Hilly Fields Community Singing

Brenda Rattray, the singing coach who inspired the creation of the Brockley Community Choir, will be leading a community singing session at the 2010 Hilly Fields Midsummer Fayre on June 19th.

She says:

Anyone interested can join me for a warm up and a sing at 1pm on the day with a view to sharing the songs we learn with the Hilly Fields community at around 2.30pm. The session on the 19th June is open to all - parents, bring your children.

For anyone interested in having a sing before the event I will be organising a singing workshop on Saturdays 5th and 12th June 11am - 1pm or 1pm - 3pm. Venue and exact time to be confirmed.

Could anyone interested please e-mail me so that I can get an idea of numbers and book an appropriate venue. There will be a charge for the rehearsals but they will be fun - We will do vocal warm ups, vocal technique, work on expression, singing in unison and harmony.

Free journalism course at Goldsmiths

The team behind Eastlondonlines is offering a group of 16 young people the chance to participate in a journalism summer school at Goldsmiths which will involve teaching from a professional journalist who is also a journalism tutor at the college.

They say:

You’ll learn, not only how to produce quality news stories, but the high paced pressures of getting work done to a deadline, the importance of how to be entrepreneurial, and also a taste of university life. You will see how your story is received by the public sphere as it’s published on the East London Lines website and the course can go on your CV. Additionally you’ll have the chance to work on the website writing news stories for them after the summer school course during July and August and you will be able to participate in further training courses at the Journalism Training Charity – Headliners (http://www.headliners.org/).

The criteria you need to have to take part are:

• You must be 16-19 years old
• You need to live and/or study in boroughs of Croydon, Hackney, Lewisham or Tower Hamlets
• You need to have a passion for writing and an interest in journalism
• You need to submit your application by Monday 7th June
• You need to have access to the internet & a computer outside of the sessions at Goldsmiths (at home or in a library)

And you must be able to commit to the full 5 days of study at Goldsmiths. Priority will be given to applications that state they can commit to further involvement over the summer holidays (please state your availability on your application).

The course takes place from 10am-4pm on 22nd, 25th, 29th June, 2nd & 6th July

For further information, please contact:

Ben Gwalchmai on 020 7078 5002 or b.gwalchmail@gold.ac.uk

Fatal shooting on Howson Road [Updated]

Reader Louise reports that police have cordoned off an area, following a fatal incident in Howson Road, at the top of Whitbread Road. One person is reported dead.

UPDATE:

It has been confirmed that the incident was a fatal shooting of a 23 year old man at 2am this morning.

The Press Association reports that:

The man was found lying in the road and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. He has not been formally identified. No arrests have been made.

The shooting is being investigated by officers from Operation Trident, which deals with gun crime in the black community. Anyone with information should contact police on 020 8247 4553.

UPDATE:

The victim has now been named as Matthew Clement, according to Eastlondonlines.

Sounds Around ahead of its time in late-adopting Brockley

Sometimes affectionately described by BC readers as being stuck in a time warp, Brockley Road shop Sounds Around has nonetheless proven itself too advanced for Luddite Brockley residents.

We've been hovering like a vulture over our stuttering DVD player for months, waiting for it to pack up so we'd have an excuse to buy a blu-ray player and finally get to watch something HD on our HD telly. Eventually the day came, only for us to be told by Sounds Around that they gave up buying Blu-Ray discs for rental because no one was hiring them.

OK, so HD is one of the most overrated technological advancements since the minidisc, but come on people, sort it out. Embrace the future! Having now seen Avatar in HD, it's intolerable that we have to watch Sherlock Holmes in normal D, because of your collective inertia.

Brockley MAX 2010 - Starts tonight, closing night line-up revealed

With the 2010 Brockley MAX kicking off tonight, the details of the closing night on Hilly Fields have been revealed - with an amazing line up:

- Also starting tonight as part of the festival is the exhibition Books in Limbo at Tank Gallery, Ladywell (May 28th-3oth):

Tank team will construct a huge installation from books salvaged from the book skip to be temporarily resurrected in a new form before being sent for being sent for recycling. People are encouraged to come in and watch and even contribute books to the installation while under construction.

The exhibition will include interactions with many guest artists, performers, poets, actors and actresses. Recordings will be made throughout the exhibition giving further material to experiment with. DJ's, sound artists and producers will uses the raw recordings to create further interactions within the space. The full collection of sounds will make Tanks first ever CD.

- Well done to the News Shopper, The South London Press and The Mercury for previewing the event and to Londonist, who did likewise, cementing their reputation as the best London-wide website for South East London life.

Fayre's fayre

A quick note for everyone's diaries - The Hilly Fields Summer Fayre (NB: PDF link) will take place very soon, on Saturday 19th June, from 12 til 5pm. Anyone who hasn't attended this event before is strongly encouraged to do so, it really does showcase the best of Brockley's community spirit.

Just some of the attractions lined up include food stalls, plant stalls, bric a brac, book stalls, a children's farm, a coconut shy, salsa vida, a karate exhibition, a tug-of-war contest, a dog show, the birds of prey exhibition, a land train, a bouncy castle, children's rides, 'rodeo sheep', and - last but definitely not least - the wonderful tea tent, with delicious home-made cakes.

This year's competitions will include cake decorating (theme: 'bugs & mini-beasts'), vegetable modelling, photography (theme: 'wheels in the park') and art (theme: 'summer sundaes').

The event is organised by the hardworking folk of the Brockley Society, who often need volunteers. There may also be some stall spaces left, if any local entrepreneurs are interested.

Picture taken by Brockley Kate at the 2006 summer fayre.

Wriggle and Rhyme at The Orchard

Ed from The Orchard has been in touch about an event they're hosting as part of the Brockley MAX, which starts tomorrow. It's great to see another venue taking part in this year's event. Here are the details:

Wriggle and Rhyme at The Orchard. Run by Jane Conway, a qualified Speech and Language Therapist with more than 25 years experience of working in the NHS. If you have a toddler aged between 12mths and 2yrs, join her for 40 mins of fun, aimed at enhancing early language skills with your child and get top tips for developing early communication at home.

When: Friday 28 May 2pm - 2.40pm

Where: The Orchard, 5 Harefield Road Brockley SE4 1LW tel: 020 8692 4756

Cost: £5 per child including coffee/tea for the parent

How to book: Pop into the Orchard to confirm you place or call and pay on the day.