The UK’s largest rail franchise, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) announce the country’s first Line Residents project – a creative partnership with six influencers, tastemakers and content creators highlighting the people, connections and must-visit destinations along the rail routes.
Chris Sweeney – LGBT+ Writer, director and host of Homo Sapiens podcast
Govia run Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern and Gatwick Express services. As Great Northern and Southern Rail improve their network with new routes, more capacity and greater frequency – the Line Residents will aim to inspire passenger journeys with exclusive content released every month.
Celebrating the transformative power of journeys, The Line Residents are a group of influential individuals who have explored routes across Great Northern and Southern to discover and share compelling stories of transformation.
They’ll share content every month, from podcasts to videos to articles, and will reveal tales of individual and community challenges and triumphs, as well as providing inspiration for customers to embark on their own journeys. Content will range from the stories of inspirational leaders changing their communities, how to turn your commute into a productivity power hour, elevated picnic lunches, and much more.
Founded by content creators in Parenting, Music, Technology, LGBT+, Fitness, and Food, the inaugural 2019 Line Residents include:
♦ Jamie Day – Parenting – Blogger and Influencer
♦ Ortis Deley – Technology – Presenter of the Gadget Show
♦ Remel London – Music – Presenter for CapitalXTRA
♦ Lunges and Lycra – Fitness – Bloggers and Influencers
♦ Chris Sweeney – LGBT+ – Writer, director and host of Homo Sapiens podcast
Myriam Walburger, GTR’s Acting Communications and Marketing Director said;“From fitness and food to music and technology, our new Line Residents have produced a series of videos, podcasts and blogs. We hope our creative partners enhance the journeys of passengers on Southern and Great Northern, whether it’s on a daily commute or for leisure travel.”
Cllr Lee Wares, the Conservative spokesperson on Environment, Transport & Sustainability accuses Labour and Green councillors of ignoring widespread resident and business concerns over the Valley Gardens stage 3 development.
Cllr Wares said:“Labour claims to be listening and the Greens constantly complain there is not enough consultation. Yet with Valley Gardens Phase 3, neither seems interested in what is being said.
“Labour’s report that will be presented to the Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee tomorrow, February 7 with support from the Greens, air-brushes out the economic and environmental concerns the design will bring.
“Few I have spoken to disagree that the bottom of Valley Gardens needs major regeneration and that we need to improve provision for cyclists, pedestrians and accessibility for less able citizens. Most agree we will all benefit with the right design.”
In the report, a single paragraph acknowledges that businesses and stakeholders raised concerns but Labour merely says they will ensure lessons learnt will be incorporated into future projects.
Cllr Wares continues;“Equally, Labour sweeps aside alternatives such as using Pool Valley saying they have been noted and retained for consideration for any future projects that may come forward. These ideas would further enhance cycling provision and mitigate the risk of lowering air quality.
“Labour highlights 52% agreed that cycling routes and crossings will be improved; it doesn’t highlight 62% said the roundabout should be retained.
“Labour shows contempt for those that dare oppose their scheme. They praise “supportive and constructive letters” from those that back them, suggesting any opposition is unhelpful. However, those concerned with the current design (and who stand to gain from a good design) employ tens of thousands of people and bring billions of pounds of economic prosperity to our City.”
These businesses and groups include:- North Laine, Brighton Lanes, Seafront Traders and Kemptown Traders associations, Brighton Fringe, Brighton Events Group, Brighton and Hove Taxi Forum, Tourism Alliance, Pavilion Surgery, Brighton Language College, Brighton & Hove Restaurant Association, Brighton Grassroots Music Venues, Sainsbury’s Local, Marlborough Pub & Theatre, Palace Pier, Royal Albion Hotel, Brighton Old Town Local Action Team, The Kingscliffe Society, employers such as solicitors, surveyors, digital start-ups and local residents and public transport groups.
Irrespective of promises to listen, the Conservative say nobody who is critical of the project is being heard and nothing fundamental in the design will change.
Cllr Wares said:“Labour acknowledges their design is flawed with the need to now spend millions on Dukes Mound to compensate for an error they don’t have to make. They propose to allow right turns across the seafront road that are prevented because roads get blocked and accidents happen. They acknowledge the design is unaffordable now having to rely on private investment that cannot be identified.
“Public transport operators and users concede they are now left with trying to make a bad design work rather than having an optimal design.
“Labour argues a risk to Government funding. They were not concerned when they delayed Valley Gardens 1 & 2 by two years. Risks such as these need managing through dialogue with Government rather than forcing through something that will negate all the benefits that could be achieved.
