Words by Neil Harrison, photographs by Sophie Bannister
CHILDREN FROM THREE LOCAL NURSERIES don caps and gowns to celebrate their graduation from pre-school - at a real university.
As part of a ‘fantastic day’, youngsters from Didsbury Pre-school, Macintosh and St. Mary's Day Nurseries received their diplomas from staff and students at Manchester Metropolitan University, before throwing their mortarboards aloft in celebration.
Unanimous in praising the event, over 200 proud parents and nursery staff were in attendance to cheer on their little graduates. Manager of Macintosh Day Nursery, Sarah Wildon said,
“The children have absolutely loved it. We have been coming here for the end of term graduation for three years now and every year we get great feedback from the parents. We'll definitely be coming back next year.”
St. Mary's manager, Lyndsey Walkden, concurred, adding:
“All the children have been really excited all day, every five minutes they were asking 'can we go yet?' It's just so great for the kids to end their experience of pre-school with an event like this. It's nice having the links with the university and being able to put on such a special day at the end of the year.”
One of the organisers, MMU's James Draper, explained why it is so important for the university to reach out and engage with the local community,
“Kids Unlimited, the company which runs the three nurseries here today, are a sponsor of MMU's Children's Book Festival. Events like today show that the relationship between the university and its sponsors needn't be simply a financial one. Integrated into that relationship is a genuine community outreach programme, one which benefits everyone, but most of all the kids here today—what a great way to make young people comfortable within a university environment at an early age.”
One of the beaming parents, Natalie Goodair, herself an MMU graduate, certainly agreed, saying,
“The ceremony is such a wonderful way to get children interested in university life. My daughter is three years old and she's here today, running around and having a fantastic time. She has decided she wants to be an artist.”
“Days like this are something that they will remember fondly and they will always associate with university—it’s like planting a seed.”
Neil Harrison is studying Social History at Manchester Metropolitan University. He is an aspiring journalist and a terrible guitar player. Read his blog LooseRiver and follow him on Twitter @LooseRiver
Representatives from Manchester meet Owen Jones at the People's Assembly in London on Saturday
REPRESENTATIVES FROM MANCHESTER WERE AMONG a 4000-strong crowd at ‘The People's Assembly Against Austerity’ in Westminster, London at the weekend.
The event, which made headline news, was attended by numerous political figures and activists – including Tony Benn, Ken Livingstone and Unite General Secretary Len McClusky, who called for ‘mass industrial action’.
Among the speakers was Stockport's own Owen Jones (pictured with members of the Manchester delegation). The Chavs author and Independent columnist has been touring the country speaking at local People's Assembly meetings, the largest of which was held at Manchester's Central Hall, for months. He had this to say ahead of his speech on Saturday morning:
“It's an incredible turnout. This is the biggest anti-austerity meeting since the [financial] crisis began. What this is about doing is building a united, broad movement. This is just the beginning – it's a launchpad.”
“In the months ahead we'll see local groups protesting [and taking] direct action. We're going to send a loud, clear message to the government – enough is enough.”
Attendee of both the regional and national meetings, David West, of Manchester, added:
“Manchester hosted the largest People's Assembly in the country before today, with over 700 people in attendance, so it is only fitting that we are well represented here in London.”
“There are groups here from Salford University, local councils, Manchester students, local bedroom tax campaigns and many other groups affected by the cuts.”
To find out more about what went on at the People’s Assembly in London click here.
Neil Harrison is studying Social History at Manchester Metropolitan University. He is an aspiring journalist and a terrible guitar player. Read his blog LooseRiver and follow him on Twitter @LooseRiver
Student journalist Neil Harrison reports live for Humanity Hallows from today's massive People's Assembly meeting in Westminster. For updates follow us on Twitter- @humanityhallows or like us on Facebook- Humanity Hallows Magazine.
9am: Arrived at Westminster Central Hall, lots of people already gathering around the entrance and the specially erected marquees. Over 4000 people are expected to attend a day of political debate and action, and with speakers including heavyweights from the worlds of politics, comedy, film, trade unionism and academia they should not be disappointed.
Video: Chavs author and Independent columnist Owen Jones speaks to Humanity Hallows ahead of his speech at the opening session of The People's Assembly.
10am: The main hall is swiftly filling up, the speakers are taking their seats ahead of the opening plenary.
