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Juice radio presenters to host Martlets music quiz

Back by popular demand – the Martlets music quiz, will be hosted this year by Juice FM presenters Guy Lloyd and Talia French.

Guy Lloyd
Guy Lloyd

TEST your musical knowledge on Thursday, March 12 with a quiz covering everything from pop to classical, one-hit wonders to top-selling albums, Morrissey to Mozart, Oasis to Phantom of the Opera and much more!

Guy Lloyd, Juice FM’s Drive presenter, said: “Talia and I are delighted to have been asked to host the quiz on behalf of our local Hospice.

“We are both aware of the essential services that are undertaken by the Martlets and the constant work that has to take place to raise funds. We promise everybody a fantastic and fun evening, featuring questions on all aspects and genres of music.”

All the money raised through the music quiz will go towards the Martlets work caring for adults living in and around Brighton & Hove who are affected by terminal illness.

The Hove based charity receives less than a third of their funding from the government and must raise £9,000 a day to care for patients and their families.

Antonia Shepherd, Events Manager for the Martlets Hospice, said: “You don’t need to be a walking encyclopaedia of music to join in the quiz – it’s always a light-hearted event and we are delighted that Guy and Talia will be hosting the event for us.”

The quiz will take place at the Sussex County Cricket Ground, on Eaton Road in Hove; teams of up to six are welcome; doors open at 6.45pm, and the quiz starts at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £17 per person and include a hearty bangers and mash supper and there will be a cash bar.

Talia French
Talia French 

Event: Martlets Music Quiz

Where: Sussex County Cricket Ground, Eaton Road, Hove

When: Thursday, March 12

Time: Door open 6.46pm quiz starts at 7.30pm

Tickets: Tickets cost £17 per person, include a hearty bangers and mash supper and there will be a cash bar. Teams of up to six players are welcome

To purchase tickets online, click here: 

Or telephone the Martlets Events team on 01273 964000 to buy tickets over the phone.

Brighton Trans*formed website launches!

Brighton trans*formed have launched their new website designed by Melanie Menard.

Alice Denny: photo by Sharon Kilgannon: alonglines.com
Alice Denny: photo by Sharon Kilgannon: alonglines.com

 

THE site features photographs and the full interview transcripts that formed the basis of the Brighton trans*formed book, published last October.

Funded by Heritage Lottery Fund, Brighton Trans*formed is a ground-breaking digital project that highlights transgender lives in Brighton – “powerful stories that need to be told, and shared.”

The website is based on QueenSpark Books’ 104th book – a beautifully edited compendium of writing, memories, oral histories, design and photography.

Through this new digital form, the website Brighton Trans*formed chronicles the lives and experiences of Brighton and Hove’s Transgender community. It features, in their own words, the rich variety of Trans lives in Brighton & Hove today.

This web platform preserves previously untold stories for future generations, with a much-needed exploration into the diversity of gender expression within the city.

Juliet Jacques said: “Brighton & Hove is a place where trans people are increasingly seen and heard, understood and respected, and Brighton Trans*formed shows how far we’ve come, and how far there is to go.”

The website’s contributors range from 18 to 81 years old with very different life experiences. All of their testimonies have in common an absolute honesty and openness: contributors shared their joys and tragedies; adversities faced, and a display of strength and resolve to be themselves.

Contributors worked through confidence issues and self-protective boundaries to appear on posters, radio, in public art and this website – in order to express what being a trans person in Brighton is really like.

Trans people in Brighton have a long history, but more recently, significant developments in how the community connects and organises itself have allowed new groups to blossom, complementing the stalwart Clare Project.

These groups offer peer support (FTM Brighton and Transformers), social (Trans Pride and Trans Swimming Club) and activism (Trans Alliance), have been established and are led by trans-identified people. Now is a perfect time to capture a newly found confidence and preserve the life stories of some of those who make the community what it is.

For over 40 years, QueenSpark Books has been producing books about the people of Brighton & Hove, with a focus on enabling ‘lesser-heard’ voices to tell their stories.

With the website Brighton Trans*formed, this objective was paramount. Participants and editors have sought to empower and enable the community with opportunities that, by virtue of its trans status and all that this entails, had previously been unforthcoming.

This is what community projects, public art and oral testimony can do. Brighton Trans*formed is the evidence.

To view the website, click here:

New law raises awareness of drug driving

A new law to make it easier for police to catch and convict drug drivers today took effect in England and Wales last week.

Brighton & Hove City CouncilBRIGHTON & Hove motorists who get behind the wheel after taking illegal drugs face a criminal record, loss of their licence for at least a year and a fine of up to £5,000.

