Song of Highbury light the parade

Tiger Skins of Sunlight, a collection of movers, shakers and magic makers present 'The Song of The Woods'.  With a community willow lantern parade and singing from Ark Tindal Primary Academy and King's Heath Primary school choir, we are holding a beautiful winter celebration in local parks Cannon Hill and Highbury, with a live open air film screening of a shadow puppet story featuring the song 'The Woods' by The Phlox of Pink.

Join us for the last performance Thursday 27th November at 6pm (prompt) -7pm in Highbury Park, King's Heath (meeting by the High Street entrance).

Our finale evening event will be held at The Old Printworks 06/12/14 with a final screening of our film and live performance by The Phlox of Pinkstarting at 9pm (18+ £3) A full moon, stunning celebration showcasing the work of the community and all of the artists involved!!!

Useful info:

http://tigerskinsofsunlight.tumblr.com/

Kings Heath brings generations together

HGA were there for another great Kings Heath Residents Forum event bringing generations together, followed by the last of Parks4Play's fantastic Carnival of Play at Kings Heath Park, which have been running all summer across Kings Heath, including playing out on National Playday

For more news and views from Kings Heath, take five minutes to listen to what residents think the most important thing we can do to make things better (audioboo below).  Also visit Kings Heath Residents Forum to keep a closer eye and what they're up to.

listen to ‘Kings Heath Residents Forum AGM 2014’ on Audioboo

A BIT BIZARRE

Art, music, stories with a cuppa, and stuff to buy and sell, all in Graham & Pam's back garden, Saturday 6th September, 1 to 4pm:

You are invited to come along to a new community sale in the garden of 19 Springfield Road, Kings Heath, on the corner of Woodfield Road. There will be a range of stalls with second hand stuff, arts and crafts, produce etc. There will be some live music and free stuff from people who don't want a stall.

You will be very welcome to come along, we hope that it will be successful enough for us to want to repeat it occasionally. We have a lot of cover in case the weather is not that great but the garden is plenty big enough with easy access from Woodfield Road.

We still have space for more stalls so if you have artwork, crafts, junk or garden produce to sell please get in touch by contacting Graham or Pam on 247 7607 or email graham@storytelling.uk.net. If you want other information, just get in touch.

Kings Heath Carnival of Play

Labyrinth discovery day

DIY Streets Easter Events

Organise for playing out

Ride for Hope 21st Sept

The procession down Kings Heath High Street for Hope Fennell was bigger this year, with around 400 cyclists and pedestrians taking to the street.

We were there with all our children, who all understood why.  For Jago it reminded him of when he was hit by a bus (minor injuries only), and said he felt people were doing it for all children.  Arthur couldn't understand why nothing had changed.  Freya is just coming to terms with what 'dead' means.

Nazan Fennell, mother of Hope, led the procession.  When we stopped for a few minutes at the crossing Hope died at, she managed to negotiate with the Police officer attempting to clear the road, even after he described it as a 'publicity stunt'.  Hope's friends from school gathered by the ghost bike, while we all waited a short while.  My children were getting a bit impatient, but no one was prepared to move until Nazan said so.  I'm not sure how long we were there for, obstructing the traffic.  As we stood there, I think the police expected the crowds to slowly melt away, but there was a sense of solidarity holding us together, mixed with frustration.

Find out more about Hope Fennell and the Livein Hope campaign or contact khresforum@gmail.com - also see http://hallgreenarts.blogspot.co.uk/p/car-culture.html

Other useful links:

• http://www.ctc.org.uk/blog/rhiaweston/road-safety-procession-to-be-held-on-sat-21st-in-birmingham-in-hope-fennells-name#.UjoFSpKtYBY.facebook
• http://www.b14news.co.uk/protest-march-for-teen/
• http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/mum-hope-fennell-stops-kings-6076170
• http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/hope-fennell-tragedy-mp-urges-6028675
• http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/hope-fennells-killer-driver-jailed-5849881
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-21380645
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-15663711
• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2415859/Hope-Fennell-death-Lorry-driver-crushed-13-year-old-girl-truck-texted-girlfriend-released-just-THREE-months.html

Street play spreading across Birmingham

Yesterday was National Playday, and in Kings Heath we celebrated with a day of street closures to bring communities together and encourage people to play on the streets.  Goldsmith Road, Woodville Road and Albert Road all closed to cars for the day, and a range of activities were coordinated by the residents of the streets.

It was supported by Hall Green Arts Forum through music activities (provided by Musicshaker Fiona Howe), and also by our pioneering 'Kings Heath Space Explorer' project.  Parks4Play (part of Dens of Equality) provided a range of creative activities, the Library service with street stories and Birmingham City Council were instrumental in providing support to close the roads.

