What’s on in York: City Kick About
What’s on in York; ‘Cops vs Kids’ Esports pilot in York
York-based Digital PCSO Chris Simpson has been working on a new project during the past few months to help improve police engagement with children and young people in his patch.
Chris’s idea – called ‘Cops vs Kids’ – is to use Esports to build positive bridges with the youngsters, as well as seeking support from their parents and guardians.
He has teamed up with British Esports Association (BEA) and City of York Council’s Youth Justice Service to launch the initiative throughout August.
It will run at the Moor Lane Youth Centre on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays between 12noon and 2pm. All the places have now been filled.
The pilot covers a variety of sessions such as casual gaming, skills workshops, careers awareness and building a safe place for young people.
At the end there will be a ‘Cops vs Kids’ fun competitive gaming session, with the police playing on a team against young people in the area.
BEA is providing kit and guidance throughout the pilot and will produce a case study from the findings.
Chris said: “Esports can help break down barriers within our harder to reach communities where there is an inherent mistrust of the police, hopefully leading to a mutual respect.
“The event will also help to develop engagement opportunities with parents and guardians within local communities, both online and in the physical world.
“During the gaming sessions we will not only engage with young people, but also use it as a tool to help educate them around online safety, crime and anti-social behaviour.
“Ultimately, we want to show them that underneath the uniforms and despite the age differences, the police are human too. We share many similar interests, with gaming being a very popular common ground.”
Cllr Ian Cuthbertson, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education at City of York Council, said: “I’m pleased to welcome this activity for young people who are already working with our Youth Justice Service. It’s really important that officers who can help them are accessible and trusted. Having fun while gaming sounds a great way to build relationships while supporting the young people to make positive change in both their outlook and behaviour.”
Alice Leaman, the BEA’s Schools and Colleges Liaison Officer, said: “The pilot with North Yorkshire Police is a really exciting opportunity to understand how esports and gaming can help break barriers and engage all members of the community.”
- For more information about ‘Cops vs Kids Esports’ or to arrange an interview, please email chris.simpson@northyorkshire.police.uk or call 07741 175747.
What’s on in York; School holiday events with football stars
What’s on in York: Foxwood garden contest judging tomorrow (Monday)
What’s on in York: Operation Hummingbird
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What’s on in York: Wild World Heroes: Summer Reading Challenge 2021
Explore York Libraries and Archives and The Reading Agency have teamed up with theWorld Wildlife Fund to keep children reading over the summer, while challenging them to help save the planet. By taking part in the Challenge for free in Explore Libraries or online, children can join six fictional characters – ‘wild heroes’ – to help solve some of the threats to our natural world, and learn about the importance of the environment while helping to restore nature in ‘Wilderville’.
How to sign up
The Challenge starts on Saturday 17 July and runs until Saturday 11 September 2021.
You can sign up in any Explore York Library, but we are not running the challenge in our cafes or at the Community Stadium this year.
You can find a lot more Reading Challenge activities and sign up to do the challenge online if you prefer this option on the Summer Reading Challenge website
Books you can use for the challenge
You can borrow books from your local library to read, or you can use our e-book or e-audiobook service.
Illustrations © Heath McKenzie 2021
Summer Reading Challenge Activities
From July 5 onwards you will be able to book for our in person socially distanced events. As well as in person events we have activities for you to watch and download. They launch at the date and time next to the event and are available all summer.
You can book our in person events for children online or at a library.
Numbers for events in libraries will be very limited. If you book a ticket and then cannot come please make sure you cancel your ticket so someone else can come instead.
You can find online activities through our children’s activity link.
| Saturday 24 July | 10am | Liz Foster’s Wild World Heroes activity sheets. |
| Saturday 24 July | 10am | Robin Simpson’s Online Nature Stories and Activities. Come dressed as an animal if you wish. |
| Monday 26 July | 10am | Ted Schofield’s Online Picture Adventure Story Workshop. Have a piece of A3 paper, papers for practicing, pencils, crayons and a ruler ready to do the session. |
| Monday 2 August | 10am | John Kirk’s Story Treasure Hunt 1 |
| Monday 2 August | 10am | John Kirk’s Story Treasure Hunt 2 |
| Wednesday 4 August | 10.30 am and 2pm | Theatre of Science’s Summer Extravaganza Science Meditation Session (live) |
| Wednesday 11 August | 10am | Theatre of Science’s Summer Extravaganza: Science Meditation Session (recording) |
Arts Award Discover is a nationally recognised introductory award aimed at 5 to 9 year olds (although any child can take part.) Explore York Libraries and Archives, York Art Gallery, York Army Museum and All Saints, North Street are offering children the opportunity to gain Arts Award Discover through taking part in any three of our in person or online activities, finding out about an artist or crafts person and telling us about these at a Big Share Event.
