I’ve been meaning to do this post about Revolution Performing Arts for a while now. But y’know how it is. I’m sorry Fi!
Fiona Di Silva Adams invited me to attend the show, by Revolution Performing Arts, called Be Your Unique at Swindon’s Arts Centre earlier in January. It’s taken me until now to get round to give it a mention here.
‘Being unique is better than being perfect‘
‘RPA Rapport is a performing arts company with a difference – actively encouraging young people to find and celebrate their differences.
Changing young people’s lives. RPA nurtures all young people, empowering them to feel fabulous and celebrating the amazing individuals they are: revolutionpa.co.uk
In this annual sharing performance, the teenage members of RPA Rapport worked with professional arts practitioners to create pieces that explored what it means to be unique. This uplifting and thought-provoking performance comprised short drama, dance and music pieces all designed and technically managed by the young people themselves in their own words and attitudes.”
There were insightful monologues written by the young people themselves. They did the choreography themselves also. And, above all, as it says on the groups Facebook page: ‘showed that with young people in this world we can all make a difference to embrace our uniqueness and make the world a better place.’
As a friend of mine, Carole Bent, said of the dress rehearsal of this performance:
‘A genuine privilege to witness the dress rehearsal of ‘Be Your Unique’. Very well done to every single young person taking part, RPA team & the Arts Centre.
Am sure that the audience tonight will be as moved and engaged as I was & hope that everyone on stage enjoys every moment. Thankyou Fiona Fi Da Silva-Adams Paul, Sam Olly & all xx’
And Amen to that says I. Because being unique is sooooooo much better than being perfect!
Between September and November 2019, the popular Beat the Street game returned to Swindon. And a new report shows improvements in activity levels for adults and children across the borough. Beat the Street gets Swindon moving!
This was the second time the town’s residents had played the game. And this time, almost 26,000 people walked, ran and cycled 252,127 miles. Sixty-nine schools got involved with the initiative, with six out of 10 primary school children taking part.
They surveyed participants at the start of the game and immediately after, to see if their activity habits had changed. Key results show a decrease in the number of adults reporting less than 30 minutes of activity per week. While almost one in ten did more. There was also an increase in the number of adults reporting that they are doing the government’s guideline of 150 or more minutes of activity per week. With almost three in 20 people doing more.
As with the first Beat the Street game in 2018, the game helped encourage them to walk or cycle more often, visit new places and spend more time with their friends and family. One participant said: “I recently lost my job and spent a lot of time inside and was becoming very annoyed by being in the same four walls. Doing Beat the Street got me out the house. The exercise made me tired so I slept better. It also gave me quality time with my boys and something we could bond over. I don’t get involved with computers or football so it made me happier.”
And I will walk 500 Miles … or more …
The player who travelled the furthest in 2018, went one better in 2019 and ran, walked and cycled more than 2,500 miles. Greg Wells, a passionate parkrunner, clocked an amazing tally of 80,000 points, three times more than he achieved in 2018.
He has travelled further than anyone else who has played Beat the Street in the UK and beyond, and his score is higher than many team totals.
Greg said: ‘I loved Beat the Street. I like a physical challenge and I did go around other areas of Swindon and discovered new parts of the town. Anything that gets people off the sofa, people who don’t tend to exercise, is great. And it was good to see people getting out there and being active with their children.’
Beat the Street gets Swindon moving!
Councillor Brian Ford, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Adults and Health added: “We’re delighted at the findings in this report and the legacy left by Beat the Street. The scheme was the talk of the town. It continues to encourage local residents to get more active and improve the health and wellbeing for everyone across the borough.”
Now, Beat the Street Swindon is back for one day with a Street Orienteering event. It’s taking place on Saturday, 1st February at the Link Centre in West Swindon from 10.30am to 1.30pm. Registrations are open from 10.30-12.00. Visit the North Wiltshire Orienteers website for full details – www.northwilts.org.uk.
About Intelligent Health
Intelligent Health’s mission is to build active communities. Created by Dr William Bird MBE, we embed understanding on the impact of the social determinants of health in programmes including health workforce training, social prescription, the development of city-wide strategies and Beat the Street.
For this post and this drink, Hop Kettle Pilsner Lager (brewed for the Eternal Optimist) we make a return visit to The Eternal Optimist bar on Devizes Rd above Los Gatos.
According to the Beerwulf website, lager is bottom-fermented – whereas ale is top fermented. So ALL lager is beer but not all beer is a lager.
Lager, the website tells us, is a collective name for many bottom-fermenting beer styles. The colour of them can vary from dark brown to light blonde and the alcohol percentage can range from alcohol-free to over 10%.
Origin of the wordLager: the word’s root is in the German word lagern – meaning ‘to store’. Bottom fermentation beers need a longer rest period after the main fermentation that occurs in cold conditions (around 0 degrees) compared to top fermenting beers. This rest period (or storage) is called lagering and that is why we call all these beers lager.
The difference between lager and Pilsner: Pilsner is a type of later. It’s named after the Czech city of Plzen. Bavarian brewer Josef Groll first brewed Pilsner in 1842, when the good folk of Plzen asked him to brew a good, stable beer. He brought with yeast from Bavaria – the yeast used to brew lagers.
Founded by Tom Gee, the brewery is based in Swindon and Cricklade.
The Pilsner that we drank in The Eternal Optimist is a special brew for the bar. And, I have to say, it’s jolly nice. I’m not an expert at all but I thought I detected a malty hint to it. Either way, I liked it a lot.
