How companies and organisations in Dudley Borough are responding to the opportunities and programmes for the 2012 Olympics.
| Business Opportunities |
| The number of Dudley Businesses on the Olympics ‘Competefor’ website is 288. 163 businesses are in a position to receive alerts via Competefor.com and there are 125 “failed registrations firms” – i.e: those firms that have yet to publish their profile on the Competefor.com portal and as such will not receive alerts as yet. No companies for Dudley have as yet won any contracts, although there is one in Kingswinford that was used for the Winter Olympics in 2006.The Black Country Arts Partnership meeting has taken place and was positively received by those attending, particularly those from the creative industries. They have, at their request, each received details of all attendees as networking was one of the key benefits, and they have also requested a follow up event which is being arranged for late September. |
| Volunteering |
| Volunteering Counts is a new project to encourage more people who live in Dudley borough to volunteer. The project also aims to recognise the thousands of people across the borough who already make a real difference in their local communities through volunteering.The Volunteering Counts website is part of the Volunteering 2012 Project. The project is funded by Dudley Community Partnership through the Stronger Communities block of Dudley’s Local Area Agreement (LAA).
Volunteering 2012 is overseen by a steering group with representatives from: Age Concern Dudley; Centre for Equality and Diversity; Dosti; Dudley Council for Voluntary Service; Dudley District Citizens Advice Bureaux; Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council Directorate of Adult, Community and Housing Services; Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council Directorate of Children’s Services; Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council Directorate of Urban Environment; Dudley Primary Care Trust ; Dudley Volunteer Centre; Dudley Volunteer Organisers’ Network; St Thomas’s Community Network; West Midlands Police. A full-time officer, based at Dudley Volunteer Centre, has been employed to oversee the day-to-day work of the project. |
| Culture |
| There is a Metal festival taking place in 2011, Dudley would get involved in having events, rather than putting funding in. Fred Richings is attending the meetings and Penny Russell is on the committee for the tourism side. Stourbridge College do a specific piece of art work each year, usually with glass but could be done with metal as long as they know before the start of the academic year. It also – links to Rock the Castle and Metal arts workPeople Dancing – Maggie Lewis from Black Country dancing led on the Massed Dance event which was officially opened by Paul Kaynes on 4th July. The target of 2012 dancers over the weekend was achieved as this included audience participation as well. The event was successful in gaining the Inspire Mark which is the official log for the 2012 Olympics linked events but found the process difficult with little end value for the event.
The People dancing grass roots this bid being led by Maggie Lewis is currently under review due to the success of the initial event It will be revised for the November 2009 deadline Viv Webb of the Adult and Community Learning team is putting together a complementary People Dancing bid to run groups to target communities of adults who would not normally be involved in exercise or clubs to encourage them to arrange different classes of dancing i.e. disco dancing, belly dancing in community centres or rooms at back of pubs. The idea is to keep these clubs running after the Olympics as part of the legacy. It has been suggested that a local event should be organised for both adults and children to get involved in inter-generational activities. Big screen – the dance agency are putting a bid together for a portable screen and stage, the next meeting is in 2 weeks, this will be easier for everyone, regions will be able to bid for the use of this. This would become a regional resource for everyone to use. Get Set – is an education programme recently launched by LOCOG, offering schools and colleges an opportunity to develop a plan for 2012 as well as including the 2012 Games in wider school and college plans. Tourism and Image of the region – Dudley and the Black Country will be linking into any regional marketing and promotional campaigns during the lead up, during and after the Games for promoting the region as a place to visit. Contact: Kate.Millin@dudley.gov.uk |