Diary of Events July onwards

The following is a furtehr listing of events from this month onwards.

 

To Sunday 22 July. Fri, Sat & Sun 2-6pm. Necrospective. Motohiko Odani Takeshi Murata Thomas Johnson Alexis Milne Craig Fisher. Danielle Arnaud gallery, 123 Kennington Road, London, SE11. (or by appointment). www.daniellearnaud.com.

To Saturday 4 August. Thurs-Sat 11am-5pm. Tamsyn Challenger. Monoculture. Exhibition  in collaboration with Tereza Buskova and Matthew Cowan. 22 Newport Street, Vauxhall, London, SE11. info@beaconsfield.ltd.uk.  www.beaconsfield.ltd.uk. 

To Sunday 16 September. We Face Forward Exhibition. 33 West African artists. the Whitworth/Manchester Art Gallery/Museum of Costume/Football Museum. Digest reader Alan Rice was on the consultative committee. www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk.  

To February 2013. Demon drink?: temperance and the working class. Exhibition exploring the perceived need for the Temperance Movement, how society viewed it, its key messages and how people were encouraged to join. The exhibition is part of a research project led by Annemarie McAllister from the University of Central Lancashire. If you have personal memories of temperance movements (such as the Band of Hope or Rechabites) you can contact Annemarie at amcallister1@uclan.ac.uk or 01772 893799.  Manchester's People's History Museum. www.phm.org.uk.

Tuesday 10 July. 7.30pm. Congo Square at the Barbican. Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis exports his Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra from New York to London for the London 2012 Festival to celebrate the historic Congo Square site in New Orleans – the only location in America where enslaved Africans were allowed to perform music from their motherland. Barbican Hall. www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=13279.  

Wednesday 11 July. 2pm. A - Trafford Park, 1896 and beyond. This talk by A.D. George covers the history of Trafford Park, from country estate and deer park to becoming one of Europe's largest and busiest industrial parks employing thousands including Library co-founder Eddie Frow. Working Class Movement Library, Salford. www.wcml.org.uk.  

Wednesday 11 July. 7pm. A People’s History of London. Authors Lindsey German and John Rees discuss London’s forgotten history as a world capital of revolution. Housmans. www.housmans.com. 

Thursday 12 July. 6.30-9pm. Battersea Society Annual Summer Party. St Mary's Church overlooking the river.  £8 in advance or on the door, but to help with catering arrangements it would be appreciated if you would confirm by email or phone (020 7228 4873) if you're planning to come along. Ticket price includes first glass of wine and canapes. Last year's event attended by founder members Timothy West and Prunella Scales can be seen on YouTube, by clicking here.  

Friday 13 July. Call Mr Robeson Fundraiser for Stop the War, Liverpool (Selection of songs from the show). Full details on: http://cmr.tayoalukoandfriends.com.  

Saturday 14 July. 10am –1pm. Hampton House (Albert Embankment) Redevelopment Exhibition. Organised by St James Home developers.  Vauxhall Christian Centre, 105 Tyers Street, London, SE11. See also 18 July. 

Saturday 14 July. 128^th Durham Miners Gala. Celebration of the achievements of the labour movement, as well as a fun-family-day-out involving ten-of-thousands of people. www.facebook.com/pages/Durham-Miners-Gala-July-14th-2012/178008108959169.  

Saturday 14 July. 1-9pm. Black Music Records & African Crafts Fair XI. Free entry, stall £20. Willesden Green Library Cinema, 95 Willesden Green, London, NW10.  

Sunday 15 July. 3-7pm. British Reggae & Lovers' Rock: A Product Of Migration. £4 adults/£2 Under-18s. WASP (West Indian Association Of Service Personnel), 165-167 Clapham Manor Street, Clapham Common, London, SW4. A family-friendly talks + audio-visuals + live & recorded music edu-tainment + fundraiser for WASP. Click for more information or to book. Includes BBM/BMC founder Kwaku presentation highlighting the migratory process, which started well before the Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury in 1948, and its impact on reggae and lovers rock music, and the music industries of both Jamaica and Britain, interspersed with audio and video footage; plus short screenings, including Kwaku's guerilla documentary Britain's Impact On Jamaica's Reggae Music & Industry. The evening will be rounded off with a live and recorded performance of British reggae and lovers rock. 