Now, before I go much further I have to confess that folk music is not particularly my ‘thing’. I’m more than happy to confess that my tastes are middlebrow in all things: music, art, literature, theatre. There’ll be odds and sods that I like from other genres – but for the most part I remain middlebrow.
But ages back now, Bryony Gramont messaged me on my Born again Swindonian Facebook page asking me to come along. And because Born again Swindonian aims to be all things to all people I was delighted to agree. But then life got in the way as life does. And then I got ill – for ages ….but at length I managed to get it together.
Thus, thanks to the kindness of club member Alan Rothwell who gave me a lift, I made a visit to the club.
Swindon Folk Club: Traditional, modern and accoustic folk music in Swindon.
About Swindon Folk Club
I was somewhat surprised to discover from the club’s website, that it came into being in 1960! Who knew?! Not me. As the website says, ‘Founded by Ted & Ivy Poole and friends in 1960, the club (formerly Swindon Folksingers’ Club) has a long history of keeping traditional music alive in this busy town in north-west Wiltshire.’
Anyhow, off I went with eyes peeled for beards and fingers and ears!
So what did I find?
Well listeners, there was a noticeable and, slightly disappointing, lack of fingers in ears. But, you’ll be pleased to hear, good news on the beards front. Phew!
Aside from beards though, the other thing I found was a warm and welcoming atmosphere. The night I attended was an open mic affair with a guest band. It being an open-mic-everyone-that-wants-to-having-a-go evening some of the voices were not – how shall I put this – recording contract quality. Not that I can talk mind you – my three year old granddaughter tells me to stop when I sing!
Anyway! That didn’t matter at all. Because what shone through was what a wonderful, welcoming, inclusive and safe environment Swindon Folk Club offers. This group is a wonderful place for anyone with an interest in folk music to have a go. And that’s a wonderful thing wouldn’t you say?
So if having an interest in folk music – whether listening or participating – I’d urge you to pay a visit to this lovely bunch of people.
Taken from the group’s Facebook page is their own write-up of the eveningwhich will give you a good flavour of one of their events:
‘On Friday 6th December at Swindon Folk Club, we welcomed The Marsh Starlings, a folk/bluegrass trio performing a range of songs as well as their own material. A great mix of laid back and up-beat folk tunes. Singer & guitarist Lynn Marie Bateman, Banjo player Kevin Starling and Guitarist & singer Ian Marsh. Thank you, we really enjoyed your two sets, and are still chuckling at Kev’s solo singing spot, ‘In the Morning!’
The evening started with the usual singaround from club members, starting with Dave our MC for the evening. It was nice to have one of our youngest members Lucien (12) singing for us whilst his older brother was at home ill. Great to see Trevor back again to play and sing for us now that his hand is healing well. Che gave us a couple of numbers and was joined by Lynn and Kevin for an impromptu session for his second one.
The dreaded lurgy was still playing havoc with some of our singers but Steve Anderson managed a couple of beautiful instrumentals on his guitar and a vocalzone for Chris Turpin helped him give us a rousing song in the second half.
Bryony, who usually prepares this write-up, is also still under the weather so this one is much shorter than usual. Despite the inclement weather the turnout was quite high and an enjoyable evening was had by all, even those that just came into the RAFA club for a drink, paid, stayed and enjoyed, made favourable noises about returning.’
A few photographs of the night
Bryony Gramont
The Marsh Starlings
The Marsh Starlings
When and where and all that stuff
Swindon Folk club meets on the FIRST and THIRD FRIDAY of every month from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm.
The venue is the RAFA Club, 41-43 Belle Vue Rd, Swindon SN1 3HN. The club has a licensed bar, car parking (at the rear) and level access.
If you’re not aware, Swindon polymath Alfred Williams took it upon himself to cycle around Wiltshire transcribing Wiltshire folk songs before they were lost. They’re all on stored on this database.
It’s so fabulous to meet another Swindon enthusiast. Which is why, the other week, I enjoyed having a good chat with Michelle Jones – the power behind the Positive Swindon social media campaign,over coffee in DaPaolo’s on Commercial Road.
What I’ve done with content via this blog, Michelle has done via her social media campaign. And that is to bang the Swindon drum and shout about the town’s many positive attributes and outright beauty.
Four years ago, in 2015, Michelle wanted to do something to help local people to speak in positive terms about Swindon. She also wanted to encourage more pride within the town.
At the time Michelle had two young daughters and she didn’t want them to feel embarrassed about the town of their birth. She also felt the need to reduce the amount of negative press the town received.
From living in Portsmouth and London for a few years, Michelle realised that most of the negativity aimed at Swindon came from some Swindonians. But then working on Swindon economic development marketing campaigns showed Michelle the opposite side of the coin. People that want to combat the negative perceptions by being positive about the town.
The We Are Swindon Instagram account was born and the hashtag #we_are_swindon became tagged on more and more positive photos – over 5,000 times now. By sharing local people’s own positive photographs of Swindon, Michelle has been able to share over 1,000 photos.
Michelle said “I remember when I first started the campaign on Instagram and got stuck on 17 followers. In the main my friends. I felt so frustrated and almost gave up.
In the end though, my determination and belief in Swindon kept me going. I’d like to thank all the 2,415 followers we now have. The campaign would be nothing without them and I’m so proud that it’s giving people with positive things to say and photography to share a platform”.
