Here you can view films, photographs and artwork and read poems showcased on Together Unlocked! in September 2020 and find links to websites and online events mentioned on the show. (You can watch the whole shows here including captions on the videos).

30 September 2020

National Poetry Day 1 October 2020: https://nationalpoetryday.co.uk/about-npd/ The National Poetry Day has been in existence since 1994, and provides resources for the different Key Stages of school education, workshops (although those are paid-for), joint resources created with the BBC, some examples of poems, and videos and live lessons. They encourage wider awareness and participation, and have free posters and information available to support the Day.

Other poetry resources:
The Poetry Library https://www.nationalpoetrylibrary.org.uk/
The Poetry Society (UK) https://poetrysociety.org.uk/
The Poetry Foundation https://www.poetryfoundation.org/

Poems from the Together! Pop-Up Poetry Club
Today’s theme is Who Am I? Next week’s theme is ‘Together’ – these poems can also be sent to us for inclusion in our forthcoming anthology, as part of our Join in from Home programme: https://www.together2012.org.uk/join-in-from-home/#poetry

Julie Newman: I am…

I used to dance
through the leaves
That lay on the street
as I walked to school.
They crackled and flew,
caught by the wind.

Although those days
Have long  passed,
In my heart of hearts,
My nose searches
For the smell
Of those leaves.

Paizah Malek : Who am I?

Am I a girl? Yes I am bcos I like curls and wear a frock
Do I love animals? Yes I gazed at horses and bullocks
Am I fond of vegetables and greens?
Yes I eat lots of apples and pumpkin
Am I the only child? Yes, very pampered
I wasn’t wild but a bit short-tempered
Was I a good pupil? ehem ehem
Poor in maths but good in rhythm
Was I a teacher? Yes but not forever
Because I ended up as a lecturer and tutor.
Was I an efficient mother and housewife?
Definitely, I brought up 5 daughters and a son alive
Was I a successful community builder?
Oh yes with hard work and effort in bringing them together
Am I a good person?
I believe yes! for so many reasons
Am I contented and grateful?
Yes, always appreciative and thankful.
That is me my friend
Who loves you to the end.                             

Duncan Bridgstock: Who am i ?

how do i find myself
this morning ?
i just pulled back the covers
and there i was !
i am
greying at the temple
also Embankment
and Blackfriars
all over town
but don’t let it
get you down
i have
my own teeth
good grief
and all my own hair
but don’t tell the Mayor
i’m shy
that’s why.

Dawn Barber: Who am I?

My name is Dawn, I am an artist and I write poetry and I also love dancing and singing,
I love to help people it makes my heart feel wonderful,
I love animals and I would do anything for them,
I love nature, gardens, trees and flowers and I know our lives are different right now,
I hope we can all help one another and try to have a laugh and keep ourselves going because friends are what we need right now.

EJay Surgeoner (age 13): It’s Never Too Late

One day I will wear my skin with pride,
Be glad to be alive and happy with who I am.
Today I can’t do that, but may be just may be,
One day.

One day I will skip on park walls,
Go and lie in the rain for the hell of it.
One day I will go out with my friends to a party,
Or take my family to the zoo.

Now I drag my feet along the pavement,
I stay inside all day.
Now I avoid people,
my family only see a shell of me.

But one day my hopes will have come true,
I’ll have my new and old family around me,
We see the animals in the zoo.

All may not be perfect now,
But we can be content,
No matter how long it takes.

So, maybe I can pick my feet up on the pavement,
Maybe I can take long walks in the park and invite my friends too,
Because why wait, I and so can you all,
Take steps in the direction you want to go in.

