13/05/2013 – Scene Magazine – From the heart of LGBTQ+ Life

Consultation begins today on ‘Better Bus Area’

Posted on 13/05/2013 by Besi

People living and working in the area around Edward Street in Brighton will have the opportunity to give their views on the ‘Better Bus Area’ transport scheme which aims to make bus journeys easier and more reliable as well as improve routes for pedestrians and cyclists.

Consultation begins today, Monday, May 13 and will run until, June 21 on the first phase of work which covers the area from the junction of Edward Street with Pavilion Gardens to the junction of Eastern Road with Freshfield Road.

There will be further consultation on proposals for Eastern Road and the Valley Gardens area in the coming year.

Local people will be able to view the proposals in more detail and talk them through with the council’s transport staff at a public exhibition which is being held at Brighton Youth Centre on May 25 from 2pm to 8pm, as well as at Local Action Team (LAT) meetings on May 15 (Tarner LAT, The Millwood Centre, 6.30pm) and May 22 (Queens Park LAT, Southover Pub, 7.30-9pm).

Details will be posted on the council’s website from Tuesday, May 14 at: www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/betterbusareas

Councillor Ian Davey, Brighton & Hove’s Lead Member for Transport, said:

“This project is designed to improve the environment to make it a much better experience for people moving through the area, as well as addressing an increasing need for bus services, better crossing points and cycling facilities as a result of major developments such as the Royal Sussex County Hospital. We are looking forward to hearing from the local community as their views will make a difference to how this area is improved for the future.”

Proposals include shared bus, taxi and cycle lanes eastbound from the junction with Upper Rock Gardens to the junction with Freshfield Road and westbound along the length of Edward Street and new and improved pedestrian crossings.

In February 2012 the council won £3.48 million worth of funding from the Department for Transport for the Better Bus Area project which also includes the Lewes Road and Eastern Road areas. The total fund is £5.82 million with contributions added by the council and Brighton and Hove Bus Company.

The funding has already been used to increase and extend key bus services in the city, with the 23 service increased from two to three buses an hour with an evening and Sunday service added, the 38 service extended to serve Brighton Station and the 48 service increased from three to five buses an hour.

Buses travelling through the ‘better bus area’ carry in excess of 25 million passengers per year.

The results of the consultation will be reported to a future meeting of the Environment and Transport Committee. If agreed, work could start in the autumn.

For more information EMAIL:

Or telephone: 01273 293862

Dementia Cafe Open Day in Hove

Posted on 13/05/201320/05/2013 by Graham Robson

The Alzheimer’s Society, a charity leading the fight against dementia, will be hosting a Dementia Cafe Open Day at the Cornerstone Community Centre, Hove on Saturday, May 18 from 2pm.

The event, which will coincide with Dementia Awareness Week, will include:

• Tim on the trumpet at 2pm

• A mini tea dance with a swingband and cupcakes at 3pm; and a singalong with Amy at 4pm

• There will also be massages, memory scrapbook sessions and light refreshments

Event: Dementia Cafe Open Day

Where: Cornerstone Community Centre, Church Road, Hove, BN3 2FL

When: Saturday, May 18

Time: 2pm

Transport is available by EMAILING:

Or by telephoning 01273 726 266

Nominations open for The National Diversity Awards 2013

Posted on 13/05/201313/05/2013 by Graham Robson

Nominations have opened for The National Diversity Awards 2013, a ceremony celebrating some of the UK’s most inspiring individuals and grass-root community groups.

The awards, which will take place at The Queens Hotel in Leeds on Friday, September 20, will be hosted by Brian Dowling and Cerrie Burnsell and include Positive Role Model, Community Organisation, and Entrepreneurial of Excellence categories, which are split into age, disability, gender, LGBT and race/faith/religion. You can also nominate a Diverse Company and Lifetime Achiever award.

Nominations already received from across Brighton & Hove, include:

• Ludy Roper, Co-Chair of Brighton Bothways, a bisexuality support group, for the Positive Role Model award.

• Ralph Francis Fox, star of My Transsexual Summer, for promoting transgender matters in the media.

• MindOut, the LGBT mental health charity, for supporting the LGBT community of Brighton with mental health issues.

• Jason Saw, MindOut Senior Practicioner, for developing LGBT suicide prevention and coordinating advocacy and group work services.

• The Clare Project for providing a safe and confidential place for those who wish to explore gender identity.

• Men Get Eating Disorders Too for the Gender Category award.

• Anti Bullying Charity – Ditch the Label in the Multi Strand Category.

