onionbagblog

Here be a stump. I was rather hoping that local Colchester Borough Council political candidates would be strapped down on the stump, told to speak for two minutes and then allow the Wivenhoe Dogs of War to attack them, should they talk political twaddle.

But nope - it seems that the stump is simply a raised flowerbed.

Blimey.

Appearing outside the vey fine Wivenhoe Eyecare and Jardine over the course of the past week, the stump is certainly an improvement on the barren patch of land that lay before.

This hyper hyper #hyperlocal development has passed me by in terms of the local planning etc; I even live within shouting distance of a local politician forced to be pitched up on the stump. I’ve probably been too busy poking my nose around the Cross etc.

I presume (NEVER presume!) that this is a Wivenhoe Town Council initiative, soon to be filled with plenty of pretty flowers from those very decent folk of Wivenhoe in Bloom?

Or maybe it is just an alternative eye test for the optician opposite the stump? How many red flowers and how many yellow flowers can you see, Sir?

Um…

I can see a red rosette, a yellow rosette and a mad dog (NOT a politician) about to endorse a local politician.

Not many blue flowers around these part, mind.

Steady Jase. Steady.

Published as part of the Hidden Kiosks project.

Here is a lovely follow up story showing how involvement at the Hidden Kiosks Project can lead to local business growth and opportunities.

We were thrilled when Jennifer Lawrence approached us at the start of the year about the possibility of opening up her p.s… it’s vegan start-up business down at the old bus station.

It now seems that the exposure and experience offered from the Kioks has led the business to grow. It also helps of course that the incredible dedication and unique business model put in place by Jennifer has an element of planning, looking beyond the Kiosks tenancy.

p.s… it’s vegan has just completed a highly successful sale at Lush, a vegan food event set up to raise fund for the campaigning charity Animal Aid. This was part of a worldwide bake sale taking place on the same day to promote the vegan cause.

Jennifer adds:

“I asked Lush for permission to hold it in their shop because they sell vegan products, and are supportive of animal charities. When I asked them about it I took a covering letter explaining what I wanted to do, and they immediately recognised my business name and said: oh, you were at the bus station weren’t you!?

A lot of familiar faces from my time at the Hidden Kiosk showed up to show their support and to buy cakes, and the bake sale raised an impressive £157.”

As a testament to the p.s… it’s vegan stint down at the Kiosk, Jennifer adds:

“Having previously had eight successful sessions in the Kiosk definitely gave me a boost to do the bake sale; I probably wouldn’t have had the confidence to do it otherwise! I also think it helped me in securing a spot in Lush!”

Um… LUSH!

We predicted back in March on this blog that:

“We have no doubt that this is just the beginning for the lovely Jennifer Lawrence and we are sure what’s lived in Kiosk #1 over the next month will grow into a great little venture that spreads the vegan love right across the country…”

With a business plan that pledges to banish the bland and the boring from vegan food, p.s… it’s vegan seems to have captured the mood perfectly. Jennifer serves all cupcakes, macaroons, cookies, gingerbreads, teas and coffees.

You can follow her next move via twitter @psitsvegan, or by supporting the project on the p.s… it’s vegan facebook page.

To Broad Lane early on Friday evening, to tag along on the coat tails of the Royal Wedding bunting with a beer festival.

Blimey.

Actually, that’s not quite accurate. The Station was in our sights first, with a nuptial themed tea party / booze up taking place. The splendid Judith Chalmers popular local beat combo were playing their stuff, with a suitably wedding-tastic version of the Dark Side of the Moon adding to the happy happy joy joy sound upon our arrival.

A quick pint down at the bottom of the town, and then to the good fortune of @AnnaJCowen and I, a Broad Lane (ish) 61 bus rolled up for our convenience. It wasn’t quite the carriage of choice that the happy Establishment couple had boarded earlier in the day, but then Buckingham Palace wasn’t hosting a beer festival.

We were warmed along the route to encounter the good Mr Mayor elect hosting a garden tea party. An outrageously patriotic shirt, both equally splendid and intoxicating to the eye, was the order of the day. I’ve always said that the Town Council chamber needs livening up. Expect strobe lights ahead of the first meeting of the new administration.

A short walk along Elmstead Road, and then it was all about Broad Lane and booze. The biggest crowd of the season has assembled at the football club for the community day. We missed out on the main activity of the community football match, but soon made up for it at the bar.

Eight local Essex real ales were on offer; it would have been poor etiquette to the local economy not to sample each one. I became slightly tired and emotional after pint number three. My fourth trip to the bar led to my mental note of “hamster cage beer” to best describe the beautiful wooden aroma.

The live music was a mixed bag - lively, and both generational and genre crossing. A blues band was jamming when we arrived. This soon gave way to local Wivenhoe sensation Lou Terry - an outrageously talented local lad who was well supported by a group of yoof. A more traditional folk band brought us back down to earth. Or maybe it was the hamster cage beer?

