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Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport visits The Amex

Simon Kirby, MP for Brighton Kemptown, welcomed Sajid Javid MP to Brighton on Thursday, January 22.

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MR KIRBY showed the Secretary of State round the American Express Community Stadium and discussed the Rugby World Cup games to be held there later this year, and they met with Albion in the Community.

The Kemptown MP campaigned to bring these games to Brighton, lobbying the governing bodies and meeting with the RFU to put the case in person.

Finally, they both met with Michael Edwards, the CEO of Albion in the Community, the charitable arm of Brighton and Hove Albion FC, to hear about the important work that they do in the local area, before ending the visit by taking a tour of the Club Museum.

After the visit, Mr Kirby said: “I was delighted to bring Sajid Javid MP to Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven and to show him around the fabulous facility that we have in the American Express Community Stadium.

“We discussed my successful campaign to bring Rugby World Cup matches to Brighton and how this will provide a huge boost to the local economy. The Minister also learnt about the Club’s long history during our visit to the Club Museum.

“The Secretary of State’s visit was a fantastic opportunity to fly the flag for Brighton, and also for him to hear about the great work that Albion in the Community do in the area.”

Commenting on his visit, Sajid Javid said: “I was really pleased to accept Simon’s invitation to visit the AmEx stadium and hear more about the fantastic community work Brighton and Hove Albion do, which he has told me so much about.”

FOOTBALL UPDATE: Brighton BLAGSS win friendly match

Members of the BLAGSS football team played an 11-a-side friendly against Bexley Invicta at Hassocks Sports Centre on January 19

BLAGSS Football Team

IN WHAT was a close game, BLAGSS won 5-4 with goals by Lake (3), Dema (1) and Maplesden (1).

BLAGSS went ahead 3-1 before the London LGBT visitors came back into the game towards the half-time break. However, BLAGSS were always in front and Lake was rampant up front for the seasiders, managing a delightful side-step shot to trick the keeper and complete his hat-trick.

The next fixture for BLAGSS football team is an away trip to a 6-a-side tournament in London on February 1.

The event was supported by Sussex FA, who BLAGSS will be playing in an exhibition friendly this February as part of the month of Football vs Homophobia events. Details are still to be confirmed, but it is hoped that the match will be played at the recently completed Brighton and Hove Albion elite training ground at Lancing, demonstrating the county’s commitment to grassroots football for all. The association has also pledged support for a football tournament hosted by BLAGSS this summer.

In the meantime, BLAGSS weekly football sessions continue at Brighton College every Thursday between 6-7pm. Subs are just £3 for members. New members are always welcome, especially ladies or those who haven’t kicked a ball in years. A non contact skills-based Futsal session might also be starting soon.

For more information view: www.blagss.org/football

 

Singing group launched for the over-60s

Brighto & Hove Council ArtsBrighton and Hove City Council’s Music and Arts service will be launching a singing group for people aged 60 and over, giving them the opportunity to gain the known benefits of singing with others.

Social Singing, a new Brighton-based weekly music group for people aged 60 and over,  will be launched on Tuesday January 27, 2015.

The group will be led by Flo Sparham, who is an experienced vocal tutor, and will meet on a weekly basis at the Music Centre in County Oak Avenue, Brighton.

Cllr Phélim Mac Cafferty
Cllr Phélim Mac Cafferty

 

Cllr Phélim Mac Cafferty, Chair of Brighton and Hove Music Trust, said: “This is a brilliant new idea which will bring Brighton and Hove’s older citizens together to make music in the most fantastic fashion possible: Singing.

“Ella Fitzgerald once said that ‘The only thing better than singing is more singing’. According to The British Psychological Society, singing in a choir can be good for our psychological well-being; some studies suggest that it can alleviate stress. Above all singing reminds us of a sense of community, zaps isolation and can be a great laugh.”

There will be no audition or requirement to read music and no pressure to perform in public unless the member wants to.

The group will be focused on promoting good emotional health and wellbeing through the positive experience of communal singing. It is ideal for older people in the community who simply enjoy music but also for those who may sometimes feel lonely or isolated.

The Social Singing sessions are free, work on a drop-in basis and are supported by Brighton and Hove City Council and NHS Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group.

You can bring a friend, family member or carer if you wish.

The weekly sessions, which will coincide with Brighton and Hove school term times, will begin on January 27 2015.


 

Event: Singing for fun – singing group for the over 60s

Where: Brighton and Hove Music and Arts, County Oak Avenue, Brighton, BN1 8DJ

When: Tuesday mornings, 10 a.m. to 12 noon

Cost: Free

To register interest email: or simply turn up!

