Cider Festival

 On a day like this, I wish I liked the taste of cider better!

The square and the Buttermarket were full of stalls selling local cider from a range of small producers.

There was also live music in the Buttermarket.

Meanwhile, on Brecon Road, there are a few stalls this year.  My friend got a runner bean plant from one of them, and another had been set up by Herefordshire City of Sanctuary, a group set up to welcome refugees.  They run a drop in centre at the Friends Meeting House in Herefordshire every Friday from 10am to noon, and offer all sorts of support to the people who need it.  Their website is www.herefordshire.cityofsanctuary.org and they are part of a national organisation at www.cityofsanctuary.org  They have groups across the UK and in Ireland. 

Quilting at the Castle

 The entrance hall to the Castle has been moved around a bit, so the reception desk is no longer by the stairs, but directly opposite the front door where it can be seen more easily.  However, this means that the quilting table was pushed into a corner - about half the table was in direct light from one of the windows, but the corner was a bit dark.

I wasn't sure what to expect, so I went along with no sewing materials at all.  The regular ladies quickly set me up with needle, thread, snips and a pile of material cut into hexagons that needed to be sewn to hexagon shaped pieces of paper.  When the quilts are finally assembled, the paper is taken out.

Another new lady was shown how to add hexagons onto a partly completed quilt.

Each quilt is quite small, and they are intended to be given to new refugees.

Conversation around the table was  interesting - one lady was about to go to Shanghai to see her son.  Another lady is a potter, and she showed us pictures of a Viking lamp she had made.  This is a small bowl with a central column, and you wind beeswax impregnated twine round the column to make the wick, then fill the bowl with wax, or olive oil, or whale blubber if you've got it!  Because it's a coiled wick, it makes a brighter light than a normal candle.

Another lady had pictures of the Red Dress.  It's an absolutely gorgeous silk dress, made from embroidered pieces from all over the world, and it took years to put together.  Many of the pieces were made by refugees.  It's now touring on exhibition - it was at Theatr Brycheiniog last September, and it's in Geneva on 10th March.  Later in the year it will be in Australia. 

There's now a new project for a Calico Dress made in a similar way.  Calico Dress Cymru has been made by a variety of different groups across Wales, in partnership with the Waterfront Museum in Swansea.  Other calico dresses are being developed around the world.

The quilting group meets every Saturday at 11am at the Castle, and I've already put a little box of supplies ready for next week. 

Ungrievable Lives

 There's a new art work installed in Hay Castle at the moment, put in to coincide with the Hay Music Festival, where the theme of the weekend was Exiles and Emigres.

Ungrievable Lives is by Caroline Burraway, and was created to represent refugee children.  Small dresses have been made out of discarded life jackets left behind by refugees on the island of Levbos,  one for each one million child refugees.  There are thirteen of them.  Each dress is hung from a weighing scale, to represent Justice with her scales, and to ask what is the value of a refugee child's life, compared to a person living in the West?  Under the dresses is a line of sand, to represent borders, which are continually changing over time.

It's a very thoughtful and powerful display, and it can be seen at the Castle until 29th September. 

Raffle for Refugees

 I bought a raffle ticket at a stall in the market yesterday, which was  being manned by members of the Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for Refugees charity.

There are Big Prizes!

Top prize is a pair of tickets for the Wales v All Blacks game at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff on Saturday 22nd November at 3.10pm.  The chap walking round with the signboard listing the prizes announced "Last chance this year to see Wales beat the All Blacks!.... Why does everyone always laugh when I say that?"

There's also a holiday at Fishguard Bay Resort, and lunch for two at the Felinfach Griffin.

Tickets are £1 each or £5 per book, and the stall will be on the market for the following two Thursdays.

The raffle will be drawn on Wednesday 8th October at 6pm in Llangors Youth and Community Centre. 

Shakespeare at the Castle

 It's going to be a weekend celebrating the Bard at the Castle.

On Friday 7th, at 7.30pm, the Amarylli Duo will be in the Great Hall of the Castle, singing and playing a programme of Shakespeare's Musicke.  Hannah Grove is the soprano, and Elizabeth Pallet plays lute and theorbo.  Tickets are £15, or £7.50 for under 25s, and there is also the chance to have a pre-concert supper at the Castle cafe from 6.30pm.

Then on Sunday 9th, at 5pm, the Willow Globe Theatre will be performing The Merchant of Venice on the Castle Lawn.  Tickets are £15 or £7.50 for under 16s, and bring your own seat!

Also at the Castle on Saturdays from 11am to 1pm in the Great Hall, there's the chance to add a few more stitches to the Friendship Quilt, which has been made in collaboration with the refugees who are being helped by Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for Refugees.

Common Threads at the Castle

 On Sunday 25th June, Hay Castle is hosting Common Threads for Refugee Week.

It's a celebration of stitching from around the world.  The Friendship Quilt, which was made locally by a combination of refugee embroiderers and volunteer quilters, will be on display for the first time since its completion!

This is a free event.

More quilting

 I had a really fun couple of hours in the entrance hall to the Castle on Saturday, hand quilting the lines across the completed friendship quilt.  The embroidered squares are separated by patchwork, and there are flowers and patterns - one embroidery incorporates a small twig that the embroidered figure is standing on - and there's even one of Tom and Jerry!  

Several people stopped to look and chat as we were working, and a couple of people even did a few stitches themselves.  

The quilting group will be back in the Castle next Saturday at 11am for more finishing off.

Friendship Quilt at the Castle

 There's a free event at Hay Castle on Saturday 15th April, from 11am to 1pm.

