Each season we’re working at a different site along the trail and hope to work with different groups at each to create interesting and quirky additions. Before Christmas we worked with pupils at Thorn Primary School who made a fantastic swarm of eyes which are placed around The Sentinal. 

Now we’re moving on to work at The Birds which are a series of metal gulls that fly up the valley towards Bacup from Stacksteads. It’s a great site – very prominent and steeply sloping. We’re getting in touch with Rossendale artists who are up for a bit of fun to make some guerrilla style interventions. Artists Becky Atherton (Your Arts) and David Boultbee ( BREAD) will lead the collaboration. Working together, the group will develop ideas for the site and then install them – the sky is, quite literally, the limit. 

Artists should be over 18 and living or working in Rossendale. You don’t need to be a full time artist or have a specific practice or background. Sessions will be arranged around the group – we anticipate there being four or five – and, of course, you won’t be expected to come to them all.  Materials will be funded and an ample supply of hot drinks will be provided!

Interested? 

Contact David – dboultbee@gmail.com – 0774 884 7029 – www.breadartcollective.co.uk

The “Scroll Up” project will collect “sound postcards”, contributed by a range of groups and individuals, including existing Preston FM volunteers as well as by members of the public and partner community radio stations worldwide. Sounds will be collected on a website, created for the project and linked with the Guild Scrolls 2012 website.

We’re looking for an audio / sonic artist, with experience of leading work with volunteers and community members, to help us create audio art works using the raw sounds collected by the project.

For more information, and details of how to apply, please download the Scroll Up artist brief.

Responses should be sent to Richard Lace, community radio project manager, by 5pm on Monday 12th March.

Project outline:

Working with the Your Arts and Your Preston FM team, you will explore and share the heritage of the past nine Preston Guilds, including the current Guild, in addition to the next Guild in 2032.  You will specifically focus on Your Prescap’s current building (the former St Wilfrid’s School on Fox Street) and the surrounding streets in these years. You will explore the physical history of the building and the street in addition to gathering oral heritage of the area, the local businesses and people that populated it, going back as far as you can.

From the research gathered you will create an audio and visual walking tour for the wider public to enjoy. The work created will also feature in a Your Prescap Guild exhibition.

Timeline:

• 12 sessions working with a researcher
• 12 sessions creating the audio tour
• 6 sessions working with a graphic designer to create the visual tour

Starting: March 2012

Finishing: September 2012

Requirements: No experience in research methods or arts projects is needed: you just need a willingness to learn and enjoy! However if you do have these skills we would love you to join us.  If you do have a connection to our building or this street both past and present that would be great! All we do ask is a commitment to the whole project.

For further information and an application form please contact Teresa East, Your Arts Producer:

teresa@prescap.co.uk / 01772 887785

All applications must be returned by Monday 20^th February

If you’ve always fancied having a go at radio, then this course will get you going and teach you all you need to know to become a Preston FM presenter.

No experience is necessary (although if you do have some radio experience, that’s fine too) and the course is free.

We have three courses running through February and March, all covering the same content:

• Course 1: Starting 27^th February on Mondays & Thursdays, 1:30-4:30pm for 4 weeks
• Course 2: Starting 27^th February on Mondays & Thursdays*, 6.30-9.30pm for 4 weeks
• Course 3:  Starting 25^th February, every Saturday 10am-5pm for 4 weeks.

*Note: some e-mails we’ve sent promoting these courses contained an error. Course 2 takes place on Monday and Thursday evenings, NOT Tuesday evenings as advertised in some places.

You must be available to attend all of the course dates to apply for a place on a course.  The courses are friendly, practical and open to everyone living or working in Preston, South Ribble or surrounding areas. We can pay travel and childcare expenses to help you take advantage of the training on offer – and you’ll work towards a Level 2 qualification in radio production while you’re with us.

There are limited places available and our courses often get oversubscribed. To find out more about the course, how volunteering at Preston FM works and how we allocate places on our courses, please check out our guide to volunteering.

To apply for a place on the course, or to ask any questions that you have, please contact hello@yourprestonfm.org.uk by 5pm on Monday 6th February, or call us on 01772 880791.

Other charities involved, who will also benefit from funds raised through the auction, are the Princes Trust; and Bolton Lads and Girls Club. There are a range of original artworks for sale, all donated by artists wanting to support the charities.

