By Pat Newman

Community is very important to Mumbles Matters as we are always looking for new and innovative ways of promoting community awareness. The Future Memory in Place project, which is the creation of Welsh artist Catrin Webster and Exeter University academic Elena Isayev, is one such inspirational initiative.

Elena Isayev  and Catrin Webster

This Arts Project, supported by Glynn Vivian Gallery, the National Waterfront Museum, the Centre for Migration Policy Research at Swansea University and Swansea Metropolitan University will be celebrated by a series of events in Swansea and Mumbles on Saturday 1st October.

No less than 2,500 Swansea school children have been involved with the Future Memory in Place project, over the last six months. The idea of the project is about how people relate to their community and how memories and migration can be expressed in art.

BBC Big Screen, Castle Square, Swansea

At 12.00 pm on 1 October at the National Waterfront Museum Tessera Hospitalis, a steel structure made by project participants will be unveiled while at 2.00 pm a choir will perform ‘1000 Colours Blue’ with an exciting backdrop on the BBC giant screen which will simultaneously display 1,000 blue colours that employ ideas about landscape, space and colour inspired by ancient history, Wales and Mongolian Overtone singing.

Oriel Bach Art Gallery, Dunns Lane, Mumbles

The Future Memory in Place will be further celebrated at the marvelous Oriel Bach Art Gallery, right here in the heart of Mumbles with an exhibition of Art and an estimated 800 postcards. Further information on the Oriel Bach exhibition will be given here at Mumbles Matters as we get it and you can obtain further information on The Future Memory in Place project and these special events through the following Websites . . .

www.futurememoryplace.blogspot.com

www.orielbach.com 

By Toni Delaney

The CAN Project (Countryside for Wales - Communities and Nature) is offering a range of practical skills sessions across their sites. If you are interested in booking onto a particular day then please email me your details and specify which day and session you wish to attend.

Places are limited and on a first come first serve basis. You have to book to attend these sessions so please get in touch with CAN (Communities& Nature ) Project Officer Lea Halborg via email at Lea.Halborg@swansea.gov.uk

Further details about each session will be forwarded to you when Lea receives your email.

10^thOctober 10-3pm – GGAT – Community Heritage Recording Skills Session– Meeting at the Civic Centre Meeting Room E Led by: Ellie Graham & Lea Halborg

11^thOctober 10-3pm - Volunteer Warden/Health & Safety Training – Meeting at Swansea Community Farm. Led by: Lea Halborg

14^thOctober 10-3pm – Biodiversity Training at Garth Farm – Learn about Moss & Lichen ID, Tree ID & Grass ID. Led by: Rhyan Law Cooper

http://www.ccw.gov.uk/enjoying-the-country/communities-and-nature.aspx

17^thOctober 10-3pm – GGAT – Community Heritage Recording Skills Session– Meeting at the Civic Centre Meeting Room E Led by: Ellie Graham & Lea Halborg

19^thOctober 10-4pm - Green Wood Skills Session (Hedge laying) – Meet at Meeting at Rosehill Quarry main grass area. Led By: Andy Roberts

24^thOctober 10-4pm – Hand Tool Skills Session – Learn how to use hand tools safely and maintain them. Led by: Chris Collins

25^thOctober 10-3pm - Volunteer Warden/Health & Safety Training – Meeting at Bishopswood. Led by: Lea Halborg

1^stNovember 10-3pm – Shaving Horse skills session at Garth Farm. Led by: Matt Carroll 

By Toni Delaney

What you do for the nature on your doorstep can make a big difference for wildlife. And it’s not just wildlife that benefits. You’ll feel good too: getting outdoors can be both relaxing and invigorating.

The more people who do their bit for the wildlife in their patch, the bigger the UK ’s garden nature reserve. The Big Wildlife Garden wants to find some of the best examples of wildlife gardens in the UK - ones that will inspire others to take action to turn their gardens into wildlife havens. Remember that size doesn’t matter – small-scale actions can still reap big rewards for wildlife.

The five categories are: Small residential,Large residential,New residential,Educational and Community Business

Sarah Raven

Entry is free, and prizes will include a year’s membership of the Royal Horticultural Society, and your local Wildlife Trust, plus attendance at a wildlife gardening master class at the Hampton Court Flower Show. Sarah Raven, gardener, writer and television presenter, will be on the BWG competition judging panel.

