Shakespeare In Smethwick

Bard’s Book Brings Community Together

On Saturday 3rd June, around 400 people came to the Dorothy Parkes Centre to see the 400-year-old, publicly-owned copy of William Shakespeare’s works and to take part in a spectacular array of Shakespearean activities!

Photo Credit: Paul Stringer & Will Pace

Back in October last year talks began with the Everything to Everybody project about bringing Shakespeare’s First Folio out to Smethwick, and so after months of planning and coordination, the first Saturday in June finally arrived…

The folio was unloaded by a specialist team from the Library of Birmingham, under cover to prevent the daylight damaging the 400-year old pages. Once inside the cover was removed and the glass viewing case made a home for itself in the small hall at the Dorothy Parkes Centre for the day. Through the glass visitors could read extracts from Twelfth Night and spot the Library of Birmingham stamp in the bottom left hand corner, marking the folio as property of all of the people of Birmingham not just the wealthy few.

We kicked off activities with a drama workshop from practitioner Kate Perry, who led an enthusiastic crew of attendees through Shakespearean rehearsal techniques that he would have used with the King's Men (the name of Shakespeare’s acting company) to produce a scene from one of his plays.

Mischievous fairies (aka The Parakeet’s team of playworkers) transformed the garden into an enchanted forest inspired by a Midsummer Night’s Dream. Ink was blotted onto pages to make mini copies of the folio, potions bubbled, poisons fizzed and the sweet scent of lavender from handmade pomanders wafted through the air.

Scathing Shakespearean insults were heard all about centre thanks to the bawdy, earth-vexing Rachel Green and we were treated to an exceptional, one man performance of King Lear by critically-acclaimed, touring theatre company Oddbodies.

We were joined by the Deputy Lieutenant and Mayor of Sandwell, local residents, artists, historians as well as Sandwell Visually Impaired who were led by our superb audio-describer Sarah-Ann. Rhythm & rhyme extraordinaire: Kurly McGeachie, MC’ed the day, sharing off-the-cuff, custom poems about visitors, Shakespeare and Smethwick. Click play below to enjoy a few of the poems shared on the day:

Shakespeare’s characters were brought to life by Spectra who charmed us with curtsies and Gloriana Living History delighted us with dancing from the time of Elizabeth I’s court.

Jenny from Bear Bookshop illuminated the wonderful world of Shakespeare for adults and children alike using quizzes, story-telling and artwork. Then self-proclaimed Shakespeare Nerd, Lauren Jansen-Parkes, rounded the day off with a mini-lecture exploring the history of the folio in Birmingham.

We’re honestly not sure how we fit it all in but we had plenty of fun doing so!

“It was AMAZING! We thought we’d stay an hour, and we ended up staying the whole day.”
— Michelle McLean, Visitor

What is a folio & what is so special about this particular one?

A folio is a large book made by folding printed sheets of paper in half, with each sheet forming four pages. Folios usually contained important subjects like history or religion but Shakespeare’s Folio was the first ever published in England devoted exclusively to plays.

After Shakespeare died in 1616, two of his closest friends and colleagues, John Heminges and Henry Condell made sure Shakespeare and his works would be remembered. Around 750 copies were first printed, now a total of 235 First Folios are currently known to survive, including two that were discovered in 2016.

Birmingham’s copy of the First Folio is special because it is the only one bought with the aim of improving people’s lives through culture and education. It was purchased in 1881 for all the people of Birmingham - no matter their background, wealth or occupation.

The Shakespeare Memorial Library was created as part of a new Victorian idea that art and culture could be for everybody, not just the rich and privileged. It was founded in 1864 and is now housed in the Library of Birmingham. It remains the largest Shakespeare collection held in any public library in the world.

Did you come to Shakespeare in Smethwick - we’d love to know what you thought!

It may seem like it’s not important but it really helps us to improve our events and also supports us to get funding to make events like this free to enjoy.

 
 

This event was kindly supported by the Dorothy Parkes Centre, Black Country Touring, the Everything To Everybody Project & Arts Council England.

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We're testing out Home Delivery for our bread!

Bearwood Community Bakery is Trialling Home Delivery for a Month!