Owen Jones takes to the stage:
"Friends, enough is enough- we're here to fight back." "It doesn't matter how angry people get, how scared people get, without hope, people don't fight back." "We are simply a means of bringing everyone together, we'll have protests...we will organise strikes...we need to tap into this country's tradition of civil disobedience." "Too many people rely on us winning...we stand together we fight together, we will win together."
10.50 am: Comedian Mark Steel brought the opening speeches to a close with huge laughs from the audience and his message to them: "We are not helpless."
He hailed recent protests to protect public services and the "brilliant, talented people on our side."
Adding his disdain for the modern political zeitgeist of austerity he ended his speech by claiming: "People will look back at the age of austerity and think 'What the bloody hell were we doing?"
Video: Caroline Lucas MP of The Green Party emphasised the importance of tackling the environmental crisis alongside the economic one.
She continued:
"Tackling the economic crisis and the environmental crisis have to be done together. The good news is the green economy is far more labour intensive than the fossil fuel economy it replaces...investing in the green economy isn't a distraction from the financial crisis- it's the direct route out of it." "George Osbourne says 'We are not going to save the planet by putting our country out of business,' which really does beg the question many of us have been asking- 'Which planet is George Osbourne on?'" Caroline Lucas ended her speech by calling for a 'Green Industrial Revolution,' and announcing that next week she will be introducing a private members bill to the House of Commons calling for re-nationalisation of the railways.
Keep following @humanityhallows on Twitter for lots more to come throughout the afternoon from The People's Assembly.
1.15pm: Frontbench Labour MP for Hackney, Diane Abbot speaks about the links between economic hardship and racism:
"Anti-immigration racism is used as a means of dividing and weakening the working class." "Nothing is gained by conceding to myths about immigration." "Immigrants do not cause low wages...neo-liberalism causes low wages." "We as people...have to stand up for a united movement of working people against the anti-immigration rhetoric which is so current today."
Video: Former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone gives his thoughts on economics, industry and austerity.
Update:
With multiple forums operating in various rooms and marquees in and around Westminster Central Hall, discussion topics have been extremely broad ranging- which has been one of the stated aims of the organisers of today's event.
- Protesters against benefits cuts and the bedroom tax used the opportunity to voice concerns regarding police handling of peaceful protests.
- Representatives of UK Uncut announced plans to occupy high street banks throughout July to highlight the growing food bank crisis - "Food Banks- In Banks." Keep a look out for this on your local high street.
- Local Muslim leaders expressed their concerns about the violent reactions to Drummer Lee Rigby's Murder in Woolwich. They used the event to highlight the beneficial work done by Mosques in the community and called upon the government to work harder to bring people of differing faiths and ethnicities together, and to condemn racial hatred and violence with greater force.
Video: Political activist, broadcaster and writer John Rees is a national officer of the Stop the War Coalition and founding member of Counterfire. Here he speaks to Humanity Hallows, delivering a warning to the government and discussing the success of The People's Assembly.
3.45pm: The main hall is filling up again for the closing session as the audience prepares to hear from John Rees, Len McClusky, Francesca Martinez, Mark Serwotka and Tony Benn among others.
Video: President of Stop The War Coalition and giant of British politics Tony Benn received a massive standing ovation as he took to the stage.
"We are Speaking for the millions of people worried about losing their homes, jobs and dignity."
There were loud calls of "Strike" during Mr McClusky's speech.
He responds by calling for "Mass industrial strike action."
National Union of Teachers General Secretary, Christine Blower took to the platform, calling for reforms within the schooling system which would benefit all children including "universal free school meals, lunch and breakfast."
John Rees did not disappoint, delivering an impassioned speech- to rapturous applause. He addressed, in his own words, "Tory Vermin," at points raging:
"We are only interested in no cuts at all to the welfare state. We will not be divided. We are united and we are going to stay united."
"We are going to need to break this government. Strikes, civil disobedience we are going to hit them with everything we have."
Rees called for the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester to be disrupted by civil disobedience saying: "Deport them back to Mayfair."
He ended his speech with a call for a "virtuous cycle of protest" to begin.
Writer and Comedienne Francesca Martinez spoke about the dissemination of wealth in society and, as she views it, the unfair treatment of vulnerable groups:
"There is a sense that (public) money is (the government's) money. It is our money!" "I think we need to see through the lies of the corporate led government and media." "The demonisation of vulnerable groups in society is disgusting." "I think politics is life. It is your life and you are involved." Following her speech Miss Martinez received a huge standing ovation.
