Christmas at Hosfords

Christmas at:Hosfords!

This Christmas we have a truly great line-up of gifts&events to bring you the very best for Christmas !
Our Gift Vouchers are available at the Garden Centre,by post,or online via www.hosfordsgardencentre.ie

Christmas trees non-shed arrive on Thursday 26th,November.
Range of top quality Christmas tree stands.
Christmas decorations,candles&lights.
Extensive book selection.
Quality plants for indoors&outdoors.
Christmas Events at:Hosfords.

November 26th-January 8th,2010-The Bandon Art Groups Christmas Art Exhibition at The Blue Geranium Café-wide selection of work-ideal Christmas gifts!*
Sunday December 6th,2009 12.00-5.30pm Great pre-Christmas Farmers Market-huge array of cakes,local baking,fresh locally caught fish,the Mobile Pet Shop,crafts,jewellery,special cakes.
Christmas Concert 2.00pm Nancy&Miriam Long-harp&flute,with The Carbery Choir present a lunch-time concert in the Blue Geranium Café.
Sunday December 13th 2.00pm Peter Jeffers plays Carols for Christmas on the organ at The Blue Geranium Café –organ supplied by Jeffers of Bandon.

Sunday December 20th.
Christmas Farmers Market 12.00-5.30pm an array of local baking,produce&local crafts.
2.00pm.Christmas Lunch-time Concert with:Michael Lawlor(tenor)
Veronica O,Keeffe(mezzo-soprano),Annabel Adams(accompanist)

Christmas Opening Hours
Garden Centre
Monday –Saturday 9.00am-6.00pm.(including December 8th.)
Sundays until December 20th 12.00-5.30pm
Café
Sundays until December 20th 12.00-5.00pm.
Tuesday-Saturday (until December 23rd)
Tel.023-8839159
john@hosfordsgardencentre.ie
www.hosfordsgardencentre.ie

Transition Town Bandon

Just to let you know about Transition Town Bandon.

Bandon Sustainability project was created nearly 3 years ago by a group of people, modelled on the Kinsale Transition Town grouping.

http://www.irlonline.com/bsp/

It is now renamed to Transition Town Bandon to be inkeeping with the movement.

http://www.transitiontowns.org/
http://transitionculture.org/

We want every local group in Bandon to put forward delegates in order to achieve various projects towards the sustainability of the Town.

all the best,
Donal O'Riordain 023 8849965

Bandon Co-marketing - more details

Visit Bandon in November , It's Alive!

Bandon Co-Marketing Fund (a co-operative group of town traders in retail, cafes and pubs) are delighted to announce the launch of the "Visit Bandon in November" campaign. The committee has planned a month of competitions and special values offers as well as street entertainment such as radio roadshow, Christmas fair, "busking fest" and a fantastic "give away Saturday".

On each of the four Saturdays in November the aim of the initiative is to bring the local community out onto the streets and interact with the town in a way that is fun and entertaining. Many of the individual businesses of the town will be running their own promotional ideas. Giving all visitors and locals the chance to win prizes, avail of great discounts and most of all enjoy a family day out for free. Coupling these special November offers with community orientated�streets events, Bandon will be "alive" this November.

Bandon Town has much to shout about. The Town is not just offering great value shopping this November and December, it is a beautiful historical town on the River Bandon with its picturesque weir in the heart of the town. Twenty five minutes from Bishopstown, Bandon offers a real alternative to suburban living and shopping.

Bandon has a number of very well respected schools and with the ups and downs of the property market Bandon still represents great value for money. Community living in what could effectively be called another suburb of Cork City but in the comfort and pace of country life. Bandon enjoys a high percentage of "owner run" businesses and this can be felt by the friendliness of the town.

As the gateway to West Cork and a busy trading town, Bandon is a stopping off point to "stock up" when heading west or as a relaxing stop off point en-route to the city. For locals and visitors alike, Bandon is the place to visit this November.

Visit Bandon this November, its alive!

Saturday 7th - 12noon to 3pm
Busking Fest - Live local performers, dotted around the town.

Saturday 14th - 12noon to 3pm
C103 Road-Show & Community Clubs Trail
Live interviews, street DJ and information desks for community clubs located in different businesses around the town.

Saturday 21st - 12noon to 3pm
Give Away Saturday
Chance to win prizes when you shop in town this Saturday,
special offers and discounts in participating businesses!

Saturday 28th - 12noon to 3pm
Christmas Fair - Farmers Market, Country Market, Art and Crafts and Santa
All happening in the centre of Bandon Town

Bandon Co-Marketing Press Release

The Bandon Co-Marketing Group is a group of nearly 40 businesses who have created a fund to encourage people back onto the streets of the town in November.

