My Maternity Leave is now underway (no really, it is!), and I am officially on leave until September. However, do get in touch through the usual channels with questions and job offers as I’ll gradually be returning to work, albeit on a part time basis.

I want to give a huge thank you to everyone who has wished me well and supported me throughout my pregnancy (especially those who have happily lugged film equipment round for me!). I’m looking forward to getting stuck into some new projects with a fresh perspective when I return!

Pool of Memories

One of the most exciting and rewarding projects has been finally getting the ‘Pool of Memories’ project underway. After months and months of plotting and planning our funding application to the Heritage Lottery Fund, ‘Friends of Moseley Road Baths’ were able to throw ourselves into implementing an extensive and exciting programme of oral history interviews about the swimming baths and its 104 year history. I’ve been working in schools around Balsall Heath and Moseley to bring History to life for local pupils through using our interactive Virtual Tour website and Pool of Memories archive, then guiding groups through filming their own oral history interviews with members of the public. The response has been wonderful and it’s been difficult to keep a check on my enthusiasm in order for us to actually get the projects done!  Here is a taster of what we’ve been up to in the six projects completed so far!

What’s Wrong With Wolverhampton?

There was also no shortage of enthusiasm, or talent, from students at Mediacove who I worked with at the start of the year to create a documentary ‘Wolverhampton in Focus’ which investigated the claim by a Lonely Planet article that Wolverhampton was amongst the worst cities in the world!  Needless to say we uncovered a huge amount of positive stuff going on.  The documentary was a springboard for a live streamed debate, where the group took charge of finding panelists, chairing the discussion and filming the whole thing in the Mediacove studio.  I thought it was a fantastic template for empowering and innovative media work, but don’t take my word for it… here’s the Behind the Scenes film where the group talk about how the experience has changed their lives.  More information on the Mediacove blog…

Young people making films

As the cuts to youth projects began to bite I spent some time with young people at Fox Hollies Forum in Acocks Green producing a short film with them to highlight the need for good quality, safe youth provision in their neighbourhood.  The group did a fantastic job of making their case and the film formed part of a wider campaign of lobbying and demonstrations that certainly puts any notion of apathetic young people to rest!

Meanwhile pupils in and around Billesley took part in a range of fun after-school clubs organised by the lovely crew over at Balsall Heath’s very own Round Midnight.  I led a range of film-making workshops which saw Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils getting to grips with using camera equipment and exploring how they can create their own short films.  I also joined the gang at Round Midnight to help pupils document arts activities happening at King Edward VI Girls Grammar School in Handsworth.

Promoting health

2011 has also been a year of promoting some important areas of the NHS, specifically services aimed at supporting children and families.  The year began with a whopping 10,000 DVDs of my Health Visitor film going into production to be distributed to new parents across Birmingham.  As I type there are a further 1,000 copies of a film about the referral process for children with suspected ADHD in production.  A third film aimed at young people and carers outlines the health services provided through the ‘Looked After Children’s Health Team’ for children and young people in the care system in Birmingham and will go into production shortly.  That project involved working with pupils at Firsbrook School in Quinton to create a short animation – loads of fun and my first animation!

A day in the woods

One of the most fun parts of my job is the opportunity to delve into other people’s worlds.  I was really lucky to be able to join a group of three and four year olds in Moorcroft Woods as they explored the woodland through the use of stories, crafts and their own observations.  The ‘Forest School’ supported by the Wildlife Trust and run through Rowley View Nursery School is all about getting kids out of the classroom and giving them opportunity to get muddy and let their imaginations run wild.  The response from the kids was absolutely wonderful to see and it’s hoped that more schools will grasp the opportunity to get involved in similar schemes off the back of the short promotional film we produced.

Film training

Finally I made a couple of trips down to London to deliver film-making workshops to the lovely folks at Friends of the Earth.  This is one of my favourite bits of work as it’s always hugely amusing to see what adults get up to when they’re given free rein to play with a camera!  I’ll leave you with a short film produced in one short hour long session – it shows you what can be created in a short space of time, as well as giving you some tips for your own film-making!

Huge thanks to all of the organisations I’ve worked with over the past year and all who have assisted in bringing some great stories and projects to light! Happy film-making for 2011!

