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These are some of the great films being screened at the Bonington in July and August

A great selection of Hollywood blockbusters and family favourites are coming to our very own local cinema in Arnold over the summer months…

Toy Story 4 (U)

Sun, July 21 at 2.30pm; Wednesday, July 24 at 11am *Babies & Toddlers Screening*; Thursday, July 25, at 11am; Friday, July 26 – Wednesday, July 31 at 2.30pm; Thursday, August 1 at 11am & 2.30pm; Friday, August 2 at 2.30pm & 7.30pm; Saturday, August 3 – Tuesday, 6 at 2.30pm; Tuesday, August 6 at 11am; Wednesday, August 7 at 11am

Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the rest of the gang embark on a road trip with Bonnie and a new toy named Forky. The adventurous journey turns into an unexpected reunion as Woody’s slight detour leads him to his long-lost friend Bo Peep. As Woody and Bo discuss the old days, they soon start to realize that they’re worlds apart when it comes to what they want from life as a toy.

Directed by Josh Cooley, Voiced by Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, 1hr 30 mins // AUS/US 2019

Yesterday (12A)

Sunday, July 21 at 8pm; Monday, July 22 & Tuesday, July 23 at 2.30pm & 7.30pm; Wednesday, July 24 at 2.30pm; Thursday, July 25 at 7.30pm; Friday, July 26, Sun 28, Mon 29, Tue 30 July at 7.30pmSaturday, August 3 at 7.30pm; Tuesday, August 6 at 7.30pm; Wednesday, August 7 & Thursday, August 8 at 2.30pm & 7.30pm

After a worldwide power outage, struggling musician Jack Malik wakes up to discover that no one has ever heard of the Beatles. When he starts to play the band’s songs, he soon becomes a pop sensation in the eyes of the media and the adoring public.

Directed by Danny Boyle. With Himesh Patel, Lily James, Ed Sheeran  (1hr 52mins // UK 2019)

Aladdin (PG)

Sunday, July 21 at 5.30pm; Wednesday, July 24 at 7pm; Thursday, July 25 at 2pm

Will Smith is the big blue-genie in this hotly anticipated live-action remake of Aladdin, the classic story of a street rat who frees a genie from a magical lamp. Able to grant all of his wishes, Aladdin quickly transforms himself into a charming prince in order to marry the beautiful princess Jasmine. But soon, an evil sorcerer becomes hell-bent on securing the lamp for his own sinister purposes.

Directed by Guy Ritchie. With Will Smith, Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott  (2hrs 10mins // US 2019)

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (12A)

Thursday, July 25 at 5pm

The new story follows the heroic efforts of the crypto-zoological agency Monarch as its members face off against a battery of god-sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three-headed King Ghidorah. When these ancient super-species – thought to be mere myths – rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.

Directed by Michael Dougherty. With Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown (2hrs 12mins // US 2019)

PICTURED: X-Men; Dark Phoenix

X-Men: Dark Phoenix (12A)

Saturday, July 27 at 7.30pm; Thursday, August 1 at 7.30pm

The X-Men face their most formidable and powerful foe when one of their own, Jean Grey, starts to spiral out of control. During a rescue mission in outer space, Jean is nearly killed when she’s hit by a mysterious cosmic force. Once she returns home, this force not only makes her infinitely more powerful, but far more unstable. The X-Men must now band together to save her soul and battle aliens that want to use Grey’s new abilities to rule the galaxy.

Directed by Simon Kinberg. With Sophie Turner, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy  (1hr 53mins // US 2019)

Family Film: Men In Black: International (12A)

Sunday, July 28 & Mon 29 at 5pm

*All Tickets £4*

This month’s family film is the brilliant Men In Black: International! A London-based team of Men in Black (MIB) secret agents become involved in a series of alien attacks that sends them traveling around the globe…

Directed by F. Gary Gray . With Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Liam Neeson (1hr 54 mins // US 2019)

Event Cinema: Royal Shakespeare Co Live: Measure For Measure (12A)

Wednesday, July 31 at 7pm

When a young novice nun is compromised by a corrupt official, who offers to save her brother from execution in return for sex, she has no idea where to turn for help. When she threatens to expose him, he tells her that no one would believe her.

