The team that will deliver UK City of Culture 2021 in Coventry has made another major appointment. Martin Sutherland, the chief executive of Northamptonshire Arts Management Trust – which manages the award-winning Royal & Derngate Theatres, Errol Flynn Filmhouse and The Core at Corby Cube – has joined the Coventry City of Culture Trust as the executive director and chief executive. The appointment of Martin swiftly follows the announcement of Chenine Bhathena as creative director . Martin will provide leadership for the Coventry City of Culture Trust, ensuring that Coventry’s profile, reputation and cultural engagement delivers a high level of respect within the city and region, as well as nationally. He will build and maintain relationships with strategic partners and stakeholders, local businesses , local artists, cultural organisations and resident groups. Martin, in his decade at the Northamptonshire venues, pioneered a sustainable model for arts … [Read more...] about Meet the man leading Coventry’s culture dream team in 2021
Build a dream team
HQ Presenter Sharon Carpenter Talks Online Trolls, Dodgy Fan Art And Her Dreams Of Building A Media Empire
If your office is anything like ours, you’ll have noticed a strange phenomenon going on at around 3pm, when everyone suddenly whips their phones out and becomes temporarily engrossed in a round of HQ Trivia. Already a raging success in the US, the quizzing app is growing at rapid speed here in the UK, with its regular quiz master, Sharon Carpenter, becoming a cult figure among British HQ-ties. In a bid to get to know her a little better, HuffPost sat down with Shazzer for a chat about all things HQ, including just how much work goes into a 15-minute live-stream and how she’s finding her new-found celeb status... Let’s start at the very beginning, how did you first get involved with HQ? Well, my agent sent me on an audition last summer. I wasn’t really sure exactly what it was for, I knew it was for some sort of game show app, but I didn’t really have any more details than that. It was pretty much a cold read, and an ad lib situation. I went in, and left, … [Read more...] about HQ Presenter Sharon Carpenter Talks Online Trolls, Dodgy Fan Art And Her Dreams Of Building A Media Empire
Help Build A School
The Eastbourne unLtd Chamber of Commerce Business Development Manager Stephen Holt is calling on businesses and residents to help ‘raise the roof’ and build a new school in Kenya for 400 children based primarily in the slums of Mombasa. In January, Stephen, an associate trustee of the charity ‘Friends of Mombasa Children’ spent some of his annual leave with the school to see how the building works have progressed.Stephen said “Last year, the charity was left a legacy which has allowed it to begin construction on a new concrete school. Our existing school was built using temporary corrugated iron sheets and has lasted for 11 years. We are determined to provide the best chance for children who would otherwise have little hope of success. This building though is not yet a school and the charity requires further donations to ensure that it can provide enough textbooks, chairs, tables and learning equipment to keep its good work going”.Stephen continued … [Read more...] about Help Build A School
DIY SOS family say they feel like they’re ‘in a dream’
A family from Yealmpton were left overwhelmed and humbled by the help they received from BBC One TV show DIY SOS and kind-hearted businesses. The Morfeys say they were able to become a family again and return to their home for the first time in over nine months after it was transformed. Chris and Tara Morfey have five children - including their daughter Yazzmin who was diagnosed with cancer in June 2017 and two boys, Josh and Ben, who have cerebral palsy. The family had been halfway through converting and renovating their home when Yazzmin was diagnosed, leaving them unsurprisingly unable to continue and the project abandoned. Not only was their dream home put on hold but the family was then split up for more than nine months as a result of the diagnosis, because their daughter could not be in an unclean or untidy environment. But now the home has been adapted to the needs of their large family. And the close-knit family are enjoying what they have called the "home of their dreams". … [Read more...] about DIY SOS family say they feel like they’re ‘in a dream’
‘Every day since I came to Sweden feels like a dream’: From Gaza to Gothenburg through parkour
Matar is in the middle of a parkour event in his new home Gothenburg when The Local calls. It's rare that a day goes by without him training – so high are the demands put on his body. "You have to keep practicing all the time, otherwise you lose your conditioning. Your body can't pull it off. I’m always training, every day. If I have to stop for two weeks or so because of an injury to my foot for example I'll just do training that doesn't involve my feet. I never stop," he explained. Parkour has completely transformed the 22-year-old's life. He first discovered the free-running sport back in 2005 and hasn't looked back since. "I started parkour in 2005 back in Gaza with a team called PK Gaza. We created a small group, training outside in the streets. We didn't have a gym, so we started to develop ourselves by watching videos on the internet and being inspired by them." The realities of living in Gaza meant an unorthodox approach to learning for the youngsters – … [Read more...] about ‘Every day since I came to Sweden feels like a dream’: From Gaza to Gothenburg through parkour