Breathing   S  p  a  c  e  s

We had a fabulous workshop today with Clare and Rosie from RHS - Clare and Rosie are involved in the Brdigewater Garden in Salford which is very exciting. The garden opens in July this year - get a glimpse of what is to come here As well as the Bridgewater Garden, Clare and Rosie are also part of the Ignition Project which is a multi-organisational project to find out what green spaces mean to us and how we can incorporate more green spaces in our urban planning and what bene

Manchester's Woodlands, Parks and Other Green Spaces. Closing date for submissions is Saturday, 1st February 2020. The City Council is consulting on the importance of green spaces and green infrastructure to you and your family. The Council has plans to improve this in the city to offset climate change. All are encouraged to respond - it only takes a few minutes. Please encourage others to respond as well. Consultation is at https://www.gmconsult.org/engagement/the-ignition-p

I noticed a very different bird call on Monday in my garden in Withington. It was there again on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning I got my binoculars out and found a bird up high in the trees singing its heart out, with a very speckled chest and a long pointy beak. I looked it up in my my bird book and decided it was a thrush, possibly a Song Thrush. So I checked the RSPB website to hear the call of the Song Thrush: https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird

Today we had our review session with the artists who took part in the Breathing Spaces Project 2019. It was really inspiring hearing people talk about what they did with their sessions and to see the amazing artwork that came out of those sessions. Through this small project we published a poetry anthology, created handmade textile Christmas presents worked on a co-produced collaborative drawing piece, produced a pack of ten Ruskin-inspired Drawings of Elizabeth Gaskell's Hou

In response to a friend talking about his brain not functioning: I hear you. I have a theory about diminishing cognitive function and memory skills. It's all about trauma.. I believe that (unresolved) trauma underpins it.. And then... Throw in.. Wheelie bins full of toxins Into our systems.. In our food chain, fags drugs booze and pills, And The SHIT Air that we breathe EVERY DAY AND the toxins we don't even know about from micro waves, 4g and 5g Broad band and Smart Phones a

Nature is good for us! (but we are not so good for Nature - that is my bit!) A fantastically ambitious interdisciplinary research project presents it findings today at Whitworth Art Gallery. This research looked at Green (and Blue!) Spaces and how they impact on the health and well-being of our increasing and ageing city residents across the globe. Lots of interesting findings that we might expect - but now they are in a report that we can point to and quote and hopefully mor

If you have been following this blog you will know that we have now moved out of St Luke's Church in Ardwick and have re-located across three new venues. All venues are in Ardwick and we really want to encourage everyone to come to all. The 192 is a brilliant bus link between the new venues, but on a good day we also want to encourage those that can to walk and to take in some of Ardwick's unique environment. We will be running artist-lead walks between the centres during the

We are very much looking forward to welcoming Rosie from RHS and Ignition Project to our new studio on 28th January. Rosie will run a workshop from 2-4pm for participants of our TLC Art & Drop-in Projects. The workshop will consist of interactive and creative activities and discussions: - - Redesigning an existing greenspace to be climate resilient (we typically assess Piccadilly Gardens, however, we can look at another space of interest to the group) - Examining the vocabula