Cultural events in the Square?
Have you ever felt that the Square could be enlivened? Do you want to help create a sense of community? A sense of things going on in the Square on those warm summer days?
Lucy McMenemy the energetic Hackney Arts and Culture coordinator and driver is keen to hear from residents in the Square.
Join in and make yourself heard!
The Playground, Dalston Forum, Free Tickets, And Artistic Interpretation
The Dalston Square Playground
After a number of recent queries regarding the status of the playground I have been in touch with Dalston Town Centre Manager Cory Defoe for an update. There has been some delay in getting confirmation that the pieces residents voted for are suitable for the constraints of the site, and a quote for their supply and installation (apologies from the supplier), but Cory is on the case and will keep us informed of progress.
Dalston Forum
Those of you who follow local politics may be interested to know that our 2 elected ward councillors (Peter Snell & Soraya Adejare of the Labour party were the winners of last May’s local elections), are holding their September Forum in the Eastern Curve Garden greenhouse this coming Monday (29th September). Planned to run from 6.30pm to 8.30pm this Forum is local residents’ chance to hear what is happening, and to hold the council to account. The agenda for this meeting will cover i) Work in progress on pre-election pledges ii) An update on other major developments in Dalston iii) The Dalston Conservations Area (members of the Conservation Area Advisory Committee will report on progress, their concerns, and how you can support their work to protect historic buildings in central Dalston). Forum meetings are open to all members of the public. The 2 pages of Hackney Matters, a publication produced by Peter Snell, can be found at the foot of this posting: Simply click on each thumbnail for the full-size image.
Artistic Interpretation
Speaking of historic buildings and the Eastern Curve Garden, how fabulous is the newly renovated Hackney Peace Carnival Mural? To celebrate the completion of the work and removal of the scaffold the Eastern Curve Garden are holding a free party this coming Sunday (28th September) from 2pm to 10pm. There will be music from local musicians, talks with the mural artists, a children’s art workshop, and food from the People’s Kitchen. The thumbnails below include their party advertising poster plus my own photo of the beautifully renovated mural.
And whilst on the subject of art, look out for the new window graphics that will be going up at Smooth You (the beauty and health spa here in the square) later today. The existing advertising graphics have not been loved by Dalston Square residents and were never meant to be long-term: They were only ever a brash, eye catching advertising statement to promote a new business. Smooth You founder/owner Patrick and Managing Director Katie were looking for something that both better represented the company image and gave something to the community so, working with Dalston Square resident and graphic designer & artist Stephen Humphries (who has recently started his own business so if you are in need of such services….), and illustrator Christina K., they have created a bespoke piece of art to ‘tell a story’. Katie tells me the plan is to renew the graphic each year to keep it ‘fresh’ so if you like what they are doing, why not pop your head in the door when passing and let them know what you think.
Free Ticket Draw Result
Thanks to everyone who sent in their ‘Yes Please’ email to claim the 2 tickets for tomorrow’s ‘Brunch With The Guide’ event (and, of course, again to Judith for sharing them in the first place). The lucky winner was Dalston Square resident Louise (Louise, please check your email). For fellow geeks who may be interested, I used an online, range definable, RNG to select the recipient. Unlike many such generators that use pseudo-random number algorithms, THESE guys use atmospheric noise to create randomness: Very cool.
Playground, Events, & The Over 55s…..
….. But not a series of over 55s events held in the playground obviously. 😉
Firstly a quick reminder to those who wish to have a say in the selection of the replacement playground equipment who have not yet cast their vote. Voting will close at midnight Sunday night so have your say now (see my last post for full details or head over to my forum post HERE).
Secondly, are you over 55 and interested in taking part in a street-theatre piece that will be presented here in the Square in a few weeks time? Or do you know someone living locally that may be interested? You would need to be available from the 13th to the 16th August in order to participate (from 10am to 1.30pm the first 3 mornings for rehearsals at Forest Road Youth Centre, with the actual show on the 16th at 1pm here in the Square). Click on the first of the thumbnail pictures below for full details.