Tuesday 17 July. 10am-12.30pm.  Campaign workshop for voluntary and community groups. Lit and Phil, Westgate Road, Newcastle.  Organised by Newcastle CVS.  How to get your message across, lobbying and influencing politicians and decision makers and getting local media to notice your campaign. To book a place phone Jaz Nagra on 0191 235 7011 or email jaz.nagra@cvsnewcastle.org.uk. 

Tuesday 17 July. 1.05pm. Coleridge-Taylor, Hurlstone and Bowen. Lunch-time concert by Justin Connolly and Alison Turriff. See programme notes below. Soundpractice Artists event. Fairfield Halls Croydon. Pay on day or to book in advance book go to: www.fairfield.co.uk/showChoosearea.php?showid=21603.  

Tuesday 17 July – Sunday 17 March 2013. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Display. National Portrait Gallery. The display documents Coleridge-Taylor’s increasing fame, with an early publicity photo complete with facsimile signature, inclusion in a group image of fellow-composers (including Elgar and Ethel Smyth) and posthumous renown on a cigarette card. An intriguing oil study painted when he was a child is complemented by a stunning portrait by E.O Hope. www.npg.org.uk/whatson/display/2012/samuel-coleridge-taylor-1875-1912.php.

Wednesday 18 July. 5pm–8pm. Hampton House Redevelopment Exhibition. This Albert Embankment. Organised by St James Home developers. Vauxhall Christian Centre, 105 Tyers Street, Vauxhall, London, SE11.  

Wednesday 18 July. 6.30pm. Clapham Park Walk. Starting from Clapham Common Underground Station, Peter Jefferson Smith will lead this walk around the Park Hill area. This was first developed for housing in the 1820s, and has an interesting range of suburban housing from then to the present day. There are a few remains of industry and trade union offices from the 1930s. 

Wednesday 18 July. 7pm. Dynamite, Treason & Plot: Terrorism in Victorian & Edwardian London. Join Simon Webb for a discussion of the history of terrorism in London, and the opportunist response from successive governments. Housmans. www.housmans.com.

Thursday 19 July. 10am–4 pm. Gaining power: challenges facing activists.  Free National Coalition for Independent Action event. At Resource For London, 356 Holloway Road, London, N7. Click here to download a flyer. To book a free place Maxine@grantmoarcommunities.com or via  the NatCAN website.  The morning is for discussion on big issues around democracy, markets and community action and includes a presentation about people’s assemblies.  The afternoon is about getting real and hearing from people active in different areas including anti-racist, anti-privatisation, providing local services and solidarity networks.  

Thursday 19 July. 1.15-2pm. Esther Bruce: A Black London Seamstress. An illustrated talk by Stephen Bourne about Esther Bruce and other black Britons represented in the National Portrait Gallery collections. National Portrait Gallery, 2 St Martin's Place, London, WC2. Admission Free. The book Ester Bruce will be on sale in the bookshop.

Wednesday 25 July. 2pm. The co-operative movement's use of film. This illustrated talk by Gillian Lonergan ranges from film of the Blackpool Emporium and a Stanley Holloway monologue from 1938, to a short animation on the Rochdale Pioneers produced last year.

Sunday 22 July. 2.30pm. Central Streatham Walk. Meet Streatham Hill Station. Led by Brian Bloice.

