Happy New Year to you all, and we hope that you are well.
Is it really February already?
We have some exciting news to share: towards the end of 2016, Dreadnought South West was awarded Charitable Status, we are now a CIO!
With the help and support of our Management Committee (now Board of Trustees) and our Champion, Sue Kay, we are able to consolidate our commitment to Dreadnought’s future in a new way. Our purpose is recorded at the Charity Commission as being:
‘To advance the education of the public, and in particular but not exclusively women and girls, in the role of women in society from both a historical and modern-day perspective, in particular by using the medium of the arts.’
Thanks to the Charity Commission for supporting and validating our application. This is very exciting for us as it means a whole range of things, including ways that we can approach funding the work we do, and want to do, now and in the future.
We have also just been awarded further funding from Arts Council England South West to produce and programme a 16-hour Occupy the Airwaves radio extravaganza, in collaboration with Exeter’s excellent community radio station, Phonic FM, for International Women’s Day 2017 on Wednesday 8th March. The intention is to celebrate the voices of women and girls from across Exeter throughout the day, from 8am to 12midnight!
Last year we piloted the idea and ‘Occupied’ programmes from noon to 6pm. Thanks again to everyone who took part last year. We hope some of you can make it in 2017. Here is the web link to read more about last year: http://dreadnoughtsouthwest.org.uk/occupying-the-airwaves/
Wednesday 8th March is a date to put in your diaries, do tune in if you can (106.8 FM), and also let us know if you are celebrating International Women’s Day 2017 in some way, so we can give you a shout out while we are on air. Contact us here on: info@dreadnoughtsw@gmail.com
We are currently in the process of making a call out to anyone who might want to be part of the day, either as a presenter, producer or guest of a show. The first meeting is on Wednesday 8th February at Exeter Phoenix. We are also looking for people to help with the meeting space we’ll have at the Phoenix, where we hope women will come to listen to the programmes, have a cuppa, and celebrate International Women’s Day. Please contact charlie.dreadnoughtsw@gmail.com if this interests you in any way.
With thanks to all at Phonic FM who are supporting the project, giving up their programme slots and helping with training in various aspects of radio production.
Occupy the Airwaves is also supported by Exeter City Council, Exeter Phoenix and Fawcett Devon. A massive shout out and thank you to Arts Council South West for continuing to be supportive of our project work.
Other News
Recently we were able to visit WILD Young Parents Project’s (www.wildproject.org.uk) 25th Birthday Anniversary Celebration in Redruth. We have been supporting Dreadnought Associate Artist Becca Hulbert, who works with WILD. Some of our funding has supported the work Becca has done with the young women engaging with WILD, which has then lead to them making a film. We are very proud to have been a part of this. Thanks to Becca Hulbert for all her work for Dreadnought on this. Here is a link for the trailer: https://vimeo.com/171602208
Further Plans
We are planning ahead now for the next couple of years to see if the vision we want to put forward can be realised. This includes:
1) A tour of our new play, The Orchard (which we have been developing over the past two years), across 2017 & 2018.
2) Seeing our Rebellious Sounds Archive vision fully developed into something we can also tour around the region.
3) A programme of events and activities that will bring about engagement and participation.
If you would like to read more about our work on The Orchard and the Rebellious Sounds Archive in 2016, please do have a wee look at the blogs written by Co-Director Natalie McGrath: http://dreadnoughtsouthwest.org.uk/category/blogs/
If you have any thoughts about the work we do, or would like to support us in any way, please do get in touch.
Here’s to a year of celebrating the stories and voices of women and girls everywhere we can!
With very best wishes,
Josie Sutcliffe & Natalie McGrath.
Co-Directors of Dreadnought South West