General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), Mark Serwotka delivered a tub-thumping diatribe to round off proceedings and called for unified strike action and protest from each of the organisations present.
It was only left for National Union of Students Vice President Vicki Baars to thank the crowd and dismiss the assembly.
If, as numerous speakers throughout the day implored of the crowds, the individuals and groups in attendance are able to "Educate, Agitate and Organise," then British society may be feeling the reverberations of The People's Assembly for some time to come. Watch this space...
Students from Manchester School of Architecture have been collaborating on a series of events aimed at re-imagining city life.
'Crossings' saw the budding architects and designers working on tasks which ranged from film-making to bricklaying, and from upcycling household furniture to thinking of ways to organically restore dilapidated buildings.
First and second year students worked on twenty four entirely separate projects, each from a brief drafted by fifth year students, resulting in vastly differing, but equally engaging end products. The overall event culminated in a documentary film screening at the Odeon cinema at The Printworks, Manchester, produced by Arian Lehner of Mies.org.uk, an MMU Erasmus student from Austria.
Event #12 - All Mod Cons
The projects that were eventually showcased included, among others, Tectonic Bodies. This event focussed on the influence of nature within architecture and resulted in a design for, and a working model of a pavilion that responds and reacts to the movements of people passing through. Working to a tight deadline on the visionary project, student Emmanuel Pop said:
“The atmosphere is quite inspiring as the final debates are taking place; new problems turn up and easier solutions are found every minute. Working together with other people, seeing their passion for this project and their will to see things done, ideas that pop out from nowhere, but make a lot more sense than our calculated ones, amazes me, and it will continue to do so as we grow more positive and committed as the project draws to an end.”
Examples of other events include students' cityscape designs being displayed at The Cube Gallery as part of Event #09 - Can You Tell What It Is Yet?, a full size interactive hoarding board being constructed during Event #17 - Let's Hoard!, and double-takes aplenty as Sir Alex Ferguson appeared at bus stops around the city centre in Event #22 - Guerilla Tactics.
Event #08 - Urban_Upcycle
Programme co-ordinator Laura Sanderson said:
“Arian has done such a good job with the film... it's great that the students can see all their hard work up there on the screen and it's a nice way for us to bring the whole thing to a close.”
“The events were very much about students teaching students. I wanted to support each of the groups but it was important that they were allowed to work independently and without the feeling that they may be being watched or judged whilst they worked. All the students were so involved in what they were doing, it was great to see and the work they have come up with has just been fantastic.”
Muna Al Fayez, a year 1 student who worked on “Can You Tell What It Is Yet?” added:
“It was a great opportunity to experiment and to showcase my skills without the worry of getting assessed on the outcome. Knowing this, I was more confident to take risks, enjoy what I'm doing, and still learn so much from it all. Another great thing was meeting the different students in both my year group, and the older year groups.”
“The film screening did a great job in showcasing and informing the audience about all of the events. I love MSA and MMU!”
To see the events in full please visit: crossings.msa.ac.uk or click here to watch the documentary.
Neil Harrison is studying Social History at Manchester Metropolitan University. He is an aspiring journalist and a terrible guitar player. Read his blog LooseRiver and follow him on Twitter @LooseRiver
Shamshad Khan, an established poet who has also had her work featured in several anthologies, came to Abraham Moss High School to deliver a Mother Tongue Other Tongue creative writing workshop.
Words and photographs by Amillah Javed
ON the afternoon of Friday 7th June, I was introduced to a group of nine lovely multilingual girls of Abraham Moss High School. As well as the students, I was also given the opportunity to be part of this session where each pupil read out their poem either in their mother tongue or other tongue. The languages these poems were performed in were Urdu, English, Arabic, Chinese, Pashto and Italian.
Pupils and staff attending the workshop were told to come prepared with a poem, song or lullaby, either in their mother tongue or other tongue. They were encouraged to speak to their parents, grandparents, neighbours or any grown up at home, to help them share their culture.
MTOT is a poetry competition led by Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, who is also the Creative Director of the Manchester Writing School at MMU. This competition is set out to encourage school children to write poetry in their native language as well as their other language.
