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Tag: Community

WRITE at The Stove Cafe

February 7 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Welcome to our February WRITE meet-up! Join us at this monthly creative writing workshop with author Karl Drinkwater.

WRITE! is all about letting your imagination guide your hand. In each session we’ll chat about a writing-related topic, then provide prompts and a theme, and the opportunity to write based on the inspiration. It might be a character sketch, or a piece of description or dialogue. The key thing is that it will be your words, and they’d never have been born if you’d stayed at home that night.

The short piece you write could be practice or a creative outlet. However, it could become the seed of a short story, or part of a longer work. Hopefully we’ll end each friendly and informal session with the opportunity for some people to read out what they wrote, as a celebration of the new words.

This month’s theme: micro fiction / micropoems

Open to: everyone! It doesn’t matter whether you’ve never written anything before, or if you’re an established author looking for a brief shot of espresso creativity. It’s not a course, so you can attend any or all sessions, as you wish.

So come along. We’ll provide the inspiration and a supportive group of new friends. All you need to do is bring your pen*, engage your heid, and write!

(* Of course it’s fine to bring a laptop or gadget instead of pen and paper: words are words, whatever the medium!)

The Stove Cafe will be serving drinks and nibbles from 6.30pm – 7pm

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: As WRITE! is a very popular event, you must pre-book via Eventbrite to secure a place at this workshop. Please do not arrive at the workshop without a pre-booked ticket, as we may have to turn you away due to reaching full capacity in our event space.

Free

The Stove Network

100 High Street
Dumfries, Dumfries & Galloway DG1 2BJ United Kingdom
01387 252435
View Venue Website

Access Information: Level Access in rear of building through adjacent close to left-hand side of the Cafe (facing the front of the building). To ensure your experience with us is as best as it can be, please do let us know if you have any specific access requirements and we’d be happy to help. Please email Kevin or Sal on: [email protected] or phone 01387 252435 and speak with one of our team. We are able to provide walk-throughs of the building before attending our events as well as assign seating before your arrival.

Doongamers – Magic: The Gathering

#image_title

February 7 @ 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Magic: the Gathering is a collectable trading card game dating back to 1993. Players use their decks, containing lands, spells, and creatures, to battle against their opponent using a variety of tactics and strategies until one player emerges victorious.

Magic comes in many formats, each with its own list of cards that are allowed to be played in that format.

The Pioneer format (the one chosen by Team Scoop to be played at The Stove) is beginner friendly, accessible, and fun, with cards from late 2012 (Return to Ravnica) being legal, with a few exceptions that have been banned due to their power level.

Games (Over 18’s)

Pioneer: £5 entry fee will add 1.5 boosters to the prize pool per player, with each player receiving one pack, and the rest being distributed amongst the top scoring players. 

Commander/other casual play: Free, can be arranged into pods/events on demand. 

More information can be found at magic.wizards.com or by contacting us via our Facebook Group (Team Scoop Magic Club) or joining our Discord (https://discord.gg/wg8REfc). 

What is Magic? 

Bringing people together through fun, competition and friendship. 

At a glance, Magic is a trading card game filled with strategic battles and unique card decks. But Magic has always been bigger than the box. Whether you’re having fun at the kitchen table, or battling in a high-stakes competition, there’s a place for you here.

5 colours. 5 play styles. Endless possibilities. 

Each of the five colours in Magic represent a different philosophy and a different play-style. Choose your colour(s) to decide which type of land you’ll be drawing resources (mana) from and what type of Magic you’ll wield.

Who are Doongamers?

Doongamers are a friendly, inclusive community of Doonhamer gamers with a passion for geek culture from Magic to D&D, Digimon to collectables! Hosting regular gaming sessions at the Stove Cafe, the community is always on the look-out for new members. With a community both in-person and online, Doongamers is fun-first, competition second. Oh, and milkshakes. Lots of milkshakes. 

Free

The Stove Network

100 High Street
Dumfries, Dumfries & Galloway DG1 2BJ United Kingdom
01387 252435
View Venue Website

Access Information: Level Access in rear of building through adjacent close to left-hand side of the Cafe (facing the front of the building). To ensure your experience with us is as best as it can be, please do let us know if you have any specific access requirements and we’d be happy to help. Please email Kevin or Sal on: [email protected] or phone 01387 252435 and speak with one of our team. We are able to provide walk-throughs of the building before attending our events as well as assign seating before your arrival.

OPEN HOOSE – Doughlicious

February 21 @ 6:45 pm – 9:00 pm

For amateur bakers and bread enthusiasts alike.

Doughlicious is a bread club with a twist. Share recipes and techniques in a relaxed atmosphere and get practical with some hands-on activity. Open to all! Discover more about Doughlicious here.

The levian will be provided, but you’ll need to bring some tools from home. These are: A mixing bowl, a cloth or cover for your bowl and a jam jar.

We also have a small ‘Bread Book’ reference library for you to look through to get inspired and learn new techniques.

Free In-person donations welcome to go towards materials for the event.

