Over 50 thoughts for contemplation

Stirchley Happenings' 'Flicks, Infusions and Vintage Tunes' night was a great success last night! The mound of tea bags (for composting) sums up the popularity of the evening - with free tea and cake, and some fantastic films, it was not to be missed!

Carefully placed in the centre of the front table throughout the evening was a folder of comments gathered from our two previous Thought Exchanges, for punters to read and reflect upon. The folder will be left there for the final week of the pop-up art tea room's time in Stirchley. It will be open this Thursday 3pm - 8pm if you would like to dip in and read the 50something thoughts that have been gathered so far - and in exchange for free tea, please do leave your own thoughts too.

Thought Exchange at the Artea shop, Stirchley

You may have noticed a new tea shop pop up on Stirchley High Street, on the corner of Pershore Road and Ivy Road. It is part of 'Inhabit', a visiting community art project under the 'Arts in Empty Spaces' scheme. Commissioned by the council's arts team and run by Hybrid Consulting, the tea room acts as a space for artists, both from the local area and across the region, to engage with Stirchley residents, community groups and local businesses.

Prior to landing in Stirchley, the Inhabit project visited Ladywood and Handsworth. It took some encouragement to get the tea room to visit Stirchley, but now it's here, it's good news!

The are a lot of exciting discussions happening about the use of the tea shop: Stirchley Happenings are looking to use it for a film night on Friday 25th February - I will keep you posted!

Stirchley Thought Exchange will have an appearance in some format too: we're thinking of exhibiting some of the thoughts from the two exchanges to date in a photo album that we can leave on the tables in the tea room, so people can read through at their leisure and drink free tea and eat free cake. There will also be an opportunity for you to contribute thoughts on the area. I'm hoping to exhibit some of the photos that were taken at both events too, and try and invite those people who have contributed so far back for a tea drinking evening, to reflect on recent change in the area.

I am awaiting a full programme of activities, but the shop will be there until the end of February. Every Thursday is late night tea drinking, so if you're free I recommend checking it out - from 6pm - 8pm.


Linking back to August's Thought Exchange at the Community Market, there were themes of having a tea room in Stirchley, or more cafes. With the Artea shop happening, as well as Cakes for Life's schedule of cafe based events, Stirchley is, more so than ever, an exiting place to be!

Cakes for Life Event - Stirchley Community Cafe!

Verdah and Emma are two nice local people who like to bake tasty cakes and biscuits. At the moment they sell from Stirchley Community Market and Stirchley Community Church Cafe.

They will be hosting community nights at the cafe - the first of which is next Wednesday 9th February 3.30 - 10pm. It will be a games night, and a book exchange - so bring your books to swap! Hope to see you there.

For more info get in touch with Verdah and Emma!