Community Post Type: News

Liverpool-based charity The Reader has announced its biggest-ever programme of events, and activities to celebrate the arrival of Spring in its Calderstones Park home.

The programme includes the return of Sunday afternoon Garden Parties, deep dives into literary classics, a Teddy Bear’s sleepover in the Storybarn and roast dinners to celebrate Easter and Mothering Sunday.

The Spring season begins with Sing into Spring on Sunday 3 March where Liverpool-based socially inclusive community choir The i Choir will be welcoming the arrival of Spring with a joy-filled day of song and creativity.

The Easter foodie delights begin on Good Friday with showstopping Easter Tea Parties for all the family featuring handmade treats. The Reader’s resident Storyhunters will be on hand with fun Easter-themed crafts and games to entertain our younger guests, and for under 2’s, a special Baby Bunny afternoon tea is available with food made specially for little hands.

The Reader’s in house chefs will be preparing traditional three-course roast dinners with all the trimmings to treat mum on Sunday 10 March for Mother’s Day and celebrate with all the family on Easter Sunday on 31 March, both served in the historic Theatre room which overlooks the beautiful private garden and accompanied with live music.

Garden Parties return for the warmer months on Sundays 5 and 19 May where guests are invited to pull up a deckchair or lay out their picnic blanket to enjoy an afternoon of live music, crafts and street food prepared by The Reader’s chefs. Hampers of handpicked stories and poems for children and adults will create a library on the lawn for all to explore.

As always, The Reader will bring people together and books to life through literary events including the latest edition in the popular Sunday School series on Sunday 14 April with a pilgrimage to Medieval Canterbury led by the work of Geoffrey Chaucer. The days is an opportunity to delve deeper into this great work and includes a light lunch and refreshments.

An uplifting Spring Wellbeing Workshop takes place on Sunday 12 May inspired by American novelist Wendell Berry. The workshop begins with Shared Reading with The Reader’s experienced practitioners before a guided walk through Calderstones Park and the chance to build a personal poetry collection to take home. As throughout the year, drop-in Shared Reading sessions which bring people together to talk, connect and share experiences through stories and poems continue at The Mansion House and venues across the city.

The ever-popular Makers at the Mansion is back on Sunday 2 June and invites Liverpool’s wonderful makers to the beautiful Mansion House. The best local and handmade candles, soaps, jewellery, home décor, clothing, art, crafts and more will be available to browse and buy throughout the house and garden along with delicious food.

For families, the Reader’s magical play space for children The Storybarn presents its first-ever Teddy Bear’s Sleepover on Friday 19 April. Children will bring their favourite furry friends along for games and bedtime stories, before tucking their soft toys into a cosy bed and saying goodnight. The next morning, they will return to the barn to be reunited with their pals, enjoy a breakfast of croissants and juice, and watch a presentation of what the teddies got up to the night before. Each child will receive a mini photo album of their soft toy’s sleepover adventure to take home.

For the first time, the Storybarn will celebrate everybody’s favourite multicolored elephant with Elmer Day on Saturday 25 May. There will be Elmer stories, Elmer crafts and lots of Elmer themed excitement to be had.

Specially themed sessions will run in the Storybarn throughout the Easter and May school holidays with games and storytelling taking families outside into the great outdoors and School Holiday Clubs will provide all-day entertainment, enrichment and adventures around the park for selected weeks

The Mansion House will be open seven days a week with guided tours exploring the history of the house every Tuesday at 2pm, and the History of the House exhibition, and the ancient Calder Stones which give the local area its name on display every day.

Find out more and book tickets via thereader.org.uk

For more than 30 years, a team of gardeners had lovingly tended to the thousands of plants hidden away in the humble polytunnels of Croxteth Country Park.

Sometimes they would work seven-day weeks. Last January, a regular visitor to the garden said it was like their “world was falling in” when they were told that they would be redeployed from their roles, likely spelling the end for the product of three decades’ graft.

The collection includes some of the rarest specimens in the horticultural universe, among them an ancestor of the South African Poskantoorboom, or ‘Post Office tree’ — the tree on which Portuguese navigator Pêro de Ataíde hung a note accounting the loss of his fleet in a storm. The tree is said to be the birthplace of Christian worship in South Africa.