Friday 27 July. 6pm. SC-T at the Three Choirs Festival. Festival Chorus and Philharmonia Orchestra with Geraint Bowen (Conductor) and Wynne Evans (Tenor) will perform Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture, Coleridge-Taylor Petite Suite de Concert and Berlioz Te Deum. ‘The four movements of Petite Suite de Concert take us from militaristic brass fanfares and delicate dancing melodies, soft pastoral string passages to a brisk, up beat finale. The suite has an unmistakeably English essence and its understated charm provides a great contrast to the monumental theatrics of the other two pieces in the programme.’ Hereford Cathedral. Tickets: £40, £35, £25, £20, £15, £7. See: www.3choirs.org/2012-hereford/programme/friday-27-july/50-olympic-fanfare.html.  

Friday 27 July. 6-8.30pm. In the Company of Ghosts: the Poetics of the Motorway. Discussion led by artist Edward Chell and poet Andrew Taylor on their co-edited book some of the contributors about the history, influence and poetics of the English motorway system where romance and squalor, personal and political, private interests and public space collide. The evening will also launch a limited edition print by Edward Chell: a donation to Beaconsfield’s fundraising Fraternise scheme. info@beaconsfield.ltd.uk. www.beaconsfield.ltd.uk. 

Saturday 28 July. Assemble 12 noon. Whose Games? Whose City? Mile End Park, East London (nearest tube Mile End) March to Victoria Park for a Peoples Games For All. www.facebook.com/events/291553350941427.   

Saturday 28 July. Song of Hiawatha trilogy. Cumbria Choral Initiative with the Northern Chamber Orchestra conducted by Ian Jones, with soloists Lesley Jane Rogers, Nicholas Hurndall Smith and Nigel Dempster. Coronation Hall, Ulverston.  http://hugill.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/hiawatha-complete.html.

Wednesday 1 August.  ‘Peace Trails Through London’. Campaigners Valerie Flessati and Bruce Kent explore peace landmarks in London, as mapped in their new booklet. Housmans. www.housmans.com.

Sunday 5 August. 2.30pm. South Streatham Walk. Meet Norbury Station. Led by John Brown.

Wednesday 8 August. 7pm. The London Olympics: challenging the neo-liberal games’. Join writer, historian, and activist David Renton to discuss the politics behind the Olympic games. Housmans. www.housmans.com.

Sunday 12 August. 2.30pm. Coldharbour Lane & Myatt’s Fields Walk. Meet outside Loughborough Junction Station, Coldharbour Lane, SE5.

Wednesday 15 August. 7pm.  Acquired for Development: A Hackney Anthology. Editors and contributors Gary Budden, Kit Caless, Sam Berkson, Tim Burrows, Ashlee Christoffersen, and Garreth Rees  will be reading from the book and discussing the art of documenting urban life. Housmans. www.housmans.com.

Wednesday 15 August. 6.30pm. Historic Clapham. This walk, led by Anne Wilson, will explore the centre of the original settlement of Clapham at St. Paul’s Church in Rectory Grove and the gradual expansion of the village to the stagecoach and omnibus stand in the Old Town. It will also cover the 18th century expansion around the Common and Holy Trinity Church.

Sunday 26 August. 2.30pm. Highways and Byways Walk.  Meet Streatham Station. Led by Graham Gower.

Sunday 26 & Monday 27 August. Call Mr Robeson. Greenbelt Festival, Cheltenham Racecourse. Full details on: http://cmr.tayoalukoandfriends.com.

Monday 3 September. 6.30-8pm. Out of Bounds: Black and Asian Poets on Britain. Join John Agard, Jackie Kay, Daljit Nagra and Grace Nichols whose work features in the new anthology Out of Bounds (Bloodaxe Books) a newly-charted map of Britain, as viewed by its black and Asian poets. Conference Centre, British Library. £7.50/£5 concessions. www.bl.uk/whatson/events/event131376.html.

Wednesday 5 September. 7pm. Riot City: Protest and Rebellion in the Capital. Clive Bloom discusses the past, present, and future of unrest and rebellion in London, as explored in his latest book. Housmans. www.housmans.com.