Shakespeare wrote this play in the early 1600s, yet it remains astonishingly resonant today, thanks in part to artistic director Gregory Doran’s new production.

*Broadcast live from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon*

Tickets – £12.50 (£10 Concessions)

Event Cinema: Pavarotti (12A)

Sunday, August 4 at 7pm

Two-time Academy Award winning director Ron Howard’s documentary celebrates the life of the beloved opera star Luciano Pavarotti.

The 1990 World Cup in Italy marked the moment opera left the elite and hit the masses. Opera star Pavarotti joined fellow tenors Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras onstage in Rome, watched by over 1.4 billion worldwide. Their powerful rendition of Nessun Dorma lives on as one of the most popular and famous pieces of music the world has ever heard.

Howard takes an intimate approach in telling Pavarotti’s story, going beyond the iconic public figure to reveal the man himself.

Tickets – £12.50 (£10 Concessions)

2hrs 20 mins

PICTURED: The Queen’s Corgi

The Queen’s Corgi (PG)

Friday, August 9 & Sat 10 at 11am; Sunday, August 11 at 2.30pm

When the Queen’s favourite dog, Rex, becomes lost, he must make new friends and embrace new adventures in order to find his way back to the palace.

Directed by Ben Stassen. Voiced by Juliet Walters, Sheridan Smith, Ray Winstone. (1hr 32 mins // BEL 2019)

Spider-Man: Far From Home (12A)

Friday, August 9 at 2.30pm; Sunday, August 11 at 7.30pm

Peter Parker’s relaxing European vacation takes an unexpected turn when Nick Fury suddenly shows up in his hotel room. Parker soon finds himself donning the Spider-Man suit to help Fury stop the evil Mysterio from wreaking havoc across the continent.

Directed by Jon Watts. With Tom Holland, Samuel L. Jackson, Zendaya (Run Time TBC // US 2019)

Jaws (12A)

Friday, August 9 at 7.30pm

One of the greatest and most iconic movies of the 20th Century, Jaws resurfaces in cinemas this year, giving audiences the chance to see this thrilling tale of the infamous gigantic, man-eating great white shark on the big screen.

Go for a swim before the movie, if you dare!

Directed by Steven Spielberg. With Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw (2hrs 4 mins // US 1975)

Event Cinema: Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella (PG)

Saturday, August 10 at 3pm & 7pm

Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella is a thrilling and evocative love story set in London during the Second World War. The internationally acclaimed choreographer’s interpretation of the classic fairy tale has, at its heart, a true war-time romance. A chance meeting results in a magical night for Cinderella and her dashing young RAF pilot, together just long enough to fall in love before being parted by the horrors of the Blitz.

Tickets – £12.50 (£10 Concessions). 1hr 50 mins // UK 2019

PICTURED: The Lion King

The Lion King (PG)

Friday, August 16 at 7.30pm; Saturday, August 17 & Sun 18 at 2.30pm & 7.30pm; Monday, August 19 at 2.30pm; Tuesday, August 20 & Wednesday 21 at 11am & 2.30pm; Thursday, August 22 at 11am * Babies & Toddlers Screening*; Thursday, August 22 at 2.30pm; Saturday, August 24 Sunday, August 25 at 7.30pm

Simba, the son of Mufasa and the Prince of the Pride Lands, hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps. Mufasa’s brother, Scar, plots to betray Mufasa and take over the Pride Lands, forcing Simba into exile, where he will meet Timon and Pumbaa. Simba will have to face his destiny to be King.

Directed by Jon Favreau. Voiced by Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Beyoncé (1hr 58 mins  // US 2019)

Vita & Virginia (12A)

Mon 19 & Tue 20 August at 7.30pm; Wed 21 August at 2.30pm

A love affair develops between author Vita Sackville-West and literary icon Virginia Woolf after their paths cross in 1920’s America. Beautifully shot, with two wonderful lead performances, Vita & Virginia captures the beauty of Woolf’s vision with more than just words.

