Albany Theatre Community Festival

The Albany Theatre has launched an ambitious project to involve more than 2,000 residents in creative arts activities and performances, culminating in a major community festival this summer.

Engage Inspire Create will be the theatre’s most ambitious community outreach initiative since it completed a £3 million redevelopment in 2024, bringing hundreds of experienced performers and absolute beginners together for a wide range of workshops, taster sessions and showcases to nurture the city’s artistic talents.

Funded by Coventry City Council and the National Lottery through Arts Council England, the initiative aims to give more than 500 people the opportunity to experience different art forms – from theatre, dance and music to puppetry, film, and playwriting – and share their creations with hundreds more in a jam-packed festival weekend on 21 and 22 June – called the First Draft Festival.

The programme has seen Coventry residents of all ages invited to make use of the Albany’s new state-of-the-art performance and rehearsal facilities, including two brand new studio theatres, three flexible-use creative spaces and a refurbished main auditorium – all designed to better serve community groups, artists, and audiences across Coventry and the wider region.

Tickets are available on the website, where there will be the option to book festival workshops.

Kevin Shaw at the Albany Theatre urged people to get involved in adult dance classes, intergenerational theatre and artist development workshops available to book on the website.

“The response from the community has been fantastic but there are still plenty of opportunities to get involved on the day and the buildup through some incredible workshops,” said Kevin.

“This is about making the Albany a place where everyone can feel welcome and creative – whether they’re stepping into a theatre for the first time or developing the next stage of their artistic career.

“The new and improved spaces give us a huge opportunity to open the doors wider than ever before, and the festival in June will be a joyful celebration of everything created along the way by the talented people in and around Coventry.

“We can’t wait to share the results of these sessions at our festival weekend in June and want to thank our incredible community partners for their hard work and enthusiasm in bringing Engage Inspire Create to life.”

Workshops are being held in partnership with a host of community organisations including the Carers Trust, Refugee Action Arts and Arawak Community Trust.

Workshops have also been launched under the Albany’s Young Carers Create programme and Albany Empowers, which aims to supporting disabled artists and amplify underrepresented voices.

The Albany’s professional workshop strand will include masterclasses hosted by professionals in the field for emerging artists, a special playwriting workshop with Coventry-born playwright Alan Pollock (One Night in November), in addition to affordable artist development opportunities such as Studio Hire for a Fiver, helping early-career creatives test ideas and access support in a professional setting.

The theatre is also inviting freelance workshop leaders and facilitators to apply to help deliver the programme, with opportunities for artists across multiple disciplines to engage new audiences and lead creative sessions in the final weeks before the festival.

Saturday tickets can be booked at www.albanytheatre.co.uk/shows/first-draft-festival. Sunday tickets are available at www.albanytheatre.co.uk/shows/first-draft-festival-day-2, with a discount applied for those who add both days to their basket at checkout.

For more information visit www.albanytheatre.co.uk.

Pictured below, ArawaK Community Trust, who will be taking part in Engage Inspire Create at The Albany Theatre.

Spon End Parking Petition

A petition has been raised to Coventry City Council from Spon End residents to “..urgently provide sufficient parking promised to the community and residents as part of the Spon End Road widening scheme that was completed nearly two years ago. “
Unfortunately we were notified of this too late for inclusion in the June issue and the deadline, Tuesday 10 June, is nearly upon us. There are currently 94 signatures online and the paper version has around 100.

ePetition – Community and Residential Parking Provision, Spon End – Coventry City Council

ECHO email issue

Our apologies to anyone trying to contact us by using our published email addresses: newsdesk@echonews.org.ok diary@echonews.org.uk and advertising@echonews.org.ok

There is an issue we are trying to resolve.

In the meantime please use Facebook Messenger to contact us if necessary.

Dementia Group Seeks Volunteers

On page 24 of the February issue we printed an article under the  above headline.

This was looking for volunteers to support the Dementia Activity Days group at All Souls Church Hall, which runs on Wednesdays and Thursdays 10am-3.30pm.

The contact phone number given to us and printed in good faith was incorrect – please contact Charmaine on 07598 782739 (not 07704 164219 as printed).