Other plants aided medical research in the fight against diseases including HIV. It was, by all accounts, a global collection of significance.

But last January, it was headed for a one way trip — to the skip. It wasn’t the first time the collection had been in danger: threats in previous years came from WW2 (a bomb landed on the greenhouse during the Blitz), Derek Hatton (who turfed the plants out of Calderstones Park and demoted several gardeners, angered by their refusal to go on strike), and the Lib Dems (who had two-thirds of the collection dumped in a skip in the 2000s).

What was once a 16,000-plant collection in 2005 is now closer to 4,000. This was the basis of Liverpool City Council’s justification for their plans last year to move the expert gardeners to street cleaning duties. Back then, the council told us that due to the depletion of the collection, few rare plants remained.

The collection is now safe — a Trust has been established (website here). Best of all, the near-annual threats of funding cuts and job swaps seem to have perished on the vine.

But this campaign isn’t over. The wheels of change move slowly, and having returned to the park this week, the collection is more surviving than thriving. The plants may no longer been withering, but the greenhouses are — part of the roof collapsed on one of them recently.

The Trustees, together with your support, aim to develop a plan to not only save the collection for the future but will be considering how to extend and restore the collection to its former glory.

Whatever money is surplus to these early needs will help toward the £70,000 target that they have set to be able to achieve for the next stage of restoration, bringing the collection within Croxteth Hall Gardens back to its former glory and securing it for future generations.

These collections are so valuable to society, as Raoul Curtis-Machin, Director of Horticulture and Visitor Experience at Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, described to in April, this is why Botanic Gardens matter:

• Conservation horticulture
• Species rescue
• Pest threat research
• Human pest problems
• Climate change adaptation

The Liverpool Botanical Collection is filled with such rare and endangered plants, we really need to preserve and protect this wonderful legacy for our City and our planet.

The first fundraising event is already planned for Saturday 16th March 2024, when they will be holding an “Orchid Study” day at Croxteth Hall, with Phil Seaton, a leading orchid expert, who will be talking at the event.

If you would like to help now, please donate, by sending it direct to their bank account:

Account Name: Liverpool Botanical Trust
Sort code: 30-99-50
Account: 17139363

Or by cheque to:

Liverpool Botanical Trust
c/o Lowlands Community Centre

13 Haymans Green

West Derby

Liverpool

L12 7JG

News Update

Liverpool City Council has recently been awarded £245,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to protect the historic botanical collection. The council said lottery funding meant work can start to restore The Peach House, which will become the gateway to the collection and house some of the key botanical exhibits.

A council statement said it hoped the funding would be a catalyst for more, to help build on the ambition. The Trust still needs donations to help restore and protect the rest of the site.

Future plans include:

An education programme working with primary schools across the city to encourage children to connect with nature and show the links between botany and health and wellbeing.

A focus on how to make the collection a key visitor attraction, with guided tours, workshops and open days.

A dedicated website to open up the collection to people across the world who may not be able to visit in person. It will also ensure connections will be established with other worldwide botanical collections.

Following their record-breaking Christmas pantomime Aladdin, Regal Entertainments are back at St Helens Theatre Royal with the first of four pantomimes in 2024, a totally wizard treat for all the family from this weekend with a trip to the merry old land of Oz.

Audiences at the popular town centre venue in St Helens are being invited to follow the yellow brick road to the Theatre Royal to see The Wizard Of Oz live on stage from Saturday 10 – Sun 18 February 2024.

The stunning show promises to be packed with fantastic performances, amazing song and dance routines, sensational sets, fabulous costumes, and lots of laughs. The pantomime based of the famous Oscar-winning MGM movie is produced and directed by Chantelle Nolan, with musical supervision by Callum Clarke and choreographed by Nazene Langfield.

Join Dorothy and Toto on their epic adventure to the Emerald City and follow their journey as they meet a cast of incredible characters including Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion along the way.

Will the Wicked Witch succeed in stopping them in their tracks? Or will the good witch Glinda help the friends in their mission to meet the wonderful Wizard himself?

