June meeting and Sponsored Swim this week!

Posted on 23 Jun 2024 by michael

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

Posted on 1 Jun 2024 by michael

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

Posted on 4 May 2024 by michael

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

Posted on 5 Apr 2024 by michael

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!

AGM tomorrow!

Posted on 29 Jan 2024 by michael

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.

photos of the sponsored swim

Posted on 27 Jul 2023 by michael

Swimmers braved the rain and cold to take part in the annual sponsored swim for Leon. Here are some photos of the event taken by Yonglin Mai:

swim for León

Posted on 11 Jun 2023 by michael

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.

Misa Campesina comeback

Posted on 15 Apr 2023 by michael

Exciting news: we can now confirm that the Nicaraguan folk mass, the Misa Campesina will be sung again this year – as it was for many years until 2019. It is scheduled for

Sunday 4th of June

There will be two rehearsals on the two Saturdays before the event, ie May 27 and June 3.

All singers and instrumentalists welcome to join the fun. The music is fun and easy to play, and there are a couple of very experienced people on hand who have done it many times before.

Email Jen Houston (jen_houston AT hotmail DOT com) for details or watch this space. We will confirm precise rehearsal place and times closer to the time.

OLAT meeting Tue 24.1. plus short talk

Posted on 15 Jan 2023 by michael

Dear Members and Supporters, ¡Feliz Año Nuevo a todos! The next meeting of the Oxford León Association is on Tuesday 24 January at 7 pm at the Town Hall and for those who can’t get to the Town Hall, and on Zoom, details have been emailed out, contact any member if you haven’t received them.

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

After due business we will have a short talk by Martin Roger of NECAT about his trip to Nicaragua at the end of last year. We will also hear from Christian who has recently returned from León.

We look forward to seeing you on 24 January, all are welcome!

OLAT meeting on Tuesday 6.9.

Posted on 5 Sep 2022 by michael

The next meeting of the Oxford León Association is on Tuesday 6 September at 7.00 at Oxford Town Hall. You will also be able to join us online via Zoom, email Jen for details.

There is a lot going on with Twinning in the autumn. There is an opportunity for all the links to tell Oxford all about Twinning at an event at the Sheldonian Theatre on Saturday 1 October, 10 am to 4 pm. We need OLAT to be represented.
Then on Wednesday 5 October there is Oxford’s UN Older People’s Day at the Town Hall, with a stall from OLAT.
OCC are also asking for people to contribute to a video about the impact that Twinning has had on their lives: “We are looking for people that have taken part in a visit to Oxford, or one Oxford’s twin cities and the impact it has had on their lives – has it changed their career choices, has it opened up further opportunities, have they learned a new language or skill or made new friends?” Please contact me if you would like to take part – it would be good to hear from people whose experience goes back to the old days of OLAT!

We were very pleased to be back with the Sponsored Swim on 15 July – some money is still coming in, we will let you know how much was donated soon. We are hoping to hold the Misa Campesina in October/November at Blackfriars.

Thank you for your continued support over these continuing difficult times.