Gloucestershire Connections

Sunrise Festival Launches Competition for Aspiring Musicians

Thu, 17 May 2012 13:30:00

by Tom Lawson

A music competition has been launched giving bands and DJs across the UK the chance to play at this years Sunrise Celebration festival.

The competition, titled Sunrise Freedom Sounds, is open until 10 June 2012 and aims to uncover new musical talent, giving bands and DJs a chance to showcase their sound to a wide audience.

Organisers see the festival circuit as a chance for artists to make a name for themselves and the competition as a platform to help provide this opportunity. With a large portion of the great music around today having their roots planted firmly in the festival circuit, this is a perfect opportunity to shine for anyone interested in taking that first step to notoriety, said a spokesperson for Sunrise.

The festival itself takes place on 2124 June in Bruton, Somerset and is host to artists from a wide variety of musical genres from all over the world. This year headline acts include folk supergroup The Imagined Village, the critically acclaimed Eastern European beats of the Warsaw Village Band and DJs including Hong Kong Ping Pong and DJ Cheeba.

Entries are divided into two categories. The first will be for bands, with the winner gaining a slot on the main outdoor Carnival stage and the second is for DJs who will compete for the chance to play on the Solar dance stage.

A Green Home for the Church

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:50:00

by David Williams

A pioneering eco-vicarge has been built in Worcestershire.

Said to be one of the first of its kind in the UK, a new eco vicarage has been built in Webheath on the outskirts of Redditch. The building is expected to cost only £100 a year to run.

The four-bedroom vicarage built for the Diocese of Worcester, has been designed as a carbon neutral family home by Birmingham Associated Architects in consultation with Couch Perry & Wilkes, specialists in eco friendly building design. The vicarage was built by Speller Metcalfe who are a specialist eco building firm based in Malvern.

The vicarage is PassivHaus accredited and meets the strictest British and European guidelines for carbon neutral homes, being a net zero carbon producer covering the needs of both appliance and occupier energy use. The build also follows the wishes of the Church of England to use low and zero carbon technologies in all ecclesiastical new builds.

Shauna Crockett-Burrows, 19302012

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:10:00

by Seán Dagan Wood

Founder of the worlds first positive newspaper passes away.

It is with great regret that we announce that our founder, Shauna Crockett-Burrows, has passed away.

A month short of her 82nd birthday and having been invited to attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace at the end of May Shauna died on 3 May in Shropshire, where she had been living during the past 17 years.

Shauna lived an extraordinary life and continued to work with Positive News, to which she was completely dedicated, right until the very end. She will be greatly missed by her family, her friends, her wide network of colleagues working for positive change in the world, and by myself and the rest of the team at Positive News.

A Deeper Route to Employment

Thu, 03 May 2012 11:30:00

by Erica Crompton

Erica Crompton visits a unique organic farm and retreat in Scotland to discover how young volunteers are finding their way into employment.

A place of calm in the modern world can be a magical find. I found mine through WWOOF, World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, a scheme where wwoofers help out on farms for four to six hours a day in exchange for all food and basic accommodation.

The long, meandering road that leads to the Krishna eco-farm at the Karuna Bhavan spiritual community in Lesmaghagow a small village 40 minutes drive from Glasgow opens up a new path in life for many who arrive there.

Take Kevin McKay, 21, from Amsterdam. When I meet him in the on-site canteen on the morning hes leaving to work in Pitlochry, Perthshire, he tells me that hes finally found work in retail. Prior to seeking refuge through a wwoofing stint on the farm, hed been unemployed for seven months.

Study shows support for ocean citizenship

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:30:00

by Tavis Potts

New research has found that the public want environmental groups and scientists to have more influence on ocean management and that people value the oceans for their role in regulating the climate and providing food and beauty.

The ocean is, and always has been, our life support system on Earth. In the past our ancestors crawled, flipped and wriggled onto the land from the sea, giving rise to our own species. In the present day, human beings draw upon the seas for food, energy, recreation and inspiration. Fundamentally the oceans provide a stable climate that supports all life on Earth a service that none of us can do without.

The oceans and seas now face a myriad of problems: overfishing, climate change, and pollution from farming, heavy industry and settlements. However, these problems are being addressed by hundreds of scientific and management programs that are, piece by piece, bringing together solutions in a holistic fashion called the ecosystem approach.

This approach is about understanding the oceans as a dynamic, connected, living system and not only addresses the ecological side of the problems but specifically includes humans in the equation. At the heart of the ecosystem approach is the consideration of human values and the trade-offs we make as a society over environmental protection and economic development.

Conference Aims to Create a Movement of Peaceful Primary Schools

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 08:40:00

by Tom Lawson

A conference taking place in London in May will explore how primary schools can be transformed into peaceful communities that not only provide effective environments for learning, but help children develop into well-rounded human beings.

The one-day event, organised by Spiritual England with the support of Winchester University and Quaker Life, takes place on 18 May and offers a programme of talks and workshops aimed at teachers and educators.

A range of speakers will address topics such as: investigating value-based schools, the impacts of health on pupil attentiveness, and methods of engaging with children about peace. The conference is part of an effort to tackle concerns over the increasing pressures faced by young people today.

A world that will work for everyone

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 12:50:00

Ross Jackson offers a plan for radical economic and political reform that would replace current global institutions with ones that support sustainable economies, uphold human rights and respect environmental standards.

Our global civilisation is on a highly destructive track, with multiple threats hanging over our heads; not only runaway global warming but also resource depletion, toxic pollution, social unrest due to growing inequalities, widespread starvation, uncontrolled genetic manipulation and a rate of species extinction not seen in 65 million years.

And yet, political leaders in the US and EU, who we might reasonably expect to show global leadership on these issues, consistently ignore the warnings of our best scientists. They continue to promote more economic growth when, according to WWF, we are already consuming 40% more each year than nature can replenish. That is to say, we are consuming not only the yield of our natural capital, but also the capital itself, the basis of all life, and we call this growth.

New Pilgrimage Footpath Across England

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:00:00

by Donna Cottrell

A pilot section has opened on the Mary Michael Pilgrims Way, a new 250-mile walking route being established between Cornwall and Norfolk.

The path is designated as a pilgrimage route, connecting a large number of sites with historical, archaeological, spiritual and mystical significance, and is expected to appeal to people of any faith or of none.

The 140-mile pilot section begins in the west Devonshire village of Brentor, before traversing the planes of Dartmoor, passing landmarks such as Cadbury Castle, and winding up at Glastonbury Tor, said to be a place of pilgrimage for 10,000 years.

Way markers have been etched onto sustainably sourced oak plaques, fixed to existing footpath signs, to help with navigation along the pilot section, while a guidebook is also available.

Natural Therapeutics

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 08:40:00

Natural Health and Healing

Sean Scott

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 00:10:00

Spiritual Healer / Emotional Therapist
Health issues, emotional problems,
spiritual guidance

Gloucestershire Connections

Sunrise Festival Launches Competition for Aspiring Musicians

by Tom Lawson

A Green Home for the Church

by David Williams

Shauna Crockett-Burrows, 19302012

by Seán Dagan Wood

A Deeper Route to Employment

by Erica Crompton

Study shows support for ocean citizenship

by Tavis Potts

Conference Aims to Create a Movement of Peaceful Primary Schools

by Tom Lawson

A world that will work for everyone

New Pilgrimage Footpath Across England

by Donna Cottrell

Natural Therapeutics

Sean Scott

Shauna Crockett-Burrows, 19302012

Study shows support for ocean citizenship

Conference Aims to Create a Movement of Peaceful Primary Schools