The Wizard Of Oz has become a regular and very popular show in the Theatre Royal’s annual calendar.

The full cast of talented St Helens regulars are Maddie Hope Coelho who dons the famous ruby red slippers again to play Dorothy, Michael Alan-Bailey as the Scarecrow, Lewis Canning as the Tin Man, Benjamin Keith as the Lion, Hayley Russell as Glinda, Abigail Middleton as the Wicked Witch, and Warren Donnelly as the Wizard.

St Helens Theatre Royal Manager Chantelle Nolan said: “St Helens really feels like the Panto capital of the North, especially after the response to our Christmas show Aladdin, well you don’t have to wait long until the next one as we are back with our first panto of the year, a family show that has always proved popular in St Helens, The Wizard Of Oz is a much-loved classic story which continues to enchant each new generation in turn. We’ve got a fantastic cast, fabulous costumes and sets, and a great story to tell. It’s going to be a wonderfully magical half term treat.”

So, click your heels three times and join Dorothy and Toto as they journey along the Yellow Brick Road to make her way home and help find the Scarecrow a brain, the Tin Man a heart and a Cowardly Lion some courage.  Book early to avoid disappointment.

Book in person at the Theatre Royal Box Office, Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm.

Telephone ticket booking line 01744 756000, lines open Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm.

Book online at www.sthelenstheatreroyal.com

 

Liverpool’s HMS Eaglet will host a special Veteran’s Pride event this month celebrating the service of LGBT+ veterans and serving personnel in the UK’s Armed Forces.

In a first event of its kind, Veterans Pride will take place during LGBT history month on Saturday 10th February and has been created and organised by a team of partner military charities led by LGBT+ military charity Fighting With Pride. They have collaborated with members of the Forces Wellbeing Collective, Royal British Legion RBL and the LGBT+ healthcare and support charity, Sahir House.

The careers of many of the veterans attending were cut short by the historic ‘gay ban’ which remained in place until 12th January 2000. Some of those who lost their careers faced arrest, intrusive, investigations and even prison sentences just for being ‘gay’.

Background

In January 2022, the UK Government announced an LGBT Veterans Independent Review, which was Chaired by former Master of the Rolls, Lord Etherton KC.  Over an 18-month period, 1100 veterans gave evidence of their experiences, with many having faced criminal charges and dismissal for being gay, or presumed to be gay.

On 19th July 2023, in response to Lord Etherton’s Report recommendations, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, made an apology on behalf of the British nation in the House of Commons as he announced a package of reparations.

Fighting With Pride, inspired by Executive Chair and ex Lieutenant Commander Craig Jones MBE and CEO, ex Flight Lieutenant Dr Caroline Paige MBE. FWP was formed on the 20th anniversary of the lifting of the ‘gay ban’ to seek restorative justice for those affected. For many, being removed from the Armed Forces resulted in ‘outing’, criminal records, loss of income, careers, homes, financial stability and health implications.

The impact of the ban endures and Fighting with Pride’s continued campaign for recognition and reparation for this severely disadvantaged group of veterans, many of whom served in the Falklands War, Northern Ireland and Gulf War, has won widespread support. Dr Caroline Paige also contributes to Liverpool City Communities as Patron of Liverpool City Region Pride Foundation and as a member of Liverpool Football Club’s LGBT+ Advisory Group

The sell out event, includes moments of recognition and celebration of LGBT+ veterans service and a whole host of performers will entertain guests on the night. Performing are comedienne and singer Pauline Daniels, drag artist Filla Crack and vocal sensation Andrew Geater, star of the musical ‘Joseph’.

Kenny Bryce, Fighting With Pride’s UK Veterans Community Workers Team Manager, based in Liverpool said: “LGBT history month is a time to celebrate the achievements of LGBTQ+ Veterans and people in our communities, and in which we recognise the struggles that many LGBT+ people have faced in the past and that many still face today.”

