Oxjam Conference Birmingham
I’ve been installed as Community Participation Coordinator for the Oxjam festival in Birmingham, which takes place during October this year. Last weekend I attended the 2009 Oxjam conference here in Birmingham city centre. The conference was a great opportunity to remind ourselves of all the great work Oxfam does, talk about the Oxjam concept, learn from previous years and network with teams from other towns and cities. The event took place in Digbeth's Centre for Voluntary Action - a great venue.
Of particular note was a talk from John O’Sullivan who has a proud career in event management and latterly artist management. One delegate said John’s one-hour talk was more useful than his three-year event management degree! Oxjam chief Benny Littlejohn spoke about his experience of seeing Oxfam’s work in Sierra Leone. Most useful was the role specific training where I got to meet and share ideas with other Community Participation Coordinators from places such as Leeds, London, Manchester, Blackburn and Glasgow.
I’d be interested in hearing from anyone who would like to put on a fundraising event, concert, gig, comedy night, karaoke party, anything, here in Birmingham. Lots of support from the central team will be available, as well as a warm fuzzy feeling!
Equally, anyone who interested in volunteering to help with fundraising, campaigning, publicity or marshalling is very welcome to get in touch. Finally, if any community groups are interested in hosting a talk to find out more about Oxfam’s work, particularly in the field of climate change, please let me know.
I say campaigning because this year’s Oxjam is raising awareness for their Here and Now campaign, which highlights the human face of climate change. I’ll write more about this and the plans for Birmingham in future weeks, but for now, check out this video which aired at this year’s Glastonbury:
International Food Fair
I stumbled upon the International Food Fair in Victoria Square and New Street today, offering a wide variety of food from across the world. One of the more popular stalls wasn't from some far flung corner of the globe, it was from Shropshire! Alternative Meats offer kangaroo, ostrich and crocodile, amongst others.
Also available was paella, a huge variety of sweets, cheeses, fruit and veg, pretty much anything you could want.
The Food Fair ends tomorrow but will be open from 10am until 9pm if you fancy a wander round.
24 Carrots – Jewellery Quarter Farmers Market
One of the (few!) complaints of living in the Jewellery Quarter is the lack of local shops selling fresh produce. The Tesco Express is good at what it does, but from time to time we all crave fresh fruit & veg, fresh meat and that personal touch.
But fear not, for salvation is here! On Saturday 4th July come on down to the square in front of The Big Peg (click for map) for the launch of the Jewellery Quarter Farmers Market, called (of course) 24 Carrots.
The market was the brainchild of a local resident and has been driven by a sub-group of the Jewellery Quarter Neighbourhood Forum. They've done a sterling job and I believe nearly 30 stallholders are signed up. Check out the 24 Carrots website for more information.
Whilst I appreciate this is no substitute for a local butchers, bakers and greengrocers, it is a positive move. Before I moved to the Jewellery Quarter I lived above a butchers shop and a greengrocers so I ate fresh food nearly every day. With city centre living it’s so easy to fall into the trap of takeaway after takeaway. 24 Carrots should remind some people that fresh food exists, can be easy to get hold of and of course, tastes great. Full marks on the healthy eating scorecard, folks!
If you need any further encouragement, the 24 Carrots Launch coincides with the Jewellery Quarter Festival in St Paul's Square, featuring live jazz and classical music, a jewellers market and Matthew Boulton
themed heritage activities.
There is no excuse not to visit the Jewellery Quarter on Saturday 4th July!
Birmingham Lives
This afternoon I popped into the 3rd Birmingham Lives Local History Fair at Beetham Tower. The size of the event was impressive with stalls from all manner of organisations and from all across the city. I wish I'd had longer to stay and explore, but alas I had to move on. But I managed to catch the Ladywood TNT News stall, the Old Ladywood stall and the Jewellery Quarter's own Pen Room stall, where I tried writing with a nib and ink for the first time in years - and didn't make a very good job of it!
The Old Ladywood collection was simply superb, with the very knowledgeable Mac Joseph (proud owner of Old Ladywood) on hand to talk visitors through the 30+ albums of photographs. I found some great shots of Edgbaston Reservoir, some old political literature and some fascinating pictures of pubs. The latter really interests me, not just because I enjoy a pint from time to time, but because you can track social changes within an area from the changes to the pubs.
Mac has produced a 2010 Old Ladywood calendar and at just £5 it's an absolute steal. You can download the order form here.
It was great to see such a good turnout and it just goes to show how many people in Birmingham care about preserving their heritage.
Stan’s Cafe 24hr Scalextric Race
After the fun that was the Hockley Flyover Show, came the after-party. The location was in the A.E. Harris factory on Northwood Street in the Jewellery Quarter. Over the course of the weekend this was also home to the Stan's Cafe 24hr Scalextric race, timed to coincide with the Le Mans 24hr race, so inevitably the two came together!
The arena was very quiet as it closed to the public before the after-party began. But this allowed us to get up close and personal with the race, including me marshalling for 15 minutes! Listening to commentary of me marshalling a skalextric race was bizarre to say the least.
Some people will no doubt belittle an event like this as a waste of time. I couldn't disagree more. Theatre such as this (and that's exactly what I class it as) which allows people to get involved not only there in person but online through the commentary, makes the arts in general so much more accessible and interesting to a wider range of people.
I took a couple of snaps, but for far better ones from Pete Ashton go here.
Hockley Flyover Show – Save The Muhammed Ali Centre
What a day! I volunteered for Soweto Kinch's Hockley Flyover Show. For the unaware, the Flyover Show is intended to bring awareness of the creativity blossoming within the urban communities of Britain and in particular Hockley, where Soweto lives.
In an interview for BBC News last year, Soweto said, "Hockley was once an area where all kinds of iconic events used to happen; now the area is known for drugs, gun crime and unemployment. I live really close to the flyover and living in the same block as me is another jazz musician, poets, play writers, actors, dancers and all sorts of creative types. We really need to celebrate their work in the community. For me it’s about showing the breadth and excitement of the arts that people aren’t normally exposed to."
I'd say this aim was achieved and more. The crowd grew throughout the day and enjoyed a variety of acts from breakdance to drama, from marching bands to MCs. As the evening came, attention switched to the main stage where more established acts performed.
The focus of the day was on the campaign to Save the Muhammed Ali Centre, a run-down community centre just yards from the flyover which had been threatened with the bulldozer. A group of passionate "Street Pastors" have been campaigning to save it and I had a long chat with their leader Gerald, offering my help in fundraising amongst other things.
Lib Dem Councillor and new Cabinet Member for Leisure, Sport & Culture Martin Mullaney spent a lot of time at the festival taking in the atmosphere. He took to the stage during the afternoon to assure festival-goers that the Council would not be bulldozing the centre and would work with the various community groups on a plan to resurrect this vital community space. Good job Martin, but the less said about the dancing with Soweto and Ty the better 
In my role as Backstage / Artist Liaison I also got to chat to the two gents behind Jazz Alive, a London-based youth Jazz project whose performance impressed everyone. I'm now pointed towards the Midlands Youth Jazz Orchestra by Andy Derrick - I shall check them out!
Notable mentions must go to Clare Edwards and Soweto Kinch who produced a killer combination of organisation and artistic vision. Soweto amazed me with his energy and sheer passion for what he does. By 9pm I was ready to drop, but he was still bouncing around the arena. Plus a mention for all the fantastic people I met who are too numerous to list here.
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