The local and national work of bus manager Victoria Garcia has been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
VICTORIA, Accessibility and Community Manager at Brighton & Hove and Metrobus, has been making travel by public transport more accessible for disabled people and will receive the MBE for her dedication to this work.
Talking about her award, Victoria said:“It’s been a real honour to meet and collaborate with so many wonderful people from charities and other partner organisations and so many users of public transport. To receive this personal honour for working with these amazing people is overwhelming and humbling. I’m so grateful for their help in making our services more accessible.
“A huge thank you to them, my colleagues, my family, the people who nominated me and to my boss Martin Harris who has supported, encouraged and believed in me and my work. I have the best job in the world!
“My only regret is that my mother wasn’t here for this as she had such respect for the Queen; it would have made her very proud.”
Brighton & Hove and Metrobus’ Managing Director Martin Harris added:“This personal honour for Victoria is so thoroughly well deserved – her passion for her work is boundless. It’s so important that someone contributing to accessible travel, not just for our services, but increasingly influencing the entire industry, has received this recognition.
“Her work in directly engaging the community in designing accessible public transport solutions has been inspirational and this is a strong and clear signal of the way forward.”
Martin said Victoria had been instrumental in a number of initiatives for accessible bus design, including effective hearing loops, dementia-friendly colour schemes, more manoeuvrable spaces and safety poles.
Victoria has also led on the development of a passenger assistance card known as Helping Hand. The card is now used by many people travelling by bus and taxi and has been rolled out across parent company Go-Ahead’s bus services.
In addition to her work for local bus services, Victoria chairs one of the local community rail partnerships and, more recently, joined the Department for Transport’s accessibility team for a six-month secondment.
Craig Hanlon-Smith chats with Damian Barr about Outsider Memoirs with Tracey Thorn and Dustin Lance Black at the Theatre Royal, Brighton.
DAMIAN Barr’s Literary Salon has been sharing authors and their stories with audiences for more than ten years.
Starting out in Shoreditch House in 2008 their main place of residence now is the Savoy Hotel which has a fine history of hosting the literati including Oscar Wilde who both lived and partied there. As a Brighton resident, Damian has often brought his caravan of collected works to the shore and returns again on Sunday June 23 at the Theatre Royal Brighton.
Damian and I catch up just before he boards a train to Bath to begin a promotional tour for his latest novel.
I begin by asking Damian how important the venue is for the events he hosts? “The venue is crucial. When we started I wanted an event that was an enjoyable as reading a book. So many literary evening and such can be stuffy and a little worthy so it was important for us to choose venues that felt like social spaces. There is no pressure to buy books at our events it is all about the conversation on the stage. But, at the same time we want spaces that are buzzy and exciting and we’ve been fortunate. Ballrooms, clubs, theatres social spaces but also in most cases magnificent and beautiful. There’s something about the venue choices that helps people who come to be quiet and respectful when the authors are sharing their lives and stories”.
Having hosted guests that include Armistead Maupin, John Waters, David Mitchell and Diana Athill to name a handful I ask who his highlights have been over the past few years:“There have been so many memorable moments with so many authors although those times I have been reduced to crying on stage stay with me, such as when Jojo Moyes introduced Me Before You But also particular events such as arguing on stage in Moscow about freedom of speech which when I think back on it….”
He is momentarily quiet a trait he does not demonstrate again “and when we were in Istanbul there were actual riots happening outside which were about freedom of speech. It was bizarre and exciting at the same time. I ask if there are any writers he would like to bag for the salon, “WE WERE SO CLOSE” he bounces excitedly “to getting Michelle Obama! I mean so so close which would have been amazing. Maya Angelou of course, Alice Walker would have been dreams and joys. I would love to interview David Cameron so that I could give him a really hard time. And Jan Morris, it is essential to listen to older voices and I think that older writers are often so overlooked. She is a trans pioneer I would love to speak to her in the salon.”
The salon showcases emerging talents amongst established names and as Damian is in the process of promoting his own latest novel I wonder how meeting these authors influences Damian’s own writing: “Oh it’s like being on an eternal creative writing course but without ever having to go to class” he laughs “I just listen to what they say, I’m interested in their editing processes as much as anything and often I will hear them talk about their creative journeys and suddenly think to myself ‘oh…. That [point] solves a problem. As a rule I only choose books for the salon that I love which helps the people who come but also me”.
On Sunday June 23, Damian Barr’s Literary Salon welcomes Tracy Thorn and Dustin Lance Black and I ask why these two and why together: “These are two people outside conventional culture and I want to explore with them what it means to feel like you are constantly on the fringes, they are outsiders but also incredibly established too. I want to know what struggles they face and to hear the voices of minority status people. And I think Brighton is an ideal venue for this as we all share core values.”
I ask Damian why he thinks Dustin Lance-Black and his husband Tom Daley receive such online vitriol from gay men. “You know what you don’t get a free ride for being queer but we do spend too much time focusing upon peoples imperfections. Dustin has been inspired but has also inspired a great deal of…. You know what? I might even ask him that question when we meet”.
Damian Barr’s Literary Salon comes to the Theatre Royal, Brighton on Sunday June 23, doors 6:30pm.
Damian’s latest novel You Will Be Safe Here and his coming of age memoir Maggie and Me are available from all usual outlets.
Event: Outsider Memoirs: Tracey Thorn & Dustin Lance Black
Marcin Zarowny and Karol Michalec were living a seemingly idyllic life together in the welcoming gay friendly haven of Brighton and Hove.
HAVING escaped a lifetime of homophobia in their native Poland they had found not only love in one another, but the freedom here in the UK to live openly and freely with their relationship on show for the world to see.