Caroline Paige MBE, Fighting With Pride’s Chief Executive said: “It is fantastic to see Armed Forces and veterans communities in Liverpool come together to honour the service of our incredible LGBT+ veterans, who met all the challenges of service in our Armed Forces but for whom careers often ended in sadness. At moments like these, we come together to demonstrate the warm welcome that exists in all our organisations for all of those who have served.”

The evening is sponsored by Forces Wellbeing Collective, Liverpool Gin Distillery, RBL, HMS Eaglet and Sahir House.

For further information on Fighting With Pride, Government Independent Review and Reparations Next Steps, please click on link www.fightingwithpride.org.uk/reparations for further information on the Veteran’s Pride event.

Contact: kenny.bryce@fightingwithpride.org.uk.

Get ready to rummage, re imagine, and revel in fashion for a fantastic cause! Open Door, The Whitechapel Centre’s charity shops, is thrilled to announce the return of its wildly popular Fill A Bag event, this time with two exciting sessions to accommodate even more fashion enthusiasts.

Calling all rummage enthusiasts, vintage, and sustainable fashionistas! Dive into a sea of donated clothes from 3-5pm or 6-8pm (or both!). For just £12 per person, you’ll get a bag and two hours to score amazing finds among fantastic brands, wardrobe staples, items that require love or hidden gems.

This is your chance to unearth unique pieces, breathe new life into pre-loved treasures, and all while supporting the fight against homelessness in Liverpool. The thrill of the hunt is part of the fun!

For those attending both sessions, Leaf on Bold Street offers a fantastic selection of food and drink downstairs.

Here’s the scoop:

• Dates: Monday 11 March
• Time Slots: 3-5pm & 6-8pm (tickets purchased separately)
• Ticket Price: £12 per person
• Location: Leaf on Bold Street, Liverpool

Update your wardrobe with unique and affordable finds while supporting The Whitechapel Centre’s vital work in tackling homelessness.

Have a blast rummaging through fashion treasures with fellow bargain hunters. Tickets are sold in advance and often sell out, so grab yours today!

Visit whitechapelcentre.co.uk/fillabag  and choose your preferred session (or both!).

Open Door is a charity shop run by The Whitechapel Centre, a leading homeless and housing charity in the Liverpool region. The shop sells a variety of donated items, including clothes, shoes, accessories, books, and homeware. All proceeds from the shop go to support The Whitechapel Centre’s work to help people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Open Door has two locations in Liverpool:

• Allerton Road: 28 Allerton Road, Liverpool L18 1LN

• Waterloo: 105 South Road, Liverpool L22 0LT

Nicholas Baldion has been awarded the John Moores Painting Prize 2023 Visitors’ Choice award for his powerful depiction of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Social Murder: Grenfell in Three Parts is a triptych that tells the story of what happened before and after the 2017 fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower residential block in London, claiming the lives of 72 people.

The middle panel shows the tower on the night of the fire. When the triptych is closed, the Green Heart, a symbol of Grenfell, is visible. The writing on the reverse was added by members of the local community in London, and attendees of a talk held by the artist at the Walker Art Gallery in October 2023.

Visitors have been able to vote for their favourite painting within the John Moores Painting Prize exhibition since it opened in September 2023 – a vote in which Baldion has emerged as the winner.

Voters praised the “striking, emotional” nature of the painting, highlighting the importance of the story it tells and the moving subject matter. One visitor said the painting “stopped them in their tracks and brought them to tears,” with another complimenting how it evokes anger, betrayal, grief and the power of community all in one artwork.

Nicholas Baldion said: “It’s a real honour to have won the Visitors’ Choice award and I’m incredibly grateful to hear the painting resonated with the public. To me it speaks to the fact that Grenfell has not been forgotten – that others are still as furious as me.”

“Grenfell was a crime that should never have happened, driven by the profit motive inherent in Capitalism. A crime where politicians, civil servants and corporate companies are all complicit. It was social murder, yet over six years on, no one has been brought to justice or faced prison time. The painting was made to tell that story, to educate and move people, and to act as a tool of remembrance and a weapon in the fight for justice and safe homes.”

“It is my hope that the painting continues to live, that it becomes public art and that the testimonies written on the back grow as the painting is added to by future audiences.”

