IN THISISSUE

Covid help FOR Coronavirus advice in Devon and latest updates see www. devon.gov.uk/coronavirus-advicein-devon/

Covid artistry RAMM have commissioned Exeter artist Amy Shelton to create a new work in response to the lockdown Biophilia: The Exeter Florilegium. It will be an artwork from a herbarium collection of pressed plant specimens that she has been compiling on daily walks in Exeter collected between March and October 2020, coinciding with restrictions imposed by Covid-19. Plus pressed flowers contributed by staff and patients from the RD&E hospital as well contributions from the gardens and window boxes of people self-isolating. Covid support SAMARITANS: 116 123 SANEline: support@sane.org.uk MIND: www.mind.org.uk CRISIS: Text SHOUT to 85258 CALM (for men): 0800 585858 (5pm-midnight) SILVER LINE (age 55+): 0800 470 8090

Talk to the Frog EAT That Frog, the community interest company who have training centres in Newton Abbot, Torquay, Paignton and Plymouth, are reaching out to anyone who is stuck at home and getting bored, stressed and isolated, by providing access to free online courses to help them manage their health and wellbeing. Everyone who books a place will get telephone support from friendly tutors and access to short, fun, modules that can be accessed from a computer or smartphone, with topics such as Sleeping Well, Managing Healthy Relationships, Personal Safety, Diet & Fitness and Emotional Resilience. Eat That Frog are also helping people who need to find work during the crisis, with free online support for Job Applications, Interviews and Writing Your CV. The short modules are achievable in a few hours and give people tools to help them manage through this difficult time – local residents who have taken up the offer of support have found it’s really helped their wellbeing. The courses are available to anyone in Devon who is in need. l If you’d like to take advantage of this free support, please call 01803-551551 or email info@eatthatfrog.ac.uk. More details can be found at: eatthatfrog.ac.uk/online-adultcourses/ Exeter Street Arts Festival returns

MUSIC in Devon Initiative (MIDI) and headliner negotiations. have successfully brought the Altogether it costs around £30k to city centre streets of Exeter to put on. This year, the MIDI team are life each year for the last four years starting with zero budget and are with the ever-popular Exeter Street calling out to performers, artists, arts Arts Festival! But then, COVID hit organisations, local government and and all plans for their 5th birthday local business to come together with celebrations this year came to a the MIDI team and bounce back out halt…Until now! of lockdown and deliver a scaled The organisers of the annual event held on the last bank holiday Saturday of August, are planning to hold all activities outside in line with new government recommendations, down, but nevertheless inspiring event to bring the city back together as it emerges from lockdown and all within a fraction of the budget ESAF usually requires. activating space in the city in a safe Since lockdown the Devon music and interesting way by bringing industry has seen cancellations of music, art and street culture back for all live shows, incomes evaporating, free to everyone. careers on pause and the loss of jobs The non-profit community interest company, who exist to provide opportunities for musicians in Devon, usually pay 100 or so artists, a team of freelancers, university interns and volunteers to pull the festival together. It usually takes 11 months to organise and contracts. MIDI’s aim with this crowd funder is to ensure all of the monies raised go towards artist fees and festival production as a way to help pump some much-needed life blood back into our valuable yet deprived arts network. venues, programming, promotions, l If you want to get involved in any websites, social media platforms, way please email info@musicindevon. pitches, traders, sponsors, promotions org

