Find out this week's news from Oldham Council

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How We Can Help you
As you may be aware we have recently announced our investment of £3 million to help Oldhamers through the cost-of-living crisis.

One of the things we are investing in is our helpline, so that more people are available to support you if you're in a crisis.

By getting in touch with us we can get you the right support. Don't struggle in silence.

If you find yourself in need of emergency help, call 0161 770 7007 (9am–5pm on weekdays) or the
We Can Help webpage ([link removed]) .

Big Bang Bonfire – Thursday 3 November (5–8.30pm)
Oldham Council’s Big Bang Bonfire is back for its 10^th year.

The bonfire, is the largest event of its kind in the borough and is scheduled to take place at Oldham Edge Playing Fields (Henshaw Street, Oldham OL1 3EN).

The event starts at 5pm and final arrangements are currently underway for what promises to be one our biggest, loudest and most colourful bonfire event ever – including a fireworks display from UK champions Fantastic Fireworks.

The event is free to attend and open to all (Children under 16 years old must be accompanied by a responsible adult).
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Have your say on proposals for an Active Neighbourhood in Chadderton North and Westwood
Creating better and safer neighbourhoods is a priority for the council – that’s why we are proposing plans for an Active Neighbourhood in Chadderton North and Westwood.

The council has been contacted by residents concerned about the number of vehicles on the roads and congestion levels, especially as a number of primary schools are in the area.

Active Neighbourhoods look to create safer, quieter, and more attractive areas so residents have places where they can spend time with their family, friends and neighbours.

This can be achieved by installing items such as planters or bollards on streets.

These help reduce the amount of traffic passing through neighbourhoods.

By restricting ‘rat running’ traffic it will be easier and safer for residents to move around on foot, by wheelchair, with a buggy or pram, and by bike.

Less vehicles in the area will also cut air pollution and improve the health of people living in the area.

Four consultation events are being held on 18 October:

OBA Millennium Cultural Centre, Featherstall Road North. Sessions at 1pm and 2pm and
Chadderton Wellbeing Centre, Burnley Street. Sessions at 6pm and 7pm.

Residents will be able to look at draft plans followed by a question and answer session. Each session will last 45 minutes.

To book a place on one of the sessions and to take part in the consultation visit www.oldham.gov.uk/activetravel

The consultation runs until November 4.
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Hate Crime Awareness Week
This Sunday marks the beginning of Hate Crime Awareness Week and as part of this we’re encouraging residents to come forward and report incidents they may have been affected by.

Hate crime is an act of violence or hostility that is directed at a person or group because of who they are or what they think they are, and it can come in many different forms such as physical attacks, a threat of attack and verbal abuse or insults.

It is important to know that anyone can be affected by such incidents, so if you have been affected by a hate crime as a victim – or even as a witness – call 999 in an emergency.

In a non-emergency call 101 or go to a nearby police station and report it.

Extra support is available for people who wish not to contact the police or for those who need extra support.

This can be accessed at the Stop Hate Helpline – 0800 138 1625 – a free confidential 24-hour hate crime reporting service, or by visiting one of Oldham’s various third-party reporting centres which are detailed on our website. ([link removed])

Repositioning of town centre cable
Work is set to begin on Monday 17 October to reposition an electrical cable which runs underneath the town centre. Unfortunately this may lead to some traffic disruption.

Contractors will work seven days a week between the hours of 9am and 5pm (aside from Remembrance Sunday when it is agreed that works will be paused). The seven day a week approach has been requested to ensure that the works are completed as soon as possible so to not disrupt the busy period in the run up to the Christmas shopping period.

The cable runs from St Mary's/ Tommyfield Market, through Parliament Square and towards Sainsbury's. The moving of the cable should not involve any loss of power during the works.

Bus operators have been informed and will be re-routing buses for a short time.

It is estimated that work will be completed by the end of November 2022. Apologies in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.
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Delivering a Connected Oldham: 142 public sites benefit from new broadband infrastructure
The council and its partners have completed a broadband project which delivers faster speeds to 142 public sector sites and buildings.

More than 78km of new fibre optic broadband infrastructure cabling is now in place across the borough, meaning places which have been traditionally hard to reach such as the Castleshaw Centre, Uppermill Library and Greenfield Library are now connected.

Schools, council offices, libraries, children’s centres, fire stations can now access a full fibre network, providing the foundation for improved connectivity across the borough – helping to deliver better, and faster, services to you.

The Oldham scheme is part of the UK’s largest public sector Local Full Fibre Networks (LFFN) programme: a £23.8m investment across Greater Manchester.

Read our press release for more information ([link removed]) .
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Residents' survey
Oldham Council is conducting a borough-wide survey to help to understand your views on our local area, the council and council services.

This survey will be the biggest and far-reaching of its kind for Oldham for over a decade and will inform future decisions for the town for years to come.

The survey is being conducted by the market research company Enventure and will run from 13 October to 10 November 2022. It will primarily be conducted via telephone between the hours of 9am and 8.30pm, so if you get a phone call from this company it is legitimate.

There will also be researchers based in shopping and town centres around Oldham asking you to share your views about Oldham as a place to live.

The survey should take just over 10 minutes to complete and asks questions about the services we deliver and your views on Oldham which will be invaluable to us here in Oldham Council in deciding our future together.

If you would like to be further consulted on issues facing Oldham, please consider signing up to the Oldham Big Conversation and the Oldham Residents’ Panel ([link removed]) .

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Baby Loss Awareness Week: 9 to 15 October
Sunday is the start of Baby Loss Awareness Week. This is the 20th year the week has been held and has been vital in raising the understanding of baby loss and pregnancy loss, and signposting people to support they need to get through such a difficult time.

This year, we will be making all our posts purple so that those who may find the content difficult can recognise them without having to read them and scroll past. We'll also be hosting a live Managing Grief event on Facebook this Wednesday, 12 October, at 8.30pm. This will be hosted by Relax with Lucy who specialise in supporting people with baby loss using mindfulness techniques. You do not need to book and can watch free online ([link removed]) .

We will also be lighting up the Civic Centre tower next week in memory of all the babies lost.

Please follow our Facebook page ([link removed]) and Relaxation with Lucy ([link removed]) who has lots of helpful information and tips that can support people through such a difficult experience.
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Connect with us on Social Media
Oldham Council is on Twitter ([link removed]) , Facebook ([link removed]) , Instagram, ([link removed]) TikTok ([link removed]) and LinkedIn ([link removed]) . Join our followers and get the latest news, events, alerts from across the borough, business, regeneration, employment opportunities and much more.

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