Colne Radio: Recent Episodes
Colne Radio
A new gin company has launched locally, taking inspiration from the #Essex coastline. Oyster Men Gin is influenced by the coastline and islands of NE Essex. Products from the shoreline are used in the distillery process. Colne Radio caught up with Godwin Baron to find out more.
A new online art gallery for Wivenhoe artists launches this week. The aim is to showcase the local talent in the town and help to promote the work of local artists. Joe Lygoe is behind the new project. Colne Radio caught up with Joe to find out more. You can view the gallery over here.
Cllr Dave King of Colchester Borough Council explains more about the plans for the new Garden Community on the Colchester and Tendring border.
The first #Wivenhoe Wellbeing retreat has been a great success. Wivenhoe Town Council encouraged local residents to organise and take part in a fortnight of online activities to help promote physical and mental wellbeing in the town. Pilates, laughter yoga and creative writing sessions were all well attended. Thoughts are already turning towards how this momentum can be carried forward. Colne Radio caught up with Cllr Kathleen Wenaden to find out her thoughts on the event.
An e-cargo bicycle service is now available for local businesses in the #Colchester area. Local resident Lee Pugh has set up a business to help cut harmful omissions and support organisations in need. Funding has come from two CBC Councillors. The service aims to support local businesses and give people in the community access to local traders.
We Are The Minories has managed to acquire the space of the former Laura Ashley store in Colchester to display local art. The main Minories base closed at the start of the pandemic. A rebuilding process is underway. In the meantime, a new arm of the Victor Batte Lay Trust has set up as We Are The Minories. Applications are now open for local artists to exhibit. Colne Radio caught up Jade Fothergill to find out more.
The first week of #WivenhoeWellness has been a tremendous success. There is a fantastic schedule aimed to promote physical and mental wellbeing in the community. Laughter yoga, bird watching exhibitions and creative perseverance have all featured so far. Wivenhoe Town Council hope this is the start of something bigger. There is a shift in the Town Council to focus on wellbeing and environmental issues. The full schedule of events is available over here https://www.facebook.com/TownCouncilWivenhoe/posts/235342841555582
It’s the 7th Brightlingsea Winterfest this February when people in Brightlingsea and this time around the world can join in a vast number of events online – all aimed at their physical and mental wellbeing. There are musical evenings by local and ex-Brightlingsea musicians, fun yoga classes, a photography workshop and new for this year an employment skills workshop being run on Zoom.
Organiser and founding member of Winterfest Alix Sheppard says they had no idea when they started all those years ago that it would be such a success.
The Winterfest raises money for Mid and North East Essex Mind as well as a Winterfest wellbeing fund which gives grants to local organisations. And you can find out what’s on at this year’s festival on their Facebook site, Brightlingsea Winterfest or their website brightlingseawinterfest.co.uk.
Wivenhoe Town Council are launching their own Wellness fortnight – Wivenhoe Wellness Retreat - to try and bolster the spirits of people living in the town.
Much like the Brightlingsea Winterfest, which is on at the moment, Wivenhoe residents will be able to take part in a whole series of online events, including cooking, yoga and dance, all aimed at helping the community through these difficult times.
Wivenhoe Wellness retreat will be starting on the 22nd February. Details of the events are on the Town Council’s Facebook page @TownCouncilWivenhoe and notice boards around the town, and there’s a Twitter feed hashtag WivenhoeWellness. Anyone who’d like to take part in the opening Zoom event should email the town clerk on Townclerk@wivenhoe.gov.uk.
Colne Radio is very proud to have partnered with Norwegian Bakers of Wivenhoe. You can find out more about their delightful products over here https://www.norwegianbakers.com/
There’s a call for volunteers in the Colchester area to help support coronavirus patients, who have been discharged from hospital and are recovering at home.
The charity Community 360 says there’s an urgent need for people with specialist skills such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists and personal trainers who can help those who’ve been affected to recover fully. And they are also calling for carers, caterers and admin staff to help out because there’s a shortage of people able to do such work due to sickness or the need to self-isolate or to look after loved ones.
But the charity also says that anyone with spare time is needed to help those who are recovering at home just to do simple tasks such as cooking or cleaning, or helping them to exercise.
The charity says training and Personal Protective Equipment will be provided to make sure volunteers are kept safe.
Anyone interested can apply directly to Community 360 by phoning 01206 505250 or via the
website www.volunteeressex.org
The Tendring Dementia Alliance has called upon local businesses to be more supportive towards the 3,000 people in the area who are affected by dementia. Colne Radio caught up with Jane from the group to find out more about the proposals.
The Mercury is celebrating after receiving £250,000 from the Cultural Recovery Fund. This will help the local theatre survive until the Spring when it is hoped that performances will be able to resume once again. Colne Radio caught up with Creative Director Ryan McBryde to find out what the future holds for The Mercury.
Farmers, landowners and pubs with big gardens in the area are being asked to allow their outdoor spaces to be used for pop up theatre productions. It’s the brainchild of a local producer who says actors and theatre performers are desperate to get back to staging safe productions during the current coronavirus restrictions. Malochy Luckie says they’ re already talking to farmers with a view to getting underway in the spring.