Directed by Chanya Button. With Gemma Arterton, Elizabeth Debicki, Isabella Rossellini. (1hr 50mins // UK/IRE 2018)

Angry Birds 2 (U)

Friday, August 23 at 11am; Saturday, August 24 & Sunday, August 25 at 2.30pm; Monday, August 26 – Wednesday, August 28 August at 11am; Thu 29 August at 11am *Babies & Toddlers Screening*;

Red, Chuck, Bomb and the rest of their feathered friends are surprised when a green pig suggests that they put aside their differences and unite to fight a common threat. Aggressive birds from an island covered in ice are planning to use an elaborate weapon to destroy the fowl and swine way of life. After picking their best and brightest, the birds and pigs come up with a scheme to infiltrate the island, deactivate the device and return to their respective paradises intact.

Directed by Thurop Van Orman. Voiced by Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad. (1hr 37 mins  // FIN/US 2019)

Playmobil: The Movie (U)

Friday, August 23 at 2.30pm; Saturday, August 24 & Sunday, August 25 at 5pm; Monday, August 26 – Thursday, August 29 at 2.30pm;

When her younger brother Charlie suddenly disappears into the magical, animated universe of Playmobil, Marla embarks on the adventure of a lifetime to bring him home. Setting off on an incredible journey through new and exciting themed worlds, Marla teams up with various strange and heroic companions, including: Del, a crazed food truck driver; Rex Dasher, a suave and fearless secret agent; a loyal and endearing robot; a hilarious fairy-godmother, and many others!

Directed by Lion DiSalvo. Voiced by Daniel Radcliffe, Jim Gaffigan. 1hr 50 mins // FRA 2019

Event Cinema:A Woman of No Importance (U)

Wednesday, August 28 at 7pm

‘One can survive everything nowadays, except death, and live down anything except a good reputation.’ – Oscar Wilde

An earnest young American woman, a louche English lord, and an innocent young chap join a house party of fin de siècle fools and grotesques. Nearby a woman lives, cradling a long-buried secret. First performed in 1893, Oscar Wilde’s marriage of glittering wit and Ibsenite drama satirised the socially conservative world of the Victorian upper-class, creating a vivid new theatrical voice which still resonates today.

(2hrs 35 mins including an Interval. Filmed live at the Vaudeville Theatre, London)

Nottingham on Film Part II

Friday, August 30 at 7pm

Following our screening of Nottingham on Film earlier in the year, we’ve decided to show the second DVD, put together by the Media Archive for Central England.

The short films include- Textiles & The Lace, Raleigh-Post War, Reshaping the City, Champions & Heroes

This nostalgic compilation of archive film has been curated by MACE, the screen archive for the Midlands.

*There will be a free screening of Nottingham on Film Part I at 5pm

Tickets – £5 (£4 Concessions)

Event Cinema:André Rieu’s Shall We Dance? 2019 Maastricht Concert (PG)

Saturday, August 31 at 3pm & 7pm

This year André Rieu invites you to put on your dancing shoes for his spectacular 2019 hometown concert from Maastricht: ‘Shall we Dance?’

The majestic waltz has been such an inspiration to Andre throughout his career that its three-four beat has become, in many ways, the rhythm of his life. And this year the maestro will bring the waltz to life in an unforgettable evening of music and dance. What Summer nights were made for!

Tickets – £15 (£12.50 Concessions)

2hrs 25 mins

Work to begin on £140,000 park and play area in Mapperley

Work is set to begin on a new £140,000 park and play area on Haywood Road in Mapperley.

The park will be closed from Monday, July 15 for approximately six weeks whilst the works are carried out to create a new play area.

Gedling Borough Council and FCC Communities Foundation Ltd, a not-for-profit business that awards grants for community, conservation and heritage projects, will jointly provide the funding for the new park.

The council is providing £70,000 and a further £70,000 will be provided by the foundation following a joint bid by the council and the Haywood Road Community Association.

Plans for the park include a rope pyramid, seesaws, slide, roundabout, balance beams, swings, picnic tables, benches and a table tennis area. The park and bowling green were saved from closure last year after the council listened to the concerns of hundreds of residents.

Councillor Peter Barnes, Portfolio Holder for Parks and Open Spaces said: “It is great news that the work on the new park on Haywood Park is starting on Monday. We think it’s important to invest in our local parks and we would also like to thank the local community association who have worked with us to secure funding from FCC Communities Ltd.”

