Amplify Stroud

13/12/2024

DATELINE: 13 DECEMBER 2024
WRITER: EMMA CALCUTT
TOPIC: SYRIA
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"The fall of the Assad regime is a turning point, but rebuilding — both personally and nationally — will take time. For Syrian refugees, this means navigating the complexities of the past while looking toward a brighter future. For everyone else, it means standing by their side as allies and friends."
— Emma Calcutt

Since the dramatic fall of the Assad regime in Syria last week, the internet and social media has been awash with speculation. In this article Emma stresses the need for us to show patience and empathy, to let the Syrian people write their own history.

>> https://amplifystroud.com/2024-12-syria/

The fall of the Assad regime is a turning point, but rebuilding — both personally and nationally — will take time.

09/12/2024

DATELINE: 9 DECEMBER 2024
WRITER: ALYSSA PEARCE
TOPIC: THE OPPRESSION OF A NATION
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"The persecution of the Uyghurs is not a new practice, since the formation of the Chinese Communist Party in 1949 they have faced oppression."
— Alyssa Pearce

On this the UN International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and Uyghur Genocide Recognition Day, Alyssa Pearce details the oppresion that the Uyghur have faced in China, covering international action and how we can raise awareness and support the Campaign for Uyghurs.

https://amplifystroud.com/2024-12-the-oppression-of-a-nation/

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The persecution of the Uyghurs is not a new practice, since the formation of the Chinese Communist Party in 1949 they have faced oppression. When the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990s, calls were made for the Uyghurs to gain their independence but 30 years later their situation is still worsening.

04/12/2024

DATELINE: 4 DECEMBER 2024
WRITER: ROBIN LAYFIELD | AMPLIFY
TOPIC: THE TIME IS RIGHT FOR SLOTH
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STROUD LIBRARY OF THINGS

“I just want to be really clear: people often think of electrical, plumbing, DIY, gardening tools when you talk about a "Library of Things" but this is so much more than that: we will be providing things that families need: tents and outdoor equipment, camping chairs, birthday party packs, anything that might be unaffordable to families during a cost-of-living crisis.”
— Nick Turner

With the imminent launch of the Stroud Library Of THings (SLOTH), Robin Layfield asked project lead, Nick Turner all about it.

>> https://amplifystroud.com/2024-11-the-time-is-right-for-sloth/

Stroud Library Of THings allows members to check out infrequently used equipment and materials from hedge trimmers, to party packs, to camping kits at low cost bringing the combined benefits of freeing storage, reducing waste and reducing our impact on the environment.

14/11/2024

DATELINE: 14 NOVEMBER 2024
WRITER: MILLY DAY | SOS
TOPIC: WHY WE FOUGHT TO SAVE OUR SAUNA
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“There is something very humbling about being (almost entirely) stripped down to our most basic form and sitting amongst people from all walks of life without the usual indicators of difference.”

Milly Day writes movingly of the physical, emotional and mental health benefits of sauna and why the grassroots campaign to persuade new Leisure Centre owners Stroud District Council to keep the facility open meant so much to so many.

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BECOME A PAYING SUBSCRIBER
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“There is something very humbling about being (almost entirely) stripped down to our most basic form and sitting amongst people from all walks of life without the usual indicators of difference.”

13/11/2024

The CASS review was in itself controversial but this article from Novara Media shows a very worrying development.

Several clinicians pivotal to the Cass Review recently addressed the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine, a designated anti-trans hate group that shares funding sources with the organisation behind Project 2025. Rivkah Brown reports.

04/11/2024

DATELINE: 4 OCTOBER 2024
WRITER: ALUN HUGHES | DIALECT
TOPIC: DON'T LOOK UP! LOOK UP! DON'T LOOK UP!
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"One day, hopefully in the near future, we will have little choice but to rematriate the land we live with and these old, creaking, antiquated colonial forms will finally be put to rest, if they haven’t wheezed their last before then."

2024 has been a year all about the land: the paywalling of the Bathurst Estate; the community purchase of the Heavens; and of course the Long Table, so it's fitting that we return to it now.

Alun Hughes takes us on an exploration of the land beneath our feet, the commons, our internal colonisation and the hope for future rematriation.

Alun touches on important work by Guy Shrubsole & Nick Hayes. Guy Shrubsole will be at the Subscription Rooms for Stroud Book Festival on 9 November, this coming Saturday.

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Amplify Stroud is actively nurturing the next generation of young writers and each TEN paying supporters enables us to commission an article from a new writer every month.

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by Alun Hughes. Land acquisition has been achieved over centuries by means of violent theft, enclosure, clearance and most importantly, the management of perception.