The Heritage Lottery Fund supported project, run by the Friends of Moseley Road Baths has involved pupils in researching the history of the building, taking a tour around the Baths, learning how to make films and conduct interviews, and then finally editing their interviews together into short films to be added to our archive.  Ever since I started making films in the community, back when I worked as a Receptionist at Moseley Road Baths it’s been my aim to get this lovely building celebrated more within the surrounding area.  We certainly seem to be achieving that!

Pupils have really loved the tours and have asked some really great (and challenging!) questions about the building and how it was built and is maintained.  On several occasions I’ve seen pupils dashing up to parents and teachers to tell them all about the things that they’ve learnt.  Apologies if you’re one of those people who has been bombarded with trivia!  However, we know that young people are exactly the kind of ambassadors we need to ensure future generations enjoy the building.

All of the children have picked up on the film-making really quickly.  We’ve had some real giggles mucking around with the microphones and playing around in front of the camera!  We soon managed to form film crews with a Director, Sound Recordist, Camera Operator and Interviewer.  Many of our interviewees have commented on the professionalism of the group.

All of the questions for the interviewees have been written by the pupils, who have shown a great level of maturity in their questions.  These budding young historians have really grasped the concept of oral history recording and its importance for helping people to understand the past and its relevance to us today.

The quality of the interviews has been excellent, with some really interesting stories coming out as a result of the groups asking such good questions.  We’ve learnt about the diving boards and drinks for a penny in the 1950s, competitive swimming in the 1960s, school trips to the Baths in the 1970s, someone almost having a baby in the pool in the 1980s and then in stories from more recent years we’ve learnt about the technical side of rebuilding the windows, what it’s like to work there, as well as hearing about the campaign work to keep the building open.

With five more school projects budgeted for over the course of the three year project I am now looking for other local schools who may wish to participate.  The project is aimed at Year 6 pupils, but can be tailored for other year groups.  The finished films are added to our archive, and many will appear on our online archive, www.poolofmemories.co.uk.  They will then be used as part of our exhibition work and will form the basis of an extensive drama project.  If you would like your school to be involved then you can contact us at memories@friendsofmrb.co.uk.

Here is an example of one of the films, created by Year 3 pupils at Clifton Junior School.

As part of that I worked with members of the group to make a successful funding application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a whopping great £48,000 for a ‘Pool of Memories‘ project!  I won’t go into huge detail about the project here as I’ve already spent the evening blogging, tweeting and mailing like crazy. However, I draw attention to it now as we have a rather exciting event coming up on Saturday 30th October.

It’s the Memories and Memorabilia Day and there’s loads of stuff going on, including a talk by the lovely people at Victoria Baths in Manchester, tours of the building, and yours truly interviewing people about their memories of the place.  We also have cake!

Come along and find out more about it!

Want to make films? Industry professionals to judge YOUR short film on illness, wellness, madness, or anything else about bodies and minds

*Now open for submissions*

Judges include Ken Loach and David Morrissey.  Deadline 28 May 2010.

Who can enter?
Open to all.  £100 first prizes in the under-18 and the over-18 categories + 2 x £50 runner up prizes + £100 special educational prize.

What kinds of films?
We want films that show just what sickness, healthiness, madness and addiction mean to you and the people you love. Show us what you feel strongly about. Eating disorders, chronic pain, embarrassing illnesses, scary diagnoses, staying fit, caring for others – all of these, and more, are possible subjects.  We definitely don’t need films on policy-related health issues, e.g. the NHS.

Submissions will be used to help student doctors understand how their patients really feel about health, sickness and treatment – the film that does this best wins the £100 special educational prize.

Films should be between 20 seconds and 5 minutes long.

All genres accepted: fiction, documentary, experimental, animated, musical… Films do not have to be documentaries about real individuals, doctors, nurses, hospitals, GP surgeries etc (although they can be if people get permission).

All mediums accepted e.g. mobile phone, super-8, iFlip, digital camera, 35mm, 70mm(!). But entries need to be on DVD or submitted digitally via our website (see http://www.reelhealthstories.com/How_to.html).

See http://www.reelhealthstories.com/advice3.html for example films, but we bet you can do better!