We are excited to share that from the 8th - 22nd February, Bearwood Community Bakery will be trialling a home delivery option for Wednesday bread orders to addresses between the high street, Adkins Lane, Barclay Road, Rathbone Road and parts of Thimblemill Road.

A full list of postcodes included within our delivery area is listed below.

A golden loaf of bread on brown paper.

This pilot will enable us to work out the initial logistics and sustainability of running a delivery service for our bread, so whilst we would love to be able to deliver our bread to everyone we are starting small with the hope of expanding out to other address in the near future.

Here is the full list of postcodes that we can offer bread delivery to at the moment:

B67 5AX, B67 5AY, B67 5AZ, B67 5BA, B67 5BB, B67 5BD, B67 5BE, B67 5BG, B67 5BH, B67 5BJ, B67 5BL, B67 5BN, B67 5BP, B67 5BQ, B67 5BS, B67 5BT, B67 5BU, B67 5BW, B67 5BY, B67 5BZ, B67 5DD, B67 5DE, B67 5DG, B67 5DH, B67 5DQ, B67 5DR, B67 5DS, B67 5DT, B67 5DU, B67 5DY, B67 5DZ, B67 5HE, B67 5HF, B67 5HG, B67 5HH, B67 5HJ, B67 5HL, B67 5HN, B67 5HP, B67 5HQ, B67 5HR, B67 5HS, B67 5HT, B67 5HU, B67 5HW, B67 5HX, B67 5HY, B67 5HZ, B67 5JE, B67 5JF, B67 5JG, B67 5JH, B67 5JJ, B67 5JL, B67 5JN, B67 5JP, B67 5JR, B67 5JS, B67 5JT, B67 5JU, B67 5JW, B67 5JX, B67 5JY, B67 5JZ, B67 5LA, B67 5LG, B67 5LH, B67 5LJ, B67 5LL, B67 5LN, B67 5LP, B67 5LQ, B67 5LW, B67 5PN, B67 5QR, B67 5QS, B67 5QU, B67 5QX, B67 5QY, B67 5QZ, B67 5RA, B67 5RD, B67 5RE, B67 5RF, B67 5RG, B67 5RP, B66 4BS, B66 4BT, B66 4BW, B66 4BX, B67 5QH.

We are also excited that we are resuming orders for Mondays and have expanded our range of loaves to include a soda bread! (Although please note that we are not yet able to offer delivery for Monday bread orders.) We have also changed the cut-off time for bread orders to 8:30am on the day for collection to help our bakers manage orders better on the day. Changes galore!

If you do select home delivery whilst ordering bread but live outside of these postcodes or for a Monday, please note that we will not be able to deliver to your address and will contact you to arrange for your bread to be taken to a collection point or to refund your order.

If you think you can support us with our home delivery options please get in touch at hello@bearwood.cc

Thank you for your patience whilst we test this out!

Order a Loaf Now!

We Are Moving

Bearwood Community Hub is moving

You might be a little surprised that we are very soon going to be starting a new phase,  working across various locations in our lovely community. St Mary’s is no longer available to us on the same terms as before so we have taken the difficult decision to relocate. We're hoping that by working across Bearwood we will reach even more people, offer greater access and play a small part in supporting a thriving high street on Bearwood Road. 

The image is a beige and green graphic, with a loud hailer in the bottom right corner and a smiling bear face in the left hand corner. With the words ‘We Are Moving! To multiple sites along Bearwood Road. Please join us as we continue all our activities and support services in new and welcoming places. From Monday 7 November 2022. More info at: www.bearwood.cc

We are very sad to be leaving St Mary's Church but as part of the Church's revitalisation project, there are new space limitations, and financial and partnership conditions that we cannot meet.  We are committed to sustaining the incredible work that you have helped us to create and so we will,  for the moment, be working across a number of different locations. 

We hope you will like the look of our new timetable when we release it next week. All our activities and groups remain at the same time,  just in different spaces.  We hope that you will come to visit us, continue to support or seek support, and most of all to participate in building our community - albeit in different actual buildings along Bearwood Road and on Abbey Road. 

These changes will come into effect on 31 October. During that week we will move and set up our new homes. We would love your help that week if you have a van, car, paint brush, drill, strong arms or excellent tea making abilities! 