Saturday 8 September. 6.30pm.  King’s Cross: a sense of place. Photographer Angela Inglis will be presenting her new book King’s Cross: a sense of place which examines the area’s ever-changing landscape. Housmans. www.housmans.com.

Sunday 9 September. 2.30pm. Lambeth Walk and Riverside Walk. Meet outside gates of Lambeth Palace, corner of Lambeth Road and Lambeth Palace Road.

Tuesday 11 September. Lunchtime concert. 1.05pm. Waka Hasegawa plays SC-T’s Valse Suite Three- Four Op.71, Forest Scenes Op.66 ( selections), Moorish Dance Op.55, and Cameos Op.56. Fairfield Halls, Croydon. www.fairfield.co.uk/showHome.php. Waka writes: ‘I think his piano music deserves more exposure and having performed Valse Suite at concert a few months ago back I know audience love his music! They went crazy afterwards!’ To see more about Waka go to Duo Piano 4 Hands www.piano4hands.com. She is Co-Artistic Director of Bristol International Piano Duo Festival www.pianoduofest.org.uk.

Wednesday 26 September. 7pm. Baron’s Court, all change. Join Stewart Home for a discussion of Terry Taylor’s 1961 novel, ‘Baron’s Court, all change’ – a lost London classic which explores the drug and youth culture in London at the time. Housmans. www.housmans.com.

Saturday 29 September. “What did Lambeth Council ever do for ‘. (provisional title). Lambeth Archive Open Day. I have been asked to be a speaker.

Sunday 30 September. 7.30pm. A Dream of Africa 2012. Gala Concert in aid of Ashanti Development. Programme to include Coleridge-Taylor: Five Negro Melodies for piano trio (Robert Gibbs, violin; Adrian Bradbury, cello, Oliver Davies, piano) and dancers from the Royal Ballet and English National Ballet in new and recent works by Tamara Rojo, Thomas Whitehead, Nathalie Harrison, Daniel Jones, Erico Montes and other choreographers. Britten Theatre, Royal College of Music, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7. Tickets £30 from RCM Box Office, www.rcm.ac.uk/ box office. For more information please visit: www.ashanti-development.org

Wednesday 3 October. Launch of Anne Frank community festival in Newcastle. The Northern Region PCS trade union is working  with the Anne Frank Trust and other partners including the TUC. Trade unions jointly fund and support the Anne Frank exhibition as part of the NTUC's strategy against racism, using Anne's story to educate children and adults about the dangers and ultimate consequences of prejudice. The Anne Frank Trust has secured funding to run a community festival throughout October, mainly focussed on the city of Newcastle. The exhibition will be displayed in the City Library and will include a life-size model of Anne's room in the annex. The exhibition will be supported by a series of other events. A steering group has been set up to oversee the arrangements for the community festival and exhibition which includes representation from PCS. The group is seeking volunteers from trade unions and the wider community to help ensure the festival is a success. 

Wednesday 10 October. 7.30pm. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Talk by Sean Creighton. Herne Hill Society.  Herne Hill United Church Hall, near the top of Red Post Hill where it meets the junction of Herne Hill and Denmark Hill. 

Sunday 14 October. 2.30pm. Upper Norwood Walk. Crown Point to Beulah Spa with the Norwood Society, led by Pat Dennison.  Meet corner of Knights Hill and Crown Lane.  

Friday 9 November. c10.30-11.30am. Song for the World – a musical celebrating the life of Samuel Coleridge Taylor. Musical written by Croydon composer Stella Coussell especially for children aged between 8 and 12. It tells the story of Samuel Coleridge Taylor’s rise to fame, from childhood to his great success with the first performance of ‘Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast’. Song for the World will be performed by local students from Studio 74. The large cast of dancers and singers tell their simple story with verve and energy. The message of the musical is heart warming – believe in yourself and aim for your dreams. Ashcroft Theatre. Fairfield Halls, Croydon. Partners in the production include Soundpractice Music. 