Robin Surgeoner: Self Examination (edited extract for ‘All the Things We Could Have Been’)

Now don’t let it be said that I’m afraid to take responsibility
As with a certain detachment I can examine the feasibility
Of any given opportunity and evaluate the consequences
whether it will forward my dreams or bring me to my senses
but the real question surrounds my conduct in relation to my capacity
did I make decisions based on fact or in viewing me and my spasticity
did I give myself a fair crack at the whip, get stuck in, tense a stiff upper lip
recognise my weaknesses and gain some unseen strength from within
Or did I buckle to the oppression with such a potent efficacy
allowing me to seal my own fateful  self fulfilling prophecy
It is ever so demoralizing realizing negativity is a pandemic infection
spreading silently throughout my people creating hopelessness and disaffection
and this still leaves the question unanswered as to how we judge ourselves
whether it is even possible to determine our every-days with undiluted resolve
It is impossible to live in a bubble, uninterrupted, blacking out the window to your soul
through which so many people demand a glimpse and are so often undeterred in having a go
nothing is meant, don’t mean to pry, just a comment as they pass you by
that’s OK then, wouldn’t’t want to spoil their day then, that’s OK then I
mean who on earth am I?
Now that is the question we’ve all been waiting for
Who I am now?
Who will I be?
Am I nothing but the sum of all that has gone before
Yet despite all of this when I go to drown my sorrows I can’t empty the glass past half
So maybe, just maybe, no matter what is done to you, you can still have the last laugh.

Virtual Naturewatch: Merlot in the wood on the last day of summer

Ju Gosling aka ju90: Quality of Life (poem): http://www.ju90.co.uk/qalylife.htm

Sports & Gaming:

Devs React to Speedruns – This is a series on YouTube in which people who worked on a game view ‘speed-runs’ of their game (where a player completes the game as quickly as possible in ways never anticipated by the designer) and react. There is a link to the whole playlist as well as the specific videos referenced on the live stream.
Whole playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLraFbwCoisJA6eO7VSWtUqLaIFBQq4PCv

Tony Hawk’s 1+2 Remaster https://youtu.be/PtMia6k5gGY

Crash 4 Demo Speedrunhttps://youtu.be/SaIhokN-WD0

Shadow of the Tomb Raiderhttps://youtu.be/swBHSE3LIpo

Xbox Game Pass This is a service which gives access to hundereds of games for a monthly subscription, including many new or recent games, as well as all first party games on day of release (so better value than the Playstation equivalent). https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/xbox-game-pass?xr=shellnav

Star Wars Squadrons A new star wars flying simulator where you play as both as pilot on both sides of the Galactic Civil War in single player campaign, and a multiplayer mode. https://www.ea.com/games/starwars/squadrons

Austrian Women’s Blind Football Team Austria are the first European country to officially form national women’s blind football team, joining Japan and Argentina. https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1098869/austria-launch-womens-blind-football

Tokyo 2020 collects enough plastic bottles to create recyclable podiums. The Recycled Plastic Victory Ceremony Podium Project was a drive launched by the Games organisers to make sport more sustainable and reduce the carbon footprint of the Games and sport as a whole. Launched in June 2019, they reached the target in March 2020 and in total 24.5 tonnes of plastic has been collected. https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1098918/tokyo-2020-plastic-podiums

28 September 2020

Celebration by Act Up! Newham

What’s App, Aunty?

More about Mod Podge craft glue and sealant: https://modpodgerocksblog.com/101-mod-podge-uses/

Relax with Awa: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrck2-KCTkXHjs8cxLkHj8g

25 September 2020

We are deeply saddened by the loss of Lionel M. Macauley, who was due to open our Together! 2020 Disability History Month Festival this November with SignDance Collective International in a performance of his poem Time. Lionel spent a week in residence with us in July 2017, where he worked with Signdance to deliver a workshopped performance with local artists at the Liberty Festival, and he will be greatly missed. Our hearts and thoughts are with his family and friends tomorrow as we say goodbye.

World Alzheimer’s Month: https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-involved/world-alzheimers-month

Lewis Hamilton Commission newly set up to support young Black students to study science, technology, engineering and design: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/54273775

23 September 2020

Poems from the Together! 2012 Pop-Up Poetry Club
Today’s theme is rhythm: next week’s is Who am I?

Duncan Bridgstock: Metronome Syndrome

Tip.—–top,—–tap——,
tip,——top,—–tap—–,
to the beat
ch—-too—-dit,——ch—-too—-dit
—–ch—–too——-dit
we’re off
don’t scoff
disco dance music
is at the same tempo
as your heart-beat rate
“hit me with your rhythm stick,
hit me—–hit me”
Rhythm is as personal
as the way you walk
the way you talk
Everybody got rhythm
except the man
“who ain’t got rhythm”
Rhythm is all around us
in the trees
in the bees
Rhythm is in your poem,
that will show ’em.

