LIVERPOOL AND WIRRAL CHARITIES JOIN FORCES FOR SHARED THINKING & SMARTER FUNDRAISING

A new forum has been set up for charities across Merseyside and Cheshire to share thinking and best practice in one of the most challenging economic times for both businesses and good causes.  15 charities were represented at the third Merseyside and Cheshire Charity Forum, the initiative of Clatterbridge Cancer Research Director, Catherine Sandow.  The forums allow for an exchange of ideas, sharing of resources and training opportunities and even some joint fundraising.

"I felt that with so many charities in the area it made sense to talk to each other, help each other and avoid confusing fundraisers and supporters by overcrowding with conflicting events – there is often a good deal to be gained by sharing costs, which sees more of our fundraisers’ money going directly to the cause they choose to support." said Catherine.

The Forum takes place every 8 weeks, each meeting has a set topic and the relevant fundraisers attend, creating a network for support for the future. After an inaugural meeting to set business parameters, charities’ heads have met to discuss legacies, events and plan to examine the challenges surrounding individual giving in October 2011.  "We are currently working with another charity on a joint event and organising some shared training opportunities. We’ve had great feedback from all members - from very small local charities with only one member of staff to the regional offices of larger national charities."

All sizes and causes are welcome at the MCCF. Current members include Liverpool Royal Hospital, Hoylake Cottage Hospital, Alderhey Imagine Appeal, Age UK, Claire House, Nugent Care , Marie Curie and the Catholic Blind Institute.

WAYFARERS ARCADE TO HOST AN EXCLUSIVE FASHION FUNDRAISER

A PROFESSIONAL model team will take to the catwalk in Wayfarers Shopping Arcade, Southport for a charity fashion show.  The Arcade’s specialist and independent retailers will showcase hot new looks for autumn and winter, including bridal wear, at the Fashion in the Fall show on Thursday, 13 October 2011.  Proceeds from the show will go to North West Cancer Research Fund which aims to provide grants to support fundamental research into the causes of cancer.  Tickets are £10.00 and are available from the stores within the Arcade as well as Beales Department store (formally Broadbents & Boothroyds).   Yvonne Burns, Arcade Manager said:- "We will be raising much needed funds for this great charity by showcasing our diverse fashion ranges. We are looking forward to a glamorous evening in the spectacular setting of Wayfarers Shopping Arcade."  The evening will be compeered by BBC Radio Merseyside presenter Claire Simonsen.  Doors and stores open at 6.00pm with the fashion commencing at 7.30pm. The Arcade’s restaurants will be open for meals and refreshments from 6.00pm.  For further information please visit:- wayfarersarcade.co.uk or call:- 01704 539077.

Sainsbury’s Woolton first UK supermarket to have Braille signage

A Sainsbury’s store in Liverpool will become the first UK supermarket to use Braille signage to benefit blind or partially sighted customers. The signage for the store’s food and drink range will be unveiled at the Woolton store, situated on James Road, this Friday, 16 September 2011, at 10am.  The idea for Braille signage came from Sainsbury’s Woolton Store Manager Bethan Wilson. With local organisations including Bradbury Fields Blind Association, who provide services for blind or partially sighted people, and Wavertree School for the Blind both located nearby, Bethan wanted to help provide a better service for the store’s blind customers.  Bethan said:- "Our area is renowned for having a range of facilities to support blind or partially sighted people in the community and many shop at our store. We’re passionate about working with our community and we carry out a lot of fundraising work with Mencap. We wanted to give our blind or partially-sighted customers a better shopping experience. We hope this new service does just that."

After first sending her idea to Sainsbury’s Chief Executive Justin King, Customer Experience Manager Claire Ellis worked with Bethan, the RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People) and local blind organisations including Bradbury Fields, to come up with a signage design that would benefit customers the most. Claire said:- "Our extensive research has helped us to create signage which we know will make it easier for the store’s blind or partially sighted customers. The new signage will have a Braille panel at the bottom to help customers with finding different sections in aisles. This really shows that we are delivering a great customer experience to all our customers and offering a more inclusive environment to the local community."

On Friday, Fazilet Hadi, Group Director Inclusive Society at RNIB, will be presenting the Woolton store with ‘Exemplar Service’ recognition for the work they have done with blind and partially sighted customers. On the day, members from Bradbury Fields Blind Association and Sammy-Jo Melrose, a pupil from Wavertree School for the Blind and her teacher Joe Espley, along with members from the RNIB, will help to unveil the signage at the store.   Fazilet Hadi added:- "We’ve worked closely with the store on this project and we’d like to thank colleagues at Sainsbury’s Woolton for their commitment and dedication in supporting blind and partially sighted people in the community. We know this will help improve the shopping experience for them and we’re looking forward to working with Sainsbury’s on helping to make the everyday lives better for those people with sight loss."

SEFTON ARTS ENCOURAGES SOUTHPORT TO TAKE ON NEW HOBBY

AN exhibition of art work by the Sefton Art Group showcased at the Wayfarers Shopping Arcade, Lord Street, Southport is aimed to encourage people to consider taking up art as a hobby.   The exhibition begins Saturday, 17 September 2011, and runs until 2 October 2011, is open daily from 10am till 4pm for visitors to go along, see the exhibition and to find out more.   Tutor for the group, artist Roy Munday said:- "Many people, especially those with time on their hands, would like to take up art but aren’t sure where to go or what’s on offer. The aim of this exhibition is to encourage people to come along and find out more by talking to those already enjoying art lessons.  I’ve been running a number of art classes in locations throughout the area including Maghull, Hightown, Lydiate and Bluecoat Liverpool on behalf of Sefton Arts and the group continues to grow. We put on a number of exhibitions throughout the year and we also visit galleries, the most recent being the Tate Liverpool to the Rene Magritte exhibition.  People needn’t think they have to be able to already draw and paint to join. They don’t. Full tuition is on offer and you will be among like- minded people."  Details of this and other events taking place in Wayfarers Shopping Arcade can be found at:- wayfarersarcade.co.uk.