We will open again across most of our sites on 7 November. 

We would like to take this opportunity to thank St Mary’s Bearwood for our year in their great building.

And thank you to our new partners for the next stage of our journey, they have been so generous in their conversations, their welcome and their respect for our work. 

We can’t wait to see you in our new homes!

Bearwood Rainbow Social for the local LGBTQI+ community

We are delighted that local residents Philippe and Rachel have asked to use the Community Hub to start their Bearwood Rainbow Social, an LGBTQI+ safe space for socialising and mutual support. The first session will be focused on ‘what shall we do/organise?!’ and is on Thursday 31st March - end the last Thursday of each month thereafter. Turn up at 7.30pm, it’ll be on until 9.30pm.

Art for everyone, 2pm every Monday

Art club member Pat Nimmo tells us all about the brand new art club every Monday at 2pm at the Community Hub:

Bearwood Art Club at the Community Hub, St Marys Church Mondays 2-3pm

A small group of us have started to meet to make art. We are very varied in our interests and education. Some of us have have done art at college and some of us havent.

We are interested in drawing, painting, felting, collage, inks, poetry, photography, sculpture and textiles! We meet together to encourage one another and make art as our creative instincts lead us. Some of us have published books. Some of us have made exhibitions and some of us are just beginning our journey with art.

We are talking about forming a collective too!

Most of all we just enjoy making art and crafts together in this creative space at the hub. Drinks are available too. Come and join us! You would be most welcome whoever you are and whatever you want to do a beginner or accomplished artist!

Front Garden Spring Clean!

Next date: Saturday 23 April 10am-1pm!

It'll be just like the last one, which was a fun morning in the sun shine:

Saturday 19th March 10am-1pm

We need your help to clear up and beautify the garden area outside St Mary’s Church and Bearwood Community Hub! Come along, sign up for a job and get a little bit of your high street looking greener, neater and more inviting.

St Mary’s Church and Bearwood Community Hub are working together on this event and we’re hoping that plenty of you will join us.

Bring a trowel if you have one (don’t worry if you don’t). We’ll provide refreshments and a place to rest if you need it.!

March: business advice, Stay & Play, podcast and more!

We kick off the month with one-to-one business advice and signposting surgeries from Dan Carins, Productivity Lead at the Black Country Local Economic Partnership. Book a half hour session with Dan on 3rd March: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/276902792707

Our Stay & Play is back on Mondays and Wednesdays - book to attend each week until the Easter holidays, either on a Monday or a Wednesday. It’s cute, cosey and we’re told it’s a lovely break for parents. Booking essential: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/bearwood-community-hub-spring-events-176119

Sarah-Ann has an update for you on the Bearwood Interesting Women podcase - our first foray into digital archiving and podcasting: https://www.bearwood.cc/bearwood-interesting-women-podcast

For everything else, just take a look at the timetable below and rock up to the hub. The kettle is always on!

Coworking connections and collaborations

We often get asked ‘what’s this coworking thing?’ Sally explains a little bit more with some wonderful examples from today’s session.

As we wrote a while back, it’s definitely not just a desk, as lovely and important as our desks, refreshments and human company are! When we were designing this space as a community, one of the things on the wish list was the ability to connect, grow, support each other. And that’s what’s happening.

As I write on 3rd Feb, just reflecting on the connections and opportunities/potential opportunities that have happened today amongst only 8 people, has been a little bit mind boggling. And this is a daily occurrence at the hub (whether amongst coworkers or or other many visitors and participants).

The terrible graphic I’ve drawn here tries to illustrate some of the types of connections made, below I’ll list them. It’s just the surface stuff, but it encapsulates the reason we think community-based coworking is super important for a more inclusive and supportive local economy.

Today, there have been meetings about projects, introductions for potential partnerships, introductions that have resulted in direct advice today, or the potential for advice in the future, new paid work as a result of introductions, new potential coworkers, mutual support on existing projects and planning for one completely new project to benefit our visitors and community members. All from 8 people coming here today to work, or to meet.

So, L met N&L who were here for a meeting with Sally. They may collaborate over a poetry event now. L is doing some work for M, and were put in touch through the coworkings space. R gave A some advice which will in turn help our archive and podcast project, S and M are giving each other regular mutual support on how their organisations are running. We have been able to put Rc in touch with multiple organisations that could make use of her business’ services.