The legislation makes it illegal to drive with certain drugs in the body above specified levels, including eight illegal drugs and eight prescription drugs. People using prescription drugs within recommended amounts will not be penalised.

Police forces will have access to new screening equipment to test suspected drug drivers. Officers can screen drivers for cannabis and cocaine at the roadside. They will be able to test for these and other drugs including ecstasy, LSD, ketamine and heroin at a police station, even if a driver passes the roadside check.

New devices that can test for a greater number of drugs at the roadside will be developed in the future.

Phil Henty from Sussex Safer Roads Partnership, said: “The new roadside equipment will save the police huge amounts of time and effort, and will help to make the roads of Brighton & Hove safer for all.”

The new law, coupled with the testing kits, will make it quicker to identify those driving under the influence of drugs and help the prosecution of drug drivers. It remains an offence to drive when impaired by any drug, including medical drugs.

To support the legislation change and the national campaign to raise awareness, Brighton & Hove City Council’s Road safety team will be working with local venues to make sure the message gets out to younger drivers and passengers, which research shows are more likely to be affected by or consider driving under the influence of illegal drugs.

Cllr Ian Davey
Cllr Ian Davey

Councillor Ian Davey, Brighton & Hove’s lead councillor for transport, said: “Driving under the influence of drugs can have devastating consequences.  The council is playing its part in helping to spread the road safety message that some drugs can impair driving and you could be putting yourself and others in danger.”

The council’s Public Health team is also working with GP surgeries and pharmacies across the city to ensure health professionals can advise patients on particular forms of medication.

The law includes eight drugs commonly associated with medicinal use that have been set at higher limits based on the available evidence of the road safety risk and to reflect their use as medicines.

Listed medications include: morphine used to treat pain – opiate/opioid based medication will metabolise (chemically change) into morphine and show in a blood result; diazepam, clonazepam, flunitrazepam, lorazepam, oxazepam, temazepam used to treat anxiety or inability to sleep; and methadone used to treat drug addiction.

 

Do the eyes have it for ME?

Around three-quarters of people with ME report problems with their eyes and vision – but you wouldn’t know it from the mainstream scientific literature.

Colin Barton
Colin Barton

COLIN Barton, Chair of the Sussex ME Society looks at the evidence.

There is very little formal published evidence that these symptoms exist, despite the fact they greatly affect quality of life and can be easily measured. This means that there is no solid, evidence based scientific data to back up patients’ reports of their disabling visual disturbances. For that reason, ME Research UK has awarded a grant to the University of Leicester to identify and quantify vision-related problems in the disease.

To date, the Leicester group have published two robust scientific papers. In the first, they showed that ME patients were less able than healthy people to focus selectively on a specific target while ignoring other irrelevant information, and that patients were slower when it came to moving their attention to a target, slower at scanning, and more easily affected by ‘distractors’.

Their second paper revealed that eye movement dysfunction was a prominent feature, and that patients performed worse than healthy people in tasks that required quick and accurate movements of the eyes.

The researchers have now published a third, descriptive report describing the visual symptoms (problems with focusing or attention, and loss of depth perception) experienced by their ME patients. All patients included in the study reported having no history of eye disease, yet 92% had some degree of sensitivity to bright lights; 88% were unable to focus vision and/or attention; and 6% experienced eye pain. Each of these symptoms was severe or very severe in more than 30% of the patients, and there was a close relationship between severity and frequency of symptoms.

The researchers’ aim in publishing their report in the British Journal of Ophthalmology is to increase awareness among healthcare professionals, including ophthalmologists, of the importance of problems with vision in ME. As they point out, their report “adds to an emerging body of evidence that vision related symptoms represent a significant clinical feature,” that might be useful for diagnosis.

Colin Barton  –  Sussex ME Society

 

Lesbian Lives Brighton Conference Success

The world’s only annual academic conference in lesbian studies, held in Brighton last month at the end of LGBT History Month, has been hailed a huge success by the organisers and participants.

Lesbian Lives Conference Brighton 2015

THE two-day, international, interdisciplinary event was hosted by the University of Brighton LGBT and Queer Life Research Hub in conjunction with the Women’s Studies Centre, University College Dublin.

One of the attendees, Ellen Ricketts from Hull, said: “What I’ve loved about the conference is the inclusivity the opportunity to connect with people, academic and also from the public and just the sheer variety.”

Helen Shanahan from Manchester, added: “I enjoyed coming to the conference and listening to the very diverse selections of voices from lesbian  and queer communities”, she said. “It’s been really great to get perspectives from people of colour, people who are much older than me, younger people and different kinds of trans people.”

