We are looking for people from all over the UK (and abroad) to make a sponsored parachute jump on our behalf and in return we are willing to pay for it! Everything you need is enclosed in the info pack (Word file) including your reservation form and sponsorship forms and we've made everything as easy as possible for you to take part.

You can also book your jump online (but please read the info pack first).

It’s really easy for you to raise money for Escape Artists by creating an online fundraising page on JustGiving. It takes just a few minutes and you can collect donations for any sponsored event or appeal. Just go to: www.justgiving.com/jgdemo/raisemoney

Fundraising pages are just like paper sponsorship forms, except they’re online, so you don’t have to spend time collecting cash and cheques. Just personalise your page with a photo and message and email the web address to all your contacts. Then your friends, family, colleagues and anyone else can make a donation through your page from anywhere in the world.

JustGiving reclaims Gift Aid automatically and pays donations to us directly at the end of every week. The site is 100% secure.

And if you really don't fancy jumping out of an aeroplane at 10,000 feet, then why not sponsor one of our brave members of staff (they'll do anything to get a day off work!). Sophie Carlin's Page - Jodie Sadler's Page

Concrete, Steel and Paint by Cindy Burstein and Tony Heriza

When men in a prison art class propose painting an outdoor mural, they run into resistance. Crime victims and victim advocates question the project and its message. Working with the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, the groups then struggle to create a mural about crime, restoration and healing—for both prisoners and victims. The result is more than they expect.

In a country with the highest incarceration rate in the world, CONCRETE, STEEL & PAINT does not point to easy answers, but does underscore the need for dialogue and new approaches to finding justice and reconciliation.

Thursday, July 23rd
7:00 - 9:00 pm (doors open at 6:30pm)
International House, 3701 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, USA
More...

English Libel Laws Stifle Debate - Join the Campaign for Reform

The use of the English libel laws to silence critical discussion of medical practice and scientific evidence discourages debate, denies the public access to the full picture and encourages use of the courts to silence critics. The British Chiropractic Association has sued writer Simon Singh for libel. The scientific community would have preferred that it had defended its position about chiropractic through an open discussion in the medical literature or mainstream media.

On 4th June 2009 Simon Singh announced that he was applying to appeal the judge's recent pre-trial ruling in this case, in conjunction with the launch of this support campaign to defend the right of the public to read the views of scientists and writers.

Join the campaign! In a statement published on 4th June 2009, over 100 people from the worlds of science, journalism, publishing, comedy, literature and law have joined together to express support for Simon and call for an urgent review of English law of libel. Supporters include Stephen Fry, Lord Rees of Ludlow, Ricky Gervais, Martin Amis, James Randi, Professor Richard Dawkins, Penn & Teller and Professor Sir David King, former Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government.

Please help with this campaign, sign the statement and ask everyone you know to sign it. Click here to read details of the launch of the campaign to Keep Libel Laws out of Science.

Design for Social Impact

Design for Social Impact is a creative organization that combines artistry & activism to call attention to important social issues.

Design for Social Impact · 215-922-7303 · info@dfsi.org


ReGenerating Community Conference

ReGenerating Community Conference
Sept 2 - 4, 2009. RMIT University, Melbourne
Conference Overview

The ReGenerating Community Conference is about ways in which global issues are being addressed locally through collaborations between artists, communities and local government. Issues of community identity in an environment of globalised culture; issues of energy production in the context of climate change; issues of indigenous sovereignty on leasehold land; issues of country becoming city and changing identity; issues of aging; issues of schooling; issues of imaging futures, issues of having a future...

People are switching off. Who can switch them on to determining positive futures? How can community relationships be built across the divide of the governed and the governing? Can communities choose the change they want, shaping their environments in unique ways? How and where is this happening?

This conference will discuss local governments responses to creating new models of civic engagement. Arts are the focus. Examples of arts based projects tackling the big issues through community cultural engagement are the springboard for discussion by leading national and international speakers, commentators, community leaders, officials, politicians, academics and artists.

World Record Smashed!
I thought I'd let you have news about the ukulele gathering, held at Devonshire Square last Saturday. Also, if you havent already done so, to ask you to visit http://www.justgiving.com/paulmh/ with a link to Cancer Research UK. The world record for the most strummers gathered together to play, seems to have been toppled as a result of some 860 of us uke-wielding nuts, of mixed ability and in predominantly Hawaiian costume, turning up and playing Sloop John B several times. Paul Hargreaves

Synergy - Prison Playwriting Competition

Dave Parsons: Median Group Facilitator, Full member of the Group Analytic Society, Retired Probation Officer, Ran Median (15-30 members) Dialogue Groups for prisons and probation for 10 years, Ukulele player.

