GROUPS & COMMUNITY ENTERPRISES

Moorland Walks with Children

The walks are for anyone who wishes to join in asocial activity in which children are involved - ages range from small babies to retired people who just want to keep fit and active and to take part in a social occasion. Walks do not exceed 5 miles and a free packed lunch is provided. There is always at least one qualified walk leader on every walk either from the Peak Park Rangers or the Countryside ranger service at Leek.     >>MORE DETAILS

Institute of Agricultural Secretaries and Administrators [IAgSA]

With expert input from farm secretary Sally Wood, Amethyst is helping to run a local branch of IAgSA, in response to requests from graduates of the course. It meets every two months, with a different topic each time, and is open to non-members. One of the aims is to provide professional support and extra information to the students who have completed the Rural Business Administration courses.

IAgSA - Do you do the paperwork on your farm? Or maybe for another farm? Do you get confused and anxious about how to do it? Do you have queries about finer points that you would like to discuss with others? Would you like the occasional talk from an expert on a relevant topic? Come and join us!! The Institute of Agricultural Secretaries and Administrators is a professional organisation for people undertaking farm secretarial work. Amethyst helps to run the Derbyshire branch. The meetings are friendly and informal, and are open to anyone who is interested in the topic. We also aim to have a chance to share ideas and information and solve problems. Many thanks to those who responded to the questionnaire last autumn. After analysing the results, it was decided that Thursdays are the best evening for the next few meetings, and we have selected those topics that were the most popular in the survey. The venue will alternate between Tissington and Bakewell. Dates for future meetings are: (see events page for more details)

Amethyst Community Enterprises
The Amethyst Community Enterprise [ACE] fund is unusual, maybe even unique! It can enable rural women to set up community enterprises with the aim of developing positive work opportunities for themselves and others, as well as benefiting the community. We can come and talk to individuals and groups informally or do a presentation on the subject 'what is community enterprise?' and explain the fund. New requests welcome - contact Mary in the office.

The funding for Amethyst Community Enterprises ended in May 2005. The Peak District Rural Deprivation Forum considers that the best support it can offer is to provide a "safe" holding company within which community enterprises can develop their business ideas. A holding company can empower residents to generate business ideas, undertake training, and develop employment opportunities, and protect them from personal or collective business risk. It can also supply office functions, and a whole range of practical support and information to existing and emerging community enterprises.

An evaluation event was held on May 19th 2005. Sixteen women plus Amethyst staff were guided by Mandy Wilson of COGS through a series of discussion exercises to review the last three years of Amethyst. A broad spectrum of involvement in Amethyst was represented. The material gathered will be merged by Mandy with responses to questionnaires sent out to a larger number of interested parties. The result will be written up as a report, the first draft of which will be available during July. Staff were pleased to note that the ideas and opinions expressed on 19th May confirm that the plans we are making for the future are in line with the wishes of women involved with the project.

The following enterprises are funded through ACE:

Rural Office Rescue
This rural temp agency continues its test trading, working for voluntary sector organisations in the High Peak and Derbyshire Dales. They continue to take on work, and need to recruit more staff and advertise for work. The dilemma is keeping the two in balance.
More about Rural Office Rescue

Peak Art Therapists
Their aim is to bring this art therapy to patients in the rural area, being well aware of its availability and its benefits in urban settings . Both members have attended business training courses and a business plan has been developed. They have undertaken a survey by sending out questionnaires and following up with telephone interviews. They looked at marketing strategy, specifically how to earn enough income to offer services to groups who have difficulty paying the commercial rate.

Following the initial eight months of feasibility and research study, PATh is now in business. They have been running group sessions for people who experience mental health problems and have conducted a series of workshops for parents of children with learning difficulties. They have received a doctor's referral for work in a client's home. There is considerable interest from other organisations and in some cases PATh can assist them to source funding to pay for their services. More about Peak Art Therapists.

Roundabout Creche
This group is investigating the potential for setting up a mobile creche for community groups and also for private events. Many of you will know how important the provision of a creche has been for Amethyst events, and some of you will know how difficult it is to do this without expert input. The group has undertaken market research to find out who would buy their service, and investigate the best way of providing it - maybe a van with toys and equipment, maybe a bus which could provide the play-space. A higher than average response rate to the market survey questionnaire, and some very encouraging responses provided a boost to the group. The responses are currently being analysed.

Low Cost Homeopathy
The aim of this new clinic at Bakewell is to make Homeopathy more accessible to people living in the town and the surrounding rural area.

The Low Cost Clinic is run by qualified and experienced Homeopaths, Ann McNeill, Dawn Keyse and Pete Baily, and is open to all children under 5, their siblings and their parents. It runs on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of every month, from 2-5pm. The cost is £15 including remedies.

To book an appointment ring 01629 814815. Low Cost Homeopathic Clinic at the Bakewell Natural Therapy Rooms, Ferndale House, Buxton Road, Bakewell, DE45 1DA

Homeopathy is a gentle, holistic method of healing, suitable for everyone. It is safe and effective and leads to an improvement in general health, giving long lasting benefits. Homeopathy works by treating the whole individual and is effective on all levels treating mental, physical and emotional health. The aim of homeopathy is to create a steady improvement in general health and well-being. Homeopathic remedies assist nature in giving us the power to heal ourselves. They work gently to stimulate the body's own healing power. They are safe to use and so are ideal for babies and children both of whom respond particularly well to simple homeopathic remedies. It is also safe to use in pregnancy. Homeopathy is widely effective in treating a large range of illnesses, from minor health problems to very serious complaints. These include emotional and behavioural difficulties of all kinds as well as acute or recurrent infections, eczema, asthma, glue ear, insomnia, migraines and stress related illness.

Counterpane
Group members have undertaken research on current and future trends in care institutions, and planned visits to enterprises that are comparable to the one they are hoping to develop. They are pursuing a range of ideas around day care and employment, and preparing them for inclusion in the feasibility study.

Amethyst Reflexology - reflexology clinics, open to anyone over 60, are on Weds afternoons at the Bakewell Therapy Rooms. The treatment costs £10 for 30 minutes and clients, new or old, can just turn up, or pre-book by phoning 07743 680902.

The Amethyst Advisory Group and Amethyst Community Enterprise (ACE) Panel.
A feature of the Catalyst Grants programme was a local grants assessment panel, which was set up following an open meeting. The members underwent training, and made the decisions on the grant applications.. The Panel members now form the core of the Amethyst Advisory Group, and more women have joined. The group meets regularly to discuss and direct Amethyst, including the allocation of funding to groups and projects. The group is open to women involved in the project - contact Mary at the Amethyst Project to find out more.

Amethyst Community Enterprise Networking Event Seventeen women from the Amethyst community enterprises and the grants panel got together on the morning of Saturday 2nd October in Buxton Methodist Church Hall for a networking session. The time flew by, as the women learnt about each other's businesses and were absorbed and entertained by Jules Sebelin's account of Community Enterprise Training Association in Derby and the ways community enterprise is creating jobs and meeting community needs there. Jules left us inspired about the part women can play in this type of enterprise, and helped us clarify our ideas for future developments for Amethyst enterprises. The event closed with a delicious and nourishing buffet lunch provided by Good For You, the Matlock co-operative wholefood shop, café and community venue. We plan to hold more networking and training events in 2005. The feedback certainly emphasised how useful it was to meet other women starting up community businesses, and to have some specialist input: the best thing for one woman there was 'seeing everyone together and seeing enthusiasm grow as a result'.