Taylor Henville: Leaving the city

On the tube hurtling through
Have to change over soon.
Check the map
Mind the gap
Push through the crowd
That roar so loud.
Up the stairs
To the open air.
Look at the departure board
Hear the buskers strike a chord.
Get on the train
Come wind or rain
We go on our way
Out of the city for the day.

Julie Newman: The beat and the beating

Beat, beat, beat
Goes the rhythm.
The dance forgotten
The song unsung.
The March of Women
Now long gone.
The rain dances down
To a beat of its own.
The sound of a drum
Echoes thrum thrum thrum.

The beat of the feet
Heard loud on the street.
Is a memory gone.
A different song
Sung to a distant tune.
Left now relentless
The sound of seasons change.
Winds beating loud
Creating a sound.
Echoes thrum, thrum, thrum.

The beat of the sea,
Hard hitting the shore.
Tides come and they go,
Smashing backwards and fro,
Washing the stones
Then back to the deep.
Fish flail then dive to sleep
the storm passes by.
But the sound of the waves
Echo, rush, rush, rush.

Paizah Malek: Life is full of rhythm

All our movements are often repetitive
With standard phrase either negative or positive
One finds it boring others said it’s creative
Because the repetition is rhythmic
Sweet to enjoy and follow the mimic
Most rhythms are full of sound,
And it goes round and round
As though accurately in measured space
Always very pleasant and full of grace
Beautiful to see as the waves hit the sandy shores
Full of anxiety when the hunters run after the wild boars
Every movement is like a revolution
It recycles at its pace and motion
Depending on the objects you have in mind
Our footsteps, breathing and clapping of hands.
Walking, marching, inhale exhale, cutting and chopping the sounds and rhythm according to what we are doing
Brushing the floor – shrews shrews,
Dipping onions into hot frying pan – shu shu
whisking the eggs – click, click
dancing with anklets – ching, ching
banging your bangles – cling, cling
Humming and singing – la la la
Whistling and laughing – ha ha ha.

Dawn Barber: The Story Of Rhythm

Drip drip drip goes the tap,
boom boom goes the drum,
Rhythm that’s how it goes,
Can we have some more please,
The beats, the tap of your feet as you walk down the street,
The rhythm of the instruments playing the story,
la la la boom boom boom,
Yes this is what its all about,
Rhythm.

The Together! 2012 Pop-Up Poetry Club is publishing an anthology on the theme of ‘Together’ and every entrant will receive a free copy of the book. Send us your poems: info@together2012.org.uk

Sahera Khan: WHY TOGETHER? 

Why together is important?
Do you understand what together is? TOGETHER
No need to answer.
BUT
Together is one community. TOGETHER
To support each other.
To care for each other.
To avoid fighting and war.
To avoid politics and injustice.
Do you get it?
TOGETHER
Peace, love and freedom.
To be happy, laugh and relax. Together is one community. Together forever. TOGETHER.

Virtual Naturewatch with Merlot

Paralympic News

Procter & Gamble community grants for athletes: 
https://www.paralympic.org/news/pg-support-para-athletes-community-work

Berlin Leg of Para Swimming World Series:
https://www.paralympic.org/news/world-series-return-berlin-october

21 September 2020

International Alzheimer’s Day/ World Alzheimer’s Month: https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-involved/world-alzheimers-month

AppDate

Julie Newman interviews photographer Tim Boddy

View Tim Boddy’s anthotype plant prints here: https://cargocollective.com/timboddyphotography/Covid-19-Plant-Prints

Relax with Awa

18 September 2020

AppDate

Painting My Butterfly Hunt by Sterre Ploeger

Birding https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/groups/thanet/news/
http://www.birdingforall.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Birding-For-All-Update-issue-2017-online.pdf—

Something for the Weekend

ACTIVITIES

Life Hacks This is a link to a great list of activities you can do yourself at home.  There is a particular section on getting creative with some fabulous but simple ideas on making and doing: https://tinyurl.com/y7eslsj6

