Tag Archives: heritage

Books and Postcards, Editorial and design, Events, Heritage, Reminiscence, Uncategorised

Shalom Sussex- The Jewish Community in WWI

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Shalom Sussex- The Jewish Community in WWI

We’ve researching hard with our newest project, Shalom Sussex – The Jewish Community in WWI.

In the coming weeks, we will be visiting The Keep archive, West Sussex Record Office and the National Archives to try to build a picture of life for Jewish people in Sussex during the First World War.

If you’d like to find out more about this theme or get involved as a volunteer researcher, receive training, meet new people and gain some useful skills, then please get in touch.

To find out more 
For further information, images and interviews, please contact:
Nicola Benge, Project Manager – Shalom Sussex

shalomsussexwwi@gmail.com

#shalomsussex

http://shalomsussex.co.uk/

  

Arts, Books and Postcards, Community Arts, Editorial and design, Events, Heritage

Shalom Sussex – New opportunities for research and activities

Shalom Sussex- The Jewish Community in WWI

This project enables people in Sussex to come together to preserve the memories and heritage of the Jewish people who lived locally during and post the First World War to collect these hidden histories.  Jewish people have been in Sussex since the 1700s, and the contribution in WWI made by Jews to the area has been significant.

Our project researchers have been hard at work collecting photographs, newspaper clippings, and photos, as well as family tales passed down to help them build a clear picture of what life was like.

The main focus of our project will be the creation of a community history website to collect new archive material, as well as to share this heritage publicly. In keeping with Jewish tradition, this site will enable visitors to respect ancestors so that their passing can be commemorated.

If you’d like to get involved as a volunteer researcher, receive training, meet new people and gain some useful skills, then please get in touch by email: shalomsussexwwi@gmail.com

http://shalomsussex.co.uk/

Partners
The Centre for German-Jewish Archives
Since its establishment in 1994, the Centre has developed into a major institution for the study of the history, culture and thought of Jews in Central Europe and for the training of a new generation of teachers and researchers in this field.
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/cgjs/

Jewish Historical Society of England
The Jewish Historical Society of England, the oldest historical and learned society of its kind in Europe was founded in 1893 by the foremost Anglo-Jewish scholars and communal leaders of the day.

Home

Jewish Care
Jewish Care is the largest health and social care organisation serving the Jewish community in London and the South East with over 70 centres and services, touching the lives of 10,000 people every week.
https://www.jewishcare.org/

To find out more 
For further information, images and interviews, please contact:
Nicola Benge, Project Manager – Shalom Sussex

shalomsussexwwi@gmail.com
#shalomsussex

About the project

  

Uncategorised

Silver Foxes


Silver Foxes

Strike a Light – Arts & Heritage continues with our group aimed at older people called Silver Foxes. The group is based at Brooke Mead Sheltered Housing Scheme in Brighton  but open to anyone city wide over 60 years of age.

The group meets every Tuesday each week from 11-12pm.

We are exploring life memories, local history, trying new activities including bocca, table tennis and chair yoga to encourage participants to try new things, improve their memories and meet new people – oh and tea and biscuits of course!

We’d like to thank our funders for supporting this who are:

Homity Trust, Healthy Neighbourhood Fund through the Trust for Developing Community, and The Boost Charitable Trust.

Thanks to all of these for helping to make this happen, and to Brighton and Hove City Council for in-kind support with the the venue.

https://strikealight.org/projects/current-projects/silver-foxes-group-starts/

Arts, Books and Postcards, Community Arts, Editorial and design, Events, Heritage

Shalom Sussex – Get Involved!

Shalom Sussex- The Jewish Community in WWI

We’ve begun our newest project, Shalom Sussex – The Jewish Community in WWI. Awarded through HLF’s First World War: then and now programme.

This project enables people in Sussex to come together to preserve the memories and heritage of the Jewish people who lived locally during and post the First World War to collect these hidden histories.  Jewish people have been in Sussex since the 1700s, and the contribution in WWI made by Jews to the area has been significant.

Our project researchers have been hard at work collecting photographs, newspaper clippings, and photos, as well as family tales passed down to help them build a clear picture of what life was like.

The main focus of our project will be the creation of a community history website to collect new archive material, as well as to share this heritage publicly. In keeping with Jewish tradition, this site will enable visitors to respect ancestors so that their passing can be commemorated.

