Street cred on a bike? For most Darlington teenagers, the bike is something to leave behind with your childhood. But in a lot of European towns and cities, the bike is a mark of cool, a fashion statement that also gives young people independence from their parents and public transport. DMG's Beauty and the Bike is inviting teenage girls from Darlington to join their counterparts in a cycle-friendly city, Bremen in Germany, to explore their own ideas of street fashion - and whether the bike can play a part. Participants will feature in a television documentary and a major exhibition of portrait photography, as well as getting the chance to travel to Bremen in summer 2009.
You can see the projects minisite at Beauty and the Bike
Saturday 12 April 2008 South Park 12pm till 7pm
Between 12pm and 4pm you will have the opportunity to try out a variety of activities such as rugby, archery, cheerleading, graffiti workshops and try to reach the top of climbing wall. If thats to energetic you could visit our music chill out tent or listen to a live acoustic session from the parks band stand.
Between 4pm and 7pm the tempo pick up as the rE-view project host the first heat of their Battle of the Bands concert. Here youll have the opportunity to listen to four of the finest bands from Darlington and the headline act - The Felons.
You can see the Darlington Media Groups minisite at Click!
Little Stories is a group that will design, shoot and edit a short story on video about something or someone in Darlington that is felt should be told. This is an ongoing project originating from the DMG's Arts Cafe Saturdays.
The initial project is about "An Impression of the West/Darlington"
You can view the project minisite at Little Stories Project.
Pensbury Street, situated next to Bank Top Station, is getting itself a new park after local people, and especially local young people, led a bid to transform the street's dilapitaed play area.
Over £30,000 has been raised by the local community and, with the help of environmental organisation Groundwork, building work has now started. DMG has offered to help local people document the transformation of their street, by providing digital cameras, basic training in camera use, and help in setting up a web presence for the street.
You can view the Pensbury Street Blog here.
The ten young people who were brought together in late 2006 to develop an HIV/AIDS awareness project in Darlington, travelled to Lesotho in August to witness first hand what an AIDS pandemic means. Now that they have returned, they are starting work on an AIDS awareness campaign with the help of DMG.
Video footage shot in Lesotho and Darlington is now being asssembled into a short film, that will be used as a trigger to discussion about AIDS/HIV. The film will be toured around the Tees Valley in spring 2008.
RAID team members were presented with VIBE Awards (pictured above) for their efforts, at the recent Civic Theatre bash. Meanwhile, the group have set up a blog, which features some of their "work in progress", as well as some reflections on the project so far.