CAN DO COMMUNITIES, Learning for Change National Event
November 22, 2007 Posted by Stephen Hilton in : Education, Community Media, Events, Mentoring, Learning , 1 comment so farThe Scarman Trust has been very supportive of Connecting Bristol. They are holding the following free event, which has a very interesting, diverse and potentially explosive line up of speakers. I wish I could be there…
You are invited to attend the launch of the Scarman Trust’s “You Can Do”
Guides. Designed to equip citizens with the skills, capacity and confidence to engage in community activity, in social action and in democratic processes the Guides are an invaluable resource for individuals with a Can Do spirit and for anyone involved in public service delivery.
This is a FREE event, funded by Equal, to encourage wider participation and inclusion.
Central Hall Westminster, Storey’s Gate, Westminster, London SW1H 9NH
Tuesday 11th December 2007
11.00am - 4:45pm
Speakers to include
- Hazel Blears: Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government
- David Blunkett MP
- Ian Bone: Journalist and Agent Provocateur
- Lawrence Hoo: Community Champion, Poet
- Doreen Lawrence: Director Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust
- Liz Smith OBE: Director Unionlearn, TUC
To reserve a place please contact dave.johnston@thescarmantrust.org or call 0117 9299555
New report by Community Media South West & Blueboard
May 25, 2007 Posted by Shawn in : Education, Digital Challenge, Community Media, Advocacy, Skills , add a commentMAKING IT WORK:
An Enquiry into how companies in the Community Media Sector recruit and
retain skilled freelancers
Research by Ella Bissett Johnson
Edited by Shawn Sobers and Steve Gear
This report is a timely and original development in the analysis of social interest creative practice. It takes the debate much further than merely exploring the merits of such projects, and directly provides an analysis of the economic and skills base for this area of work – the area of community media activity within the creative industries.
According to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the creative industries are now one of the fastest growing sectors in the British economy, and socially aware creative practice is now gaining a stronger profile and being taken seriously by a wide range of cultural agencies. We feel this report provides an important step in recognising not only the economic realities of these community minded organisations via case studies of the companies themselves and the freelancers they employ, but also charts the average skills contained in this community media/arts field of work, and highlights its future sustainability.
This report has been designed to be not only illuminating, but also be useful. It will be of interest to stakeholders of community based media & arts activity, including project facilitators, managers, funders and policy makers, and also for areas such as careers advice and academic fields such as media studies and social policy. Hopefully this report will provide a platform from which to make informed decisions with confidence, from which the sub-sector of community based media education activity can strategically grow and flourish.
To order from Amazon click here.
To download full report as a pdf file click here.
Research funded by ABI Associates, University of the West of England and South West Screen
Supported by Calling the Shots and Firstborn Creatives
Published by - CMSW / Blueboard - Jan 2007
Knowle West Media Centre meets Sarah Barfield and Anne Peachey at The School of Christ the King
January 11, 2007 Posted by Roz in : Education, Digital Challenge, Learning , add a commentSarah Barfield and Anne Peachey
School of Christ the King
9 November 2006
I went to the School of Christ the King where I met with Sarah Barfield, learning mentor and Anne Peachey, head teacher. Sarah and myself began to discuss the digital challenge and Anne Peachey joined us soon after our discussion began. I explained the Connecting Bristol bid, and the purpose of my meeting with them. Sarah and Anne told me that there have been various projects and work using new media across the school and with parents’ groups. They told me that they are running a parents’ group to encourage parents to cross the barrier into school in order to boost communication.
Anne and Sarah told me that IT related issues have come up in relation to adult learning. They explained that there were issues to do with access for many families and that there were also issues for parents who want to support their children to use new media, but who don’t know how to use it themselves.
Anne and Sarah said that the Knowle West Issues forum was one space that the parents’ group was very interested in and in which they were keen to engage. They told me that someone is coming into the school from KWMC to introduce the parents’ group to using it. They said that numbers of parents attending the parents group ranged from 2 – 16, but that given the interest in the issues forum they anticipated a good turn out to the introductory sessions.
Sarah and Anne then talked about the relationship between new media and staff at the school. They said that one major issues was time, because staff don’t have enough time for training in new media.
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Knowle West Media Centre meets Lester Freckleton
December 19, 2006 Posted by Roz in : Education, Digital Challenge, Media, Learning , 1 comment so far18 October 2006
I went to the Park where I met with Lester Feckleton, music tutor, and head of levels 1 and 2 in music at The Park and City of Bristol College. Lester told me that his work is about engaging young people in music, and that the young people he works with range from beat makers through to performers. Lester said that he is keen to extend on the work through project activities and through linking up with other agencies, organisations and groups in order to do so. He mentioned Trinity as one such collaborator.
Lester said that it would be great if there were more connections between all the different work that is going on in Bristol involving young people in music. He suggested that new media might be a way of making connections that could then be followed up in physical ways. For example, if there was a local version of YouTube, whereby people could identify other musicians with similar interests to their own, in order that they might then meet up and jam together.