Sandra Penketh, Executive Director of Art Galleries & Collections Care at National Museums Liverpool, said: “We are delighted to award Nicholas Baldion the 2023 Visitors’ Choice award on behalf of our visitors, who were so drawn to this incredible painting.

“Nicholas’ ambitious work shows just how powerful painting can be emotionally, politically and socially. This work gives a voice to communities and invites us to share our own thoughts and responses to the Grenfell tragedy. It’s a ‘stop you in your tracks’ type of painting, executed with compassion and conviction.

“We would like to thank Rathbones for supporting this popular prize which encourages visitors to carefully consider what makes a great painting.”

The 2023 jury, who selected the 70 exhibited paintings from over 3,300 entries were The White Pube, Alexis Harding, Chila Kumari Singh Burman, Marlene Smith and Yu Hong. From large scale canvases, bold in brush strokes and colour, to exquisitely detailed pieces, their selection represents a wide range of styles, united by their use of paint.

The jury awarded Graham Crowley the £25,000 first prize in September 2023 for his work Light Industry. The painting has since been acquired for the Walker Art Gallery’s collection and Graham will hold a solo exhibition at the Walker in 2025.

The four other shortlisted paintings were: Stochastic 14 by Emily Kraus, Other Light by Damian Taylor, Champagne Cascade I by Francisco Valdes, and Visitors’ Choice winner, Social Murder: Grenfell in Three Parts by Nicholas Baldion.

The jury also selected Emma Roche as the winner of the Lady Grantchester Prize, developed to support artists in the early stages of their career. Supported by Winsor & Newton, Emma was awarded £5,000, £2,500 of premium art materials and an exciting residency opportunity.

The full list of artists exhibiting in John Moores Painting Prize 2023 is here. 

Previous first prize winners include David Hockney (1967), Mary Martin (1969), Lisa Milroy (1989), Peter Doig (1993), Keith Coventry (2010) and Rose Wylie (2014). Sir Peter Blake, winner of the junior prize in 1961, is Patron of the Prize. The John Moores Painting Prize is organised in partnership with the John Moores Painting Prize Trust.

A Wirral music project is revolutionising the local music scene — offering artists and bands a fair deal and taking them to the next level.

Events 471 is an exciting new events and artist development concept with an ethical ethos that has hosted no less that 15 events during its first year, with over 1,500 tickets sold.

Events 471 aims to be a ‘game changer’ for the local music scene and far more than just an events brand. Led by mother and son team, Carol Hetherington and Carrick Moran, the idea is to offer local artists 360 degree support — paying them fairly and offering support with photo and video content, social media and more. What’s more, a CIC has also been set up to create projects that will support artists further.

Since forming in January 2023, Events 471 has worked with 36 different artists and bands and each of them receives a fair split of tickets sales, additional photography and videography, social media support and a platform on the Events 471 website. The project covers all genres, with inclusivity and diversity at its heart, and there have been some amazing success stories with artists they’ve worked with.

Linking the best local up and coming talent with national and international acts, Events 471 have been a key stepping stone for many local artists and bands. The past 12 months have seen many packed shows at Future Yard, Northern Powerhouse and Molly’s Chambers in Birkenhead and there are some exciting gigs in the pipeline for 2024 — featuring big stars playing alongside local artists.

Events 471 have some big shows coming up such as Queer House Party — the multi-award winning queer club night of DJs and performers that has been praised by Time Out, BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 6 Music, Resident Advisor, DJ Mag and others. Celebrated by Dua Lipa, they have performed in arenas alongside the likes of Years And Years and PVA and are coming to Future Yard on 10th Feb.

Then there’s prog rock legends John Hackett Band at Future Yard on 2nd March. Famous for their collaboration with Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett and King Crimson’s Bill Bruford, they will be performing their face melting solos and intricate opuses.

Meanwhile, renowned German drummer, composer and solo artist Anika Nilles is hosting a drumming masterclass and performing with her band Nevell at Future Yard on Mon 8th April. An innovator and one of the best drummers in the world, this will surprisingly be her UK debut courtesy of Events 471 and she will be sharing her knowledge with local artists before her performance.

