Loads of thingstodonearyou.co.uk in Watford – says Town Mayor

When Watford Mayor Dorothy Thornhill was re-elected in May 2006 her on-going challenges included creating a family-friendly town centre and improving the Council’s leisure facilities.

Nearly five years since she was first elected in May 2002, Mayor Thornhill is one of Watford’s proudest advocates and most successful Mayors.

“I challenge anyone in Watford not to find an activity to suit them. Watford is a wonderful to place to live and has one of the widest sets of social activities in the UK – from dance to golf, pottery to the appreciation of Real Ale and ramblers to theatre-goers. Not only that, in 20 minutes you can be hang-gliding off the Chilterns. We have such a huge wealth of social opportunities for all ages and abilities,” said Mayor Thornhill this week.

The Mayor championed the town’s facilities at a meeting in February when local couple, Martin and Thelma Flammia, demonstrated their newly-developed website for the Hertfordshire area called thingstodonearyou.co.uk

This Hertfordshire born and bred couple now living in Watford recognised the need for a website that encompassed as many activities as possible – to make it easy for local people to log on and find things to do or to advertise events from the comfort of their own home or office.

As part of the development process and working hand-in-hand with brother – realflairdesign founder Barry Flammia – the three designed a questionnaire to determine how well the amenities are perceived by local people. The results:

· 80% said there are not enough things to do for parents with young children

· When asked are there enough things to do for teenagers and young people, the answer was, “not unless you want a drink”.

· 60% felt there was more going on in the area than they were able to easily find out about

· 79% said they would do more activity if there was a comprehensive site with a list of things to do available to them.

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Working in their own time, as both have full-time jobs, the Flammias’ online venture started about a year ago from their own personal quest to find week-end and evening activities to enjoy.

“Thelma and I wanted something to do one dull week-end and found it impossible to find all the information we wanted from one source. So we decided to provide something for the community ourselves. Our website is designed to provide comprehensive information on any activity as well as offering the perfect environment to advertise and improve the chances of an event’s success. We are now busy populating the site as quickly as we can and all local advertisers we have spoken to have been incredibly supportive.”

Said Mayor Thorn hill: “This site is the perfect way forward for a town like Watford. Our citizens are particularly computer literate – usage is higher than the national average – and I’m certain once people are aware of the site and realize how useful and user friendly it is everyone will be using it to fill up their social calendars and advertise local events.”

Visit the site at thingstodonearyou.co.uk

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Note for editors:

For more information contact Martin Flammia on:

Tel: 01923 255599

Email: enquiries@thingstodonearyou.co.uk

Or: lorna@thingstodonearyou.co.uk