Local charity Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT) is holding a murder mystery dinner evening to raise vital funds for a variety of projects that will benefit the landscape and communities of the Yorkshire Dales.

The event is being hosted by The Devonshire Arms Country House Hotel at Bolton Abbey, who chose the Trust as their charity partner of the year for 2011-12.

The entertainment will be provided by the award-winning After Dark murder mystery company, based in Lancaster.

Guests are invited to witness the evidence as an Agatha Christie-style parody unfolds before them.  There will also be the opportunity to interrogate the suspects in order to get to the bottom of the murderous crime that has occurred.  After a hot buffet and some final detective work, the evening will draw to a close with the killer being revealed and trophies awarded to the top sleuths.

There will also be a raffle to raise extra funds for the charity, with prizes including an overnight stay at The Devonshire Arms County House Hotel, kindly donated free of charge by the hotel.  The prize includes dinner in the Michelin-starred Burlington restaurant and a bottle of wine chosen by the Cellar Master to accompany the meal.

In addition there will be the rare opportunity for guests to bid in a mini fund-raising auction for one of only six places on an exclusive tour of the Duke of Devonshire’s Bolton Abbey Estate.  Telephone bids for this special auction are also welcome in advance via YDMT.

David Sharrod, YDMT Director says, “We are very grateful to The Devonshire Arms and to the After Dark murder company for making this event possible.  This promises to be an unforgettable evening with delicious food, singing, dancing, an array of madcap suspects and a confounding crime to solve.  So join us to see if you can solve the deadly mystery, and maybe even be crowned Super Sleuth!  Places are limited, so please get in touch to book your tickets soon.”

The murder mystery dinner takes place at The Devonshire Arms Country House Hotel, Bolton Abbey on Thursday 15^th March, starting at 7pm.  Tables and individual tickets are available to book now.

Tickets cost £25 per person including a hot buffet, and all money raised will help the charity to continue work such as restoring wildflower meadows, planting new native woodlands, supporting local businesses, education and outreach work, and providing training programmes for young local people wishing to learn countryside management skills.

For ticket sales, auction bids and more information please contact Sarah at Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust on 015242 51002 or by emailing media@ydmt.org.

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The Keynote Speaker will be Barry Dodd, Chair of the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership. There will be a networking lunch with market place of business support agencies and a series of bite size workshops to close which include: Planning and Mentoring, Social media for business, Tax changes and finance, The Marketing Mix – making it work for you, Time/ Stress Management, Energy Efficiency and Human Resources.

Final details of the event and how to book delegate places and market stand space will be circulated in due course.

As businesses return to normal after the long festive break, many operators will be wondering what they can do to sustain and grow their companies in difficult economic times. Help with forward planning and assessment is now available from a group of successful Yorkshire businessmen.

David Doorbar, Colin Bailey and Bob Owen have a combined total of 80 years’ experience of running businesses in Britain and abroad. This week they are launching Yorkshire Business Aid as a not-for-profit company to help small to medium sized businesses operate successfully in a difficult market, helping businesspeople to survive external pressures and grow their companies in sustainable ways.

David Doorbar explains: ‘Experience tells us that it is often difficult to look dispassionately at your business; to view your product or service through the eyes of the potential customer. We offer a full appraisal for our clients and provide what SMEs need to help change and improve their businesses. This is particularly important in this exceptionally tough economic climate, and until now there has been little help around to assist’. He continued, ‘One of this Government’s high priorities is to encourage business growth as a means of creating jobs in the private sector. Yorkshire Business Aid has letters of support from local Members of Parliament as well as Members of the European Parliament, which reflect the need for advice and mentoring to help businesses develop’.

The three partners have identified a yawning gap in support for local businesses. There is nowhere else that businesspeople can turn for impartial advice in their local area. Yorkshire Business Aid offers a full diagnostic assessment and action plan followed by a mentoring period of one year that would ensure success. Investment in the service starts at £95 per month for one year. Costs can be reduced or increased to dovetail with individual needs.

The New Year is an excellent time to take stock and consider the way forward to a successful and profitable 2012 and Yorkshire Business Aid is now here to assist. Anyone who feels their business could benefit from impartial advice can find out more and register their interest at

www.yorkshirebusinessaid.co.uk or telephone 01969 622888. It costs nothing to find out more and arrange a free initial meeting, plus everyone who registers receives 20 top business tips free of charge.

L – R: Colin Bailey. David Doorbar, Bob Owen

Yorkshire Business Aid

The successful applications include improvement works to St Michael’s Church in Spennithorne, to Long Preston Village Hall and to the community facility at Hudson House in Reeth.  A project led by the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes to celebrate local food heritage, and enhancement works along the Way of the Roses cycleway also received the funding from LEADER that they vitally needed.

