TODAY – York Literature Festival – free events online

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Very short notice but it’s only just come to my attention.  York Literature festival has a day of free online events from11am and throughout the day York Literature Festival logo

From the festival website – “There is no denying that 2020 has been a tough year for everyone. So it is with great pleasure that we are bringing you a day of online events on Saturday 17th October, in association with MyVLF and Arts Council England.

Every event on the day will be FREE. All you need to do is to register with MyVLF before the events (also free) and then visit the website in time on the day. The great thing is that after you have joined the MyVLF community you can engage with the other literary events on their website as well. If you can not join us on the day, the events will still be on the MyVLF website for you to enjoy!”

See the  York Literature Festival website
Or Go straight to  MyVLF

Poetry, literature and history are on the agenda for the York Literature Festival

11am: On Love with poets, Seni Seneviratne and Afshan D’souza-Lodhi

12pm: Young, Black & British, Join Jeffrey Boakye and Okey Nzelu as they talk about race, religion and a lot more

2pm: Locating York in Literature with Dr Robert O’Connor and Drs Zoë Enstone and Adam James Smith.

4pm: Suzannah Lipscomb, historian and presenter, shares the voices of sixteenth century women and the realities of their lives.

5pm: Poetry with Andrew McMillan & Joshua Judson. Join them for readings from their latest collections.

Charing Cross

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The work on Caring Togethers planned move to our new base in Charing Cross has started. There are still a few weeks of work before completion, but we thought that we would give you a flavour of where we are at, just so that we can have a ‘before and after’ snapshot as the work progresses. As you can see, it is still a building site at present. We will keep you up to date with developments.

FACTS – A message for Leeds about COVID

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The third sector in Leeds has, along with all others, been going through a period of intense activity. We see the direct results of covid every day, in the impact on physical and mental health, the social and economic impacts, all effecting aspects of our everyday lives.

Third sector organisations have been at the forefront of efforts to contain and deal with the consequences of covid for the past six months. We are really aware that we are now in a second wave, and may be on the cusp of lockdown – this is our clear message of helping people to help themselves, and help others.

This is our “Call for Action”, a distinctive message, from the third sector:

The Shows Must Go On – Alfie Boe: Bring Him Home

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From The Shows Must Go On this weekend, a celebration of one of the West End’s most iconic voices with the full performance from his sell-out Bring Him Home Tour.

From Friday 16th at 7pm and available to watch for 48 hours

Alfie Boe: Bring Him Home – Filmed live at the Royal Festival Hall in London, during Alfie Boe’s sell out tour; the star of Les Miserables and the much loved tenor showcases his mesmerizing and outstanding voice in his very own show Bring Him Home. With an impressively diverse collection of tracks including the impassioned “Maria” from West Side Story, Ewan MacColl’s heartfelt “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, a truly breathtaking rendition of “Bring Him Home” from Les Miserables and an emotional performance of Martina McBride’s ‘In My Daughters Eyes’. Plus, Alfie performs a wonderful medley of James Bond theme tunes, and uniquely inspired renditions of tunes from Moulin Rouge, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and much more. Alfie is also joined on stage for some unique performances by his very special guests, including Matt Lucas, Melanie C, Tom Fletcher from McFly, Claude-Michel Schonberg and Shakira Riddell-Morales. The peoples favorite tenor, delights with a truly magical performance.

People of Leeds encouraged to collect tree seeds that will form future woodlands across the city.

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Dear all,

Leeds City Council is encouraging people within their household groups or support bubbles to collect tree seeds in their local parks and green spaces to help support the growing of future woodlands across Leeds.

Running until November, residents can collect acorns, beech nuts, chestnuts and conkers, and leave them in seed collection boxes across the city for use as part of the council’s Woodland Creation initiative.

https://news.leeds.gov.uk/news/people-of-leeds-encouraged-to-collect-tree-seeds-that-will-form-future-woodlands-across-the-city?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

People of Leeds encouraged to collect tree seeds that will form future woodlands across the city: Seed Collection Launch - Arium Greenhouse

Spotting TV Licence Scams

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Image of a laptop and mobile phone with an email alert on each screen

There’s been a big increase in scammers pretending to be from TV Licensing recently and so TV Licensing is working with Action Fraud and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to give customers information to help them protect themselves from scams

They have produced a guide to help you tell whether a communication is genuine and warn people what to look out for and it covers emails, letters, phone calls, text messages, home visits and how to report a scam.
https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/ss/Satellite…

Shared Moments: ‘Zooming with Oliver’ written by Oliver Cross

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The Corona-19 virus is an ill wind that blows nobody any good, unless you happen to be the very same Eric Yuan who introduced the Zoom corporation to the public in 2013, without realising that soon afterwards the public would find uses for Zoom that probably hadn’t occurred to Eric Yuan.

