15 Jan Have you made any New Year’s resolutions this year?

Have you made any New Year’s resolutions this year?  It’s that time of the year when it is traditional to make resolutions and try to make positive changes in our lives.  Personally, after years of resolving to eat better, exercise more, be a better friend, etc., and not achieving any of them, I have stopped making resolutions. I mean, why set myself up to fail?   So this year my husband and I talked about things that we would like to be different this year – relationships that need to be mended, money that needs to be saved, bad habits that we have got into that we would like to change, no specific goals that we can fail at, but just a chat about things we can do to make sure that we live our life in a more positive way.

So how about you?  Maybe there is a change that you want to make that your local community builder can help you with.

Want to lose weight?  Your community builder may be able to point you in the direction of a weight loss support group.

Want to spend more time on your favourite hobby?  Your community builder has information on all kinds of specialist groups across the bay, where you can find people who enjoy the same things as you do, and where you can get support and ideas.

Maybe it is time to do more exercise?  There are groups across the bay for almost any type of exercise and for any ability.  These include walking groups, seated exercise classes, yoga, Pilates, dance classes, table tennis and many more.  Your local community builder can help you access these.

Maybe you just want somewhere to go for a chat and a coffee, an opportunity to make some new friends.  Across the bay, there are coffee mornings, social clubs, lunch clubs – places to make friends and meet new people.  Again, your local community builder can help you find and access these groups.

Perhaps it’s time to get more involved in your local community?  There are a variety of ways that you could do this.

There are community partnership meetings for each of the areas across the bay.  These are a chance to have a say in what is happening in your local community and are often attended by local ward councillors, community police officers, staff from the local businesses and your local community builders.

Or you could volunteer to help a neighbour.  Your local community builder will have a list of people who live near you who need help in some way.  Sometimes it’s as simple as putting their bins out once a week or picking up some groceries for them when you are doing your weekly shop. Maybe you could spend an hour a week having a cup of tea with someone who might otherwise not speak to anyone all week.

In case I haven’t made it clear, whatever changes you want to make in your life in the coming year, your local community builder can point you in the right direction.   To find out who your local community builder is, go to this web address – https://www.torbaycommunities.com/builders/.

Alternatively, you can contact me, and I can either tell you about a group or activity in your area or I can connect you with your local community builder.  My name is Beth, and I am the community builder for the Willows area.  My email is [email protected] or call me on 07548 704876.

Wishing you all a happy and positive new year from me and my colleagues on the community building team across the bay.