FESTIVALS

London Design Festival https://www.londondesignfestival.com/

Thames Festival https://thamesfestivaltrust.org/whats-on/

London Open House Festival (previously just a weekend but now runs until 27 September, with films, podcasts, models to make, and some real-life socially distanced walks, cycles and building visits ): https://open-city.org.uk

PODCASTS

Ecstasy: The Battle of Rave This creative 12-part series explores how the rise of ecstasy led to the creation of a new musical subculture in the UK and Europe in the late 80s and early 90s. All episodes available on BBC Sounds.

Science Weekly The Guardian’s health editor Sarah Boseley is joined by a selection of reporters including Ian Sample, Hannah Devlin and Nicola Davis to take your most pressing questions on the Covid-19 pandemic. Recent topics up for expert discussion have included the potential impacts of the flu season and how to properly tackle healthy eating.

16 September 2020

Corina Duyn: The Invisible Octopus. A film poem. See www.corinaduyn.com for more of Corina’s work.

Poems from this morning’s Together! 2012 Pop-Up Poetry Club
This week’s theme is Journeys

Julie Newman: The daily journey 

When he left the house and closed the door,
We never wondered where he went or had been before.
He would wave goodbye as he said farewell,
And travel on his way, gathering tales to tell.

The time would pass and our days were full,
Playing out in the woods, loving the wind as it pulls
The smells from the leaves that we crush under foot.
The trees standing tall, bushes dense with roots.

When he comes home, at the end of the day,
We welcome him with stories and laugh at our play.
He sometimes speaks of where he has gone,
Then hangs up his jacket and mows the lawn.

We would travel to places impossible to name,
And in a way, he did the same.
His world unknown to us remained a mystery,
At the edge of his life but part of our history.

Paizah Malek: My Memorable Journey

My two hands holding the handle
Or else I would be in trouble
My two little legs dangling down
Swinging under my short gown
Sitting on a single metal bar
For four miles is far
It happens on Sunday till Thursday
Going and coming back everyday
Cling, cling went the bell
Pressed only when there’s going to be hell
Wobbling to avoid stone and hole
Keeping the balance to save our soul.
If you can, please guess my traveling mode
Full of anxiety, in the sun and rain on the road
Anxiety to miss the obstacles
Deep holes and pebbles
To stay in control the very balancing
Like your legs while doing cat walk evening.
I was sitting on the front bar
On an old bicycle instead of a car.                                                                                                                         

Alison Marchant: Shadow of a Journey

Remote oceans from a small ferry
Deep Blue
Mountain mist along my line of sight
The listening winds received this song.
Her shadow,
A deepening shade across the tide
Transferred onto the flickering frames of a super 8 film
This is the edge of what she has –
A steady storm tearing against the wind.
A sound track of highlanders telling the history of the clearances*

(*mid-17th century to mid-18th century).

Dawn Barber: Hastings

When I was young I used to get so excited about going on holiday in Hastings with my mum dad and grandad,
I used to love it going through the Blackwall tunnel and then we got there,
Going into our caravan and going around shops and other things,
Going into the club at night, I used to get up and have a little dance,
Lovely people so very friendly, thinking of having to go home was a little bit sad,
But we knew we were going to come back to Hastings.

Duncan Bridgstock: Blank Canvas
The colourful world of jazz muscian’s names and nicknames (homage)

clifford   brown  trumpet afro american
sandy    brown  clarinet  scotland
pete      brown  alto sax afro american
lawrence  brown trombone afro american
red   norvo  xylophone usa
red   allen trumpet  afro american
red   callender double bass afro american
red   nichols   cornet usa
red   garland piano  afro american
yellow  nunez clarinet  creole
orange  kellin clarinet  sweden
blue    mitchell trumpet afro american
grant   green guitar afro american
freddie  green guitar afro american
bennie green trombone afro american
benny green piano usa
dave   green double bass uk
urbie    green trombone usa
stanley  black piano uk
brian     lemon piano uk
wardell   gray tenor sax afro american
michael  white clarinet afro american
duncan   whyte trumpet scotland.