Events 471’s Carol said: “Events 471 came from a dinner table conversation and we decided to just go for it! We chatted about how it’s hard for people to break into the music industry and get work experience. If you do, it’s usually for very little or no money. We also spoke about Live music and how people do want to see local bands and artists but it’s not very accessible and we want to change that.”

CLICK HERE FOR GIG INFO, TICKETS & TO GET IN TOUCH AS AN ARTIST

Liverpool Theatre School is set to mark its 85th birthday with a year-long programme of events and performances including a student take over at the Leicester Square Theatre in London’s West End and a showcase at the Floral Pavilion Theatre in New Brighton.

During its 85th anniversary year, the centre of excellence is also inviting young performers with a passion for dancing, singing and acting to experience a day in the life of an elite student in a series of taster days. There will also be free musical theatre, dance and acting workshops at local secondary schools and colleges taking place throughout the year.

As one of the city’s longest running stage schools, Liverpool Theatre School boasts an endless list of success stories with graduates going on to appear in shows all over the world. Alumni include Tommy Sherlock, who starred in West End shows such as Matilda and Wicked before joining Tenors of Rock in Las Vegas; Oliver Ormson, who plays Prince Hans in Frozen the Musical; Graham Bickley, who has appeared in West End shows like Les Misérables and Miss Saigon, although he is best known for playing Joey Boswell in the TV sitcom Bread.

Liverpool Theatre School graduates also include Natalie Pilkington, who is currently touring in SIX; Tim Lucas and Josh Capper, who are both touring in Blood Brothers; as well as Coronation Street and Hollyoaks star Stephanie Davis, actor Sam Kane and renowned choreographer and casting consultant Graeme Pickering.

Speaking about Liverpool Theatre School’s 85th anniversary, Principal Maxine Ellis, said: “As we celebrate reaching such a significant milestone, we’re incredibly proud to have given so many of the city’s talented young performers the opportunity to train professionally, preparing them for success in the industry. We work with some of the best tutors in the business to make elite training, which was once only available in London, accessible to students in Liverpool.

“Our anniversary year is about celebrating the hard work and achievements of everyone who makes up the Liverpool Theatre School family from our current students and graduates to the incredible teachers and support staff who have always made the place so special. We have lots of exciting plans in the pipeline for the next generation of performers and I am looking forward to seeing Liverpool Theatre School continue to thrive as we keep on with our mission to nurture and develop emerging talent. Here’s to the next 85 years!”

This year has already got off to a flying start for Liverpool Theatre School’s Norah Button, who was named in the King’s New Year Honours list for her contribution to dance and her commitment to improving opportunities for young people in the city. Norah, who was Principal at Liverpool Theatre School for more than five decades, will host a special celebration in the spring when she officially receives her British Empire Medal (BEM). The renowned teacher, whose grandmother started Liverpool Theatre School in 1939, also turns 85 this month.

Reflecting on 85 years of Liverpool Theatre School, Norah said: “My gran started Liverpool Theatre School from the basement of her home in Upper Parliament Street by teaching a small group of local children. I’m sure she would be blown away to see the centre of excellence it has become today. I’m thrilled to share my 85th birthday celebrations with Liverpool Theatre School, which has had such a big impact on improving opportunities for many of the city’s young performers.”

Every year, Liverpool Theatre School provides a number of fully funded places and bursaries to make sure no talented student is ever held back by financial circumstances. The Ofsted ‘outstanding’ school, is one of just 15 places in the country, and the only one in Merseyside, to offer the DaDAs (Dance and Drama Awards), designed to support students with the cost of professional training.

Liverpool Theatre School, whose patrons include dance legend Wayne Sleep OBE, as well as actress and musical theatre star Anita Dobson, accepts only the most talented students (aged 16 plus) on its elite training courses, with places awarded through an audition process. Younger performers are invited to attend evening and weekend classes, which are open to anyone with a passion for singing, dancing and acting.

To find out more about Liverpool Theatre School, to register for a taster day or to organise a free workshop for your school or college, please call 0151 728 7800 or visit liverpooltheatreschool.co.uk.