The most important function of a coworking space, aside from giving people accessible space to think, grow and just get on, is building connections between people in our community. That’s why we always try to find out what coworkers do, what they are interested in. So we can proactively connect people that are here. Today has been a good day for that.

The Little Bearwood Museum of Egypt

For our next coffee morning we will be setting up as a temporary museum!

10am, Tuesday 1st February, Bearwood Community Hub.

Rosie Barker from the Birmingham Museums Trust (who oversee Thinktank, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Soho House, Sarehole Mill and more), will be coming along to our coffee morning in a bid to find out a little bit about what we like about museums and what stops us going. And she’ll be bringing with her some ancient Egyptian artefacts! Join us and you’ll be able to get a private tour around Rosie’s mystery box of 3,000+ year-old objects.

This is just the start of our partnership with Birmingham Museums Trust which is going to include some wonderful visits for local families of children on free school meals, our Bakery Team and their families, and {drum roll please} the re-birth of the St Mary’s Art Group (see this link if you are interested in being part of the art group!).

Please come and meet Rosie and us on Tuesday 1st February. We promise you a warm invite, a hot cuppa and a good old rummage around some ancient history!

Partnership and people

From time to time we try and share a little bit about how the Hub ‘works’. We get quite a few questions about how we’re linked to St Mary’s Church so today Sally is going to give you a bit of insight into our partnership with St Mary’s Church, whose building we are using and - we hope! - helping to be custodians of. If you want to know more, just come along to a coffee morning, walk or lunch, or pop Sally an email at hello@bearwood.cc

It all started in 2018 with a phonce call to then Vicar Rev Anthony Perry. I literally said '“ Anthony, I’m getting lots of interest in the idea of a community hub on the high street - we need somewhere that people can drop in and connect. I know that the church hall buildings aren’t being used very much at the moment because of volunteer capacity. Can we talk?”.

Thankfully, Anthony said yes. We first met at a Church coffee morning. Then I made contact with a fabulous individual at the Church of England - Director of Community Regeneration, Fred Rattley. Over the next couple of years we had lots of meetings, drew up draft agreements, asked each other lots of questions about what could work or not work… There is lots of detail that I’m planning on writing up into a learning document for community organisations and faith based organisation with property, but that’s for another day!

Eventually we came out of the big lockdowns and had an agreement ready to go: Bearwood Hub would use the building to set up its activities and projects as long as we don’t encrouch on a Sunday or when Girls Friendly Society and Boys Brigade meet. And so we opened.

How does it work day to day then?
I have two main contacts at St Mary’s’ church council: Alison who I can talk to about access, joint projects, permission to add things or change things in the building; and then there’s Ben, the Church Warden who organises everything to do with the property, repairs, church newsletters and much more besides.

We are a completely separate organisation to St Mary’s. The Church are essentially our landlords and we are not a faith-based organisation. But it’s much more that. We are partners trying to make the space work as best it can for our local communities. Bearwood Community Hub currently shares 50% of its income from venue and office hire with the church, so that they can meet their responsibilities for the building and utilities.
What’s great is that we are in a position through this positive relationship, to think creatively about the future of the building, which is such a great asset locally, but we can do that together - hopefully as more than just the sum of our parts. We are also able to provide opportunities for greater cross-cultural and inter-religion appreciation and understanding.
When the Muslim members of the bakery team or one of our Sikh volunteers, or one of our non-religious participants is able to take a peek in the church or share a coffee with one of the St Mary’s congregation members at our coffee morning, we all learn a little bit more about each other and our values, and perhaps take a little bit of the mystery away.
We are also joining volunteer forces. At this Saturday’s cake sale, our bakery team will be selling the Community Bakery bread and their beautiful handmade textiles. We are bringing volunteers together to organise a big celebration for the Jubilee weekend - also World Environment day, very important to us!
And pretty much everyone that crosses the threshold into the church grounds, whether part of the church or a participant at the hub, has great ideas and plans for the front garden area, to bring it back to its former glory.

