Gallery 37 Launches New Creative Project
Tomorrow sees the launch of the latest project from the folks at Gallery 37, Birmingham's creative arts training organisation.
Every summer, for nearly a decade, Gallery 37 has been delivering a high-profile, city centre based programme of training in visual, applied and performing arts. Collaborating with many of the city’s major arts organisations, Gallery 37 employs professional artists to work with young people, many of whom have never been to an arts venue or event before.
The 2009 project will convert two vacant retail units in the Pavilions shopping centre into creative workshops for 16-24 year-olds. They will work alongside professional artists in collaboration with four of the city’s leading cultural organisations - the Birmingham REP, IKON, BMAG and SAMPAD - for three weeks before showcasing their work to passing shoppers.
Liberal Democrat Councillor Martin Mullaney, Cabinet Member for Leisure, Sport & Culture, said: “Gallery 37 is an exciting and innovative initiative that gives children and young people the chance to reach their full creative potential. This year’s participants will learn a variety of new skills and many of the previous participants have gone onto work in the arts sector.”
I'm a huge fan of programmes like this, using arts, music and sport to get kids off the street and armed with the skills needed for employment. According to the project, over 90% of youngsters involved have entered employment or training following completion of the programme.
Get Ready to SHOUT!
I've just heard today that the inaugral SHOUT Festival has been awarded a grant from Sport England through their Small Grants programme. This adds to the grant already received from the Arts Council.
SHOUT is the first of its kind in Birmingham, a cultural festival celebrating and showcasing the growing, vibrant LGBT community. The first festival, to be held during November 2009, features visual arts, performance arts, sports and community events. I was invited by the organisers, the Birmingham LGBT Community Trust, to head up the sports strand following my previous experience in founding and developing Birmingham Blaze FC.
The Sport England grant will enable us to showcase the various opportunities available for LGBT people to get involved with sport, with the ultimate aim of increasing participation within the LGBT community. Birmingham Blaze FC, Moseley Shoals swimming group, Moseley ladies rugby club and a badminton group are all signed up and will offer taster sessions throughout November. The showpiece of the month will be our "Urban Sports Day" to be held on Hurst Street itself, proving there is life beyond the bars and clubs.
There'll be loads more information coming soon, watch this space!
In the meantime, you can join the Facebook group or mailing list, or follow the festival on Twitter.
Brindley Place Farmers’ Market July 2009
Yesterday I popped in to the monthly produce market at Brindley Place to stock up on fresh bread, vegetables and other goodies. I got chatting to Martin from Halfpenny Green Vineyards in South Staffordshire.
They diversified from farming into wine when I was just two years old and now have a thriving vineyard and craft centre, selling their wines from their shop and at farmers' markets across the Midlands.
I am now the proud owner of a rather lovely bottle of raspberry wine and they are now the proud owners of lots of information about 24 Carrots - the Jewellery Quarter Farmers' Market!
Mechu License Restricted
Mechu on Summer Row has had its license restricted by the Council following a license review brought about by a resident of Islington Gates. The venue will now only be able to serve alcohol until 1am (Sun-Thurs) or 2am (Fri & Sat), with the venue able to stay open for an additional hour. The license had previously allowed Mechu to stay open until 4am.
From the minutes of the meeting: "The Sub-Committee's reasons for imposing these conditions are due to concerns by local residents in relation to noise nuisance and antisocial behaviour."
I wrote some time ago about the noise problems (from people and taxis) suffered by local residents. There were numerous other conditions emposed by the review, including specific taxi instructions and the fitting of a noise limiter at the premises. I'd be interested to know at what level this will be set.
The owners of Mechu have 21 days to appeal.
Click these links to read more about licensing and planning issues in Ladywood ward.
Former TRMNL Building Available
The Hockley Street premises formerly occupied by the TRMNL nightclub is now available for lease from commercial property agency Fleurets.
It's interesting to note the board advertises the premises as a "bar/restaurant", not as a building suitable for a nightclub!
I'll keep a close eye on what happens with this building and if any planning or licensing applications are submitted, I'll do my best to keep all local residents that were affected by TRMNL updated.
The previous tenants did restore much of the inside of this building and I'm keen to see it put to good use. Any budding entrepreneurs considering opening a bar/restaurant could do a lot worse than consider this building!