Poet, performer and facilitator, Shamshad Khan said, “Abraham Moss has a lovely atmosphere and I think that the pupils really showed that and brought it into the session today.” Thus, the MTOT competition allows students to explore their mother tongue, and though everyone didn’t understand all the languages spoken today, connections were still made through emotions which everyone managed to reveal whilst reading.
Shamshad started the session by going around the group telling the students and the assisting teachers to share any word they like the sound of. Some of the words shared were: ‘Polka dot’, ‘Ni Hao’, ‘Tamasha’, ‘Khatta’ and ‘Meetha’.
The students were then given the opportunity to share their mother tongue poem, lullaby, or song by reading aloud to the rest of the group. I also took part and attempted to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, along with making crazy hand actions to match. Here, Shamshad provided feedback and suggested different techniques to consider when presenting or reading out to an audience. One method, which everyone soon adopted, was to breathe in and out before they began to read. Throughout the rest of the session everyone started to pay more attention to their breathing.
Shamshad told me: “This project is really special for me because as a child I didn’t speak Urdu and only as an adult I have started to speak in this language. So I think this project is important in terms of encouraging students who come to school with two, three or more languages to continue speaking and to not feel embarrassed.” As the session went on, the students developed their performance skills, which was a pleasure to see. The breathing exercises were also useful and helped them to stand confidently in front of an audience and read.
Miss Collins, who coordinated the event with the help of Shamshad, added: “The students brought energy to this session and we hope this will be the beginning of a workshop to be delivered across the school. We will try and get some of the girls who shared their poems today to perform for us. Also, I hope, as a school, we can become part of this national poetry competition which is a great way to celebrate our first language.”
Shamshad swiftly moved to another activity where she introduced an item. All the students had to hold this item and say a word to describe it, or what they felt like whilst holding it. After this, the students were given an A3 paper on which they had to translate sentences from their poems into English. This particular activity revealed the creativity of the pupils and allowed them to translate some of the words from their mother tongue into English.
Year 8 student, Naila, said: “I was so worried about reading out my poem, but I’m happy because it went well. My poem was about my last day of school and summer holidays. My mother tongue is Italian and as well as Italian I can speak Urdu, French and English.”
Aisha, another student from Abraham Moss High School, speaks English, Urdu, Italian and French. She said: “I really enjoyed this session today because it made me remember my childhood. My poem was in Italian and it was about a guy who has moved from one country to another and his best friend was dedicating this song to him because she missed him at school.”
Saher, another student who took part said, “I’ve enjoyed myself today and I will definitely attend another workshop like this.”
AmillahJaved is currently studying English and Film at Manchester Metropolitan University. She is passionate about journalism and teaching and hopes to pursue a career in one of these fields. Amillah also has an interest in writing creatively and having work published. Follow her on Twitter @a_amillah
FROM CHAMPION'S LEAGUE TO SUNDAY LEAGUE, the beautiful game is a national obsession.The 2ndAnnual MMU Football Conference, taking place June 13th & 14thand hosted by The National Football Museum and Manchester Metropolitan University, is all set to explore the wider issues surrounding the modern-day game.
Over two days in Manchester, the conference will tackle a broad range of subjects surrounding football culture—including ticket prices, players' wages and club finances—and how these issues affect the fans. Organiser Annabel Kiernan of MMU says:
"Last year's very successful conference had quite a keen focus on community football and how it was developing at the grassroots, in reaction to the corporate, Premier League game. This year we are following up on that theme by adding in 'sustainability'. How does the game continue to be sustainable in the face of the difference in finance at one end of the football pyramid compared to the other?"
International
"This year we have a much bigger programme, our keynote speakers include; David Connfrom The Guardian, David Goldblatt, author of The Ball Is Round: A Global History of Football,and Sheila Coleman from the Hillsborough Justice Campaign. We also have an evening roundtable event hosted by Dave Haslam, at the National Football Museum, which is looking at the cultural aspects of football—things such as terrace fashion, and the involvement of fans' organisations."
"In terms of what is available to listen to it will be very diverse. We have representatives from key organisations and in terms of the delegate mix, we have an international audience this year, with people giving papers from Thailand, Malaysia, the United States and a number of countries across Europe."
Added to all this, there will be live music and entertainment from local band Bourbon Street Beatand performance poet and musician Attila The Stockbroker. DJ and Manchester cultural icon Dave Haslam explains why he is involved and why he believes football fans should attend the event:
"I'm personally interested in exactly what it is that makes football such a magnetic attraction for people that it consumes their life. I am also intrigued, and actually a little disconcerted, [by] the way passion for a team can translate as passionate hatred for supporters of another team. That issue of tribalism is a deep-seated human thing, but why? And what does it tell us about our society?"
