Community Post Type: Callouts

This is a call out for theatre shows, contemporary performance, performers and poets.

The performance festival will take place in Preston this May 2022 – and you could be part of it.

What is Lancashire Fringe Festival? It’s a performance festival. They want to bring the best performers (comedians, poets, independent theatre, artists, entertainers) to Preston. They want the people of Lancashire to see some amazing shows.

They have established Preston as a cult destination for poetry, Edinburgh Fringe-style theatre and comedy shows, and contemporary performance. The festival mixes internationally-acclaimed work with emerging talent.

Previous festivals – plus one-off shows in Preston and across the North of England – have seen them work with a diverse range of shows (improvisation, comedy, live art, Edinburgh Fringe-style shows).

Performers and shows they have worked with include Mike Garry, JB Barrington, Hollie McNish, Henry Normal and Tony Walsh, Timberlina, Jonny Pelham, Louise Orwin, Katie O’Brien and shows like Fuck You Pay Me, Women Who W*nk, The Indecent Musings of Miss Doncaster 2007, Blackpool What a Sh*t Place To Die and Garry Starr Performs Everything.

This is a funded festival. They will pay you to perform. In most instances, shows will be free, using the Pay What You Decide model for audience contributions. This call out is for one show only.

They are looking for a diverse range of shows and performers to be part of the festival, from comedy to live art and everything in between.

Check out the Enjoy the Show website https://enjoyshow.co.uk/ to see the kind of shows and performances they have put on previously. There’s a list of shows here: enjoyshow.co.uk/lancashire-fringe-festival

If you’re not sure – or have an exciting idea which will have them doing cartwheels – email or phone to talk about it. Contact Garry Cook: gazcook@googlemail.com or 07976 579 522.

 This information can be downloaded as a word document here.

Email your submissions to gazcook@googlemail.com

Closing date for submissions is 11.59pm, Sunday, January 30, 2022.

This project is for women and girls that identify as NEET, (Not Education Employment or Training) this programme is designed for women by women for self-care, development, networking and raise aspirations, lift self-esteem and confidence.

Programme will cover:

 •    CREATIVE WRITING

•    PERFORMANCE

•    CONFIDENCE BUILDING

•     MINDFULNESS

•     STORYTELLING

•     DRAMA

•     FILMING PHOTOGRAPHY

•     GOAL SETTING

•     POSITIVE WELLBEING

To apply to this opportunity and you identify as a women age from 18 – and over NEET. Please register your interest here.

Any enquiries to: Shukri@blackfest.co.uk

Application closing date: 30th Jan 2022. Please Note: Places are LIMITED. Apply Now!

Anticipated start date week commencing: 6th Dec –25th Jan 2022. Disclaimer: *The start date may change due to Covid-19

Writing on the Wall (WoW) are offering 4 young people between the ages of 16- 25 years of age, a commission of £1000. This opportunity is to develop an idea for a piece of work, a spoken word performance, a piece of poetry, zine, a short story collection.

They are all shocked by the tragic murder of Eva White and are also aware of recent homophobic attacks. They would like your piece to celebrate our communities, our lives, and combat hate crime.

They are extremely proud of our diverse communities and known for being famous for our hospitality. They want your work to respond to this.

You can apply individually or as a collective/collaboration. Simply fill out the form:

https://forms.gle/VFzQGkcvCNNAcLW6A

Closes: 9 January

If you are performer, musician, visual artists, maker, dancer, carnavalist, community artist, arts worker, producer, designer, sound/light engineer, film maker, photographer and want to become self-employed, set up your own business or work in the creative industries or in the community sectors get in touch.

This is a training programme for Unemployed Learners and looks at the skills and knowledge you need to work in the Creative Industries and Community Sector as a small creative business or Self Employed (Freelancer).

YOU WILL GAIN SKILLS IN:

– Project Management
– Promoting Your Own Work
– Self-Employment
– Starting Your Own Business
– Networking

And have a chance to look at ways in which to develop your own work. We will signpost you to professionals and organisations that can help you move forward and create a space for discussion and creative thinking as we move into a different landscape.

This course is being delivered by LUMA Creations as part of their ESF Community Fund training provision.

You can fill in the application online here.

For more information please contact hola@lumacreations.org

SUSTAINABLE FUTURES
Starting on 18th January 2022 (2 sessions per week for 4 weeks)
John Archer Hall, Liverpool
Running on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10am – 12.30pm

A new version of Slade’s classic Merry Xmas Everybody is being released to raise funds for local food banks.

Singer Kathy Halter’s delicate revamping of this Christmas favourite will be available to download from Friday 17^th December. All proceeds will go to Fans Supporting Foodbanks, a joint initiative developed between Spirit of Shankly and Everton’s Blue Union to tackle food insecurity in the area.

