Teeyan Exhibition: a morning of dance and colour!

I was delighted when a local resident invited me to the opening of the Teeyan exhibition at the Indian Community Centre.  Teeyan in a traditional Punjabi festival for women.  I was also joined by Cllr Chris Maskell, Mayor Marian Livingston & our parliamentary candidate Victoria Groulef.

The exhibition runs at the Indian Community Centre until 18 June:

Click on the picture for a larger image.

The event started off with dance which was performed with great skill as the dancers were balancing pots on their heads!  I was pleased as punch to be invited up to have a dance.  I had no idea what I was doing but it was lovely to join in.  Here are a few pictures from the event:

Community Events to Benefit From Council Grant Money

'06/06/2012
Reading Borough Council Press Release

A film project, fitness holiday clubs and special swimming sessions are among the community events to benefits from Reading Borough Council's 2012 Culture and Sports grants programme.

Earlier this year the council encouraged groups to bid for grants of up to £10k to fund projects linked to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Diamond Jubilee.

The successful bids were:

" Reading Repertory Theatre - £5k
" Reading rockets - £9,984.50
" Rising Sun Arts Centre - £9,716
" Creativity in Sport - £5,120
" Beautiful Creatures Performance Group - £6,700
" Nature Nurture CIC - £9,770
" Mapis Project CIC - £7,800
" Positive Strides - £8,800
" DSISO - £5,800
" Reading Dolphin Swimming Club - £1,170
" RBL Theatre Company - £554.50

The projects also feature street theatre programmes, an innovative arts scheme providing activities for people with disabilities, environmental education projects, fashion and beauty self esteem courses for young women, healthy lifestyle sessions using basketball, an international Downs Syndrome Swimming championship and family and friends fitness holiday clubs.

A total of £70k was available through the programme. The successful projects were ones which deliver activities that are engaging for all ages, backgrounds and abilities. The aim of the scheme is to build on the legacy of the 2012 Games and Jubilee by encouraging more people to take up and appreciate the benefits of sport and physical activity or get involved in cultural initiatives.

Marian Livingston, Reading's Lead Councillor for Culture and Sport, said: 'We had some fantastic projects presented to us so it was hard to whittle it down to these 11 local groups. I'm sure they will all make the most of the grants to deliver some excellent initiatives for their local communities.'

Talk to Celebrate 19th Century Hero

22/05/2012
Reading Borough Council Press Release

Come and discover the life and unusual adventures of the inspirational Ada Lovelace at Battle Library, Oxford Road .

Sew Charman-Anderson- a journalist and social media expert, who has written for the Guardian and Forbes.com- will be giving a talk on this 19th Century pioneer on Thursday 31st May at 7:30pm.

Ada Lovelace was the daughter of Lord Byron, a keen mathematician and the author of what many consider to be the first computer programme.

This talk is part of Ada Lovelace Day, which was founded in 2009 by Mrs Sew Charman-Anderson. The day is an international celebration of the achievements of women in technology, science, engineering and maths. With grassroots events held around the world and thousands of people writing and talking about the women who have inspired them, the day seeks to raise women's profiles and highlight unsung heroines.

Reading Borough Council's Lead Member for Culture and Sport, Councillor Marian Livingston, said: 'This event is a wonderful opportunity for people to find out about the life of a true pioneer. The fact Ada Lovelace achieved so much at such as a woman in the 1800's is a testament to her talent. I implore residents to come along and share this knowledge with Mrs Charman-Anderson.

Tickets to this event cost £3 and are available at Reading Central Library and Battle Library. For more information please contact Battle Library at 0118 901 5100

Art Network Event

09/05/2012
Reading Borough Council Press Release

The Cultural Partnership will be hosting an Art Network event on Wednesday 30th May, 6.00pm-7.30pm at South Street Arts Centre. The network event will provide the opportunity for all local art individuals' organisations and community groups to come together and find out about national and local arts projects and agenda's.

The key note speaker for the event will be Vidya Thirunarayan- Arts Council South East, Combined Arts & Touring Relationship Manager. Vidya Thirunarayan, Combined Arts & Touring Relationship Manager, has 20 years of experience in the arts sector, reflecting her broad and eclectic interests. She was the founder Artistic Director of Sankalpam, a national touring company, and has worked as a choreographer, performer, tutor, board member, mentor, and advisor.

To book your place on the network event you must register at www.theculturalpartnership.com and e-mail theculturalpartnership@reading.gov.uk or phone 01189374046 to book your place.

Reading Borough Council's Lead Member for Culture and Sport, Cllr Livingston, said: 'We have a talented, passionate and unique arts scene in Reading which I am very proud of. The Culture Partnership nurtures this community and hopefully artists will take advantage of what the Partnership has to offer.'

If you register with the Cultural Partnership and become a member there is a performance concession to view to Chris Goode's - The Adventures of Wound Man and Shirley at South Street Arts Centre after the network event. Refreshments will be available to purchase from the bar.

Please bring along any marketing and promotion or information about your organisation or project to share with other attendees.

Labour re-elects winning team

Reading & District Labour Party Media Release  

8 May 2012

The first meeting of the Labour Group following the party’s success in the Borough elections has tonight re-elected Jo Lovelock as Leader and Tony Page as Deputy Leader, and kept the same Cabinet Members, although some changes have been made to some of their portfolios.

Jo Lovelock says: “With 26 out of the 46 Council seats, we have a solid mandate to push ahead with the programme on which we fought the elections, and the important thing now is to get down to work and deliver for local people.  We are keen to get on with our ‘Let’s Talk’ approach in communities across the town and making the changes that people want to see.  We know we are in tough times, but we have shown that we can stand up for local people, particularly those who are most in need of Council services, and we will be working hard to deliver what local people expect.”

The full Cabinet list is as follows:

Leader - Jo Lovelock

Deputy Leader

& Regeneration, Transport & Planning - Tony Page

Adult Social Care - Mike Orton

Community Engagement & Service Transformation - Jan Gavin

Culture & Sport - Marion Livingston

Education & Children’s Services - John Ennis

Environment & Climate Change - Paul Gittings

Health & Wellbeing - Bet Tickner

Neighbourhoods & Housing - Rachel Eden

Guest post: Marian Livingston - Save The Bees!

'Bees across the world are dying in millions.  Pesticides, disease and electronic signals all being cited as possible causes.

Reading Borough Council is doing its bit to help.  We have entered into partnership with University of Reading in a research project.  Strips of wild flowers and grasses across the borough will be planted and monitored by researchers hoping to learn more about pollinators.

This is important work.  Imagine the cost if one day we only have artificial pollination to maintain our food supplies.

 

Find out more from Friends of the Earth - The Bee Cause'