#2 Neepsend Social Club and Canteen / Oaklea Crafts / Councillor Brian Holmshaw

NUN Local: Netherthorpe, Upperthorpe and Neepsend News Podcast

October 2024 brings you episode two of Sheffield’s hyper-local podcast for Netherthorpe, Upperthorpe and Neepsend, with Tom Miller from Neepsend Social Club and Canteen talking about where the idea for his quirky business came from, and telling me about the difficulties Neepsend businesses are facing since the double yellows / parking changes in the area.

Then I speak to Beki Gibb from Oaklea Crafts about terrazzo, wreath and lino printing workshops, including what happens if you go, whether you have to already know how to do it, and what if you want to go but you’re nervous.

And finally, a conversation with Brian Holmshaw, the Green Party Councillor for Broomhill and Sharrow Vale Ward who’s also chair of the Central Local Area Committee. They have an upcoming event, all about green social prescribing, that he tells us about.

Thanks for reading Netherthorpe, Upperthorpe and Neepsend News! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Timings

00:00 Intro

01:55 Tom Miller from Neepsend Social Club and Canteen

27:52 Beki Gibb from Oaklea Crafts

40:50 Councillor Brian Holmshaw

Transcript

Philippa Willitts

Welcome to the October episode of NUN Local, the hyperlocal podcast in Sheffield for Netherthorpe, Upperthorpe, and Neepsend.

In today's episode, I talk to Tom Miller from Neepsend Social Club and Canteen about his business, about what you can expect from his Sunday roast, and about the challenges businesses in Neepsend are currently facing.

I also speak to Beki Gibb, who is the owner of Oaklea Crafts. She has some workshops coming up where you can go and learn different crafting techniques, and so she tells us all about that.

And then I speak to Brian Holmshaw, who is the Green Party Councillor for Broomhill and Sharrow Vale Ward, but he's also the chair of the Central Local Area Committee.

They have an event coming up, and he's here to tell us all about it.

Just before we jump into this interview with Tom Miller from Neepsend Social Club and Canteen, couple of points.

One is that we recorded on the 18th September. So that helps you position when the meeting was that Tom was talking about.

And secondly, NUN Local approached councillor Ben Miskell and Sheffield City Council to give them a chance to respond to the points that Tom made about the traffic and parking changes, but Ben Miskell and the council did not get back to us.

Now enjoy the interview with Tom, then Beki, then Brian.

Neepsend Social Club and Canteen is on Burton Road in Neepsend with events, pub games, craft beer, and good food.

Tom Miller from Neepsend Social Club and Canteen is here.

First of all, you call Neepsend Social Club and Canteen a modern reimagining of a classic social club.

What made you want to recreate that kind of nostalgic vibe?

Tom Miller

That's a very good question.

It's my business partner, Ben, who just happens to be my twin brother, but we have been in business for 8 years now doing various ventures. And this is the biggest and the latest.

It's just something that we have spoken about in the in the past, when we were kids, growing up in Chesterfield in the early years.

There's a rich heritage in this country and locally of social clubs, working men's clubs, that we just felt was something to really be proud of.

We came across the idea, stumbled into the idea vicariously through going to Denmark. We went to Copenhagen on holiday, just a little holiday, weekend away.

And as we do when we go to fun cities that are food led and things like that, hospitality led, go to all these different places and have a great time.

And then the idea starts whirring in your head and you think, oh, this thing's great. That thing's great. Why can't we… let's take this home. Let's do our own version of these kinds of things.

And we happened to go in a place called Absalon, which is essentially a Danish version of a social club. And we were like, oh, this is brilliant. Like, there's so many cool things about it.

The decor was amazing. They had all these wonderful events on, and it's really, really community focused, community led. They did loads of cool stuff like pay what you feel food nights, and things like that.

And the spirit of that place, we were really inspired by. We came back to Sheffield and were like, let's do a Danish version of a social club.

And then that idea percolated for probably a few months in our heads before we thought, hang about, we've got this rich heritage that I was just referring to, this rich heritage of social clubs and working men's clubs in this country anyway.

So the idea transformed into, let's really try and lean into that.

And if we're going to do something, let's try and pay homage to the heyday of the social club, which is the sixties, seventies.

And that's why we have this Wes Anderson type decor and style down here that we tried to make it as immersive as possible in terms of the decor.

And it’s born out of COVID as well. We all spent best part of two, if not more, years inside.

That focused the mind a little bit of what might be missing, what perhaps other hospitality venues… There's some absolutely amazing ones, but certainly in the bigger chain hospitality venues that we see so much of, whilst they serve a purpose, we felt like perhaps it's that getting around a community, getting around community spirit, is that something that's lost when you have a chain venue?

And we thought, well, almost certainly. Yeah.

So why not throw ourselves into a community, head first, and pay homage to all those good things that social clubs and working men's clubs of the past were so good at?

Coming out of COVID, let's finally be social.

We went on this journey of doing the research for it and the more we looked into it, of the history and heritage. I read some history books. I'm a bit of a history buff as my brother is. He read some history books on social clubs and working men's clubs.

