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Speakers Corner team

This autumn a series of nine Saturday events will be taking place at Speakers’ Corner.

Each event will feature at least two members of the Speakers’ Corner Steering Committee talking on topical issues, as well as encouraging members of the public with something to say, to say it on Speakers’ Corner!

So, if you’ve got something to get off your chest, make sure you are in Dam Street at Speakers’ Corner from 12noon at one or all of the following dates

Saturdays in October: 22nd & 29th
Saturdays in November: 5th, 12th, 19th & 26th
Saturdays in December: 3rd, 10th, 17th

See you there!

Lichfield’s Speakers’ Corner, which was launched in 2008, has undergone a stylish transformation as part of the Lichfield Historic Parks Project, and the founding committee is calling for passionate people to speak out at the city’s newest landmark.

Canon Pete Wilcox, Chairman of the Lichfield Speakers’ Corner Committee explained: “As well as a beautifully inscribed stone pedestal, the area now boasts a newly walled listening area, and a speaker’s rail. Not only does the new Speakers’ Corner enhance one of the most beautiful areas of our city, it also creates a fantastic platform on which to have your say. We would like to thank Lichfield city and district councils for helping us to improve the look of the area, as part of the Historic Parks Project.”

Since its launch three years ago, Lichfield Speakers’ Corner has gone from strength to strength, and hosted a number of popular events including pre-election hustings, musical and literary performances, Fairtrade celebrations and a variety of presentations and debates on a wide range of contemporary issues which affect the public.

John Brough, former headteacher of the Friary School, and member of the founding committee commented: “Lichfield can be proud that it has the most attractive Speakers’ Corner in the country. I’ve been really pleased to speak up on the corner and I’d encourage others to join in and get involved. I’m looking forward to seeing our newly styled Speakers’ Corner becoming well used by local people, and perhaps as famous as London’s Hyde Park Speakers’ Corner! For as our very own Dr Johnson so rightly reminded us: ‘In order that all men may be taught to speak the truth, it is necessary that all likewise should learn to hear it’.”

Speakers’ Corner is a platform for people to exercise their precious right to freedom of speech. The platform is there quite simply for any individual or group of people of all ages to express their views on any topic at any reasonable time, or maybe to air their musical and literary talents. John Brough concluded: “Speakers’ Corner is yours – it belongs to you and it belongs to the city – let’s use it and let’s hear you!”

For more information, please contact Lichfield Speakers’ Corner Founding Committee, Chair Canon Pete Wilcox, Lichfield Cathedral, on 01543 306100.

Lichfield has a strong Fairtrade movement with over 100 organisations supporting Fairtrade .  Our City, District and County Councils are all committed to Fairtrade. 

We proudly proclaim our city’s ‘Fairtrade City’ status on the eight welcome boards on the main entrance roads into Lichfield. 

As we celebrate the third anniversary of achieving Fairtrade City status, it is a good time to ask – Where should we be going over the next five years with Fairtrade in Lichfield? 

As part of Fairtrade Fortnight here in Lichfield, the Fairtrade Lichfield Committee is organising an open meeting to discuss the future of Fairtrade in our city. 

It is on Saturday 5 March from 3.00 – 4.30 pm at the Lichfield Methodist Church in Tamworth Street.

We are pleased to welcome Paul Spray, Policy Director of Traidcraft to lead our discussion.  He is one of the country’s leading experts on justice in world trade.  Paul has previously worked for the government’s Department for International Development and for Christian Aid in policy work on how world trade can be a major force for overcoming world poverty. 

Also, everyone is welcome at Speakers Corner in Dam Street at 12.00 noon to celebrate the launch of an exciting piece of public art work made by students at the South Staffs College. 

It is being created from over 300 Fairtrade City spoons into the shape of the Fairtrade logo.  On each spoon the students have painted the face of a local Fairtrade supporter or a Third World producer. 

It will then go on display at different sites around the city.

Young people from the district will be appearing at Lichfield Speakers’ Corner, between 10.30am and 11.15am on Saturday 6 November. They will be talking about and advertising the ‘Youth Work Week’ event that is taking place at Minster Hall on the same day.

Youth Work Week, is taking place at Minster Hall, from 12-4pm. The event will celebrate all the positive work that young people have been involved in, or lead on, over the last 12 months.