09/10/2024

DATELINE: 9/10/2024
WRITER: MIDGE PURCELL | STROUD AGAINST RACISM & RONNIE MCGRATH | BLACK ARK MEDIA
TOPIC: RECLAIMING NARRATIVES: TELLING OUR STORIES, REIMAGINING OUR FUTURES
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On the weekend of October 19 & 20, Stroud Against Racism & Black Ark Media are hosting a two day festival for Black History Month 2024 at the Trinity Rooms in Stroud.

Saturday will be packed with music, performance and dance and Sunday will host film screenings and discussions, with Unreflected Reflections exploring the experience of being a Muslim in Gloucestershire, and the Price of the Ticket - the must see documentary about the words and the wisdom of JAMES BALDWIN.

Read our article for a full breakdown of the acts, speakers, poets and performers involved as well as links to buy tickets (free but donations gratefully received).

Share this post and get along to the Trinity Centre to be part of something very special.

https://amplifystroud.com/2024-10-reclaiming-narratives-telling-our-stories-reimagining-our-futures/
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Amplify Stroud is actively nurturing the next generation of young writers and each TEN paying subscribers enables us to commission an article from a new writer.

Please support local writing.

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As a part of October National Black History Month in the UK, local groups Stroud Against Racism and Black Ark Media are leading local celebrations with a two-day Black History Month Festival event in Stroud on Saturday, October 19 and Sunday, October 20 at the Trinity Rooms, Field Road, GL5 2HZ.

08/10/2024

DATELINE: 8/10/2024
WRITER: DIYA MUKARJI | PSC STROUD DISTRICT
TOPIC: MARKING A YEAR OF GENOCIDE
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"The collective silence of society, of our own communities has been deafening and difficult to bear. But the weekly vigils have been an important space, a space that welcomes everyone, a space that is hopeful and active and supportive, that provides comfort and solidarity and conviction and commitment."

This is the full text of a speech given by Diya Mukarji addressing the weekly vigil for a ceasefire in its 51st week.

"Many from the global majority have been vocally supportive of Palestine not just now but for decades, this is no coincidence, many of us have felt the violence and trauma of colonialism and occupation."

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Amplify Stroud is actively nurturing the next generation of young writers and each TEN paying subscribers enables us to commission an article from a new writer.

Please support local writing.

>>> amplifystroud.com

07/09/2024

Stroud-based Sade will release music for the first time in six years with a track titled 'Young Lion', coming via a new collaborative benefit album celebrating trans artistry.

The track "Young Lion" is dedicated to her son Izaak.

Slated for release November 22, 'TRAUZA' is the latest compilation album from the non-profit organisation Red Hot. It will be divided into eight chapters to represent the eight colours of the rainbow pride flag. Each opens with a "chapter track," setting the tone for the them of that section.

The track is dedicated to her son Izaak Theo Adu

06/09/2024

DATELINE: 6 SEPTEMBER 2024
WRITER: DAVID LAMBERT
TOPIC: "LEAP INTO DEATH"
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"By the end of the century, every aspect of caring for the dead and the bereaved had been handed over to funeral directors and a multi-million pound industry established separating us all from the reality of death."

In this piece XR activist and campaigner David Lambert explores the commercialisation of death and the modern tendency to avoid exposure to grief.

David argues that grief is fundamentally important to us, a further rite of passage in our lives, that not thinking about death can be profoundly unhealthy.

"Grief is the flipside of love, and it needs expression just as much."

Link in bio
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Amplify Stroud is actively nurturing the next generation of young writers and each TEN paying subscribers enables us to commission an article from a new writer.

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Whatever the causes, we seem to have arrived at a society largely unfamiliar with the corporeality of death, in the sense of seeing or touching or handling a dead body.

24/08/2024

This is an important development from the Stroud Ceasefire Now Coalition, following on from the action last year.

Please sign and share if you are resident of Stroud District

20/08/2024

DATELINE: 20 AUGUST 2024
WRITER: ROBIN LAYFIELD | AMPLIFY
TOPIC: STROUD STANDS DEFIANT
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In the wake of the horrific attacks in Southport and a wave of Islamophobia and rioting across the country, the people of Stroud came together to say that we will stand together in support of everyone in our communities.

On Saturday 10th August, more than 300 people from right across the Stroud district gathered together at Wallbridge Green in Stroud to hear from speakers representing local and national government, community groups and faith leaders and to actively participate in rejecting Far Right rhetoric.