Share shed goes mobile

ONE of our favourite projects, visit and much the Share Shed - Totnes’ more. The most library of things, is changing popular items how people think about consumption include carpet and engage with each other at cleaners, a community level. They have pressure launched the world’s first mobile washers, library of things in Devon. Totnes’ electric drills, Share Shed has gone mobile serving strimmers, Buckfastleigh, Ashburton and South Brent in a van, specially converted with the help of the National Lottery Community Fund and the Network of Wellbeing (NOW). Mirella Ferraz, NOW’s Project Coordinator, says: “The Share Shed supports people to get things done in an affordable and convenient way, whilst helping to reduce the resources we use. With the mobile version of the project, we’re excited to make the Share Shed accessible for even more people.” Over 700 people have signed up as Share Shed members since 2017, when the project was founded, and sewing machines. Share Shed Manager Mark Jefferys says, “Everybody we meet seems to understand the concept of ‘borrow, don’t buy’, and it’s a great feeling when we can help somebody out with the things they need to complete a task; be it putting up a shelf, or getting a house ready for a sale. Expanding this possibility to other towns, and facilitating even more sharing is a great and exciting next step for us.” enabling them to borrow things In the UK, the Share Shed is one of that they don’t use regularly, and 14 established projects facilitating consequently saving money, space this kind of sharing. Some projects, and resources. The Share Shed’s like the Edinburgh Tool Library, are collection is versatile and includes solely focused on tools (in this case, things such as camping equipment, with an impressive offer of over gardening tools, musical instruments, 1,500 tools), whilst others are all household appliances, bicycles, about baby-related items or simply things for when a baby comes to toys. 2 solar projects THE two Exeter Community Energy projects at Westbank and The Beacon have been completed ahead of the deadline and despite the problems of lockdown. They are among the UK’s last solar projects to get government feed-in-tariff subsidies. “Community energy projects like this make a real difference to our local area,” ECOE director Andy Extance says. “They are helping local economies and reconnecting people to the energy they use, so they become producers as well as consumers.” Together the new sites should save 35 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year, roughly the carbon footprint of seven UK people. This important but small impact underlines society’s collective responsibility, including on energy efficiency and less use of fossil fuel-powered transport. The projects are now part of the Exeter Community Energy (ECOE) portfolio, with ten sites generating power and returning wealth to the city and Devon more broadly. The solar panels at The Beacon have 29.9kW peak generation capacity, and could generate 22MWh of power per year, the equivalent of about five homes’ annual electricity consumption. Westbank has 45.9kW peak capacity, and the potential to generate 43MWh of power per year, or about ten homes’ worth of power. With its other sites, this brings ECOE’s peak output capacity to 484kW.

Mark Jefferys, Share Shed Manager and the Mobile Share Shed

The good news is that this is a growing global movement, which acknowledges the importance of a different way of being and consuming, whilst fulfilling the need of those who want to access things rather than own stuff. Such a shift is supporting people and communities to become much more resourceful and sustainable. After all, why buy when you can borrow? l People can already become a member of the Share Shed by paying a membership fee (sliding scale between £5 and £30), and place reservations online. To see everything the library of things currently offers and for further information, visit www. shareshed.org.uk. For any enquiries, contact info@shareshed.org.uk.

Outdoor events WITH the relaxing of some social distancing restrictions WildWise who run outdoor events for all ages in Devon are delighted that many of their summer events and camps are going ahead with group sizes being appropriately managed and social distancing and hygiene protocols being adhered to. More at wildwise.co.uk. Blooming gong THE Kingsbridge in Bloom Team have been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list. It’s the highest award given to volunteer groups across the UK to recognise outstanding work done in communities. Snooky return SNOOKY Fest the fun filled charity run family day out with live music at Warren Farm in Dawlish has announced it will return on July 17 2021 with all tickets from this year’s postponed event valid for next year. Cinema reopens PLYMOUTH Arts Cinema has released its plans to reopen on Saturday September 26, following months of closure as part of the Plymouth Art Weekender. The cinema will be screening “This Is Us,” a free programme of short films.

