Barefoot Friday - join us!

What will we be doing this month?: We will be looking at our European project and uploading some short films.... no experience necessary, so don't worry about technical stuff. Plus you don't have to be an established Barefooter already , first timers are always welcome, and any folks who may not have been for a while - come and say "hello"

Date: Friday 25th June ( The last Friday of the month, as usual )

Time : 6pm start with 8pm as the end time.

Venue: Upstairs at the b arts offices

- 19 Barracks Square, Newcastle under Lyme. Staffordshire ST5 1LG

Need more info : You can contact me via email at deborah.nicklin@b-arts.org.uk or call the office for a chat 01782  717326. Check out the new b arts website too at www.b-arts.org.uk

Barefoot Friday - it's here again!

What will we be doing this month?: We will be looking at our European project and uploading some short films.... no experience necessary, so don't worry about technical stuff. Plus you don't have to be an established Barefooter already , first timers are always welcome, and any folks who may not have been for a while - come and say "hello"

Date: The last Friday of the month in June is tomorrow  - Friday 25th June.

Time : 6pm start as usual, with 8pm as the end time.

Venue: Upstairs at the b arts offices

- 19 Barracks Square, Newcastle under Lyme. Staffordshire ST5 1LG

Need more info : You can contact me via email at deborah.nicklin@b-arts.org.uk or call the office for a chat 01782  717326. Check out the new b arts website too at www.b-arts.org.uk

Barefoot Friday

Hi there Barefooters, I hope this finds you well and happy.

Just a quick recap on what happened at the last Barefoot Friday. There were 17 of us at May's get together and it was a lovely session - yet again! Some people brought their kids and grand children along them and there were some new folks too. We had a lovely time.

Susan Clarke led the session this time around and we had to imagine ourselves trapped in a lift ( or elevator as the Americans like to say!) with the one person who could make our dreams come true!

There was lots of fun and laughter, with people stepping up to the mark and giving it their all, others just watching or joining in with discussions. Ideas are emerging for potential spin-off projects that people would like to see happening so we're going to start developing those ideas further.

Don't forget our next meeting , you don't have to be an established Barefooter already , new people are always welcome, and folks who may not have been for a while - come and say hello.

The last Friday of the month in June will be Friday 25th June.

6pm start as usual, with 8pm as the end time.

Venue: Upstairs at the b arts offices

- 19 Barracks Square, Newcastle under Lyme. Staffordshire ST5 1LG

You can contact us via email at barefoot.doctors@yahoo.com or deborah.nicklin@b-arts.org.uk or call the office for a chat 01782 638775 / 717326.

Check out the b arts website at www.b-arts.org.uk

Barefoot Friday ...crickey they come around quick!!!

Yes folks , Its Barefoot Friday this week.

February was great and March and April ... as it really been that long since I mentioned our Barefoot Fridays on the blog. We've been busy I guess. We were getting the Annual Report back to our funders in March plus we've been having some fun and games with office moves and redecorating at B arts.

We're in the same building by the way, so don't think we've moved ...We still meet upstairs at 19 Barracks Square, Barracks Road Newcastle under Lyme St5 1LG

Well we've had some lovely sessions lately. March we had fun telling stories, painting plus a bit of posing about and acting. We were exercising some very vivid imaginations that night!

Rachel Grant came in to see us in April, with her Sense of Place map which will be showing at The Shire Hall Gallery in July. We added our comments to the parcel tags - little quotes about our favourite places and we had a lovely time.

So what about Barefoot Friday in May. What can you expect ?

Two hours of friendship and creativity - relaxed, informal and fun. This month we are going to do the 'It's Your Story, Tell It' workshop. If you've got a plan, a dream , and idea, something you want to do, then together we'll get our thinking-caps on and see how it can be done and do it ! With a bit of focus, hocus pocus and creative vibes will set the wheels in motion. Come along, meet some new folks and have fun ..... please reply to say if you can come along, we're looking forward to seeing you

Meeting at 6pm and going on until 8pm,

MAKE IT A DATE: Friday 28th May :o)

Barefoot Friday

Hi folks

The end of the month means its time to go BAREFOOTING !

