Yorkshire Sculpture Park

This was our first coach trip for ages. We were due to set out at 10.30am, but nobody turned up late. Everyone was so eager, so we set off five minutes early!

Yorkshire Sculpture Park is a 500-acre art gallery located in the Bretton Estate.

We arrived at 11.45am, registered at reception in the YSP Centre and immediately made our way to The Kitchen, which has stunning views across the landscape. We had curly chips, pasties, soups and sandwiches.

There are various galleries displaying temporary exhibitions, and the open-air collection comprises short and long term loans, site-specific commissions and gifts from individuals and artists.

These include bronzes by Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth and a number of quirky artworks, such as an engagement ring Solitário [Solitaire] (2018), a seven-metre-high ring made of golden car wheel rims topped with a huge diamond crafted from crystal whisky glasses.

Representing the stereotypical ambition of our society to acquire wealth and material possessions, the work unites symbols of luxury – cars, jewellery and alcohol – which bridge social classes. Sited at one of the highest points in the park and drawing attention to one of the most wonderful views across the landscape, Solitário entices visitors uphill and creates delight in the discovery of its fabrication.

As well as artworks, there are lakes and forests to explore.

I think we all agreed that we had a great day out. Lots more great photos can be seen here.

Prescriptions

The Government are planning to change the age for free prescriptions from 60 to the State Pension age, which right now is 66.

They’re asking for people’s views at the moment, so we need to tell them why it’s a bad idea which will leave people struggling to afford the prescriptions they need to keep well.

I’ve just submitted a response to their consultation, please will you do the same? It only takes a few minutes – here’s the link.

Bisexuality celebration

The annual BiCon celebration – the UK’s main bisexual gathering will be held online this year from Thursday 19 August to Sunday 22 August 2021.

Tickets are available to sign up by clicking here.

To subscribe to the mailing list for regular updates and information before and during BiCon 2021 please follow the link by clicking here.

What is BiCon?

BiCon is a three and a bit day weekend-long educational and social gathering for bi people, their friends, partners, and others with a supportive interest in bisexuality. We don’t all use the labels “bi” or “bisexual” or even agree on what it means to be bi, but bisexuality is the common theme.

If you are wondering if it is ‘Con’ as in convention or conference we don’t think we have to be just one! As a convention, we are social and fun with discussions, dancing, games, music, crafting and costume parties. As a conference we have more serious workshops on issues around bisexuality and related (and not-so-related!) topics. BiCon is a space to be completely yourself, make new friends and catch up with old ones, and it has a totally accepting atmosphere; BiCon attendees often say BiCon feels like home.

BiCon has been held in a different part of the UK each year since 1984 and in 2020 and 2021 BiCon has gone virtual to enable the event to continue during Covid. There are usually several hundred attendees, with around 25% attending for the first time.

This year BiCon is being held from a Thursday night to a Sunday afternoon, but as long as you have a ticket you can come along at any time and join in. Virtual BiCon is run by asking people to sign up for a ticket which gets them access to the whole event, and then everyone will be emailed a timetable of sessions that are being run with the links to sign up for the sessions they want to attend.

Tickets are pay what you can; the suggested amount is £10.00.