He must have thought there would be a host of business and educational uses for Zoom, which allows up to nine people at a time  to appear on one screen in a conversation from their own homes.

True they’ve been shrunk to matchbox-size and have a tendency to freeze mid-frame, as if they were having an extreme cardio-vascular event, but it’s not wholly unlike being in a roomful of people trying to carry on as if nothing too much had happened,

For example, a group of regulars at the Chemic Tavern in Woodhouse, Leeds – including me – meet twice a week on Zoom to try and recreate the aimless chat we used to enjoy before the big lockdown and now continue because, although it’s nothing like being in a pub, it’s something like being in the human race.

The problem is that we don’t have much to tell each other because there’s very little news that’s not virus-relayed and we don’t get out much. Often we end up showing each other what we’re making for tea or trying to remember all the good stuff we’ve seen on telly, which doesn’t take long.

The community group Caring Together in Woodhouse and Little London, which offers activities and advice for the over-55s and which Lynne and I belong to, has thought of a more imaginative use of Zoom.

Last week it attempted to recreate the full cinematic experience without big screens, screaming music or precariously-employed staff. There was, however, a Zoom showing of the 2017 musical The Greatest Showman, a bag of popcorn, nuts and  pleasantly unhealthy sweets, and, to represent the bit where the audience shuffles around looking first for their seats and then for the exit, a short Zoom discussion before and after the show.

It all made for something that felt like an Occasion because watching a film at home isn’t an Occasion and talking on Zoom isn’t an Occasion but combining the two, so that there is some sense of communal activity, is at the very least an Event, similar, in quality, if not in size, to a big sports final or a premier at the Odeon, Leicester Square.

Incidentally, The Greatest Showman, based on the life of the circus entrepreneur PT Barnum but not to be confused with the 1986 musical Barnum, was… well, not exactly Oklahoma or Carousel but still welcome enough in troubled and very rainy times.

Thank you for sharing Oliver, until next time….

p.s. And a big thank you to Ann for sharing your film with us 🙂

Arts & Minds Network 2020 exhibition – “Change is Gonna Come”

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The Arts & Minds Network brings together people in Leeds who believe the arts can promote mental well-being.

The theme of the 2020 exhibition is Change is Gonna Come and can be seen online this year https://artsandmindsnetwork.org.uk/exhibition/  (Click on each image to enlarge it and find out more)

“Be it social, biological or simply the passing of time, the one thing that never changes is that there is always change. Change can be self-generated or imposed, change can affect things on a micro or macro scale and change can be positive or negative or sometimes both at the same time. Change can alter the physical world around us or can be internally focused and live in our thoughts and ideas.

We exist in a time of change, both good and bad. Against a backdrop of a changing world due to the outbreak of coronavirus it is easy to forget that there are a multitude of other changes going on as well, ranging from the environmental changes happening to the planet that we all live on to the social changes being fought for and debated in countries around the globe. Whether it is a tree or a statue that is toppled, change is gonna come. Whether it is our own thoughts and feelings or our interactions with those around us that are altering, change is gonna come. Change is fundamental to our very existence and it is change that makes us human.

Change is both an opportunity and a challenge to examine ourselves and the world we live in. This year, Arts & Minds members have submitted a piece of artwork each responding to the idea of change, from personal shifts in perspective to changes on a global scale.”

 

Online ‘Scams and Frauds Awareness Session’ video from Monday 12th October 2020

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Dear all,
The video was from Monday’s ‘Scams and Fraud Awareness session’. If you do have anything to share and pass on, or even report then please do get in touch with us, on our mobile’s or by calling the office and leaving us a message, we will get back to you: 0113 243 0298 – or contact the police on 999 if a bogus caller or rogue trader is at your door, or afterwards on 101, or for scams they can be reported to Action Fraud on: 0300 123 2040. We do have leaflets we can send to you with useful information and contact numbers.
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I do have one additional note from someone who wished to share:
 
“It arrived via e Mail, It was from the home office,official looking logo, pointing out I had crossed into a paying zone whilst driving my car, £23,24 due now with links to pay and of course the threat of £80+ if i delay by more than 7 days and court action etc, quite a decent attempt ,I’ve seen a few this was the best , thought you should be aware”
 
Note: The Home Office will not send you an email for crossing a paying zone, you will usually get a letter in the post – if you are unsure call us or the council on the number you source, not the one from the email itself.
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Click on this link: bit.ly/2Fos3b8 and press play, and if there is no sound you may have to click on the volume button too -it is Catherine, Community Project Officer of the Safer Project part of West Yorkshire Trading Standards
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Note: It is on our facebook page, you don’t need a facebook account to view the video. If a box does appear asking yout to sign in, just click on not now and it will go and it will allow you to continue.  You don’t need to sign in either.
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Thank you Catherine, it was a pleasure to see you again and we look forward to seeing you again soon, warm wishes Lisa Argyle, Caring Together
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