The competition is open to everybody in the UK , including individuals, communities and businesses.

Register your garden and enter the competition via www.bigwildlifegarden.org.uk.

For more stories like this and other community features visit Mumbles Matters Online Community Magazine http://mumblesmatters.com 

My Harvest Festival Produce Market

By Toni Delaney

My favourite time of year has to be ‘Harvest Festival’ for all sorts of reasons and one place that I am sure to be visiting will be the Mumbles Local Produce Market, at the Dairy Car Par, Oystermouth on Saturday 8 October.

Saturday 8 October 2011 Dairy Car Park, Oystermouth 9.00 am to 1.00 pm

http://mumblesdevelopmenttrust.org

The colours and freshness of the produce on show, from over thirty - five different Producers, set me off on an inspirational wander that, mixed with the whaft of sea air and the bustle of the 2,000 plus audience that this nationally renowned Market generates, takes me from 9.00 am until 1.00 pm and still leaves me wanting more. As a project of the Mumbles Development Trust, the Mumbles Local Produce Market, overseen by the tireless Robin Bonham and Karen Miller, shows up on the second Saturday of each month.

Five of these twelve Produce Markets are sponsored by the Welsh Assembly Government; in March we feel the heireith as it all ties in nicely with the Mumbles Dragon Parade, the Healthy Eating Summer Festival in July, December’s magical Christmas Festival and my own personal favourite, the Harvest Festival, on 8 October.

Highlights of Mumbles Local Produce Market

At the time of writing there are plans for a few surprises to take place in a few weeks and we at Mumbles Matters will be the first to confirm what these will be, right here at www.mumblesmatters.com. For now, we can reveal October’s Featured Mumbles Local Produce Market stall holder, which is a badge of honour bestowed upon the Market Holder Community by Mumbles Development Trust Vice Chairperson, Robin Bonham.

Pencae Mawr Traditional Farm Foods is a good friend of Mumbles Local Produce Market. The beautiful West Wales village of Llanfynydd is the base, where this month’s featured producer operates from and its owner,Peter Burgess specialises in the production of organic chutneys and preserves, using local Carmarthenshire ingredients.

Peter not only supplies and attends farmers markets like the one at the Dairy Car Park, Oystermouth but also supplies Wholesalers and Retailers and Pencae Mawr Traditional Farm Foods also operatesMail Order facilities.

pencaemawr@ntlworld.com

Pencaemawr, Llanfynydd, CarmarthenshireDyfedSA32 7TR

01558 668613

The proof is in the pudding (in this case organic chutneys and preserves) and I would urge anyone to visit the Market oneself, to see Peter’s merchandise first hand and if the recommendation of the Mumbles Development Trust is not enough to entice one down, in a few weeks, you may wish to examine Organic standard (Soil Association) holder’s impressive array of awards, one of which includes the fiercely contested Category reserve winner, in the True Taste Wales Awards 2008.

http://oystermouthradio.com

Also confirmed to be in attendance on Saturday 8 October will be representatives of the hotly awaited Oystermouth Radio station, an online community radio station for Mumbles and media partner of ours at Mumbles Matters. Station Director Peter Tremewan, along with newly appointed Programme Controller Paul Stephens and the team will be there to ‘meet and greet’ and are very eager to share their vision for community radio in Mumbles with their official launch just a few weeks away.

Mumbles Matters Magazine will also be there, making it a Mumbles Development Trust treble and we look forward to brining you all the latest on this most fabulous event at this most fabulous time of year as we get it.  

By Pat Newman

The all new and highly successful Mumbles Movies organisation moved into their new venue at All Saint's Church with a viewing of the feel good Italian movie 'Cinema Paradiso' this week.

The next movie title is yet to be decided but Mumbles Matters can reveal that the showing will be on Monday 17 October. We will, of course, bring all the latest activities concerning one of Swansea’s premier movie experiences here but you can also receive regular update from Mumbles including the upcoming movie dates, titles and other news by joining their Website free here at www.mumblesmovies.co.uk

The Mumbles Development Trust project has enjoyed a long run of success at the Ostreme Centre but the move across the village was necessary as part of the organisation's restructuring and licence constraints.