The auction can be found on-line at the Lateral Arts website and closes on 27th February 2012. We hope, if this one goes well, to run a second auction later in the year, coupled with an event in Your Prescap’s community gallery.

Please dig deep, and help support Your Prescap’s activities in communities as well as the excellent work done by the other partner charities.

Photo credit: Andrew Scott

We are looking for a researcher with facilitation skills to help us find out about our building and the surrounding streets in the past nine Guild years. From the research gathered by yourself and 12 volunteers Your Arts and Your Preston FM will create an audio and visual self guided tour.

Please download the full brief for further information.

Deadline for applications: Wed 18th January, 12 noon.

Photo: © Crown copyright and database rights 2011 Ordnance Survey

2012 is going to be an exceptional year for Preston, and we’re hugely excited to be a part of it. Here are a few things to look out for during the year:

• Starting on 9th January, hear from Prestonians from across the city and around the world every day on Chat City as part of 366 Proud Prestonians, produced alongside BBC Radio Lancashire.
• Listen to the Guild show, with all the latest news and gossip throughout Guild year.
• Take part in a once-in-a-Preston-Guild international sound art project as Preston FM brings you “Scroll Up”, launching in early 2012.
• Join us during the Guild City Festival as we broadcast ten days of special programmes from the heart of the celebrations.
• Watch out for Ribble and the whole Preston FM crew during the community and torchlight processions.

There’s lots more, of course: you can be sure that Preston FM will be there to bring you the latest from across the city all year – on our regular Guild show as well as elsewhere across the schedule.

And, of course, there’s more information than you could possibly take in at the official Preston Guild website.

Photo: © Copyright Alexander P Kapp and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

You can find out about all the programmes on offer over on our schedule pages – but here are some of the highlights:

• Christmas in a multi-faith Society – The Afinity inter-faith group discuss the way in which this innately Christian festival is viewed by a contemporary society that is made up of all faiths and none – Christmas Eve, 5pm
• One last midwinter – Join Mac and Margaret for a compendium of original and traditional Christmas snippets to see you on till lunch time – Christmas Day, 11am
• Polski Beben Christmas Carols – let Jacek Chrzuszcz supply some Polski-style music therapy as you settle down for Christmas dinner – Christmas Day, 2pm
• Preston FM’s alternative Christmas message – join Age Concern’s LGBT project officer, Drew Drake for Preston FM’s alternative festive speech – Christmas Day, 3pm
• Heroes’ Hour – Hosted by the Our Local Heroes Foundation and dedicated to injured service personnel in the North West. Guests include people injured in Afganistan and Iraq as well as charity supporters – Christmas Day, 7pm

Community Gateway: “Gateway Direct” can be contacted for emergency repairs only on some days during the holidays on 0800 953 0213 – see the Community Gateway website for details of opening times.

Council services:

• Preston City Council operate an out-of-hours service for emergencies only – call 01772 906916 or, for housing emergencies, call 01772 251076. There’s also information on-line about rubbish and recycling collections over Christmas.
• South Ribble Borough Council have published details of the Christmas opening times and waste and recycling collections on their website. There’s also information about how to access the SRBC emergency out-of-hours service.

Domestic Violence: Preston Domestic Violence Services‘ 24 hour helpline will be open throughout Christmas – call 01772 201 601.

Health services: NHS Central Lancashire can provide details of chemist opening times over the Christmas period as well as information about how to access other out-of-hours health services over the holidays. Call 111 (the new number for non-urgent medical help), or visit their website for details of out-of-hours GP services and chemist opening times.

Homelessness: The Preston Homeless Forum have compiled a list of all the services and drop-ins available for homeless people in Preston over the Christmas period. Most take place at the Foxton Centre in Avenham or at the Salvation Army near the University. Download the full programme here.

Samaritans: Visit the Samaritans website any time over Christmas for confidential support, or call 01772 822022 or 08457 90 90 90.

Young people: If there is something you need to talk about, something you want some help, information or advice about then you can contact Lancashire Young People’s Service from 10am-10pm every day throughout Christmas:

• Call 0800 51 11 11 (free from landlines, Virgin, 3 and Orange)
• Text 07786 51 11 11
• Use the on-line WebTalk service