There will be a gallery of images on display for the whole community to see and experience – the images will be of work carried out by young people and specific projects that they have led on and created.

Videos produced by young people, and of district events, over the last year will also be shown on a rolling loop.

Young people will also be running a non-alcoholic cocktail bar, and showcasing the skills they have learnt during the recent alcohol awareness week. As well as this, young people will also be around to act as tour guides across the gallery spaces.

There will also be the unveiling of a static piece of artwork dedicated to showcasing how young people feel about youth work, and how it has influenced their lives during the day. This will be worked on in Youth work week (1-7 November) in the run-up to the event.

The event aims to target the whole community, from young people to elderly residents, to show how young people can positively influence and contribute to their community, and to also raise the profile of the work done by the positive activities section of Staffordshire Young People’s Service.

So, why not come along to Speakers’ Corner on Saturday 6 November to find out more – of if you can’t make it in time, come along to Minster Hall between 12noon and 4pm!

A Talk by Peter Young
7.30pm Wednesday, 20 October
Guildhall, Lichfield

“God, this place is dull.”

Discover poet Philip Larkin, his love of Lichfield, and his links to the City through “A personal reminiscence of Larkin from someone who never knew him”

A free event, hosted in partnership with Speakers’ Corner Lichfield.

Pitched somewhere between Universal Children’s Day and World Teachers’ Day, Speakers’ Corner hosted a short session on Saturday October 16th on Education, Education, Education …..

The excellent new Speakers’ Corner banners also made their first striking appearance on the day!

John Brough introduced the topic, stressing the need for the ‘new’ government to listen more to those who work at the chalk face of education – and especially to the real experts, students who themselves spend up to 13 years in the system.

At this point two sixth formers (Aimee in Y13 and Michael in Y12, both from King Edward VI school) stood and spoke with clarity, confidence and passion about two aspects of education which matter greatly to them: the lack of rigour in many GCSE examinations (from Aimee) and the need to fast-track more able students (from Michael).

John referred to both these concerns in the course of his speech, imploring Michael Gove, and the coalition government, not to repeat the mistakes of previous governments in focusing too heavily on examinations and qualifications, unnecessary structural change and excessive inspection and micromanagement. Instead he urged them to re-consider the fundamental question of What is education for?

Here are some extracts from his speech:

“As a former headteacher myself, I just worry that despite the undoubted and much needed investment we’ve seen in recent years in educational buildings, facilities, teacher training and support, there is a real danger that Michael Gove and company will repeat the mistakes of previous governments without examining the fundamental question – What is Education for?

I have to confess that I actually groaned, back in the late 1990’,s when I heard the then prime minister Tony Blair utter those famous words:

“Education Education Education”

because I knew that

a) another set of politicians were going to tell me what to do yet again
b) that their focus wouldn’t really be on Education at all – but on whatever aspects would catch the eye and potentially win votes and
c) that we’d be subject to yet more structural change and interference by government – which actually detracts and distracts from the real purpose of education.

So, going back to the key question, What is Education for?
For successive governments it would appear to be principally about maximising examination results – getting qualifications. Education, Education, Education = Qualifications, Qualifications, Qualifications. For sure, qualifications are extremely important but they are one outcome – an end product – of education – they don’t define it.

Of course, exams are important because they assess certain skills and allow universities and employers to make certain judgements. But all too often, they are used by government as a crude measurement of a school’s performance, when high quality education is much more than that. Exams, important as they undoubtedly are, tell us only a little about the quality of a young person. Richard Branson and Winston Churchill were not highly qualified academically, but few would question their quality as individuals.

We cannot continue to regard schools as exam factories. For a start, over-concentration on exams is not improving teaching and learning, does not encourage children to think nor does it broaden their real understanding of academic subjects. Too often it restricts their knowledge to simply memorising and developing exam techniques and model answers which can be easily assessed and score well. It was Einstein who reminded us that:

“Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; and everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted”.

Education needs to be about developing the whole human being – not least the creative, logical, moral, spiritual and social dimensions. What is not nurtured and developed by the time a young person leaves school may well remain dormant for the rest of their lives. If children are fed primarily on a diet of exam preparation, by teachers who have had their initiative and creativity gradually sucked out of them by an emphasis on instruction, then no wonder that large numbers of children at school are bored, resentful and feel unfulfilled – many lose hope.

