Well that was 2 days and September was gone! The cold mornings are setting in and we’re feeling it. Whilst out on the school run, I walk past houses with curtains still shut and look on with envy as I imagine people are still tucked up in their warm, cosy beds, and as I make my way back home, people are starting to move, wake up, look out of their window to see what the weather is doing, and show people, unknowingly, bits we don’t want to see…. close your curtains.
I feel the lead up to Christmas gets earlier every year, even Dumouchel have their Christmas menu’s out for food ordering; I’ve picked one up…. obviously!
I do love Christmas, the lead up it sometimes better than the day itself as I run around like an idiot making sure everyone is ok, this year I intend to drink a glass of something when I know they are, ok…the turkey will taste amazing!
Of late, I have been Vlogging on my personal social media pages; well it is called FACEbook! Being 45 and touching with a stick, the ugly MENopause, I feel it is my duty to share what I have been going through in the lead up to this ‘thing’ every woman fears; well I say fear, they just know it’s coming, don’t know when it’s going to hit and don’t know how hard it’s going to hurt! What they don’t tell you is that you may have years of symptoms beforehand; Peri-MENopausal. See how the word MENopause it’s got MEN in it, can’t they have it, it’s clear to me! Anyway, if you see me talking to myself or rolling my eyes in and around Garforth, I’m having a moment of unreasonable behaviour where everything just gets on my nerves; it’s not me, it’s the hormones!
I had a great night out on Wednesday with my Zumba masseef at The Station House Cafe. I had Pollo Alla Crema with Grilled Mediterranean Vegetables , Oh my goodness it was so tasty, I nearly licked the plate; you can take the scouser out of Liverpool..! Did you know they are open from Tuesday evenings now too – Eat in or order a pizza to take away #happydays 0113 286 6322 and enjoy Tuesdays with their ‘Cheeky Cicchetti ‘ nights
I had a lovely email from a young lady this week, who went to Garforth Academy, she now resides in London and studying a masters in journalism – she is doing a piece on Garforth, I think it will make her feely homely writing about her home town.
She is writing a positive article about businesses in Garforth and asked me a few questions, these were my answers;
- Why do you want to promote local businesses? When I became a full time Mum 14 years ago, I started to spend more of my time in the place I chose to call home, being from a marketing and IT background; and being very observant, I started to see a real disconnection between community and business. Why did people go elsewhere, why did people leave the place they called home? When someone buys a house, they mostly ask the question, ‘what’s the high street like?’ and then don’t bother using it once they’ve moved in. I wanted to see how I could change that, for several reasons.
- We should buy into a town we want to live, not just a home
- local people in local businesses offer local jobs
- Its kinder to our local environment if we travel less for things we need, less emissions
- We should learn to love local as it brings so many benefits to everyone
- Our local economy would die out and house prices would be affected if we didn’t have a good thriving town
- if more people used it, more of want they wanted would want to be part of it, creating a buzz.
- 85% of people who own a business in Garforth live locally – they could lose their livelihood, which in turn would have a knock-on effect
- We gave a platform to all local businesses on the high street, down the road or at home, which they currently didn’t have
- it allows me to do a really great thing in our town and still be here for my family
2. What do you think are the reasons for some local businesses closing down in Garforth? Over the past few years, we have been lucky enough not to lose too many, however we have lost a few important ones. It has always been my mission to get our local businesses using social media well, getting them online, helping them understand how it works and teaching them they best way to use it, consistently as this is how people now search – I feel if you don’t connect with the people, they can’t see you, they don’t look for you, and businesses are still in this day and age, waiting for that passer-by. We also need a balance, and variety, sometimes influencers have let things happen without long term thinking, and shifted the balance by letting bigger chain stores move in, also creating an out of town location, which doesn’t give people a reason to come to the high street.
3. Do you think it’s a particular type of business that has more longevity (and if so why/why not)? creating a night time vibe, brings day time footfall and I have lots of plans to make this happen. If we create a place people want to be with friends and family, then they come back for other things. I also feel Planning should be very careful what they let through, not too much duplication and with long term thoughts about other long-standing businesses.
What’s on?
Friday 5.30-9.30pm – Pie & Peas Pop Up at Quirky Ales with The Gin Shack The Gin Shack pop up Gin bar at Quirky Ales, Ash Lane, Garforth. A great way to try a nice selection of local and artisan gins every week. Join us from 5.30pm. See you there! No tickets required but if you have a special occasion and would like to reserve a table in gin corner, please message and we can organise it for you! PIE & PEAS FROM 6pm-8pm. Message to reserve yours! https://www.facebook.com/QuirkyAles/
Saturday 5th October 12pm – 3.00pm – Discover Vintage Open day at the showroom – Join us at our latest Showroom Open Day to showcase our latest Vintage and Mid-century furniture, lighting, ceramics and artwork for sale. Discover Vintage Interiors, Unit 13 New Hold Industrial Estate, Garforth. Leeds, LS25 2LD
(opposite the Aagrah, turn left into the industrial estate and then left again and DV is on your right)
Friday 11th October – The Gaping Goose 5-9pm
So this will be the last Pizza Box Co. night for this year.
Please all come and have one last Friday Pizza at Gaping Goose.
Please all spread the word.
Coming up…..
Children Christmas Party for Children’s Heart Surgery – This is being run by lots of local Heart families in and around Garforth and everyone is welcome to this great event
Saturday December 14th 2019 from 12.00pm until 4.00pm at Garforth WMC – this promises to be a great event and raising much needed funds for a fabulous charity
Planning
Nice to see some movement in the new Cocktail bar/lounge has begun this week
As mentioned in my previous blog, there is a planning application gone in for another cafe – if you feel you want a say in what comes to our high street, please do add your comments – look under Public access and place in Current and Garforth and you will find the details for 35a Main Street – https://publicaccess.leeds.gov.uk/online-applications/
P.S. Look our for the Audiology Practice !
Until next week…
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