Haywood-Road

Paul Drury, Treasurer of Haywood Road Community Association said: “We are delighted that work is finally beginning on the park, so many people came together to save Haywood Road Green and soon everyone in our community, young and old, will be able to enjoy the new facilities.”

Cheryl Raynor, FCC Community Foundations local grant manager said: “We are delighted to be supporting the Haywood Park project and pleased that our funding will help to enhance this fantastic facility for local people. FCC Communities Foundation is always happy to consider grant applications for projects that make a difference to local communities and we’re really pleased to see that work has started on site.”

Three Gedling borough parks win prestigious green spaces awards

Three Gedling parks have been celebrated for their natural beauty and excellent facilities by the Green Flag Awards.

Gedling Country Park, Arnot Hill Park and Burton Road Jubilee Park join a record number of parks and green spaces collecting a Green Flag Award.

Arnot Hill Park, which celebrates its 100 year anniversary later this month, has retained the award for the 13th consecutive year, Gedling Country Park for the 3rd year in a row and Burton Road Jubilee Park also received the award for the fifth time.

The parks are among a record-breaking 1,970 UK parks and green spaces and 131 in thirteen other countries around the world that will today receive a prestigious Green Flag Award, the mark of a quality park or green space.

This international award, now into its third decade, is a sign to the public that the space boasts the highest possible environmental standards, is beautifully maintained and has excellent visitor facilities.

Councillor Peter Barnes, Portfolio Holder for Environment said: “Quality green spaces, parks and play areas really matter to our residents and visitors. Our staff do a fantastic job and managing these areas and they really are beautiful places to spend some time. Its brilliant to receive these awards, not just for one but three of our parks, its recognition of what great places they are to visit and how much our visitors appreciate them.”

International Green Flag Award scheme manager Paul Todd said:“It’s fantastic that we have more Green Flag Awards in the UK than ever before, joined this year by 131 International winners.”

“Each flag honours the thousands of staff and volunteers who work tirelessly to maintain the high standards demanded by the Green Flag Award. We congratulate each and every winner on their fantastic achievement.”

Man dies after car and tractor collide in Papplewick

A man has died following a crash involving a car and a tractor on the A60 at Papplewick.

It happened at about 10.30am today (Monday July 15, 2019).

A police spokesman said: “The road remains closed between the Burnt Stump junction and the A60 junction with the A614. It is not likely to re-open until later this evening.

Drivers are advised to avoid the area if possible.

Officers are asking anyone who witnessed the collision or drivers who may have recorded dash-cam footage to contact Nottinghamshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 237 of 15 July 2019.Incident Number: 000237-15072019

Famous Byron portrait brought back to Newstead Abbey for summer exhibition

Lord Byron is coming home this summer for a new exhibition being held at Newstead Abbey.

A renowned portrait of the poet by Thomas Phillips is now on display at his ancestral home until November 3.

The portrait shows Byron at the age of 25, dressed in a traditional Albanian costume he had bought in 1809 while on his grand tour of Europe.

It has since become one of the most famous and enduring images of the poet at the height of his fame and notoriety.

Coming Home is a major project which sees the National Portrait Gallery lend 50 portraits of iconic individuals to places across the UK with which they are most closely associated.

ICONIC: Thomas Phillips’ portrait of Lord Byron

These artworks will be available for audiences to see in local museums, galleries and other venues, along with special programming available for families and communities.

Newstead Abbey will be open to the public every day throughout the school summer holidays, with free entry for all under-16s accompanied by a paying adult. 

This exciting project will form part of an extensive summer programme of exhibitions and events. Please visit https://www.newsteadabbey.org.uk/ for more details.

Cllr David Trimble, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture, said: “We are hugely excited to be welcoming this important portrait of Lord Byron to his home at Newstead Abbey.

“It will be a spectacular addition to our displays for what will be a truly exciting summer. Nottingham is proud to be a UNESCO City of Literature, and we are delighted to be working with the National Portrait Gallery to ‘bring home’ this painting of one of our most iconic literary sons.”

Dr Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the National Portrait Gallery said: “We are delighted to lend our portrait of Lord Byron to Newstead Abbey as part of our exciting new Coming Home initiative.

“We hope that sending portraits ‘home’ in this way will foster a sense of pride and create a personal connection for local communities to a bigger national history; thus helping us to fulfil our aim of being truly a national gallery for everyone, in our role as the nation’s family album.”