And, yeah, the more we read into it, we were just like, wow, there's such a rich history here, especially in Sheffield, that we can try and celebrate and hopefully not step on the toes of, but pay homage to.

And so we thought let's go for it.

Philippa Willitts

And what made you choose Neepsend as your base?

Tom Miller

So Neepsend, looking back through the archives, because when we were looking for lots of things to put on the walls here, I went back through the archives and basically looked at every picture from years gone by.

And the transformation from what it was then to what it is now was crazy. It was really crazy to see.

You know, it was incredibly residential, but as with all those red brick Victorian factory buildings, you had a factory and then you had residential right next to it, which maybe wasn't the best idea in hindsight with all those chimney stacks, but that's what it used to be down here.

Seeing how different it was then to seeing it now was kind of inspiring, to be able to see what it was like in its heyday then as well.

So we thought things are changing around here as well. We have Cutlery Works, and you know, Heist Brewery, and Parrot Club, and Peddler Market, of course, is one of the OGs, and we've done a lot of work down here. We've been at Cutlery Works ourselves as the Gravy Train, the original incarnation of our business. And we'd done a lot of work at Pedlar Market.

So we kind of felt like we knew the area. There are already hospitality businesses. You know, I don't know if I'd have been brave enough to go out and do it by myself, but there are already hospitality businesses in the area that we really respected and thought were thought were great.

So it was being able to add to that culture that was starting to mature, I guess, around here.

To be another part of that would be, we thought it would be really fun.

And to put our own little stamp to be part of the culture would be amazing.

And we got we got offered this place, and it was a shell. It wasa, like a bric-a-brac antiques storage facility.

We got offered this place and did not know what we were getting ourselves in for at all, but jumped in head first and thought, well, we've got this opportunity.

It being a shell is obviously very daunting, but at the same time, it's gives you the opportunity to make it money permitting exactly how you want it to be. So, and as I say, then we started going through the archives and all that kind of stuff.

And it's like, wow, it's to try and see things are shifting around here. We're seeing that with Cannon Brewery, which is behind me, which is why I'm pointing this way.

Cannon Brewery is set for redevelopment. Planning permission was passed 8 weeks ago, something like that. So we might see that starting to change really soon. I hope we do.

It's not a residential place yet, Neepsend. It's not a particularly residential part of the city.

But to be here and see that transformation, there used to be a lot of community here in terms of residential, and there's not so much now.

If we can be here as we see some of that return, would be it would just be amazing.

Philippa Willitts

Yeah. That makes a lot of sense.

What can people expect if they pop down for a Sunday roast or pop down for a pint?

Tom Miller

Yeah. So sitting where I'm exactly sitting now, when it was a building site, we were doing head chef interviews, sat on bags of cement, and we had Jim, who is now our head chef. So he got the job.

He came in for an interview, and we sat and we talked for about 2 hours about food.

I'm a massive foodie, as is my brother. That's why we started doing street food stuff. When you find someone else who is this as passionate, or if not more passionate about than ourselves about food, it's a lot of fun.

One of the questions in the interview is what makes a good Sunday roast in your opinion?

What makes a good Sunday roast is a great question to ask us.

And we sat and spoke about it for a long, long time. And that's become the cornerstone of our Sunday menu.

So we're really proud of our Sunday menu. I've got my menu right here, so I'll refer to it. We always have a selection of meat on. So at the moment we've got top side of beef, pork, chicken, lamb, but we're also really proud of our… we've got vegetarian, vegan haggis, which is really, really lovely.

I always go overboard and have extras, and that is one thing I always have extra of.

So when you have 4 or 5 hours on a Sunday at home to make your own roast dinner, you can really perfect those little bits and bobs, all those little sides and that attention to detail.

You struggle to recreate that in a commercial kitchen at any point, especially on a Sunday when it can be busy and you're having to rifle through orders.

We're doing all we can to try not to lose that.

So we're really we're really proud of the Sunday roast.

Philippa Willitts

This episode will be coming out at the start of October. Do you have any events in October that listeners might want to come to?

Tom Miller

Yeah. So Friday this week, we have got Sky Sports going in. So we've just had TNT and installed last week, and now we've got Sky Sports.

We're quite fortunate in the layout of the of the club itself in that… well, fortunate and then unfortunate. You can see it two ways, but it's quite long. So we're able to split it up into sections a little bit.

So whilst we're keeping the food-led lounge side of things, at the front, when you first walk in, the first half of the building, we've got our game streaming with darts and table football at the back.

And now we've got two TVs down there. So now we're able to show all of the Champions League, the EFL games, and all that kind of stuff. So as well as all the various other sports, rugby, golf, tennis, whatever you name it.

So, yeah, that's really exciting to see that go in.

We've also got our weekly Bullseye quiz. I don't know if you've seen online. I basically dress up like Jim Bowen and, yeah, bold cap and ill-fitting suit every week.

It's a speed quiz. So it's answering questions on your phone. Each team then comes up and throws darts based on how they perform in the quiz.