If you’d like to get involved as a volunteer researcher, receive training, meet new people and gain some useful skills, then please get in touch by email: shalomsussexwwi@gmail.com

http://shalomsussex.co.uk/

Partners
The Centre for German-Jewish Archives
Since its establishment in 1994, the Centre has developed into a major institution for the study of the history, culture and thought of Jews in Central Europe and for the training of a new generation of teachers and researchers in this field.
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/cgjs/

Jewish Historical Society of England
The Jewish Historical Society of England, the oldest historical and learned society of its kind in Europe was founded in 1893 by the foremost Anglo-Jewish scholars and communal leaders of the day.

Home

Jewish Care
Jewish Care is the largest health and social care organisation serving the Jewish community in London and the South East with over 70 centres and services, touching the lives of 10,000 people every week.
https://www.jewishcare.org/

To find out more 
For further information, images and interviews, please contact:
Nicola Benge, Project Manager – Shalom Sussex

shalomsussexwwi@gmail.com
#shalomsussex

About the project

  

Books and Postcards, Editorial and design, Events, Heritage, Reminiscence, Uncategorized

Feature in Jewish Care magazine 


Strike a Light was mentioned in a recent edition of care home Hyman Fine House in-house magazine about our Mazel Tov Brighton project.

The project celebrated links between Judaism and Brighton and Hove lives with residents of the Jewish Care charity run home Hyman Fine House. You can read the full magazine here!

 

https://strikealight.org/projects/mazel-tov-brighton/

Arts, Books and Postcards, Community Arts, Editorial and design, Events, Heritage, Uncategorized

The Unremembered project

IMG_2934We’re pleased to have been commissioned to make a wreath for The Unremembered project in Hastings and St Leonards.
This is with the Big Ideas Company to develop activities with local community groups to explore the history of the Labour Corps – service personnel during World War I, and often forgotten in this part of history.


We created the wreath with 22 older people who meet at the Elizabeth Blackman Centre in Hastings, East Sussex. The session was facilitated by Strike a Light Director Cath Tajima Powell and it went really well. We’re really pleased with how it’s turned out!

The Unremembered project background:
This project is about the Labour Corps – Service Personnel in the British Army who have essentially been pretty forgotten and aren’t really commemorated anywhere. The aim is to raise the profile of the Labour Corps and share this learning with community groups.
Who were the Labour Corps?

 Image: Collection of John Sheen author of histories of the Northumberland Fusiliers and Durham Light Infantry.
 The Labour Corps supplied the army with weapons and ammunition, food and fodder, water and fuel. They built and maintained roads and railways. They were essential to the war effort.
British and Allied Forces struggled to cope with the demand for manpower after the huge losses of men during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. From January 1917, manpower was drawn from the UK, China, India, South Africa, Egypt, Canada, the Caribbean and many other places within the British Empire.
Tens of thousands travelled thousands of miles to defend freedom and although they rarely saw service in the frontline, many died or were seriously injured. Today their contributions and sacrifice are all but forgotten. They are The Unremembered.


 
 
 
 
 

Arts, Books and Postcards, Community Arts, Editorial and design, Events, Heritage, Uncategorized

The Unremembered project

We’re pleased to have been commissioned to become a hub in Brighton and Hove by the Big Ideas Company to develop activities with local community groups to explore the history of the Labour Corps – service personnel during World War I, and often forgotten in this part of history.

The Unremembered project background:
This project is about the Labour Corps – Service Personnel in the British Army who have essentially been pretty forgotten and aren’t really commemorated anywhere. The aim is to raise the profile of the Labour Corps and share this learning with community groups.
Who were the Labour Corps?

 
 
 
 
 
 
