Category: Community

The Day of the Vinyl Junkies

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Saturday is Record Store Day!

Instigated in America in 2007, and soon followed by the UK, Record Store Day is a celebration of independent record shops, featuring artists and bands in live performances, and lots of special releases. And our local record store taking part is Manny’s Music, in Chatham High Street.

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The fellow music fans who work in independent record stores are so different to the chains – they get to know you, your taste. They see you coming and are pulling stuff off the racks and onto the decks ready for you, with a carrier bag to hand.

I spent most of my Saturday afternoons in a lovely little place called City Sounds, in Holborn, (where I once debated for about four hours whether to pay £25 for a cut out of A Touch of Class’s  I Love You Pretty Baby – I didn’t have the guts) and where Nigel and Dave would see me coming: Most of my salary went on vinyl. To be fair, I did use to also frequent Sounds Right in Poplar. Where’d they’d also see me coming and be waving covers at me as I entered …

The collection is now stored in the loft, awaiting the day I buy a turntable so I can dig it out, spread it all over the floor, catalogue it all (again, obviously. I’d done that once, back in the day. But who knows where that notebook is any more …) play it, reminisce about a bygone age of Caister Soul Weekends and the Swan and Sugarloaf, and then magically get it all on some device or other so I can store it all away again safely.

There are about 3000 pieces in my collection, a mix of albums, 7″s and 12″s and while most are r&b, jazz and soul, some are electro pop stuff which I was sooooo into at the time but can now, frankly, go.

I’ve often mentioned in passing to Manny, in his music store in Chatham, that I’ll bring them along to him, but here we are again, with Record Store Day this Easter Weekend, and I’m still no closer to owning that turntable.

So, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but you won’t be able to shuffle through my discarded Classix Nouveau, A Flock of Seagulls and Blancmange  vinyl on Saturday. However, Manny has plenty of stock without my rejects cluttering up his shop, so get yourself along there and have a good ol’ rummage.

To find out more about Manny, here’s an article I prepared earlier – when he first took over the store 🙂

Silent Sunday

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Anniversary: London Marathon 2012

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Silent Sunday

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Silent Sunday

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The Rats Bay Shindig – a weekend of arts, culture and river trips. Plus, good news from the Coastal Communities Fund.

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A new family friendly extravaganza of festivities is taking place on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th April, when the area surrounding Sun Pier in Chatham will come alive with arts and culture between 11am and 5pm each day.

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Overlooking the pier, Sun Pier House is opening the doors to the new Sun Pier Gallery and Tearoom for the first time. With panoramic river views, it’s set to become a scenic retreat in the busy town centre and will launch with a large exhibition of work by the 15 resident artists:  ‘Presenting, Sun Pier House’ will incorporate a variety of art, craft and fashion.

The weekend also witnesses the launch of the first charter boat trips in a generation from the newly refurbished Sun Pier, with the Sailing Barge Edith May and Jetstream Tours providing unique river experiences for all ages. On dry land you’ll find the inaugural Sun Pier Arts Market, a new outdoor market set to take place regularly throughout the year. Stallholders will be offering a variety of work to buy, food to sample, activities to try and classic carnival games for all the family.

The Rats Bay Shindig has been instigated by the managers of new creative venue Sun Pier House, with the intention to bring some much needed life back to the west end of Chatham High Street. Over the course of the two days there is a full spectrum of entertainment on offer, including art workshops, live music performances, river trips, dance classes, exhibitions, history tours, evening functions and a Sunday night cult film screening. It’s a weekend not to be missed!

For enquiries please contact Heather Burgess on 01634 812 805 or heather@sunpierhouse.co.uk

In the past two years, the Medway art scene has seen a massive boom of activity in the west end of Chatham, with Sun Pier House, Printed Wonders, Coalshed Press and the Nucleus Hub all based there. This is set to expand further, with news that Medway Council was successful in its bid for funding from the Coastal Communities Fund. Granted £598,525, the council bid states:

“This project aims to drive the regeneration of Rochester and Chatham High Street by developing business units within existing but currently redundant space around Sun Pier House and The Arches. The area will be provided with incubation space and social enterprise support provision for cultural/creative industries. The project aims to stimulate activity in the creative arts and provide specialist training for the unemployed through an innovative “Art for Work” programme, providing access to employment in this growing business sector.”

For join in a conversation about the fund, search #coastalcommunitiesfund on Twitter.

Special visit to Jack and the Beanstalk

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Guest blog by Stephen Jenner of GDS Productions.

The Kent Parent Carer Forum SEN children were special guests of Gillingham Dramatic Society Productions sell out production of Jack and the Beanstalk at the Brook Theatre during half term.

Special arrangements were made for the children and their careers to attend the Thursday Matinee, leading the chairperson of The Kent Parent Carer Forum to say: “A massive thank you to GDS Productions for making the day a success and enjoyable for the children”.

Bright and colourful costumes, amazing dancing and one-liners that appealed to all ages were just some of the lovely comments received from the public after the performances.

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Madam Mayor, Cllr. Josie Iles, who attended the Friday evening show and thoroughly enjoyed herself, needed no encouragement to join in with the clapping and laughing. She particularly enjoyed the joke at Medway Council’s expense:  The Dame said “that the Beanstalk needs chopping down, so she instructed Simon to contact Medway Council and get it cut down immediately.”  To which Simon replied:  “You’ll be lucky – it’s Medway Council, you’ll be waiting months!”