So it's incorporating doing well in the quiz, doing well in darts, and there's prizes for both. And then someone goes for the jackpot every week.

We've had 3 winners. We had no winners for such a long time, and I was desperate for someone to win it. And then we've had 3 winners in the space of two and a half months, something like that. We've had 3 people get it.

So lots of money being given out.

And then, yeah, the end of October or maybe first weekend of November, we've got 7x7 on.

7 people bring 7 vinyls, and they play their vinyl on the decks here. So it's a come and play what you feel kind of kind of thing, and it brings a really, really lovely crowd.

Everyone's so nice. We love 7x7 nights. It's just I think 7x7 perfectly epitomises what we're trying to do here and the nice people that do come in. That's what we've got coming up.

Philippa Willitts

And I'm hearing a lot about the parking situation in Neepsend.

Tom Miller

Thought you might say that. Yes.

Philippa Willitts

Yeah. Tell me about the double yellows and how that's affecting you and others in the area.

Tom Miller

Yes. It's an interesting moment that you asked this question because a feature went out on Look North last night. A feature went out on BBC Radio Sheffield yesterday morning.

We had a conversation with Sheffield City Council on Monday at Cutlery Works, but a lot of the businesses in the area that have been affected by the parking situation all got together at Cutlery Works. And there was I don't think you can call it a consultation. It was the council and councillor Ben Maskell, I think his name is.

Philippa Willitts

Miskell, I think.

Tom Miller

Miskell. That's it. Yeah. Describing their plans for the area, for Kelham and, Neepsend, and West Bar. Yeah.

It was a fraught and emotional conversation.

Personally, from a hospitality perspective, and I've seen this backed up by anecdotal conversations I've had with other hospitality owners in the area. You know, we've seen, essentially to the week that the parking changes went in, we've seen a drop in our sales of 35%, which is pretty galling.

It's pretty galling.

I have to say we've been working… Everyone, all of our staff have been down here and so many other people in the area have been working so hard to create something good for the city to create a little jewel in the crown.

And that's us hospitality businesses that are sort of like, in the in the grand story of Neepsend and Kelham and West Bar, that we're just the latest chapter, but there's businesses that have been down here for hundreds of years, hundreds of years, toolmakers, artisan makers down here that have been here for a long, long time and they're being adversely affected in different ways than we are, but it all relates to a loss in trade.

And we're feeling the sharp end of that.

And we can see year on year sales compared to last summer to this summer.

We can't wholeheartedly say that the whole reason for the drop in sales is because of this, but the data is heavily skewing towards it. And when I talk to other operators and other owners in the area, they are feeling the same.

So yeah, what the council are doing is wanting to pedestrianise the area to some degree, to make it safer for pedestrians, to make it safer for cyclists, make it safer for disabled people for access, reduce emissions in the area.

All of those things, I can wholeheartedly get behind, and we all do.

The ultimate irony of it is that we all support what they're trying to do.

I think the way in which they're trying to do it is at warp speed, and we need… as I was able to explain when they finally let me ask my question on Monday, was that there's a lot of incredible businesses down here, but pretty much all of them are small business, small enterprises.

And whilst we have energy and creativity in spades, one thing that we don't have, pretty much universally amongst all of us, is deep pockets.

And to be able to sustain a drop in sales of the amount that we're talking about is really hard.

And we've already seen some operators have to pack up and go. Andy from Reyt Good Illustration just next door but one to us. Yeah. He's had to go, and it was a quick turnaround.

And that's the thing. Like, we can't sustain big punches.

We just cannot. And to be expected to do that by the council… the council are saying they want to increase the active travel and essentially the footfall is going to come from people cycling and walking and getting public transport.

Well, lovely idea. Absolutely love it. Support it wholeheartedly, but that needs to come in lockstep with these parking changes.

We are a destination, especially Neepsend. Kelham Island's got the Little Kelham development down there. So there is more residential down there.

But for Neepsend in particular, we are so reliant on people coming to visit us from further afield because we aren't residential yet. That will come, but we aren't there yet.

The councillor was saying about his grand plan, their grand plans for the area, which again sounded good, but he's talking about, oh, there's going to be a Neepsend tram stop, which would be great. It would be great, but how long are we talking? You know?

A Neepsend tram stop that links up the tram network is going to be 10 years from now. And when you see operators having to pack up in a matter of matter of months or even weeks, that's no good to us.

So that's absolutely no good to us.

So we're in the process of writing an open letter, my brother and I. Open letter to the council that hopefully we can get some backing of other local businesses.

I'm sure they will because there was some particularly upset people in that room on Monday.

And I think we need to crystallise what our aims are, but from our perspective, they're putting a pedestrian crossing in here. Amazing. It's been needed for such a long time because it's been dangerous to cross at that Rutland Road, Burton Road intersection there.

It's been dangerous. So we need that.

We need double yellow lines on junctions because there's been a lot of reckless parking because the parking hasn't been great down here. There's been a lot of reckless parking and people parking on the corners. So it's difficult to pull out.

