THE latest community news from Aberystwyth.

Friends of Arts Centre

FRIENDS of Aberystwyth Arts Centre have had a very successful start to their 2017 plans with an online fundraising campaign through the LocalGiving website, raising over £7,000.They also held a special music evening in December, which raised further funds.

Membership of the Friends has now risen to over 1,100. So far, Friends has funded the building of the base for the brick sculpture which was built as part of an arts centre project; has commissioned and built the Eye sculpture to provide a new home for art films in the arts centre; provided equipment for toddler and parent group Club 1-2-3; bought a new keyboard for the arts centre to use on music projects; and funded a music training scheme for troubled teenagers.

Friends of the Arts Centre will be using some of the additional funds raised to support the Arts Centre in holding a day-long celebration of arts in the new Bandstand on the prom. This will offer passers-by a chance to sample some of the vast range of activities available at the arts centre including art classes, youth theatre, dance classes, pup-pet shows and performance.

Carol Nixon, chair of Friends of MusicFest said: “We are really excited about the Bandstand event in April which will be about showcasing the amazing range of activities that are on offer at the Arts Centre and the wealth of talent there is in community groups of all ages.

“The brilliant Youth Theatre show Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat which closed the 2016 season at the Arts Centre was a perfect example of this wonderful sense of ‘Yes, you can do it!‘, which brings out latent abilities and can change lives.

“The enabling role of the great Arts Centre team is crucial. It provides a base where young people can be trained in acting, singing and dancing to the highest of standards, and a venue where we can all connect with what is truly important for human beings to be happy.”

Sue Jones Davies from friends of the Arts Centre said: “We are so lucky to have the Arts Centre - the range of events is astounding. The diverse range of events on offer to an audience is sometimes just magical – we have one of those nights coming up in March when Showaddywaddy are in the Great Hall while the Aberystwyth Storytelling Festival (‘Fifth Branch’) is in the Performance Studio and theatre.

“To think that Under the Moon of Love will be heard in one half of the arts centre at the same time as Lynne Denham, one of the most renowned voices in traditional Welsh music, sings in the other half! What a contrast! That variety really is what makes Aberystwyth Arts Centre so incredibly unique and vital to the community”

Holy Trinity

FORTHCOMING events at Holy Trinity Church include two concerts: the Bill Williams Memo-rial Concert, in aid of Bronglais Hospital, held on 24 February at 7.30pm; and Olivet to Calvary and other sacred pieces, in aid of Aberystwyth’s Hospice At Home, will be performed by the Wednesday Singers from the West Midlands at 5.30pm on 11 March. Entry to both events will be by donation at the door.

U3A

RACHEL Lilley, a PhD candidate at Aberystwyth University, gave a talk on mindfulness to a full audience of U3A members and guests.

Rachel has developed and delivered consultancy and training interventions in behaviour change and mindfulness for the Welsh government. Her work and research interests include utilising the capacity and understanding engendered by mindfulness and behavioural in-sights to support effective decision making.

Rachel spoke about the benefits of practising mindfulness: an increased ability to focus attention and improved self-awareness, particularly of feelings and thoughts. These increase options by improving the ability to recognise habits and ways of responding. On the release of tension, mindfulness counters the fear response, which in turn enhances a person’s openness to change and empathy.

Bill Hines will talk about Some Treasures of the Hugh Owen Library on 16 February, at the Morlan. All welcome.

Parkinson’s UK

THE chairman in welcoming the members to the monthly meeting at the rugby club wished everybody a happy and prosperous new year, when they met in the new room at the club. He congratulated Pam Williams, one of the members, on winning the hamper at Barbara Standing’s daughters’ hairdressers in Baker Street.

Liz Nicol, treasurer, reported that £76.20 was collected at the raffle. Ann Mathews presented a cheque for £30 which her work colleague had presented to her for Parkinson’s.

The Christmas dinner at the Ffostrasol arms was a very successful occasion and the winners of Barbara’s cake was Annie Evans. Raymond Parry won the meal for two.

The visit to the pantomime was a success and everybody had enjoyed themselves, and two of the children won the raffle; a big teddy bear and the other caught the egg from the royal hen.

The speaker for the afternoon was Dr Mike Hayward, who had been with us in 2015 showing Ceredigion birds. He showed the group slides of Ceredigion pub signs. He showed the group photos of over 90 signs which included Farmers and Angel such as James 1st, Red Lion, royalty signs such as King’s Head and Queen Victoria, Heraldy signs, Feathers Royal Hotel, Religion, Tafarn y Gors and Ty Mynachdy to the sea, Angel Hotel Cadwgan, Free houses, The Ship, Friendship.

All the signs were discussed by the members and they guessed where the names were from. Parrot thanked Dr Hayward for a very interesting afternoon.

Before tea, Barbara Standing brought a cake with lighted candles and flowers into the room for Ethel Jones who was 90 on Thursday.

The next meeting is our AGM and there will be two speakers Liz Morgan from Merthyr and our own Christine Reynolds. The meeting finished with the usual tea and a piece of Ethel’s cake.

Lecture

A LEADING Aberystwyth University academic and head of the Department of International Politics is to deliver his inaugural lecture on the highly topical subject of political leadership and responsibility in an increasingly unpredictable and uncertain world.

The lecture, by Prof Richard Beardsworth, takes place at the Main Hall at the Department of International Politics at 6pm on Tuesday, 14 February.

With the rise of populist political movements witnessed in much of the western hemisphere and subsequent challenges to the established political order, Prof Beardsworth will take as his subject ‘The Political Moment: Political Responsibility and Leadership in a Globalized, Fractured Age’.

Prof Beardsworth is the EH Carr Prof of International Politics and is internationally recognised for his work in philosophy, political ethics and international relations. He also serves as the university’s director of ethics.

Milja Kurki, director of research at the Department of International Politics said: “This is an unmissable opportunity to hear a globally leading thinker make a keynote statement about how we might negotiate current global political challenges in new and more effective ways.

“At a time of great uncertainty, this is the opportunity for experts on international politics to step up and provide an alternative vision and new trajectories for the international order. This is precisely what Professor Beardsworth will set out to do in this lecture.”

There is an open invitation for everyone to attend the lecture and admission is free.

Rotary

Shelly Childs of the Ystwyth Cycling Club presented a cheque for £500 to the Aberystwyth Rotary Club, to be used for local charitable purposes. Shelly explained that this money derived from the surplus generated by the Cycling Club from the very successful Aberystwyth Cyclefest in 2016.

In addition, the club had already donated £500 to the Wales Air Ambulance in recognition of its invaluable aid at an accident involving club members last year.

Aberystwyth Rotary has already decided to add this donation to the amount raised in its Christmas Collection which will be shortly distributed to local charities.

If you’re a member of a club, society or group, send your news to [email protected]