There's a New Newsfeed on SANe

"Civilization is revving itself into a pathologically short attention span. The trend might be coming from the acceleration of technology, the short-horizon perspective of market-driven economics, the next-election perspective of democracies, or the distractions of personal multi-tasking. All are on the increase. Some sort of balancing corrective to the short-sightedness is needed - some mechanism or myth which encourages the long view and the taking of long-term responsibility, where 'long-term' is measured at least in centuries..." Stuart Brand of the The Long Now Foundation

The Long News: stories that might still matter fifty, or a hundred, or ten thousand years from now. Read the Long News on SANe (see below) and get a fresh perspective into your life.

Evelyn Glennie shows how to listen
In this soaring demonstration, deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie illustrates how listening to music involves much more than simply letting sound waves hit your eardrums.

Feminine Handicraft, Euclid and General Relativity
Margaret Wertheim leads a project to re-create the creatures of the coral reefs using a crochet technique invented by a mathematician -- celebrating the amazements of the reef, and deep-diving into the hyperbolic geometry underlying coral creation.

Artwork by Pons Tello Find more photos like this on Social Arts Network

International Community Arts Gathering Peter Keelan, a practicing community artist for over 25 years, is writing a blueprint towards holding an International Community Arts Gathering. The focus will be to nurture all those involved in community arts; to ignite the 'possibilities and potential' within the practice of community arts. Peter would like to know how YOU would envisage this happening - think about the questions below: 1. Who would be a workshop leader, either from Australia or internationally, who we would just have to have on the program? (mine is Tim Smit from the Eden Project in England) 2. What would you like such a gathering to do, achieve? 3. A "left field! creative idea for such a gathering?
4. Comment of any description?

It will be great to gain your input, as this will help create the framework, to bring this event to fruition. Tell us what you think! and send your response to Peter - his contact details are as follows:
Peter Keelan, PO Box 884, Denmark WA 6333, Ph: 08 9840 9674, Mobile: 0427 798 438, Email: pkeelan@iinet.net.au. Website: http://www.canwa.com.au/news/82/


Madness & Modernity: Mental illness and the visual arts in Vienna 1900

The Wellcome Collection
London - 1 April-28 June 2009

Vienna at the turn of the 20th century was one of Europe's leading centres for modernism. This was a tumultuous period of transition in which the arts, literature, architecture and philosophy blossomed. A time when Sigmund Freud, among others, pioneered new ideas about the self and psychiatry.

Vienna in 1900 was a city obsessed with the mind. Political unrest had left the Viennese with an overwhelming sense that they were living in 'nervous times'. Anxieties about mental health were allied to fears about the modern city; this context helped to foster progress in psychiatric care and innovation.

This multidisciplinary exhibition presents the range of ways madness and art interacted in Vienna, from designs for utopian psychiatric spaces to the drawings of patients confined in them. It explores the influence of psychiatry on early modernism and encourages us to reflect on how we deal with mental illness 100 years on.

More details on the exhibition website

Add the SANe toolbar to your browser (Firefox or Explorer) and keep up to date with all the developments on SANe. The toolbar can easily be made to temporarily disappear or can be deleted if no longer required.

Global Choices is an organisation based in London and involved in international educational and cultural exchanges. We offer a wide variety of programmes for students, young professionals and other participants from the UK and internationally.

Our experienced staff is ready to provide the best services for our applicants, depending on their needs. Most of the GC team members have taken part in cultural exchange programmes in the past. We will do our best to give you advice and help to make these opportunities a reality.

We work with our partner organisations from all over the world to arrange job placements and volunteering opportunities. We form an international platform for students and young people to experience a new culture and enhance their skills.

What do we do?

Would you like to spend some time working in a hotel in Argentina, teaching English in Brazil or Spain, having an internship in Rio de Janeiro or travel to the US and earn a modest wage? Or maybe you are looking for an exciting working holiday programme in Australia or a challenging summer in Camp USA? How about helping disadvantaged communities or doing your share for conservation programmes?

We have a vast range of programmes all over the world to help you to enhance your professional and personal skills.


Human Rights

Wikileaks

Wikileaks global defense of sources and press freedoms, circa now-

Human Rights Watch

International human rights law requires governments to respect individuals’ civil and political rights – such as their rights to free speech, fair trial, and political participation – and to promote their economic, social and cultural rights – such as their rights to health care and education.

Since its formation in 1978, Human Rights Watch has focused mainly on upholding civil and political rights, but in recent years we have increasingly addressed economic, social and cultural rights as well. We focus particularly on situations in which our methodology of investigation and reporting is most effective, such as when arbitrary or discriminatory governmental conduct lies behind an economic, social and cultural rights violation.