Download a record sheet to note down what you have done or just collect all you have made and come to a Big Share Event anytime between 1 pm and 4 pm on Wednesday 1st September in the Marriott Room at York Explore Library or between 1 pm and 3 pm on Sunday 5th September in the Sensory Garden at the rear of York Art Gallery. After talking to you we will apply for an Arts Award certificate for you which will be posted to your home.
Thanks to funding from York Army Museum we can offer these certificates free of charge.
What’s on in York: NHS BIG TEA charity fundraiser Friday 9th July
What’s on in York: “Finding the words”
Thursday 24th June 2021
7:00pm
On line event organised by York Explore Library
Come and listen to some of the best poets from Yorkshire and beyond at Finding the Words, our relaxed and welcoming poetry evening
Finding the Words with Kathryn Bevis, Ellora Sutton and Shash Trevett
Kathryn Bevis is Hampshire Poet 2020-21 and founder of The Writing School Online . Her poems have won several awards, including first prize in the Poets & Players and Against the Grain competitions. Kathryn’s work has been published and anthologised in print and online by: Nine Arches Press, iamb, Live Canon, Words for The Wild, Parthian Books, and The Fenland Poetry Journal. She now designs and delivers online Poetry for Wellbeing courses for adults in substance misuse and mental health settings, and in prisons. Kathryn is working towards her first collection.
Ellora Sutton (she/her) is a queer poet from Hampshire. She has won the Mslexia Poetry Competition, the Poetry Society and Artlyst’s Art to Poetry Award, and the Pre-Raphaelite Society Poetry Competition. Her work has been published by Poetry News, Ink Sweat & Tears, and Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal, amongst others. Her debut chapbook, All the Shades of Grief, was published in 2020 by Nightingale & Sparrow, and for the first three months of 2021 she enjoyed being poet in residence at Jane Austen’s House. She tweets @ellora_sutton, or you can find her at ellorasutton.com.
Shash Trevett is a Tamil from Sri Lanka who came to the UK to escape the civil war. She is a poet and a translator of Tamil poetry into English. She has collaborated with artists and composers and is a winner of a Northern Writers’ Award. Her pamphlet From a Borrowed Land will be published in May 2021 by Smith|Doorstop. She is currently co-editing (with Vidyan Ravinthiran and Seni Seneviratne) an anthology of Tamil, English and Sinhala poetry from Sri Lanka and its diaspora communities. Shash was the 2019 Apprentice Poet in Residence at Ilkley Literature Festival and is a 2021 Visible Communities Translator in Residence at the National Centre for Writing. She is a 2021 Ledbury Critic and a Board Member of Modern Poetry in Translation.
Acomb Explore Under 5’s Storytime
Thursday 17th June 2021
10:30am
Acomb Explore Library, Front Street
Stories and songs at Acomb Explore
Join us for stories, songs and rhymes at this socially distanced event. This is suitable for under 5’s with and accompanying adult. Each ticket is for 1 adult with children age under 5 years old.
Residents newsletter reveals history of brick making on Foxwood Lane
The Foxwood Residents Associartion is delivering a “Fox” newsletter to every househod in the area.
It includes an interesting article on he history of brick making on land now called Chesney’s Field. The article reveals that several buildings in Acomb used bricks from the works. Many are still standing.
Brick making started in 1880 and continued well into the 20th century.
The area was leveled 30 years ago and is currently well used by sports teams and for children’s play.
We understand that chidren from Hob Moor school are planning to “adopt” part of Chesney’s Field and help to keep it clean
We hope that the Council will improve its grass cutting performance.. It is not just parts of Chesney’s field which are becoming overgrown. The sports pitches, in particular, need regular mowing if they are to be used by young people during the summer holidays.