Image: Collection of John Sheen author of histories of the Northumberland Fusiliers and Durham Light Infantry.
 The Labour Corps supplied the army with weapons and ammunition, food and fodder, water and fuel. They built and maintained roads and railways. They were essential to the war effort.
British and Allied Forces struggled to cope with the demand for manpower after the huge losses of men during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. From January 1917, manpower was drawn from the UK, China, India, South Africa, Egypt, Canada, the Caribbean and many other places within the British Empire.
Tens of thousands travelled thousands of miles to defend freedom and although they rarely saw service in the frontline, many died or were seriously injured. Today their contributions and sacrifice are all but forgotten. They are The Unremembered.
 Events:
Strike a Light – Arts & Heritage will deliver workshops in October and November 2018 in Brighton and Hove with ten different groups in ten different venues across Brighton and Hove to look at the theme of The Unremembered and to commemorate the Labour Corps service personnel and their experiences.
We will do this through engaging with freelancers and volunteers to deliver a series of history and resource led activities which focus on the art of making articulated paper puppets (a common past time a centenary ago) with community groups and families.
These puppets will be a mixture of pre-printed on cardboard outline templates which can then be designed, created and compiled by participants and for those with dexterity issues or the very young, pre-designed printed templates which can be assembled with support and displayed.  We will use fabric scraps, wrapping paper and wall paper to create overlaid uniforms for these puppets and to bring them to life.
We will also create activities to create dressing paper dolls, so creating the one dimensional paper dolls through templates which are cut out and then one dimensional clothing made relevant to our theme which can then be folded over the puppet body. These dolls were popular during WWI and were still printed then despite paper shortages.
Both these forms of puppet making are ideal for classroom and community projects because they are made with everyday craft supplies and reused materials.
The puppet theme for this project is two-fold – one that it is an engaging and accessible way to teach young people and community groups who are unaware of this lost period of history about the Labour Corps, and secondly that the puppets can be seen as a metaphor for the role of the Labour Corps in terms of having no control over their work or location, that they were moved around like mules and essentially treated as such too. This will be a way to valorise those men and celebrate their role.
This will help to remember some of the soldiers who served with the Labour Corps and their link with Sussex and draw this forgotten history into the light.


 
 
 
 
 

Arts, Books and Postcards, Community Arts, Editorial and design, Events, Heritage, Uncategorized

One Day Reminiscence Training Course – Brighton

20160210_161315 (1)This one day reminiscence training course based at Strike a Light’s studio in Brighton takes place on Wednesday 20th June 2018 (10am-4pm).
‘Lots of ideas to go away and research – good to meet others and share experiences and ideas. I feel more confident to go away and plan some reminiscence activities. I have more insight into the benefits and what’s involved’. Reminiscence Course participant
It offers an overview of reminiscence work, including the background to the subject and will consider the benefits to be derived by both the people who reminisce and those who listen. We will explore a wide variety of reminiscence activities, which can be used to trigger personal memories and help a group to work well together.
By the end of the course, participants will have gained insight into what reminiscence is as a structured activity, and how it can be successfully and productively carried out.
The training day will offer a more expanded exploration of reminiscence work. It will include a detailed background to the subject and consider the benefits to be derived by both the people who reminisce and those who listen.
We will explore a wide variety of reminiscence activities, which can be used to trigger personal memories and help a group to work well together.
The day will include opportunities for the group to experience reminiscence activities, and group members will be encouraged throughout to contribute their own experience and ideas.
By the end of the training, participants will have gained insight into what reminiscence is as a structured activity, and how it can be successfully and productively carried out.
A free training pack with resources for each participant is provided as part of the course.
BENEFITS OF REMINISCENCE
Stimulates social interaction and communication
Reduces the feeling of isolation
Shares and captures family and local history
Increases feeling of self-worth
Helps keep the mind stimulated
Allows participants to reflect on past and present
An enjoyable experience
Builds confidence
Generates community and support
Flourish2017-43PARTICIPANT LEARNING OUTCOMES
Share ideas with training group
Use resources, photos and artefacts in reminiscence delivery
Increased confidence in delivery of activities
Group working skills
Awareness of the effects of dementia
Booking:
Complete the One Day Reminiscence Course Booking – Strike a Light 2018 and send payment to attend the course or email: strikealight@rocketmail.com for a copy of the booking form to book the course.
https://www.facebook.com/events/885729284938870/
If you have further queries, call 07727 006538
Course fee: 
£85 (Group/organisation rate – per person) for one day training / £60 individuals
Payment: 
Cheques payable to: Strike a Light and sent to Studio 8, Open Market, Marshalls Row, Brighton BN1 4JU
Bacs Transfer to Strike a Light: The Cooperative Bank – Sort Code: 089299 Account Number: 65447093
Please return completed form to:
Strike a Light – Arts & Heritage, Studio 8, Open Market, Marshalls Row, Brighton BN1 4JU or email: strikealight@rocketmail.com
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Arts, Books and Postcards, Community Arts, Editorial and design, Events, Heritage, Uncategorized

ST PETER’S – PRESTON PARK WORKSHOP DATES

St Peters
We are very pleased to be commissioned by The Friends of St Peter’s – Preston Park, Brighton to deliver a series of six creative workshops at St Peter’s, Preston Park between May-September 2018.
The workshops are a key part of their HLF-funded Project Restoring the Chancel: Highlighting the 20th Century History of St Peter’s, Preston Park and are intended to engage local people around St Peter’s to:

  • Visit the church for the first time.
  • See the church as an enjoyable place to spend time.
  • Look afresh at the church and particularly the stencilling in the chancel.
  • Find out more about St Peter’s and the history of the surrounding Preston Village area.
  • Find out more about the practice and history of the art of stencilling.