So – my message for the new coalition and Michael Gove in particular is to stop messing about with structures, organisation, statistics and an over-emphasis on qualifications, and to start trusting schools, heads, teachers – and young people themselves – to focus on the broader view of education. And that must surely include, incidentally, the urgent development of a first-class apprenticeship system right up to the equivalent of degree level, so that we don’t get a proliferation of young people doing university courses for which they are unsuited and which may ultimately and sadly lead them nowhere. That way, education will truly help to begin to re-engage the minds, hearts and enthusiasm of so many more of our children.

Pete Wilcox brought the session to an end by thanking all the speakers and highlighting the imminent enhancement and development of Speakers Corner as part of the City’s Heritage Project, with a plinth, a stone and a rail to mark the spot much more obviously and proudly! He encouraged the audience to use it! Pete also drew attention to the next Speakers’ Corner event on Wednesday October 20th when Peter Young will give a talk on the poet Philip Larkin (in the Guildhall at 7.30 p.m.)

As Speakers’ Corner strongly signifies the right to freedom of speech, the final words of the day came from the winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize – the Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo:

Freedom of Expression is the basis of human rights, the source of humanity, and the mother of truth.

Cycling – it’s ‘green’, it’s cheap, it lets you off time at the gym and is a speedy alternative to sitting in queues of traffic in town centres in the rush hour.

Join me at Speakers’ Corner, Lichfield on Saturday 25 September at 12.00 to Celebrate Cycling, Bring your bike and bring your friends with their bikes. Speakers’ Corner is in Dam Street, by Minster Pool and is also on one Lichfield’s cycle paths, so a great place to meet!

Please spread the word!

Here’s a few dates for your diary:

25 September - A celebration of cycling
If you regularly use the cycle-paths around Lichfield District – especially the one that runs past Speakers’ Corner on Dam Street, come along for a talk on the importance of cycling and celebrate what cycling means to you. Watch this space for more news.

Saturday 16 October at 12noon – World Teachers’ Day & Universal Children’s Day.
To coincide with World Teachers’ Day and Universal Children’s Day, see and hear the views of local people, and especially students themselves, about our current education system. Watch this space for more news.

Holocaust Memorial Day & Portraits for Prosperity – October/November TBC
To commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day, and in celebration of the exciting Portraits for Posterity exhibition, which is coming to the Cathedral, the National Memorial Arborteum and South Staffordshire College, local people will mark this momentus occassion.

More about Portraits for Posterity is a unique photographic exhibition drawn from survivors of the Holocaust living in Great Britain today. Very few survived the ghettos, extermination and labour camps of the Nazi regime. Those alive today are now elderly, but still bear witness to ‘the crime of the 20th century’. By creating images of the few survivors, the exhibit provides a permanent memorial that also commemorates the millions who perished without portraits.

This moving exhibition is coming to Lichfield District this autumn, and will be on show at the Cathedral, the National Memorial Arboretum and South Staffordshire College between 11 October and 15 November.  To find out more visit www.portraitsforposterity.com

5 minute Christmas Stories - 4th, 11th & 18th December @ 12 noon
Come along and listen to Canon Pete Wilcox from Lichfield Cathedral telling stories to open up The Christmas Story. Watch this space for more details.

Why not appear at Speakers’ Corner?

If you are hoping to hold any events at Speakers’ Corner, and want to publish details to this blog, just email elizabeth.thatcher@lichfielddc.gov.uk and we’ll check it won’t clash with any planned events we’re aware of, and then add it up for you.

Buskers are being given the chance to take part in a two day musical masterpiece event in Lichfield.

Set to take place at Speakers’ Corner on Dam Street on 22 & 23 May, a Buskathon led by Dave Simcox, will be raising funds for Lichfield’s Fuse Festival.

On May 22 buskers from all genres will play from 9am to 7pm, with the following day seeing Dave Simcox (aka Bruford Low) busking for 10 hours.

Fuse Festival Director Tim Perks said: “This is a great offer from Dave Simcox – aka Bruford Low – and will be a great boost to fundraising effort for Fuse, an event which costs over £30,000.”

For further details of how you can help or to book a spot, call 01543 262223 or e-mail dave.simcox@mac.com.