What the community is however faced with is an improved organisation with new, trained personnel and the latest, state of the art cinematic equipment which is much the envy of cinema clubs and society's all around the wider Swansea community.

All Saint's (Theo's Coffee Shop) on Mumbles Road

While All Saint's provides a closer, more intimate cinema experience Mumbles Movies also possess the know - how, experience and capability of appealing to the business community. Some of the ways in which Mumbles Movies can assist the business community is explained well on the Mumbles Movies Website

“Mumbles Movies can offer cost effective publicity for your company, organisation or event. If you are looking for a long term relationship with Mumbles Movies then your company's name could be included in the name of the cinema e.g. The "A & B Mumbles Movies". As we show around 25 films a year and our posters and advertising is placed prominently around the village for around 10 days for each film then 250 days exposure would be achieved.”

Another way in which Mumbles Movies can help is as a support mechanism for a promotional or fund raising night or maybe even a private party. As a taster as to what this highly professional organisation can supply is listed here:

Sanyo HD projector, Sony bluray DVD player, 2 no Bose line array L1 model 2, 4 no Bose model B1 modules, 1 no Mackie 802 vlz3 passive mixer, Large widescreen 18' x14' stumpfl screen.

For further information on business opportunities with Mumbles Movies and all the other information that you may need for the ultimate community cinema experience visit the Mumbles Movies Website here at www.mumblesmovies.co.uk 

You can read more stories like this on our online community magazine at www.mumblesmatters.com

By Toni Delaney

My favourite time of year has to be ‘Harvest Festival’ for all sorts of reasons and one place that I am sure to be visiting will be the Mumbles Local Produce Market, at the Dairy Car Par, Oystermouth on Saturday 8 October.

Saturday 8 October 2011 Dairy Car Park, Oystermouth 9.00 am to 1.00 pm

http://mumblesdevelopmenttrust.org

The colours and freshness of the produce on show, from over thirty - five different Producers, set me off on an inspirational wander that, mixed with the whaft of sea air and the bustle of the 2,000 plus audience that this nationally renowned Market generates, takes me from 9.00 am until 1.00 pm and still leaves me wanting more. As a project of the Mumbles Development Trust, the Mumbles Local Produce Market, overseen by the tireless Robin Bonham and Karen Miller, shows up on the second Saturday of each month.

Five of these twelve Produce Markets are sponsored by the Welsh Assembly Government; in March we feel the heireith as it all ties in nicely with the Mumbles Dragon Parade, the Healthy Eating Summer Festival in July, December’s magical Christmas Festival and my own personal favourite, the Harvest Festival, on 8 October.

Highlights of Mumbles Local Produce Market

At the time of writing there are plans for a few surprises to take place in a few weeks and we at Mumbles Matters will be the first to confirm what these will be, right here at www.mumblesmatters.com. For now, we can reveal October’s Featured Mumbles Local Produce Market stall holder, which is a badge of honour bestowed upon the Market Holder Community by Mumbles Development Trust Vice Chairperson, Robin Bonham.

Pencae Mawr Traditional Farm Foods is a good friend of Mumbles Local Produce Market. The beautiful West Wales village of Llanfynydd is the base, where this month’s featured producer operates from and its owner,Peter Burgess specialises in the production of organic chutneys and preserves, using local Carmarthenshire ingredients.

Peter not only supplies and attends farmers markets like the one at the Dairy Car Park, Oystermouth but also supplies Wholesalers and Retailers and Pencae Mawr Traditional Farm Foods also operatesMail Order facilities.

pencaemawr@ntlworld.com

Pencaemawr, Llanfynydd, CarmarthenshireDyfedSA32 7TR

01558 668613

The proof is in the pudding (in this case organic chutneys and preserves) and I would urge anyone to visit the Market oneself, to see Peter’s merchandise first hand and if the recommendation of the Mumbles Development Trust is not enough to entice one down, in a few weeks, you may wish to examine Organic standard (Soil Association) holder’s impressive array of awards, one of which includes the fiercely contested Category reserve winner, in the True Taste Wales Awards 2008.

http://oystermouthradio.com

Also confirmed to be in attendance on Saturday 8 October will be representatives of the hotly awaited Oystermouth Radio station, an online community radio station for Mumbles and media partner of ours at Mumbles Matters. Station Director Peter Tremewan, along with newly appointed Programme Controller Paul Stephens and the team will be there to ‘meet and greet’ and are very eager to share their vision for community radio in Mumbles with their official launch just a few weeks away.