GDS Productions now move onto their next production which will be Hairspray, in October at the Hazlitt theatre, Maidstone. Keep up to date with them on their Facebook page.

For S.O.P.H.I.E – the GOMK charity book

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A wonderful side effect from my involvement in the Rochester Literature Festival was being asked by one of our exhibiting artists, Richard Jeferies, to write for his charity book, Goth on my Keyboard.

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The Goth character has an adoring public on Facebook and beyond, and is now using her celebrity to publicise a good cause close to home. Myself and fellow writer, Alison Eley, have responded to Richard’s brilliant drawings and character in this book, and Richard himself also adds emotive words to his images, as well as deliver the short and sweet cartoons that are GOMK’s usual platform. It’s a true life mix of humour and poignancy and frankly, well worth your time to read it. I’m thrilled and honoured to be a part of it.

Most of us are free to express ourselves in any way we see fit, whether through our choice of music, art, or the way we dress. Sadly, even these days, there are those who seek to destroy anything they don’t understand, or like, or is different, and Sophie Lancaster paid the worst possible price for this.

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The book is  now published and all the proceeds go to the S.O.P.H.I.E Lancaster Foundation, a charity set up to help fight hate crimes, following the horrifying attack that led to her death. Kicked to death for looking different. In the 21st century, in a civilised, mainly tolerant society, how can this happen? The book, including VAT, costs just £2.39. Please buy it by downloading from the link, and aid this cause in the following aims:

  • To create a lasting legacy to Sophie.
  • To provide educational group-works that will challenge the prejudice and intolerance towards people from alternative subcultures.
  • To campaign to have the UK Hate Crime legislation extended to include people from alternative subcultures or Lifestyle and Dress.

To find out more about the S.O.P.H.I.E Lancaster Foundation, visit the website here.

Stamp Out Prejudice, Intolerance and Hatred Everywhere. Thank you.

Ranscombe Farm Touring Exhibition

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What does Ranscombe Farm Reserve mean to you? was a postcard competition organised by Plantlife, an organisation that protects wild plants and wildlife at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve, in partnership with Medway Council, as part of a Heritage Lottery project to continue Plantlife’s on-going education and outreach work engaging and involving local people in it’s wildllfe, landscape and heritage.

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Launched in April this year, participants were asked to design a postcard-sized piece of art that illustrated what Ranscombe meant to them. Plantlife were looking for entries that were exciting and original showcasing Ranscombe’s wild flowers, landscape and history. There was an opportunity to win one of 15 prizes to be awarded across four age categories from young children to adults. In addition, the winners’ artwork has been printed as real picture-postcards.

To inspire local people, a series of free creative workshops were organised, run by professional artists at Ranscombe Farm Reserve, and free nature-inspired workshops were also offered to schools across Medway, with a handful of schools taking up the offer. Children created nature-inspired mono-printed flags and designed their own flowers.

The competition closed at the end of July with the final winning entries selected by three judges. The winners attended an awards ceremony on Sunday 1 September, as part of Plantlife’s Woodland Open Day with The Worshipful The Mayor of Medway Councillor Josie Iles as the guest of honour.

To celebrate this competition, an exhibition of the final winning artwork can still be seen in the following libraries across Medway: 

·      Cuxton Library – now until Tuesday 12th November

·      Luton Library – Tuesday 12th November – Saturday 23rd November

·      Rochester Library – Monday 25th November – Saturday 14th December

You can also find out much more about the work of Plantlife and Ranscombe Farm Reserve with various information leaflets available as well as the opportunity to take home a postcard pack of the winners’ artwork (while stocks last!).

For further information please contact Plantlife on:

Telephone: 01634 292062

www.plantlife.org.uk/ranscombe

Twitter @Ranscombe_Farm

http://www.facebook.com/RanscombeFarm

Day of Dance

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Whitstable based fundraising organisation, Trust Sulha, are holding a Day of Dance on Sunday, November 24th at the Horsebridge Arts and Community Centre.

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For the paltry amount of just £10, you’ll be able to spend the whole day learning four different dance styles: Ballet, contemporary, street and Spanish, under the expert tutelage of Hasland Dance Studios, the Page Mason School of Dance and Drama and Phoenix Performing Arts.

You must be at least 16 years old and no dance experience is necessary although comfortable shoes and clothes are a must. Bring along a plate of vegetarian food too, for a shared lunch. The day will run form 10am – 5pm.

Trust Sulha helps to educate young Afghan refugees and aims to bring peace through education. To book your ticket, visit the We Got Tickets page here.

Creative writing and heroic adventures

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The last weekend of the Rochester Literature Festival approaches!

Jaye's avatarRochester Literature Festival

We’re halfway through but there’s still lots more to do!

Whether you’re an experienced writer or a fledging, stretching those itchy pen fingers for the first time, we have three opportunities coming up for you to hone your skills and find inspiration from like minded people. You’ll find links to the booking forms highlighted.

Firstly, Write Around Town, led by our friends Barry and Sam of ME4Writers. Join them on a tour of our fair city, and let its stories unlock your creativity with creative writing exercises.

Next, the Potlatch – bring something to the table. Pen(s) and paper are a must, together with your favourite book, or part thereof, that you feel interprets our Other Worlds, Other Voices theme.

Our final workshop is led by Philip Kane. In From Sorcery to Starships, Philip will help us to craft and explore a world of our own creation that can…

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