Walk on Holocaust day 26th Sunday, Upper Heyford

Oxford City Farm, Sat. Oct 7th, Cornwallis road, OX4 3NH. Meet at 12.45, sing at 13.00. for about 15 mins.Possble songs: Bella Ciao (for the climate), In a carbon free society, Climate Sceptic, Leave the oil in the ground , One song, one dance, one world, one chance, Transition Town Medley, Wangari

Our aim is to use the umbrella of ‘Sanctuary’ to bring together a diverse mix of local organisations that work for refugee rights and migrant solidarity, so that they can meet sanctuary seekers in need of support, attract new volunteers, meet potential funders and backers in local government, and showcase their work in the community, hopefully educating and inspiring the public.Â

We are currently putting together a programme of speakers, musicians and poets to perform during the event (between 2pm - 5pm) and we'd be delighted if you are able to join us!

KENDAL STREET CHOIRS FESTIVAL - JUNE 23-25, 2017 - You must all decide in a week.

The Kendal street choirs festival will be June 23-25, 2017 - the main events will be in the Kendal Leisure Centre hall which seats 900 - the busking, massed sing and workshops in venues throughout the town, many of which are used by our Street performers festival, Mintfest. As well as the main hall, the Kendal Leisure centre has an inexpensive swimming pool with showers.

The Friday concert with Coope Boyes and Simpson and others starts at 7.30pm - singers can collect their wrist band tickets for the weekend from the Leisure Centre from 4pm on Friday or early on Saturday morning.
The Saturday massed choir workshop starts at 9.30am in the Leisure Centre.
The massed sing in Kendal town centre outside the Brewery Arts Centre is at 12.30pm followed by busking around town.
The Saturday evening concert with the visiting choirs each performing a short set is from 5pm in the Leisure Centre. Followed by a party in the bar.
The Sunday morning workshops are from 9.45am in different venues around Kendal (including the Castle Street Centre) followed by a picnic ending c. 2.30pm.

To book Choirs wishing to book at this late stage are welcome to do so but a place cannot be guaranteed until all the individual singers from the choirs have registered and paid by February 15. Each choir needs to send a £40 booking fee (cheques made payable to Howgills Harmony and sent c/o David Burbidge, Smithy cottage, Farfield, Sedbergh, Cumbria LA10 5LW - or if paying by internet bank transfer please send me an email for bank details.) Please include with your booking - both in a letter with the cheque and in an email - this informationÂ

1) the name of your choir,Â
2) name of the choir rep.,Â
3) phone numbers and email addresses,Â
4) address of the choir, and if you know itÂ
5) the address where you are staying in Kendal (if known).Â
6) Number of expected singers who are coming to KendalÂ
7) if you would like to join a pre- and post- festival event in the Lake District on Thursday evening 6-9pm on June 22, and Sunday late afternoon (4-8pm) June 25.

Choirs who book at this late stage cannot be guaranteed participation until all the individual registrations from singers within the choirs who have already booked have been sent by February 15. This is because of a limit of 900 on our main hall, in the Kendal Leisure Centre.Â

Singers within these choirs which have booked now need to register by paying £38 (or £28 if on a very low income) with their choir reps before the end of January. This will be collected by the choir reps and then sent here along with theÂ
1. singer's name and email address,Â
2. how they are paying (cheque or BACs) and how much,Â
2. which choirs they are singing in (some singers sing in more than one choir) andÂ
3. if they are coming to the pre- and post- festival events in the Lake District.

Sarah Haywards funeral at Islip: Fruday 17th Feb 12 mid-day. sing Singhaba.

The funeral will be held on Friday, February 17th at 12.00 noon in St Nicholas church, Islip (https://stnicholasislip.wordpress.com/) and followed by refreshments in the Village Hall. Sarah's family want the funeral to be open to all and are anticipating a full church. Those of you who know Islip will be aware of the challenges of parking. There are some spaces at the Village Hall, and there is a car park near the bridge. We are not sure about parking options at the railway station. But if some Oxford based friends could car share that might be helpful.

The service will folllow the traditional pattern, with two songs with an African theme to acknowledge Sarah's strong links with Africa throughout her working life. The Seagreensingers, with whom she sang for many years, will sing one of her favourites Singabahambayo Thina ( I think this translates as 'We are the ones going through this world to our home in heaven'). The other song will be for the whole congregation.

Sarah's niece Deborah is creating a collage of the many photographs that mark Sarah's life. There will also be a board with the tributes that have been flowing in over the
e-mails.

Upper Heyford commemoration Sun 29th Jan 2017
The history of Upper Heyford base should not be forgotten, An event is being organized on Sunday 29th January. He invites us to sing a song or two. Time not set, probably around mid-day.

Palestinian Carols Thu 15 December 4pm - 6pm!
Pal-ternative Carols! Alternative words to familiar carol tunes.
And raising funds for Medical Aid for Palestinians.
This year we are also inviting Oxfam singers and other choirs.(w hich is late night night shopping?) In Cornmarket Street.
This year we are inviting all other choirs to join us to sing for the people of Gaza and West Bank and all Palestinians everywhere.
December 15th from 4pm to 6pm - or later if people can manage it as it is late opening. Meeting in Ship Street by St Michaels. Then we can see where we should stand. In front of the Saxon Tower or outside Boots.

Jane will bring all the placards with the words so no need to worry about words and we will encourage the public to join in.

Possible social meeting afterwards (meal? Drink)

Strawberry Thieves celebration of 20th birthday and an opportunity to mingle and get to know people from other choirs in an informal weekend of activities. Date is Friday 10th to Sunday 12th March

Dear Political Singers,
Sorry for the delay in communication about the London meet-up and thanks to all those choirs who replied.
The festival will be from Friday 10th to Sunday 12th March and will still be centred on New Cross in South East London, easy by public transport.

We have the lovely Zion Baptist Chapel as our main venue for Saturday with spaces for everyone together or other rooms for dividing up to learn different songs. We also have hArts Lane Studios for a party on Saturday night (no alcohol allowed at the Chapel) and also as a sleeping option for Friday and Saturday nights if we can't find enough beds with our London choir members for all the out-of-London singers, though we will do our best.

The aim of the weekend is to have fun, get to know each other, sing songs together and have a public concert on Saturday evening in the Chapel and an open air concert on the embankment on Sunday lunchtime.
We aim to make everything as cheap as possible and will charge a small registration fee (still to be calculated but between £5 and £10) to cover the costs of Saturday lunch, tea/coffee/biscuits and a songbook.
Please think about whether you and your choir would like to teach a song to everyone and send that initially as a score and a recording of any quality. We envisage four songs being taught but in parallel workshops.

Please also send words to songs which you think would be good to share informally - songs that we can all sing along to if we know the words - songs you know are sung by several choirs. We will compile these into a songbook for the event with a copy for everyone. Please send before New Year to me.

Strawberry Thieves is glad to welcome organisational input from Red & Green choir, Raised Voices and Oxford's Sea Green Singers and we are looking forward to hearing from you soon,