Author Archives: michael

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About michael

I'm a science writer, hence interested in nearly anything in the Universe that can be investigated in an intelligent way.

June meeting and Sponsored Swim this week!

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The next meeting of OLAT is on Tuesday 25 June at 7 pm at Oxford Town Hall and on Zoom.  

This meeting will focus on our Sponsored Swim next Friday 28 June, 4 pm to 7 pm – help needed to set up from 3 pm – please contact me if you can help!.  Please see flyer attached and display if you can.  This is our biggest fund raising event of the year and is to support the visit of the musicians and also to support NECAT (Nicaragua Education Culture and Arts Trust).

We will also be preparing for the exciting visit of the two young classical musicians from Nicaragua to play in the Youth Twinning Orchestra in July.  Cesar and Jose will arrive on Thursday 4 July and return on Thursday 18 July.  Young musicians aged 12 to 25 from Oxford’s twin cities will rehearse together 8 – !3 July, culminating in a performance of Carmina Burana at Oxford Town Hall on Saturday 13 July, 7 pm!  Cesar on Cello and Jose on Violin will play in the orchestra and also visit schools and community centres.  It will be an amazing experience for the young musicians and good to have a cultural exchange from Nicaragua!  Many thanks to their hosts for enabling this to happen – Sue Matthew, Jan Marshall, Dr Latifa Noman and Angela Alban.  The orchestra will be led by John Lubbock, conductor of Orchestra of St John’s:

Carmina Burana – Youth Twinning concert – 7pm at Town Hall, Oxford – Orchestra of St John’s | Taking classical music out into the community (osj.org.uk)

You can book now – I’ve got my tickets!

We are going to hold the lovely Misa Campesina at Blackfriars on Sunday 1 September, at the 9.30 Mass.

Thank you for your continued interest and support for León!  Hope to see you on 25 June, all welcome!  Or at the Sponsored Swim 28th!

sponsored swim Friday 28 June 2024

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Our Fund-Raising Swim is on Friday 28 June 2024, 4 pm – 7 pm at our usual pool – Hinksey Heated Outdoor Pool, Abingdon Road, Oxford OX1 4RP.  We are very grateful to More and the staff at Hinksey Pool for their hospitality. 

This year we are raising funds to bring two young classical musicians from Nicaragua to Oxford to play Carmina Burana with the Youth International Twinning Concert on 13 July 7 pm at Oxford Town Hall.  We are also raising funds for NECAT, an educational charity for disadvantaged children in a poor area of León.  

This is our most important fund-raising event of the year!  We really need you!  León needs our support more than ever in these challenging times, and we want to keep this link with a city in the global south going!  We can learn from each other and enjoy the Latin American culture!. 

To register, simply email: jen_houston@hotmail.com. 

 You can ask for donations to go to our JustGiving site, and/or attach your own page to our JustGiving site:  www.justgiving.com/OxfordLeonAssociation

You can swim between 4 pm and 7 pm.  The “official” opening will be at 5 pm.

Please note that if the above time and date are not convenient you can still take part in your own time and location between 28 June and 12 July.

Half of the money raised will go to NECAT – Nicaragua Education Culture Arts Trust:

The Nicaragua Education Culture and Arts Trust, a UK registered charity, raises funds for sponsorship of after-school clubs and other educational projects and for the relief of poverty in impoverished communities in Leon, Nicaragua. The projects use the medium of culture and the arts as a vehicle for this education.

Whether you have taken part in lots of Sponsored Swims and will be trying to equal your personal best, or whether it will be your first time taking part, whatever you raise small or large will help the cultural exchange and also make a big difference to poor children in León and help to keep the centre going!  Refreshments will be provided for swimmers and helpers.  Let’s hope that the sun shines!

May meeting coming up

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The next meeting of OLAT is on Tuesday 7 May at 7 pm at Oxford Town Hall and on Zoom. 

This is going to be an exciting meeting as we are planning the visit of two young classical musicians from Nicaragua to play in the Youth Twinning Orchestra in July. It will be an amazing experience for the young musicians and good to have a cultural exchange from Nicaragua!  The orchestra will be led by John Lubbock, conductor of Orchestra of St John’s:

Carmina Burana – Youth Twinning concert – 7pm at Town Hall, Oxford – Orchestra of St John’s | Taking classical music out into the community (osj.org.uk)

We are still taking our presentation about life in León into schools and plan to bring the musicians into schools.  If you know of a school that would be interested, do get in touch.

We are going to hold the lovely Misa Campesina at Blackfriars on Sunday 1 September, at the 9.30 Mass.

We are planning the Sponsored Swim at Hinksey Pool but have not yet got a date.

There will be an Oxford International Links social on Saturday 8 June 6 pm – 11 pm at the Coach House, Headington Quarry to raise funds for the Orchestra event, do make a note of the date, more details to follow.

Thank you for your continued interest and support for León!  Hope to see you on 7 May, all welcome!

how to get news from Nicaragua

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We discussed at the last meeting that it is increasingly difficult to follow and understand what’s really going on politically in Nicaragua, so I’m now going to list some sources here that may help. I’m linking directly to the search page for “nicaragua”:

Colombian newspaper El Tiempo (Spanish)

Latin American Post (each article available in English and in Spanish)

well, that’s all I have so far, suggestions welcome!

meeting tomorrow

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meeting at the Town Hall (and on zoom) on Tue 19.3. at 7pm. Lots of exciting plans for this year to discuss including the visit of two young musicians from Nicaragua who are due to perform with others from the other twin cities in a concert this summer.

AGM tomorrow!

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sorry for the late notice, but the OLAT AGM is happening tomorrow,

Tue 30.1. at 7pm at the Town Hall and also on Zoom.

We will be looking at how the last year has gone and how to maintain links with León, raise our profile and future fund raising and will Elect Officers for the coming year.  

After AGM business we will discuss the Twin Cities Youth Orchestra Project 7 – 14 July, when young classical musicians from Oxford’s Twin cities will come together to play Carmina Burana at the Town Hall on Saturday 13 July. We are very excited that we will be bringing two young Nicaraguan musicians – Jose who plays violin and Cesar who plays cello – to Oxford.  They will have a week on the Orchestra Project and then a week visiting schools and places of interest.

We also hope to have the Misa Campesina later in the year.

OLAT meeting 19.9.2023

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A friendly reminder that the next meeting of OLAT is on Tuesday 19 September 2023, 7 pm at Oxford Town Hall and also on Zoom.

Please note that we have updated the Agenda.  The last item on the Agenda is “Where do we go from here? What should be the future for the Leon Association?”  We hope to have a full discussion on this, so it is important that as many people as possible attend, either in person or on Zoom. 

We will also be looking at how the Sponsored Swim went on Friday 13 July – despite awful weather!  And our future plans for OLAT.

Do join us either in person at the Town Hall or via Zoom, it will be good to see you!.

Thank you for your continued support.

swim for León

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Our Annual Fund Raising Swim is on Friday 14 July, 4pm  – 7 pm at our usual pool – Hinksey Heated Outdoor Pool, Lake Street, Oxford OX1 4RP.  We are very grateful to Fusion and the staff at Hinksey Pool for their continued hospitality. 

This is our most important fund raising event of the year, for our twin city of León, so do please come along to swim and support the fund raising, and get any friends involved and have some fun!  We really need you!     Nicaragua needs our support and solidarity more than ever.

Please see the poster attached.  If you could display it that would be helpful.  To register email Jen Houston at the address shown on the poster.