Dr Kath Browne
Dr Kath Browne

Dr Kath Browne of the University of Brighton, who helped to organise this year’s event, said: “I think it’s a fantastic conference that we have the pleasure of hosting. It brings together a group of people who define as or relate to being lesbian and reiterates some of the power relationships that we all struggle with on a daily basis.”

To find out what people have been saying about Lesbian Lives conference on social media, click here:

 

 

PREVIEW: Short & Girlie Show

The only BSL interpreted event at Brighton Fringe!

Short & Girlie Show

THIS all-female troupe from the gay, bi and pansexual communities have entertained diverse audiences for over ten years with their improvised comedy shows and workshops.

Their comedy is a universal, accessible and inspired brand of exuberant boisterousness. Every show is unique and totally improvised with songs, sketches and silliness inspired by suggestions from the audience.

The show is full of unpredictable fun and irreverent hilarity.


Event: Short & Girlie Show

Where: The Verdict, 159 Edward St, BN2 0JB

When: Saturday May 16 & Sunday May 17

Time & Price:

• Adults, children, families: 4-5pm, £5 advance/£7 door (BSL on Sunday)

• Adults only: 8.30-10.30pm, £8 advance/£10 door (BSL on Saturday)


Event: Improvisation Workshops

Where: The Verdict, 159 Edward St, BN2 0JB

When: Saturday, May 16 & Sunday May 17

Time & Price:

• Children (7-15): 2.30-3.30pm, £5 advance/£7 door

• Women (16+): 5.30-7.30pm, £8 advance/£10 door

• SPECIAL OFFER! Book a show and workshop on the same day and receive £2 off and a free gift.


To book tickets online, click here:

Or from Brighton Frige, click here:

Or telephone: 01273 917272

Or visit: 1 Stop Travel Shop, 26 North St, BN1 1EB


Two BSL Interpreted Shows

There are over 750 shows in the Brighton Fringe this year, however The Short & Girlie Show is the only event providing BSL interpreting. Just put “BSL” in the website’s search engine and see how many events come up.

Brighton Fringe is England’s largest arts festival, but they had to develop a set of new procedures for these BSL interpreted shows.

This is not uncommon; the Disability Discrimination Act may have been in for 20 years but there is still a long way to go. With over 100,000 people in the UK using BSL as their first or preferred language (Department of Health/British Deaf Association) The Short & Girlie performers recognise the importance of providing accessible shows for adults and children.

They say laughter is the best medicine and with Deaf people twice as likely to experience mental health issues including depression (Sick of it Report, SignHealth), The Short & Girlie Performers feel there has never been a more important time to provide BSL for their comedy shows.

Short & Girlie Show’s sold out Spreading the Love tour last year included BSL interpreted shows at the Women in Comedy Festival in Manchester.

To view the video, click here:

Again, this was the only event providing BSL interpreting. On tour The Short & Girlie performers attracted audiences from both the Deaf and LGBT community. As a minority within a minority, these audiences had never experienced anything like it before and a group of 20 Manchester-based new fans are travelling down for the Brighton Fringe just to see them perform.

Short & Girlie Show recently won three awards:

• Arts Event of the Year, L Fest 2014

• Comedy Event of the Year, Ultimate Planet Awards 2014

• Best Performance Group, ShoutOut Listeners’ Awards 2015

For more information about The Short & Girlie Show, click here:

Facebook: The Short and Girlie Show

Twitter: @shortandgirlie

 

PREVIEW: Oklahoma arrives in Eastbourne

Celebrate America’s pioneering spirit with the original feel-good, boot-stomping musical Oklahoma! which will ride into Eastbourne’s Congress Theatre on Tuesday, April 7.

Oklahoma!

AS REFRESHING and stirring as the day it was written over 70 years ago, this popular Rodgers and Hammerstein musical features much-loved tunes and boot-stomping dances such as I’m Just a Girl Who Can’t Say No, Surrey With a Fringe on Top, Kansas City, People Will Say We’re in Love and, of course, the rousing title song itself!

From the minute the rugged cowboy Curly steps on to the stage singing Oh, What a Beautiful Morning we know that all will be right with the world.

Head west and follow Curly and the girl of his dreams, Laurey, as they travel down love’s highway on an extremely bumpy surrey ride.

OklahomaThis brand new production from the award-winning producers of The King and I and Fiddler on the Roof stars Belinda Lang as Aunt Eller, Gary Wilmot as Ali Hakim, Ashley Day as Curly and Charlotte Wakefield as Laurey, is directed by Rachel Kavanaugh and features a large cast and chorus as well as a live orchestra, bringing you romance, excitement and a score filled with sunshine.