“Unless there is a change of heart by Labour or Greens we are on a journey of economic self-harm. It is now down to them.”
Cllr Gill Mitchell
Responding for the administration, Cllr Gill Mitchell, Chair of Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee, said:“There has been extensive public consultation on the Valley Gardens Phase 3 scheme since last Spring, with further consultation planned. Over 1600 people, organisations and businesses have sent In their views. At each stage these are reported back to the ETS Committee so it is surprising that Cllr Wares, who sits on the committee, has not noticed.
“In addition several workshop sessions have been held with Tourism leads, local transport providers, equalities and disability groups, pedestrian and cycling representatives and conservation groups. There has also been a lot of 1-1 contact with local traders and businesses.
“We are committed to listening and maintaining this high level of engagement as the scheme develops.”
Cllr Leo Littman
Green Group spokesperson on the Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee, Councillor Leo Littman added:“Original proposals for the Valley Gardens scheme from the Greens focused on providing a new city centre park – a desperately needed ‘green lung’ for residents that would also enable greater access to the seafront for pedestrians and cyclists. Rather than support this work, the Labour Council’s prevarication delayed the entire project, risking the hard-won funding handed over to them by the Greens to get it started. Greens have met with many of the businesses affected and it is clear that many feel Labour handled the progress of Valley Gardens very poorly indeed.
“Greens want to see safety and green space made a priority in this project once again – and we put forward our own amendments to push the Labour Council to recognise the importance of sustainable transport. Valley Gardens was never intended to be a ‘traffic scheme,’ yet both Labour and Conservative Councillors have framed it as such, with the Tories also seeing fit to propose that we keep the aquarium roundabout, when we need to minimise dangerous traffic junctions, not retain them.”
Longing for a touch the casual encounters section cannot satisfy, Tristan, an outsider among outsiders, navigates sex and love in the digital age. The film follows Tristan (played by Xavier Jimenez March) as he looks for fulfilment through dating apps and casual sexual encounters. A glance across the bar leads to an evening of passion with an unnamed angelic equal played by rising star musician and artist Daniel Crook.
This colourful short film of 9 mins from writer/director by Tristan Scott- Behrends is a delight, it’s bold, tender, and has the just the right amount of poke you quickly between the eyes with some carefully observed narrative about living a gentle Queer Fem life in the world apparently consumed with toxic, demanding and unfulfilling representations of masculinity. Premiered at 2018 Outfest Film Festival where it was selected at “Best of the Fest” it’s got some NSFW parts, unless of course you work in Prowler in which case stop watching great short films on your phone and serve some customers!
If this all sounds very worthy for a subject topic then it is, but luckily the skilful cinematic breadth of Kelsey Talton filming allows the art involved to wrap the narrative up in this beautiful, beguiling story of one queer man’s search for real connection on the dance floors of GayMetropolis. There are echoes of Torch Song Trilogy in the opening scenes and Jean Genet’s framing of bold colour and shadow flow throughout the short film. The soundtrack washes over us in an otherworldly feeling of just out of grasp music, familiar but strange.
It’s got a delightful brutal hand, is filmed in a candid but dreamy way, it’s tongue so firmly shoved in the cheek it’s gown in, like irony gone cancerous and just when you think the bitterness goes to the bone we witness the surprise of loves’ resurrection. A moment! That moment when you see him, capital H, capital I, capital M.
This femme male extravagance celebrates sex joyfully and is fluid in its sexual abandonments sensually filled with compassion, affection and attention, although we are still voyeurs of this, of actors Xavier Jimenez March & Daniel Crook coupling, watching someone else’s pleasure, framed, filmed and presented to us for our consumption. It reflects our loneliness back to us, our search for connection, the isolation of being different on the gay scene. But hey, let’s fuck the deconstruction and just enjoy the ride.
This is a modern queer parable told with care about the importance of acceptance via unconditional self-love, the triumph of hope over despair and how a night that changes everything, changed nothing.
It ends as it starts – still, reflecting and what seemed to be pathos is now revealed to be an understanding of the cycles we chose to wind ourselves into. This ending/beginning referencing our lives, our loves or breaths, out and in, one after another, giving us life, driving us onwards.
Statistics published by the Government show that Brighton & Hove is bucking the national trend when it comes to bus use.
BRIGHTON & Hove continues to have the highest rate of bus use outside London with 49.2 million passenger journeys made in 2017/18.
This total is up from 45.6 million in 2015/16 and a significant rise from the 40.8 million passenger journeys made in 2009/10. Twice as many passenger journeys are being made now than in 1993.
