Residents and community groups turned out in force to the free Winter Wonderland event at Greenfield on 25th November. The event arranged by Greenfield Arts and supported by Great Aycliffe and Middridge Partnership showcased lots of Christmas craft and food stalls, activities and the unveiling of a winter light sculpture.
Greenfield Arts, had a lovely evening hosting the event where the masses came to sing, dance and be merry!  Everyone received a free gift of kindness from the Youth Cree volunteers who wanted to bring light to the dark Winter months. A colourful exhibition by Chrisitne Bowron was opened showing how colour can have positive effects on mood. This is open until 23rd December.
Hoards of wonderful local crafters came to display and sell their artwork and the Cree Lodge was officially opened, created by the Cree volunteers to offer warmth and comfort this Winter.
You can still come down to see their work at Greenfield Arts Mondays to Thursdays 10am – 9pm and Fridays 10am – 4pm. It looks especially great in the dark! A huge thanks to everyone involved and who came to visit!
A vital part of the event was to ask local people to vote on their most important priorities that GAMP and its partners should be working on for next year. The voting proved very popular, with residents identifying what matters to them most in their community. The GAMP Board will now look at the results of the public vote when setting their priorities at the January Board meeting (more news to follow on this soon). GAMP has an Area Budget of £120,000 to spend on local projects, with the public votes helping to decide which priority areas the funding is directed towards.
Brian Riley, GAMP Coordinator; said: ‘A really vital part of the Winter Wonderland Event was to encourage local people to vote for their most important priorities. The results will give the GAMP Board members a steer when they look at deciding what priorities we should be working on for the area next year. On behalf of GAMP, I would like to thank Greenfield Arts for arranging this event and also thank local residents for attending and taking the time to vote on their priorities ’
If anyone is interested in becoming involved with GAMP or receiving information on the work of the partnership; please email: gampaap@durham.gov.uk or call 01325 327441 for more information.

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