Queering Exeter’s museum online

MEMBERS of Devon’s LGBTQ+ community are being asked to make contributions to a Queer Collector’s Case as part of the Out and About: Queering the Museum project at the Exeter’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery. People are invited to share a queer object from home via a photograph or video, with an explanation of why they have chosen it, and what it means to them. This new collection of queer objects is inspired by RAMM’s ‘What Do You Collect?’ display case and will become a digital collector’s case, added to over the course of the project. The Queer Collector’s Case is just one part of an extensive project, Out and About: Queering the Museum, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. This collector’s case is a way for LGBTQ+ individuals to share and communicate something about who they are and what they have experienced. A first as a local collection in the South West, this initiative seeks to communicate a vast array of stories, reflecting the different experiences of people who identify as LGBTQ+. whilst we can’t march, gather and celebrate. We are very excited to announce our Queer Collector’s Case. At the heart of this project is a desire for social engagement to flourish and for the empowerment of often unheard LGBTQ+ voices and individuals’ stories. We are looking for ways to feel connected to a wider Artist and writer Natalie McGrath, said: “As Pride parades around the UK, including our very own much cherished Exeter Pride, are put on hold to ensure public safety, we have been looking for ways to engage our web of queer folk, to hear your stories and, by bringing them together, create a uniquely special collection all of our own. Personal objects hold many stories, especially ones that might not have been shared before in a public sphere.” LGBTQ+ community, and to celebrate l To see the submissions so far, or its queerness online. This has included to contribute to the Queer Collector’s talking to the Trustees of Exeter Pride Case, visit. outandabout.exeter.ac.uk/ to look for ways to engage queer folk collectors-case-contribution/

Seeking volunteers EMBERCOMBE are starting up their local volunteering days again and seeking Devon based volunteers who want to get back to nature and help on their 50 acre rewilding site with varied tasks in woodland, orchards and herbal garden. Sign up for updates on dates starting in Aug see https://bit. ly/2Uqv6oM #Saveourvenues THE ‘Save Our Venues’ campaign is hoping to reach artists, music fans and the wider music industry in order to help save the hundreds of grassroots music venues across the UK. Acts are being encouraged to head to the campaign’s website if they wish to help save a venue currently in crisis, where they can access “the tools and guidance to perform an ‘at home’ gig in support of that particular venue”. See saveourvenues.co.uk. Treasure hunt TREASURE Trail is a socially distant way for the family to uncover the hidden secrets of 20 trails around South Devon whilst solving a set of clues on a circular route of approximately two miles. Booklets for each trail are less than £10, find out more at www.treasuretrails.co.uk.

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The tale of the new theatre

LOCAL author Phil Smith (previously featured in Reconnect 63 and 65) has been writing about something big in his life rather than poetry, walking and place and mythogeography. Phil said: “It feels like it’s the right time to unveil a little of its story: in 1980 I got a phone call to go to a small mining village in Nottinghamshire to help with the first show of a new theatre company – TNT Theatre. 40 years later (before Covid brought everything to a halt) it has become the most popular touring theatre company in the world. It plays more venues in more countries than any other live theatre company.” Along with the artistic director, long time friend and colleague Paul Stebbings, they have written up the story of the company as it emerged from the small scale UK touring circuit to entangle with music theatre, global touring and geopolitics. Phil said: “The book tells of work both sides of the wall in Cold War Berlin, a #MeToo ‘Pygmalion’ in Istanbul, collaborations in Costa Rica and with the People’s Liberation Army Shanghai Farce Troupe, rehearsing with the religious police in Tehran and touring Poland in 1989 as the Wall falls. As well as tracing the often bumpy development of the company from our first show ‘Harlequin’ to recent works like ‘My Sister Syria’ and ‘Dracula and the Eco-Warrior’, the book explains the company’s abiding principles of grotesquerie and combining experimental with popular, taking inspiration from Russian director Vsevolod Meyerhold.” l If you use the promotional code TP20 at checkout, you can get the book for £12. Visit www. triarchypress.net/tnt.html for more info.