EXCHANGE RADICAL MOMENTS!

LIVERPOOL  has been chosen as the only British city outside London that will feature in the European-wide Exchange Radical Moments!  Live Art Festival, to take place on Friday, 11 November 2011.   Liverpool was chosen due to its successful Capital of Culture year in 2008 and because of the unique event that organiser Mandy Romero wishes to produce. The event, named Tranny Hotel, is a weekend long celebration of Transgender arts, which will take place at the city’s Adelphi Hotel from Friday, 11 November to Sunday, 13 November. Tranny Hotel Liverpool is also a UK premiere and forms part of this year’s Homotopia Festival of Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender culture.

Organiser Mandy Romero said:- "I’m so excited that the Tranny Hotel project is going to be open to so many people. Not many projects made it into 'Exchange Radical Moments' which is such an important Festival and I’m sure that our weekend of performance and events will be a good thing for Liverpool, for the arts and for the transgender community. It’s time that the presence of transgender people and the performers who express their world had the positive attention and appreciation they deserve and for 3 days in Liverpool we will do our best to advance the cause."

The Exchange Radical Moments festival is a massive Live Art event that will see 11 distinct events taking place across Europe in countries such as Belgium, Austria, Germany, Sweden and Moldova. All of these events will take place simultaneously on Friday 11.11.11 and will all be beamed onto the web to create one large virtual festival. The aim of the Exchange Radical Moments festival is to use extraordinary Live Art projects such as Tranny Hotel, which interrupt our usual routines and thinking patterns, leading us to pause and ask new questions of ourselves. The festival asks a number of questions of its audience, are we ready to engage extraordinary moments of exchange, moments of real meetings? Live Art projects have been created over the last 18 months by more than 30 participating international artists.

Tranny Hotel will see a plethora of Transgender artists from across the globe perform a wealth of different works in numerous spaces around the hotel, from bedrooms and suites, to staircases, hallways and function rooms. The three day event will also see concert style performances taking place on Friday, 11 November and Sunday, 13 November 2011, featuring some of the world’s best Transgender artists.

Renowned Transgender performers and artists will be flying in from across the globe to perform at the event which is the biggest Transgender event in the UK for 2011. Acts include accomplished Scottish transsexual playwright Jo Clifford, who brings her highly controversial piece ’The Gospel According to Jesus Queen of Heaven’, an early version of which was originally performed at the Glasgay festival in 2009. The piece will see small audiences meeting and interacting with Queen Jesus in a hotel room throughout the weekend. Spanish artist REgina Fiz will perform her critically acclaimed piece ‘The Ritual Wedding’ which also demands an intimate audience in an intimate space. The ritual wedding draws on tradition and precise ritual, and will leave the audience taking away a completely personal encounter through evoking memories and past emotions.

Norwegian artist Ane Lan brings the most personal of experiences to the hotel with her piece ‘Irma’s Room’, which is inspired by Sigmund Freud, Irma being the famous patient of Freud. Small audiences of just one or two people will experience the piece at a time, making it completely unique each time it is performed.

Other artists include Canadian folk performer Rae Spoon, unique drag, cabaret and performance artist Jonny Woo, Tom Shaw, whose piece ‘Drag Mountain’ will see the stairways and halls covered in a string of dresses, before Shaw wears them simultaneously and American artist Lazlo Pearlman, will perform his piece Dance Me To The End of Love, which explores intimacy, love, partnering and the transgender body. A full line up of performers and acts will be announced shortly.

Mandy continues:- "It’s always good when Liverpool welcomes artists to the city and, like the Biennial here, we have a great line-up of performers in all sorts of unusual and stylish locations for everybody to discover. They’re coming from far afield, but we also have trans performers with local connections. Plays, concerts, strange and wonderful encounters in hotel rooms, most of them in the famous Adelphi Hotel – there’s something for everyone in "Tranny Hotel". Thanks to our partnerships with "Exchange Radical Moments" and Homotopia we’re able to offer a really rich programme and I can’t wait to see how it all turns out. I hope that this will be one of those moments when transgender art moves to a new level and I’m proud that it’s all happening in Liverpool."

Gerald Harringer Exchange Radical Moments! Festival Co-Ordinator said:- "On 11 November you can experience a thing or two! We’ve long been seeking ways to turn "onlookers" into participants on an equal footing with "the creators". To make them co-producers. Fellow cast members. Give and take on the same level, exchange and encounter.  Together with others who share this vision, we’ve launched the EXCHANGE RADICAL MOMENTS! European Live Art Festival is a celebration of art that defies compartmentalization. Somewhere at the nexus of theater, performance, art in public spaces and intervention is the site we’ve staked out. There is, nevertheless, something all these works have in common: Everything happens live, is physical, real, manifests itself in action, takes place without airbags and safety nets, amidst real life."

FESTIVAL INFORMATION

TRANNY HOTEL:- Friday, 11 November to Sunday, 13 November 2011 at the Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool.  It is £20 for a Weekend Pass and booking are taken via:- tranny-hotel.com   

EXCHANGE RADICAL MOMENTS:- Friday, 11 November 2011,
11 Cities across Europe... For more information go to:-11moments.org.