Event: Oklahoma!

Where: Congress Theatre, Carlisle Road, Eastbourne, BN21 4BP

When: Tuesday, April 7 – Saturday, April 11

Times: 7.30 p.m. with matinees on Thursday and Saturday at 2.30pm

Tickets: From £18 to £33.50, concessions available.

To book online, click here:

Or telephone: 01323 412000.

 

 

Brighton Kemptown MP calls for action on unauthorised traveller encampments

Harlow and Essex County Councils have successfully applied for an interim High Court injunction preventing unauthorised traveller camps from being set up on 454 “parcels” of land in the local area.

Traveller Encampment Brighton & Hove

SIMON Kirby is calling on Brighton and Hove City Council to apply for a similar injunction for the city.

Mr Kirby, Conservative MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven has been a vocal critic of the Council’s current approach to managing the issue of unauthorised encampments, holding public meetings, parliamentary debates and recently presenting a petition in the Chamber of the House of Commons signed by thousands of local residents on the issue.

Simon Kirby MPSimon said: “The issue of unauthorised traveller encampments is a real problem here in Brighton, and is one I have been urging the Council to take seriously for a long time, recently presenting a petition in parliament on the subject.

“It is clear from the action that has been taken by Harlow Council and Essex County Council that options are available to councils if they choose to pursue them and I would urge Brighton and Hove City Council to follow this example and seek an injunction for sensitive sites in our area.”

Harlow’s injunction applies to 35 named travellers and will mean land across the town will be protected from current and future illegal encampments by “persons unknown”.

If the injunction is breached, the person responsible can be fined or imprisoned for contempt of court.

Simon continued: “Numerous sites such as Happy Valley, Saltdean Oval, Wild Park and Black Rock have been the subject of many unauthorised encampments and the City Council spends a lot of taxpayers’ money every year on these encampments and clearing up after they have moved on.

“Too often it feels like the needs and wishes of the existing community are ignored on this issue. Any such injunction would be about protecting our vulnerable open spaces, upholding the law and responding and listening to the concerns of residents and businesses.”

GLOWchoirBrighton!

GLOW = Gay Lesbian Or Whatever!

GLOWchoirBrighton

GLOWchoirBrighton is a Natural Voice Community Choir for LGBTQ people and their straight allies to come together in song. All voices are welcome, from experienced singers to shower divas and absolute beginners!

GLOW choirs sing a cappella songs of passion, protest and celebration from across the globe.

Everything is taught by ear, so there is no need to be able to read music.

GLOWchoir is led by renowned Natural Voice leaders Hannah Rose Tristram and Kirsty Martin.

No auditions, no judgement, and no limits!

The new term starts on Wednesday, April 22 2015, from 7-9 pm at BHASVIC, 205 Dyke Road, BN3 6EG.

This term also includes the opportunity to take part in Hand In Hand – an LGBTQ choir festival celebrating LGBTQ choirs from all over the UK and Ireland!

For more information click here:

For Facebook Page, click here:

 

Garden yourself happy this spring

Brighton & Hove residents will feel the health benefits from more than 70 community gardens around the city this Spring.

Brighton & Hove Food Partnership

THE Brighton & Hove Food Partnership is a non-profit organisation which supports a network of 70 community gardens, where 4,000 people across the city grow food together each year.

Getting involved with the scheme offers many potential benefits, including the opportunity to gain a range of skills and meet new people.

Research has shown that getting outdoors and gardening can also help to boost mental wellbeing, and reduces stress levels. A local study found that 58% of people who volunteered weekly at a garden in Brighton & Hove reported significant improvements to their wellbeing, and 67% reported improved life satisfaction after 3-6 months. An impressive 100% felt that their gardening experience would have a long-term, positive impact on their life.

Volunteer coordinator Jo Glazebrook said: “People are often surprised at how many opportunities there are to get involved in community food growing, and how easy it is to join in. Volunteers give us lovely feedback, telling us how they have benefited mentally and physically, or just how much they have enjoyed their experience. I’d encourage anyone who is considering giving it a try, to just give us a call!”

Brighton & Hove Food PartnershipWith over 70 gardens in the city there is something on offer for almost everyone, with many gardens sharing their harvest with volunteers or cooking a shared meal on site during each ‘workday’.

The Food Partnership runs a garden in Preston Park, but the majority of their projects are run independently by community groups, charities and volunteers.

Most of the gardens hold workdays all year round, both during the week and at weekends so that people are able to drop-in once, or attend regularly. The gardens are open to people of all ages and abilities, from complete beginners to experienced gardeners.

For more information click here:

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