A really important part of our partnership is honesty and close working. The nitty gritty that helps make all the good stuff happen. We are very aware and respectful that this building is not ours, it is the Church’s. If I’m worried about whether something will work or be allowed, I can contact the church representatives and get an honest response. If congregation members are worried about something the hub is doing, it can be raised and we can talk about it.

We passionately believe that being open about problems and worries as well as being celebratory about the things that are working well, is the key to every happy partnership. It’s working for us so far, and I hope it’s working for St Mary’s too. The feedback so far is good!

Welcome back!

Happy New Year to you all. We can’t wait to see you again!

With the Covid-19 Omicron variant continuing to cause problems, we are making some changes to our programme. We are very aware that there is no firm guidance from government as we write, but we also feel it’s important to ensure that we can continue our activities as safely as possible while we await more guidance and to hear more about the evidence of the risks. Here is a list of how we’ll manage our different January activities:

Happy Hub Coffee Morning. For the first two weeks of January, we would like to welcome you to our community’s winter garden. Wrap up warm and we’ll do our best to help you feel snug with blankets and hot chocolate. Come to the normal entrance when you arrive and we’ll guide you through. Weeding is optional!

Bring & Share Community Lunch. We will be pausing these for the moment as it is difficult to maintain 2m social distancing. Instead we would like to invite you to join us on a lunchtime wellbeing walk through Lightwoods and Warley Woods, 12:30-13:30. We’ll go at a pace that includes everyone. If you have any concerns about accessibility please call Sally on 07599 595 514 to discuss!

Co-working: coworking numbers will be limited and all spaces must be booked via eventbrite for the moment, to ensure we can maintain 2m social distancing: http://bearwood.eventbrite.com

Stay & Play: Our bookable numbers for this are small and so we will continue to offer Stay & Play: http://bearwood.eventbrite.com

Listening Ear project: if you need someone to talk to, Maddison will be there for you - at a safe distance as usual. Please book for both Tuesday and Wednesday sessions: http://bearwood.eventbrite.com

Bearwood Community Bakery: our community bakery will continue to bake delicious bread for you. Make sure you get your order in! www.bearwood.cc/shop

Thank you for being patient with us while we try to keep each other safe.

Coffee Morning

On Tuesday we had our second coffee morning at Bearwood Hub which enabled us meeting lovely people. It was great to share a cuppa with Vildan’s homemade cookies alongside a friendly chat. Thank you everyone who joined us.
You are all most welcome on Tuesdays between 10 -11 am !

Vildan and Fatma

 

“I’ve moved back to B’ham! Great to meet friendly faces and of course great BAKES! ”

Shallo

“Very friendly and welcoming. It was great meeting new people and sharing experiences with them. Organisers were very friendly and well prepared. Thank you for a great chat”

Rose Gul

“Friendly, welcoming, good communications…”

John

The bakery: how do we do it?

Ever wondered how the bakery works?

Well, not like a normal one! We work within school ours so that our volunteers can participate. That's why the bread isn't ready until 2pm - but so very worth waiting for! The team have devised their ways of working in the kitchen - who takes what role, who prefers to focus on which breads, who does the opening and closing checks (and cleaning!) and who packs and labels the bread. In about 4 hours the team are producing about 30 loaves every Monday and Wednesday, with capacity for up to about 50 loaves - so get booking if you want a tast, we can do more!

Image description: A man in white tshirt with facemask and apron bending down and reaching into the bread oven.

Albert Smith (right) is our baking leader who brings with him years of expertise baking bread, running bakeries and... comedy, sewing and midwifery, he's a man of many talents! Albert and the bakery team have a great rapport - they are honest with each other, there's definitely kitchen banter, but there's so much love and mutual support too.

Naomi (below left) is also an integral member of staff, supported by uber volunteer Deanne (below right). Naomi runs the bakery creche, which we have now opened up to be a Stay and Play on Mondays and Wednesdays 10am-12pm. The creche is really important. It means that the bakery team members who have pre-school children are able to participate, and during school holidays every team member can bring their children to socialise with each other. Naomi is an Ofsted registered childcare provider and we think she is incredible. Always calm, happy and giving the children lots of stimulating play. Deanne is a wonder. With 5 children of her own, she comes to the Hub for even more punishment! She just adores the kids and has been so helpful in making the creche - and therefore the bakery - workable.