Roger Harmer Selected for Birmingham Edgbaston
The Selly Oak and Edgbaston Liberal Democrats have selected Birmingham Councillor Roger Harmer to fight the Parliamentary seat of Birmingham Edgbaston at the next General Election.
Roger represents Acocks Green ward and has been a Councillor for 14 years.
Birmingham Edgbaston is made up of four wards, Edgbaston, Quinton, Bartley Green and Harborne, covering much of the south-west of the city stretching from the fringes of the city centre right out to the Worcestershire border. It shares a large border with the Ladywood constituency around the Rotton Park, Hagley Road, Five Ways and Attwood Green areas.
Gisela Stewart is the current Labour MP but all the pundits have Edgbaston down as a certain Conservative gain. Having said that, the last two general elections have seen the Liberal Democrat share of the vote go up, so there is progress that can be made.
Parking Hotspots Revealed By Citizen Journalism Project
The Birmingham Post's recent headline proclaiming that Birmingham's social media reputation continues to grow has been backed up the success of citizen journalism project Help Me Investigate.
The new tool, aimed at helping citizens get answers, was set up by, amongst others, Birmingham social media celebrities (!) Nick Booth and Stef Lewandowski. It's supported by Screen West Midlands and 4iP.
One resident wanted to know where the most ticketed streets were in the city. Using the knowledge pooled on the website, she was able to obtain the figures which were then collated and processed by another user.
The ten most ticketed streets in Birmingham for the year were:
(Ladywood ward highlighted in bold)
- Alum Rock Road, Washwood Heath (3,995)
- Stratford Road, Sparkhill (2,418)
- Corporation Street, city centre (1,748)
- Alcester Road, Moseley (1,545)
- Waterloo Street, city centre (1,455)
- High Street, Harborne (1,391)
- Gas Street, city centre (1,083)
- Whittall Street, city centre (1,022)
- St Paul’s square, Jewellery Quarter (1,008)
- Dean Street, city centre (978)
Last week I had a beer with a city centre resident responsible for collating and processing the data. His passion on the subject shone through, so much so that it gave me the impression there must be someone just like him, passionate about every topic imaginable, no matter how small. Help Me Investigate might just be the tool they need to get their answers.
Good job, everyone!
Nightclub License Application Declined
The premises license application for 89-91 Livery Street has been thrown out by Birmingham City Council. I wrote to residents last month informing them of the application as I was not happy with the signage advertising the application. A large number responded to the Council which led to the application being refused on the grounds of public nuisance. Environmental Health also raised concerns on the impact of the Youth Hostel next door.
Massive Boost for Birmingham Metro Hopes
The front page of today's Birmingham Post reports the Government has backed plans to extend the Midland Metro in Birmingham. The plan would link up the existing terminus at Birmingham Snow Hill with Birmingham New Street station, although there's no mention of the line continuing to Five Ways as was originally suggested.
Plans for extending the line have been talked about for years, but money was always the sticking point. It would seem that Centro has now been given the go-ahead to bid for Government funding. Centro will ask the Department for Transport for £25m towards the £55 million Birmingham extension and £53m towards the estimated £70 million circular route around Wolverhampton.
However, there's no mention of the proposed Black Country spur linking up Dudley Town Centre, Dudley Port train station and the Merry Hill shopping centre, which I'm sure would make more of an impact (in terms of getting cars off the road) then the New Street extension.
Catch-Up From The Capital
Blogging has been non-existent this week as I'm down in the big smoke for a few days. People need to smile more in this city.
Here's a round-up of what's been going on back in Birmingham:
- Soldiers from Birmingham and the West Midlands will be welcomed home today with a march through the city centre. A one-minute silence will be observed and I will be joining in from 100 miles away.
- The "Gym For Free" scheme, so successful in its trial across Ladywood, looks set to be rolled out across the city.
- Jewellery Quarter based company Life has developed the brand concept “WorldF3rst” for the Formula 3 vehicle developed by Warwick Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre.
- Birmingham's Chief of Regeneration Clive Dutton has left the city for the London Borough of Newham, managing the transformation of the area due to the 2012 Olympics.
- The City Council is taking advice on hitting tough CO2 targets from environmental guru Jonathon Porritt
There's also plenty of talk about the proposed UK City of Culture bid on which I have very strong views, so will blog about that separately.
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