St Patricks Day 2009

photo: www.timeanddate.com

Fiona Correia

  For over a thousand years St Patrick's day has been religiously celebrated worldwide. For many it is a day to hit the pubs early and consume copious amounts of alcohol, for others it is a day to embrace Irish heritage.

Sheffield welcomed St Patrick’s day by holding a number of events from March 14^th to 22^nd, including family fun days, a traditional Irish mass with musicians and an Irish crafts film night. On Tuesday 17^th St Patricks day, a large white tent in the city centre served Guinness as Irish music played through the streets. An Irish market full of traditional goods and wares also occupied the area for the day.

In the evening Walkabout hosted a charity event to raise money for Sheffield’s children’s hospital. Up and coming acts from First Base Entertainment performed on the dance floor in front of a graffitied dj box. RnB girl duo I.Candi sang for the crowd, followed by several MC’s and breakdance crew The Fugitives. With drinks flowing all night, the entertainment received huge applause from a student based crowd.

Katie Lloyd (left) a psychology student from Sheffield University was impressed with the nights lineup: “The music and entertainment has been really good tonight and it’s brilliant to know that it’s going to a children’s hospital. I think raising money for charity is a great way to celebrate St Patrick’s day.”

"2, 4, 6, 8, we don't want no station gates!"

By Fiona Correia

 

Crowds of people gathered outside Sheffield City Hall, to protest against the installation of automatic ticket barriers in Sheffield train station.

The protest march took place at 3.45pm on Friday 27th February from Barkers Pool in the city centre. Men, women, children and the elderly assembled in front of the City Hall steps, armed with placards and posters all opposing East Midlands Trains barrier plan.

East Midlands trains are proposing to install ticket barriers inside the station to catch out anybody trying to use the trains without a valid ticket. Unfortunately for many Sheffield residents, the barriers will prevent easy access through the train station, to the city centre or the tram stop and footbridge located at the back of the station. For many people the footbridge is a safe and well lit walkway between the City Centre and the Park Hill and Norfolk Park areas. The barriers would obstruct their convenient root and force pedestrians to take a longer journey around the station.

Leader of Sheffield City Council, Councillor Paul Scriven disputed against East Midlands Trains argument for the barriers: “Their telling us there’s no other solutions. Well what about putting extra inspectors on the trains. There are solutions, if we can put men on the moon we can come up with a solution, which means we can keep our footbridge open.”

Margaret Smith a local Sheffield resident and member of the Green Party had this to say: “I use the trams because I live at Middlewoods, so I use the trams quite regularly. If they put gates across, it’ll make it very difficult for me, it’s very inconvenient for me and everyone else.”

London Fashion Week 2009: Fairtrade Fashion

Photos: londonfashionweek.co.uk

By Fiona Correia

The British Fashion Council (BFC) launched its sixth season of Estethica at London Fashion week (LFW) this February. From February 21 to 24 the infamous LFW brought glitz and glamour to the capital once again, and for its sixth season running paid homage to the eco friendly side of designer fashion with its resident ethical group Estethica.



Estethica is dedicated to launching new designers, who are committed to using organic, fair trade or recycled materials, processes of manufacture, distribution and even disposal. Thirty seven ethical designers showcased their environmentally sustainable clothing on the catwalk last week. Danish label Noir was notably the most popular eco friendly designer at the event.



Peter Ingwersen the founder of Noir and Bllack Noir, their sister label, swears that the Swiss factories he uses to dye his clothes in, filter the used water so thoroughly, that by the end of the filtration process the water can be drank. The beauty of Noir is not only in Ingwersen’s eco-friendly conscience, but in the designs themselves. Unlike many predecessors of fair trade clothing, Noir is sharp, sexy and very on trend, worlds away from the tye-dyed ponchos usually associated with ethical fashion.


On the catwalk Noir’s models strutted in high buckled platforms with sleek hair and dark smokey eyes. The clothing varied from skinny tailored trousers, velvet box jackets and high waisted leather pencil skirts, to draped chiffon tops and billowing strapless silk dresses. The colour palette was predominately dark, with lots of seductive black leather, liquid satins and organic cottons.

“We all look to inspire the industry and consumers that sexiness, luxury, fashion, corporate social responsibility and ethics can work in harmony together without compromising look and style,” Ingwersen explained backstage at LFW last week.

Designer labels like Noir show the growing trend in fair trade fashion, with worries about global warming the world is now opening its eyes to more sustainable means of living, from the food we eat, the transport we take and even the clothes we wear.