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.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JC!

An invitation this evening to the Late Lounge (under The Quarter Restaurant and Bar, Halford Street) to celebrate John Coster's birthday. Those connected with Leicester and Leicestershire will know John as the prime mover behind Citizens' Eye Community News Agency. Here's a bit from the website of Citizens' Eye, saying what they do:

The Citizens’ Eye Community News Agency website has been established to enable community people in Leicester and Leicestershire to become "Citizen Reporters" and provide a news gathering platform for current and relevant news to the third sector.

We aim to provide a professional media outlet for community groups to promote their events and share best practice amongst their peers.

We aim to present the stories and photographs received in a professional and unbiased way, and to accurately represent all communities.

In our portrayal of the people and locations reported, we shall strive to dispel much of the ignorance that erodes community cohesion.

As a gift, I buy John a copy of William Morris's Useful Work Versus Useless Toil. I think that's appropriate, since John's birthday (I don't know the precise date) is only a few days away from Workers' Memorial Day (28 Apr), which was observed in Town Hall Square and covered by Citizens' Eye.

Always nice to get so many of the positive, active and creative (and amusing) people in Leicester under one roof. I'm glad of the chance to have a sit-down with Gill Buttery, Development Worker with Leicester City of Sanctuary. It still amazes me, the number of people I've worked with over the past three years or so, but still barely know. Thanks for the time and the chat, Gill. Only sorry that I have to leave after just an hour or so and miss Steve Beverley's stint as DJ.

Leicester on the map

To a lunchtime meeting convened by Ben Ravilious, whom I've got to know through our attendance at CreativeCoffee Club. The topic is the establishment of "Leicester on the Map", a project to promote the good name of Leicester - but with a few novel twists. I'm a few minutes late in arrving and the discussion has already started by the time I take my place at the table. Around the table there are a dozen or so people, including a few I know and would expect (or rather, would hope) to see at a meeting of this kind: Sarah Harrison, City Centre Director; John Coster from Citizens' Eye among them.

From a certain point of view, this is a legacy arising from Amplified Leicester. In keeping with that project, Leicester on the Map would make extensive use of social media - a Facebook page, use of a hash tag on twitter etc. Many of us who are present today bring an extensive address book of contacts and our own networks. I get to speak a little about the Council of Faiths venturing into the realm of social media for the first time and how our positive experience might bode well for this new enterprise.

This is not be another "One Leicester" or another "Big It Up", not a campaign sponsored by any official agency. The idea is that it should be more of a popular movement, a groundswell from the bottom up - and not something led by any individual or identifiable collection of individuals.