Celebrating diversity

Subbuteo challenges, reminiscence workshops and a MiPod inflatable diary room will all be helping to celebrate diversity in Thanet in an event at Thanet’s Gateway Plus in Margate.

Celebrating Diversity is being held on the second birthday weekend of Thanet’s Gateway Plus, with themed days focusing on different aspects of Thanet’s community.

Friday 12 February will focus on youthful and wise. The Theatre Royal will be hosting a Subbuteo challenge, open to anyone. It comes ahead of the Hull Truck Theatre Company production of Me and My Dad at the theatre on Saturday 13 March. Reminiscence workshops will also be held between 10.30 and 11.15am for young and old alike to discuss what life was like in bygone times.

There will be displays from Sport 4NRG, the Worx Project, Cross Roads Care, who provide home based respite support for carers and Making Your Way, a Thanet Works project that works with the parents of children and young people with disabilities. All will have people on hand in the Gateway between 10am and 4pm.

The diverse community is the theme for Saturday 13 February, with author Paul Burston visiting between 11.30am and 12.30pm to talk about his recently published book, The Gay Divorcee. His books include the critically acclaimed novel Shameless, which was shortlisted for the State of Britain award. Tickets are free and are available from the Gateway.

Local people can also come along to an art workshop between 10am and 1pm, where they can draw or paint what diversity means to them. It’s hoped this can then be turned into a logo, which will be used in the future to promote the Gateway’s commitment to providing accessible services.

Monday 15 February will see the launch of the Gateway’s Video Conferencing Facilities for the Deaf, with demonstrations to show people how it works. This has been provided by Deaf Services/KASS and the Gateway to ensure that the deaf and the hard of hearing can access the same services as everyone else. The day’s theme will be celebrating disability, with displays from the British Red Cross, the Thanet Disability Forum, Kent Adult Social Services, Disability Sportlink and Kent Supported Employment.

The event finishes on Tuesday 16 February with Time of our Lives, hosted by Turner Contemporary. Young and old people can come along and share their own teenage experiences and memories, with everyone invited to bring along teenage fashions, photos, music and memorabilia. There will be an inflatable MiPod diary room for people to give their thoughts on being a teenager.

See the full events listing