All of those things, sensible changes that needs to happen.

But, yeah, they've taken away a lot of parking down here.

And anecdotally, what we're hearing from so many customers is they're coming in and saying, I can't find anywhere to park, that took me ages, and they're late for bookings and all that kind of stuff.

And ultimately, what that means is they're going to go somewhere else, and they're going to go somewhere else because it's less of a pain to find somewhere to park.

And I mean, that's what we're seeing. We're seeing the facts and the figures and the graphs every week of what adverse effect that’s had on us.

It's a very delicate ecosystem down here. It's an amazing ecosystem, but it's very, very delicate.

And I think Sheffield City Council are incredibly short sighted to think that they can make these changes and not expect there to be significant economical scarring in the area.

So on top of trying to run this business and work out how it all works and all the other hospitality operators in the area, that's also what they've got to try and mount a fight with the council.

So, interesting times to say the least.

Philippa Willitts

And as a disabled person who can't cycle or walk any distance, I don't know how I'm meant to get there now. I don't know what's meant to happen.

I can't, like most people, can't afford to be getting taxis for short distances when I don't need to.

Like you, I agree with the principles. I agree with the bigger picture.

But there's got to be ways to do it that aren't so detrimental to the organisations down there and the people who want to come down there.

Tom Miller

100%. And it's the ultimate irony, isn't it? As you say, for someone like yourself these are the things that again, I've heard from other people, and it just beggars belief.

And, yeah, all of us are behind the sentiment. All of us are behind the sentiment, but it's got to be done in lockstep with these changes.

And if public transport is what is going to happen and they might be increasing public transport, then it's like, well, from our perspective, that should be done in lockstep with those changes.

So if you're going to massively decrease the parking opportunities for people round here, then public transport needs to be ready to go.

You know, those alternatives, we can't… they keep talking about people altering their behaviours and their behaviour changing so that people have got to get used to walking, cycling, and getting public transport.

The infrastructure needs to be there. First and foremost, the infrastructure needs to be there.

Personally, we're not Wetherspoons. We can't sustain those hits and wait something out, and that's the same for everyone around here.

The infrastructure needs to be in place so that people like yourself can make it in comfortably, safely, and you don't have to get seven buses or whatever it might be.

It needs to already be there.

And then we need time for people's behaviours to also… we need a marketing campaign from the council to say these are the changes that have happened down here. Because we've tried, and we're trying to market to people and say, post on social media, post that on our website. And we've all got together as the businesses and posted about, okay, you can't park here now, but here's where you can park. It's a 9-minute walk away or whatever. And that's really difficult for some people, they won't be able to do it.

And it's all well and good saying that behaviours will change. Well, if something is a 9-minute walk away when they could just pop to their local pub or whatever, and we rely on those people to come in, where are they going to go? Where are they going to go?

And if the infrastructure isn't there, the public transport isn't in place yet, or is it coming at all?

I don't know because we basically are served by largely 1 or 2 buses, but that largely go the same route.

So in terms of public transport, we're not served well.

So it just seems incredibly short sighted. And, yeah, we're not going to go… I say go down without a fight. You know, that's probably drastic talking, saying we're going down, but certainly the reality for a lot of people is that they are seriously hampered in their abilities to do what they have been so good at doing.

And one thing we tried to make clear to the council on Monday as well was you've got a lot of very creative hospitality people in particular down here and heavier industry people have been down here for a long, long time.

As a business, speaking as a business owner myself, it takes an incredible amount of energy and graft, and we’re still here 8 years later.

And it's taken everything that we have to get here and sustain that.

And I don't know if it were to be the case that we couldn't… that this was something that ended up being fatal to us or other businesses. I know, personally speaking, I would find it very difficult to pick myself up on the floor and do it all again.

And if I was going to do it, I wouldn't be doing it in Sheffield because I would be scared that the council would come along and do something similar.

I understand they have a job to do, and I understand their budgets are tight, but they need to have a long, hard look in the mirror.

Philippa Willitts

And it sounds like you've got good relationships with the other business owners in the area.

What would you say is the best thing about Neepsend?

Tom Miller

The best thing about Neepsend, I'd say, is its spirit.

I think there's a there's an opportunity down here to come in and do things that are different to other places.

And you might have places in different parts of the city and different cities across the UK, whatever, hospitality specific areas, where things are done how they've always been done or things follow a certain pattern and a certain trend.

And I just love down here that it's people come along, it's like the wild west in a way, where people come down here and they will experiment.

They're willing to be experimental.

And it's just really, for us personally, it's really amazing to be surrounded by other people who think similarly, other people who are incredibly brave and bold to go and do those things.

And all of that adds to an incredible spirit down here. Some people will see another hospitality business moving in next door and think, well, that's competition. But I think, from my perspective, especially, I see that as I've just adding to what is a great environment. It's just adding to that.

It's a real nice community feel and, yeah, long may that continue.

And there's nothing to unite people like taking on a local council.

So, yeah, I'm sure we're going to become even faster friends than we already are.

Philippa Willitts

I think in most circumstances, we benefit more from collaborating than competing generally.

