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The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum is hosting Coventry’s largest festive arts and crafts event on Saturday 28th November, free to the public. Entitled Making Merry, local crafts people, artists and choirs are all taking part in the event during the Christmas shopping period from 11am until 4pm.

The regions best choirs will be serenading the public and gifts are purchasable at discounted prices throughout the day, whilst the four temporary galleries offer ‘make-and-take’ workshops for children to create their own gifts and wrappings for their family. Mulled wine and mince pies are available at a small price throughout the day.

Jamie Perry, head of marketing and communications, said: “Unlike most craft shows, Coventry’s Herbert Gallery offers completely free workshops and sells local arts and crafts for low prices, investing all commission we make back into making the place free to the public.” The Herbert has had a five year 20 million pound revamp and redesign project and has gained six times the amount of visits in 2009, bringing in 311,000 visits.

Sporting eight permanent galleries featuring exhibits from seven hundred years of history, art from the 1900’s, natural work and the war that devastated Coventry, the Herbert Gallery is aiming to merge into the city centre through live fashion modelling in shops, gospel choirs in the streets and a continual advertising campaign towards making the museum a free, family friendly experience.

Mr Perry, who commented on the Herbert’s aims, said: “It’s off the beaten track, presence in the city centre for a day is excellent. Most advertisements to students say we want your loans, we want your money. We don’t want your money, we just want you to come here.” The student support offers many bonuses to university students, in the continual goal of giving the Herbert an appeal to all ages and cultures.

Details of the Making Merry Festival and all other information can be found by on 024 7683 2386 or www.theherbert.org.

Jon Dudley.

Just a small post for today. As a small piece of advice for you all, when we learn more in our course, we know better methods of writing articles and it may make our older posts almost obsolete. If you pop back through the articles you’ve made so far and play around with it, you’ll have consistent work throughout the course.

In other news, I’ve found out that my blog’s been circulating Twitter and has been noticed on The Secret Handshakes fansite since my review of the artist. I’ll have to get more reviews going it seems. Excellent.

Ticketmaster, one of the worlds largest e-commerce websites in the world and Britain leading ticket seller, has amazed gift card companies since the release of their gift certificates. Credit card sized gift cards are a popular Christmas present in the United Kingdom, offering the ability to give somebody something that they truly want. The cards allow the online purchase of music shows, festivals and sporting events across the world.

Keith Brand, director of TheGiftCardCentre.co.uk, said: “We knew gift cards from department stores, restaurants and specialist retailers would be popular, but this year is really shaping up as the year people want to give experiences too. We’ve been amazed by the level of popularity. “Giving a Ticketmaster gift card is a real treat for the lucky recipient.”

Tickets are available from £10 to £300, and with sixteen different prices available, there is enough variety to buy a small music gig to a festival or sporting event experience of a lifetime. Sara Barnes, a local student, said: “It gives you an excuse to go to a gig and a choice of where to go, but real tickets show you put more thought in to the present.” Ticketmaster is renowned as a trustable ticket site, offering protection from ticket touts and providing a safe and reliable service that is not always available from known online selling sites such as Ebay. Miss Barnes also said: “I trust Ticketmaster as they have a good reputation and I have bought from them many times.”

Gift certificates bring in £3bn of the UKs turnover, and are available online and in most large stores, offering money for supermarket shopping, music, clothes and more recently for experiences and traveling. Ticketmaster has currently sold over 140 million tickets a year for 10,000 worldwide clients, making it the largest ticket selling enterprise in the UK and a world renowned company.

Ironmonger Square is the latest development in Coventry City centre that promises to be completed before 2010. The land between Ironmonger Row and Burgess Street has been renovated and rebuilt since 10th August and promises a traffic calming road design, wider footpaths and road resurfacing on a project set to cover the previously underdeveloped area of the city.

Reclaimed granite, sandstone and concrete flagstones will decorate the area, along with finishing touches of trees, seating areas and spherical statues, if the artists impressions designs are followed. Coun Hazel Noonan, cabinet member of City Services, passed the finances for the project in early November for its completion. She stated the project ‘gives a facelift and fits in with future developments for the city centre’, and that extra work, a further renovation pushing as far as West Orchards shopping centre, ‘would not be finished until the end of February.’

Efficient budgets and spending plans allowed the project to be completed quickly, with funding remaining for next years plans for the rest of the area. The project is estimated to cost £4m overall, despite orignal plans being delayed due to Primark buildings being unstable.  The development has limited access to roads for shop loading, and the Trinity Street and Bishop Street bus stations have been relocated to Gosford street due to road resurfacing. Future plans for a taxi rank and further plantation of trees continues Coventry Councils plans safer, brighter future for the city.

