Punk Rock exhibition at Leicester Museum and Art Gallery

May 22, 2023 by Leave a Comment

By Charlie Ramshall

One of the most rebellious music genres the UK has ever seen is being celebrated here in Leicester.

The Punk: Rage and Revolution exhibition is being staged at Leicester Museum and Art Gallery, New Walk from this Saturday, May 27, until Sunday, September 3.

The exhibition has been put together by the people at Soft Touch Arts and will focus on all the different aspects of 70s British Punk.

The exhibition will use information panels, original objects and ephemera to display the impact punk had on its audience.

“The chaos and creation of the 1970s British Punk scene.”

Entry for the exhibition is free all summer so you can visit as many times as you like.

This ties in nicely with the Punk Festival Weekend which is planned for Friday, August 18 until Sunday, August 20.

For more information on the event visit: www.rageandrevolution.co.uk

Filed Under: Latest, Arts & Culture, Cultural, First Year, Local, Music

Nelson Mandela’s former ANC colleague speaks at Leicester Palestine Action protest

May 22, 2023 by Leave a Comment

By Aiden Slattery

Protests have continued outside the Elbit Systems’ UAV Tactical Systems building in Leicester, occupying the road next to the factory.

Meridian Business Park saw its largest numbers in attendance on Saturday, May 13, with the arrival of prominent rapper and activist Lowkey, as well as Andrew Feinstein (a former ANC politician who worked alongside Nelson Mandela) and a convoy of protesters from Bradford.

Convoy of protestors from Bradford arrives outside the UAV Tactical Systems.

The protesters have been demonstrating over what they say are the company’s links with the Israeli military.

On its website, Elbit Systems’ corporate overview states: “We are an international high technology company engaged in a wide range of programs throughout the world, primarily in the defence and homeland security arenas.

“We develop and supply a broad portfolio of airborne, land and naval systems and products for defence, homeland security and commercial applications.”

With regards to the company’s Leicester operation and the protests, ITV News has previously reported a spokesperson for UAV Tactical Systems as saying: “To be absolutely clear, U-TacS does not supply the Israeli military or Israeli Ministry of Defence. Any claims to the contrary are completely false.”

A protester at the event who asked to remain anonymous said: “Elbit can deny that the systems produced at this factory are used against Palestinians, but I think that ignores the core function of their business, which is to profit from war and death.

“We simply do not consent to these weapons and drones being manufactured within our community.”

Speaking at the event, Mr Feinstein compared the apartheid struggle he himself fought against in South Africa to the struggle of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation.

Speaking in solidarity with the Palestine Action movement, he said: “We were taught early on that all our struggles, were one struggle.”

It is unclear how much longer the Palestine Action movement plans to occupy the road in front of the factory, with protesters claiming they will do so until they get the factory shut down.

Filed Under: Latest, Breaking News, Cultural, First Year

Beat the table tennis pros to win cash at DSU

May 22, 2023 by Leave a Comment

by Aiden Slattery

Advertising and marketing communication students have planned a fundraising table tennis event at the De Montfort Students’ Union building tomorrow (Tuesday May 23), with a small £2 entry fee you stand to win cash prizes.

Two professional table tennis players will be at the event, if you manage to beat one of these pros at their own game, you could win a cash prize up to £10!

The venture was organised, amongst others, in order to give the advertising and marketing communications students a chance to develop their event organisation skills.

One of the students who worked on the event Richard Davies said: “I hope that this event can supply other students some entertainment and joy in his particularly stressful time in the run up to the end academic year.”

Filed Under: Latest, Blogs/Sports, DMU News, First Year, Lifestyle, Sports, Univerisity Life

Pub walk to be finale to Lamp’s mental health awareness initiative

May 18, 2023 by Leave a Comment

By Charlie Ramshall

The climax of a Leicester charity’s mental health awareness week will be a pub walk this Sunday which it hopes will be a big success.

The pub walk organised by Leicester-based social media account Cool as Leicester, is there for people to realise the importance of physical activities as well as socialising and meeting new people.

The city’s mental health charity Lamp is running its annual mental health awareness campaign.

It began on Monday(MAY15), and will continue until Sunday, when the pub walk will start at 11.30am from the Cradock Arms, in Knighton Road.

A whole host of events have been happening during the week, on Monday there was a curry night which took place at Cuisine of India in Kelmarsh Avenue.

Simon Gribbon, from Lamp, said: “It was a great night which we completely sold out.”

They also had a business event last night(WED,MAY17) which had people doing laps around Braunstone Park, plus there will be an Outdoor Pursuit event tomorrow (FRIMAY19).

The theme of this year’s Lamp 5k campaign is climbing mountains for mental health.

Lamp encourages those taking part in the 5k challenge to get sponsorship for each mountain overcome so that they can collectively raise £29,000 – which Lamp has said “is the height of Mount Everest”.

Lamp chief executive Richard Kotulecki said: “We’re encouraging people to take time to climb their own mountain and overcome their own mental obstacles during the week.”

To take part in each event, donate to Lamp directly. Lamp is in partnership with The Big Give which will match any donation made.

The Big Give is a non-profit, charitable website that match donations made to charities.

For more information on The Big Give click this link: www.donate.biggive.org and for more information on Lamp’s events click this link: www.lampadvocacy.co.uk/lamp5k

Filed Under: Charity, First Year, Latest, Local, Mental Health

Leicester-based charity group plans to cycle for Syria

May 18, 2023 by Leave a Comment

By Amina Ali

A group is cycling from Leicester to Amsterdam in just three days to support a charity and raise money to rebuild homes in Syria. 

Soulymane Abdulmolla and his two friends, who run Waves of Positivity, decided to embark on the venture following a camping trip in 2021 where the temperature dropped to below freezing overnight. 

Pedal power: Soulymane (right) and his two friends Aadil (middle) and Sulaiman (left) prepare for their charity cycle

Abdulmolla said: “We kind of got a taste of what it felt like to be homeless, obviously we had shelter, but we were so cold that the condensation inside the tent was creating a layer of ice.

“We wanna make sure that we’re trying to prevent other people from going through that.” 

The cycling aspect was inspired by a 24-hour trip that he and his cousins took to Paris. 

He added: “This year, before Ramadan, we were planning our events and they (my friends) brought it back up again. I suggested to allow other people to join us, and make an event out of it.” 

The group are setting off on August 26 and hoping to arrive in Amsterdam, the “capital city for bikes in Europe”, by August 29.  

As it’s a tough challenge which requires intense training, Abdulmolla said: “You have to be self-motivated. As a group it’s easier, you can lean on one another and rely on one another to make it easier.” 

Even if you can’t take part in the cycle, many fundraising events are being planned such as a charity car wash, a barbecue, mosque collections and bake sales. 

“Whatever other ideas people have throughout the next couple of months, whatever we can implement, we’ll implement,” he said. 

The initiative is to provide functional and safe housing for the families that have been displaced after the earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria. 

To learn more or take part, visit the Waves of Positivity website and you can click HERE to donate.

Filed Under: Latest, Charity, First Year
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