Tom Miller

Absolutely.

Philippa Willitts

So where can people find out more about Neepsend Social Club and Canteen?

Tom Miller

We just got a fantastic website done. I Itried to do a website before, and I failed miserably. So we've just had that sorted out.

So that's neepsendsocial. com. You can check out our events on there, Christmas stuff, menus, and all that kind of thing.

So yeah, you can head to neepsendsocial.com, and then, or basically all of our socials. So Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, or x, I should say, are all @Neepsendsocial.

Philippa Willitts

Amazing. Thank you so much for talking to me.

Tom Miller

No problem. It's been a pleasure.

Do you have a story about Netherthorpe, Upperthorpe, or Neepsend you want to tell? Find our contact details at nunlocal.news or say hi on social media.

Philippa Willitts

Beki Gibb is the owner of Oaklea Crafts, and she delivers workshops in various locations in Sheffield and beyond.

She can teach you to do lino printing, to make terrazzo pots and trinket trays, to do macrame, and to make Christmas wreaths.

Reviewers say that her workshops are engaging, enjoyable, and people are really chuffed with the things they create.

Upcoming events include a lino print workshop at Cutlery Works and a terrazzo style event at Church. There are also Christmas wreath events coming up at both of those venues in December.

Beki, have you always been a crafty person, or is it something that you came to as an adult?

Beki Gibb

Yeah. I've always been crafty. I've always loved making things as a child. You know, if I see something that I wanted, I'd try and make it. I can remember wanting to make the swing that, what's her name, Truly Scrumptious has in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang swung on. And looking back, it wasn't particularly great, but I'd see it and try and do it.

My parents are quite crafty as well, so I've always tried to make things or just bought kits of things to try and have a go at.

Not all of them worked, but you just have to have a go.

Philippa Willitts

You do. And that's part of it, isn't it? It's about the process as much as what you create, I always think.

Beki Gibb

Definitely.

Philippa Willitts

And Oaklea Crafts has been around since 2012. Has it always been mostly workshops? Do you also make crafty things to sell or anything else?

Beki Gibb

It's always been about the workshops. I do make stuff, but I don't really have the time to make things to sell as well. I work 4 days a week, and I've got 2 kids as well, and, obviously house, garden, etcetera, etcetera.

But I do the workshops because I love teaching. I'm a teacher, and I love teaching, and I love being able to show people how to create something.

And like you say, the process of it, it’s not just about the final thing. It's about understanding how to create something and then just having a go and seeing what happens.

The workshops are very much about coming and having a go.

Being a teacher, you get a lot of kids that say, I can't do this. I'm no good at that, etcetera, etcetera, parents as well. And it's always about, say, well, anything that's practical has got to be practised to be able to get better at it.

I always say I'm not very good at singing, but without practising, then you can't necessarily just pick up an instrument, basically, and be able to play it. And it's the same with doing anything artsy or crafty.

You don't necessarily be able to pick it up and be able to create the thing you want in your head straight away.

Philippa Willitts

And I think grown ups are often worse than children for… I think children are often more willing to give something a go.

Whereas as adults, we feel like we have to be good at something to even try.

Beki Gibb

Yeah. Yeah. I think so. And that's part of where the workshops came about.

So it's called Oaklea Crafts because I lived in a house that was called Oaklea at the time. They started off with a wreath workshop, actually. Friends and friends of friends.

And I always had the idea that when my second daughter went to school, I would try and set up a business doing these workshops.

But I decided rather than do it at home, I'd like to do it in bars in Sheffield because there's obviously people that are craftspeople and they do workshops, which is fantastic. And you're going someone is a practitioner, like a jeweller or a ceramicist. Which is great.

But some people may not think that they can do that, like you say, and it's quite expensive and it's quite a lot of time.

So my USP, I suppose, whatever you want to call it, was that I wanted the workshops to be affordable, as affordable as it can be, to be between 2 to 3 hours and in a bar that I quite like the atmosphere of.

So already the bar was creating the atmosphere rather than me having to create the atmosphere in my home. And just little things like, obviously, there's toilets there. People can get drinks and do what they want.

So that was where the idea came from in doing them in bars, in Cutlery Works and Church: Temple of Fun.

And then, obviously, people like going to those places anyway. So it's just doing something a little bit different whilst you're there rather than going to an art space to be arty or crafty, if that makes sense.

So that was the kind of idea behind doing the workshops, which is where it started.

Lots of people that do them have never done the craft before, or they might have done lino printing, for example, but done it at school. And said, obviously, it's about 30 years ago. And so just trying to hopefully have a good time and be pleased with what people have made at the end of it.

Philippa Willitts

So tell me about lino printing. How does it work, and what kind of things do people create in lino print workshops?

Beki Gibb

They create the lino print block by using lino tools and carving out… you take away the negative of the image. So the positive is what the ink is on, which is then transferred onto 2 brown postcard size and 2 white postcard size cards, and they'll create the block that they can then take home and use to reprint again and then make the cards and the postcards as well.

