On Saturday the 30th of October, as part of the “Off the Shelf” festival and the Sheffield Live! ‘3rd Birthday Celebrations’; The ‘Cornucopia Radio Show‘ will be broadcasting live from the Sheffield Winter Gardens, for 5 hours between 11am and 4pm.

This will be a chance to hear several new radio plays, many of which will be performed live in front of the public for the first time. Also at the same event, we’ll also be hosting Sheffield’s biggest ever ‘Open-Mic’ extravaganza, broadcasting every single performance live across the region on 93.2fm

And we need you! We’re looking for poets, storytellers, comedians, performers, actors, musicians, singers and local amateur dramatic groups to get in touch and arrange to perform for the people of Sheffield.

We can only accept performers who have booked a slot with us first (you can’t turn up unannounced). So please get in touch right now and arrange to perform by emailing studio@cornucopia-radio.co.uk

This day will also serve as an excellent introduction to the kind of work that ‘Cornucopia Radio’ and ‘Sheffield Live!’ are trying to achieve. So anybody who is interested in producing and helping out with future creative radio productions can come down; have a relaxed talk to our producers and see what happens next.

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Because on this day you will be able to make yourself heard…by everybody!

By Amna Kaleem

Nick Clegg is received by Paul Scriven and angry protesters as he arrives at the Town Hall

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Nick Clegg’s latest visit to Sheffield attracted the kind of attention politicians shy away from.

On September 3, trade unionists and campaigners gathered outside the Town Hall to protest public spending cuts and remind Clegg of the promises he had made before the general elections. The protest was organised to coincide with the launching ceremony of Opportunity Sheffield, where Nick Clegg was the guest speaker.

On his arrival at the Town Hall, Clegg was greeted with the chants of ‘Judas’, a reception quite different from the one he got at Barker’s Pool just a few months back.

Speaking to Sheffield Live! the Hallam MP answered questions about Forgemasters loan, his constituency home and the charge that he has betrayed Sheffield.

Video: Angry protestors welcome Nick Clegg

Andrew Moncreiff with Jo Strong, his cardiac rehab instructor

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Andrew Moncrieff, 64, from Millhouses, is taking part in the Bupa Great Yorkshire Run on September 5, doing a 10k jog. This time last year, Andrew was recovering from a triple bypass. After taking part in Physical Activity Referral Scheme, run by Sheffield City Council, Andrew is able to take to the streets to raise money for the dedicated medical staff at Northern General Hospital and his trainers at Graves Leisure Centre.

Sheffield Live! spoke with Andrew and Jo Strong, his cardiac rehabilitation instructor, about the benefits of Physical Activity Referral Scheme.

If you are interested in Physical Activity Referral Scheme, you can contact the team on 0114 203 9528 or email PARS@sheffield.gov.uk.

The report was aired on Communities Live on September 3.

Sheffield Live! reporter Emma Wass interviews Natasha Marshall and Jacob Whitehead about this year’s Summer Arts College.

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Natasha is a Restorative Justice Mentor for Sheffield YOS, the Youth Offending Service, and was one of the organisers of the three-week course. Jacob Whitehead, one of this year’s participants, talked to us about the workshops they attended, as well as what he had learnt and how he felt it would help him towards a future career in the music and arts industry.

As well as giving these young people something worthwhile to do over the summer, the project was also about giving them a focus and preparing them for a future career, encouraging them to rebuild their lives.

Workshops included drumming, street art, break dancing, music production, mixing and learning interview techniques at Sheffield Live! 93.2FM.

Project Coordinator Katie Ryan with three of the successful participants

All nine of the participants passed the course and were awarded with the Bronze Arts Award on Friday. At a celebration event at the Showroom Cinema on Friday, August 27, they were joined by friends and family to view a film of the highlights of the project created by Jacqui Bellamy.

Communities Live was invited to take a look at the exhibition of their work where Emma Wass spoke with Project Coordinator Katie Ryan.

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The report was aired on Communities Live on August 25 and September 1.

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Sheffield Live! reporter Emma Wass interviews Stacey Sampson from Dead Earnest Theatre, an applied theatre company in Sheffield who create bespoke theatre and interactive workshops to address a range of social issues. Most recently they devised a performance for the Accommodation and Campus Services Department of the University of Sheffield around the issue of staff absence and returning to work interviews.

In this interview, Stacey talks about the Creative Sparks programme, an initiative for children funded by Sheffield City Council. Over the past two weeks they have been delivering free drama and art and craft workshops in Firth Park and the city centre.

For more information about the Creative Sparks workshops, email Stacey on stacey@deadearnest.co.uk.

The report was aired on Communities Live on August 27, 2010.

By Amna Kaleem

Flood victims in Sindh receive aid. Photo courtesy Faith Foundation, Karachi.

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On July 29, flash floods and landslides caused by monsoon rains hit northwestern part of Pakistan. Within two days, nearly 980,000 people had been left homeless or displaced. Three weeks on, the flooding has spread to all the four provinces of Pakistan, about 1,500 people have lost their lives, 20 million have been displaced and 3.5million children stand the risk of contracting waterborne diseases. Cases of cholera have already been diagnosed in the flood-hit areas.

Among those affected are some 1.5 million Afghan refugees who have taken shelter in Pakistan over the past three decades and more than 700,000 people displaced by the War on Terror in the Swat Valley and other areas last year.

Pakistan is an agricultural country, the flooding swept away 558,000 hectares of crop land. At least 10,000 cows have drowned. With the heavy loss of fields, the country will face an acute food shortage not only this year but also the next.

The economy which relies heavily on the export of agricultural goods will also be hit hard, at a time when the government needs all the revenue it can get to rehabilitate the millions displaced.

Pakistan is Asia’s third-largest wheat producer, according to an estimate by Pakistan’s National Farmers’ Association, up to 500,000 tonnes of wheat stocked by farmers has been washed away. The country is world’s fourth biggest cotton producer, the flooding has destroyed up to two million bales of cotton, around 300,000 tonnes of rice have also been lost.

The report features interviews with Salman Siddiqui, senior reporter at Express Tribune, Pakistan and Saad Khalique, vice-president of Faith Foundation, a Karachi-based charity helping flood victims in the Sindh province.

Sheffield City Council has set up donation points at the Town Hall and Howden House. You can also make a donation to DEC by calling 0370 60 60 900 or visiting the website.

If you would like to donate to Faith Foundation, you can get in touch with them on 00-92-21-99250265 and 00-92-300-8246829. You can find them on Facebook for more details of the work they have done so far.

The report was aired on Communities Live on August 13, 2010.

While the big society initiative may still be limited to speeches made by Prime Minister David Cameron, a Sheffield neighbourhood has already put it to test. Darnall Forum, a Darnall based charity rescued their local post office with the help of the Sheffield City Council. The community run post office will be inaugrated on Tuesday, August 21. The post office was one of 65 in South Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Huddersfield and Colne Valley selected for closure by Post Office Ltd in 2008.

Sheffield Live! reporter Nick Mosley chats with Rob Russell, manager of the Darnall Post Office about this unique initiative, the effort that what into it and what it means for the local community.

DarnallPostOffice-NickMosley.mp3

Aired on August 27, 2010 on Communities Live.