November 2021 newsletter
November; the month of bonfires, candied apples and apparently, National Authors Day! Initially promoted in the USA as a way of celebrating your favourite writer, the call to action was to send a letter praising their work and so help to diminish the often lonely job of the scribe. It’s a far cry from the dynamic we like to see at our clubs and projects, with group activities and sharings an important part of the creative process. This month we’ve seen some amazing work produced including spoken word, rhythm & rhyme at Monday Club, creating adventure stories at Tuesday Club and broadcasting news reportage at Thursday Club. As we career toward the festive season, it’s time to hunker down, grab a cup of something hot and read up on our latest news.
Transitions
We’ve been hugely excited to work with London Meed Primary School and The Burgess Hill Academy on a second round of our Transitions project. Many year 6 pupils struggle with making the move from primary school to secondary school and navigating the minefield of unknowns, hopes, fears and expectations. From concerns about managing peer pressure, bullying, finding new friends and simply getting to the right place at the right time with the right stuff can be incredibly stressful. Writer Anita Garai and illustrator Ottilie Hainsworth worked with 15 children going through this big life change, making initial visits to the Academy in their final term at primary school, followed by a range of writing prompts to be completed over the summer holiday and finally, curated into an exhibition at the Academy. Those who participated in the project have become proud ambassadors, keen to revisit their previous primary school and inspire future year 6 graduates through their transition.
“I feel more confident in going to secondary school now. This project was really fun too and I feel proud of what I wrote!” Transitions participant
Introducing Gemma! Our new Volunteer Manager and Administrator
Gemma Rogers joined us in June this year through the University of Brighton’s Step Up scheme which finds short term placements for recent graduates. Gemma proved herself invaluable at Little Green Pig using the experience she gained volunteering for the Green Party to help develop our social media audiences, secure assets as our staff photographer and video captioner and just generally raise our game all round. When our existing and cherished Volunteer Manager & Project Coordinator, Ricardo announced his somewhat inevitable departure to utilise his boundless talents as Assistant Curator at Photoworks, we were delighted to be able to recruit Gemma as his replacement. Gemma is equally blessed with many skills which rest largely on an insatiable can-do attitude, mostly manifested in making her beloved VW campervan, Mel, into a cosy mobile, self-sufficient home. Welcome back Gemma!
And thank you Arts Council England!
Once again, we’re greatly indebted to the Department for Culture, Media & Sport and Arts Council England for valuing our work in the form of a grant made through their Cultural Recovery Fund. In an incredibly volatile financial environment, support like this has a huge impact in shoring up our reserves. Here’s a short film of Monday Club member, Thejal, sharing what Little Green Pig means to her which we shared with Arts Council England as part of their national announcement, #HereForCulture