Friday, 23 November.  7  for  7.30pm. A Celebration of the anniversaries of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (d. 1912) and John Ireland (d. 1962). Concert by Sylvie Bedouelle - mezzo-soprano, Gary Griffiths – baritone and Nigel Foster- piano.  The concert is part of the London Song Festival.  The programme includes SC-T’s Sorrow Songs (poems by Christina Rossetti and Songs of Sun and Shade (poems by Radclyffe-Hall.  St Paul’s Church, Bedford St, London, WC2. This is the wonderful Actors’ Church. £15/10/ plus booking fee £1.45/£1. To book go to www.seetickets.com/Event/THE-LONDON-SONG-FESTIVAL/St-Paul-s-Church-Covent-Garden/637865.

THE ROLE OF OVERSIGHT AND SCRUTINY IN LAMBETH

THE ROLE OF OVERSIGHT AND SCRUTINY IN  LAMBETH

You may wonder why I should post this information about Lambeth Council’s Oversight & Scrutiny Committee. These Committees are potentially very important ways in which Councillors can review the work of officers and Cabinets. Too often there is a danger that they can be rubber-stamps. An important element is to invite views from outside people and organisations on the policy and procedural matters they are looking at.

So back in April whenLambeth Councillor Stephen Morgan in Prince’s Ward (Kennington and Vauxhall) emailed asking local people etc to comment on the priorities for the work of Lambeth Council’s Oversight and Scrutiny Committee for 2012-13,  I thought I would give my thoughts. My reply stated:
‘This is a significant step forward.

One of the real values of O&S is to hold open–ended evidence submitted enquiries especially encouraging local organisations to comment on areas of Council policy and delivery, cross-cutting themes, and responses to ne new challenges.

Through its Policy Review Committee Wandsworth Council’s controlling Labour Group in the 1970s made significant changes e.g. on tackling unemployment and beginning local economic development action, aspects of social services, support to lone parents, housing policies, etc. Lambeth Group use of Commissions is valuable but they are one offs, whereas O&S can re-visit a topic/issue.

Given the challenges ahead for the Borough topics that might be worth O&S looking at are:

·         the implications of the forthcoming Census analysis for Council policies and public and community/voluntary services

·         how can localism be better embedded in the Co-op Council initiative so that officers come out of their offices and engage more with local people and organisations

·         how to meet skills training and adult learning needs in a time of cuts and high unemployment

·         how to ensure that developers target local employment and skills training

·         review of the principles across all organisations of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry recommendations in the light of continuing deep seated institutional racism

Council reply

Last month I received the following reply from Tom Barrett, Scrutiny Manager, Scrutiny Team, in the Council’s Finance & Resources section.

‘Thank-you for your suggestions and apologies for the time it has taken to get back to you. Your suggestions were considered by an informal meeting of the committee and I can update you as follows:

• Census implications – An item on the outcomes of the census has been inserted into the committee’s work programme but has not yet been scheduled (this is subsequent to further guidance on timing)
• Localism/Coop Council – The committee is planning a more active role in terms of the coop council direction of travel. This will include considering a particular coop ‘theme’ (to be identified) at future meetings. This process will begin with a workshop between the committee and officers looking specifically at some of the challenges/implications for our engagement with local people and organisations. The new legislative context (including the Localism Bill) will be a key part of that.
• Adult learning needs/skills training – The committee has requested a substantive item on business, employment and employability in Lambeth. This is due to take place in the Autumn at a meeting that is yet to be scheduled and will cover the issues you highlight.
• Developers targeting local employment/skills – The committee has commissioned a substantive item on regeneration in Lambeth for its October (25^th) meeting. These issues will be picked up either through this item or that detailed above on employability.
• Stephen Lawrence recommendations – The committee will consider a general report on equalities during the municipal year but this has not currently been scheduled. Councillors asked that I refer your specific suggestion to the council’s Cabinet Member for Equalities and Communities who will be able to set out the council’s position on this matter.