Robin Surgeoner: I am a journeyman

Excitement or trepidation
Over-arching sensations
that punctuate the changes
that lead to destinations
of unknown pleasures and
serendipitous treasures

I am a journeyman, a travelling soul,
Not seeking determination, discovery the goal
No need to follow rails, no need to follow rules
Foraging for freedoms not universal truths

I am not a hat stand, or a foot stool, or a gravestone
A meander my primary focus, routes yet to be known
Acquisitiveness the practice, sensory wealth the prize
Every journey an education, a voyager realized

Every expedition a curation of highs and lows
Personal identity the definition of growth
I am a journeyman, a craftsman of exploration
I will remember each experience until my expiration.

AppDate Our new regular feature about the NHS Covid-19 App and all things App-related.

Virtual Naturewatch with assistance dog Merlot

Sport & Gaming

Rio Paralympic Closing Ceremony. Link to the full closing ceremony of the 2016 Paralympic Games, hosted on the Offical Paralympic Games Youtube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv2QDuibb-g

Guardian newspaper beginner’s guide to gaming: https://www.theguardian.com/games/2020/sep/16/game-plan-the-complete-beginners-guide-to-gaming-from-buying-a-console-to-exploring-new-worlds

For more details about the new Xbox consoles including technical specs, comparison of consoles and details around pricing: https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/consoles

14 September 2020

AppDate

Photographing Lockdown: 

• Hold Still – a digital exhibition of 100 selected photographs hosted by the National Portrait Gallery https://www.npg.org.uk/hold-still/
• Disabled artists respond to lockdown on Disability Arts Online https://disabilityarts.online/blog/tag/lockdown/

Relax with Awa (new videos added weekly): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrck2-KCTkXHjs8cxLkHj8g

11 September 2020

AppDate

9/11 Memorial – Link to the main website, which has details of the memorial and museum; there are also live virtual tours which are 45 minutes long and cost $25/£19.50: https://www.911memorial.org

Something for the Weekend

Museum of Modern Art in New York MOMA and their art collection online, specifically looking at Van Gogh: https://www.moma.org/artists/2206

Read more about this weekend’s BBC Radio 2 Live at Home Festival, broadcast on Radio 2, BBC Sounds and BBC2, here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-54093240

Battlestar Galactica box set series 1-4 on the BBC i-Player https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p08kz1gc/battlestar-galactica

US Open 2020 – A link to the live streams of the US open via Amazon, all games can be watched live and on repeat, both the commentary and a highlights and coverage show each day with hosts. An Amazon Prime or Amazon Video Subscription is required. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/storefront/ref=atv_hm_hom_1_c_nPGsgV_2_2?contentType=tournament&contentId=amzn1.dv.icid.6057aab7-6615-44db-9a78-bebb2dde5e24

9 September 2020

Poems written today at the Together! Pop-Up Poetry Club on the theme of colour and texture (contact info@together2012.org.uk for details of how to join)

Duncan Bridgstock

A world without colour
what could be duller ?
and you don’t have to
be a saint
to paint
and remember
paint ain’t
quaint
it’s,
NOW
Your brush
can sing
like a Thrush.
And your easel
can go
pop goes the weasel.
Who is this hue ?
hue this and
hue that
who is this Hugh cat ?
is he the lout
we hear so much
about ?
The riot of colour
will have to be
all quiet
on the western front.

Dawn Barber: Yellow

The colour yellow is my sunflower, soft and velvet,
Leaves furry and a bit rough it hangs over like it’s ready to sleep,
It has a thorny middle with some yellow with small holes,
It’s ready to suck you in beauty,
Even the bees and butterflies for now and evermore.

Julie Newman:  The Cats’ Blanket

Sitting at the foot of the be
The blanket lies blue and pink,
Waiting for the next cat to rest and think
About the last meal, as she lays her head
And curls her dear kitten paw
Relaxed in sleep, no sign of claws.

The blanket is soft, made with love.
A song in each square of wool.
Every corner tucked in, no threads to pull
Held firm in its place, and seen from above,
It’s a patchwork of colours, tidy and neat,
A place to rest, a place to sleep.

