6 minute read
Bolton – the place
Bolton is renowned across the UK as one of the friendliest places. The warmth and welcome visitors receive from local people is a major factor in the town’s success as a place to live, work, study, visit and invest.
Bolton’s great location and transport links, down to earth approach to life, beautiful countryside, strong sense of history and heritage, and passion for sport, make it one of the most diverse towns in the North West. With a £1.2bn masterplan for regeneration in the borough underway, Bolton’s future is set to be bigger, bolder and more exciting than ever.
Economy and Employment
Bolton has a thriving economy with an output worth over £4.6bn.
It’s home to Logistics North – the largest logistics and manufacturing site in the North of England and a distribution hub for major international names including MBDA, Aldi, Lidl, Amazon and Whistl.
Getting around is easy in Bolton with a state-of-the-art transport interchange making transition from bike bus or train a doddle. Our connections with Greater Manchester and the North of England provide us with a perfect location for the movement of people and their knowledge and skills.
The town itself is a major shopping destination with the jewel in the crown being the Market Place – a Victorian former market hall that has undergone a £27m transformation to create a buzzing retail and leisure destination. Bolton also houses Middlebrook, the largest leisure and retail complex in Europe and the location of Bolton Wanderers FC, one of the most historic football clubs in the country. We saw a real testament to the Bolton spirit in the support of the club over recent years.
Education
From Early Years, right through to Higher Education, Bolton provides education for all. With top quality primary and secondary schools, academies and the independent Bolton School, we provide young people with a wide range of learning opportunities.
Located in the heart of the town, the University of Bolton is one of the fastest-growing higher education institutions in the UK. The university has a growing reputation for delivering excellence through its industry standard courses and world class facilities: a £31M health, leisure and research centre, a new business school and a law school. Bolton College and UTC Bolton are now part of the wider University of Bolton Group, creating one of the largest education providers in the country.
Further projects also in the pipeline include a £40m hall of residence in the town centre to accommodate a growing population, which already numbers 13,000 students.
Our Children’s Services perform strongly, with Bolton rated as one of the best authorities in the country when it comes to looking after its most vulnerable children.
Culture and leisure
Bolton is rich in culture and leisure opportunities and caters for all kinds of interests.
You could watch a show at the award-winning grade II* listed Albert Halls or visit the Octagon Theatre, another award-winning attraction that is currently seeing the biggest redevelopment in its 50-year history. Alternatively, you could attend a concert at the UoB stadium.
Visitors and residents alike are flocking to the newly refurbished library and museum to see the world-renowned Egyptology gallery that has been a magnet for experts from all over the world for years. The collection contains an extensive array of artefacts from Ancient Egypt, including a full-size reproduction of a pharaoh’s tomb. Other activities you can enjoy here range from toddler tales to book speed dating.
Bolton has a thriving community sector with over 1,500 amazing voluntary and community sector groups and organisations with almost 47,000 volunteers contributing 113,500 volunteering hours each week.
Bolton also hosts an extensive range of cultural events throughout the year, such as Bolton Food and Drink Festival, which is the largest of its kind in the North West, attracting more than 400,000 people over August Bank Holiday weekend. The streets of Bolton are bursting with market stalls, food vendors, street entertainers, children’s activities and great live music!
We are home to Ironman UK, the 4th largest Ironman triathlon in Europe, and which includes a military division; the world’s largest Ironkids race and a 5km Night Run UK. 2021 will also see the return of the Bolton Marathon which at one time had more entrants than the London Marathon.
We have great leisure facilities for all sports including football, swimming, cricket, golf, tennis, running and active community clubs in every discipline. We’re a world class sporting destination hosting the Rugby League World Cup, Commonwealth Games, Tour of Britain and the World Triathlon.
Making Bolton Your Home
Bolton is building on its rich industrial and cultural heritage to meet the needs of a growing population – currently 280,000 and projected to exceed 300,000 by 2025 – and provide a modern, well-connected base for a diverse range of employers and residents.
There’s lots of choice for housing from town centre apartments to countryside manor houses and everything in between. You could snap up a bargain with house prices below the national average! We’ve a strong social housing market too with a simple-to-follow application process.
Bolton and the Armed Forces
Bolton has a long and proud history of service with the armed forces which continues with the Lancashire Artillery TA Regiment today. Residents have served in conflicts throughout the world including during both world wars.
Notably, the entire Bolton Wanderers team of 1939 signed up and served in the 53rd Field Regiment of the Bolton Artillery, fighting in France, North Africa and Italy, and became a successful regimental football side. During the war the residents of Bolton also raised enough money in one week to pay for a new naval destroyer.
Bolton Council is committed to the Armed Forces Covenant and works in partnership with the Armed Forces community to honour, recognise and remember the contributions made in the service of our country. Many of Bolton’s largest employers are signed up to the Armed Forces Covenant and the Employer Recognition Schemes and we are encouraging more to do so. Returning to civilian life can be difficult for members of the Armed Forces community, so we endeavour to provide as much support as possible ranging from help finding a home, work or even new friends.
Bolton Council’s Workshop offer a Skills Support for Employment Scheme which offers free one-to-one support, training, qualifications, work experience and help finding the perfect job. There is also help readily available from Bolton Council and Bolton at Home to assist with rehousing during the period of transition from leaving the forces or at some future date.
There are a whole range of social activities, clubs, charities and civic events for members of the Armed Forces Community to get involved with in Bolton. Bolton Wanderers Community Trust supports the local Armed Forces community through their Friends For Forces scheme, which offers a rich network of events and programmes to provide support, guidance, physical health and mental wellbeing. These include walks, game days, health workshops, weekly football sessions, breakfast clubs, organised lunches and outdoor activity days. There is also opportunity to gain sport and fitness related qualifications while providing routes into volunteering and employment within the community trust and wider scale.
Members of the Armed Forces community can also get involved with civic ceremonies and events in Bolton such as Armed Forces Day by contacting the Mayor’s Office.
For further information about local support, visit https://www.bolton.gov.uk/armedforces or call 01204 333333.
