Monday, 10 October 2011

LEICESTER SPEAKS 2011: THE BIG LAUNCH!


Today we kick off the second annual celebration of Local Democracy Week or, as it's been dubbed here, "Leicester Speaks".

Today's display is quite a step-up from the one-hour event with which we launched the first Leicester Speaks a year ago. In October 2010 we had a stage in Humberstone Gate for 60 minutes onto which John Coster and I (as Co-Chairs) sought to usher unsuspecting folk to take the microphone so that they could have 60 seconds in which to speak about something important to them. Just about everyone involved thought the event successful, so it makes sense to have it bigger and longer this year.

We also had a Pre-Launch Event in Gallowtree Gate at the beginning of August, which did a lot to raise awareness of Leicester Speaks and encourage more organisations to get involved this time. 

There are a couple of dozen displays from different organisations in a street market layout, along both sides of Humberstone Gate. The photo above shows (from left to right) Harry Perry of Leicester Secular Society (our neighbours under canvass here today), that guy who's always hanging around with his big camera and whose name no one seems to know; Fari Wyman (the first Mrs Ballentyne) and our son, Alastair.

There are a number of fixed slots throughout the day when we encourage people to get up and speak, but this proves a lot harder than it was last year. On reflection, I think that when people see this much bigger, more professional staging, they expect to be entertained rather than get up on stage and do something themselves.

It was good to have Fari on hand this afternoon, as a chap from Leicester's small and rarely noticed Zoroastrian community came to the stall and they two of them were able to converse in Farsi.

The day proves exhausting, particularly trying to to marshall reluctant speakers onto the stage. By the end of it all, John Coster and I agree that, after two years of co-chairing Leicester Speaks, someone else should have that privilege next year.

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