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County Durham Inclusive Economic Strategy - Have your say!

Durham County Council is building an economic strategy that will shape the County’s economic growth over the next 10 years. Businesses, large and small, in all sectors and across the County are being invited to take part in a conversation which will inform the strategy and give you a say on what is important to your business.Your views, experiences, knowledge, and ambitions will help us create the kind of economy we need for our County. The Big Econ-versation provides you with a voice to share...

LAND OF OAK & IRON HERITAGE CENTRE

As spring approaches the Land of Oak & Iron Heritage Centre, the team have been busy planning events, activities and workshops. If you’ve not visited them before, Land of Oak & Iron covers a 177km2 area from the River Tyne at Prudhoe, along the River Derwent and into County Durham.  The Heritage Centre is situated in the beautiful Lower Derwent Valley, with our lovely little Heritage Centre and café looking out onto Derwenthaugh Park - once a world leading iron and steel works, it has be...

INTRODUCING WILD WALLACE!

The Cooper Rose in Sunderland has undergone a 2.2 million pound refit and I was commissioned to paint my version of Wallace the Lion.  Wallace was a captive lion and performed in the winter gardens in the 1800s.  The museum has displayed Wallace since 1879.  I called my version Wild Wallace, what I would like to think he'd look like in his prime, and more importantly, Wild.  I included a couple of discrete battle scars, as he was a handful when he was at Sunderland, I can't s...

SEE NORIKOART ON HEXHAMTV

Last month Noriko ran a family friendly 1 hour art workshop on HexhamTV with her children.  In the show she demonstrated how easy it is to create Japanese paper collage with newspaper.  Here is lovely artwork made by people who joined in the workshop.For those who missed it, the recording is available to buy from HexhamTV. Just click here for the link to the recording.Noriko offers her art workshops both face-to-face and online. To find out more about her workshops, visit her website h...

ANN ENGLISH - I HAVE THREE EXCITING THINGS TO SHARE . . .

British Display Society AwardI’m proud to have been awarded Fellow of The British Display Society in recognition to my services in the Design and Display industry.  My story is also featured in their global VM Spotlight magazine (pgs. 46-49) (just click here to read the article).A-Z of Visual MarketingFollowing on from the A-Z of Visual Marketing masterclass I delivered virtually to DBN members during lockdown.  I’ve now developed the content into an online training course, this wi...

1950s FRONT STREET TERRACE AT BEAMISH MUSEUM

Join us to celebrate the opening of our 1950s terrace from 19th to 27th February 2022. Front Street terrace in The 1950s Town will include four new exhibits for you to explore - John’s Café, Middleton’s Quality Fish and Chips, Elizabeth’s Hairdresser’s and a recreation of the 1950s home of North East artist Norman Cornish.  Book your Beamish visit now!...

INTRODUCING OUR BRAND NEW KENYAN PEABERRY COFFEE

This is our very first peaberry coffee and it has been a fun coffee to roast.  Being a thicker denser bean, the peaberry develops differently in the roaster compared to normal beans meaning it took a bit more experimenting to get used to how this bean reacts and create a roast profile we’re happy with.  In the end we went for a light/medium roast that showcases the lush blackcurrant sweetness of this Kenyan bean whilst retaining a nice medium body.Our Kenyan peaberry beans originate ...

NORIKO'S LATEST CARTOON - "SAUSAGES"

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DURHAM'S UK CITY OF CULTURE BID IS IN!

DBN is proud to be one of the hundreds of businesses supporting #Durham2025, continuing our history of coming together to create something extraordinary. It’s our time to shine....

FANCY JOINING OUR DURHAM COFFEE CLUB?

Good Afternoon fellow coffee lovers! We recently hosted our first Coffee Course in the new training space at our roastery and it was such fun we just had to tell you more about it! We love sharing our passion for coffee with others and have created a series of courses to quench your thirst for coffee knowledge, hone your brewing skills and prepare you to join our Durham Coffee Club should you wish to become a VICP (very important coffee person). By completing tow or our coffee lover's ...

TRADING WITH RUSSIA & UKRAINE - DIT SUPPORT

From Paul Sparks at the Department for International Trade: If you’re a UK business trading with Ukraine or Russia and have questions about the current trading situation, contact the UK government's export support team by phone or online: https://www.gov.uk/ask-export-... or contact me directly for guidance. Also, there are “Sanctions” being placed on trade with Russia.  Below is a PowerPoint presentation that is used as part of our free “Export Academy”, ...

GILLIAN IS BACK WITH HER MONDAY'S STRESS-BUSTING TOP TIP

I'm back with my Monday's Stress-Busting Top Tip. This one's about kindness! Gillian, Feel Good C.I.C....

PHIL BENTON - FREE COURSE IN PHOTOGRAPHY STARTS 24th FEBRUARY

Our very own Phil from Phil Benton Photography will be running a FREE course in Photography starting Thursday, 24th February (7pm-8pm) via Zoom, and continuing for the following 4 Thursdays. You will learn the following in the sessions:Session 1 - Photography BasicsSession 2 - Information on Pixels and photo sizesSession 3 - FunctionsSession 4 - Light sources, Tripods and supportSession 5 - Practical outdoor photo taking sessionThis course is open to EVERYONE and ANYONE over 18 years of age. Spa...

RAND ROCKET LIMITED - SEE THEIR NEW WEBSITE!

Elm Marketing Solutions has launched a new website for DBN member Rand Rocket LtdThis exciting project has been on Melanie’s project board for quite a while as there were so many changes required due to the pandemic.  Together they’ve created a beautiful new website which allows customers to buy direct online from anywhere in the UK and Ireland. You can check out the new website by clicking here. This project was also part funded by Digital Drive Durham who are also DBN members....