The Stove Cafe

100 High Street
Dumfries, DG1 2BJ United Kingdom
01387 252435
View Venue Website

Access Information: Level Access in rear of building through adjacent close to left-hand side of the Cafe (facing the front of the building). To ensure your experience with us is as best as it can be, please do let us know if you have any specific access requirements and we’d be happy to help. Please email Kevin or Sal on: [email protected] or phone 01387 252435 and speak with one of our team. We are able to provide walk-throughs of the building before attending our events as well as assign seating before your arrival.

Drawing For Enjoyment

February 15 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Open and accessible drawing workshops. No experience needed, for any age or ability. Only £8 with all materials provided – pay on the door

Drawing for Enjoyment returns to The Stove on the High Street in the centre of Dumfries with a focus to getting back to the essence of drawing and enjoying the meditative and restorative qualities it brings to well-being.

Covering lots of accessible subjects and methods, these sessions are perfect for beginners or for anyone who wants to develop their practice.

Starting with a ten minute demonstration at the beginning of each session with some guided handouts to aid progress through the class.

Join the For Enjoyment community and get creative in a relaxing friendly and supportive environment.

No need to book but there are limited spaces in the cafe space so don’t be late!

£8.00 Pay on the Door

For Enjoyment

View Organiser Website

The Stove Cafe

100 High Street
Dumfries, DG1 2BJ United Kingdom
01387 252435
View Venue Website


Access Information: Level Access in rear of building through adjacent close to left-hand side of the Cafe (facing the front of the building). To ensure your experience with us is as best as it can be, please do let us know if you have any specific access requirements and we’d be happy to help. Please email Kevin or Sal on: [email protected] or phone 01387 252435 and speak with one of our team. We are able to provide walk-throughs of the building before attending our events as well as assign seating before your arrival.

Categories
Musings

Festive Wishes from The Team

Illustrated by Jamie Stryker

As we get closer to the end of 2023, we want to say a big ‘thank you’ to all of you, our customers, communities, friends, advocates, and colleagues for the support and dedication you’ve given us over the last 12 months.

Thanks to your support and that of our funders, partners and dedicated team, The Stove has been able to support people, both locally and across the region, to work in the creative sector, participate in creative activity and develop new community-led initiatives and enterprises.

You lot are awesome!

We want to wish everyone a wonderful holiday, however you choose to spend it, and all the very best for 2024 – We look forward to welcoming you back to The Stove in the New Year.

The Stove Office and Stove Cafe will closed from 3pm Friday 22nd Dec, and reopen on Tuesday 9th January at 9am.

From all at The Stove, we wish you a happy festive season.

Categories
Musings News Project Updates

Championing the Economic Impact of Culture

Kirstin McEwan

On the 19th December 2023, the Scottish Government published its action plan, detailing the delivery methodology of its Culture Strategy for Scotland, originally published in 2020.

This Action Plan, developed in collaboration with the Culture Sector, sets out the next steps the Scottish Government will take to support the development of culture in Scotland.

Roundtable consultations sessions were initiated in 2022, one of which was held in Dumfries in January 2023 and attended by the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture, Scottish Government Culture Officials, and colleagues from across the Culture Sector, including Dumfries-based arts and community organisation, The Stove Network. These sessions looked at how cultural and creative organisations, can work with both Government and public bodies to effect positive change, locally, regionally, and nationally.

With a focus on resilience and three key pillars: Strengthening Culture, transforming through Culture, and Empowering through Culture, the action plan outlines the Scottish Government’s route to delivering their ambitious Culture Strategy.

At the round table consultation in Dumfries, The Stove was able to share with the Cabinet Secretary innovative cross-sector working in Dumfries and Galloway that uses cultural projects to empower people to change things within their own communities. An example being the way Dumfries and Galloway are working with the cultural sector to connect people on the ground meaningfully to strategic economic investment.

The Stove’s work, through What We Do Now (WWDN), a unique and ground-breaking initiative that supports a creative placemaking network within Dumfries & Galloway, working with artists, communities, and organisations, is highlighted alongside other examples, within the action plan’s second chapter, “Strengthening Culture”.

Extract from the action plan:

“Champion the economic impact of culture, in particular within the context of community wealth building and creative placemaking….

… The Scottish Government has embraced the internationally recognised Community Wealth Building approach to economic development as a key tool to transform our local and regional economies…

… harnessing local economic opportunities to address a range of challenges linked to addressing depopulation, regardless of whether affected communities are found in rural and island areas, or urban….

… There is a clear link with the principle of creative placemaking, which we know has tangible benefits for communities. For example, The Stove Network’s work across the south of Scotland, funded by the Scottish Government via the Culture Collective project ‘What We Do Now’, connects artists and community organisations to co-develop creative plans for the future of local places. We will learn from the outputs of this work and consider ways of scaling up the approaches taken.

“To see creative placemaking championed within the Scottish Government’s action plan for delivering the national culture strategy is fantastic. What We Do Now in Dumfries and Galloway is just one example of a very exciting strand of practice that is emerging across Scotland to place creativity at the heart of community-led change.”

Katharine Wheeler, Lead for WWDN

The full Culture Strategy for Scotland: Action Plan can be read here

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