For Southend West & Leigh
Old Leigh really is the jewel in the crown of Southend West and I intend to keep it that way. We also have a wonderful array of creative artists producing sublimely beautful works inspired by our lovely Estuary.
I was there today and took some photos. Then had a well-earned beer in the Peterboat.
Grrrl Zine Fair started in 2015 as a way to bring together feminist self-publishing through an event. They create events, workshops, and zines and manage a queer and feminist zine library based in Southend at the Old Waterworks. Organiser is Lu Williams, the artist who makes zines and curates the library. Ably assisted by her dog, Poly.
They bring girls, women, transgender, non-binary, and gender-fluid people to the forefront, prioritizing their voices through events, commissioning new artworks, hosting zine and skill-sharing workshops, talks, and occasionally curating exhibitions.
Hand-making a paper magazine to share with like-minded creatives is more like something I did in the 1980’s so it’s good to see this grass-roots cool stuff is still happening.
Many being students I asked them would they vote Liberal Democrat? They said no, they’d rather vote for the Green Party. There’s a lesson there: the young remember and once trust is gone, it is gone forever. Maybe if we can come up with some way to undo our mistake, like debt forgiveness, increasing the threshold when it kicks in or simply paying it instead of the student is the solution.
Education is a right not a product to be sold. Parents like my wife and I have already paid for my daughter’s university education through my taxes. Not to mention other sons and daughters’ educations. That’s how it should be in a liberal democracy.