20180206_141320.jpg
Activities:
We will deliver six creative drop-in workshops at St Peter’s on the following dates: 31st May, 24th June (Preston Village Day), 14thJuly, 31st July, 16th Aug, 8th September. Each workshop will run from 11-4pm, though the timings for 24th June, Preston Village Day, are still to be finalised.
Each workshop will focus on one core creative activity, with some simpler and/or quicker activities running alongside. The activities to be delivered at each workshop will each respond to some element of the church’s interior, exterior or history, or the creative processes embodied within the building, including stencilling, repetitive patterns, print making, mosaics, etc.
Strike a Light – Arts & Heritage activities will include:

  • Block printing on paper/calico in the form of flags, pennants or large hangings.
  • Creating your own portable letterpress
  • Small mosaics
  • Other forms of printing
  • Stained glass making (using plastic)
  • Geometric pattern making with spirographs.
  • Brass rubbing

All welcome, and especially families with children up to the age of around 11. However both older/younger children can attend and the range of activities will cater for this.
Children will remain the responsibility of their parents/carers and will not be left in the care of Strike a Light.
Adult Workshop:
One of our event days on Saturday 14th July, is intended to be an adult-focussed activity and will encourage adults to try new things, so this particular date isn’t open to children.
download
Strike a Light will be working alongside Hare and Humphreys, the conservators who will be undertaking the conservation of the chancel. Hare and Humphreys start work in late-May and from that time on parts of the chancel will be covered with scaffolding, obscuring some of the stencilling.
Block printing tea towel.JPG

Arts, Books and Postcards, Community Arts, Events, Heritage, Uncategorized

Reminiscence courses this autumn!

Strike a Light – Arts & Heritage is pleased to offer two new courses this autumn and winter….
One Day Reminiscence Training Course on 3rd October 2017 10am – 4pm
Two Day Reminiscence Training Course in Brighton on 7th & 8th December 2017 10am – 4pm (both days)
See more below and on our website for further information: 

Introduction to Reminiscence – Reminiscence Training 
Flourish2017-33ONE DAY COURSE – 10:00 – 16:00
The training day will offer an overview of reminiscence work.   It will include a brief background to the subject and will consider the benefits to be derived by both the people who reminisce and those who listen.
We will explore a wide variety of reminiscence activities, which can be used to trigger personal memories and help a group to work well together.
By the end of the day participants will have gained insight into what reminiscence is as a structured activity, and how it can be successfully and productively carried out.
A free training pack with resources for each participant is provided as part of the course.
***************************
Flourish2017-43Two Day Reminiscence Training Course – 10:00 – 16:00 (Both days)

The training days will offer a more expanded exploration of reminiscence work. It will include a detailed background to the subject and consider the benefits to be derived by both the people who reminisce and those who listen.
We will explore a wide variety of reminiscence activities, which can be used to trigger personal memories and help a group to work well together.
We will also consider the dividing lines between the role of a reminiscence facilitator and that of a counsellor/therapist along with the ethical issues that throws up.
The two days will be interspersed with opportunities for the group to experience reminiscence activities, and group members will be encouraged throughout to contribute their own experience and ideas.
By the end of the training, participants will have gained insight into what reminiscence is as a structured activity, and how it can be successfully and productively carried out.
A free training pack with resources for each participant is provided as part of the course
********************
20150425_121613
BENEFITS OF REMINISCENCE

● Stimulates social interaction and communication
● Reduces the feeling of isolation
● Shares and captures family and local history
● Increases the feeling of self-worth
● Helps keep the mind stimulated
● Allows participants to reflect on past and present
● An enjoyable experience
● Builds confidence
● Generates community and support

PARTICIPANT LEARNING OUTCOMES

● Share ideas with training group
● Use resources, photos and artefacts in reminiscence delivery
●  Increased confidence in delivery of activities
● Group working skills
● Awareness of the effects of dementia
One Day training: £60 organisations / £40 Individuals
Two day training: £100 organisations/£70 Individuals

Please email: strikealight@rocketmail.com or call 07727 006538 to book a session.

Fabrica-Fun-June 2012008