BOOK REVIEW: Oscar Wilde’s Last Chance

Oscar Wilde's Last Chance

Oscar Wilde’s Last Chance: The Dreyfus Connection, £9.99.

Historian and biographer, Mark Hichens, achieves the apparently impossible by shedding light on one of the most interesting public mysteries of all time.

Oscar Wilde came out of prison a broken man. There seemed no hope of reviving his spirit, of finding the spark that would once again set his genius ablaze. Yet when he went to Paris in 1898 an extraordinary opportunity presented itself.

The city, the whole world of politics, fashion and society was in the grip of the Dreyfus Affair, the scandalous attempt to frame a Jewish army officer on charges of treason. One of Wilde’s closest friends had been told the true secret of the plot and passed the information to Wilde in the hope of enlisting his scintillating gifts in its exposure.

How this scheme backfired, how Wilde not only misplayed his hand but actually became the friend of the arch-villain of the piece, with results at first devastating to Dreyfus but ultimately to his persecutors, is the theme of this fascinating book, first published in 1999 and now reissued in paperback.

“Hichens writes with clarity, pace, wisdom and dry humour.” – The Spectator

Oscar Wilde’s Last Chance: The Dreyfus Connection by Mark Hichens is published by Book Guild Publishing, price: £9.99.

Order your copy from all good bookshops, or online from Amazon

BOOK REVIEW: Studs Gay Erotic Fiction

Studs

Studs Gay Erotic Fiction by Richard Labonté.

Labonté collections are always fit for purpose bringing a wide selection of scenes from gay fantasy to life when they are read, he always knows quite how to mix up the various stories so that the books switches from rough and surly to smooth and sultry, and in this anthology he keeps his hand on the throttle, or your throttle and tightness it just enough. This is book about hard, mean, strong men having quick, raw and sometimes very strange sex. It’s not always fun, not are the stories happy every after, but they are all heaving with hard erotic action that should get you squirming under the duvet or adjusting your Speedo’s by the side of the winter sun pool.

All these stories have an interesting and well written setting which allows the action to seem a natural extension of the narrative rather then just shoved in there, roughly until you shudder. Good to warm you up on these cold hard winter nights.

You know what you’re getting Studs, it does what it says on the tin, the lube tin.

Out now from the publishers website here

£11.99

 

Labour discussion on older women

Purna Sen has invited former Home Office Minister, Fiona Mactaggart to visit Brighton on Monday, January 26 for a discussion about older women.

Purna Sen
Purna Sen

PURNA, the Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Brighton Pavilion will host a discussion on policies for older women with members invited from a number of local organisations.

Fiona Mactaggart has been MP for Slough since 1997 and was Home Office minister in the last Labour Government.

Fiona Mactaggart MP
Fiona Mactaggart MP

She is a leading member of the Labour Party’s Commission on older women which is contributing ideas on policies for a Labour government following the general election in May 2015.

In its interim report the Commission said: “The health of women who are now over 50 is markedly better than previous generations, they have much higher educational qualifications and they have done much more in the world of work. They no longer accept the old ideas that women should be subservient to men and they have an expectation that women should be treated as equals.

“But while so much about women’s lives has changed – public policy remains rooted in the past.

Public policy needs to wake up to the new generation of older women who are neither in their youthful child-rearing years, nor frail and elderly, needing support. They have a vital role in the family and in the world of work.”

The meeting is at Friends Meeting House, Ship Street, Brighton BN1 1AF at 2.30pm.


Event: Labour and Older Women

Where: Friends Meeting House, Ship Street, Brighton BN1 1AF

When: Monday, January 26

Time: 2.30pm

 

BOOK REVIEW: Best Lesbian Erotica 2015

Best Lesbian Erotica 2015

Best Lesbian Erotica 2015 by Laura Antoniou (£11.99).

The fiercest, freshest lesbian erotica of the year chosen by the established editor of quality lady filth Laura Antoniou; author of The Marketplace series.

Featuring stories designed to make readers squirm with desire, and clamour for the phone to whisper not-so-sweet nothings in their girls’ ear.

With steamy plot lines, engaging characters and the all important heaving passionate women and images of girl-sex will take over readers’ brains.

These steamy stories will capture your sensual imagination and fill the mind and perhaps the body with sheer erotic need.

This paperback anthology coves just about every scene from the mild and romantic that quickly turns scorching hot to the filthy-from-the-off steamy, sweaty bonk off, there’s something for everyone with a wide range of established contributing authors, perfect for reading in bed during these dark cold winter months.

Available on January 22 from the publishers website here:

City Tories question legality of parking charge hikes

Conservative counsellors in Brighton and Hove are querying whether proposed hikes in parking charges of up to 100% are legal in the wake of a recent High Court judgement against Barnet London Borough Council.