Who are the judges?
Director Ken Loach, actor/director David Morrissey, movie producer Camille Gatin, and UCL Director of Medical Education Professor Jane Dacre.

When will the films be screened?
Screening is at the Rowan Arts Project’s ‘The Big Day Out’ in Whittington Park on Sunday 4th July 2010, and at UCL’s Bloomsbury Campus in October 2010.

How can I find out more?
Visit the Reel Health Stories website; Facebook: Facebook; twitter: @reelhealthstory.
Project lead Dr Katherine Woolf 020 7288 3546 or filmfestival@ucl.ac.uk.

Read more about the project, have a look at the film and let us know what you think! It’s now up on my website here!

The young people from Blakenall and Goscote in Walsall have worked with Julia Morris from The Wildlife Trust and myself over the last year, to devise the project, produce a workplan, submit a funding bid and then research, plan and film their own short documentary!  The result is a really lovely film which illustrates just how passionate and knowledgeable the group are about the wildlife on their doorstep.

But this film is more than just a record of urban wildlife.  The group from Green Rivers Community Association used the BBC’s ‘Springwatch’ as their starting point.  Through the film they hope to show local residents the wealth of wildlife in Walsall, and to educate them about how to look after these animals and create habitats for them to thrive.  It contains practical advice on everything from creating a bee and butterfly friendly garden, to how to build an insect home, how to spot a water vole and how to tell the difference between a frog and a toad!

The group would love for local residents to attend the Premiere on Thursday 17th December at Green Rock Primary School.  The screening will begin at 7pm sharp.  If you live locally and want to attend then please contact Julia on 01922 711 228.

I’m very pleased to share the news that I was accepted onto the Radiate Training Scheme which gives ‘creative practitioners’ (that’s me apparently!) the skills and support to develop their own creative practice in schools.  The scheme runs from December to next July, and in that time I’ll be attending a number of training days and will devising and implementing a project in a school, mentored by Radiate and school staff.

All in all last week gave me a renewed sense of why I think that film can be such a useful tool.  A good direction methinks.  As the quote on the Radiate frontpage says ”It’s a fantastic opportunity to see the working environment in which I want to be a part of…’

You can now find a summary of the project on the Schools Page although it still feels as though I’ve not done it justice.  As a freelance film-maker it was such a fantastic experience to challenged to produce something fun and exciting which would leave staff and pupils with a lasting legacy.  Pupils not only had DVDs to take home, I genuinely believe that they grew in confidence and would now be able to produce their own films.  In fact, a browse round the school’s excellent website this morning revealed that Year 4 have been making their own Origami Videos! Great stuff!

I’m hoping to build on this schools work through taking part in further training.  I’m thrilled to have been shortlisted for the Radiate Training Scheme (fingers crossed for that!) and next week I’ll also be attending the ‘Youth Voice’ seminar at Queensbridge School which looks excellent!

Since 2005 I have been a Trustee of Peacebuilding UK (full name Centre for Peacebuilding and Community Development) which supports and builds local capacities for peace in the North Caucasus.  I have recently been appointed as the Chair.  So, it’s a huge honour to spread the news about one of PBUK’s most exciting and ambitious projects.

Daimohk is a Chechen Children’s Dance Ensemble, formed by celebrated Chechen Dancer Ramzan Akhmadov and his wife, Aiza in 1998, to give children surrounded by violence and aggression a positive creative focus and room for emotional self-expression.  Their achievements over the past decade are truly phenomenal.  Coupled with the breathtaking talent and energy of the dances, each performance is a truly uplifting, emotional experience.

They will be visiting the UK this month for several performances.  Information on dates, venues and booking is all on the PBUK website. To whet your appetite I have added some links to past performances and reviews.

We are just awaiting confirmation of their visas, but all being well the group should arrive early next week, ready to wow new crowds at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod and at several venues in London.

You can help to promote this event to others and get involved by RSVPing to our Facebook event page, adding your own photos to our Daimohk Flickr Group and if you use Twitter you can also follow us and spread the word, we’re at http://twitter.com/PeacebuildingUK

Get your tickets now to avoid disappointment, this is their first visit in three years and we anticipate sell-out shows!