The council say the continued popularity of the bus in the city can be explained by their award-winning Quality Bus Partnership with the bus operators, which creates the conditions for frequent, effective services run with modern vehicles and the latest information technology.
Brighton & Hove City Council works with Brighton & Hove buses, The Big Lemon and Compass Travel to support zero and low emission bus services across the city. The council plans and funds a number of bus services including some complete routes and a number of weekend and school services. As these services are not profitable, they would not run without council funding. The council’s overall budget for supporting bus services is £1,041,900 per annum.
All of the city’s buses are fitted with the latest Euro 6 low emission engines which meet clean air requirements. The Big Lemon buses are now solar-powered, having previously run on waste cooking oil. It is expected that their electric bus fleet will be up and running in the near future.
Supporting sustainable bus travel is parts of the council’s wider strategy to improve air quality in the city, which has included securing government funding to fit 76 buses and 22 taxis with clean air technology, introducing a Low Emission Zone (LEZ) and establishing an Air Quality Programme Board. This year, 200 Electric Vehicle charging points will be installed across the city thanks to a successful bid by the council for £300,000 of Government funding.
Chair of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee, Councillor Gill Mitchell, said:“We are committed to supporting low emission, sustainable travel to help improve air quality in the city. “We have the highest rate of bus use of any local authority outside of London so it is vital that we do everything we can to improve the efficiency and reduce the emissions of the city’s buses. “A lot of work has been done with the local bus companies to ensure we are joined up in our approach and we look forward to continuing our work with them to see what more can be done.”
Liam Livings’ gay romance, Adventures in Dating… In Heels (NineStar Press), has been shortlisted for the 2019 Romantic Novel Awards, which will take place at Gladstone Library in London on Monday, March 4.
LIAM’S book, which is shortlisted for the Books and the City Romantic Comedy Novel, tells the story of Kev Harrison, a teenager looking for a boyfriend and friends who will accept his cross-dressing. The only thing is, he lives in a small village near Salisbury, and it’s the 1990s.
Liam Livings said of being shortlisted:“I write quirky British camp gay romance and I’m so pleased that such a niche sort of story has been shortlisted.
“The story is set where I grew up, during the time period when I was coming out. I wrote a semi-autobiographical series called Best Friends Perfect, set in the 1990s, about a young man coming out. Kev was a secondary character in the Best Friends Perfect series and he was so strong and such tremendous fun to write that I had to write his own story. The world of cabaret, youth groups and finding friends who accept you for the real you, are all very close to my heart as it’s a world and experiences I’m familiar with.”
The Romanic Novel Awards 2019 are the only national literary prizes that recognise excellence in the genre of romantic fiction, and will be presented by bestselling historical novelist, Allison Weir.
For more information and the full list of shortlisted books, click here:
The untold story of the struggle to establish civil rights opens on Valentines Day, Thursday, February 14.
Ana Luiza Ulsig
DEPTFORD Heritage Festival will mark the third LGBT+ History Month in February 2019 with Liberty, a new play by Ray Barron-Woolford exploring how the LGBT+ and Civil Rights movements were fought and won in 1930s Britain.
The play, starring Ana Luiza Ulsig, Emily Carding and Alex Reid, is based on actual historical events presented in Ray Barron-Wilford’s new book the Last Queen of Scotland which tells the little known story of a Scottish left-wing activist and primary school teacher Kath Duncan, who took on the power of the King, parliament, and entire legal establishment to lay the groundwork for the National Council of Civil Liberties and the legal freedoms we possess today.
Event: Liberty: The Untold Story of the Struggle to Establish Civil Rights
When: February 14–28 at 7pm.
Where: Zion Baptist Chapel, 466 New Cross Road, London SE14 6TJ
THE event, which will take place on Saturday, May 11 on Madeira Drive, is being organised by the team behind Brighton and Hove Triathlon, many of whom have worked on Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Brighton Run2Music Race Director John Lunt said;“What makes this event so appealing is the three different distances – 5k, 10k and 21k and all the entertainment we have on offer before and during the race. With dancers, cheerleaders, Live DJs and musicians, this really is a fun, community event and ties in really well with our chosen partners, Rhythmix, Martlets and Rockinghorse.”
Mark Davyd, Rhythmix CEO added;“We are delighted to be partnering with Brighton Run2Music for this year’s event, which coincides with the 20th anniversary of Rhythmix. In the last twenty years we have supported thousands of people with music at some of the most challenging times in their lives; dealing with ill health, tackling dementia, facing mental health issues.”
