On Saturday 14 January 2017, one year after officially reopening, 110 visitors joined us for a slice of cake (made by the talented Danni) and to celebrate a really rather good first year at the community hub. It was certainly a bit unusual singing happy birthday to an actual building, but everyone seemed to get into the spirit of the party! Here are some images, from the fabulous Phil Banting…
It was a time to reflect on the past year and Suzanne, our Community Heritage Coordinator, was set the challenge of compiling a list which proves that the Baths really does boast an A-Z of activity in the building. Thanks to Pricelle and Karen for helping with this! See the resulting film below:
We also took the opportunity at our first year’s party to launch some new initiatives for 2017. This includes:
NEW Schools Learning Programme
Full details about our new programme devised by Sue Pope, Suzanne Carter and Toni Midlane HERE. Huge thank you to Bournville Junior School and Stirchley Nursery and Primary School for testing our resources and activities last year, and to volunteers Ellie and Rob for supporting our first schools ‘take over’ day.
Spreading the word across the city…
We are delighted to launch our NEW promotional film with British Sign Language and Subtitles – with massive thanks to our local residents and volunteers Sue, Sandra, Ron, Freddie, Phil and Chris who took part in making it, and to the wonderful Sarah Hayes who produced the film. Shout out also to Megan who gave her services as a BSL Interpreter for free. Please share this film through your networks to help raise awareness about the Baths; its facilities and history.
Spreading the word locally…
The next thing we launched at the party was our new marketing leaflet. Thank you to volunteer marketing professional Boris who helped us in the text edit stages and for the design skills of Kerry Leslie who turned our mock up into artwork.
Now we need to begin OPERATION SPREAD THE WORD! We have a leaflet for every household in Stirchley, but need an army of volunteers to help deliver them! Can you take a bundle for your street? What great exercise! If you can get involved within the next month, then please pop into the Baths to find out how you can claim a street or more. Or email suzanne@suzannecarter.co.uk to express an interest in this one-off volunteering opportunity.
A penny for your thoughts…
Finally, we thought we would try a new way to evaluate Stirchley Baths in 2017; its activities, facilities, events, the building, and your experiences of them. If you are in the building, please leave your thoughts and comments in our THOUGHT JAR – and you can help yourself to a penny if you wish.
What an exciting way to round off a great first year and to start a second. Thank you to everyone who came to the event and for your ongoing support.
