I was pleased to have opportunity to revisit some of my paintings in an art collector’s beautiful home. She has been collecting my paintings for several years and has an array of landscapes and custom commissioned abstracts.
The Owls of Bath Sculpture Trail
Having previously made a piece of public art for The Lions of Bath sculpture Trail, I was keen to get involved with The Owls of Bath project. There is so much value in public art trails. They allow free participation so that anyone can enjoy the arts, whilst giving local artists a platform to exhibit their individual talents.
The brief for the Owls of Bath public art trail was to design a painted sculpture that in some way reflected the symbolism of owls and/or the city of Bath. In Greek mythology, the owl is a symbol of wisdom because it is often depicted sitting on the arm of Athena, the Goddess of wisdom. This is why I chose to paint my owls feathers as book spines – because books are the route to wisdom. I also wanted to give my sculpture a local twist, so all the books or authors featuring on the owl have a connection with the City of Bath (some a bit tenuous admittedly). I appropriately named her JK Owling. She was originally going to be called George Owlwell, but thought it was better to make her female and more current!
My design was sponsored by Monahans Accountancy Firm, and the final sculpture was perched on a stone plinth on Pierrepont Street throughout the summer of 2018. Along with the rest of the flock, she attracted thousands of visitors and featured in many family photos. I was very pleased to learn that JK had also been voted joint 1st prize as “The People’s Favourite” by readers of The Bath Chronicle.
At the end of the summer, the colourful parliament of owls were auctioned off for charity by Bonhams auctioneers. The proceeds raised money for B&NES Young Carers, Forever Friends Appeal, The Archway Project and The Little Owls Project. My public art piece sold to a private buyer for a whopping £5500, so I was thrilled to have helped raise so much money for four worthy charities.
The Big Draw World Drawing Festival
As part of the “Big Draw” World drawing festival, I organised a series of events working with schools on projects to encourage participation in the arts. The theme was ‘Small World, Big Ideas’ and was about the world around us and sustainability.
Helping to get more people doing art and being creative is one of my favourite things as an artist. Art is so important for children. It helps them express themselves and understand the world around them. A few years back, I was involved in the Big Draw project at another school in Kingswood, Redfield Edge in Oldland Common. The theme was dreams and aimed to teach the children about the nature of abstract art. They had great fun then and I think the pupils at Hanham Abbots and St Mary’s really enjoyed the project this year. It is crucial that creative subjects are recognised as an important part of education. Everything around us has been designed and has only come about as a result of creative thought.
The Campaign for Drawing was launched in 2000, by the Guild of St. George, to commemorate its founder, the Victorian writer, philosopher and artist, John Ruskin. The campaign aims to raise the profile of drawing as a tool to help people see, think, invent and take action. Its long term ambition is to change the way drawing is perceived by educationalists and the public. Campaign for Drawing has patrons which include Quentin Blake, David Hockney and Andrew Marr and each year runs the Big Draw Festival.
Your NPF rep in the South West
In 2015 I was elected to Labour’s policy making body of the party to serve on the National Policy Forum, and I now sit on the Environment, Energy and Culture commission. Please get in touch if you have any ideas you would like to contribute, or if your CLP (in the South West) would like me to speak at a meeting or run a policy workshop for members.
You can also read more about Jo’s previous campaign and commmunity work by visiting http://www.kingswoodlabour.org.uk/
Find out more about influencing Labour Policy
Please visit the link above, outlining how Labour’s National Policy Forum makes policy and how Labour Party members can influence it. More information can also be found by visiting http://www.policyforum.labour.org.uk/
Jo Backs Local Campaigners calls to regenerate Warmley Skate Park
Jo McCarron is supporting local residents who are putting in a bid to rebuild a skate park in Warmley. The land, which in recent years has fallen into disrepair, has become neglected and local young people say they now have nowhere to go. A meeting was called on the15th January where Jo joined local parents, young people and councillors from all parties to discuss possible future use of the land.
The parishes of Oldland, Bitton and Siston have all played a role in leading the project, along with council officials and local resident, Dan Lacey.
Dan said:
“I am passionate about skating and I’ve been involved in other projects previously to help create skate parks. It’s really important local skaters have somewhere they can go and it’s great when the community and politicians come together to support projects like this.
“We are awaiting on funding and we’ve drawn up an initial plan which will be discussed at our next meeting on 19th March. Anyone who is interested in getting involved is welcome to join us.”
Jo McCarron, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Kingswood, who attended the meeting in January said:
“The social benefits of young people having somewhere to go and something to do are so important. No one likes to see land go to waste and looking at the sheer amount of people who attended the last meeting, there is most certainly clear demand for a park in Warmley. It’s brilliant that there are people like Dan who is keen to put his energy into creating something which will be a fantastic asset to the local community. I hope the project secures the money it deserves.”
The public are invited to the next meeting to discuss the next moves in the bid for a park. The meeting will be held at 6pm on 19th March in The Scout Hut, The A420 Road Warmley, Bristol, BS30 5JL.
Ends
Editor’s Notes:
1. Photo’s of Jo, Dan and fellow campaigners attached
Letter to Sue Mounstevens about river boat speeding.
Over the Christmas period and in the New Year, many people in the South West were hit badly by the floods. Here in Kingswood, fewer people have been hit – but those who were hit have suffered badly. They tell me they have had little help, so I have been working with those people to help them with some practical measures, like obtaining sand bags.
One issue which arose was the impact of boats speeding on the River Avon and eroding the river bank. I wrote to Avon and Somerset’s Police Commissioner to ask what would be done to address the issue and enforce the speed limit.
