The delivery of leaflets to more than 3,000 homes in Bradley Stoke has resulted in a surge in the number of votes cast for our two local telephone exchanges in BT’s Race to Infinity competition.
The national competition, which calls on residents to demonstrate demand for faster broadband speeds in their area by voting on a special BT website, will see the five areas gaining the most votes by the end of the year fast-tracked for the installation of fibre optic broadband.
The Almondsbury exchange (01454 prefix), which serves much of Bradley Stoke, has seen its tally jump by around 200 over the last seven days to stand at 687 votes, giving it a sporting chance of meeting the qualifying level of 1,000 votes by 31st December.
Current projections suggest that, if the momentum can be sustained, the exchange would be one of only 16 in the country (out of 2,495 eligible exchanges) to satisfy the terms of BT’s Race to Infinity challenge, putting it in a very strong position for being included in the next round of fibre optic upgrades to be announced early next year.
If you haven’t yet done so, please visit www.racetoinfinity.bt.com now to cast your vote.
Anyone with a landline is entitled to vote – you don’t need to be a BT customer. So even if you’re a Virgin Media customer already enjoying superfast broadband speeds, please take a few seconds to help the less fortunate in our community. Entering the competition does not oblige you to take any services from BT.
The Journal would like to thank the Bradley Stoke Harvester for sponsoring the campaign leaflets and the twenty or so volunteers (including three Town Councillors) who braved icy weather conditions to deliver them. Further sponsorship from the Willow Brook Centre, CJ Hole and Fortyfour Creative has funded banners and posters that have been put up around the Filton, Almondsbury and Bradley Stoke area to raise awareness of the campaign.
The recent leafleting initiative focused on streets that are currently not served by Virgin Media’s cable network [see list here] and residents in those streets were also asked to register their interest in Virgin’s services via a new Bradley Stoke ‘Cable my Street‘ campaign, which will be officially launched next week.
Jack Lopresti (pictured above right, with Cllr Ben Walker), MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke, said:
“The campaign for better broadband in Bradley Stoke, promoted by the Bradley Stoke Journal, is now in full swing and we are generating great responses from local residents. This campaign has been made possible by the generous donations from local businesses who have provided funds for publicity material and by the support of Bradley Stoke Town Council.”
“I have been assisting on the campaign for a few months now and have met with the relevant Ministers to highlight the circumstances here in Bradley Stoke. With your support we will be able to demonstrate the considerable local demand for the next generation broadband service that we deserve, the more votes that are cast and the more interest we generate from local residents the more fruitful the negotiations will be with BT and Virgin Media in getting faster broadband delivered.”
“I will be at the Willow Brook Centre on Saturday 11th December to support the campaign and urge anyone who is affected by slow broadband locally to come down and show their support for this important drive.”
Volunteers are still needed to leaflet drop in the few remaining streets on our list [see spreadheet]: Courtlands, Stoke Meadows and Winsbury Way.
We would also like to do a limited amount of leafleting in the villages of Olveston, Tockington and Hortham, which are also served by the Almondsbury exchange.
Leaflets are also being placed in libraries, community centres, leisure centres, shops and businesses throughout the area.
This week, we are aiming to get leaflets into primary schools in Bradley Stoke and Stoke Lodge.
Please get in touch by emailing bb4fabs@bradleystokejournal.co.uk if you can help with any of the above initiatives.
More info: Better Broadband Campaign (The Journal)
A big thank you to Clare S for volunteering (by email) to leaflet Courtlands, Stoke Meadows and Winsbury Way.
Thanks to Eric H for volunteering (by email) to do some leafleting in Hortham Village.
Thanks to Cllr Brian Hopkinsion for photcopying more Virgin leaflets at his own expense.