Mumbles Matters Magazine will also be there, making it a Mumbles Development Trust treble and we look forward to brining you all the latest on this most fabulous event at this most fabulous time of year as we get it.

For more stories like this visit our online community magazine at http://mumblesmatters.com 

Robin Bonham, Vice Chair and environmental guru at the Mumbles Development Trust coordinated last Weekend's Beach Clean with Mumbles Development Trusts' fellow environmentalist Naomi Trodden and a committed team of rain resistant, battle hardy volunteers.

A team of volunteers for Mumbles Development Trust, including members of Soroptimists Swansea, have helped clean 8 bags full of rubbish from Blackpill beach, as part of the Marine Conservation Society's Beachwatch Big Weekend project.

Eight bags full of rubbish from Blackpill Beach

The 12 volunteers braved torrential rain on 17th September to collect and record the rubbish along a 100 metre stretch of beach. The data will help MCS identify the main sources of litter on Blackpill and keep the issue of the dangers of marine litter high on the local agenda.

Naomi Trodden for the Mumbles Development Trust says these beach cleans are vital: “Beach litter isn’t just unsightly, it can also be very dangerous to both humans and wildlife. MCS is working towards ensuring local communities right up to UK governments work together to try and stop littering at source. On Blackpill the main type of litter we found was sewage-related debris – the sort of stuff we put down our loos but shouldn’t, such as - tampons, cotton buds and condoms. The network of sewer pipes is not designed to filter out all of these items. As a consequence, they can end up on our beaches. The simplest solution is to bag it and bin it – don’t flush it! We also found a lot of fishing litter, like fishing line and nets. These are potentially lethal to marine wildlife as they can cause entanglement. Awareness of the issue needs to be raised in the local fishing community, and providing waste reception facilities at ports can offer a sensible alternative, but incentives may need to be introduced before this method is effective.”

A Young Volunteer weighs a bag of beach rubbish

Data from the Beachwatch Big Weekend every September contributes to the International Coastal Cleanup, where beaches all over the world are cleaned on the same weekend in a global effort to tackle marine litter. Over the last 10 years more than 37,000 volunteers have helped in clearing litter from UK beaches, removing tens of thousands of tonnes of rubbish directly from the habitats where it is doing so much harm.

For further information on the protection of our environment please contact Robin Bonham of the Mumbles Green Action Team either by calling 01792 361012 or by e mail mdtmumbles@btinternet.com

Images courtesy of Naomi Trodden  

Mumbles Development Trust media projects Mumbles Matters and Oystermouth Radio are celebrating a partnership that will provide the Mumbles Community with high quality news and entertainment through their respective Website's it was revealed today.

Peter Tremewan (left) and Joel Bennett with every right to be happy

Mumbles Matters has been operating as an online community magazine for four weeks, after spending just shy of six months, setting up a state of the art, fully interactive service for the Mumbles community. Oystermouth Radio, headed by Mumbles Development Trust Director Peter Tremewan and fellow Oystermouth Radio Director's Paul Stephens and Malcolm Poole are within a couple of weeks of launching an online community radio service for the people of Mumbles.

Setting up a radio project is a complex process and Oystermouth Radio have now overcome the many difficulties that were placed before them and are more than confident of a positive reaction and involvement from the Mumbles community and beyond as they seek to provide a rich blend of news, chat, music and entertainment.

Mumbles Development Trust Development Officer, Joel Bennett, is the sole Project Director for Mumbles Matters and is over the moon with the thirty - one Volunteers and Contributors who have helped make the online community magazine such an immediate success within the community and further afield as its Website now attracts around 300 visitors each week.

Around about the same amount of people will initially volunteer for Oystermouth Radio and as both projects have been finding their feet, searching for ways to maximise their resources, in order to provide the entertainment that the people of Mumbles deserve, they decided to share their many resources.

Mumbles Development Trust projects, of which there are nine in total, often work alongside one another and while these two media projects will remain separate entities they are very close in terms of the content that they wish to share with the public and in the roles of which their many volunteers are encouraged to explore.

