Rotters from Gina Czarnecki on Vimeo.

Here’s a link to a Community film produced by Gina Czarnecki, Sam Meech and Rotters Community Composting, supported by tenantspin.  The films feature within the South Liverpool Treatment Centre garden and Waiting Room, in Garston.

Go visit the centre to see the film as part of the stunning South Liverpool sub-tropical garden…or watch on here.

Go forth and compost!

Plus Dane Young People

Back in 2010 tenantspin project workers Patrick Fox and Laura Yates where approached by Plus Dane Housing Group and partner organisations including Anfield Detached, Merseyside Youth Development Services, Merseyside Youth Association and Liverpool City Council to take part in a new film for the Anfield Area. The project would be working with an intergenerational group from across Anfield on a new narrative for the district, something that would incorporate elements from the past, present and future of this changing neighbourhood.

Part of tenantspin’s work focuses on the Anfield/Breckfield area and so it was fantastic for us to be involved.

As part of the project Alex Harrison, a long-term collaborator with tenantspin and former FACT Young Persons Programme graduate was brought in to fill the role of lead artist and filmmaker. Along with Chris and Peter from MYDAS, Sue from Anfield Detached and Lisa and Julie from Plus Dane we engaged with a group of young and older people from the area and began to develop ideas for the film.

The project was a brilliant success and an accolade to the fantastic relationship and shared vision of the young people, older people and project leaders involved.

It finally premiered at FACT on the evening of March 24th 2011. Since then the film has been playing on a continuous loop in Gallery 1 @ FACT as part of the Anfield Pavilion in the Knowledge Lives Everywhere exhibition running at FACT until the 12th June.

We thought that was the end for now of a partnership which taught us so much about the power of collaborative working. However this was not to be! Imagine our surprise when we got an email informing us that we had been shortlisted for an award by the Plus Dane Young Persons forum! Alex and I went along to the interview which lasted 10 minutes and covered everything we did as a project as well as asking us about This is Anfield.

We went along nervously to the awards night, held in Liverpool’s Contemporary Urban Centre not expecting to win. We where the first award up and couldn’t believe our ears when tenantspin was called out.

The award was a brilliant coo for us and was presented in part for our role in This is Anfield but it also recognises the fantastic work tenantspin through FACT and Arena Housing has been striving at now for coming on 12 years, art for people and by people.

The inaugural North Liverpool Digital Story Group after almost a year of working together has completed its creative programme. In that time the tenantspin group; consisting of several elderly members of the Anfield/Breckfield community along with project leaders; has produced an assortment of short film’s documenting the personal stories and anecdotes of participants. The group set out to create an archive of ‘Digital Stories’ intended to record a local, social history through actual members of the Anfield/Breckfield community.

The films produced have varied in content. The narrative of each digital story has been subject to the wishes of the story teller. Project leaders Laura Yates, Jonathan Turton and Pauline Rowe have primarily assisted with articulation and technological production, with the idea’s for the films growing organically from discussion. Themes have ranged from working life to family and child hood, heroes and friends, to general gripes and opinion, but always with a Liverpool flavour. The films adhere to the creative ‘rules’ of the ‘Digital Story’ as established by the BBC upon creation of the concept. All of the ‘Mini-Movies’ are roughly two minutes long using approximately 12 images in each and aim to tell a personal story of an individual supported by still and moving image.

Read on…

tenantspin have begun a new stream of work in the past 6 months, working through Arena Option’s Young People Services.  The bulk of this work has been channelled through the four Arena Foyer’s, located in Chester, St.Helens, Wigan and Warrington.

Projects have included songwriting, film-making and photo stories.  Big projects like a collaboration with artist collective ‘The People Speak’ culminating in a 5-a-side football tournament with a twist in early August.

tenantspin have also been working on the Find Your Talent programme, a government initiative providing young people with access to 5 hours of culture per week.  We’ve been working with Ravenhead Foyer in St.Helens, and our partners in North Liverpool.

tenantspin has been working with communities based in the north of the city for the best part of 2009 developing some new networks, friendships, debates, screenings and training with residents which hopefully starts a long-process of collaboration in North Liverpool.
Geographically speaking, Anfield/Breckfield lies slightly inland from Everton and encompasses post codes L4, L5 + L6 and has a history dating back to the 18th century when the area was fields, streams, farms and quickly becoming a desirable domestic location for merchants growing rich from trade in the busy port of Liverpool.