We sent out our young reporters to talk to some of the revellers at Goldsmith Road and Woodville Road:


An estimated 600 people in total took part - mainly residents of the streets themselves - all three streets were visited by Sarah Falkland from Midlands today and was reported live at 1:30 and 3 min clip available on Midlands at 6:30 too:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b037xkkk/Midlands_Today_07_08_2013/?t=21m33s

Laura Watts from Parks for Play was also interviewed on WM Radio and ITV central.

Also some great photos of the day:


Street coordinators will meet in September with City Councillors and other partner organisations (like Hall Green Arts Forum) as the newly formed 'Kings Heath and Moseley Playing out group' and will build on success for to discuss which streets and when streets will open again for play in Birmingham.  See below a short film made for playday:

• http://birminghamlives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/playday-2013.html
• http://www.itv.com/news/central/update/2013-08-07/streets-closed-for-national-play-day-initiative/

Also see fabulous film:

New Sustrans project to transform Kings Heath

Kings Heath is to be part of a Sustrans led project, 'Active School Neighbourhoods', for which they have secured an extra £3,615,000 funding through the Big Lottery Fund. To launch this project there was a meeting at All Saints centre on Monday for tea, biscuits and a chat.  This is a national programme that will focus on engaging local communities in the redesign of areas around schools & elsewhere with a view to making them safer and more attractive for walking & cycling.

Joe Green from Sustrans says, "Largely due to the efforts and success of the Car Culture project, we have been able to put forward Kings Heath for inclusion in the pilot of this programme (along with two areas in London & Newcastle). Birmingham City Council have agreed to provide match funding towards any capital works resulting from this."

The presentations, by Joe and two other Sustrans colleagues - Finlay McNab and Paola Spivach, highlighted the achievements of our Car Culture project, and an explanation of the origins of Sustrans innovative DIY Streets initiative and how it has already transformed streets across the UK (see more references at bottoom of blog).

It's a fantastic opportunity for Kings Heath - we'll keep you posted as the project develops.

Useful links:

• http://www.sustrans.org.uk/news/sustrans-receives-extra-%C2%A33615000-big-lottery-funding-travel-actively-programme
• http://www.localtrust.org.uk/big-local/environment/environment-case-studies/sustrans-do-it-yourself-streets/
• http://www.sustrans.org.uk/sites/default/files/images/files/migrated-pdfs/A%20simple%20guide.pdf
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2009/nov/25/diy-streets-clapton-sustrans
• http://www.sustrans.org.uk/our-services/what-we-do/getting-young-people-active

More number crunching

Following on from yesterday, we've visited nearly every shop and venue on the High Street ready for Car Culture tomorrow.  Below, some more of the road numbers in shops, and an ever growing list of thanks to all the shops and people supporting the project:

415 Number of road accidents reported every day in UK (also number of games in photo, Buzztech)

195 number of children at KHP who never bike to school (also number of phone  cases, Celltech)

7 Number of children killed or seriously injured on UK roads every day (also number of chickens , Johnstans)

46 Number of under 15 cyclist casualties in Birmingham 2008 (also wig models, Bella)

60 Number of under 16s killed on UK roads in 2011 (also Ginseng herb jars) 

229 Number of cyclist casualties in Birmingham 2008 (also handbags in Cinderellas)

280 Number of under 15 pedestrian casualties in Birmingham 2008 (also socks in  Baby & Toddler)

49 Number of  Cars for every bike on Kings Heath High Street (also specs  Portland  Eyecare)

13,875 Total number of vehicles on High Street every day (also number of keys on this wall, Timpsons) 

27 Number of children who would like to ride their bike to school for every one child at KHP who does (OXFAM)

232 Number of cyclists on KH High Street every day (also cards in British Heart Foundation)

Shops involved:

Armadillo Crafts, Baby and Toddler and Blinds shop, Bella Afro Hair Accessories, British Heart Foundation, Buzztech, Cartridge World, Celltech, Cheque Centre, Cinderellas, Connells Estate Agent, Contrast Florist, Gamemaster, Ginseng Tang Accupuncture, Glovers Estate Agents, Kings Heath Library, Kitchen Garden Cafe, Maison Mayci, Max Spielmann, Mirror Stone, Portland Eye care, Shirley Ann Florist, The Jewellery Shop, Sue Ryder Shop, The People shop,  Timpson Shoe and Key, Specsavers, Togademus, York supplies

Appologies for anyone I may have missed off the list - looking forward to #carculture big day tomorrow!

Road statistics on KH High Street

In the build up to our main #carculture event this Saturday 30th March, we've been finding a few more road statistics along the High Street. Please send your own in when you see them to add to our gallery!

KH Community Centre

KH Community Centre

KH Community Centre

KH Community Centre

KH Community Centre

Sue Ryder

Barclays Bank

All Saints Cafe

KH Square

All Saints Cafe

Car Culture with Outstanding Queensbridge

Today we are working with (the recently OFSTEDed outstanding !)  Queensbridge for our second car culture workshop, visiting King Heath High Street to build on our interviews, take photos, videos and to trial a survey we are preparing for our main event, Saturday 30th March 2013.

