd Plus does–let’s just say, it’s varied!
We finally took delivery of our new community car–an electric vehicle–in September. It has long been our aim to reduce our carbon footprint in this way, and give our clients a smooth journey. Huge thanks to the mayoral York and North Yorkshire Net Zero Fund and the transport team at North Yorkshire Council for this funding.
We held the second Nidderdale Health and Wellbeing Fair in October, which was a huge success. It was an opportunity for around 30 organisations concerned with health and wellbeing in the widest sense to come together to network and to share valuable information with Nidderdale residents. You can find the list of attendees here.
We launched the Nidderdale Plus Small Grants Scheme in November, which is a rolling scheme, and represents a great opportunity for local groups to get hold of some “seed money” (up to £250) to help set up a small project or event. This complements our larger annual grant giving project, the Nidderdale Plus Community Fund which runs from late January to end-March each year. Both these funds come from the proceeds of sales at our charity shop on the High Street in Pateley Bridge, which is a great example of the circular economy in action, and directly benefits communities in Nidderdale and the Washburn Valley.
It was also a year when our Digital Champion programme went from strength to strength, adding on 3 more regular weekly sessions in more remote parts of the dale, and our befriending programme began to gain pace. Services that ran as normal were our minibus days out programme, our community transport service, meals on wheels, the community library and jigsaw library, tourist information, and our general information and guidance function here at the hub.
So, as we pause to have a few days off for Christmas and new year, we want to thank all our service users, volunteers, trustees, partners and anyone who we link with in any way! It has been a busy year–but another busy year awaits us and we look forward to the challenges and the opportunities as they come our way in 2025!
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!