In terms of the images, I do take some images along. The ones that are nearer Christmas, I have some Christmassy images. The other ones are a few botanically type ones, and I just take a mixture of images.

But then some people come with some ideas that we can then talk through, we just sort of decide how it would work best.

Philippa Willitts

Amazing. And what is terrazzo?

Beki Gibb

So that, again, like I was talking about macrame, is traditionally from Italy, and it came about from using the old or broken tiles and the chips of it and mixing it together to create other tiles or wall or floor surfaces.

But the terrazzo workshops that I do are a cheaper, less fancy version. Using jesmonite resin, which is a non-epoxy resin. It's not as potent. It's a chalk-based resin, basically.

At the workshops, I make all the different coloured chips, and then people can choose what colour they want their base colour to be and then choose the chip colours that they want, and then they mix it all together and pour it into a mould.

So it's either a pot or I've got hexagon or square moulds that people can use as trinket trays or coasters.

And then there's a bit of drying time, and then you finish it off using wet and dry paper to take back the layer of the resin to show the chips.

It's a bit like looking for treasure at the end.

Philippa Willitts

I really like the look of the hexagon ones in particular on your photos. I think they look great.

Beki Gibb

Thank you. I always love the workshops because everyone just makes such different things and mixes really nice colours.

You know, everyone's so different. It's always quite nice to see what people create, the colours that they mix, colours that I wouldn't necessarily put together, and they're all very different.

It's like that with all the workshops, actually. That's one of the things I love the most. That's one of the things I love about teaching, actually.

You demo something or you talk about something, then it's like, off you go. It's your turn. Have a go.

And the outcomes are all very different and very individual.

Philippa Willitts

Yeah. I bet.

So if people come to one of your workshops, what can they expect?

Beki Gibb

Well, hopefully, they will enjoy it. And quite often, there's lots of people that come on their own and end up chatting to other people.

Some people come as a group. So having quite a nice, chilled night with friends that they've come with and hopefully enjoy what they're doing and are pleased with what they take home.

But then quite often, some people just might say, it's not turned out how I expected, but I've had a great time and enjoyed it. And some people want to do something else, like ask me about packs and things like that, to then take it home and do a bit more at home. But at the workshop, just have a go at creating something that they may not have done before, or done and maybe just want to have another go at it, but not necessarily have to buy all the stuff first.

Philippa Willitts

And I'm somebody who likes creating pretty things, but I can't draw. And so I find that crafts are so much more accessible than strictly arty things.

And I'm also far less likely to feel like an absolute failure when I do a craft project.

So if somebody is intrigued but is doubting themselves or their abilities, what would you say to them?

Beki Gibb

I would say, come and have a go, and I will try and show you how to do the thing, whichever workshop it is, say it's lino printing, and we can talk through ways or all the ideas that you've come with. Or if you haven't come with any ideas, I can give you some ideas and show you how to do the process and just explain, like I said before, that it's not always about it looking the best.

You know, if you wanted something that was pretty and perfect, you could go and buy it. There's so many things out online. You know, you could look on Etsy and buy a terrazzo pot, and there you go. You know?

And that might look perfect to you. That's the one you've seen. That's the one you chose, and that's the one you bought.

But it's about the fact that you've made it yourself. So that's kind of what not what it's about. it's about creating yourself. And the same with drawing, like I said before, everyone can draw.

It's just how much you practice, but how much you practice it. Like I said with me singing, I can sing. This might not be as pleasant as other people's voice, but I can still do it. If I practiced it, it would be better. Same with you with drawing.

Philippa Willitts

So is there a particular kind of person who tends to come to your workshop? So is it quite varied? Like, are people already very crafty, or do you get complete beginners?

Beki Gibb

Yeah. It's very very varied. You know, I get some people that that are really crafty that bring friends along that aren't particularly crafty, or I get people that come along just because they're trying to do something for themselves a little bit and have a bit of time where they're doing something, creating something. You know, they book that time in that that's just about them a bit a bit of wellbeing. I just did a workshop at a place called Grapevine Wellbeing Centre in Buxton, and that's what that's very much about. It's funded and the people that come along are carers and from various different professions as well. But it's just that time where they have a couple of hours and it's just doing something for them and having that time, that space.

I've done hen dos as well, so that's a real mix of people.

And I think because of the place I do them in and how people find them, so some's on Eventbrite, but some's through Church: Temple of Fun's website, and some's through Cutlery Works.

And so, yeah, they're different people that come together, I guess.

Philippa Willitts

And if you're at home and you're in a crafty mood yourself, what's your favourite go-to craft project to spend some time on?

Beki Gibb

That's a really difficult question. That's really difficult because I like trying all sorts of things. I'm a bit of a jack of all trades. My degree was in jewellery and silversmithing, but I'm now an art teacher, and I do these workshops.

If there is a small amount of time, there's lots of things I've got on the go at the minute, whether it's trying to fix a piece of jewellery or make something or a macrame piece I've still got in the cupboard, or I've got a terrazzo thing that I've done for a friend for a birthday, which I haven't quite finished yet.