“I feel very passionate about the extremely important work that Fans Supporting Foodbanks do” says Kathy. “I wanted to use my musical skills to support them and raise awareness of food insecurity, particularly at this time of year. Nobody should go hungry at Christmas”.

As well as singing on the track, Kathy has arranged the song for music box. This involved the painstakingly delicate task of punching each individual hole into the roll of paper that is fed through it, a craft she has perfected in recent years.

The single will be available via GoFundMe along with a music video filmed on a wild and windy day at Bidston Observatory.

See Kathy’s SoundCloud page here.

Liverpool’s #Endthestigma men’s mental health campaign is looking for one final fundraising push and there are some fantastic rewards on offer for those who can donate.

With prizes such as Everton v. Aston Villa tickets, Liverpool and Everton signed shirts, holistic treatments and more, it’s well worth donating to this important cause.

#Endthestigma is a campaign to set up a men’s mental health hub in North Liverpool. Since fundraising began in May 2021, around £20,000 has been raised and the project has secured the building with various work taking place — but now a further £2,500 is required to open the centre.

Anyone who donates £5 to the cause receives one entry into the prize draw, every £10 receives three entries and every £20 donation receives seven entries.

There are some fantastic prizes on offer for donating, with the draw taking place at Inner Guru CIC on New Year’s Eve, and some of them include:

• • Everton FC shirt signed by team
  • Everton FC shirt signed by Richarlison
  • Everton FC Stadium Tour for two (2 prizes)
  • 2 tickets for Everton FC v. Aston Villa
  • Liverpool FC shirt signed by Jamie Carragher
  • Liverpool FC Champions League medal signed by Jamie Carragher
  • 1 week meal prep from Indigo Greens
  • Feature article from La Vida Liverpool
  • Massage or reiki from Holistics Cheshire
  • Mental Health First Aid Course
  • Crystals and jewellery from Laura’s Aura
  • Celebration cake worth £75 from The Nakery
  • Meals for 2 at local restaurants
  • more prizes to be announced

#EndTheStigma aims to create a community hub focused on tackling the major issue of mental health problems amongst males in the Liverpool region. The new centre on Rice Lane will offer males support, advice, counselling, alcohol and drugs support groups, holistic therapies, cold water therapy, workshops, courses, walks, coffee mornings, podcasts, sport and activities in order to improve mental health.

The idea is to offer early intervention and ongoing human support to empower men and help prevent a wide variety of mental health problems, addictions and suicide. With the NHS underfunded and overstretched due to the pandemic, mental health waiting lists can often be months. What this project aims to do is create a centre that bridges the gap and provides ongoing support to males in Merseyside via a number of different methods.

In order to complete the project, a further £2,500 is required to pay for carpet, timber, skirting boards, tables and chairs, lamps, a coffee machine, decorations, plants, treatment beds, paint, light fittings and labour. The final push will ensure that the centre can open and start helping local men who are struggling.

Lewis Powell, Founder of Inner Guru CIC and #Endthestigma, said: “It’s been so incredible having so many people behind the campaign and help us reach the £20,000 milestone. It’s been a great team effort and we’ve secured the premises on Rice Lane but we just need one final push to be able to open.”

He continued: “During these past 9 months people have climbed mountains, skydived, cycled around the country and ran marathons for this cause. It’s been so heart warming to see everyone come together to help set this thing up. If anyone can donate for this final push  it’d be much appreciated and the raffle prizes on offer are amazing!”

To donate to the campaign and help this important cause, people can do so via the GoFundMe page and details will be taken to enter the draw that will take place on New Year’s Eve. The aim is to raise a final £2,500 in order to be able to open the men’s mental health hub.

To donate to the cause and enter the prize draw CLICK HERE

Z-arts are working in partnership with STUN (Sustained Theatre Up North) to offer a development opportunity for an artist who is interested in making work for children and families.

STUN supports, develops, and commissions work with creatives from black and ethnic minority communities in the North West.

They are looking for an artist to come and try out some ideas. This doesn’t need to be a completely new piece of writing.

What they are offering

–        Up to 3 weeks residency in a creative space within the Z-arts building.

–        Dates will be W/C Monday 14th March 2022, W/C Monday 21st March 2022 and W/C Monday 28th March 2022 .

–        Days will be Monday-Friday.

–        Up to £3500 for the residency.

–        Informal sharing in front of a representative from STUN and Z-arts.

–        Artist support and guidance throughout the week.

–        Documentation support.

–        The opportunity to watch shows in Z-arts current programme.