Coun Noonan added ‘This revised scheme will transform it into somewhere that people feel safe and want to go to shop or even just enjoy a sit down. I think we have kept all of the best features of the original plan and improved on it. We have also ensured that it is set to join up to the Jerde masterplan in the future.’ The Jerde masterplan is a long term plan to establish Coventry as a vibrant, word class city with a bold future.

Sorry I’ve been slacking on this blogging idea so much. Heavy insomnia is causing complete confusion in my life lately, I’ve lost all track of days and time. Today however, all is well in Dudley-land! So, have an article to look over, commenting if it is your want.

Cause for alarm from fire pranks

Residents in many Coventry University accommodation facilities have faced a rising number of early mornings in the cold outdoors due to fire alarms being set off. While this has commonly been due to poor cooking or a midnight cigarette in a non ventilated room, recently it has become aware that fire alarms are being deliberately set off as pranks.

Each individual alarm must be responded to by Coventry Fire Services, at great cost and manpower each time. Average UK figures are £250 an hour for each call out a fire service attends, and when they are attending such pranks, they are unable to be called out for real emergencies. With at least one a week and three in one night on one occasion, this problem is a money draining exercise. In the event of a real fire in Coventry, these pranks could be a cost to lives and properties on a major scale. Coventry University are taking a strong disciplinary approach to anyone involved in fake fire alarms, with anyone found guilty of such pranks being expelled from university and referred to police.

This has affected hundreds of students, many of whom having early lectures and meetings. Facebook messages have had complaints such as ‘I have a lecture at nine and I’m woken at four and six?’ or ‘What the hell, three alarms in one night!’ One Priory Hall student, Emma Cullen, described the false alarms as ‘Annoying, it disturbs my sleeping pattern and if I even manage to get up I’m not going to be able to concentrate in my lectures’ and that the offenders are ‘Clearly unaware of the resources they waste and think they won’t get caught.’
Heads of Priory Hall issued a notice across the buildings affected, stating “A significant reward of £500 is offered to anyone with knowledge of who was setting off fire alarms deliberately“, demonstrating the severity of the behaviour, and urges people to still evacuate the premises regardless of the reasoning for the alarm. Anybody with information on any prank alarms or any alarm or detector misuse is advised to confidentially contact their head of halls, or call Accommodation on 02476887304.

Version #2

This is my first article for my Journalism course (130MC for the assessment-folks), and was also sent to The Source, Coventry University’s student newspaper. Be critical, I’m all up for improvement here.

Kasbah Rocks Up A Future For Coventry Music

Not many places in Coventry can boast quite an experience or musical history as the Kasbah Venue, located in the heart of the city and will be a name synonymous with live music in your university lives. Sporting over ten years of live music, names such as Enter Shikari, Dizzee Rascal, Pendulum and Arctic Monkeys are as familiar in our lives as the names of the affordable drinks available while you watch.

Ticket prices are often half the price of the bigger arenas in the country, and with the venue within walking distance, Kasbah is not only a thrilling experience, but a cheap one. Entry fees are around £5, and drinks often as little as 50p. Ben Hathaway, in house promoter of Kasbah, explained what they have over other venues.

“Kasbah is an independently owned and run venue, we do not conform to any corporate way of thinking and our venue is built by and for the lovers of live music, we like to emphasise the point that Kasbah is a real venue meaning everyone involved from top to bottom is passionate and loves live music. Our unique decor also shows character and realness also that other venues can only dream of.”

The next term offers gigs both known to all and known to certain fans, but expect to be amazed by main performances such as Gallows, a heavy punk band that promises to be loud and will get the crowd moving, playing their new songs, and Elliot Minor, band featured on Radio 1 for years, with many chart hitting songs. A headlining gig named Goodbye Michael Jackson which recognises the sad passing of  The King Of Pop, and hosting acts such as David Jordan, Britains Got Talents ‘Nemesis’ and Elliot Evans to commemorate his life in music.

With many other acts such as Pendulum, Kids in Glass Houses, and The Automatic, coupled with the possibility of meeting some of the bands, there promises to be an amazing night of entertainment for all our students. Ben Hathaway also revealed to us Kasbahs future plans, stating “I can’t give too much away at the moment but already we have Ocean Colour Scene confirmed and people such as Ian Brown, Madina Lake, Mr Hudson, and The Game very close to confirmation.” This university year promises to have a fantastic year of live music.

Details of all events can be found at http://www.kasbahnightclub.com/