The Big Society in Action – Great Yarmouth event

Notice from Volunntary Norfolk:

Great Yarmouth has a well-developed partnership approach to supporting community empowerment, supported by a rich and vibrant community and voluntary sector.

The “Big Society” places this work in a new context and provides both challenges and opportunities for Great Yarmouth – a small district with a very Big Society.

The Big Society event will take place at the Great Yarmouth Town Hall on Thursday 30 September and delegates will hear more from the experiences of Great Yarmouth from a range of perspectives, most importantly from residents who have contributed significant time and effort to improving their own communities.

Pertinent to this is the link between community empowerment and recent approaches to tackling unemployment. Delegates will also engage in action-based workshops which will grapple with some of the wider policy issues emerging from the Big Society and translate their meaning into practice.

The conference is aimed at both policy makers and grassroots voluntary and community organisations with an interest in the Big Society and the agenda for Great Yarmouth.

To register for this event go to www.great-yarmouth.gov.uk/council-democracy/news-and-press/content_gybc-newpage.htm, complete the booking form and email it to Ria Day at rjd@great-yarmouth.gov.uk

Priory Gallery Group Exhibition

The Priory Gallery Group present an exhibition inspired by “The Wilton Dyptych” and other sacred art on Tuesday, 14th September 2010, 10am – 3pm, at The Priory Centre, Priory Plain, Great Yarmouth, NR30 1NWT.

These beautiful dyptychs are a result of five workshops, run for local people, at The Priory Centre earlier this year. The workshops were run by The National Gallery with their artist Mark Woodhead.

Manga murals for St. George’s hoarding

Silent Hobo is on the way to completing the 30-metre mural for the hoarding which will surround St. George’s Chapel whilst renovation work takes place.  He is depicting scenes of Great Yarmouth life through the ages – the scene represented here is from the era of Mods and Rockers congregating on the seafront.   For a fuller article on the St. George’s project click here or for  Silent Hobo’s website here.

Avatar at Great Yarmouth Community Cinema

Yarmouth in Days Gone By archive film

Fascinating archive film of the Herring Industry, Scottish fisher girls at work, promotional films from the 1930’s and 1950’s,  holidays at Great Yarmouth, The Prince of Wales opening the Haven bridge and visits by stars such as Tommy Cooper, Benny Hill & Ruby Murray.

Gorleston-On-Sea Heritage Group (GOSH) will also be showing old pictures of Gorleston Thursday 29th July 2.30pm in the Lecture Hall, Gorleston Library.  Everyone welcome Admission £3 (£2.50 concessions).  Tickets available in advance from the Library and on the door. Refreshments available.

Get Started with Metal Sculpture

Are you aged 16-25, unemployed, not in education or training and interested in gaining skills in metalwork and welding? The Prince’s Trust, working with support from Seachange Arts, Enterprise GY and the Working Neighborhoods Fund is staging a ‘Get Started with Metal Sculpture’ course in Great Yarmouth starting on 2nd August and running until Tuesday 10th August.

The free seven day course will give you an opportunity to have a go and develop your own creative metalwork skills. At the end of the course you will be able to design and create your own fire burner, using skills such as welding, brazing, flame cutting, riveting and forge work.

The course will enable you to gain new employable skills which will help to find work in the engineering and construction industry or to go onto further education or training; with help and support on hand for all participants to be able to achieve this. On completing the course, you will receive a certificate presented by his worship the Mayor of Great Yarmouth, Councilor Micheal Jeal.

To gain a place on the course contact Laurie Miller-Zutshi at Seachange Arts on 01493 846 187 or email: mailto://creativelearning@seachangearts.org.uk

For more information about the Get Started with programmes go to princes-trust.org.uk or call 0800 842 842.

Chamber Philharmonia Cologne at St. Nicholas

What a huge shame that the concert given by the Chamber Philharmonia Cologne last night at St.Nicholas Parish Church wasn’t better advertised.  The musicians were superb and their pleasure in performing  was an absolute delight to watch.  The programme was wonderful – Antonio Vivaldi, The Four Seasons, Summer and La Notte; Mozart, Salzburg Symphony; Tchaikovski Elegie; Bach, Suite No2 in B Minor; and Paganini, Moses Variations.  The Chamber Philharmonia chooses for its repertoire highly demanding pieces of popular and unknown works “to inspire people across the world to enjoy classical music”.  Though there were not many in the audience, they certainly showed their appreciation.  The accoustics are good in St. Nicholas and the Chamber Philharmonia Cologne include Great Yarmouth in their annual tour – so something not to be missed next year!

Annual Summer Show of the Guild

“Sunlight over Breydon Water“  by Alan Lavender and “New Pastures -Brown Hare” ceramic by Steve Oatley 

The Annual Exhibition of The Great Yarmouth Guild of Artists and Craftsmen is currently showing in the  Exhibition Galleries at Great Yarmouth Central library.  The exhibition runs until Saturday 31st July, 2010.  It is a lively exhibition, showing 159 works in different media by 40 members.  Barrie Woods, who serves on the Committee of the Guild, says that the Guild is going from strength to strength thanks to its initiative in setting up a gallery in one of retail units in Victoria Arcade to showcase the work of its members.  There have been over 8,000 visitors since the gallery opened and the Arcade management team have been very supportive as the gallery has contributed towards the regeneration of  the Arcade.  The initiative has also encouraged new members, with the result that membership is currently at its maximum of 80, so that application for membership is closed just for the moment.

“Breaker” by Maggie Dawson

Message from Alan Davey, Chief Executive, Arts Council England

You may be aware that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport recently announced a consultation on the return of the lottery shares to their original causes.

If agreed by Parliament, this would re-balance the share of the lottery, restoring arts, heritage and sport shares to their original 20% each by 2012.

This is a very positive move for the arts and I would like to encourage you to respond to the consultation document. It’s vital that Government hears directly from front line arts organisations about how the distinct benefits of additional lottery funding would help you to deliver your work on the ground. Your views are particularly valuable in light of the reductions to public funding we know are coming in future years, and which will make the lottery contribution to the arts all the more important.

The consultation proposes re-balancing lottery shares in two stages, returning 18% each to arts, heritage and sports by April 2011, and to 20% by April 2012. This would eventually reduce the share currently held by the Big Lottery Fund to 40%.

Details of the consultation can be found on the DCMS website at www.dcms.gov.uk/consultations/7070.aspx. The consultation closes on 21 August.

Oriel High School Exhibition at Library

This photograph doesn’t do justice to the lovely jacket displayed in the  Oriel High School Art Show in the Exhibition Galleries at the Library during the week beginning 5th July.   I hope  the show got the visitors it merited.