Before Active Streets there was…Playing Out! How it all began in Birmingham
For a project that is still in its pioneering days, ProjectBrum has already proven itself as a well organised scheme with a bright future and endless possibilities over the next few years. Although it’s hard to gauge people’s true feelings towards the project, an overall positive attitude coming from those working with us this summer […]
Walking along Birmingham Canals, of which they’re really are more than Venice, you might question how and why these canals got built and who did it. Well, it probably won’t come as a surprise that the Canals have a rich history and Birmingham Historical Theatre Group plan to bring to life the history of a small […]
On a dusty sunny day we entered in through that front gate of Buckingham Palace. We were ushered across the gravel, under the famous balcony and through an archway into a large closed courtyard. The way then led through a gallery and onto the lawn for RoSPA’s Garden Party with Prince Andrew and some 3,500 […]
Playing Out began in Birmingham 2013. Here’s an interview with John Hill-Daniel who helped coordinate in those early years. How did you find out about Playing out? I first heard about Playing Out in Bristol online, on Facebook I think. I was already running the Space Explorers community project with funding from Near Neighbours, but struggling to […]
It’s great to be a part of the larger playing out community – in the UK, Leeds, Bristol, Hackney and a few other places are all working with their councils to make playing happen on streets. Even though Birmingham is implementing a slightly different model from the way street play and others are organised, it’s great […]
Obesity in the UK govt statistics 2015 Obesity in young people and children is on the rise – it’s widespread, growing and the consequences are costly. The solutions themselves are pretty straight forward (improved diet, exercise etc) so why is it health professionals seem powerless to get their message through, and could social media help? […]
Our car breakdown cover provided us with a nice new car for a few days which had an ‘automatic start-stop‘ after our old car died (thank you LV=). It’s a nifty bit of technology which helps reduce car emissions, but you don’t have to buy a new car to stop idling; The first UK Clean […]
When a new street becomes an ActiveStreet, Playing Out for the first time like Main Street in Sparkbrook, it’s hard not to get excited.
You could guess what problems there are on Main Street in Sparkbrook, but the only way to understand them is to meet the people who live there. And how to make things better? Active Streets and KIKIT are working together to support residents.
It all started on Swan Corner when Oz, the Neighbourhood watch man thought we could do something about it. He provided the pickers and the bags in 2015, and now we do it every year – next one for Swan Corner is 10:30 on 8th April meet corner of Cold Bath and Brook Lane .