Also successful was an innovative project which will build on work previously funded by LEADER with the Wharfedale Beekeepers Association.  The project forms part of the long term vision for the group at the Tarn Moor Apiary site, near Skipton, improving access to the site, creating interpretation panels for visitors, and extending the foraging season for the bees at the apiary.  It will also create an additional unique training opportunity, teaching rural skills to disadvantaged unemployed groups from the surrounding area, who may not have considered employment in the rural skills sector.

Rima Berry, the Dales LEADER Co-ordinator, said, “The Wharfedale Beekeepers Tarn Moor project was unanimously approved by the Local Action Group, testament to both the successful outcome of their previous project and the impact it is having for conservation and within the community.”

In the Yorkshire Dales region the LEADER Local Action Group has awarded over £2 million since the launch of the fund in June 2009.  Nearly all available funding has now been awarded, however applications are currently being invited for projects aimed at small scale enhancement schemes around villages, community facilities and amenity spaces. Further detail can be found on the Local Action Group website at www.yorkshiredalesleader.co.uk .

LEADER is a community-led rural development programme which aims to improve the quality of life and prosperity in rural communities through locally driven rural development initiatives and projects.

In the Yorkshire Dales area, Clapham-based charity Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust is the lead partner in the multi-agency partnership that is the LEADER programme.

For full details please contact YDMT’s Rima Berry at rima.berry@ydmt.org or call 015242 51002.

The Bowland Symposium
A Two Day Event Showcasing Sustainable Tourism
in the Forest of Bowland AONB

Mytton Fold Hotel, Langho, Lancashire – 1^st and 2^nd May 2012

 Come and join us to learn more about the many successful sustainable tourism initiatives that have been taking place in Bowland over the last six years.

• Learn first-hand from the tourism businesses themselves through business-led workshops

• Have      a ‘Bowland Experience’ and partake in a field trip exploring some of the      AONB’s best initiatives
• Find      out about current and future trends in sustainable tourism from inspiring      keynote speakers
• Share      ideas, explore ‘raising the bar’ and come away re-inspired having      established new contacts and opportunities

Full details in the flyer here Bowland Symposium.

The symposium is aimed at:

• staff working in AONB’s and National Parks developing their sustainable tourism strategies,EuropeanCharterParkapplications and relationships with tourism enterprises and agencies

• district      and tourist board staff interested in developing more sustainable      initiatives
• strategic      partners involved in tourism and protected areas
• tourism      businesses looking for inspiration, advice and good practice in      sustainability

Follow this link for Registration and more details: http://www.forestofbowland.com/bowlandsymposium

New information about the symposium will also be posted on our blog at regular intervals between now and May http://www.forestofbowland.com/symposium_blog

The symposium co-ordinator is Suzi Bunting, so please email Suzi in the first instance with any questions/queries suzibunting@btinternet.com

LPWGP Winter 2011-12 Newsletter FINAL

Wassailing: Learn to sing one or two examples of this traditional folk music and then try your skills at a nearby house where you will be rewarded with apple cake and cider, or similar refreshment.
Tuesday 17th January, 7pm
£7.50 for Washburn Society members, £9 for non-members

Heritage Coffee morning – come along and explore some of your family history and share memories of local inns and pubs.
Wednesday 25th January, 10.30am – 12noon
£3 per person

“The Pugin windows of Bolton Abbey” – a talk by Malcolm Parsons about the history of these very special and interesting windows. Refreshments included.
Saturday 28th January, 2pm – 3pm
£5 for Washburn Society members, £6 for non-members

“Latin, yesterday, today and forever” with Gillian Hovell (August’s Muddy Archaeologist). An exploration of how and why Latin travelled through the centuries, against all the odds, to become a living part of our modern lives.
Thursday 9th February, 2pm – 4pm
£10 for Washburn Society members, £12 for non-members

Advanced booking for all these events, except the coffee morning, is essential. Tel: 01943 880794 or email centre@washburnvalley.org

Get_Set_to_Grow

In partnership with MacMillan Cancer support, Craven CVS is running a New Perspectives course between February and March 2012.

The informal course will be led by tutors who have had cancer themselves. Each weekly session will run for two and a half hours;

The session will be delivered in such a way as to allow individuals to share experiences, gain confidence whilst learning to manage symptoms, stress and how to speak more openly about cancer and its effects with family friends and health professionals.

The poster provides all the information need to book a place. Please circulate and display the information. NP Poster