Coming Home has been made possible by the National Portrait Gallery, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, generous contributions from The Thompson Family Charitable Trust and funds raised at the Gallery’s Portrait Gala in 2017.

Usual admission prices to Newstead Abbey apply.

Party planned to mark Arnold park’s centenary

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One hundred years of smiles, laughter and fun are to be celebrated on Sunday (July 21) when Arnot Hill Park marks its centenary milestone.

To celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the official opening there will be a special Picnic in the Park with music, dance and theatre on Sunday.

The event is being organised by Gedling Borough Council and takes place from 12noon-4pm.

A load of free activities will be on offer including performances from HandMade Theatre, music from Thoresby Colliery band, art and crafts with City Arts including painting a new mural under the old railway bridge, history displays from Arnold Local History Group and guided history walks around the park.

The Green Flag Award winning park was originally built in 1792 but didn’t open to the public until 1919.

The iconic feature of the park, Arnot Hill House, was also the birthplace of Thomas Hawksley, known as one of the greatest water engineers of the nineteenth century. A new memorial statue, in his honour, is planned for the park and visitors to the picnic event will be able to get a first look at the designs.

The park and Grade II listed house, which were used as a hospital by the Red Cross Society during the First World War, have undergone many changes and additions over the years.

Stables, greenhouses, a putting green, boat house and tennis courts were all once found at the park. The main Civic Centre offices for Gedling Borough Council were built in 1985 followed by other more recent additions such as the children’s play area, skate park and bowls pavilion.

Every activity scheduled throughout the day has been planned with the history and heritage of the park in mind, from crafts themed around the park, to the type of music that would have previously been played in the former bandstand in the park.

Leader of Gedling Borough Council, Councillor John Clarke said: “This park is iconic to people in Gedling, it’s incredible to think about the history of the park itself and what’s happened here over the last 100 years and this event is all about celebrating that.

“This free event has something for everyone to enjoy, whether that’s taking part in the craft activities, learning about the history of the park, or just enjoying a nice picnic in the park, its set to be a fantastic day.”

Chair of the Friends of Arnot Hill Park, Councillor David Ellis said: “The Friends of the Park are very pleased to have been involved in organising and funding this event along with the Borough Council, Arnold Local History Group, and artists to make sure this park’s centenary can be celebrated in a way it deserves.

“A lot of work has gone into the research and planning of the event and I’d like to thank everyone who’s helped make it happen. We hope that the entertainments and activities will have something for everyone.  It’s a stunning park to visit at any time of the year, but this event will really highlight its rich heritage as well as making for a lovely day out with friends and family”

Police reappeal for information after Calverton collision which killed pensioner

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Police are reappealing for any witnesses or anyone who may have more information after an 88-year-old woman died following a collision in Calverton.

Officers are keen to speak to a man who was with a motorcycle on the day and may have seen what happened.

Lilian Hamblin was crossing Main Street, near to Saint Wilfrid’s Square, at around 2:15pm on Friday 31 May 2019 when she was involved in the collision with a dark blue Audi Q7.

Mrs Hamblin, who lived in Calverton, was taken to hospital in a serious condition following the collision. She died on June 1, 2019.

Anyone who witnessed the collision is asked to call Nottinghamshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 491 of 31 May 2019.

Petition calls for council to reveal how they plan to tackle future shortfall in secondary school places across borough

Parents in Gedling have started a petition calling on Nottinghamshire County Council to reveal how they plan to tackle a shortfall in secondary school places across the borough.

The petition claims 743 children will be without a space at one of the two secondary schools in the borough (Carlton Le Willows or Carlton Academy) by 2027.

It says that two new housing developments in the area will now increase demand for secondary school places and a third school is now needed in the area.

Concerns about school places were first raised back in May when local parent Ben Hemstock revealed at a public meeting that freedom of information request had shown Nottinghamshire County Council were predicting a shortfall of over 700 secondary school places in the borough by 2027.

But Nottinghamshire County Council’s Cllr Philip Owen, who is Chairman of Children and Young People’s Committee said Mr Hemstock’s claims about a future shortfall were ‘complete nonsense’.