Who they want to hear from?

–        Creatives from black and ethnic minority communities.

–        You must have an interest in developing work for children (12 years and under) and families.

Application Process

Please answer the following questions. (200 words maximum). If you would prefer you can record your answers in video or audio format. (1 minute recording maximum).

– Name of lead artist

– Email address

– Contact Number

– Tell them about you as an artist?

– What will you do with this space/money?

Deadline

Please send your application and Equal Opportunities Form to tabitha@z-arts.org by 12pm on Tuesday 11th January 2022.

They invite shortlisted artists to meet with them W/C Monday 17th January 2022.

Culture Liverpool are seeking proposals from arts organisations to create a new performance or installation piece for Chinese New Year 2022, Year of the Tiger.

This should be a piece that can be showcased as part of the Chinese New Year event on Sunday 6th February or over that weekend. The piece should be within the event footprint (see below) as a street performance or installation or designed as a stage performance, though thought should be given to whether a piece can work onstage and off if a performance.

All proposals should be designed for outdoors in February. We are particularly keen to see collaborative proposals and it would be beneficial to have partner organisation match or in-kind contributions.

The piece or installation can be themed around the Year of the Tiger, the many traditions associated with Chinese New Year or the history of Liverpool’s Chinese community. It should be colourful, engaging, exciting and innovative and bring a contemporary twist to the traditional events.

Event Footprint: Chinatown including Nelson St, Great George Square, Berry Street, Great George Street, Bold Street, St Luke’s Bombed Out Church.

Timescale: Sunday 6th February 2022, or that weekend.

To submit a proposal please send the following:

Full proposal with description of piece, costs and any contributions/in-kind, illustrations if applicable, and timescale. Also any get-in/derig times if applicable.

Information and past experience of your organisation and any collaborative partners you’d be working with.

To sarah.vasey@liverpool.gov.uk by 5.00pm on Monday 13th December 2021.

See the Culture Liverpool website here.

A Travelling Carol Singing Trio are raising money to bring a unique musical doorstep experience to people and organisations who are in challenging circumstances.

Holistic Harmonies is a mission driven Community Interest Company using music, movement and song to promote positive wellbeing and togetherness for the family and wider community across all lifespans.

In December 2020, three Liverpool based musicians came together to perform with organisations, and on people’s doorsteps during the festive season. The aim was to bring a ‘Musical Mood Boost’ to people experiencing loneliness and isolation during the turbulent year of 2020.

The trio partnered with community based organisations to reach a wider audience of people experiencing hardship in the community as well as a social media campaign asking for nominations of people in the community who were deserving of a doorstep performance.

They had such positive feedback that they decided to repeat the project and complete another tour of musical interactions in order to maintain and enhance the relationships that were built.

Rachel Waite from the group said “The collective mood across the country is still that of uncertainty and we’d like to bring some connection to those most isolated, especially families; singing has proven to be a successful mood booster and conduit to feelings of belonging and togetherness; supporting positive mental health.”

The group has been running a CrowdFunder page and has found support from many members of the local community, as they aim for their target of £1500 to fund the performances.

For more information, please visit  www.holistic-harmonies.com.

A Merseyside CIC is offering free coaching and workshops to the unemployed in a bid to help local people build their confidence and gain more direction in their job search.

Jigsaw Coaching supports people who are unemployed to improve their self-belief, explore options to find out what work suits them and develop an action plan to move towards it.

Their upcoming ‘Progress Through Peer Support’ programme will allow those taking part to develop skills in mentoring on an accredited course that looks to improve their job options and strengthen their CVs. Acquiring ‘Peer Mentoring Skills’ has been shown to improve teamwork, empathy, communication, problem-solving and dealing with customers.

The project will also enable participants to discuss their experiences and address barriers with peers over 8 weekly workshops; sharing coping strategies and helping to reduce feelings of isolation.

Jigsaw has been working with members of the public who struggle to find employment for the past 4 years, particularly helping those with visual impairments (VIs), other disabilities and health conditions, the long term unemployed, and more recently, those who have lost their job due to the impact of the pandemic and are now finding there are limited opportunities available.

Jigsaw also works with people who are already in work but dissatisfied with their job or looking for a career change.

Jigsaw’s founder, Jill Barlow, said: “I set up Jigsaw Coaching CIC to help people to find out what matters to them and how to create the life they desire. The Jigsaw approach uses empathy and creativity to support clients, particularly people going through a transition in their life, or looking for better health at work. I’m also interested in supporting people with a disability or long-term health condition to find meaningful work.”

For more information or to refer someone onto the course, please email hello@jigsaw.uk.net or call 07970 722054.

See their website here.