The Anne Frank Rose will flower in York

The commemorative planting of a ‘Souvenir d’Anne Frank’ rose, sent especially from Japan by Mr Kenji Yamamuro, will take place on Friday 16 March at Tower Gardens, attended by children from Knavesmire Primary School, and cast members of a new music and theatre work, SOUVENIR D’ANNE FRANK, which will be performed at York Theatre Royal, on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 March.

Years after the war, Otto Frank, Anne's father, sent a dozen 'Souvenir d'Anne Frank' commemorative rose bushes to a young Japanese girl, Michiko Otsuki, a reader of Anne's Diary in Japan.  All died but one. So, Michiko asked her uncle, Mr Yamamuro, for help.  Remembering the children he used to teach and his sadness when they were drafted so young to fight in the Second World War, Mr Yamamuro saved and grafted Anne's rose, then went on grafting more and more roses.  He sent the roses to schools all over Japan, so that children could learn about Anne's story, so they would be ready to stand up against racism and injustice, and so they would never forget.  Souvenir d'Anne Frank roses now blossom and grow in the gardens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and every Japanese city, planted and cultivated by children - a symbol of peace and reconciliation.

The story of Anne Frank’s rose is at the heart of Ensemble’s new music and theatre work, named after the rose, which weaves Anne’s own story, told in her own words, through the haunting music of a piano trio and songs in a unique and fascinating music and theatre fusion. Performances are on 30 and 31 March 2012. Educational outreach workshops and an exhibition from Manchester’s Women Asylum Seekers Together (WAST) will accompany the performances, together with a post show discussion.

A word from Anne Frank’s cousin: “I am deeply impressed by Ensemble’s Souvenir d'Anne Frank project. It is an amazingly fascinating theatrical and musical piece which will surely influence everyone attending it in a most humanistic way, and in the ideals of my cousin Anne Frank. I wish the project all the success it deserves.”            

Friday 16 March at Tower Gardens at 10.30am

Exercise and support a worthy cause

The Sports Relief Mile has now become an established annual event held in cities across the country and you are invited to participate in the York Mile.

The City of York Athletic Club invites you to do a Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile at award winning Rawcliffe Bar Country Park. Do your Mile around the stunning park and along the bank of River Ouse, then enjoy some entertainments from local radio and refreshments in the picnic area. Make sure you snap up your place on The City of York Athletic Club Mile now!

You can sign up on line at http://mysportsrelief.com/search/events

Sun 25 March at Rawcliffe Country Park

1 mile at 11am and 11.30am, 3 mile at 12noon, 6 mile 12.15pm.  Gates open at 10am and close at 3.30pm#

Cost:  Adult £6, Child £3 and Family £15

Sport Relief stars in York

England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales will be represented by teams composed of stars from sport and TV undertaking a 1,000 mile challenge - each team running the final mile through the city of York finishing at the Eye of York for an overnight stay.

As part of Sports Relief 2012, four  national teams will start the race simultaneously from their home cities of Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh and London and will head off clockwise around the UK and Ireland via the other four capital cities as they battle to be the First Nation Home. 

Participants include top TV presenters and celebrities Gethin Jones, celebrity gardener Diarmuid Gavin, presenters Andrea MacLean, Phil Spencer  and Craig Doyle, actress and model Gemma Atkinson, Olympians Sonia O'Sullivan, Iwan Thomas and Chris Boardman, Dame Ellen MacArthur  and rugby stars Thom Evans, Josh Lewsey and star of Big Brother, Gareth Thomas. Scotland arrive on 10^th, Ireland 13^th, Wales 15^th and England 16^th March.  Join the Civic Party and give them a good Yorkshire welcome!

www.firstnationhome.com

Teams wil be expected to finish at the Eye of York at 6pm (any alterations to times will be posted on www.yorkfestivals.com) on Sat 10, Tues 13, Thurs 15 and Fri 16 March.

Gluten Free Indian Cookery Workshop

Learn skills to revolutionise your gluten & wheat free cooking with an array of delicious Indian dishes using fresh ingredients and aromatic spices. 

Sat 24 Mar, 10am to 3pm at Joseph Rowntree School, New Earswick

Cost: £40

For further information and to book a place please visit our website at www.yortime.org.uk or ring our helpline on 01904 552806 

Partners in crime

An evening with mother and daughter crime novelists Pauline Kirk and Jo Summers, who write as PJ Quinn.

Pauline Kirk and Jo Summers read from ‘Foul Play’ and forthcoming novel ‘Poison Pen’, and give tips on getting published.  There will be a question and answer session at the end.

Thur 8 Mar, 7pm to 8.30pm at Dringhouses Library

Cost: FREE

To book free places contact Dringhouses Library on tel. 01904 552674 or email dringhouses.library@york.gov.uk

Ampleforth amble

Sat 24 Mar, 11.10am start, finish approximately 3.30pm

The 7.5 mile walk will be a mixture of country paths, tracks and trails with limited road walking. There will be a few refreshment stops along the way with a longer stop for lunch.  Please bring a packed lunch with you.

Meet outside the White Swan pub, East End, Ampleforth, YO62 4DA

No booking required, simply turn up at the start time and venue. For further information contact Fiona Barker on 01904 553377 or e-mail Fiona.barker@york.gov.uk.