Keeping with the Royal pageant theme, the dancing queen for the evening was a young princess wearing a tiara. Her partner was a young chap, dressed splendidly as, um, Superman. It sure beats all the Establishment costume twaddle of earlier in the day.

Another charming chat with the good Mr Chairman, and it seems that the Broad Lane vision of being opened up for all in the community to use is already being but into fruition. The Society for Children Affected with Neurological Symptoms are now using the clubhouse during the week as a social base in which to meet. Fantastic work for all involved, and hopefully the facilities can now start to expand.

And so twelve hours later after the happy Establishment couple had said “I do” in front of a worldwide audience of two billion, I repeated the same words to @AnnaJCowen in front of a Wivenhoe folk band.

“Do you want to wobble back to base?”

“Um, I do…”

Chin chin.

Published as part of the Keep Colchester Cycling project.

Anyone around Colchester who has come across local social activist Pam Nelson can’t but help to come away from a presentation by her inspired by the enthusiasm, ideas and sheer energy that Pam has for the town. Pam wears many hats to help promote health and sustainability around Colchester. Her recent talk at the Active Travel conference at the University of Essex left us buzzing with ideas about the possibilities for Bike Week 2011.

Pam explained a potted history of Bike Week in Colchester, from the humble beginnings in 1990 and the setting up of the Colchester Cycling Campaign, through to the multi-million pound funding that was secured to help give Colchester an official Cycle Town status.

The challenge now for Pam and the active Colchester cyclists is to reach out to people in the town who may be dismissive of cyclists. Pam expressed concern that Bike Week is seen locally as an event for crazed local cyclists, and not as an inclusive introduction and support for cycling around the town at all times throughout the year.

The decision has been taken not to focus too heavy on Bike Week around Colchester for this year. Instead, cycling should be promoted as an all year round activity. A calendar of events has been put in place for Bike Week, but these rather conveniently extend throughout the rest of the summer cycling season as well.

The City Criterium Series, Colchester Carnival and the Colchester Free Festival - these are all well attended events locally where cycling can play an important role on the agenda of activities.

Pam explained how a tremendous amount of organisational skills and local networks have been built up in the twenty years or so since the Colchester Cycling Campaign was first established. The role now for the group is to act as a resource, and to support others around the town that want to work on cycling relating projects.

Here at Keep Colchester Cycling and we are greatly enthused to have Pam on board to help us informally with our bike pool project. If any of the energy that Pam brings to her many projects is passed on to Keep Colchester Cycling, then we are confident that our humble aims can be met.

To @15QueenStreet on Thursday evening for another Creatives in Colchester social meet ‘n greet. Six months in to my membership at the @creativecoop hub and I’m still finding new, interesting and creative folk to work and socialise with around Colchester.

It was particularly pleasing to finally meet up offline with the good @PaperShed37, a Brightlingsea based designer and artist. We have had involvement online, but somehow managed to miss each other offline @15QueenStreet.

No worries - all sorted, and even a diary date set for some work together on the growing #mentorme project that is now in place.

Being the start to another four day Bank Holiday bender, this was something of a reserved Creative in Colchester meet up. Seeing as though the majority of folk meeting up in the main room are freelancers, and seeing as though the status of self-employed doesn’t budget for Bank Holidays, the booze flow was as measured as the balance books.

Which all meant that when it was time for local film maker Will Wright to deliver an informal Q & A session in the boardroom, there was a captive audience with a clear head.

It was worth the abstinence, with Will packing into a twenty minute slot a potted history of where he has come from and where he is heading.

Put simply, Will comes from Colchester, he is heading in the rough direction of Colchester and the surrounds, and preferably with a strong #hyperlocal perspective of working online and offline in harmony.

I rather liked what Will had to say.

Skipping over the fact that Will helped to set up @Slack_Space and revitalise a run down area of the town with an arts agenda; plus overlooking Will’s involvement in passing on his film making skills to local students, and even forgetting that Will has directed a Cradle of Filth video (cripes) - the main purpose of his presentation was to talk about his current web series based around Britain’s Oldest Recorded.

With a passion for Colchester that matches his passion for film, Will is bypassing the beast that is traditional old media and basically just getting on with it and working with other local creatives. It is a mantra that motivates me to get out of bed most mornings.

The digital meets #hyperlocal model is surfacing in Credo - “An original occult thriller web series being independently produced in Colchester Essex.”

The concept is to cast and crew the production entirely local, and then make the content available for distribution online. The project is of course all being captured digitally via the Credo blog. Crowd sourcing is being used to generate new ideas, and to collect content that can be used in the production.

Will’s spoke of his aim of:

“Taking Colchester and putting it in a different context. There is a mythical status of the town that we can help to change by working together in a creative and co-operative environment.”

Local businesses are being approached to help with the funding, with the idea of sponsoring the production as part of a digital strategy.

