Category Archives: Community News

The Shows Must Go On goes to Neverland

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This weekend The Shows Must Go On flies to Neverland and premieres Peter Pan from 7pm tonight (Fri 19th) until 7pm on Sunday 21st June.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUun-2hatcY

Alison Williams stars as Peter Pan and Christopher Walken stars as Captain Hook in the 2014 production of the classic Broadway musical that will entertain anyone who refuses to ever grow up. Telling the beloved story of Peter Pan, the mischievous little boy who ran away to Neverland. Get ready for show-stopping stars, stunning costumes, extravagant sets and delightful music that will have everyone singing along.

Note: This is a three hour event, but it does promise to take you on a magical and musical journey to the second star to the right.

Peter Pan was originally due to to be shown on Friday June 5th but the organisers decided to cancel that week’s event in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

National Theatre at Home – Small Island

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This week with National Theatre at Home you can see Small Island,  the sell-out production of Andrea Levy’s novel.

NT at Home Small Island - photo of Leah Harvey inset into a photo of the sea

Streaming  from 7pm  tonight – Thursday 18 June, until 7pm  Thursday 25 June.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pac-Furijsw

Embark on a journey from Jamaica to Britain, from the Second World War to 1948 – the year the HMT Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury, in this moving stage adaptation of Andrea Levy’s Orange Prize-winning novel. Hope and humanity meet stubborn reality as Small Island traces the tangled history between Jamaica and the UK and our characters dream of a better world. Hortense yearns for a new life away from rural Jamaica, Gilbert dreams of becoming a lawyer, and Queenie longs to escape her Lincolnshire roots, in three intricately connected stories.

A little warning: Please note that, as part of depicting the experience of Jamaican immigrants to Britain after the Second World War, some characters in the play use racially offensive terms.  BBFC rating is 15 due to some strong language, discriminatory behaviour, occasional sexual references and mild violence.  The running time is 2hrs 55mins with a very short interval and it is subtitled.  The performance also includes some strobe lighting

 

Poetry Corner take 2: ‘Imagine’ by Lemn Sissay

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Dear all

Caring Together is also proud to be supporting Refugee Week this week too. I was chatting to Karen this morning who let me know Refugee Week 2020 this year is inspired by the theme ‘Imagine’.

The week is about inviting you to do one or more of their eight Simple Acts that can all be done at home. It can be chatting together as Karen and I have done this morning, or read a book, watch some talks on YouTube. It is a collective movement to imagine a better world.

I found this small yet moving poem on the below website.

“The poet Lemn Sissay once described his wonderment at the thought that everything around us was imagined first. Everything physical – the camera he was looking at, the microphone he was talking into – started as an act of imagination. He wrote a poem”:

I will not limit myself
I will not be afraid
If it were not imagined
How else could it be made?

sourced: https://refugeeweek.org.uk/simple-acts/

final-refugee-week-leeds-1 – Copy

Thank you for sharing your inspiring thoughts and words of wisdom this morning Karen.

The Refugee Week Logo | Refugee Week

Poetry Corner: My Lockdown poem – written by Luke Hazelgrave

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We are proud to be supporting Learning Disability Week this week. It is a great way to raise awareness of learning disability across Leeds and the UK
Leeds Learning Disability Week logo - Connect in the North
Luke Hazelgrave who lives at Parkwood View in Specialised Supported Living Service has written a lockdown poem. Luke originally recorded himself reading the poem which he then shared to try and keep spirits up.
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I’ve written a poem about lockdown; a strange time for my generation.

It helps me express myself in this current situation.

I understand that lockdown is to keep me safe and sound,

But it makes me sad that I can’t have my family around.

The virus still scares me but I think I’ve been quite brave.

I like clapping for the NHS when having a shower, and having a good old wave.

I miss their smiling faces now that staff are wearing masks,

I’ve been kept busy by helping with household tasks.

I’m really missing sports but most of all rugby,

I’m really missing cuddles

Now that people can’t hug me.

I can’t wait to leave the house, further than the front door.

I can’t wait to go out to dance on the dance floor.

I really miss my family and I really miss my friends.