And while the bakery team give up their time to build confidence and skills in baking and social enterprise, we are always on the look out for new development opportunities for them. One such opportunity was last Saturday, when local arts organisation Multistory used our communmity room to launch the fabulous By Us, For you: A Personal Safety Guide (downloadable, check it out - more on the event in an upcoming blog post!). When we were asked if we had ideas of lunch suppliers we excitedly shouted ‘yes! The bakery team!’ Four of the women regularly cook for each other and our Bring and Share lunch, and the food is outstanding. So perhaps now there is a new catering business on the horizon too!…


”Volunteering in the bakery for me is a good option to gain important experiences and how to work and help others and bear positive results for me.”

”I'd like to do something for the area I live in
Increase my confidence in sharing work that helps others”

So, the bakery is a lot of things. It’s baking bread, yes. But it’s about baking bread for friendship, confidence, experience. It’s about baking good bread for healthy nutritional balance. It’s about providing free opportunities for the pre-schoolers to socialise and play together. And it’s about an intergenerational, cross-cultural community coming together to make great things happen. Oooh, we do love it!

Bakery team selfie! Image description: Six of the bakery team in a group selfie, mostly focused on their faces, smilling and looking excited, each with either a kitchen hair net or a headscarf.

None of this would have been possible without, firstly, the team. Our local community buying the bread - including Why Not Coffee on Bearwood Road. And then the support we have received to set up. The groundwork by Mothership Projects and Smethwick CAN, the funding support from SCVO, The National Lottery Community Fund, The Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Trust Charity. We are grateful to you all!

Save the world one loaf at a time

We have been so grateful for the companies and individuals who have supported the set up of our bakery, including Incredible Surplus and the lovely folks at our local Cooperative Food store.

One of those is the inspiring Wildfarmed.  Wildfarmed make very special flour. Through the varieties they grow and the way they grow it, they are showing that food production can be done with compassion for our planet. And what's more the flavour from these varieties is out of this world. 

We asked the lovely Adriana from Wildfarmed to explain a little bit more for us:


“We are leading a movement to cover UK farmland in grass whilst growing food and rewarding farmers properly. The work we are doing is not only focused on providing nutrient dense flour, but also educating the wider community about the importance of growing food in healthy soil. We are showing how our everyday food choices can push systematic change to shape the future of our planet!

Our journey started 15 years ago when our friend Andy was working as a musician. On his way back from a gig he happened upon an article about the iniquities of modern corporate agriculture ("Big Food"), with its reliance on chemicals and its failure to provide adequate nutrition. In response, his attempt at self-sufficiency started a Hollywood-worthy story involving Amish farmers, ancient agricultural recipes and a chance meeting with an 80-year-old French paysan.  From here Wildfarmed was born.

Andy has developed a number of protocols rooted in simple and restorative farming practices that work with nature to promote biodiversity and bring back fertile soil. He is the first Englishman ever to be knighted in France for his services to agriculture and in 2020 he won the prestigious Laureat National Agro-Ecologie for the most innovative farm in France. He was recently awarded with a 20-year tenancy for an 800-acre farm in the Cotswolds which will not only act as the Wildfarmed HQ but also as a centre of innovation and learning for our community.

Wildfarmed flour is made from a diverse variety of wheats that are grown using our Wildfarmed method. Growing wheat alongside a diverse variety of grasses, legumes and herbs all actively adding nutrients back into the soil, creates a natural resistance to pests and diseases and gives a depth of flavour not available from growing a single strain.

 Wildfarmed is creating a community where everyone from farmers to consumers can be part of the solution and where everyday food choices are transformed into activism. We're excited to be supporting Bearwood Community Bakery and that it has become a part of the transformation.”

We too are delighted! Wildfarmed has recognised the impact of Bearwood Community Bakery in growing community, skills development and confidence amongst our participant bakers and in our small contribution to growing this movement in better farming. 

We’ll end by saying a huge thank you to Wildfarmed for providing flour throughout the summer to help get us started. For more info, do check their lovely website www.wildfarmed.co.uk. And don’t forget to order your loaf: www.bearwood.cc/shop.