He said: “Parents can be assured that sufficient places will be available now and in the future in Gedling and indeed across Nottinghamshire.

PICTURED: Carlton Academy

“The County Council already has a successful strategy in place to ensure that there are enough school places for its residents.

“Between 2012 and 2018, to accommodate rising birth rates and new housing developments, we have created 5,694 primary school places across Nottinghamshire, including 470 in Gedling. F

“Following on from this, plans are in place to expand existing provision to meet the need for secondary school places as these children grow older.”

Since the public meeting back in May, the council has announced plans to create 300 extra school places by expanding Carlton Academy.

Following the announcement, Cllr Chris Barnfather, who is the chairman of the council’s planning and licensing committee, said he hoped the move would ‘put to bed’ the myth that there would be a lack of secondary school places in the borough going forward.

But Ben Hemstock wrote an opinion piece for Gedling Eye saying the expansion wouldn’t solve the issue.

Now parents are hoping the petition will put extra pressure on the council to reveal further plans around dealing with the potential shortfall.

Organisers of the petition said: “We don’t want super-sized schools, we need a third secondary school and need it soon. 

“What’s more important than your child’s education?”

You can view and sign the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/nottinghamshire-county-council-more-secondary-school-places-for-gedling-borough?recruiter=146237065&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=share_petition&recruited_by_id=603d4920-2fb6-11e4-a3d2-f3613940fcd4&share_bandit_exp=initial-16470416-en-GB&share_bandit_var=v1&utm_content=fht-16470416-en-gb%3Av2&fbclid=IwAR15xZZj_GlhGQ-Bxbj01SEN-r_v3WXLHpV83jMP7Yung9vDHp-0iKbxRxw

Gedling MP Vernon Coaker joins pupils at Carlton Academy for Google event which aims to make youngsters better ‘digital citizens’

Gedling MP Vernon Coaker visited a school in Carlton taking part in a pioneering Google scheme to help pupils become good digital citizens.

The event at Carlton Academy was hosted by the internet search giant and aimed to teach 13 to 15-year-olds about online safety, being aware of fake news and emotional manipulation online.

Google are using these events to highlight their Be Internet Citizens programme.

As well as improving online behaviour, the programme also helps young people to use platforms like YouTube to share their stories and create great content.

Be Internet Citizens consists of five key stages, which students in Carlton Academy were taught today:

1. Three sides to Every Story – Participants will be able to develop a good understanding of fake news, echo chambers and filter bubbles, as well as becoming more confident in forming their own opinions in online contexts.

2. Emotional Manipulation – This stage presents video examples of emotional manipulation, prompting a discussion around what emotions these videos stimulate. It seeks to develop an increased critical awareness of the use of emotional manipulation.

3. Us vs Them – Enables participants to understand how powerful ‘us vs them’ divisions can be, encouraging them to think of where they have seen this rhetoric used before online. Participants will understand how divisive arguments can lead to problems in society, as well as be wary of the consequences of labelling individuals and also understand how certain online social environments can shape opinions.

4. Haters Gonna Hate – Designed to help participants understand what acceptable and unacceptable online behaviour is, and how to distinguish between hate speech and free speech. In addition, it explores how to react to hateful content online, including the use of various online tools such as reporting, flagging and blocking.

5. Creators For Change – a creative video exercise that allows participants to showcase their learning across the previous four lessons, and offers them the opportunity to get creative through using video equipment.

Mr Coaker praised the new Google initiative.

He said: “I am delighted that the Be Internet Citizens programme visited Carlton Academy today as the issue of digital citizenship is now extremely important to young people.

“Programmes which educate and encourage positive participation in the online world are very welcome, especially as more and more young people use online platforms on a daily basis.”

Elijah Lawal, online safety communications manager at Google, said: “The internet is a creative space where young people can have a voice, be imaginative, and express themselves.

“With Be Internet Citizens, we want to help young people with their media literacy and encourage them to use their voices and creativity to have a positive impact online.”

Be Internet Citizens is delivered in partnership with the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) and its teaching resources are approved by the PSHEAssociation.

Educators can also order free teaching resources for the Be Internet Citizens here (through the ISD website). These resources are accredited by PSHE.

Elaine Bond: Listen to your dreams because they are trying to tell you something

We all dream and sometimes they are vivid or lucid but sometimes we just don’t remember them.