But then comes the naughty boy,
Full of fluff and fury. As the slumbering cat,
Eyes firmly shut, awakes with a cry that
Gives voice to outrage, and shows that to annoy
Her sleep will be met with claws and pain
The tufts fly as they tangle, again and again.

The bundles of fur roll round and around
Until falling off the bed. Black and grey
Up and down, until the beaten one runs away.
The other pausing to stretch as he lays on the ground,
Triumphant. Then swaggers back onto the bed,
Sits on the blanket, stretches his  paws and washes his head.

Alison Marchant: Landscape Photograph in Colour 

Dark shadows smudge their faded impossible colours
In a dawn of cornflowers,
Yellow drifts
Under silken clouds,
The air, pure white and fast moving.
Buds unfold pink and crimson roses,
Reefs of violets,
Amber buttercups in clumps of gold,
Fields of lavender, and mustard.
Almost transparent fragile dandelion clocks wind scattered.
Flame red and orange-coloured trees,
Bushy and leafy and rain drenched,
Birch trees shed their aluminium crust
On the edge of a red earth ploughed field.
A shiney green-gold dragon fly in the blue flamed sky.
Blue black swallows haunt the glittering blue grey river
from the sunshine flame of a mid-summer day;
Into the blue darkness of a ghost grey fall of night.

Virtual Naturewatch with assistance dog Merlot

AppDate

Link to past AppDate where Josh Surgeoner demonstrates finding and downloading the Photoshop Camera app: https://youtu.be/ZuK6b5DzuZU

Examples using the App from Julie Newman

Originals:

And with the App:

Gaming & Sport

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2A HD remaster of two classic skateboarding games, where you can play as Tony Hawk and a roster of legendary skaters on Xbox One or PS4. Available for physical purchase at most retailers or digital download directly from your console. Use the following link to view the game on Amazon. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tony-Hawks-Skater-Amazon-co-uk-Exclusive/dp/B0883N798G/ref=sr_1_1?crid=21AQC53SHPAY&dchild=1&keywords=tony%2Bhawks%2Bpro%2Bskater%2B1%2Band%2B2&qid=1599664745&sprefix=Tony%2Caps%2C148&sr=8-1&th=1

Lewis Hamilton & Extreme E This is a link to an article by the BBC around Lewis Hamilton joining Extreme E with his X44 team, as well as more information about the series as a whole, which is due to start in January 2021.<ahref=”https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/53630904″>https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/53630904

Paralympic Games Youtube ChannelThere are two links for this highlight. The first is a link to the homepage of the Paralympic Games official youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/ParalympicSportTV) the second is a link to a playlist called “Greatest Paralympic Moments of the Decade” and at the time of writing has 16 videos ranging in duration from just under 2 minutes to almost 3 hours (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6CBAXPeBajk9jm0HmRt8CvFIhWHBmVRu).

Pegasus Dream Tour Game

This is the website for the first Offical Paralympics Games set to be released in 2021, keep checking the website for more info as it is released.https://pegasus-dream.com/en/

7 September 2020

AppDate: our new regular feature about all things App-related and the NHS Coronavirus App pilot scheme in Newham.

Article about the some of the technology used in filming The Mandalorian. There is a written article and a short video at the bottom of the page: https://www.starwars.com/news/the-mandalorian-stagecraft-feature

4 September 2020

AppDate: What’s App, Aunty?

Poems from the Together! 2012 Pop-Up Poetry Club on the theme of sounds of childhood

Paizah Malek

Julie Newman: Childhood sounds

The landscape of my childhood has no sound.
It runs like a silent film, a set of pictures going round
With no piano playing at the side,
No voices raised, no dogs that bark.
No purring engines as buses stop and start.
No birds sing or children call slipping down the slide
Or running with a ball.

The scenes are set, the play will run its course.
Glimpses of people long gone and past. Living day by day
With no remembered songs to hear. And yet so familiar
When heard today. Music hall was not far away,
But the tunes of the times held their own.
The radio brought its own soundscape
Against which our lives played out.