The group launched their "Visit Bandon in November, its Alive" campaign on Thursday evening in Poacher's Inn Bandon. The group have joined forces with the town's voluntary "Working Together" group and www.bandon.ie to help re-energise the town by promoting all that it has to offer.

These groups, with the support of the Town Council and local Gardai have planned a month long campaign of family oriented fun and engaging events for November. The four Saturdays of November (7th, 14th, 21st, 28th) will be stuffed full of FREE family friendly activities.


The Launch was attended by many of Bandon's local business owners, the mayor, local councillors, county councillors and gardai along with representatives from www.bandon.ie and the Working Together Group.


A Busking Fest will take place on Saturday 7th with local performers playing in multiple locations around the Town. Styles and types of performances will vary so there will be something for everyone to enjoy.

On Saturday the 14th, we are delighted to welcome the C103 Road-Show to the centre of town. Get your requests played, win prizes or maybe even get to be live on the radio. What ever takes your fancy Bandon will be hopping to the sound of C103. In addition to the C103 Road-Show, we are offering families and individuals a chance to see what clubs and societies operate from Bandon. We will have information desks set up in multiple locations / businesses so as you move through the town you can follow our community information trail and learn about what on offer for your extra curricular�interests.

Following on from this, Saturday the 21st is the big "Give Away Saturday", if your coming to Bandon in November this is the Saturday to come, free draws, great prizes, "lucky dip" gift baskets and much more will be waiting to meet you.

Finally on Saturday the 28th all of the months activities will�culminate with a Christmas Fair. The Christmas Fair will be made up of the Bandon Farmers Market, the Bandon Country Market, art and crafts groups and of course, Santa.

This on street event will bring down the curtain on the Visit Bandon in November, its Alive! campaign and hopefully be the start of many more similar initiatives for the families and customers of Bandon Town, see you there.

Midnight Walk - Nov 20'th 2009

A walk worth doing for those we care about is taking place in Bandon on Friday, November 20'th at midnight.

You are invited to walk in memory of someone special in your life and help raise funds for a good local cause.

Entry costs €25 and you will receive a t-shirt with the name of the person that you are walking for.

Closing dates will be on Friday 30'th October and each walker must be registered. Any walker under 18 must be accompanied by an adult who will take full responsibility for them throughout the walk. Minimum age is 12 years.

The walk route is just over 4 miles and should take 1 hour approx to complete. It starts and finishes in the Riverview car park.

Please note that the walk is not a race and walkers are reminded not to run or jog.

The walk is also marshalled by the Gardai along with any volunteers who are available on the night.

For more info, please contact :

Rose Holland 086 8600728
Theresa mcCarthy 087 2330141
Siobhan O'Donovan

Entries can be sent to the Bandon Family Support Group at the Family Centre, Bandon with Midnight Walker clearly marked on the envelope or can also be handed in to Bank of Ireland c/o Michael Wall

Bandon Walking Club

BANDON WALKING CLUB IS GOING PLACES!!

YOU can still come along on the next walk; memberships will only be taken after the first three walks.

The format for forming a club is that the first three walks take place and will be at walker’s own risk. Then you can decide if you wish to become a member. There are three levels of walks, A, B and C. Only do what suits. So it’s up to YOU.

If you need to know more, email bandonwalkingclub@gmail.com for an automatic response.

NEXT WALK:

(Walk 3 of 3) SUNDAY 1ST NOVEMBER 2009 - Walk at Cappa Glin, Killarney.
08.30 a.m. Meeting at Ash Tree to Car Pool and travel toward Killarney.

Direction: Just before Killarney you travel through Glenflesk village,
(Petrol station and Church) you have a straight stretch and after the next turn in the road (White farmhouse) there is a Machinery/Plant Sale place on the right and a turn just after that for Lough Guittane.

NEW FEATURE FOR WALKERS – “IVOR’S IDEAS”

The following is a list of what you will need to start walking:-

A woolen or synthetic hat, gloves and scarf, A light fleece, A breathable t-shirt, A tracksuit or walking trousers (no jeans – no way – no excuses!!!!!) One pair of thick walking socks. Walking boots that are waterproof.

Waterproof coat (with a hood) and leggings A rug sack between 25 and 35 litres is the norm with a plastic liner which you can get in Mahers Sports Shop or possibly Welch sports or Jeffers.

The above is a list of items you would need on a hill walk. You will not need all of them on your first outing but I would advise you to at least get the t-shirt, fleece and boots.