Queensbridge workshops follow on from a series of 6 workshops at Kings Heath Primary with all 90 children in year five.  We are putting together plans with young people to find out how safe people feel on Kings Heath High Street, and what we can do to improve it, using a range of creative means to document what young people think, and give young people the opportunity to question adults about our High Street.

The project leads on from concerns from Highbury Youth Parliament and KH residents forum and is funded by Community First, in partnership with Sustrans.  On the 30th March artwork and art installations leading from workshops will be displayed at Kings Heath Square,  and we will be continuing work to find out what people think we can do to improve our High Street.

The project has been well received by young and old alike, with all shops, venues and organisations including schools approached so far wanting to take an active role.  We are on the front cover of My Kings Heath and support from the council gives us every hope the project will better represent our views and lead to improvements on our High Street.

Keep an eye out on our site for more information on this event, and opportunities to contribute to discussion about Kings Heath High Street.

Friendlier adults, good conversations & Kings Heath Hight Street

The Children's society's Good childhood conversations results for Kings Heath were out for adult discussion on Thursday night.  Based on The Good Childhood Inquiry the conversations gave around 70 local leaders and people from the community the opportunity to come together to discuss and understand the challenges of childhood today.

The Good news is, Kings Heath Youth are slightly happier than the national average.  The bad is that they don't feel safe and they view adults as more 'unfriendly' than the national average.  Bus drivers and shop keepers were seen as the worst offenders:

'People in shops don't trust kids'

Tim Boyes from Queensbridge rather generously suggested that the divergence of many bus routes and many big schools meant the High Street was saturated with young people at certain times of the day, many using the shops, and shear numbers were bound to cause problems (even if, as Laura Watts from Dens of Equality pointed out, it also means young people are some of the biggest spenders on our High Street!)

However, anyone who has observed young people and interactions with all adults in Kings Heath will know that young people in general are not listened to in the same way as adults, and that we (all adults) are not as friendly as we should be to young people.

Safety is recognised by both adults and children as one of the most important issues (see Acting Global, thinking local), and as we have been working on 'car culture' project since January, we (at HGA!) aren't surprised to see youth voice and safety issues being seen as important by both children and adults.

Our car culture workshops have already run at Kings Heath Primary and we are now in the build up to our main event on 30th March.  On Friday I also found out we've made it onto the front cover of My Kings Heath for March/April 2013 - great article in there too!

Now, more than ever, is the time to bring young and old together to look at how we use our High Street and all roads, to make them safer and happier places.  Please see full report here.

Good Childhood Conversation

A fantastic event, and one we at 'Car Culture' hope to be learning from for our project and event on 30th March.

For more info see facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/546547188696859/?fref=ts

Hall Green Library Surgery

Tolkein dragon had to give appologies as not allowed in library. 

On cold, wet evening, a quieter Art Surgery at Hall Green Library (teenage novel zone) saw six brave artists meet (I blame illness and weather - thanks all those who sent appologies).   Discussion around use of shop windows, festivals, storytelling, car culture, novel writing, local map boundaries and the future of Hall Green Arts Forum.

For you writers out there, look out for POWOW at the Prince of Wales, organised by Andrew Killeen, author of The Khalifah's Mirror and other novels.

Also in February half term there is going to be some exciting stuff  - a festival - organised by the Springfield Project, on Springfield Road, the one in Moseley, not Kings Heath.  I'll be posting more on that soon.

A brief update on on-going projects - Car Culture workshops have started at Kings Heath Primary School with Charlotte Goodwin (Artist/writer), John Hill-Daniel (filmmaker/space explorer) and Joe Green (SUSTRANS) funded by Community First, via the wonderful Kings Heath Residents Forum.

Our own local space exploration project began last month thanks to funding from Near Neighbours - look out for near neighbours rather wonderful exhibition too.

HGA are continueing support for storytelling - There is a whole range of exciting storytelling things happening, as always - see trad arts team website.

Social Fabric is going ahead, but NOT with the initial group at Kings Heath Baptist Church -  contact Fluid Space Arts for that one.

After initial planning flurry for a 'Making the world a fairer place' - a convention organised in partnership with Fairtrade Assoc Bham, HGA and a local secondary school for fairtrade fortnight, sadly plans are being shelved.  I'm sure we'll be coming back to this one in the new year.

We are also planning our first HGA convention for Thursday 21st February at Ort Cafe. More on that one soon!  Wishing well and Happy New year to everyone out there.

Xmas Art and Craft at KHCC

Playgroup at KH Community Centre had a special visitor today - none other than Father Christmas popped in with some pressies and was swiftly followed by our Christmas art and craft fete.  8 stalls offered a range of goodies from fairy cakes to quilted pin boards, from star cushions to melted record bowls, with a range of activities for all the family.  Attended by around 100 people