WHIMSY AND POIGNANCY… AND BEES — INDIE FILM-MAKING WITH SAM POPE Ahead of the upcoming screening of “The Little Cinema in Gloucester” Sam Pope talks us through the collection of short films he has assembled for Sunday 7 June at the Sherborne in Gloucester. amplifystroud.com/whimsy-and-p...

“Whimsy and poignancy… and bees.” — Indie film-making with Sam Pope

Sam Pope is a film maker based in Stroud. On Sunday 7 June, he's screening THE LITTLE CINEMA IN GLOUCESTER at the Sherborne Cinema alongside three other indie films.

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“If we can break the assumption public space is for the ‘fast’ movement and storage of cars, a new paradigm can be opened. This is not theoretical; it is being implemented in global cities from different starting points with the same outcomes: vibrant public spaces, streetscapes, and communities."

SAVE STROUD MATERNITY UNIT writer: Kate Buckingham “Here we go again” — Stroud Maternity Unit has been under threat of closure for the last five and a half years. This Autumn, plans are ramping up. amplifystroud.com/save-stroud-...

Save Stroud Maternity Unit

Here we go again… WE ARE PROTESTING THE PROPOSED DOWNGRADING of Stroud Maternity Unit planned for this autumn — a move that represents a clear, back‑door attempt to close the unit entirely.

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This week's shock news that Stratford Park Lido's — Stroud's outdoor pool's — future is uncertain should be a wake up call to all of us to step up and do what we can save this beloved heritage asset. Nikki Laine writes about what we can all do to help save the Lido #Community #Health #Swimming

Stroud's beloved Lido is facing closure — What can we do?

Stratford Park's outdoor pool has been at the heart of our community life for nearly ninety years. Now it faces an uncertain future, and this week, we have the chance to make our voices heard.

amplifystroud.com

European gas price now up 48% since Friday! And Dutch gas storages at a very low level (10% filled). But: no incentive at all for commercial companies to start filling up again: prices throughout the year are higher than those for next winter. If we want the storages filled, governments need to act.

Sudanese journalist Almigdad Hassan has received the Newcomer of the Year – Hans Verploeg Award 2025 thesudanist.com/journalist-a...

DATELINE: 2 FEBRUARY 2026 WRITER: ROBIN LAYFIELD TOPIC: “I AM THE WATER, THE WATER IS ME” — BLESSING THE FROME On Sunday 1 February people came to Rodborough Fields from all over Stroud to mark the Celtic festival of Imbolc and to join in the blessing of the river Frome.

"I am the water, the water is me" — Blessing the Frome

On February 1st 2026, a group of around 80 people gathered on Rodborough Fields to celebrate imbolc - the first signs of Spring - and to bless the river.

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THANK YOU ~~~~~~~~~ Thanks to everyone that has put pen to paper and taken the time to write one or more articles for Amplify Stroud over the course of 2025. You have all written such interesting articles and hopefully you have more to share.

In her latest post for Amplify Stroud, Emma Kernahan tells us about her experiences at the Trinity Rooms Community Hub, from joining in Christmas Dinner to seeing ghosts of the past when it was a World War 1 hospital ward. amplifystroud.com/the-ghost-of...

The Ghost of Christmas Future

Sometimes I wonder if the Dickens family ever imagined they would still be flitting through the minds of so many millions of people, so far into the future.

amplifystroud.com

The Cracker Barrel thing was THIS YEAR. We have three more years of this shit. Anybody who makes it to 2028 without looking like Nosferatu will be required by the state to start a skincare brand.

Nikki Laine interviews Ayoob "Ginge" Moolla about Rising Stars FC after 50 years of growth of the club. A group of young boys come to the UK in the Summer of 1966. They go to the park at the weekends to play cricket but they become obsessed with football. amplifystroud.com/50-years-of-...

50 Years of Rising Stars FC — Nikki Laine interviews Ayoub Moula

A group of young boys come to the UK in the Summer of 1966. They go to the park at the weekends to play cricket but their heads are turned by the nationwide obsession with football.

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EMERGENCE RE-STOCK — THE CAMPAIGN TO REDUCE TEXTILE WASTE SHALIZE NICHOLAS | EMERGENCE RE-STOCK OCTOBER 2025 UK households throw away around 300,000 tonnes of clothing each year, with much ending up in incineration or landfill. amplifystroud.com/emergence-re...

Emergence Re-Stock — the Campaign to Reduce Textile Waste

UK households throw away around 300,000 tonnes of clothing each year, with much ending up in incineration or landfill. Emergence Re-Stock aims to change this.

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MUSIC IS THE KEY TO RADICAL RESISTANCE TIM LEZARD | STROUD LOVE MUSIC / HATE RACISM OCTOBER 2025 As Italian Ska Punk renegades LOS FASTIDIOS prepare to return to Stroud to play at the Prince Albert on Monday October 27, Tim Lezard catches up with Elisa and Enrico in Verona.

“Music is the Key to Radical Resistance” — Los Fastidios

Italian anti-fascist ska punk heroes Los Fastidios are returning to Stroud this month for what promises to be a second sold-out gig in two years.

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COMMON GROUND OCTOBER 2025 NIKKI OWEN I blinked through the sunlight dancing in the trees, feeling, in that moment, at one with the world. Until I saw it. There, attached to a pole on a caravan, flapping in the cool breeze like a sharp slap: an England flag. amplifystroud.com/common-ground/

Common Ground

I blinked through the sunlight dancing in the trees, feeling, in that moment, at one with the world. Until I saw it. There, attached to a pole on a caravan, flapping in the cool breeze like a sharp sl...

amplifystroud.com

GLOUCESTER WELCOMES REFUGEES In the wake of anti-refugee protests outside the Ibis hotel in Gloucester, an upcoming gathering in solidarity with refugees and asylum seekers is planned for Sunday 5 October. amplifystroud.com/gloucester-w...