Emily Hedges organised the sewing of squares for a quilt over lockdown.  The theme is friendship, and the idea grew out of a sewing group at Welcome Days organised for asylum seekers by the Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for Refugees group.  The individual embroidered squares have now all been sewn together, but the quilt needs to be finished off, which is the project for the event.  The quilt will eventually be sold to raise funds for the group in Swansea which supports refugees there.

Ukrainian Girls in Hay

 I was waiting at the bus stop yesterday when Françoise came across with a couple of teenage girls.

They introduced themselves, but I'm afraid that, by the time I came to write anything down, I'd forgotten again.  However, they had come to Françoise for their first lesson in botanic illustration.

I hope they feel welcome in Hay.

Fund Raising

 I forgot to mention yesterday that the area of woodland beside the car park at the Warren is going to be put to use as a forest school.  This is not the first time a forest school has met there, but apparently there was some vandalism, and then Covid happened.  Jeff Morgan wants to put a new gate in the fence, and put wood chippings down for a a path and in a circle of trees where he also wants to put logs for children to sit on.  He's already got rid of a lot of saplings that were choking up the site.  

He's looking for a very modest amount of funding - about £1200.

Meanwhile, fundraising for the Warren Wall has raised enough money to build another 25 metres.

And the house sale on Saturday had raised £950 for refugees when I dropped in, with plenty more furniture, pictures and ornaments to sell.  They also managed to fill a van with furniture to furnish a house in Neath for refugees.

Singing for Peace in Ukraine

 The Community Choir will be singing in St Mary's Church from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, 19th March, to raise funds for Ukraine.  It's free to come and listen, or sing along, but you have to pay to leave!

The money is going to be sent to the Disaster Emergency Committee.

Sunflower seeds (a symbol of Ukraine) will also be on sale, donated by the Old Railway Line Garden Centre.

The Ukrainian National Anthem will be sung every hour, on the hour!

Solidarity with Ukraine

 

This is the art gallery opposite the Blue Boar.

Meanwhile, Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for Refugees group have been collecting medical supplies and toiletries, which will be going to the Polish/Ukrainian border from Neath tomorrow.  Dixies in Brecon have also been collecting items, including clothing, though clothing is generally not needed at the border.

St David's Day Concert

 

I'm looking forward to this - good fun, and for a good cause.

Art in Brecon for Refugees

 The Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for Refugees group are holding an art exhibition at the old Oxfam shop on Bethel Square in Brecon from now until the 14th February, from 11am to 3pm.

They were allowed to use the space by the Brecon Rotary Club - the President of the Club officially opened the exhibition on Friday.  

The art on display is by both professional and non-professional local artists.

Collecting for Refugees

 The Old Electric Shop is collecting items (and money) for the refugees in the Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.  There has been a fire in the camp, which is severely overcrowded, and the refugees are living in desperate conditions.

Here's the information they put out on Facebook:

They will be collecting until October 1st.

Refugee Day at Hay School

Hay School is hosting another Refugee Day on Sunday 26th January. Anyone who would like to pop in to say hello will be welcome from 11am to 3.30pm.
There will be lantern making workshops and sewing activities for the children, and the community and school choir will be singing in the afternoon.
If anyone would like to donate fruit, cake or biscuits, they will be gratefully received!

Refugee Away Day

Hay School is hosting the next Refugee Away Day organised by Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Refugee Sanctuary. The school will be open on Sunday 27th January, with activities such as glitter tattoos, nail varnish, face painting and crafts, and a show by Hay Theatre Group at 2.30pm.
The organisers are asking for donations of dried food (rice rather than pasta), tinned food (especially fish) and toiletries for the refugees to take away with them. These can be dropped off at the school any time this week, or from 9.15am on Sunday morning. They would also be grateful if anyone can donate biscuits or cake - they will be providing food and drink during the day.
One of the refugees coming to Hay on Sunday will be Otis Bolamu, who was recently threatened with deportation back to the Republic of Congo. He wants to thank some of the people who signed the petition for him to stay in this country personally.

Good News for Otis

The Facebook page for the Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for Refugees now has a post up to say that Otis has been released from detention, and is heading back to Swansea from Gatwick.
This isn't the end of the process - he still has to go through the legal process to stay in the UK as a refugee - but at least he's not going to be put on a plane back to the Congo.

'Hostile Environment' Comes to Hay

News of refugees and deportations can seem very far away from life in Hay, but occasionally something happens that demonstrates the sort of ties people in Hay have with international events. Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for Refugees has been very active, organising days out in the countryside for refugees living in Swansea, but sometimes helping refugees means doing a little bit more than offering them a nice day out.
Otis Bolamu is an asylum seeker from the Republic of Congo. He was a government employee there, and also active in one of the main opposition groups to the government. When he was accused of spying for the opposition, he knew his life was in danger, and he fled the country, ending up here in Wales. At the moment, official government advice is not to travel to the Republic of Congo, due to political unrest, state violence and a deteriorating human rights situation.
Otis hasn't been idle while he was waiting for his claim to be processed - although asylum seekers are not able to get a job, he became a volunteer at Hay Festival, and in Swansea he has been volunteering at an Oxfam shop.
And then he was refused leave to remain in the UK. He appealed against that decision, but he was taken into detention by immigration officers just before Christmas - they planned to send him back to the Congo on Christmas Day.
On Facebook there has been a petition going round to allow Otis to stay here, supported by Hay Festival, and at the moment he is still in this country, thanks to the work of Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for Refugees, Oxfam and churchgoers in Swansea, the opposition group Apareco in the Congo, and various concerned MPs and lawyers.
This is only a temporary reprieve, but Otis and his lawyers are preparing a fresh case to allow him to remain in the UK.

Busking for Refugees

Here are Justin and Bob, singing Message in a Bottle. They were also joined by Toby, and together they raised £194.90 for Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for Refugees.