Northampton Film Festival 2022

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Northampton Film Festival 2022 is now open for film submissions to the Schools Competition and Main Short Film Competition

After 2021’s virtual festival, Screen Northants are excited to be launching the short film competitions for Northampton Film Festival 2022 ready for events around Northampton town centre in May. Northampton Film Festival 2022: Know Your Place will bring people together in Northampton town centre to watch locally-connected short and feature-length films, and take part in Q&As and masterclasses with film industry professionals.

Becky Adams, Producer at social enterprise film company Screen Northants says

The theme in 2019 was Coming of Age followed by Kind of a Big Deal for our virtual 2020/2021 festival, and now in 2022 we think you should Know Your Place…. That means knowing there’s a place for you in the film industry if you want it and knowing there’s plenty to celebrate in Northampton.

Northamptonshire filmmakers can now submit their short films for free to a number of different categories

  • Schools Competition with a prize of £2000 worth of filming equipment sponsored by Northampton Town Centre BID
  • Main Short Film Competition for films made by Northamptonshire writers, producers or directors, or filmed in Northants, with both drama and documentaries subcategories
  • and the new Sketchy Link to Northants short film category so NFF can celebrate work from those with a connection to the county even if the link is a little tenuous or outdated, such as having studied here some years ago.

Paul Mills, Producer at Screen Northants, says

Screen Northants have worked with so many talented young people in Northamptonshire over the last 5 years that we thought there should be a platform to show their work and to celebrate their talent. And as we’re Northampton Film Festival, if you are a Northampton school, we are offering free workshops to inspire and equip students to make their own film. We’d urge local schools to get in touch, if they haven’t already, and take advantage of these opportunities kindly supported by Northamptonshire Community Foundation and Northampton Borough Council.

More information on the film competitions can be found on the festival’s website www.northamptonfilmfestival.co.uk

In December Screen Northants are hosting events at their premises in the Grosvenor Centre Northampton where the public can watch previous festival films, meet other local film fans and makers, and learn about NFF. Plus they start their free-to-enter 48hr Film Challenge series. Details are on the festival website.

The Northampton Film Festival has been made possible with support from Film Hub Midlands through funds from the National Lottery. Film Hub Midlands support people to watch, show, and make films in the Midlands. Screen Northants receives on-going support from Northampton Filmhouse and also the Grosvenor Centre where they are based. To find out more visit www.northamptonfilmfestival.co.uk or find @NNFilmFestival or www.facebook.com/NorthamptonFilmFestivalUK on social media.

Hunsbury Hill gets a new community orchard

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Thirty heritage fruit trees will be planted as part of an urban community orchard at the Hunsbury Hill Centre on Tuesday, November 30th, 2021.

Students from the local primary school and Moulton College will be planting apples, pears, damsons, plums, and quince on the grounds of Northamptonshire ACRE, at Harksome Hill. The fruit varieties have been chosen for their historic value and were once grown in orchards across the East Midlands.

The orchard, funded by the Postcode Places Trust and Northampton Rotary, is part of a wider project to restore the beautiful Grade 2 listed farmhouse, outbuildings, and landscape at the Hunsbury Hill Centre.

It’s hoped the planting will provide a beautiful community space for East and West Hunsbury residents and visitors to enjoy, and learn new skills. There are plans for orchard activities and events to take place in future years.

The project is a collaboration with West Hunsbury Parish Council, community group Save Our Street Trees, and urban forester Russell Horsey from Woodland Dwelling – who will be leading the planting day. Northampton Rotary Club has sponsored five trees as part of its centenary celebrations, which will see it plant 100 trees across the town.

Northamptonshire Acre CEO Elaine O’Leary said: “Planting this orchard is the culmination of a long-held wish of the charity. We are delighted to be working with our partners to deliver a wonderful growing space for the benefit of the local community as well as doing our bit for the Queen’s Green Canopy.”

A photocall will take place at 11 am on Tuesday, November 30th, 2021. Please contact Projects Administrator Natasha Jimenez Sanchez at ACRE on natasha.jimenezsanchez@northantsacre.org.uk or telephone 01604 765888.

Shoosmiths Foundation donates £90,000

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LEADING UK law firm Shoosmiths has agreed to donate funds to End Youth Homelessness and Street League charities, awarding a total of £90,000 through the Shoosmiths Foundation.

The Shoosmiths Foundation was launched earlier this year to build upon the law firm’s existing community investment programme, which supports local charity partners through staff fundraising and firm donations, staff volunteering, and the provision of legal advice pro bono. The £90,000 grants support the firm’s strategic aim to advance social mobility, in line with the Shoosmiths social mobility action plan. The Shoosmiths Foundation’s other funding priorities are to advance a carbon net zero UK and promote access to justice in the UK.