For the full timetable of health walks visit www.york.gov.uk. All ages and abilities welcome, under 16’s must be supervised by a parent or guardian. Well behaved dogs welcome.

A bus service runs from exhibition square to Ampleforth – Stephenson’s service number 31x. Leaves York at 10.15am with a return bus at 4.00pm.

Signs of Spring

Guided Nature Walk - Wed 28 Mar, 6.30pm to 7.30pm at Clifton Backies Nature Reserve (between Bootham Stray and Water Lane in Clifton Without).

Join us on a scenic guided walk looking at the signs of spring in this local nature reserve.

Clifton Backies has a big variety of wildflowers and butterflies as well as a wide range of habitats making it ideal to see the signs of spring as they happen.

Always wear suitable clothing and stout footwear and bring refreshments if required

For more information and to book you space please contact Jenny Cairns on 07833 436832 or jennifer.cairns@york.gov.uk. 

Welly workout

We will be having a general tidy up of the woodland.  We will be cutting back some trees, litter picking and any other little jobs that need completing this spring before everything starts growing again.

Mon 5 Mar, 1pm to 3pm at Acomb Wood

Cost: FREE!

For more information and to book you space please contact Jenny Cairns on 07833 436832 or jennifer.cairns@york.gov.uk.  Please come prepared to get muddy.  All tools will be provided.

Pondlife

The Friends of Rowntree Park and the Rangers have been working together to create a new wildlife pond in the park.  Come along and help finish the project off before the wildlife moves in.  We want to link the pond in to the existing bark chip paths, plant some wildflowers on the bank behind the pond and try to establish some vegetation in the water - Tasks may vary on the day.

Mon 19 Mar, 1pm to 3pm at Rowntree Park

Cost: FREE!

For more information and to book your place please contact Jenny Cairns on 07833 436832 or jennifer.cairns@york.gov.uk.  Please come prepared to get muddy.  All tools will be provided.

Rockery gardening

Come and join The Friends of West Bank Park in the monthly work party to help to look after their re-creation of the famous Backhouse Rockery.  Tasks will include clearing leaves, weeding and planting any new plants we have to go in - Non members welcome.

Wed 28 March, 1.30pm to 3pm at West Bank Park, Holgate

Cost: FREE!

For more information please contact Jenny Cairns on 07833 436832 or jennifer.cairns@york.gov.uk.

Loose Women

Join some of York’s top women from across the city as they discuss current events in a question and answer session at Explore York Library Learning Centre, Thur 8 March 12.30pm to 2pm

The panel will be:

Kersten England

Chief Executive of City of York Council

For the past 21 years Kirsten has worked in the public sector, predominantly local government.

Fiona Williams

Head of Libraries and Archives, City of York Council
Fiona is the strategic lead for libraries and archives across the City of York.

Cllr Sonja Crisp

Sonja has served as Labour Councillor for Holgate Ward since 2007. Cabinet member for Leisure, Culture and Social Inclusion

Cllr Julie Gunnell

Julie has been Labour Councillor for Micklegate Ward since 2007.  Cabinet member for Corporate Services

Janet Barnes

Chief Executive – York Museums Trust

Janet is a director of the independent charity that manages museums and galleries across York.

For free tickets, or for more information, contact Explore York on exploreyork@york.gov.uk or 01904 552828

Make do and mend

Celebrate International Women’s Week and recognise the ingenuity and inventiveness of women through the ages.

This lecture with Meridith Townsend starts right back in the Georgian Period and concentrates on how women altered, borrowed and adapted their clothes to keep up with the latest fashions. It goes on to concentrate on the War Years of the 1940s using anecdotes from women, who came up with the most ingenious ways to keep their families clothed and to continue to celebrate events, such as weddings, in style.

The lecture takes place at Explore York Library Learning Centre 1.30pm to 2.30pm on Sun 4 March - cost £4

For tickets please visit www.feelinginspired.co.uk

Your city needs you!

As part of York 800, a large scale choral project, Ebor Vox will see hundreds coming together in a huge community choir, performing over Charter weekend, 7 to 9 July 2012.

We are looking for poems of 400 words (max) in response to the question ‘What is special about York?’ A winner will be selected and their poem used as the lyrics for the York 800 Ebor Vox Choral composition.

This competition is free and all entries must be in by midnight on 5 March.

Please see www.yorkfestivals.com/ebor-vox for full terms and conditions.

The Irish in York

Celebrate Irish History Month with local historian, Malcolm Walker - Sun 18 Mar, 1pm to 2pm at Explore York Library Learning Centre

York wasn't the only place the Irish flooded into in the mid 19th Century. Most towns of any size and industry had a community. 

For centuries ‘People’ had been Ireland's chief export.  Why did it increase dramatically in the 1840's?  There was no industry in York at this time. Why did they come here?  This talk attempts to answer these questions and many more.
This is a fascinating story of callous indifference, but above all of prejudice; ethnic and religious. Malcolm will give also an inspirational story in which two York Quaker families play no small part. You might not always like what you hear, but it might open your eyes and supply a few answers to some ongoing Irish problems.

Tickets are available from Explore York at £4 each, please contact (01904) 552828 or exploreyork@york.gov.uk