Residents from the area have been collaborating with us on creating a series of creative programmes for North Liverpool which will hopefully add to all the work currently taking place led by organisations such as Anfield, Breckside neighbourhood Council, Breckfield and North Everton Community Council, The Lighthouse and Liverpool Biennial. The work includes a film programme for North Liverpool, the North Liverpool Cinema Circle, which will work to create some interesting and diverse screenings in the neighbourhood which kicked off with a screening and Q + A from producer Roy Boutler of the seminal Terence Davis Liverpool eulogy Of Time in the City.

Our next screening will be of the 1988 Chris Bernard classic Letter to Breshnev on December 2nd at 2pm, venue to be confirmed.

Our training group have been working on developing the plot and narrative for a film about the area looking at regeneration across the 200 year history, the people, places and urban myths that shape neighbourhoods over their development and what the future holds for communities in change. For more information or to contribute your knowledge, experiences or historical information drop us a line and we’ll be happy to pass this onto the group. Watch this space for details of screenings, sneak peaks and interviews with the filmmakers.

Meanwhile, on Breck Road Ruth and the wonderful staff from Abcc have been working with ourselves, local residents (groups around this part of the district include Cobra led by Ian Watt and Lawdon led by Fred Crebbin) and charities like Genie in the Gutter and The Parkview Project to lead debates and open discussions looking at issues effecting nieghbourhoods across Liverpool. The most recent focussed on substance misuse and the need for a combined approach at tackling the community-based issues brought about by herion and crack epidemics within districts. The debate was chaired by Liam Foggerty and representitives from Genie and Parkview. Look out for more events in the North Liverpool debates series in the new year, as ever if anyone has a topic they feel would benefit from open discussion please do forward onto us.

Growing projects have been under discussion with residents from St David’s Road and Cobra generally. Cobra lies within the buffer zone which basically means that there will be neither demolition or refurbishment of the current housing stock. As a result residents are keen to start Cairn Street L8 interventions which will hopefully include trees, evergreen plants and crops for winter and then into spring with a whole host of new growing projects for Abcc, Cobra and Bala Street.

To keep abreast of North Liverpool projects visit our facebook group either at tenantspin, or North Liverpool Culture follow us on twitter or have a look at our images and films on flickr

tenantspin’s first community film night (25th November) went down really well with all invited.

Our idea for this film evening came from feedback we received from other screenings of this ilk including Love Lane Lives (Leon Seth/Ron Noon) and Gardens of Stone (Paul Sudbury) which both have a very local focus but looked outward toward national schemes which changed the lives of people living in areas effected by mass demolition and redevelopment of social housing as well as the closure of huge, historical firms like Tate and Lyle who at one time employed 80% of the people living in the Vauxhall area of Liverpool.

This commuity film night featured the work of Ray Walsh local filmmaker and resident and the now famous documentarist Nick Broomfield. The first, Ray’s film Disappearing Communities was an 1989 production which documented the changing face of inner-city Liverpool and the social housing around the Bronlow Hill, London Road, Scotland Road and Byron Street areas. In someways, it provided a classically scouse nostaligic look at the importance of these commnities in the development of a city but with such a rounded outlook it was hard to stick on the side either of the goverment or the people.

The second, Nick Broomfield’s Behind the Rent Strike saw a very young Broomfield exposed to a world of socialism, ideology and strength of the masses that was pretty prevelant in some parts of Liverpool in the 70’s. The film documents a period of 12 months during which a group of residents from the overspill town Kirkby fight back against a rent increase and pay freeze which was part of a controversial government bill eventually scrapped in the early 80’s.

Some of the comments:

‘Hopefully this will be the 1st of many more screenings and understanding’

‘I loved the subject matter (of the film night) and the honest and open way it was portrayed’

‘Keep it coming’

‘Very impressed. More of these’

‘Good format – relaxed atmosphere’

‘Just hope more people can get involved – love the community aspect’

‘good. film lengths were ideal’

‘good split between inner city and subhurbs’

‘this is a fantastic idea – I hope to see a lot more community film nights’