So there's various things on the go at the same time.

Philippa Willitts

Eclectic.

Beki Gibb

Yeah. Basically.

Philippa Willitts

And if people are interested in coming along to one of your workshops or if they just want to find out more about Oaklea Crafts, where can they do that?

Beki Gibb

I've got a Instagram page and a Facebook page.

My workshops are also on the events pages on Thornbridge Estate and Cutlery Works, and Church: Temple of Fun, and the Grapevine Wellbeing Centre. There's information on those as well.

And I post the workshops on Eventbrite too, so there's information on there. And my email's on there as well if there's anyone that wants to email me further about inquiries. So any of those platforms.

Philippa Willitts

Well, thank you so much, Beki, and I hope the upcoming workshops go really well.

Beki Gibb

Thank you very much.

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Philippa Willitts

Brian Holmshaw is the Green Party councillor for Broomhill and Sharrow Vale Ward.

He is also the chair of the Central Local Area Committee, which is why he's talking to us today.

So, Brian, first of all, what is the Central Local Area Committee?

What does it do?

Cllr Brian Holmshaw

Some of it sounds as though it's not very central because it covers 4 wards. So it's Broomhill and Sharrow Vale. There's the city ward, which is a very central area. You've also got Walkley and Hillsborough, which sounds as though it's a bit on the edge.

Philippa Willitts

It does.

Cllr Brian Holmshaw

But it’s part of the central. And we have events that are held 4 times a year with the first one of those, coming up, on October 3rd, which is this Thursday. And it's going to be at Yellow Arch.

I can tell you a little bit more about what we do.

Philippa Willitts

Yes, please.

Cllr Brian Holmshaw

We have some public questions, which are part of what we do.

Our approach in Central LAC, which is perhaps slightly different to what some of the other places do, our approach is to theme our meetings.

Earlier this year, we had parks, woodlands, and open spaces as a theme. We've also had engagement on the city's new cultural strategy.

One of the most interesting ones was, it was very hard-hitting event based around making Sheffield an anti-racist city. That was one where we it was the most well attended event we've ever had, with over 100 people from very diverse communities in Sheffield attending and being involved.

The thing we also do, which is perhaps a bit differently to the other LACs, is that we have, discussion and feedback tables.

So we have up to six of these, different themes, and they're all facilitated by people who know the subject. And that can be people on the city council, or it could be some of our partner organisations, such as the Wildlife Trust or maybe training advisers, depending on what the subject is.

We do a lot of discussion on these tables, and then that gets fed back to the relevant council committee and to partner organisations.

So it doesn't just go nowhere. So, you know, it's not in a kind of vacuum.

We gather the information, and then we feed it on.

And it's very important in to do that because that helps to develop some trust between the council and local people.

Philippa Willitts

And between the events, what kind of things…? What's the purpose of the local area committees? What kind of work do they do?

Cllr Brian Holmshaw

So between these events, we, distribute funds. So there are up to £100,000 for each LAC.

Spread over 4 wards, that's not a lot, but it is extra funding in addition to the ward pots, which each ward area has.

We distribute that. We get feedback from local people about what they want.

Philippa Willitts

And this event on the 3rd October, what's the theme of the event this time?

Cllr Brian Holmshaw

Oh, the theme is health and wellbeing. We're going to go for this time, and we're going to focus on what's called green social prescribing. you're going to ask what that is, aren’t you?

Philippa Willitts

I'm going to ask what green social prescribing is. Yes.

Cllr Brian Holmshaw

Well, for those that are unsure about this, it's about supporting people to engage in nature-based activity, and that's to improve their mental and physical health.

So it's connecting people to, for example, community groups or agencies for their practical and emotional support.

It involves what are known as green and blue activities. And those colours are important because what the green is for is for open spaces and blue for rivers, which, of course, is really important in Sheffield. Yeah. We've got these amazing rivers around us.

And it's perfect for the area where we're holding the next event because you've got the Don down in that area.

It could include green gyms. There could be arts or cultural activities that are held outdoors, community gardening, or maybe local walks.

Thursday will be all to do with them.

Philippa Willitts

And there's going to be a number of organisations present, aren't there? Can you tell us a bit about those?

Cllr Brian Holmshaw

Some of the things that we've got, we've got a presentation on how nature activities can boost your health, and that's been hosted by Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust.

The Boundary Climbing Centre is coming in to share how you can get involved in climbing activities.

Percy Street Collective are going to be telling us about their garden restoration project, which is being held at Zest.

And we've got a mental health support group called Mental Mate.

There's lots of interesting activities to do.

We've also got some sexual health support workers who will be in to provide advice. Free blood pressure checks, and those stalls and activities to join in with.

I was thinking about this earlier, and it seems to me what we've actually got here is more like a health and wellbeing fair.

Philippa Willitts

Yeah. The first episode of this podcast, almost by accident, was very green focused. I spoke to the Ponderosa Nature Group. I spoke to somebody about the street trees. I spoke to KINCA and Sheffield Museums about the nature in Neepsend.

