Tag: Community

Longest days

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I’ve just spent two days working with BArts and Growthpoint. They were putting on an opera show about Molly Leigh.

There were three scenes today, a church where a vicar was criticising a local woman called Molly Leigh and saying she was a witch, turning milk sour and having a blackbird as a familiar. A pub scene where there were  customers and staff gossiping and talking about Molly saying good and bad things, like she borrowed money and didn’t pay it back, but then gave a family with a sick child several pints of milk so the child recovered. Then the final scene where a community choir came together to sing from her perspective bringing out the various aspects of her life. Each choir member was playing part of Molly as a whole.

The photo is of the cottage interior with a few of my bits of painting included. I have to say it was hard work, tiring, very intense and yet life affirming. I did more in two days than I’ve been able to for a few years and now I’m absolutely shattered.

I sing

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What do you do to be involved in the community?

I’ve been in a couple of local community choirs for several years. Not church choirs, or ones where you have to audition or read music, but natural voice choirs where you choose where you want to sing depending on your voice. Sometimes I sing really low notes but sometimes I join in with the high parts if there is a shortage of sopranos.

I’ve got involved in local pantomimes and community plays as a Chorus member and even had a few roles in plays as a singer. It’s good for community cohesion and helps me mentally especially when I’m feeling down. It drags me out of the house when I would just like to ignore the world. I try and persuade people to join me as it’s been a big help to me over the years. It doesn’t solve all the issues but it ameliorates them.

If you want to be involved in the community I would recommend choir singing as an activity. Music helps calm you and can be very meditative.

It depends

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What do you do to be involved in the community?

I have been a volunteer in the past and taught a few classes in adult numeracy and literacy. I’ve painted murals for a hospital and school, which was a paid job, but it was for community projects. I’ve served on a few committees both politically and for the community, and I still try and help to some extent.

My problem now is that I am not as mobile as I was, and after finishing work early because of my health I am out of touch with a lot of things. But I do still sing in choirs which are entertaining for communities, and I try and donate what I can. It troubles me that I’ve stepped back from things. That can knock your confidence. I also helped moderate a couple of websites for a few years, but they closed down, and after spending two or three hours every night dealing with problems and spam, I was glad to stop. I’m still happy to deliver leaflets, despite meeting snapping dogs at the letterboxes.

So my answer is, it depends what I’m capable of, but I try and do something where I can.

How to change?

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How would you improve your community?

How to improve my town? We are a bit of a post industrial area. A lot of industry has gone, mining, steel works, a tyre factory and a lot of the local potteries.

There are a lot of empty industrial buildings that have been left to rot. Our country charges less VAT on new builds than restoring old buildings, so a lot just gets left. We have recently had a spate of fires in these buildings, which is worrying and probably to the advantage of absent owners ( I have no proof they are involved I must add).

Our local government seems set on building apartments and car parks, but whether they are in the right places is open to question. Meanwhile plots of green land are threatened by the builders, and like everywhere else trees are cut down, roads are built and “levelling up” is touted as a great achievement.

But why are potholes in roads left unfilled? Why are historical buildings surrounded by fencing till they fall down, why aren’t crafts and arts, which bring a wealth of creativity into an area encouraged. This was once the centre of pottery in our country, no more? We have lost so much.

Then add trees and environmental improvements to the local canal and river and maybe people would take more pride in their surroundings. I just hope things can improve. It needs LOVE!

Leopard

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1765…and now it’s gone. History destroyed after more than 200 years. Potters going in to drink at the end of a hot shift. Gilders taking a pint of beer. Food served, life passing by. Once a hotel famous in the Midlands. Feared because it was haunted, loved because it was haunted. Life came and went. It became dilapidated but was rescued. Then covid struck and it closed. But friendly people wanted to buy it back off the new owners and turn it into a community building. Something that would see it restored. Now it will probably never rise from its ashes. Photo by Stokie Bloke. Will remove if this is not acceptable to him.

Christmas adverts!

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Buy this now! You know you want it! Eau de Parfum! Jewellery! Food! A new colour for a hair dryer, a new electric car, toys toys toys.

Everything the consumer wants. Chocolates, biscuits, turkey, wine, spirits with edible gold. Lots of lovely stuff… That most people in the world can’t afford. That they will never have.

Meanwhile at Cop26 deligates have not been able to agree on reducing carbon emissions. Rich countries are not helping poor countries with funding…

This world is selfish. The Christian idea of peace and loving one another doesn’t seem very evident. Will we ever care enough to think of others?

Talking, but not listening

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So many of us throw our voices out into the ‘blogosphere’, saying things we hope others will hear. But dies anyone really listen? Like a TV or radio signal escaping into space, are out missives actually picked up by anyone? The sounds might bounce off local planets and jiggle their atmospheres a bit, but after that… Our voices are lost in the dark, out beyond Pluto and the Oort cloud. Or trapped in a thin layer of atmosphere closer to us, bouncing off a personal ‘heavyside’ layer, trapped and echoing until the waves of speech are frittered and frayed away.

WordPress, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, what are they for? Free speech or an echo chamber to stop us thinking? You decide. I am undecided.

Penkhull Mystery Plays

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The time to organise this year’s mystery play at penkhull is here. But people need to get involved. After fifteen years of hard work some of the organisers are standing down. We have various deadlines and need to decide by early February whether it’s going ahead. The committee are meeting tonight and hopefully those that were involved and are involved or might want to be involved will attend. It takes a lot of effort from over 400 people to put the day on. The centre of it is usually a Mystery Play although a couple of years ago we had a ‘fallow’ year where there was no play, but the rest of the day went ahead. I guess people are busy, but it would be good to keep it going….

Join a choir!

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I pinched this image off my friend on Facebook. I really agree with it.

About 14 years ago I decided to have singing lessons, I’d always wanted to sing, but I had a loud, untrained voice. I could deafen people but not entertain them so I thought learning to control my voice would help.

The lessons were good, they helped, and I went on to get a grade one in singing. But it was expensive. My friend kept saying come to the choir she was in. So I decided to go to the choir one week and the lessons on the following week. It was a great way of getting in to it. I realised I was enjoying learning new songs, and in different languages. Eventually I finished going for lessons because my tutor was going abroad. I stayed with the choir and am still with them. In the meantime I also joined another choir, and have performed with other groups. I have to say it has helped my mental well-being and boosted my confidence.

The choir I joined does not do auditions. You don’t need to be able to read music. You just come along and have a go. So like the picture says, join the choir, you’ll be glad you did!

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