Andy Cheffings

I am a community musician and writer. I’m also part of Brum LGBTQ+ Writers.

Most recently I ran the Buddhist Choir in Malvern and I also did an impromptu inter-faith choir for one of the COP demonstrations in Birmingham City Centre during the period of Covid lockdowns (I did this under the Footsteps umbrella – Faiths for a Low Carbon Future – part of Birmingham Council of Faiths).

My musical specialism is inclusion and when I lived in Leicester I took part in, led and organised a number of inclusive performances, particularly at the Richard Attenborough Centre. My musical creed is that everyone has a musical voice worth hearing, so when I work towards a performance I do a lot of workshopping around improvisation and composition, so that everyone has a creative voice in the final piece.

Contact me: archeffings@gmail.com or 0121 459 2989

The Old Print Works

The Old Print Works is a diverse and welcoming community in Balsall Heath, Birmingham, that believes in the transformative power of making and creativity. 

The Old Print Works is a diverse and welcoming community in Balsall Heath, Birmingham, that believes in the transformative power of making and creativity. 

It’s at 498 – 506 Moseley Road, Balsall Heath, B12 9AH.

Visit our website: The Old Print Works

Contact: info@oldprintworks.org or call 07410 442334

The GAP Basement Theatre Ensemble

Calling young theatre-makers in and around Balsall Heath!

Calling young theatre-makers in and around Balsall Heath!

Are you a performer, director, designer or theatre-maker aged 18-30? Do you live in Balsall Heath or surrounding areas? The GAP invites you to join The Basement Theatre Ensemble.

This small collective of local theatre-makers meet fortnightly to share skills, hone creative practice and make work.

When: Wednesday evenings from 9th March
Where: The GAP Arts Project

Interested? Email lisa@thegapartsproject.co.uk

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION]
The top half has text that reads: “Are you a performer, director, designer or theatre maker? Aged 18-30? Live in Balsall Heath or surrounding areas?

Join The GAP’s basement theatre ensemble. Starting Wednesday 9th March.”

At the bottom there is a photo of two young people filming a scene with another person sat on a bed. Under the photo, text reads: “hone creative practice // develop methodology // create work.”

https://www.thegapartsproject.co.uk/

Stage2 Youth Theatre

Stage2 is a Youth Theatre and Childrens’ Charity, with an over 30 year history and reputation for high quality shows, workshops and work experience.

Stage2 is a Youth Theatre and Childrens’ Charity, with an over 30 year history and reputation for high quality shows, workshops and work experience.

Website: www.stage2.org/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Stage2YT

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stage2yt/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stage2YT

E-mail: rosa.simonet@stage2.org

General Public

General Public is the collaborative platform of artists Elizabeth Rowe and Chris Poolman. Broadly speaking, they devise large scale public art projects that incorporate elements of fiction, myth-making, local history re-invention and heritage rebooting.

General Public is the collaborative platform of artists Elizabeth Rowe and Chris Poolman. Broadly speaking, they devise large scale public art projects that incorporate elements of fiction, myth-making, local history re-invention and heritage rebooting.

Often this process involves re-working or inverting an established model or institutional structure. Their approach is interdisciplinary and collaborative: they produce artworks (writing, film, print), devise collaborative frameworks, organise events, curate / commission other artists.

Previous projects have included:

  • a re-interpretation of the biennale concept in inner-city Birmingham (Balsall Heath Biennale 2011 – 2013),
  • a science fiction themed light festival exploring the politics of regeneration (Longbridge Light Festival, 2014),
  • a community competition resulting in 4000 new coins for an inner city area of Birmingham (Handsworth Currency Competition 2014 -15)
  • an 18-month strategic touring exhibition that uses the migratory movements of hop-pickers as the conceptual basis for a tour (The Hop Project 2016-17).
  • In 2017/18, they conceived & produced The Endless Village, an apocalyptic sitcom that investigates life in an imagined post-Brexit Britain of the future. This was presented as exhibitions at Eastside Projects and Aspex Portsmouth.
  • Over the 2018 summer holidays they delivered the ‘Heathland Festival, a ‘children’s festival of ideas’ that occurred at Birmingham Community libraries.
  • During 2019/20, they were artists in residence at the University of Birmingham where they developed ‘The Pomology Project’ (a reimagining of British orchard traditions in an urban context).
  • Their current project Let Us Play explores the history of the Adventure Playground movement in Birmingham. The oral histories and archive material generated through the project will be presented in 2021 as part of a series of exhibitions, events and a publication.

Website: www.generalpublic.org.uk

Address: 69 Station Road, Kings Heath, B14 7SS

E-mail: generalpublicprojects@gmail.com

Phone: 07769 530 557

Balsall Heath Local History Society

We organise displays and exhibitions, collect memories, work with schools, produce publications and perform street trails in conjunction with the Birmingham History Theatre Company. Our most recent project is The Lost Children about the Middlemore Emigration Homes.

We organise displays and exhibitions, collect memories, work with schools, produce publications and perform street trails in conjunction with the Birmingham History Theatre Company.

Our most recent project is The Lost Children about the Middlemore Emigration Homes. The Society has a base in the Old Print Works with an excellent collection of resources.

Website: www.balsallheathhistory.co.uk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Balsall-Heath-Local-History-Society-105287126177313

Address: The Old Print Works, 498-506 Moseley Road, Balsall Heath, Birmingham B12 9AH

E-mail: val.hart@balsallheathhistory.co.uk

Phone: 0121 689 2584