Please try to have a waterproof coat and leggings with you as well. Bring a change of clothes with you. These can be left in your car and changed into afterwards. The norm is to bring a lunch and water with you. We will pool cars at the meeting point. Please note that you walk at your risk.

Bandon Marketing Initiative

Please find below details of an exciting initiative run by local firms for the betterment of all:

Bandon Co-Marketing Group

"Visit Bandon in November. Its Alive" - Launch

On behalf of the Bandon Co-Marketing Group (a co-operative group of town> traders in retail, cafes and pubs) I would like to invite you to come along to the launch of our November campaign to promote the town of Bandon and encourage local people back onto the streets of the town.

This is a new, positive, forward looking approach to restoring confidence in the value of supporting local businesses; reminding people of the inter-dependency between community and business and ultimately leading to genuinely more satisfying lifestyle in Cork's leading market town.

The launch will take place in Poachers Inn, Bandon (Clonakilty Road- opposite the GAA grounds) at 5.30pm on this Thursday (Oct 22).

This is a truly new way of working together for the town traders. The group consists of vast cross section of the town's businesses. It is based on the simple premise that the town is better and more attractive to people as a whole than just the sum of its parts.

The co-operative approach is in response to a particularly tough trading environment that necessitates us all to take control of our own fortunes. The campaign is action based and intended to restore positivity and reassurance to people that Bandon is a town Alive.

Across November we aim to remind people of what is great about their town and reward them for listening to us and staying local. The campaign will run throughout November, focusing mainly on Saturdays, with on-street activities & events, "dressing" the town to convey a celebratory feel and supporting advertising and pr.

There will also be the announcement of several exciting news items (like the jobs announced today by Newsweaver). Full details of the plan will be shared at the launch.

If you are able attend please confirm by reply to ruthhealy@urru.ie . If you are unable to attend please feel free to call the numbers below for further details of what is happening.

For your convenience, ongoing updates and photographs across the next few> weeks will also be available via e-mail.

Regards,
Ruth Healy
Urru Culinary Store
Bandon
00353 23 8854731
00 353 86 8372138

Marketing Bandon - 2 exciting initiatives

Two new initiatives are underway to help fill a void in marketing Bandon.

The first of these is the Bandon Co-Marketing Group.

This is a new initiative by traders in the town to work together in a co-operative fashion to promote the town of Bandon and what it can offer the public.

November will see a very visible campaign, entitled simply "Visit Bandon in November " aimed at encouraging all of us back on the streets of the town every Saturday - families and friends alike - to experience and reap the benefits of living & shopping in a market town.

There will be a series of events & activities on Saturday 07, 14, 21 and 28 including street entertainment, competitions, special offers and in-store events culminating with a Christmas Fair planned later in the year.

Full details will be available on the blog section of the updated http://www.bandon.ie/ website, through other local media and all of the 40+ participating businesses

Firms wishing to get involved in this event should email bandoncomarketingfund@gmail.com for further details or contact the following for more info:
Gerry Fitzgearld, Bandon Books bandonbooks@gmail.com
Frank O Leary, O Leary's oleary92@eircom.net
Liz Twomey, Crowley Calnan liz@crowleycalnan.com
Ruth Healy, Urru ruthhealy@urru.ie
or Orlaith O Donovan Seats

The second initiative is described below:

Bandon Email Network:
Creating a Bandon Email Network – Just email bandonnetwork@gmail.com

The purpose of this network is to create a database of email addresses. The reason why we need this database is to help solve a regular problem that crops up when doing things locally .... the word just doesn't get out there and people don't know what is happening or what is on offer locally. Local businesses need to keep business local. The old cliche of 'Keep your business in Bandon .... keep Bandon in business' is very appropriate these days.

Many people are still unaware of the wide range of services provided by local businesses. We're trying to bridge this divide. Businesses are invited to highlight their business name, address, phone, fax number, nature of business, email address and website if available.Members of the public are asked to just list their name. Email the info to bandonnetwork@gmail.com.

One suggestion is to highlight special offers from businesses to all contacts. The main proviso for allowing these 'special offer' emails is that they live up to their title .... that Bandon businesses are really and truly giving a great deal to local people. This could be done via a 'BCC' email. (In other words, you can't see anyone else's email address. this should help in ensuring that you don't get any spam through our email network.) There is also an idea to create an electronic Bandon newsletter.

If you have any suggestions as to where else we go with this network ...I'd love to hear them. If you have technical skills and would be interested in offering help ... well many hands make light work and you'd be helping greatly to make a difference locally. Also watch out for the new and updated www.bandon.ie website to be relaunched very soon

Regards,
T Collins