In The Loop – 12 April 2021
Hello everyone, I do hope you are enjoying our mostly sunny, if a little chilly, Easter break.
We have some really great courses starting after the break so if you are bursting for a little retail therapy why not consider treating yourself to a new course.
Here are a few of the courses on offer….
- Painting & Drawing- Mixed Ability – Mondays 1pm to 4pm from 19 April with Roma N15D
- Watercolours – Improvers Tuesdays 9.30am to 12.30pm from 20 April with Roma N25D
- Stained Glass Summer School – Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm from 29 July with Ruth N45T
- NEW Filming the Art Life Fridays 1pm to 2.30pm from 23 April with Davide N42E
- Body & Mind Awareness/Developing Inner Resilience Thursdays 9.30am to 10.30am from 22 April with Saara R14D
- NEW Literature – New York: Modernity and the City – Wednesdays 9.45 to 11.45 from 9 June with Gorka N38B
- Improve Your Computer Skills – Mondays 10am to 12noon from 19 April with Carmel DTC2
- Zoom – Participating in a Zoom Meeting – Monday 1pm to 3pm,on 10 April with Carmel CZ1
- The Spanish Civil War and its implications for Contemporary Spain, Mondays 9.45am to 11.45am from 19 April with Gorka HS3
- Bridge – Get started with Bridge (Part 3 – Easy Bidding Sequences) Thursdays 2pm to 4pm from 22 April with Lorna BS5
- Club de ficción en español Thursdays 12noon to 1pm, from 22 April with Gorka SCF
- Explore your Family History: Stage 1 – Thursdays 1.30pm to 4pm from 22 April with Rosemary EFH1
You can find more details on these and all the other courses available on our website www.bristolcourses.com and on our online booking pages
Can you help?
We are keen to let more people know about all the courses and activities running and planned for the summer term. Can you help to spread the word? Is there someone you know who might appreciate this email or might like to receive future ‘in the loop’ news. People can sign up to receive ‘in the loop’ here.
We would love you to share with your friends, family and social networks. Please help us by sharing bit about Adult Learning – let someone know what it means to you and encourage them to give us a try. Thank you.
Continuing creativity
Art courses are continuing and not even a global pandemic is able to stifle the creativity of our amazing learners and their tutors. It is truly wonderful to see everyone is still producing such fantastic work and we look forward to having some amazing displays back on the walls at Stoke Lodge. We are again delighted to be part of this years BS9 Arts Trail which is now planned for early September
One of our Acrylic learners Gilly Johnson had her piece featured on the fantastic Grayson Perry’s Art Club. Our congratulations to Gilly, an amazing achievement to be selected and featured. Well done!
One group is planning an ‘in person’ exhibition in central Bristol for June and another class have used YouTube to share and display their work. You can see the Watercolour for Improvers YouTube video here and the Painting and Drawing class YouTube video here.
Easing of restrictions
As the next phase of easing of restrictions gets underway, we are looking forward to restarting some in person courses after the May half term. Some of our courses will continue online and of those courses that do come back in person will have additional measures in place to keep us all safe and well. We will continue to make sure rooms are well ventilated and kept clean and that learners are able to socially distance in the classrooms. Each classroom will continue to have its own sanitisation station with hand gel and cleaning materials available.
For those of you excited about the reopening of shops and desperate to get a haircut why not also think about joining a new course – the gift that keeps on giving as you learn and laugh week after week!
May elections
As you may know Stoke Lodge is a local polling station and we will be open for the 6 May elections.
Voting on the 6 May is to elect, the Mayor of Bristol, Bristol City Council Councillors, The Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner and the Combined Authority Mayor for the West of England.
The deadline for registering to vote is Monday 19 April and the deadline for registering for a postal vote is Tuesday 20 April. You can find more information about all the candidates here
Ramadan
Today marks the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan remembers the month the Qur’an was first revealed to the prophet Muhammad. During this month many Muslims fast during daylight hours and increase their acts of spiritual devotion such as prayer, giving to charity and strengthening family ties. The end of the month is marked by a celebration called Eid ul-Fitr celebrating the end of the fast and thanking Allah for the strength given to them through the month.
With covid restrictions still in place, this will be the second year with many traditional practices restricted. I wish all our Muslim colleagues, learners and supporters a peaceful month and very much hope they are able to connect together during this important time.
Spring in full swing
Although many of our Spring Daffodils are now wilting, we are seeing so much more coming into bloom. Trees in blossom, Tulips on display and Magnolia petals decorating the ground. Dandelions are blooming and Wild Garlic is starting to waft in the air.
The birds are busy too and the RSPB have recently published the results of their big garden bird watch with the House Sparrow topping the list this year (and for the last 18 years!). Blackbirds and Robins have moved up the list with finch numbers unfortunately falling. I know many of you watch and feed the birds and wonder how many of the top 10 are regularly spotted by you. Here is this year’s top 10 and the link to the RSPB results.
Happy twitching!
- House sparrow
- Blue tit
- Starling
- Blackbird
- Woodpigeon
- Robin
- Great tit
- Goldfinch
- Magpie
- Longtailed tit