And we do have a lot of green spaces, even so close to the city centre. And combining them with health and wellbeing seems like an ideal kind of mashup, really.

Cllr Brian Holmshaw

Yes. Sounds great. Yeah. The word mash up. Yeah.

You mentioned about green spaces. There are some, but what there are, they're quite narrow.

They're narrowly focused along the rivers, aren't they?

Philippa Willitts

Yeah.

Cllr Brian Holmshaw

And I think we do need more of those.

Philippa Willitts

Yeah. And we have the Ponderosa as well. Yeah. And which is narrow in a different way. And, also, there's a little there's an Upperthorpe peace garden just kind of behind Zest, a little but lovely little space. But yeah.

Cllr Brian Holmshaw

One of the things that would be great, actually, on this theme sorry. We're going off slightly off.

Philippa Willitts

Go for it.

Cllr Brian Holmshaw

But, would be to make sure we integrate wildlife corridors into our plans for the future in the city.

Philippa Willitts

So can you explain what wildlife corridors are?

Cllr Brian Holmshaw

The wildlife corridors allow access for different animals and also plants as well. So you've got flora and fauna, being able to get from one part of the city, say, the outskirts into the city centre, which I think helps us all, doesn't it? You know, when we see these animals around us. Yeah.

So that's wildlife corridors.

Philippa Willitts

Yeah. Quite often around Netherthorpe and Upperthorpe, you see squirrels that have clearly got lost from the Ponderosa. There's a lot of squirrels in the Ponderosa, which is gorgeous.

And then you see them half a mile from there, and it you just feel like, oh, how do I get you back?

Tom Miller

Yeah. Yeah.

Philippa Willitts

But you can't.

Cllr Brian Holmshaw

I mean, hopefully, with enough trees, they've got a kind of arboreal access, haven't they? You know, if you just see what I mean, it's like you they can go from branch to branch, and then end up back at where perhaps where their home is.

Philippa Willitts

Yes. So I know you're not a councillor for Netherthorpe, Upperthorpe, or Neepsend, but I also know you grew up in Crookesmoor, so you must know the areas fairly well.

So what do you think are the biggest challenges facing these communities?

Cllr Brian Holmshaw

I did speak to the to some of the ward councillors to try and get their ideas on this.

And what they said what probably the major issue is, poverty and also lack of services as well.

So those two things you where you've got a poor community, but you've also got one that doesn't have enough of those services that they want.

And that would probably include things like, doctors and locally run shops. Because otherwise, you just get you get your corporates.

You're going to need more services as there's more housing going up.

Philippa Willitts

Yeah. When I spoke to somebody from Neepsend, he was saying that one of the challenges… it's kind of really exciting that there's going to be these new residential developments, but the lack of provision currently won't sustain. You know, there needs to be a doctors and a dentist if there's going to be considerably more people living in the area.

And similarly, I think there's Upperthorpe. In terms of GPs, there's the GP surgery in Upperthorpe, but that's kind of it for the immediate area. So yeah. Yeah. I agree.

Cllr Brian Holmshaw

And like most GPs, they'll be incredibly stressed.

Philippa Willitts

Completely. Yeah. Yeah.

And what do you think is the best thing about Netherthorpe, Upperthorpe, or Neepsend?

Cllr Brian Holmshaw

Again, I've had a think about this one. And I do know the area. I've visited a few times. I've visited out of curiosity, really, as much as anything because, my great grandfather lived in Neepsend.

Philippa Willitts

Oh, wow.

Cllr Brian Holmshaw

And he lived on Percy Street. I've checked through the census, and he lived on Percy Street and worked at the, Neepsend Rolling Mills, oddly enough, when that was in operation.

So I’ve visited numerous times. Small businesses are actually one of the best things I think about in the area. Albion works, the micro pubs, peddlers market weekends. These are all really good stuff. Yeah.

Philippa Willitts

Yeah. So if people want to come along to the event on the 3rd October, where can they find out more?

Cllr Brian Holmshaw

Yes. So, Philippa, probably the best way to get in touch is through email, and that would be [e-mail]. And they will be able to get back to you with more information.

There's a video that we've produced, which gives a bit more information.

Philippa Willitts

Amazing. And I will be posting about it on the NUN Local social media as well, so you can always check there for the flyer and for any information you need.

Brian, thank you so much. That's been really, really useful.

Cllr Brian Holmshaw

That's wonderful. If I can just finish off with something. So we've got this event that's coming up on Thursday, but we have 4 events a year.

And we try and hold them in different wards. So we rotate it around.

So the next one after this will be the end of November.

And we're really excited because we're working with the University of Sheffield Students Union, and we're going to have a youth focused event for the Students' Union.

28th November is the date for that one. So please, also, people, keep your eyes open for that. And you're all welcome.

Philippa Willitts

Thanks very much.

Cllr Brian Holmshaw

Thank you.

Philippa Willitts

Thank you so much for listening to episode 2 of NUN Local. Make sure you go to nunlocal.news to subscribe to the podcast so you get the next episode that will go live on the 1st November.

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