Twenty minutes later, and I was left scratching my head, taking in a deep draw of breath and trying to unscramble my thoughts.

Blimey - where exactly does all of that energy come from?

I needed something a little stiff to bring me back down to earth. More conversations followed downstairs in the main @15QueenStreet studio, more ideas were fed my way.

A man who runs out of ideas in Colchester is a man who should probably bugger off to Brightlingsea, or something. I looked over my shoulder, and saw the good @PaperShed37 surveying the scene and soaking up all of the creative energy.

That should see us both through until next month.

Published as part of the Mentor Me project.

When the Mentor Me project was first being planned, it came as no surprise to see the Hidden Dingbat Collective being one of the first creatives working out of Colchester to kindly volunteer their time to help local students. Phil and Lauren were in this exact same situation a year ago - recently graduated, skilled in their craft but needing business support.

It was to the very good fortune of the Dingbats that the Creative Coop had just set up the shared workspace at 15 Queen Street, as part of the regeneration of the town and the emergence of the Cultural Quarter.

As is abundantly clear from the Dingbat's website, Phil and Lauren certainly aren't lacking in creative talent; what was needed however was a supportive, creative studio in which to establish themselves and to help their business grow.

Anyone who has followed online the transition of the Dingbats from recent graduates to a genuine growing and highly charged local business, will understand what Phil and Lauren can offer to the Mentor Me project. As well as offering a critical and supportive creative eye, the Dingbats are best placed to advise on the practicalities of establishing yourself in the creative Colchester economy.

The enthusiasm of the Collective is infectious. It has landed them major contracts with clients such as the Colchester School of Art, Design & Media, firsite and the Colchester Free Festival.

In return, the Dingbats are now in a position to work with a local student and to mentor them through what can be a confusing transition phase. Phil and Lauren share a genuine collective approach to their work - a recent grand project was to assemble a local team to help draw the entire broadcast of Comic relief.

If it is this type of measured, creative risk taking that appeals to you, please step forward and apply for mentorship with the Hidden Dingbats. There is a ying and a yang element to their work; a good cop and a bad cop. We couldn't possibly elaborate more, but being mentored by Phil and Lauren will give you a first hand insight into the workings of one of the most successful local design studios within Colchester.
 

Published as part of the Keep Colchester Cycling project.

Putting in place a bike pool project around Colchester is the central theme to our Keep Colchester Cycling scheme. Therefore we were most interested in the presentation given by Harvey Panrucker of Essex County Council at the recent Travel Plan conference held at Essex University.

Harvey is responsible for putting in place a bike pool plan for employees of ECC. We had much to learn from his experience and approach to promoting cycling as a realistic form of local transport.

We heard how there is a cycle lock up facility underneath County Hall in Chelmsford with a capacity for 240 bicycles. Showers and a secure lock up facility are also provided, yet at its peak last summer, Harvey was surprised that only 140 bikes were in place.

Clearly some barriers were in place that stopped employees from thinking about using bicycles as the best form of transport during the working day. The challenge for Harvey and his team was how to actively promote cycling within County Hall.

Local research suggested that there was a perception that cycling is a time drain, as well as being physically uncomfortable. Harvey decided that the best way to disprove these theories was to offer for free the use of bicycles paid for by the County Council.

A small bike pool was established, with all employees encouraged to use a bike for free for up to four weeks. Put briefly, the aim was for council staff to fall in love with cycling, with a little bit of a helping hand from their employer.

Many staff attend off site meetings throughout the working day. Typically these are three - five miles outside of County Hall. Harvey decided that this was to be the main push to help promote cycling. With no traffic obstructions or hold ups to block a route, a cyclist knows pretty much for sure the exact time it will take to reach a destination.

The ECC bike pool scheme was such a success that by the end of the year, the underground lock up was completely full. Having been given the option to experiment with cycling, staff voted with their feet and took to two wheels rather than four. The ECC fleet has now been expanded, with even a car park being converted into yet more cycle storage space.

The ambitions of the bike pool plan however stepped up another level when Harvey decided to promote the project with partners of the council. A local garage that supplies parts for council vehicles was approached. This was an atypical cycling friendly environment. If the car mechanics could be persuaded to cycle, then a bike pool can be used as a means to an end in helping to promote sustainable transport.

After a great deal of early cynicism and mocking from the mechanics, the business soon found that staff members loved the idea of cycling during the working day. The bicycles lent by Harvey and his team proved difficult to be returned, such was the keenness of the business to embrace the bike.

Colchester Borough Council and the Colchester Institute are the next working partners that ECC wants to try and convert to a cycling lifestyle in the workplace.

We greatly enjoyed the evangelism that Harvey put across about a bike pool scheme. We firmly believe here at Keep Colchester Cycling that there is a demand for a bike pool for the pubic to use around the town. We hope that the ECC experience will soon be transferred to our hometown.