Future
"For football fans generally, I think our loyalty is actually being tested right now; with admission prices, absent owners (the Blackburn scenario is a nightmare), and mercenary footballers. I've been going to football matches for 40 years; the changes are acute. But I wonder what the future brings?"
Neil Harrison is studying Social History at Manchester Metropolitan University. He is an aspiring journalist and a terrible guitar player. Read his blog LooseRiver and follow him on Twitter @LooseRiver
MMU Creative Writing graduate and author, Russell Smith, paid a visit to his alma mater and met with Humanity Hallows to discuss his debut novel, Oblivion Storm, as well as his time at University.
Words by Jason Cooke
Today I have the pleasure of meeting local author and MMU Creative Writing graduate, Russell Smith. Russell paid Humanity Hallows a visit to discuss his time at university and his debut novel, Oblivion Storm.
I find Russell engrossed in a book at the new Manchester Metropolitan University Business School. We grab a coffee and make acquaintance.
Russell studied his BA English and his MA in Creative Writing here at MMU. During his BA, Russell took a sabbatical year to work for then student magazine, PULP. He has since worked in the vehicle rental trade and drifted between jobs whilst working on Oblivion Storm. Russell is a busy man, currently writing a scenario for aid worker training as well as the sequel to his debut novel.
I ask him about Oblivion Storm. “It’s kind of a ghost story, it’s kind of not”, says Russell. “It kind of deals with the un-dead.” Russell cooked up the origins for this novel after he graduated from MMU. There are two main protagonists, Rose and Jennifer. Rose awakens to find herself in hospital with no memory other than one; how she got there. Rose was viciously attacked at Bond Street station, before being flung under a train. If that wasn’t worrying enough, her assailant locates her at the hospital and Rose’s world is turned to chaos.
Jennifer, as Russell describes her, is 'kick ass'. She befriends Rose when the two realise they have extraordinary capabilities. Their first task is to escape Rose’s attacker, before being paid a visit by the spirit of Lady Iris Grenshall and becoming familiar with the intelligent, but dangerously curious, Dr. Kara Mellencourt.
When I ask what his inspiration for this story was, Russell replies, “I was fascinated by the chap they called the Piano Man, who was found dripping wet and wandering the Isle of Sheppey, Kent. He was mostly mute and the only thing they discovered was that he could play damn good piano!” It later turned out that the Piano Man was in fact a German national and was helped back to Bavaria by the authorities. Just how he wound up on the Isle of Sheppey remains a mystery, although there are theories that he fell from a Norwegian vessel that was in the area around the time he was found.
I ask Russell where Kara’s character came from, “Dr. Kara Mellencourt was my link to Manchester. She’s had a privileged upbringing and becomes one of the exposition characters. Kara’s obsessed with the supernatural.” Russell goes on to describe Rose and Jennifer as, “the miracles that Kara has been searching for, given her obsession”, adding that Kara now “has gold to work with.” Russell tells me that Kara’s character develops and grows from her academic role in book two.
We move on to Russell’s time at MMU. He reminisces about the time he spent as editor of the late PULP magazine. “I was finishing up my final year and I was elected editor of PULP. When I came in it was the 25th anniversary and we decided to throw a party!” Russell says that Lemn Sissay was amongst the guests. “One of the editors was a friend of his and I wanted an interview for my first edition. He was more than happy to be interviewed for the anniversary issue!”
Russell tells me how he wound up on the MA Creative Writing course, “I was getting to the end of my time at PULP and I knew I was interested in having a book published, so I spoke to the then course leader, Michael Schmidt,” who convinced Russell to get on-board.
Russell talks about the group of friends he made, the majority of which he is still in touch with. He mentions the 'solid bond' that he had with them, helping him through his two years and explains that the course has become central to his life plans. “I absolutely loved the course”, Russell explains. “But, attending university isn't just about gaining a degree; it’s about going through doors and making the most of your time whilst you’re there. Even when I graduated you had to have that extra bit of flair.”
I find myself engrossed in Russell’s wise words and reflect on my time at MMU. My daydream is comically interrupted when Russell states, “Everyone takes something away from University, even if it is how to cook mince properly!”