We've changed the name of the monthly Barefoot Doctors Friday Surgery to Barefoot Friday. It sounds kinda funky, plus I was beginning to worry that one day somebody might ask me to treat their bunions and verruccas ! ....yeeeeeuck ! So if you want to get more involved with the Barefoot Doctors project it woud be great if you could get yourself along to the next session:

• Friday 26th February
• 6-8pm
• Upstairs at 19 Barracks Square, Barracks Road, Newcastle under Lyme. ST5 1LG

(It's the Victorian army barrack building, straight opposite the bus station)

We have put an invite on facebook, so if you 'do facebook' take a look at the event info and if you can make it on 26th, click to say you are attending - it helps us to plan the session more if we have an idea how many folks will attend.

This month we are meeting to get the 100 Stories project off the ground.

The Barefoot Friday sessions for the next few months will be focussing on this project. You will have the opportunity to shape it, be in it , showcase what you can do.We anticipate a performance/ installation/ public showcase opportunity of some description sometime in the summer.

I went into Staffordshire University the other week to talk with the students at the Creative Communities Unit about what we do. Whilst I was there we started collecting a few quick stories from the people ... we didn't have too much time to get really stuck-in, but we still had fun. If you were there, come along and carry on with what we started.

If you generally struggle with Fridays ( with work commitments, transport etc ) drop me a quick note via email or post to say you want to be part of 100 Stories and we'll try to get you involved. As the 100 Stories project develops we will be host workshops outside the regular monthly Barefoot Friday routine. I'll let you know about them when they are planned.

2010 A New Year of Creativity

We hope that you had a good break and managed to get your feet up for 5 minutes ! Lets hope that the next decade brings hope, fulfilment, health and happiness.

Standstill and Clay kept us all pretty busy, we did alot of work together in just a few months - Clay was in October then we got going with Standstill straight after. The show was on 21st December - if you want to see photos from Standstill see the weblink www.standstill.yolasite.com

... So good work folks!

If you are about to make some New Year Resolutions, why not add this one to the list:

"Do something creative - Get myself along to the Barefoot Doctors sessions!

The Barefoot Doctors project is managed by B Arts and we are intrisically performing arts based and would love some folks to come along who want to be expressive in speech, movement and action, but don't let that alarm you ...we include all artforms - everything!

So if the thought of 'performing' scares you rigid, and maybe you don't consider yourself as a great singer, musician, dancer or performer don't worry - we welcome all artforms.

We have experience of working with artists from all over the world, we can all work together creatively.

If you are a visual artist, a graphics person , a crafts maker, a photographer, sculptor, writer, film maker ... at any level - student, amateur, professional, whatever we welcome everyone, anyone who wants to volunteer their time to be part of something that makes positive creative things happen in North Staffordshire.

• We meet on the last Friday of each month
• We meet in unit 19 of the Barracks workshops, on Barracks road, Newcastle under Lyme.
• We usually meet at 6pm

Just pop in and say "Hiya" and we'll get the kettle on! Be lovely to see you.

We put information on other sites too:

You can keep up to date with us on facebook and see who our friends are... ( We are listed as a 'person' named Barefoot Doctors - not as a group. Thats because there is already a group on there from when the Barefoot Doctors project existed in the late 1990's and that group is a sort of reunion group ...so just search for us as a 'person'... if that makes sense)

Other sites you can find us on: http://blurbonline.ning.com http://twitter.com/barefootdoctors

B arts is supported by Arts Council England, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Lloyds TSB Foundation, The Baring Foundation and many others too numerous to mention.

Summers Cool !

Thanks to all of you who have booked on to the Barefoot Doctors Summer School this August. We're pleased to say that we've got 19 creative folks coming along for the 3 days, all geared up and raring to go ! All attendees will be receiving letters of confirmation in the post within the next few days , including information about what to bring with you and where we will be meeting. If you want to be involved with Barefoot Doctors but are kicking yourself that you just couldn't get to the Summer School ... don't worry... Barefoot Doctors will all be meeting on the last Friday of every month (starting 28th August) 6-8pm ... so you can still join in. Monthly meetings will be practical workshops & talking places, information sharing and signposting, performance laboratories, a catalyst for future community and artist led projects - a chance to ask further questions, get some assistance, find what you need for your own creative path, have more headspace to develop ideas with other artists, take part in more artistic experimentation and collaboration with like minded folks. GET INSPIRED, GIVE IT A TRY ... Check out the previous blog posts to understand what Barefoot Doctors is all about ... If you've got any questions just get in touch for a chat. If you want to come to those monthly meetings let us know - You can drop us an email : deborahnicklin@pandaemonium.biz Call us : 0172 638775 or 07809 516 456