You’ve probably heard the new podcast series Essex By the sea which is being broadcast on Colne radio. Well, It’s the brainchild of Essex broadcaster Owen Ward who says he’s wanted to produce a series about the coastline for a long time Owen says he’s fascinated by how varied it is and how much there is to learn about it.
The Mercury in Colchester is appealing to the public to help save the theatre from what could be permanent closure. It’s launched a crowd funding campaign because Covid 19 means that the theatre can’t open and so isn’t getting the revenue it needs to survive. Creative Director Ryan McBryde says they want anyone who values the Mercury to donate to the crowd funder.
Artists of every kind will be exhibiting their work this coming weekend In Wivenhoe’s regular Art Trail event in which artists open their homes to showcase their work.
Visitors are encouraged to stroll around the village, popping into the artists’ houses and galleries to see the results of months of work by the many local artists who live in the area.
Alison Stockmarr is part of the team which organises the Wivenhoe Art Trail. She says it’s been carefully thought out: socially distancing rules are being observed and much of it can be seen on line…but, she says, it’s an event which shouldn’t be missed.
A Colchester legal secretary who works in Immigration Law is limiting the amount of food she’ll be eating next week to raise money to help Syrian refugees in camps in Jordan. Harriet Frank has signed up to the so-called Ration Challenge and says it’s to make people aware of how hard life is for people in the camps. Colne Radio caught up with Harriet.
Martin Newell talks about how being involved with Colne Radio's predecessor Radio Wivenhoe revived his career learning how to make jingles and
adverts digitally to now releasing albums.
Martin Newell previews his Slippery Slope broadcast - a show explaining how Colne Radio helped him with his own musical and production techniques.
Colne Radio caught up with Gurpeet, one of the organisers behind the launch of the Black Lives Matter in the Stix group.
A fun way to raise money for Colchester and Ipswich hospital charities has just been launched. People walking round Colchester this summer will see individual wooden letters, positioned in various places, which spell out the words IN COLCHESTER and where they can attach messages of love with padlocks to show their support for the NHS.
The new campaign is called Lock It With love and it’s been organised by BID – an organisation which represents more than 400 businesses in the town and aims to make Colchester an even better place to work and visit.
Local Alresford based charity Boots2Africa has put out a call for sports bras to be donated for female African footballer players. Colne Radio caught up with the charity to find out more.
Games development is one of the biggest growth areas of any industry and Colchester has its fair share of companies which are starting to make their mark in this highly lucrative area.
Now the not-for-profit company, Game Anglia, in partnership with Colchester Borough Council has organised a series of online networking and educational seminars for digital industries in the area, to support them through the disruption caused by the coronavirus.
The co-founder of Game Anglia, Chris Filip, says, although the biggest game hubs in the area are in Cambridge and Norwich, there are at least 200 students studying on games courses in Colchester and its industry is growing in importance here.
And you can find out more about the series of seminars on gameanglia.co.uk.
The Mercury Theatre in Colchester has been incredibly active in the local community during lockdown. One of the projects has been a creative songwriting competition. Colne Radio finds out more.
An appeal is being launched for men in the Colchester and Tendring areas to act as reading mentors for young boys who, for whatever reason, are without a father. It’s a new project being piloted by the award-winning not-for-profit company Lads Need Dads, which is based in Clacton.
The scheme will run at four primary schools across the area to help those boys without fathers or a male role model in their lives to improve their reading.
A trio of three young performers have walked off with the top prize in a national competition, run by The Mercury theatre in Colchester. In a bid to nurture young talent, the Mercury had asked for composers, musicians and song-writers to submit an ‘I Want’ song which sets out their dreams. And from more than 150 entries, Willie Mukendi, Milli Millington and Joseph Rider were named as the winners with their song, ‘Alone’.
A 17 year old pupil at Colchester Royal Grammar School has been named Voice of the Future in the Mercury Theatre’s recent song-writing competition. Jade North’s song Say My Name was one of more than 150 entries for the competition which attracted song-writers from all over the country. Jade says the song was inspired by Viola in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.
Ryan McBryde of the Colchester Mercury talks about the much-needed funding that is coming to the Colchester theatre.
Chief Inspector Rob Huddlestone, the District Commander for Colchester, updates our listeners about the work of his team over recent weeks.
Chief Inspector Rob Huddleston chooses Blue- Keeping the Peace and Falling to Pieces by the former Borough Commander of the Metropolitan police John Sutherland.
Rachaelle Litwin from Colchester Borough Council's Digital Access Support explains how residents can get help connecting with their family.
The Colchester Food Bank is experiencing one of its busiest times during the Covid-19 outbreak. Colne Radio spoke to some of the volunteers to find out how they are supporting vulnerable people during the pandemic.
We spoke with the Colchester Citizens Advice Bureau about how the organisation is helping local residents during the Coronavirus crisis.
Cllr Kevin Bentley is in charge of Infrastructure at Essex County Council. He explains how his team is adapting during the Coronavirus crisis.
Dirk Paterson, Chair of Colchester Borough Homes talks about how the organisation is working to support residents during the #covid19 crisis.
We are inviting listeners to share their #lockdown reading choices over the next few weeks. Please contact us if you would like to share in a remote interview.
Colchester Borough and Essex County Cllr Julie Young explains how residents are coping with the Coronavirus in our community.