Dear Ceri

We hope this newsletter finds you well and in good spirits. We are excited to

announce the winning ticket in our raffle, share the first video filmed by our dedicated volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival, and update you on progress with our documentary on solidarity. We are also delighted to announce the latest winners of Jack Petchey achievement awards.

Pictures at the festival of WORLDwrite crew by photographer Zakariya Irfan

Raffle Winner

Our WORLDwrite stall at the Battle of Ideas Festival raised an amazing £1389! This is a massive help as we spent over £4000 on filming 37 debates. The 12 memory cards we needed for 4K cost £1200 alone! So we’re thrilled to put it mildly. We are pleased to announce that the winner is the holder of yellow ticket number 706. Our prize hamper full of booze, books, chocolates and gifts is still to be claimed and we will keep it at our centre in Hackney, East London until Christmas. Please email us to arrange collection if you have that ticket! Thank you to everyone who participated in the raffle, your support and contributions are greatly appreciated.

First Video from the Battle of Ideas Festival

We are thrilled to share with you the first video filmed by our volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival. The packed out festival, which took place last weekend, was a seriously stimulating and thought-provoking event that brought together leading thinkers and speakers to debate and discuss some of the most pressing issues of our time. Our

volunteer crew did an amazing job capturing some of the key debates and we’re

delighted to share this first video below. Do let us know your thoughts on our

YouTube channel and share it on your social media and don't forget to subscribe to be informed of future videos.

Battle of Ideas Festival Keynote Controversies

POWER PLAY: WHO REALLY RULES TODAY?

In his recent book, Values, Voice and Virtue, British political scientist Matthew Goodwin argues that the ‘people who really run Britain’ are ‘a new dominant class’, that imposes its ‘radically progressive cultural values’ on the rest of the nation. Goodwin’s thesis has caused international controversy, with many labelled as the ‘new elite’ denying they have any power.

So, who is directing society in 2023, and what binds them together? Why do our elected politicians lack authority today, or are they simply unwilling to exercise their authority? Is it possible to reclaim power for The People?

The speakers are: Pamela Dow: Chief operating officer, Civic Future; Professor Frank Furedi: Sociologist and social commentator; executive director, MCC Brussels and author; Matthew Goodwin: Professor of politics, University of Kent and author; Harry Lambert: Staff writer, New Statesman; editor, New Statesman Saturday Read and Professor Anand Menon: Director, UK in a Changing Europe. The chair is Claire Fox: Director, Academy of Ideas; independent peer, House of Lords.

Jack Petchey Award Winners

We are proud to announce that some of our volunteers from the year have collected medals at a Jack Petchey Foundation achievement award ceremony in Hackney town hall. They are Edward Vear, Eva Iyobo-Hamilton & Elina Ishkhanova all of whom worked to great effect on our solidarity doc. Volunteers have just voted for three more winners, they are Elise Ward, Jasmine King and Anandita Pelia all richly deserving for their input too. This award recognizes young people who have made a positive impact in their communities and provides the charity with £300 for each of nine nominees in the year to be spent on equipment and materials for all young volunteers to use. Congratulations to all our winners and keep up the amazing work!

Documentary on Solidarity

We are happy to report that our feature documentary The UK Solidarity Story is progressing well. The chapter on British volunteers and the Spanish Civil war is all but finished and

we’re planning a footage review for more chapters with a feast pre-Xmas. Meanwhile

author James Heartfield, star of our chapter on the millworkers who refused to

touch slave cotton during the US Civil war has allowed us to reprint his pamphlet. It is available from the WORLDwrite for just £5 & £3 p&p. Email us for copies.

We hope you find our work valuable. If you can help us with a donation we will be able to keep our volunteer centre afloat and provide regular free camera training. Just visit our justgiving page at https://www.justgiving.com/worldwrite

Alternatively do consider commissioning our talented crew to film your event! We're often better and cheaper than commercial outfits. Just email us for a quote.

Thank you and we hope to hear from you soon.

Best wishes

Ceri, Andy and all the WORLDwrite crew

Ceri Dingle F.R.S.A Director

Andy Hirst Camera tutor

Phone: 020 8985 5435

Centre Email: world.write@btconnect.com

Websites: www.worldwrite.org.uk and www.clrjames.uk

Social Media: Facebook | Twitter

Millfields Lodge, 201 Millfields Road, London E5 0AL

UK Registered Charity No. 1060869