Cllr Graham Cox
Cllr Graham Cox: Conservative Group Transport Spokesman

BUDGET PAPERS presented to the Council’s Policy & Resources Committee last month reveal that the Administration is seeking to raise £571k in extra revenue as a result of a “review of pay and display and permit tariffs”.

However, in 2013, a High Court Judge ruled that Barnet Council did not have the power under the 1984 Road Traffic Regulation Act “to charge local residents for parking in order to raise surplus revenue for other transport purposes” and added that it was not allowed “to budget for a surplus at any level which it considered appropriate in order to generate income for other transport purposes which it wished to fund.”

Conservative Group Transport Spokesman, Cllr. Graham Cox, said: “It is quite clear from the case law that it is unlawful for councils to set charges for the ‘express purpose of creating a surplus’ yet that is exactly what this Council is proposing through its latest price hikes. Interestingly, Barnet proposed raising the cost of their resident permits to £100, a level that the judge considered unlawful yet our residents are being expected to fork out £166 if they pay quarterly.”

Cllr Geoffrey Theobald
Cllr Geoffrey Theobald

Group Leader, Cllr. Geoffrey Theobald, further added: “It is quite obvious to me that they are using charges and permits to help fill their Budget black hole and that is not allowed. Brighton & Hove has gained the unenviable reputation as a ‘rip-off city’ when it comes to parking charges and that is extremely damaging to local businesses. I would urge the Council in the strongest possible terms to think again.”

The Tories’ challenge comes amid news that the council has decided to defer the decision on proposed increases until next month.

It’s Showtime!

Still time to design the cover for this year’s Brighton Fringe Family Guide.

Brighton Fringe

BRIGHTON FRINGE, the largest arts festival in England and one of the largest fringe festivals in the world, has extended the deadline on its competition for teenagers and kids to design the front cover of the Brighton Fringe Family Guide.

ENTRANTS now have until January 30 to submit their designs.

The organisers are calling for budding artists and designers to get paints, felt tips or pencils out and draw, paint, craft or design their interpretation of ‘It’s Showtime!’ – the title of this year’s guide.

The winning design will appear on the front cover of 80,000 copies of the guide.  The winner will also receive a VIP Family Pass to all children’s events at award-winning venue The Warren, during Brighton Fringe 2015.

Five runners-up will also be awarded two tickets each to a Brighton Fringe kid’s show of their choice.

To enter, designs must be submitted by January 30 on an A4 piece of paper, and sent along with the designer’s name, age, school and contact details – including a telephone number or email address – to:

‘It’s Showtime!’ competition

Brighton Fringe Ltd, 5 Palace Place, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 1EF

Brighton Fringe

Rapid HIV testing at Brighton Sauna

Since 2011, HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) has offered a rapid HIV testing service at The Brighton Sauna.

 

Brighton Sauna

THE WEEKLY drop-in takes place every Wednesday evening from 6–8pm, and uses finger-prick blood tests to offer results within 20 minutes. The service, which is free and confidential, is predominantly for sauna users, but the sauna will also allow free entry to men who just want access for a test.

Terrence Higgins Trust’s (THT) fully-trained staff provide men with information and support before and after the test, and anyone who receives a reactive result is referred straight away to a specialist clinic for further testing. The charity also provides free condoms, along with information and advice on sexual health.

Rapid Testing THT

When the service was first launched, THT worked closely with sauna users and management to develop a service that people wanted; a fast and confidential service in a non-clinical setting. Since then, over 620 HIV tests have been taken at the sauna, and feedback is consistently positive.

The service also now offers self-administered swabs to test for chlamydia and gonorrhoea. From January this year a new, three-month pilot initiative offering rapid Hepatitis C tests has been running at the sauna, which is already proving popular. This is particular useful for men living with HIV, as this is a group at particular risk of Hepatitis.

Ross BoseleyTHT’s Ross Boseley said: “We know most gay men in Brighton & Hove are aware of the benefits of regular testing. Some men may not want to visit a traditional sexual health clinic for whatever reason, but it is vital they know their HIV status.

“Advances in testing mean we can now bring our testing services to the places men are; we don’t have to wait for them to come to us. We’re very grateful to The Brighton Sauna for continuing to partner with us, and hope it will encourage more men to come forward for testing.”

THT also runs a daily, rapid HIV testing service from its Brighton centre at 61 Ship Street, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 1AE. The service is available Monday to Friday from 10am–5pm.

For further information on HIV Testing Services in Brighton & Hove, contact: 
Ross Boseley on 01273 764200
Or email: 

Brighton Sauna is at 75 Grand Parade, Brighton, East Sussex BN2 9JA

For more information about Brighton Sauna, click here:

 

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