REFUGEE WEEK event in Brighton
Thursday, 18th June 2015 6.30pm – 9.30pm
Conference Room, 5th Floor of the South Wing, Community Base, 113 Queens Road, Brighton, BN1 3XG, United Kingdom
To mark the Refugee Week and the International Refugee Day, Euro-Mediterranean Resources Network, Refugee Radio and the Community Base are organising a gathering in Brighton on Thursday, 18th June, with the participation of community and voluntary groups, and the members of the public.
Admission free – all welcome.
Among other activities and performances during the evening, guests will enjoy brief talks by the representatives of the refugee support organisations, poetry, live music, film screening, food and drinks from around the world, information stalls & networking activity.
Event news updates on Euro-Mernet website: www.euromernet.org
Event Facebook page: https://goo.gl/pdCBZH
Event Twitter name/hashtag: ‪#‎refugeeweekbh‬
Further info: please contact Carlotta and Elisa from the Euro-Mernet coordination team [email protected]

Check out the newly developed Tarner Community group on the Tarner Facebook page

Safeguarding considerations for Small Groups – including what to do about the results of DBS checks.
Tuesday 9th June, 2015, 13.15 – 15.45 (arrivals from 13.00)

The Brighthelm Centre, Stanmer Room (1st Floor)
Mel Parr from Care Co-ops, Jo Wren from Grow and Joanna Rowland Stuart from the LGBT Small Groups Network / Community Safety Forum will be there to share their knowledge and experiences and we hope you will come to share yours…Let’s make our communities places everyone can participate safely.
To book on:
http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/community-works-members-summe…
Or call 01273 234023 if you want assistance to register.

Come to the Fruitiest, Luckiest, most in the Middle of the Road Fair you’ll find down The Dip this summer.

• Live music and dance – including Front Room Folk and The Likely Dads
• Samba workshop
• Veg and herb plants – strawberry plants too of course.
• Face painting
• Indian and Caribbean food
• Strawberry Cream teas
• Smoothie bike
• Loads of stalls selling hand-made loveliness
• Tombola
• Kids’ games and lots of other stuff

The Women’s Institute will be here to judge our Strawberry themed bake-off – free entry – great prizes.

And Brighton legend that is Jane Bom Bane will judge our Fruity Hat competition -wearing her fabulous must-see mechanical hat. More great prizes. Free entry too.

Age categories for both competitions under 8s; 8 -12s; 13-17s; adults.

There’ll be plenty of seating and tables to hang-out at in glorious sunshine. Probably.

Many thanks to those who signed the residents’ petition to get Hollingdean Children’s Centre open at weekends to allow access to the café and toilets.

This project is one of the priorities identified at community meetings and surveys and has been led by a small, very determined group of residents who are delighted that real progress has been made with the council. Hollingdean Development Trust (who manage and operate the community centre and support projects in Hollingdean) have agreed to hold the lease for this; terms of the lease have been agreed and resident s are just waiting on the finished lease for approval.

We just need to get a bank of volunteers to run the café and make sure the café and reception area is left as it is found. Residents plan to open just a few hours on Saturday and build up to longer opening hours and then Sundays if there is a demand. Initially the café will only be selling tea, coffee, juice and some cakes – hopefully homemade.

We need your help – it won’t happen without the involvement of residents. As the café will be open to the public safety is paramount and training will be given on fire safety, first aid and food hygiene. These are all very useful skills and can add positively to any CV.

For more information please come along to a meeting on
Thursday 14th May 7.30 at Hollingdean Community Centre

If you can’t come along but are interested in helping please email me and I will pass your details to the residents group.

Many thanks, Liz
[email protected]

For the last 5 months TDC have been supporting a new adult ADHD and neuro-diverse group with their governance. ‘ADHD Aware!’ http://adhdbrighton.org.uk/ successfully ran their first AGM at the end of April, welcoming new members and voting on a new committee. New Chair, Jack Norwood, spent the second half of the evening consulting the membership about what they would like the group to do in the future. They now intend to apply for some funding and set about changing things for adults with neuro-diversity living in Brighton & Hove and beyond. They would like to offer each other peer support, fund life/ADHD coaching, provide information sessions including diagnosis and assessments, legal, finance and also crisis support. Jack said “we’re so pleased, it’s taken us four years to get to this point!”
TDC wish them the very best of luck and hope to carry on supporting them.

Here is a link to  The May issue  of Community Works Newsletter, which is packed with information and news on all kind of community activity in Brighton and Hove. From celebrating voluntary work to information on Small Charities Week which takes place from June 15th -20th amongst loads of other community news.projects and events.

As some of you may already know, Banyan Tree Theatre Group (formerly known as MOSAIC Puppet Theatre Group) has grown into a constituted group that has previously performed during Black History Month celebrations and Brighton Fringe. As we approach our 5th birthday we’ve received a fantastic funding award from the Arts Council alongside support from Hedgcock Bequest (Brighton & HoveCity Council), Healthy Neighbourhood Fund and the Irene Mensah Artist Bursary, that means we can continue our ongoing learning and development and bring performances to our communities as well as supporting our desire to increase the representation of women of colour in the Arts.
Our latest show, Why Mosquitoes Buzz In People’s Ears, a traditional African folktale told using colourful puppets, live action and sounds from Africa and the Caribbean, will be performed during this year’s Brighton Fringe on Sunday 3rd and Monday 4th May and we’d appreciate it if you can spread the word via email with the promotional flyer, attached.

Plus we’ve secured an exclusive community ticket offer of 15% off full price tickets. Click here to claim your discount via the online box office or call 07800 983 290 quoting ‘Mosquito Love’.
Please show your support for Brighton’s only all-female, all Black and Minority Ethnic theatre group and join us as we solve the mystery of Why Mosquitoes Buzz In People’s Ears! Trust us, Brighton is in for a treat.

Nyawa Bottomley – Chair of Banyan Tree Theatre Group

For all the latest news and information about  TDC’s Tarner community, please go to the new Facebook page

This year in conjunction with fundraising for Sue Mechens Tantrum Dance Group … the group will be performing along with The Brighton Innchoir and the Brighton School Of Samba ….
LOOK OUT FOR MORE INFORMATION COMING SOON

The Old Boat Community Centre in Carden Hill, Hollingbury has been saved after support from the local MPs, Councillors and TDC. To find out more about how the centre survived and now looks ready to thrive again please see this article from The Argus

Fantastic news! In almost the last act of this administration before the elections, Brighton & Hove Councillors from all the main parties voted tonight for our city to be recognised as a City of Sanctuary and to offer a lifeline to Syrian refugees. Some speakers spoke of their ancestors who had fled Pogroms in Eastern Europe, others talked about the Ugandan Asians who had settled in Porstlade and were now part of the community. All were proud of Brighton’s tradition of celebrating its diverse residents and welcoming the persecuted. Brighton should be a beacon, said Cllr Littman, who announced that the Motion had already had an impact: a landlord had read about it in the paper and had called him to offer some affordable housing for Syrian refugees.To find out more see this article from The Argus