What’s on in York: Finding the Words – York Stanza Christmas Showcase

Dec _13Stanza

York Explore Library 

Thu 13 Dec :

6.45pm – 7.45pm :

Free

Poets from the York Stanza strut their stuff.

Started eight years ago by Carole Bromley, the York Stanza (part of a network of local groups under the umbrella of the Poetry Society) now has sixty members who between them have carried off most of the country’s poetry prizes.

A range of poets will read and perform their work. Readers will include Carole Bromley, Richard Carpenter, Phil Connolly, Mary Ann Dearlove, Nick Boreham, Jenny Hill, Andy Humphrey,  Nairn Kennedy, Patrick Lodge, Mary Matusz , Rob Miles, Stuart Pickford  and Hannah Stone

Come along and join us for a pre-Christmas celebration.

For more information please call the library on (01904) 552828 or york@exploreyork.org.uk.

What’s on in York, Minster, Carol Concerts

York Minster’s popular Christmas Carol Concerts take place on Thursday 13 and Friday 14 December and offer the perfect start to the festive season.

Book tickets in the Nave for both concerts HERE (£30,£25, allocated) or by selecting BOOK above.
For Nave Aisle seats (£15, unallocated) click HERE

The concerts feature the York Minster Choir performing a mixture of classical and popular Christmas music, with the chance for the audience to join in with Christmas carols.

The concerts take place in the Minster’s awe-inspiring Nave and include special seasonal readings by celebrity guests.

Tickets are priced at £30, £25 and £15 and are available online, by telephoning 01904 557256 or in person from York Minster’s welcome desks.

Christmas concerts off to a good start in York

We’re into the Christmas concert season now. The Yorkshire Volunteers brass band entertained at the Merchant Adventurers Hall on Friday. They will be returning to the City on Thursday and Friday evening when they will participate in the very popular Minster carol concerts. The Minster hosted the annual performance of The Messiah yesterday with the orchestra, choir and soloists receiving a standing ovation

Landmark report reveals active lives of York’s children.

New research published by Sport England yesterday, carried out independently by Ipsos MORI, reveals the nation-wide challenge to help children lead more active lives.

Sport England report

In the face of this, the City of York is reported to have higher than average levels of children engaging in sports and physical activity on a daily basis.

The largest ever survey of its kind, Active Lives Children and Young People, has provided comprehensive insight into how children in England are taking part in physical activity both in and out of school. It shows that around 3 million children (43.3%) lead active lives, doing an average of 60 or more minutes of physical activity a day. However, just over 2.3 million children and young people (32.9%) are less active which means they do less than 30 minutes of physical activity a day.

The report is based on responses from over 130,000 children aged 5-16 in England during the academic year 2017 to 2018. It also reveals that there are significant inequalities based on family income, showing that children from the most affluent families are more active than those in the least affluent families.

The report was released on the same day as the York Council decided to demolish the only, free access, all weather games area in west York. A Sport England request for the facility to be replaced was ignored by planning Councillors

For York, the report shows encouraging results, with the city having a higher percentage of children meeting the Chief Medical Officer’s physical activity guidelines of at least 60 minutes of moderate intensity per day, and lower than average percentages of children falling into the ‘less active’ category (see below).

Cllr Carol Runciman, Executive member for adult social care and health said, “It’s encouraging to see the high percentages of children in York taking up the opportunity to live active lives and benefit their physical health early in life. We still want to see these figures continue to rise as we ensure children of all backgrounds can access opportunities to make healthy life choices and get active.

“Since that academic year we have launched our #MoveMoreYork campaign, encouraging everyone across the city, all ages and abilities, to move more in their everyday life and make healthy choices which can benefit them for the rest of their life.”

MUGA mugged – another blow for leisure provision in the Westfield area

Children’s ball games facility demolished

Despite objections from Sport England, Councillors approved the demolition of the Kingsway MUGA last night. No replacement all weather games area is planned

According to the Council’s own figures the Westfield area has the largest deficiency in sports and active leisure facilities in the City.

It also has the largest problem with child obesity 

The committee failed to include the conditions requested by Sport England which would have seen an alternative games area provided elsewhere before the existing facility was demolished.

Council officials claimed that the MUGA was derelict and disused. In fact, only minor repairs – which have been outstanding for over 12 months – would be required to bring the facility back into use.

Additional conditions requested by LibDem Councillors were voted down.

Correspondence between the Council and Sport England – and verbal claims by an official last night – suggest that planning committee members were misled. This could lead to a formal complaint about the way the MUGA issue has been handled.

The Council has failed to include the most recent correspondence on the issue on the “planning on line” web site.

This is the second time that the Council has misled Sport England about planning issues.

Earlier in the year a report on the provision of new football pitches on Tadcaster Road claimed that they would be used by Woodthorpe Wanderers football club.

They were later forced to admit that Woodthorpe Wanderers had folded 6 months previously.