End Youth Homelessness (EYH) is a national movement of local charities that have joined forces to tackle the UK’s youth homelessness crisis. It provides a national platform to raise awareness, share experience and generate voluntary income. Its member charities supported over 40,000 homeless young people aged 16-25 last year.

Faye Edmondson, End Youth Homelessness head of fundraising, said:

Nearly 60% of homeless young people are not in education, employment or training when they arrive at their EYH member charity, yet we know that securing a job is the surest route out of homelessness. EYH’s Employability Fund provides 1:1 support to help the young people we work with finish school and get qualifications or a job. We are very grateful to Shoosmiths for such generous support.

Funding from the Shoosmiths Foundation will prove that ‘talent can come from anywhere’. It will:

  • provide 2,174 hours of employability support from employability coaches
  • help circa 41 young people back into EET

Street League’s vision is a society in which all young people have the opportunity of secure employment and a brighter future. Using sport and education, they help young people into work.

Joe Flack, Street League corporate partnerships manager, said

The Shoosmiths Foundation together with Street League will support 53 unemployed young people aged 16-24 living in some of the most deprived communities across Leeds and Sheffield, to gain qualifications they need to secure meaningful job opportunities. This project is a critical intervention at a crucial time, ensuring those already facing disadvantage are not left even further behind.

Simon Boss, Shoosmiths’ chief executive, said:

This funding is provided with the aim of creating fairer and wider opportunities for young people facing homelessness and unemployment across the UK. The Shoosmiths Foundation was established as a grant making body to help address societal issues, to empower sustainable change and to improve the lives of the people and the environment in the UK. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic these donations are more vital than ever. End Youth Homelessness and Street League both reflect the firm’s priority to improve social mobility, and it is an honour to work alongside them as part of our long-standing community commitments.

Further information about the Shoosmiths Foundation can be found here.

Toby Sanders appointment Designate Chief Executive

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Following a robust process, NHS England and NHS Improvement have recommended that Toby Sanders is the new Designate Chief Executive of Northamptonshire’s Integrated Care Board (ICB), ready to take up the post in April 2022 as part of our transition to full Integrated Care System (ICS) status, subject to government legislation.

As Chief Executive of NHS Northamptonshire Clinical Commissioning Group and Executive Lead of Northamptonshire Health and Care Partnership, Toby has consistently proved himself to be an experienced leader who can operate with real energy to lead system partners to create a fully mature, thriving ICS with a strong place-based approach to delivery and local commissioning. I have every confidence that his experience of driving forward the transformation of health and care services across our county will be key in our work of securing the provision of comprehensive, fit-for-purpose services for the people of Northamptonshire.

The Health and Care Bill 2021, which contains a series of measures to formally establish Integrated Care Systems (ICSs), is currently at Committee Stage in Parliament receiving a detailed examination following its second reading.

The Bill will put ICSs on a firm statutory footing, and here in Northamptonshire will formalise our existing local partnership approach to better join up health and care, improve population health and reduce health inequalities.

Our ICB will hold a substantial budget for commissioning high-quality patient care and have the authority to establish performance arrangements to ensure this is delivered.

A key element of preparing for legislation to take effect is confirming who would take up senior roles within each ICB. This started with my appointment as the ICB Chair Designate and continues with today’s announcement regarding the Designate Chief Executive, responsible for NHS budgets and functions, and for working with our full range of partners and local communities to improve services and the health of those we all serve.

Reflecting on his appointment, Toby said: “I am delighted to have been appointed as the Designate Chief Executive for Northamptonshire’s ICB. I believe working together across health and care as an integrated system gives us a real opportunity to make a positive difference to people’s lives in terms of their health outcomes and experience of care.

I’m looking forward to being able to build on the positive relationships between partners that have been strengthened over the last 20 months and to accelerate the development of our local collaborative and place arrangements as the basis of how we will work together to deliver care going forward.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the hard-working health and care staff who are the backbone of our local system and without whom we could not do what we do.

Our local NHS Chairs and the leaders of Northamptonshire’s two unitary councils have offered their congratulations to Toby on his appointment. You can read their comments in the online version of this announcement on the NHCP website.

I am sure, like me, you will look forward to continuing to work with Toby and other colleagues on improving care for the people of Northamptonshire.

The next step will be to recruit Non-Executive Members and Executive Directors to the ICB over the coming weeks and we will keep you informed as this work progresses.

While getting our structures and governance right is crucial, integrated care is about practical, real improvements to care and population health. We thank you for your continued effort to make integrated care a reality, and I will keep you updated as preparations for statutory footing continue.