Here is my letter and I await a response:
Dear Sue Mountstevens
I am contacting you on behalf of residents in Kingswood constituency who live near the River Avon.
I have been helping local people who were hit badly by the recent floods. Whilst in conversation with those people, it has come to my attention that there is also an issue with boats speeding on the River Avon. Some residents tell me that they believe speed boats are causing damage to the river bank during the summer months – and this erosion is further increasing the risk of flooding. Affected residents believe these types of boats should be banned from the river. Further more, boats are often travelling over the 4mph speed limit, but residents say this is not being enforced.
Can you tell me what measures are being taken by Avon and Somerset police to help reduce this problem?
Yours sincerely
Jo McCarron
Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Kingswood.
Jo warns holiday makers not to fall victim to rogue sites in ‘rip off Britain.’
Jo McCarron, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate in Kingswood is warning holiday makers to take heed when applying for their passports online.
In the lead up to the spring, many people will be in the process of booking holidays abroad and applying for passports. But Jo says there is a growing problem with rogue sites which charge extortionate amounts of money to provide basic information about passport applications, which is otherwise free from the local post office.
The official Gov.UK site has also issued warnings on the main page about copycat websites, but often by the time people have seen that, it’s too late. The websites are designed to look as official as possible and appear on a search above the official site. A site called passport.uk.com even has “Official UK Passport Application” written in the title.
Jo Mc Carron said:
“It is dreadful that people can be so easily cheated, particularly at a time when wages are stagnated and every penny of the family budget us under scrutiny.
“People who have fallen victim to this scam tell me that they believed they were on the official site, only to find after they’d applied, they had been charged a whopping £99 to just be provided with the application form which is otherwise free. When initially paying the money, they thought they were paying for the passport itself. It just adds to the sense that many people feel like they are constantly being ripped off left, right and centre.”
The problem does not only stop at passports. On almost every Government or local authority service where a fee or licence is applicable, private organisations pay for their websites to come top on searches. People applying for birth and death certificates, congestion charge payments, driving licences, national insurance numbers and even rod fishing licences are all at threat from these rogue sites.
Google now bans commercial users to buy such searches using its AdWords system, but critics say the giant, which made a profit of £2.6bn in the UK in 2011 but paid just £6m in tax, could do more to help consumers.
Jo added:
“I have today written to the Chief Executive of South Gloucestershire Council asking that warnings are issued at the top of the relevant parts of their website to try to help consumers avoid falling for these misleading and costly services. I’d also be keen to hear from anyone in Kingswood who has fallen victim to such scams to hear about their experiences. I will be seeking to raise awareness of the issue to ensure as few people as possible are caught out by this.”
Editor’s Note:
1. The full text of Jo’s letter to the Chief Executive of South Gloucestershire Council is below.
Dear Ms Deeks,
At this time of year, many people in South Gloucestershire will be planning summer holidays abroad and applying for passports. But it is is clear there is a growing problem with rogue sites which are charging large sums of money to provide basic application forms which are otherwise free from the local post office.
The sites mislead people as they are designed to appear like the official HM Gov website. The companies pay to advertise their web site at the top of search engines, such as Google, meaning they are usually the first site the consumer stumbles upon.
But the problem of copy cat sites stretches further than passports and also applies to several government and local authority online services that charge a fee. Whether it is a birth or death certificate, or a fishing licence – a rogue website is not far away, lying in wait for a poor unsuspecting website consumer that they can rip off.
As Labour’s Parliamentary candidate for Kingswood, I am now raising awareness of the issue so that people in my constituency do not fall victim to these sites, incidentally which have been known to charge up to £99 for a form which should have been free.
Else where in the UK, official government websites have issued warnings. Leicester City Council has also added a warning at the top of it’s site warning people of these private firms which aim to cheat people out of their hard earned cash.
I am contacting you today to request that South Gloucestershire Council also issues a warning on it’s site – which may help save some people from falling into this trap – and would cost the council nothing.
Yours sincerely
Jo McCarron
2. The UK Government site issues a warning on it’s main site – https://www.gov.uk/government/news/hm-passport-office-warns-customers-against-charges-by-rogue-companies
Welcoming Ed in the West.
This Saturday we had the privilege of welcoming our Labour leader, Ed Miliband to the West country. This was as part of the effort to promote our Labour council candidates for the coming local elections. We walked around St. Nicholas Market in Bristol with Kerry McCarthy MP and parliamentary candidates for Bristol West and Bristol North West Thangam Debbonaire and Darren Jones. Ed had the opportunity to talk to market traders and members of the public about the detrimental effect the Tory led coalition’s policies were having on local people. There was also a outdoor Qs and As session afterwards, where Ed answered questions ranging from the NHS and the economy, to nuclear waste and the environment. Ed was great on his soapbox. He was honest and intelligent but also you can sense the fire in his belly. It was a great way to launch Labour’s election campaigns across Bristol. 
Spruce-up in village green status bid
A child’s bike, a microwave and a bin were among the items recovered in a clean-up operation in Newbridge at the weekend.
Vicky Drew of Weston and Jo McCarron of Newbridge, who both stood as Labour candidates in this month’s council elections, organised the litter pick.
It was timed to ensure that land behind Rudmore Park, which they want declared as an official village green, was looking its best during a public inquiry into the matter this week.
Rubbish that had mainly been flytipped on the land was removed and taken to the tip.
Mrs McCarron said: “We felt the event was a real success. We removed all kinds of items.
“It amazes me that people go to the extreme of dragging these items to a green haven when they could just phone the council to pick them up from their homes.
“Hopefully the green lane will now stay clean for a long while.”
The pair said litter was one of the issues they had identified as a key concern during their campaigning.
Jo Thorne McCarron 