The analysis of dreams is known as dream therapy and can be a really good way to look at what our subconscious is trying to tell us. It’s also a really useful tool in therapy.

Throughout history, dream therapy has existed. The Mesopotamians looked at dreams as messages or symbols, whilst ancient Egyptians created dream temples as places of healing, where the answer to a person’s emotional and physical ills could be found. The Greeks and Romans had sleep temples which were dedicated to healing.  Indian and Tibetan text tell of using dreams to gain spiritual enlightenment and the ancient Chinese believed the soul separated from the body to communicate with spirits during dreaming.

Even Hippocrates believed that during sleep the soul produces images that are prophetic, diagnostic and psychologically revealing in dreams. He strongly felt that bad dreams indicated there was some form of somatic or psychological issue. He used his own dreams on many occasions to diagnose illnesses!

Dreaming take place during REM (Rapid eye movement) sleep, this is the point when our closed eyes are rapidly and randomly moving. This eye motion is not constant but intermittent.  Our brain activity during REM sleep is a variety of low-amplitude mixed-frequency brain waves, quite similar to those experienced when we are awake.

For us to understand our dreams is not an easy task as dream dictionaries from any shop or in any format are ineffective because they do not take into account our culture. The symbols and objects in dreams will have different meaning dependant on our upbringing and surroundings. They also do not take into account our life experience so far, for example, for some of us a clown is a scary thing whereas for others it is a symbol of happy childhood times.

PICTURED: Gedling counsellor Elaine Bond

We have approximately 100 minutes of important dreams every night. These take place when our body temperature is at its lowest. These periods have an average duration of 6 minutes and occur every 25 minutes during sleep.

A scientist called Michel Jovet believed that dreams had five functions –

  • The dream sentinel: an ancient reaction that periodically reduces depth of sleep to allow survival in a possible hostile environment
  • Dream transforming: the short-term memory to long term memory
  • Dream facilitating or inhibiting: the transfers between the right (feeling) and left (thinking) hemispheres of the brain
  • Day Dreaming: moments without interest (ghosts of waking time)
  • Obligatory Dreaming: dreams to delete information without interest

From a counselling point of view, every dream is trying to tell us something about ourselves, especially if we remember them. There are certain dreams that seem to have a universal meaning: –

  • Angel. Guidance. Wisdom. Truth.
  • Bathing. Spiritual cleansing. Need to “clean up” one’s life.
  • Cat. Universal symbol for woman. May refer to gossip; beware of gossip. The mysterious. Independence.
  • Church. The realm of Inner Awareness. Higher Self. Spiritual need.
  • Desert. Spiritual thirst. Emotional barrenness. Sterility.
  • Falling. A natural fear and common to children. Falling from grace or higher spiritual realms. Defeat.
  • Island. Seclusion. Desire to get away from it all. Security. A place of inhibitions.
  • Judge. Authority figure. One who views objectively and fairly. Need for Self-discipline. Hidden guilt.
  • Lake. Water symbol for spirit. Peace if placid or smooth.
  • Mirror. Reveals one’s true Self. good, bad, or indifferent. A reflection of the truth. Can also Ocean. Spirit, God, Higher Self. Peace, unless a rough sea, then turmoil, strife, etc.
  • Suitcase. Prosperity. Desire to travel. Prestige. Subconscious desire for someone else to go away.
  • Sun. Spiritual light and awareness.

In therapy, dreams can often help us to open up issues that have so far been hidden but are being processed in our dreams. In Gestalt theory, the dream is told by the client form themselves and all the other characters in the dream, often finding that is one of the other characters portraying real issue. This is not something that is easy to do on your own but recording your dreams and looking for themes is.

Take a notebook and pen to bed with you, then when you have a dream that you remember you can write it down straight away and then go back to sleep. Over a period of a month you will find a whole list of dreams, and then any themes and people that turn up in your dreams will be clearer.

There are several things that can affect or inhibit our dreams, such as the use of drugs and alcohol, sleeping disorders, the food we ate and when we ate it, what is happening in our life and environment, pregnancy and the smells and sounds around us when we sleep. So, a note of what was happening to us at that point also helps us to review what we are dreaming about.