Gloucester Welcomes Refugees

A peaceful, non-confrontational gathering will be held in Gloucester on Sunday 5 October to show support for people seeking asylum and challenge attempts to stoke division and racism.

amplifystroud.com

STOP ROSEBANK Our latest piece from writer Kamal Longia amplifystroud.com/stop-roseban...

Stop Rosebank — More than just a Bad Deal for the UK

At 500m barrels, Rosebank is the UK's largest undeveloped oil field. It lies about 80 miles north-west of Shetland. The Norwegian Energy giant Equinor has partnered with Israeli owned Ithaca Energy to...

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Wise words from @georgemonbiot.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I have now been a journalist for 40 years. The forces ranged against my profession have never been so powerful | George Monbiot

Once, I believed that humanity’s problem was an information deficit. Now, I know you can’t speak truth to power if power controls your words, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

theguardian.com

DATELINE: 10 SEPTEMBER TITLE: STROUD FESTIVAL OF COMMONING WRITER: CHIKARA SHIMASAKI Chik breaks down the Festival of Commoning taking place in Stroud on 14 / 15 September. amplifystroud.com/stroud-festi...

Stroud Festival of Commoning - a weekend of collaborative ideas and action

Stroud becomes a hub for rethinking community, economy, and democracy this September.

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amplifystroud.com/at-the-rate-...

At the rate journalists are being killed in Gaza by the Israeli army, there will soon be no one left to keep you informed.

Hundreds of media outlets, brought together by the campaigning platform Avaaz and Reporters Without Borders (RSF), are waging a campaign calling for the protection of Palestinian journalists in Gaza, ...

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amplifystroud.com/introducing-... Introducing Na'amod June 2025 Na'amod is a growing movement of British Jews that openly rejects the narrative of complete unswerving support for Israel. Na'amod is calling for an end to the Occupation and an end to the practice of Apartheid by the State of Israel.

Introducing Na’amod

Local activist Jeremy Green interviews Colin Levine from the Gloucestershire branch of Na'amod to get his perspectives.

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“WE NEED OUR FARMERS TO BE ARTISTS” — Nick Hayes & Emma Kernahan at NeoAncients “IT FEELS LIKE SOMETHING OF a moment for me to cover a conversation between Emma Kernahan and Nick Hayes at day two of the NeoAncients festival 2025 on a sunny weekend in Stroud.” — Roma Robinson | The RYSE

“We need our farmers to be artists” — Nick Hayes and Emma Kernahan

IT FEELS LIKE SOMETHING OF a moment for me to cover a conversation between Emma Kernahan and Nick Hayes at day two of the NeoAncients festival 2025 on a sunny weekend in Stroud.

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Toxic pesticide levels found in tampons 40 times higher than legal limit for water

Toxic pesticide levels found in tampons 40 times higher than legal limit for water

Glyphosate, an herbicide linked to cancer, is also abundant in the United States.

motherjones.com

absolutely badass tool!

Ed Hawkins@edhawkins.org · last yr.

Is it hot right now in the UK? New interactive website allowing anyone to explore live temperatures hour-by-hour across the UK, and whether they are cool, warm or hot relative to normal. istheukhotrightnow.com Built by @roostweather.bsky.social.

Her happiness is dependent on their compassion and skills - yet the average pay for care workers is £11 an hour, less than you earn at a supermarket ➡️ Read more: trib.al/AvLWu6m

MAY 2025 TATTIE BAKER | THE RYSE NEOANCIENTS — THE PEOPLE’S PYRAMID “Something that struck me about the speakers was how rascally they seemed, like they had never lost their sense of play. Call it a mischievous twinkle in their eyes.” — Tattie Baker amplifystroud.com/2025-05-neoa...

NeoAncients — The People's Pyramid

Something that stuck me about the speakers was how rascally they seemed, like they had never lost their sense of play. Call it a mischievous twinkle in their eyes.

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Helping people imagine lives without car dependency. Exciting to see this from @gregmarsden-leeds.bsky.social and crew environment.leeds.ac.uk/faculty/news...

Leeds residents to design alternatives to car ownership

A multimillion-pound project to encourage people in Leeds to design and try an alternative to private vehicle ownership has been announced by researchers.

environment.leeds.ac.uk

May 2025 KIRSTY DONNELLY — DRY STONE WALLER Words: Alyssa Pearce | Photos: Alexander Caminada “Stroud is a maker's paradise and always will be and there are lots of women doing amazing things creatively but it is the crafts that are seen as inherently male.” amplifystroud.com/2025-05-kirs...

Kirsty Donnelly — Dry Stone Waller

Stroud is a maker's paradise and always will be and there are lots of women doing amazing things creatively but it is the crafts that are seen as inherently male.

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Brilliant to eliminate Energy Star, a program that costs $32m but delivered $40b in annual savings. None other than the US chamber of commerce tried to save it as a model of business/government partnership. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/c...

E.P.A. Plans to Shut Down the Energy Star Program

nytimes.com

MAY 17 & 18 CHARTIST FESTIVAL STUART BUTLER | RADICAL STROUD This May marks 200 years since the Chartist uprising where 5,000 people gathered on Selsley Common in Stroud to call for 6 basic demands of democracy.

Stroud to hold Chartist Festival

On 17 & 18 May 2025, 200 years on from the gathering of 5,000 people on Selsley common, there will be a festival to commemorate the event.

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