Summer reading challenge for kids goes digital

LOCAL Libraries are calling for children to sign up to the Silly Squad Summer Challenge and read six books this summer as part of the 2020 Summer Reading Challenge. The Summer Reading Challenge runs until Saturday September 5 and encourages children aged 4 to 11 to enjoy the benefits of reading for pleasure over the summer holidays, providing lots of fun as well as preventing the summer reading ‘dip’. With the disruption caused by Covid-19 the 2020 Challenge is in a new digital format designed to keep children engaged and interested in reading. It will support parents and carers with children at home, offer schools exciting ways to animate remote learning, and provide great content for those back in the classroom. The 2020 Challenge features bespoke artwork from award-winning children’s author and illustrator Laura Ellen Anderson (Amelia Fang; Evil Emperor Penguin; I Don’t Want Curly Hair). Last year the Challenge motivated 14,000 children in Devon and Torbay to keep reading to build their skills and confidence. This year, the Summer Reading Challenge will celebrate funny books, happiness and laughter. Children join the Silly Squad, an adventurous team of animals who love to have a laugh and get stuck into all sorts of funny books! The Summer Reading Challenge website is free to access and features games, quizzes and downloadable activities that encourage children to take part in reading related activities. Children who complete the Challenge by reading at least six books over the summer, will be able to download a certificate. Once the libraries have re-opened, children can bring their certificate to their local library to claim a special Silly Squad medal as a reward for their achievement. Although Devon and Torbay Libraries are currently on a phased return to physical buildings, libraries will deliver the Challenge through virtual services and the digital lending catalogue. Libraries will run a summer season of online events and as libraries reopen families will be able to use the Choose & Collect book service if they wish to access physical books during this challenge. The Summer Reading Challenge website is free to access and features games, quizzes and downloadable activities that encourage children to take part in reading related activities. Visit Devon Libraries and Torbay Libraries websites to find out how you can access eBooks and audiobooks for free so that you can complete the Challenge at home. Register for the challenge at summerreadingchallenge.org.uk. l You will find out what’s on by visiting devonlibraries.org.uk or torbaylibraries.org.uk, looking at your local library’s Facebook or contacting your local library.

Devon Open Studios 2020 to go ahead

THERE’S good news for two hundred local artists, many of whom have suffered extreme financial hardship this year, Devon Open Studios is returning for a sixteenth year. The event supporting Devon’s artists will go ahead on September 12-27 in line with lockdown easing restrictions. Run by the Devon Artist Network (DAN) it champions the individual, self-employed artists and galleries in Devon, including supporting artists through economic hard times. This year will be no exception. After consultations between the Board and the artists who signed up to open their private studios to the public, the agreed plan is to connect the region’s talented artists with the local art loving general public, giving their work exposure, feedback, and sales. Many Devon artists have suffered extreme financial hardship during the lockdown period and Devon Open Studios enables them to sell their work without commission straight to the public, allowing a crucial economic boost in these unprecedented times. Participants will manage and control the social distancing procedures and allow the public access to their studios many of which are separate buildings or annexes. Natacha Du Pont De Bie from DAN said: “At present the DAN Board are all collaborating with artists to reimagine and meet the needs of the artists involved this year, focusing on a larger scale digital marketing campaign and creating an online ‘flippable’ brochure.” Devon Open Studios will provide the framework and support for the artists to ensure that all the venues will have the safety of both visitors and artists as their first priority. Natacha added: “Over the years Devon Open Studios has seen nearly half a million visitors enjoy the event and we hope that both regulars and those new to us will seek us out again.” l Follow Devon Artist Network on social media and more information about event can be found on the website: www.devonartistnetwork.co.uk. A free guide to the event with colour coded maps and every artist illustrated, will be available digitally in August.

Cat run TO celebrate Honiton Branch of Cats Protection opening up to start to rehome cats again Bob Carter, who is Branch coordinator, decided to get active. Along with 4 other members of Axe Valley Runners Bob ran 5km, on a course shaped like a cat. The runners took care to socially distance in households and all the ladies were sporting cats’ ears! The Branch has started to advertise for homes for their cats in care. This will be undertaken following Cats Protection guidance, in accordance with Government guidelines, social distancing and to not put at risk volunteers or members of the public. Bob said: “We are as yet unable to take in any cats other than extreme emergencies, but this is being constantly reviewed and we hope further announcements will be made in the near future It will be great to get back to looking after all the local cats and kittens who need us.” l If you would like more information about cats looking for home right now or the work of the branch, please contact Cats Protection’s Honiton Branch on 01404 45241.