​BIG IMPACT NETWORKING!

Yesterday was DoBusinessNetwork (DBN) first face to face meeting of 2022 at Willow Burn Hospice and it certainly was a one to remember!The group was a little smaller than usual due to covid but the room was buzzing with positivity and laughter. In the theme of Valentines Day and to ensure we made the most of our morning we did a speed networking session which meant we got to speak to everyone in the room!Although it looked a little manic at times it was great to see members c...

BEAMISH MUSEUM 1950'S TOWN VISIT

We were lucky enough to be invited along to Beamish Museum today to take a peek at part of their new 1950s development which is due to open very soon!Elizabeth’s Hair Salon, Middletons Fish & Chip shop and John’s Cafe were all open and we got to sample the chips, homemade ice cream and enjoy a nice hot cuppa to finish off.Thank you to Sally Dixon, Liz Peart, Lisa Wilkinson and all the Beamish staff who went out of their way to make us feel like VIPs. The 1950s v...

SHARE YOUR VIEWS WITH THE DERWENT VALLEY PARTNERSHIP!

The Derwent Valley Partnership (DVP) wants you to have your say on its community priorities for 2022 / 2023. Our ‘Priority Survey’ is now live and you are being asked about whether you have seen changes where you live, work, go to school or volunteer, and for your thoughts on which priorities the DVP should tackle and invest in during the next financial year. The DVP receives an annual budget to help tackle local priorities and issues so it is really important to us that we know where t...

RICHARD HOLDEN MP - APPRENTICESHIP FAIR 2022

DATE & TIME: Friday, 11th February 2022 - 11:00-16:00Good jobs, great training and long-term prospects for local people are at the centre of what I'm driving for when we talk about 'Levelling Up'.Following the massive success of my #JobsJobsJobsFair in September, I've decided to do an Apprenticeships Fair.  It will be taking place at Derwentside College, Consett, on Friday, 11th February 11, from 11am to 4pm.The fair will see apprenticeships on offer in a range of roles,...

DURHAM COFFEE BULLETIN - A LOOK BACK AT 2021 AND FORWARD INTO 2022

WELCOME to our first 2022 issue of the Durham Coffee Bulletin.  We would like to wish all our wonderful customers a Happy New Year!  May your 2022 be filled with happiness, success, exciting adventures and of course copious amounts of excellent speciality coffee! Before we jump into what is sure to be another amazing new year - we would like to briefly reflect on 2021.  It was certainly quite an eventful year with numerous big changes and excitin...

LIBRARY & POLICING PRECEPT CONSULTATIONS - 2022

Please find below a press release providing details of the current Library Consultation being run by DCC until Friday, 1st April 2022.  This information will also feature on our Facebook page and community website, and it will also be discussed at our March 30th DVP Board meeting. Please also find a link below to the Policing Precept 2022 consultation survey that is being run by Joy Allen, Police and Crime Commissioner until Monday, 24th January 2022. https://DurhamPCC.welcomesyourfeedback...

CHIGIRI-E (JAPANESE PAPER COLLAGE ART) WORKSHOP WITH NORIKO MATSUBARA

Join Noriko for a family friendly 1 hour Japanese paper collage art workshop (Chigiri-e) - an online event DATE & TIME: Thursday, 20th January 2022 - 19:00-20:00 (GMT) Noriko Matsubara is an artist, illustrator and children’s book author, originally from Japan and now based in Consett, County Durham.  She loves to connect children and their carers through art and books, and enrich people's lives through creative activities. Noriko's children's book series "Bocchi and Pocchi" has been publ...

FUNDING AVAILABLE FROM THE DERWENT VALLEY PARTNERSHIP'S 'FUN AND FOOD' FUND FOR FEBRUARY HALF TERM 2022!

Funding available from the Derwent Valley Partnership’s ‘Fun and Food’ Fund for February Half Term 2022 The Derwent Valley Partnership’s ‘Fun and Food’ Fund aims to support activities for children and young people during the February Half Term 2022 holidays, and provides an opportunity for groups, schools, early years settings and community organisations in the Derwent Valley area to apply for a small grant to help them deliver projects locally during this time. Applicants can apply ...

CITY OF CULTURE BID FOR 2025

It’s fantastic that County Durham is one of the eight places that are longlisted!  As highlighted, we now need to show the judges that the county and the region’s business community is backing the bid, which is due to be submitted on February 2nd next year. Securing the UK City of Culture title would bring transformational social and economic benefits to the entire region, at a time when the North East really needs investment, as we emerge from the pandemic. The impacts reported fo...

DECEMBER MEETING AT BEAMISH MUSEUM

Our last networking meeting of 2021 was held at Beamish Museum this morning and they certainly didn’t disappoint!  We had breakfast at the 1950s community welfare centre where we learned about the museum’s involvement with the 2025 Durham City of Culture bid and then we made our way along to the Masonic Hall where Matthew Henderson told us about the founder of Beamish and how a simple idea evolved into the world renowned open air museum that people know and love toda...

EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TRUST

Thank you to Elaine Murray from the Educational Development Trust for coming along to our last members meeting to tell us about the North East Ambition programme overview and the Governments Kickstart scheme.As promised we have uploaded more information about the programme below and Kickstart scheme below. Eliane has recently emailed us to say that she's been informed that Kickstart is coming to an end and all new applications must be in by the 17th of December.If anyone is interested ...