I’ve attached the committee’s draft work programme for your information and please don’t hesitate to contact me if you would like any further information about specific items, attending our meetings or any scrutiny-related questions.

Once again, thank-you for getting in touch.’

Tom Barrett: tpbarrett@lambeth.gov.uk. www.lambeth.gov.uk/scrutiny

OVERVIEW & SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
2012-13 WORK PROGRAMME OVERVIEW AND MATRIX
DATE	MEETING/ INFORMATION TYPE	ITEM / TOPIC
12 July 2012	Scheduled	HRE - Planning Reneration and Enterprise Savings Tracker 2011-12
		Work programme and Action Monitoring
12 July 2012	Workshop	The council's engagement with its communities Discussion paper to include latest position (incl. relevant national and local legislative and policy framework) and direction of travel with particular reference to the Cooperative Council/local decision-making and the following areas: - Neighbourhood forums/plans - Community-led commissioning - Community forums - Community Hubs - 'No rules zone' development - Avoiding 'sectional capture' - Capacity building within the community - The role of the ward councillor
25 October 2012	Scheduled	Regeneration in Lambeth Report to include focus on the following areas: - Vauxhall Nine Elms/Northern Line opportunities/threats - Use of the Community Infrastructure Levy - The relationship between the North and Sth of the Borough (incl. funding) - The council's engagement with developers - The role of Planning Committee
TBC	Scheduled	Business, employment and employability in Lambeth Report to include reference to: - Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) incl. lessons learnt and Nth/Sth r'ship - Retention of business rates - Business satisfaction with council services (charter) - Business-council (incl. Cllrs)-education (school and higher) links - Employability of Lambeth residents - Worklessness priority
28 January 2013	Scheduled	Budget
20 March 2013	Scheduled	TBC
	Unscheduled	Affordable Housing Supply
	Unscheduled	Regeneration/redevelopment of the Borough's Estates
	Unscheduled	Welfare reform
	Unscheduled	Equalities (as per 2011-12 report)
	Unscheduled	Census analysis
Items from 2011-12	Unscheduled	Strategy on Poverty - incorporating adults.
		Partnership working around worklessness and local economic plans. Committee decided to defer taking an item on youth unemployment/apprenticeships as similar being considered by CYPS SC 3/12
		Communications – how robust is the council’s engagement with residents and how to manage in stringent times. Include follow up to call in including degree to which the post-Lambeth Life publicity arrangements reach all parts of the community. Consultation arrangements.
		Update on Co-operative Council
		The following are recorded in the workplan as items for future follow up (potential issues for 2012/13)
		Update on Town Centre Masterplans (discussed 5/11)
		Contract for Statutory Notices and Advertising – follow up to call in on decision to use The Weekender for carrying statutory notices etc (6/11)
		The cumulative impacts of savings proposals, including savings made by partner organisations – issue proposed for in-year follow up arising from budget discussion on cumulative EIA; progress on developing shared equalities impact framework (1/12)
		Neighbourhood Forums – PNQ on creation and support to Forums: committee interested to follow up on neighbourhood arrangements/local involvement and decision making (including community led commissioning)
	Commission proposals
Entries in italic are to be confirmed
Meeting/information type key:
Briefing Paper:	A paper submitted to the members of the committee for information/update but not considered at a formal meeting of the committee (unless a member specifically requests it).
Briefing/Workshop:	An informal meeting of the members of the committee (frequently open to all members) to receive information on an area of the council’s work.
Call-in:	A formal meeting of the committee convened in response to the receipt of a call-in.
Challenge Session:	An informal meeting of the members of the committee to provide an opportunity to challenge a particular council policy.
Commission:	A small group of councillors responsible for conducting an in-depth piece of research and established by the committee.
Scheduled:	A formal meeting of the committee scheduled in the annual calendar of the council at the AGM.
Special:	A formal meeting of the committee that falls outside of the schedule of meetings.
Visit:	Visits to a particular location for the committee-members only