UK’s first sausages to use eco-packaging A Devon sausage-maker has become the first meat producer to use packaging that is all compostable. Charles Baughan from Westaways said: “If you walk down a meat or dairy aisle in a supermarket you will see that just about every product is wrapped in plastic. As a company that cares about the environment, we asked ourselves why that should be. And, although it has taken a lot of investment and patience, we now have the answer.” Charles’ sausage range are sold in eco-friendly Forestry Stewardship Certified cardboard cartons and a revolutionary cling-film style wrapping mad of bioplastics. “In a compost heap it will fully disintegrate within six months and fully biodegrade within a further six months without leaving any microplastic traces - I know that because I’ve been trialling it in my own garden.” Chris hopes: “The example we have set changes the way we do things in the food industry and other companies should follow our lead - which would result in the environment being freed of thousands of tons of plastic.”

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The joy of improv

IF there are worthwhile lessons to be learned from the Corona virus crisis, it is that we have to be flexible, adaptable and creative in our approach to many aspects of our lives. And how important it is to make positive connections with others in order to maintain our mental and physical wellbeing. Interestingly, these are the very characteristics which can be effectively developed through drama improvisation, a particular passion of one of our regular Reconnect contributors, actor, facilitator and life coach, Jeff Sleeman. Before the crisis, Jeff was running regular Saturday morning improv classes which, like so many other activities, had to be suspended once lockdown was imposed. But with the loosening of restrictions, Jeff has been able to restart the classes - at present outdoors and with appropriate social distancing. Said Jeff: “The joy of improv is that anyone, with or without acting or performance experience, can do it and it very quickly builds a real connection between the

participants. Our sessions always promote a lot of laughter which is highly therapeutic and very welcome after the trials of the last few months. Doing the classes outdoors has been an interesting experience and I’m pleased to say that people seem to be embracing the change and enjoying them as much as ever.” The two hour classes take place in Paignton every Saturday morning, starting at 11.00 at a secluded outdoor location close to the Preston Sands Hotel where the group meet. Payment is by donation. l For more details contact Jeff on 07977 272174 or email contact@jeffsleeman.com you can discover more about Jeff by visiting his website www.jeffsleeman.com Donna and Dermot return WE’VE featured Hilda Kalap before, both as a healer and an author along with her series of wellbeing themed Donna and her dog Dermot books. Collaborating again with Ukrainian illustrator Jacob Artemenko, Hilda has a new book out called Donna and Dermot Stand Strong. This is her third published picture book following Donna and Dermot on the Move (published July 2017) and Donna and Dermot Heal (published June 2019). In this book Donna spends time with her cousin Lily and Lily’s newly-adopted dog, Fudge, a Jack Russell terrier like Dermot. Both girls start to understand just how much humans can learn from dogs and other animals as they reflect on ways to protect the environment and unconditional love. Donna also confronts school bully Sean and his dog Storm, becoming a role model to two younger girls by demonstrating her courage and integrity.

Free award for eco-kids

THE charity Eco-Schools is accepting applications from local schools to earn a free Green Flag certification. Paid for by Frugi, this British organic kids wear brand is funding 150 schools in the UK to achieve this accredited eco-certification. Schools may be out for summer, but it’s a perfect time for schools to plan this activity for September. Helping to raise the next generation of ecowarriors, the Eco-Schools global programme empowers kids and teens to take environmental actions to get their school and community involved. Pupils follow a Seven-Step programme that results in achieving an international Eco-Schools Green Flag Certification. Frugi is donating funds to help up to 150 UK schools achieve their Green Flag status. Each year Frugi donates 1% of turnover to charity and has so far donated £720,000 over the past 16 years to help children and environmental non-profit organisations. l Find out more about the Eco-Schools programme and register for free on their website: https://www.eco-schools.org.uk

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