I can’t wait until this lockdown finally ends.

The lockdown is something I’ll remember forever.

We’ve all been so strong, let’s get through this together!

Luke Hazelgrave

The return of football and where you can watch some games for free

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I suspect there will be a sharp divide between those who think that the return of football is good news and those who think exactly the opposite.

But, for those who are excited about this – Premier League games start tomorrow and the Championship resumes on Saturday 20th. (Leeds United kick off away at Cardiff on Sunday 21st). All matches will be played without fans present to be broadcast on TV.

Although Leeds will have a crowd of sorts for their home games as they have offered all season ticket holders the chance to send in a photo to be made into a cardboard cut-out to occupy their usual seat.  It’s intended to be of the person who holds the ticket but that’s not compulsory so they may have acquired a few unlikely celebrity supporters when they play the first home tie against Fulham on Saturday 27th June.

Many of the games are only available on a paid subscription channel but a third of the Premiership and FA cup games will be available to watch for free, in a variety of different ways:

BBC will show four Premier league games and four FA cup games including the final

Amazon Prime will be showing four league games – you normally have to pay for an Amazon Prime membership but they have said you will not need membership to watch these games – these will be internet streamed instead of on TV

Sky are making 25 of their games available free on the Pick channel this is free to watch and is on:

Freeview 11                                 Freesat  144                           Sky 159                                    Virgin 165

 

Sadly, it doesn’t appear at the moment that any of the Championship games are being shown for free.

For a full list of all the upcoming games in both leagues and where you can watch them visit,  www.live-footballontv.com

turbologo.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2020/...

Changes from today – shops re-opening and face covering rules

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From today if you do travel on public transport you will have to wear a face covering and if you have not covered your face then you may be refused travel and could be fined up to £100. If you need to visit a hospital for any reason you must also wear a face covering.  It’s very important to also continue social distancing and handwashing as before and the advice remains to avoid using public transport if you can.

Also from today some non-essential shops will be starting to open up and Leeds CIty Council have issued some information and advice:

From Monday June 15, shre-opening infographicops and businesses across the city will start to reopen. Our main priority remains on keeping people safe in public space and places, and ensuring people can adhere to social distancing rules to stop the spread of the virus.

Whilst we continue to work with partners and businesses to ensure the city centre is ready to open in a safe way, there are a number of things you can do to stay safe including washing your hands regularly, using contactless payments where possible, and maintaining social distancing guidelines.

Working with businesses, partners and stakeholders in the city centre including LeedsBID, the measures include widening pedestrian areas where possible, emergency trial pop-up cycle lanes, key information signage, one-way systems through shopping centres and shops and hand sanitiser stations.  Whilst a number of shops will be open straight away from Monday, more are expected to follow in the coming weeks.

Guidance has been given to businesses to support them to operate safely, including ways to manage safe queuing systems including disabled access outside stores maintaining the two-metre social distancing rule, while the public messaging encourages people to use contactless payment wherever possible. Everyone is advised to wash their hands regularly, and especially before leaving home and when returning after being in public.

A new council team of ‘city centre ambassadors’ will be on hand in the city centre in the main retail areas to help the public, while other council teams will also be available to offer assistance and guidance to keep people safe.

Some but not all toilets in the city centre will be open, while parking in all council-managed car parks remains free of charge until at least July 4. For more information on parking in Leeds visit https://www.visitleeds.co.uk/resources/car-parking-in-leeds/

Measures are in place at travel hubs including Leeds Station and Leeds Bus Station to support social distancing, while additional cleaning is also taking place at transport interchanges. All park and ride services remain closed until further notice.

Leeds City Council’s cleansing services team will be carrying out enhanced cleaning in the city centre working with the LeedsBID rangers, with public benches available for use but only with the two-metre distancing being followed. Collections from recycling on the go bins and coffee cup bins in the city centre have also now resumed, with all items of street furniture including bins being regularly deep cleaned.

Anyone developing symptoms of the virus is advised to stay at home and follow the national guidelines in terms of requesting a test and the track and trace system if the test proves positive. Those in shielded groups are also advised to continue following the national guidance to keep them safe.

