Something for the weekend
Three cheers for Staffs Uni
Academics at Staffordshire University have been engaged in an important bit of research to try and determine whether cheerleading should be recognised as a sport.
The university’s Centre for International Sports Law (CISL), which is run in partnership with Thompson Rivers University in Canada, is exploring the issue of what exactly constitutes a sport. The survey has been backed by cheerleading associations internationally.
Kris Lines, CISL co-director, says: "It is important to get international opinion on the subject of cheerleading becoming a sport. This has been a particular issue in the US where there are more than 1.5m cheerleaders."
"In the UK all the major cheerleading organisations support the survey and research and we are delighted that Sport England has also confirmed that they’re interesting in the findings and academic opinion," added Kris.
Nice…
To the great jazz locations - New Orleans, New York, Paris - can be added another: the Colmore Business District (CBD).
For the Birmingham area which is normally filled with men in suits having important mobile phone conversations as they walk down the street was filled with the sounds of New Orleans jazz recently as it hosted a one-off live album recording to celebrate the start of the Birmingham International Jazz & Blues Festival.
Birmingham’s Hotel Du Vin was the setting for the three hour recording organised by CBD.
Jazz, blues and gospel band Tipitina entertained guests with a mix of classic and contempory New Orleans inspired jazz including their own interpretation of You Know I’m No Good by Amy Winehouse and a song written especially for the event entitled Taking Care of Business.
Event organiser and CBD communications coordinator Tahreen Kutub said the festival, which is now in its 27th year, is a great opportunity to strengthen community bonds in the district.
Motoring on
The newly merged Birmingham offices of property consultants King Sturge and Jones Lang LaSalle joined forces with other professionals for the 2011 Charitable Classic and Sports Car Reliability Run, raising money for The Royal British Legion.
Nearly 30 cars got their motors running for charity, travelling 220 miles from Aston Hall to meet up with Jones Lang LaSalle’s new colleagues in Nottingham, before travelling through the Peak District stopping off at Derwent Dam and making their way back to Birmingham.
Johnson Fellows and Mills & Reeve were amongst the names taking part. Organiser Gethin Chislett from Jones Lang LaSalle said: "Due to the overwhelming success of last year’s Reliability Run we decided to repeat it again this year and perhaps make it an ongoing event.
"Once again we got a fantastic turn out and have so far raised over £2,000 for The Royal British Legion with cheques still coming in. The weather was good to us and the rain held off right up to the last check point, but everyone was in good spirits and we continued to enjoy more of the wet stuff at our final destination, the Metro bar."
Inside out
Fancy a spell in stir? In Stoke-on-Trent? Well look no further. From 15 July through to 13 August, visitors to Number 12 Piccadilly, Hanley will have an opportunity to go to jail, or an exact replica of a standard UK prison cell, anyway. Rideout, the creative arts for rehabilitation charity, is behind the Cell Project plan to increase public understanding about the issues surrounding incarceration.
Members of the public will have the opportunity to vote using an online survey on the length of their sentences, and make decisions about the kind of privileges they can have in their cell. We’re told that “it won’t be for long and you won’t need to have committed a crime,” which should come as a relief. And you are allowed to leave. Frankly, it doesn’t sound much different than a certain major budget hotel chain.