From their UK base during the four years of their relationship they had travelled the world together most recently returning from a trip to Thailand. Their Instagram friendly looks were not merely for show, they presented daily an impenetrable ideal of togetherness not only to those around them, but also to one another.
A little over a week ago, and the day after his 35th birthday Marcin left the home in Hove he shared with Karol to go for a walk. Upon discovering Marcin had left behind his keys and his phone Karol instinctively knew something was wrong and was overcome with a sense of fear as he ran out of the house turning left to run to the seafront to search for his partner, lover and best friend. Marcin had turned right and unbeknown to Karol, hung himself in nearby Hove Park. He was discovered early the next day and died later that afternoon in hospital as Karol stroked his hand for the last time.
Since Marcin’s death Karol has been piecing together segments of the past few weeks which did not hold such weighted significance until now. “I wish I had seen the signs more clearly. Marcin would say ‘will you look after yourself when I’m gone’ which I used to brush off and say – what are you talking about – but now I see that he was thinking about this [suicide] all along”.
Marcin’s former partner with whom he owned a house in Poland, died in May of this year from alcohol related health complications. He had racked up considerable debt on the property having re-mortgaged without anyone’s knowledge and Marcin had found both news of his friend’s death and the property debt devastating.
“Marcin did appear to be spiralling out of control these past few weeks, drinking a lot and saying things which didn’t appear to make any sense”. Marcin was given up by his birth mother at eight months old and Karol says that he always felt he didn’t have a home. “When his friend died and the house was lost, I guess it was too much for him to lose everything, especially never having a family home in the first place”.
Karol and Marcin both experienced extreme homophobia in their country of birth, punched in the face in the street for having an eyebrow piercing and Karol’s father threatened to kill himself when he found a photograph of his son kissing a man.
Before meeting Karol, Marcin would travel across Europe to meet gay men as he didn’t want to meet them in Poland. “In Poland we would never be able to walk around holding hands or be openly gay. Over the past few years of living in Britain it was my saving grace to have a Polish boyfriend and now that rock is gone”.
Karol also speaks about the impact of the Brexit debate upon Marcin. “Marcin had a strong Polish accent and his English wasn’t as confident as mine. He has been threatened many times which he found terrifying. This is not the Britain it was when I arrived here fourteen years ago and yet we cannot go back. People say we have come here to take their jobs but I am an artist, just whose jobs am I taking by making art?”
Karol goes on to describe the current situation in Poland for LGBT+ communities: “There is now an ultra conservative government in Poland, people have been arrested at 6am in their houses for posting a photograph of the Virgin Mary with rainbow colours around her. It’s not safe”.
Following Marcin’s death, Karol has been surrounded by friends who have cared for and supported him. He is accessing local mental health support through MindOut the LGBTQ Mental Health Service, to help him manage his own feelings during his time of grief, support he had previously sought some years ago when he too found himself in crisis. However, he fears this may not be enough: “I may leave Brighton for a time as we built a life here together. Marcin is going to be a constant memory for me here in every restaurant, café, every pebble on the beach. We didn’t seek emergency help had I known it was this severe I would have done something more. He wasn’t just my partner – he was my best friend, companionship and a soul mate”.
Karol’s message to the Brighton communities is clear. “Please, look out for each other people. Seek help. Talk to each other. In the modern day of rage politics, building walls and creating enemies only through sticking together and looking after one another will we make sense of the world around us”.
Karol has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for Marcin’s funeral and to cover the cost of sending his ashes back to his family in Poland.
If you would like to make a donation towards Marcin’s funeral, click here:
Need help with your mental health? Contact MindOut. The LGBT Mental Health Service.
Buzz from the Bush is an interactive digital art installation that blurs the lines between art and history.
SHEPHERD’S Bush is an area of London that is often looked over as a destination for anything other than shopping at Westfield, but Buzz from the Bush (a combined project being put on by the Bush Theatre and Elephant West gallery) aims to change that.
In the short time I spent at the introductory event, my entire perception of Shepherd’s Bush was changed.
Although it sounds complicated, the installation is in fact very simple.
♦ Step one: download a QR code scanning app.
♦ Step two: either head to the Bush Theatre and scan the QR codes that are on photographs on the walls, or head into the surrounding area to find the codes in the wild. They are printed on beautiful vinyl artworks and are in important locations – there are maps available at the Bush Theatre with the locations marked.
For me, the most interesting location was Frestonia. In the 70s, this small area in Shepherd’s Bush declared itself a separate nation-state and actually got away with it for a while. At the time it was an area brimming with creativity and bohemia, and Buzz from the Bush seems to have been inspired by the essence of Frestonia itself. If you want to learn more about it though you’ll have to find the corresponding QR code yourself!
Each code unlocks a bit of local history, but also a short poem written by Alissa Anne Jeun Yi. Alissa and Kristina Chan make up the creative team behind the installation, and together they have created a unique, interactive experience in London.
After talking to both of them, I learned that they hoped it would be an active, fun thing for families in particular to do. Something different to do on the weekend and a fresh way to explore a bit of London.
However, I think this would also be an excellent date idea. It’s a bit off the wall, but it’s something a bit more memorable than just going for a drink (although grabbing a drink after the installation would still be an excellent idea).
After the mini scavenger hunt, we headed over to the Elephant West gallery for a final poem performed by Alissa. The building used to be a petrol station but has now been repurposed for a gallery space. It’s a very cool space and listening to Alissa’s words about art, creativity and how it is a vital part of life really encapsulated what the whole event and installation is about.
London is brimming with creativity and unique perspectives. Buzz in the Bush does a wonderful job of highlighting and exploring this. So if you want to do something off the beaten path, impress a new date or just learn a bit more about London’s history, check out this unique installation that will be available in Shepherd’s Bush until September.
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