• and its founder Liam Hackett, for The Entrepreneurial of Excellence Award.

Paul Sesay, Chief Executive of The National Diversity Awards, said:

“If ever there was a time to celebrate and elevate the truly staggering diversity of talent the UK has to offer – it is now.

“I know another fantastic spectacle of role models will be delivered and recognised this year.”

Nominations close Friday, July 19, and shortlisted nominees will be announced shortly after.

To nominate, CLICK HERE:

Or for a nomination form, EMAIL:

10-Minute Play Competition 2013

Posted on 13/05/201313/05/2013 by Graham Robson

New Venture Theatre and Sussex Playwrights are staging a 10-Minute Play Competition.

Submissions are welcome from anyone until Saturday, July 13, and a shortlist of up to eight plays will be selected for production for seven performances between December 6-14.

After each each performance the audience will have the opportunity to vote on their preferred plays, resulting in an overall winner.

Writers can submit a maximum of three plays and an entry fee of £5 applies.

For full details and rules, view: www.newventure.org.uk or www.sussexplaywrights.com

Details of selected plays and winners will also be posted on these sites.

The Keep is coming!

Posted on 13/05/201322/05/2013 by Besi

The Keep is coming ! The Keep is a new historical resource centre for East Sussex and the Brighton & Hove Unitary Authority. Its conservators will collect, protect and connect with Brighton and Hove’s ancient and often unique heritage. The facility which is being built on land close to the University of Brighton at Moulsecomb, will be opening to the public in November 2013. To find it drive along the Lewes Road and turn left under the new flyover. Bus stops are being organised as we speak.

In 1997 Brighton and Hove became a Unitary Authority, but its own archives, historic and modern, remained integrated into the archives of East Sussex County all currently housed at the East Sussex Records Office in Lewes, crammed into a listed former malthouse – The Maltings.

Following an inspection in 2006 The National Archives condemned The Maltings as “not fit for purpose” and threatened to move the archive material…..”If a better facility could not be provided within the county.“

The Keep is the brand new, purpose built, spectacularly modern and up to date building that has emerged after this historical crisis.

The Keep will store and shelter, conserve and preserve, all of the archives, documents, and historical records of Brighton & Hove including written records, prints, maps, photographs, oral histories including manuscripts by Rudyard Kipling and Virginia Woolf. The University of Sussex’s Special Collections – including the records of the ‘Mass Observation Project’ – will also be housed there.

The Sussex Family History Group will be based in the building, and will move its library there from Brighton Museum. The Keep has six miles of temperature controlled underground storage. Even after all of the East Sussex and Brighton and Hove archives have been moved in, it is estimated that a third of the storage space will stilll be available.

Research facilities, including bar code digitalisation linked to computers, will be provided for public use. Educational visits by volunteer groups, societies and schools will also be welcomed.

On the light and roomy ground floor there are public reading and study rooms and a recording centre for oral histories. Conservation and archive preservation laboratories are on the first floor and a separate Energy Centre on the top floor.

Electricity will be generated from photovoltaic panels, turning rainwater into usable water and generating heat from a ‘biomass’ boiler which will help The Keep meet its aim of being “the most sustainable archive building in the country’.

A user group has been set up and an all inclusive information drive has begun to tell the citizens of Brighton & Hove of all hues, green, blue, red, yellow and rainbow of The Keep’s long awaited arrival.

For more information, CLICK HERE:

Hove MP promotes women’s football

Posted on 13/05/2013 by Besi

Mike is pictured with footballers Carly Telford (Chelsea) and Dunia Susi (Chelsea & England) and the UEFA Women’s Champions League Trophy — Mike pictured with footballers Carly Telford (Chelsea) and Dunia Susi (Chelsea & England) and the UEFA Women’s Champions League Trophy.

Mike Weatherley, MP for Hove and Portslade, and Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Leisure, has met with footballers at a reception in the House of Commons in a bid to promote women’s football.

On display at the parliamentary event, where Mike met with a number of women footballers and sports representatives, was the UEFA Women’s Champions League Trophy.

The initiative was supported by Business in Sports & Leisure in conjunction with UEFA.

For more information on the UEFA Women’s Champion’s League, CLICK HERE:

Mike said:

“Unfortunately, the number of women’s footballers in the UK is quite behind when compared to our European counterparts. Locally though we’ve got some great new sporting facilities, especially with the newly completed Amex Stadium, so I hope that will help boost the popularity of women’s football in Brighton & Hove.”