Next, a copy of the summer programme of the free events being held here in the square throughout July and August (starting tomorrow). You should of received a copy of this in your letterbox but here is a copy just in case. Click the 2nd thumbnail below to view it.
Lastly, a list of events for children and young people being put on by the library (and not just our own CLR James Library: All Hackney libraries are getting involved). Again these are all free: All your kids need to do is turn up. Click the 3rd and last of the thumbnail images below to see the list.
Community Events In Dalston Square
Hi neighbours. Just wanted to pass on some news I have received from Lucy McMenemy, Cultural Programme Officer from Hackney Council. As you all know by now, the council has plans to make Dalston Square a focal point of the local community by laying on a wide range of events and activities. The news from Lucy comes in 3 parts: Firstly, posted to the forum are the minutes from the latest meeting of the Culture & Community Engagement Forum HERE (scroll down to the last post on the thread).
Secondly, a poster for the community wide project, Dalston Children’s Festival: A summer’s worth of events, to run throughout Dalston. Click on the thumbnail below this message to see it in full. Those of you who follow our Twitter feed (@DalstonSquareRA) will have seen us mentioning this already: If you have kids, get them out there and support this wonderful initiative. Saturday 25th May should be a great community gathering, if the weather is on our side, as it is the launch of the Dalston Children’s Festival and it is also the first night of the Dalston Square Cinema. The square will be temporarily transformed into a cinema by the Lost Picture Show, and the film programme has been been chosen by local teenagers. That night the film programme includes the 70’s hit musical Bugsy Malone.
Thirdly, in order to ensure that residents do not feel left out of the loop of what is going on in what many feel is their Square, Lucy’s team is to produce a newsletter, posted out to every residence in the Square, which will contain a full programme of events. The first edition will be with you shortly. Lucy apologises for the ‘corporate’ feel of this first edition, but assures us future editions will be better. For anyone who loses track of their copy, and for followers of this blog who do not live on the Square itself, I will be posting copies of this newsletter to our discussions forum for all to download. The first edition is available HERE.
One last thing before I leave you in peace: Don’t forget our Twitter feed at @DalstonSquareRA. Although these DSRA posts go out on it, 99% of our tweets are regarding the wider community: Everything from Hackney Council updates to pop-up restaurants to local community events. And if you tweet yourself, and know of something going on we have missed, tweet at us and we will re-tweet you!
That’s it for now folks, have a great weekend.
Latest Minutes Plus…
Good morning all (and a beautiful sunny morning it is too). Just a couple of updates/items of news to share with you. Firstly, some minutes of recent meetings for those unable to attend: The Consort chaired budget meeting of 19th March (held in the library) HERE, and the DSRA meeting of 21st April (held in the Bootstrap building in Ashwin St.) HERE. There will be more news regarding the issues raised in these, connected, meetings soon, but for now the minutes will give you the gist of what is going on. (As always, these files are hosted over at our discussions forum. Simply click the highlighted link to save a pdf copy of the document to your computer for your perusal. If you are unable to access the links, read THIS, and, if you qualify, follow it’s instructions HERE.)
Next up, something all mums and dads may be interested in. This from The Trinity Centre:
Dear All Dalston has few public play spaces and we have been working to improve the Wards play provision for children. Not only have we been arguing for the new Dalston Square to be promoted as a place for children and families to gather, since the Beechwood Road Street party and the Council Play Street Policy we are keen for more streets to be adopted for play on a regular basis. Working with Play Out and the local play streets organizer for Hackney we are hosting a meeting next month to inform residents and parents on how to go about organizing streets for play in their area. As well as being invited to the attached event could you please be so kind as to publicize it to your residents and members.
For further details check out their poster below (click on it to see it full-size).
Dalston Square Residents' Association 