Demo Against Cuts Affecting People with Learning Disabilities

Spon End based charity Grapevine, which helps people in poverty, disadvantage and isolation, will take around 200 supporters plus public service union Unison reps to a demonstration outside Coventry’s Council House on Thursday 23 January. The event coincides with the second and final council consultation meeting at the same venue which invites local people to express their concerns about the impact of proposed budget cuts on Coventry communities directly to councillors.

The demonstration is a reaction to “reference 25” in the council’s list of tough savings proposals for 2025/26 which will mean about half as much money (45% less) available for voluntary sector services helping people with learning disabilities like Help and Connect by Grapevine, which helps 80 people a year. Help and Connect helps people get out of crisis, make a plan for their lives, solve problems, have more people to turn to with a problem, stay safe, stay healthy, get and keep a job, be less isolated, make friends and have a better life.

The council’s consultation period on these cuts will end on 28 January with the closure of its online public survey. More information is available on the link: https://letstalk.coventry.gov.uk/budget-consultation-2025-26

A petition against these cuts is live until 7 March: https://edemocracy.coventry.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?id=565&TPID=59415270

Memorial Park car park petition

The council is reconsidering its plan, dropped a year ago, to start charging for parking at Memorial Park for all parking.

The current three hours free parking at the park could be lost and motorists would be charged £1 for up to one hour, £3 for 1-2 hours and £3.50 for two to four hours.

So far 750 people have signed a petition against this.

Go to:

Coventry City Council, www.coventry.gov.uk

Search for ‘Petitions’,

Select ‘Current e-Petitions’.

The wording is as follows:

Cancel proposed increased car parking charges at the War Memorial Park.

We the undersigned petition the Council to cancel the proposed increased car parking charges at the War Memorial Park.

Increasing the parking charges at War Memorial Park should be cancelled because it disproportionately affects the most vulnerable members of the community, including families with children and individuals who rely on the park for exercise and well-being. Higher fees will discourage people from visiting the park, leading to reduced physical activity and social interaction, which are crucial for a healthy community. Additionally, the increased charges will cause displacement parking, burdening local residents with congestion and inconvenience. Cancelling the proposed charges will help maintain the park’s accessibility and ensure that it remains a welcoming and inclusive space for everyone.

This ePetition runs from 02/12/2024 to 28/01/2025.

Bus Route 188 – the Final Version?

This latest post on the the TfWM website from Friday 3 January is hopefully definitive.

Please note that the route into Coventry city centre is confirmed as via Hearsall Common and Spon End both ways and not via Earlsdon Street and Albany Road.

In the City centre, the route will be via St John’s Church and Corporation Street both ways then arriving/departing from Stand HS1 in Hales Street (not Pool Meadow) with a maximum “layover” time of 6 minutes.

The route between Balsall Common and Tile Hill south will be the same as service 87, not going via Berkswell.


TFWM Route 188

BUS NEWS – ROUTE 188

ECHO previously reported, based on information on the Transport for West Midlands website, that from 5 January, NX Coventry service 2, Stagecoach Solihull to Balsall Common service 88 and Landflight Solihull to Knowle bus A3 will all be withdrawn and a new hourly Stagecoach service 188, Coventry to Solihull will be introduced.

This route was planned to serve areas around Solihull, Knowle, Balsall Common, Berkswell, Tile Hill and on into Pool Meadow and the main impact for the ECHO area is that between the Village Hotel and Pool Meadow it would cover the same route as Stagecoach route 51 through Earlsdon into the City. There would be various implications, including the reinstatement of 2 buses per hour in Earlsdon Street and Albany Road but the NX Sunday-only service 51 from Pool Meadow to Westbury Road via Earlsdon would be discontinued owing to low usage.

Now, just three days away from the proposed introduction of the new 188 service, its intended route and timetable are mired in confusion.

The timetable has been taken off the TfWM website and contradictory information has come from Stagecoach. It seems that the route into and around Coventry City centre has not been confirmed and it is uncertain whether it will run through Earlsdon as originally stated or go via Hearsall Common and Spon End, the route of the withdrawn NX no. 2 service. What does seem likely is that the route will not go into Pool Meadow and will instead terminate/restart in Hales Street outside the Motor Museum, as posted by a follower in response to our original post..

There is little time now to get confirmed information into the public domain and update all the information at stops along the route before Sunday’s implementation.