Martlets’ Director of Income Generation Sally Brighton said;“Martlets is delighted to be partnering with Brighton Run2Music in this exciting fundraising venture. Martlets is at the heart of Brighton and Hove and we hope this partnership will raise vital funds to help us provide life-changing hospice care for the local community. Being part of Brighton Run2Music combines for us everything we love about this vibrant city and we look forward to dancing, running and having fun to help people living with a terminal illness.”
Brighton Run2Music encourages people of all ages and genders to run together listening to live music on big speakers along the course while embracing the spirit of Brighton’s two loves – Music and running!
Participants are encouraged to dress as their favourite pop star or musical icon and run 5k, 10k or 21k.
Runners will be entertained by a live DJ, dancers, gymnasts, bands and musicians along the route and there will be prizes for the best fancy dress.
To register for the Brighton Run2Music event, click here:
Outbox Theatre in association with Bush Theatre presents And The Rest Of Me Floats at the Bush Theatre from February 20.
DIRECTED by Ben Buratta with musical direction by Neil Carter, the cast includes Josh-Susan Enright, Barry Fitzgerald, Elijah W Harris, Emily Joh Miller, Tamir Amar Pettet, Michelle Tiwo and Yasmin Zadeh.
And The Rest Of Me Floats is all about the messy business of gender. Performers from across the trans, non-binary, and queer communities weave together autobiographical performance, movement, pop songs, stand-up and dress-up in this anarchic celebration of gender expression and identity.
Playful and powerful, And The Rest Of Me Floats explores how it feels to live in a society where you are regularly categorised and policed. “Do you see me?” Beyond the questions, the confusion, and the anger – “do you really see me?”
Outbox Theatre have been making theatre queerly since 2010 in collaboration with LGBT+ performers, artists and communities to tell stories in bold and exciting ways.
And The Rest Of Me Floats is supported by Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, the Big Lottery Fund and Arts Council England.
And The Rest Of Me Floats After-Parties are free to ticket holders for that evening’s performance.
Event:And the rest of me floats
Where: Bush Theatre, 7 Uxbridge Rd, Shepherd’s Bush, London W12 8LJ
When: February 20 – March 16
Time: 7pm
Cost: £10 Concessions: Bush Locals, Senior Citizens, Disabled and Unemployed patrons, and Bush Connect (Students and U26) members will be eligible for concession prices.
Morrisons create a Rainbow Rose to celebrate ‘all love’ this Valentines day and have chosen to support The Albert Kennedy Trust (AKT) with sales of the rose.
THIS Valentine’s Day on February 14, Morrisons florists will celebrate all love by launching one of the UK’s most colourful flowers – the Rainbow Rose which will cost £4 with 50p from each sale going straight to support the work of AKT.
Part of Morrisons’ The Best range, the Rainbow Rose has been designed so that anyone can give it to anyone else and will be available in Morrisons stores from February 11. The rainbow is used to symbolise Pride in the LGBT+ communities worldwide.
Morrisons have partnered with LGBT+ youth homeless charity AKT to launch the rose. 50p per rose sold will be donated to the charity, which provides safe homes and support to young people who identify as lesbian, gay, bi or trans. The charity was selected by the supermarket’s LGBT+ network.
Developed by florists at Morrisons, the roses are dyed so that each petal displays the colours of the rainbow. To do this, florists cut the rose stems and dip each part into a different coloured water – which are absorbed by the flower to turn each petal into different vibrant colours – including blue, yellow, green, violet and pink.
Drew Kirk, Produce Category Manager at Morrisons said:“We’re stocking rainbow roses this Valentine’s Day for the first time. They’ve been designed to celebrate love.”
Carrie Reiners, Director of Fundraising at The Albert Kennedy charity added:“We’re delighted to partner with Morrisons on their Rainbow Rose campaign for Valentine’s Day. As the national LGBTQ+ youth homelessness charity, we are always looking to raise awareness and raise vital funds to support the work we do to provide safe homes and support to young people who face homelessness – just for being brave enough to come out to their families and communities.”
Chair of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee, Councillor Gill Mitchell, said: “We are committed to supporting low emission, sustainable travel to help improve air quality in the city. 
Liam Livings’ gay romance, Adventures in Dating… In Heels (NineStar Press), has been shortlisted for the 2019 Romantic Novel Awards, which will take place at Gladstone Library in London on Monday, March 4.
Liam Livings said of being shortlisted: “I write quirky British camp gay romance and I’m so pleased that such a niche sort of story has been shortlisted.
You must be logged in to post a comment.