Simon Opher MP
Stroud Against Racism
Pete Kennedy, Deputy Leader of Stroud District Council
Community Solidarity Stroud District
The RYSE and Stroud MUTINY
Jeremy Green for Na‘amod
Simon Helme representing Churches Together in Stroud
Andy Woolley from Stroud Trades Council
Stroud Together with Refugees
Doina Cornell from Community Independents

Link in bio
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Amplify Stroud is actively nurturing the next generation of young writers and each TEN paying subscribers enables us to commission an article from a new writer.

Please support local writing.

>>> amplifystroud.com

In the wake of the horrific attacks in Southport and a wave of Islamophobia and rioting across the country, the people of Stroud came together to say that we stand together in support of everyone in our communities

21/07/2024

DATELINE: 21 JULY 2024
WRITER: RHIA DAVENPORT | BOSS MORRIS
TOPIC: “FEET” — DANCE AS AN ACT OF RESISTANCE
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Rhia Davenport pens this article from our SUMMER OF RESISTANCE series, exploring how dance can be a transformative action and the crucial role that Boss Morris is playing in their partnership with the Right to Roam campaign, anchoring protest into culture, tradition and history through Morris dance.

https://amplifystroud.com/feet-dance-as-an-act-of-resistance/

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Amplify Stroud is actively nurturing the next generation of young writers and each TEN paying subscribers enables us to commission an article from a new writer.

Please support local writing.

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Stroud, with its rolling hills and rich artistic heritage, provides a fertile ground for Boss Morris. They draw upon local traditions, folklore, and the natural environment, infusing their dances with a sense of the land's history and spirit.

03/07/2024

DATELINE: 03/07/2024
WRITER: ROBIN LAYFIELD
TOPIC: STROUD SACRED MUSIC FESTIVAL
Stroud Sacred Music Festival takes place on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 JULY at St Laurence's church in Stroud.

Robin catches up with the ever-present Rev Simon Howell to talk about the festival, its origins and the wider connection that adds Stroud to a global network of Sacred Music Festivals.

Highlights of the festival are listed and tickets for it are still available at the Stroud Sacred Music Festival website.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE at

>>> https://amplifystroud.com/ > amplifystroud.com

The Sacred Music festival returns to Stroud. We cover the highlights and the history of this event.

03/07/2024

DATELINE: 02/07/2024
WRITER: ROBIN LAYFIELD
TOPIC: FILM — NOT IN OUR NAME
Robin interviews Stroud-based Iranian film-maker Sohrab Kavir about his latest project - "Not in My Name" - a microcosm of the War on Gaza set in a small Stroud household that explores how relationships can be rebuilt through empathy and understanding.

The film is currently being crowdfunded on Kickstarter and could use your support.

>>> http://kck.st/4biYoJQ > amplifystroud.com

An interview with filmmaker Sohrab Kavir about the film he is making that explores relationship between two women - one Palestinian and one Jewish, sharing a household in the aftermath of October 7.

27/06/2024

DATELINE: 27 JUN 2024
WRITER: COMMUNITY SOLIDARITY STROUD DISTRICT
TOPIC: HI**ER APOLOGIST IS STANDING TO BE STROUD'S MP

CSSD write of their concerns of independent candidate for Stroud Saskia Whitfield's deeply ingrained antisemitic and homophobic values.

Cheltenham-based Saskia Whitfield - who is being promoted by The Light - is standing in Stroud as an independent candidate for Parliament. A look into her social media reveals a deeply ingrained pattern of homophobic and antisemitic values.

21/06/2024

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DATELINE: 21/06/2024
WRITER: ALUN HUGHES | DIALECT
TOPIC: ”HANDS” — WRITING AS AN ACT OF RESISTANCE

In the first of our SUMMER OF RESISTANCE articles, Alun Hughes explores what resistance feels like for him as a writer, what it means and what influences he draws on in his writing.

The piece is framed around preparations for an XR Funeral for Nature in Bath and goes on to explore our connections to the land as indigenous custodians.

"To resist is to create in our times. Artists and makers can create from the unknown, draw from the mystery. Some are adept at the deep dive into the well of excruciating grief and despair (the thick present) yet, somehow return with some treasure, a gift from the unknown that the artist carries to and for their community.

“Or maybe finding, making and appreciating beauty is the true act of resistance?”

https://amplifystroud.com/2024-06-writing-as-resistance/


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Amplify Stroud is actively nurturing the next generation of young writers and each TEN paying subscribers enables us to commission an article from a new writer.

Please support local writing.

>>> amplifystroud.com

Across the world, in this moment, people are stepping up and standing in defence of the land they live on, the waters they live with and each other’s rights to freely be.