Throughout the day there will be a ‘Freedom Exhibition‘ that will be showcased at the African Caribbean Centre, Maidstone Road, Leicester, LE2 0UA, UK.

This will include exhibitions by the Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland Records Office, Anti-Slavery International and two community exhibitions produced by the young people’s Reflections Project, funded by a Heritage Lottery Fund ‘Young Roots’ grant. The exhibition opens at 10.30am and will premier the short film ‘Who Was Edward Juba?’ (a freedom story) at 11.00am.

This film tells the true-life story of a Somalian boy who arrived in Leicestershire during the 1700s and went on to become the first black Freeman of Leicester. This inspirational story will be screened throughout Emancipation Day at the African Caribbean Centre where there will be a community BBQ taking place from 1pm. “The further back we look the further forward we’ll be able to see.” (Winston Churchill)

The day also includes the return of the ‘Leicestershire Emancipation Walk’, which has previously taken place in 2007 and 2008.

If you would like to join the walk please meet us at the African Caribbean Centre at 10.30am. Following welcome refreshments and the film premier, transport will then take participants to Rothley Court Hotel where the trek will begin from. The walk of approximately 7 miles is cross-country and is regretfully unsuitable for wheelchair users. Having travelled from Rothley Court (where the 1807 slave trade abolition act was drafted) to Nelson Mandela Park (a symbol of modern emancipation) the walkers will then complete their journey back at the African Caribbean Centre where food and drink will be available.

The walk is a celebration of the achievements of anti-slavery campaigners, an opportunity to have a ‘walk ‘n’ talk’ dialogue about the continuing fight for human rights and a symbol of cross-cultural community cohesion. “There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere!” (Nelson Mandela) Please see the attached posters for additional information.

We hope that you will join us for Emancipation Day 2010. Best wishes, Crystal Clear Creators, Black Future and Sankofas Heritage and Arts

Emancipation Flyer

It includes articles about the following:

The Government’s planned education reforms

Skyride in Leicester

Connexions

Life As It Is – a filmmaking project for young people

Young entrepreneurs and their charity work

The oil crisis in the Gulf of Mexico

Cultural Diversity in Leicester

How the budget deficit  is affecting services

The Children’s Council

Mobile phones at school

A female take on gadgets

Things to do in the summer holidays

The Glastonbudget Festival

…amongst others.

Reviews, stories and a look back at last season for Leicester City.

It also contains information about how young people can get involved in producing Wave.

Founded in 2000 by Roger Lovell and Simon Thomas, the organisation has grown from a few specialist bikes stored in a garage to an overflowing 5,000 square feet cycling centre on Friday Street housing what is believed to be the widest range of pedal powered machines in the world.

The core aim of Cyclemagic, a totally self-financing not-for-profit organisation, is to help those with special needs enjoy the benefits of cycling and people travel from across the UK to access the unique service it offers. To fund this voluntary work it runs a range of commercial activities to raise vital funds including cycling roadshows, cycling history exhibitions, schools education projects and bike repairs.

Simon Thomas said “Our special needs work is very rewarding especially when you see someone riding a bike with a huge smile across their face who previously believed they’d never be able to do so. It can take several months to build or adapt the bike for each individual need and it just wouldn’t be viable to do a lot of the work commercially, so the work of our volunteers is vital.”

Roger Lovell added “We’ve also worked on a Stella Artois advert, made television programmes and been invited to events across the country. We even taught Olympic cycling champion Sir Chris Hoy to ride a Penny Farthing, but I think the highlight for me was being asked to open the 2007 Tour de France in London in front of world-wide media and hundreds of thousands of people across the city”

The organisation will be hosting several events over the next few months and inviting everyone to help them celebrate. The first will be Cycling With Style, A Bicycle Ride and Picnic for Ladies and Gentlemen on Sunday August 8th followed by a Cyclemagic Festival at the Abbey Pumping Station Museum on August 29th to coincide with SkyRide Leicester.

On Sunday October 3rd friends and colleagues of Cyclemagic from across the country will be riding to the village of Costock near Loughborough to create a 2010 version of this photograph of the Leicester Cycling Club taken in the village during the summer of 1896.

For further information please contact Roger Lovell on 0116 262 5551 or 07949 680 455.

To see detail of the cuts proposed by Leicestershire County Council in the Leicester Mercury see the following link to the This is Leicestershire website: http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/news/Charities-face-funding-cuts/article-2450789-detail/article.html

Soar magazine says of it:

This summer Curve are launching an exciting, new Young People’s Company for people aged 12 to 26-years-olds, including Arts Council England’s A Night Less Ordinary initiative to offer free theatre tickets to young people.

Find out more about the Young People’s Company and how to get involved by reading the article at:

http://www.soarmagazine.co.uk/2010/07/20/young-company-launched-at-curve/

http://www.thebigsociety.net/

The second Community News Meeting at Kona Blue Coffees in Leicester’s Highcross boasted 22 people with participants from Citizens Eye, The Wave and Community Action Photographers. As well as the community news crowd we were also joined by Craig Bodsworth and Nik Krneta who work for Leicester City Council as City Wardens covering the Castle Ward.  Nik and Craig told me about their work which involves engaging with the community, educating the public on environment issues and policing the local area.

City Wardens take an active role in the community by going into schools to educate young people about environmental issues such as recycling and the proper disposal of litter. ‘Duty of Care’ visits are regularly carried out to local businesses to investigate how they are disposing of their waste. An £80 fine can be issued to businesses who do not deal with waste in an appropriate manner.

Nik and Craig told me about the recent ‘Bins on Streets’ scheme which has been started to encourage members of the public to place their bins to the rear of their property and off the street. A leaflet posting campaign has also launched to inform residents of the problem.  If residents fail to respond to repeated warnings each person who lives in the offending property can be fined £110. This issue has become a particularly serious problem of late due to arson attacks within the city where individuals have set fire to bins posing a potentially fatal risk to the public.  As Craig told me ‘Bins that are outside of terraced-housing are often positioned next to a gas meter obviously if the meter is ignited it can cause an explosion.’

Routine duties include patch walks around the Warden’s designated area one of their tasks is to report any defects in the highway, lighting and signposts. They also provide a visible presence of law and order on the streets reassuring the public, answering any questions they may have and supplying information on council services. City Wardens also have the power to issue Fixed Penalty Notices to combat incidents of littering, dog fouling, graffiti and fly tipping.

In the upcoming weeks the Leicester City Council will be looking for volunteers to begin a new Young Persons Warden Scheme within the city. Please keep posted to The Wave magazine in the Leicester Mercury and Citizens’ Eye for more information.

Join WRVS and thousands of people across Britain to remove outdated stereotypes of old age through storytelling.

Visit: http://www.wrvs.org.uk/standard.aspx?page_ID=433 for further details or call 0845 601 4670

The event will take place in  Western Park, Leicester, Leicestershire LE3 6RN

The event distance is 10 kilometres and takes place from 10.30 am

Enter now and be one of 1500 women who will walk, jog or run 10k to help us smash our fundraising target of £83,000 for Cancer Research UK’s life-saving work.

Have a great day out with your family and friends and help more people beat cancer.

Local sponsers include Leicester Mercury and Leicester Sound

For more information see the Race For Life website at: http://www.raceforlife.org/choose-your-event/leicester–10-jul-10-1030.aspx