My aunt with her classics, the boys with their drums,
My cousin swoons as pop stars start to croon.
There was music around us, yet none I can hear.
No bells from the churches, no singing in the choir
Where once I stood, us kids from the neighbourhood.
Carefully phrased consonants ringing out strong
After weeks of practice and torturing the song.

But smells…I remember the smells of my youth.
They stay in my the corners of my mind and soothe
The fear of forgetting that lurks there too.
Bromley lemon, soap with rainbows through
The windows in the bathroom. Happy warmth,
No room for gloom. A silent oasis of joy
To hold close as a treasure.

Taylor Henville: The sounds of school

Rustling and jostling to hang our coats in the cloakroom,
Tap tap scratch of powdery chalk against the blackboard,
The low whirling and humming of the heaters,
Attempting to warm the large Victorian classrooms,
The overhead projector coughing and spluttering,
Struggling to stay switched on,
So we could learn the song of the day,
The blow of the whistle which causes a wave of children
To surge and crash into the dining hall,
Running around the concrete playground,
Shouting laughing squabbling chattering,
And the dinging and rattling of the bell which signals a return to class.

Taylor Henville: Sounds of winter

Winter winds whistle and echo down the street
Sometimes the winds howls and screams
But always to its own melodic beat.
December leaves brown and yellow
Crinkle and crackle like white noise
And under your boot snow and ice
Crunches and grinds into the pavement below.
But all of this is almost drowned out
By the hiss and roar of the rain
As it battles against the silent fog
That swallowed the landscape again.

Alison Marchant

From Spring to Winter,
Washing flapping in the breeze,
Chattering swallows-birds sing in every tree,
Busy humming bees, rustling leaves,
Crackling bonfire, drizzling rain,
The sky split open into a thunderstorm,
Howling wind in blasts of winter,
Settled snow muffles all sound.

Artwork by Pritesh Patel

Bear drawing by Lee Brooker from photo

Something for the Weekend

Relax with Awa: Awa tells us her new YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrck2-KCTkXHjs8cxLkHj8g

As the summer draws to a close…

The Museum of London exhibition ‘London Calling – the Clash includes a virtual tour which may be finishing this weekend…certainly worth checking out: https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london/whats-on/exhibitions/london-calling-40-years-clash

Art Institute of Chicago: Impressionism Tour – FREE Livestream Sunday 6th 4pm (UK time) https://tinyurl.com/y6dk7ltg

2 September 2020 (the second of our two Youth Takeover shows)

Poem by a young Disabled person

‘it’s the 21st century’ What does that mean? When it’s still so hard to be seen and a thousand times harder to be heard. Do you even ever notice I’m here? As a human being I’m expected to be tough. I think people forget that’s not always human nature. The prospect of me sheading a tear is absurd. Why should that be? how can that be? when I’m constantly forced to ask am I good enough. We’re growing up in a generation where we can not speak out about how we feel. The youth is not free. We don’t have a voice. We’re too young to have a view even though some go through more than adults will ever do. With many of us feeling forgotten or like we don’t belong and still nobody believes this is even slightly wrong. It’s times to make that change. Remember that we are not strange because we are different. We fight to be equal and to this injustice I really hope there is no sequel. You are loved and supported even if that isn’t by the people around you. Trust in yourself. In fact I do not want to put an age on youth. It is Not about your ability to turn a page in a text book or pass an exam but your strength in being able to say “look this is who I am. You like it or you don’t but I won’t sit and lie about that for that is justifying my existence. That I should not have to do” To me that is youth. Confidence change making. It’s to fight for change, questioning stories that make the main page. Life is your stage. Make mistakes, learn from them. Youth and passion is to knowing where you stand no matter who tears you down. Get back up start again. Be proud and put the YOU into the word youth. I hope we look back and say we did the right thing and no matter where you are or who you are there was light at the end of the fight!

Interview with artist Jess Starns

Anahita Dances

AppDate with Josh Surgeoner

Nature Watch: Cats at play

Rising Phoenix: A Para family responds

Garden Circuit training with EJay Surgeoner

ParaSport revisited

The Surgeoners go head to head in Forza 6 Spa

Clarinet with EJay

Click here to view Highlights and Links from previous months