Leader of Leeds City Council Councillor Judith Blake said:

“It is a positive and welcome step to see our city centre start to reopen, but we would still urge considerable caution and ask people to follow the guidance and messaging they see in shops and public spaces, with patience and understanding so everyone can keep safe.

“We would encourage people where possible to think carefully about how and when they choose to travel, with active travel in terms of walking and cycling preferred and to allow more time for journeys and moving around the city centre.

“All of these measures are designed to stop the virus spreading, so if everyone takes care to follow them it will help us all.”

Healthwatch Leeds Survey on Shielding

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Since the start of the pandemic, many people in Leeds have been advised to “shield” to keep themselves as safe as possible. Healthwatch Leeds would like people to let them know how this has been for them and what can be done to help them over the coming weeks.

Healthwatch would be grateful if people who have been shielding could complete their survey so they can feed back people’s experiences and help shape the city’s response to coronavirus in Leeds. You can find the survey here

If you’d like more information about shielding, please see the link at the end of the survey. If you know someone who is shielding and would like to take part in this but cannot complete it online, they are welcome to call the Healthwatch team on 0113 898 0035 to talk through the questions.

Your Healthwatch Leeds

‘Support Bubbles’ – Government Guidance from today

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New Government guidance means that from today (Saturday 13th June) people who live alone can form a “support bubble” with one other household. Those in the support bubble can spend time with each other inside the home and do not have to remain 2m apart.
Your support bubble should only be with one other household and you should not change who is in your bubble or have close contact with anyone else you do not live with.
If you or someone in your support bubble is showing coronavirus symptoms, everyone in your support bubble should stay home and self isolate.
https://www.gov.uk/…/meeting-people-from-outside-your-house…

The easing of restrictions includes healthy people aged 70 or over but the advice for those aged 70 and over continues to be that they should take particular care to minimise contact with others outside their household.

If you are classed as extremely vulnerable then the guidance for you has not changed and it is recommended that you continue to shield.
It is still against the law to have visits from or visit the home of anyone who is not part of your household or‘support bubble’.

You can still meet outdoors with up to 6 people providing you maintain social distancing rules and keep 2 metres apart.
https://www.gov.uk/…/meeting-people-from-outside-your-house…

The Government advice continues to be that the best way to keep yourself and others safe is to stay home as much as possible

‘The Wiz’ – Streaming this weekend – The Shows Must Go On

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 Streaming from 7pm tonight and available for 48 hours

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46S9yppXxKE

“The Wiz Live!” brings the wonderful world of Oz to life like never before, featuring a star-studded cast of performers and the awe-inspiring Cirque du Soleil Theatrical. Whisked away from home by a tornado, young Dorothy finds herself transported to the magical Land of Oz, where she sets off on a quest to meet the powerful Wizard and find her way back home. Crossing paths with enchanting friends and wicked foes, Dorothy’s journey is a timeless tale about friendship, courage and learning to believe in oneself. Starring Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige, Uzo Aduba, Ne-Yo, and a host of other talented performers, “The Wiz Live!” invites viewers of all ages to ease on down the yellow brick road for a vibrant musical adventure unlike any other.

Staying Safe as lockdown restrictions ease slightly

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From Leeds City Council:

“We are working hard to make sure the city centre is ready to reopen on 15 June, and the safety of those returning to the city remains our biggest priority.

In the meantime there are lots of things you can do to stay safe when travelling in and around Leeds

No photo description available.

Before you use public transport consider whether it is necessary. Instead you could reduce pressure on public transport by walking if possible.

If it is necessary to use public transport, plan ahead and look for the most direct route.

Public transport capacity is limited and will be running to maximum 20% occupancy. Delays and longer waiting times will be expected so please only use public transport if this is really necessary.

If you do have to use public transport you should allow more time for your journey and;
Wear a face covering and carry hand sanitiser- From 15 June, face coverings will be required while using public transport (bus, coach, train, tram, ferry and aircraft passengers). There will be exceptions for very young children, individuals with disabilities and those with breathing difficulties
Pay by contactless if you can;
Maintain social distancing;
Wash your hands before and after travel;
Follow instructions from transport staff.”