Andover Cycling Festival 2019: Halo Sports presented their plans for this years festival, which will be an exciting day of cycling routes in and around Andover and Test Valley, elite racing in the town centre and other activities to encourage people in to the town. Races will cater for a range of ages and abilities including families. Halo will also be doing outreach work with local Andover schools and hope to get some school teams together to take part.

 

Andover Military Connections: This project aims to help Andover military families connect more to Andover and help local school children understand Andover’s connection to the armed forces and the history of Enham Alamein through a range of activities. Events throughout the year include art exhibitions with work produced by children, military wives and families and an outdoor concert from the Military Wives Choir, culminating in a month long exhibition at The Lights in October.

 

The Wildflower Project: Andover Trees United are supporting a pilot project that aims to help children come learn more about wildflowers and trees through focused teaching. The project will also look at art installations in the high street using wildflowers and growing wildflowers through volunteers. All the planting will be moved to Harmony Woods in the last phase of the project, enhancing the existing woodland.

 

Hampshire CCG: The CCG have been working with Andover Vision Stakeholders and local residents to get their feedback on future health and access to services in Andover. An update on progress was given at the meeting which focused on how the CCG have been using the feedback from the last vision meeting and from engagement with other groups across the town to inform their new 5 year forward plan for Andover.

 

Town Mills Riverside Project: This project continues to move forward with detailed design of both the new entrance from Western Avenue and the new park along the river. Recently the project successfully submitted a bid for funding to Enterprise M3, who recognised the project’s integral part in the wider regeneration of Andover Town Centre, awarding more than £500k towards the costs of delivery. Works to the area are anticipated to begin in early 2020.

 

Workshops:

The Watercress and Winterbournes Project (River Anton) - Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust hosted a workshop on Watercress and Winterbournes project, where local people can get involved in surveying local rivers. The free training will give participants the confidence to survey stretches of river for the project in nearby locations. The training is free and there are four different workshops, in return participants will carry out at least one survey (but no more than two). Anyone interested in getting involved can get more information here: https://bit.ly/2GoQofP

 

The Community Bus – Love Andover ‘s Community Bus aims to combat social isolation, signpost people to local services and encourage people to take part in engaging projects including recording audio and video for broadcasting. The project has recently been awarded a grant of £77k from the government and the National Lottery, and a bus is currently being renovated to ultimately showcase a fully equipped multimedia and studio area. Funding will also help support a number of linked projects over the next two years. The project is looking for volunteers to be a part of this service, which will carry out outreach work at least three days a week starting in March. Anyone interested in getting involved can contact: mo@loveandover.com

 

Artists In Residence (CAS AIR Project) – Chapel Arts Studio talked about their ‘Artists In Residence’ project, which will see artists based at their studio at the Chapel within the grounds of St. Mary’s Church over the course of a year. Artists will work with local schools and residents to develop artwork for the town, the first project – sponsored by Andover Vision with funding from Test Valley Borough Council and  Andover Town Council - will link to the Vision’s ‘Connected Community’ ambition.

 

All the above projects are always looking for volunteers to get involved. If you’re interested in becoming part of a project group or would be interested in taking a lead on a project that’s waiting to be delivered, please get in touch with a member of the Vision team and we’ll put you in touch with the right people.

 

We’re also looking for more venues to host stakeholder meetings, if you think you have a suitable venue that can host up to 70 people, please let us know, contact andovervision@testvalley.gov.uk

 

Our next meeting is planned for the summer, keep an eye out for posts on this site or on our Facebook Page www.facebook.com/andovervision. You can also join our mailing list for Andover Vision news, events and volunteering opportunities, email us at andovervision@testvalley.gov.uk