The future looks extremely promising for both projects and the Mumbles Development Trust are delighted at the progress which is being made. The stronger these two projects are means the strength of the Mumbles Development Trust increases and all this put together makes Mumbles an even better place to work, rest and play in.

For further information on volunteering with the Mumbles Development or any of its projects visit the organisations Web site on or for specific opportunities with Mumbles Matters visit www.mumblesmatters.com or for Oystermouth Radio its www.oystermouthradio.com 

MCC To Hold Last Chance Green Space Opportunities

By Toni Delaney

Mumbles Community Council are urging community members to consider supporting all Green Space proposals in the Mumbles Community Council area. This call comes as the first stage of this consultation comes to a close.

MCC Warning Community of Last Chance Green Space Opportunities

Due to the large amount of Green Spaces in the Mumbles community area the Mumbles Community Council are concerned that should people fail to express their concerns there will be no second chance with very little opportunity for reinstatement.

Mumbles Community Councillors and City and County of Swansea Ward Councillors will be on hand to provide help and advice at a series of ‘drop in’ sessions which start this coming Monday. Representatives will have on hand document appended lists concerning all of the sites in the Newton, Mayals, Oystermouth and West Cross wards and for easy access, each submission is linked to the Candidate Site Register.

Two of the venues for these important advice sessions

The opportunities for residents to meet with Councillors of Mumbles Community Council and City and County of Swansea Ward Councillors will be at the following venues:

On 19th September Councillors Tony Colburn and Miles Thomas will be at Newton Village Hall, next to St Peter’s Church from 4.00 pm to 7.00 pm.

At the Linden Christian Centre Hall, West Cross and again between 4.00 pm and 7.00 pm Councillor Des Thomas is on hand.

Councillors will also be in attendance at the following two venues starting with a morning session at Mumbles Community Council office, Walters Crescent on Saturday 24th September between 10.00 am and 2.00 pm and on Monday 26th September a final opportunity at the Vivian Hall, Mumbles Road, Blackpill between 4.00 pm and 7.00 pm.

For further information on this particular issue and the valuable undertaken by Mumbles Community Council you may wish to visit the MCC Website, which you are able to do by clicking here www.mumblescommunitycouncil.gov.uk

For more stories like this and other community features visit Mumbles Matters Online Community Magazine http://mumblesmatters.com 

　

The Mumbles Green Action Team work closely with Marine Consevation Society ensuring that our lovely beaches remain lovely. Recently the results have been announced from the Marine Conservation Society’s Beachwatch Big Weekend 2010 summary report, produced with the support of SeaFrance.

This is a Nationwide initiative where our nations beaches are cleaned by its enthusiastic volunteers (The Mumbles Green Action Team are of course responsible for our community beaches) simultaneously over one weekend - this years clean up is 17^TH and 18^TH September 2011.

The Beachwatch Big Weekend 2010 removed 330,107 pieces of litter from 376 beaches. Unfortunately there is an average of 1,969 pieces of litter for every kilometre along UK beaches and litter remains a significant problem.

To read the results (including our own) from the 2010 Beachwatch big weekend click on mcsuk.org

If you would like to spare us a weekend in September for the sake of our beaches please contact Robin Bonham of the Mumbles Green Action Team either by calling 01792 361012 or by e mail mdtmumbles@btinternet.com 

September 2011

The Mumbles Green Action Team work closely with Marine Consevation Society ensuring that our lovely beaches remain lovely. Recently the results have been announced from the Marine Conservation Society’s Beachwatch Big Weekend 2010 summary report, produced with the support of SeaFrance.

This is a Nationwide initiative where our nations beaches are cleaned by its enthusiastic volunteers (The Mumbles Green Action Team are of course responsible for our community beaches) simultaneously over one weekend - this years clean up is 17^TH and 18^TH September 2011.

The Beachwatch Big Weekend 2010 removed 330,107 pieces of litter from 376 beaches. Unfortunately there is an average of 1,969 pieces of litter for every kilometre along UK beaches and litter remains a significant problem.

To read the results (including our own) from the 2010 Beachwatch big weekend click on mcsuk.org

If you would like to spare us a weekend in September for the sake of our beaches please contact Robin Bonham of the Mumbles Green Action Team either by calling 01792 361012 or by e mail mdtmumbles@btinternet.com