As Refugee Week comes to a close, Southampton Action is celebrating almost 11 years of supporting people seeking sanctuary in Southampton. in the our series focusing on charities and community organisations that are making a real difference to the lives of people in the local area, we look at...
Local Heroes
From The Joiners to the Guildhall: Why Southampton still feels like home to Frank Turner
Words by Rachel Jones @HMP_SHE. Picture by Callum Linklater. Ahead of his return to Southampton on Friday, June 26th, Frank Turner reflects on the venues that shaped him, the communities that sustained him, and why, in an increasingly digital world, nothing can replace the experience of sharing a room...
Noticing nature in the inner city – interview with author Nazeen Ahmed Pathak
By Sally Churchward. As part of Southampton National Park City’s Urban Wild festival, Nazneen Ahmed Pathak and Yarrow Townsend are holding a free workshop: See, Sketch, Sew – Crafting a Slower City. We talked to Nazneen about the inspiration behind the event and how we can all slow down...
Community Heroes: Step By Step, helping to prevent homelessness
In our new series celebrating charities and community organisations that are making a real difference to the lives of people in the local area, we take a look at Step by Step. Right now, there are young people across Southampton without a safe, stable place to call home. For...
Asylum seekers & other volunteers plant more than 1,300 trees
Volunteers from Action Asylum Portsmouth – part of a national initiative active in seven UK cities – planted 1,300 tree whips in Buckland on 11th and 12th February, supporting Portsmouth City Council’s Clean and Green team’s ambitious tree-planting programme. On 28th February, the group joined forces with Portsmouth Tree...
Review: Lucy Kitchen album launch, Heartbreakers, Southampton
By Darren Grayer. Sunday night saw Romsey singer/songwriter Lucy Kitchen headline Heartbreakers Bar for the release of her latest and third album In The Low Light (1/3/26). Written in the aftermath of tragically losing her husband, Stephen, to cancer in October 2022, it’s a heart-wrenching and stark piece of...
Southampton runners raise hundreds of pounds for local domestic and sexual abuse charity Yellow Door
Lordshill Road Runners, a community running group based in Southampton, have raised almost £900 for local charity Yellow Door, helping to support people affected by domestic and sexual abuse. The group first fundraised for the charity in September, when members took part in a 10k run in aid of...
Reader’s letter: Thanks from Southampton Ukulele Jam for helping us support some of the the city’s most vulnerable
By SUJ – Southampton Ukulele Jam. Hello, we’re Southampton Ukulele Jam! Remember us? Back in August we embarked on a challenge: to set a UK record for the longest jam a jam has ever jammed, whilst raising as much money we could for four Southampton charities. We played our...
Celebrating securing the future and the 57th birthday of The Joiners
By Sally Churchward. “It’s all about solidarity and community.” Ricky Bates, venue operator and promoter of The Joiners (and the wider Southampton music scene) summed up the feeling in the room at the St Mary’s venue last night. He was addressing the capacity crowd who had come together to...
Winchester’s Blue Apple Theatre brings inclusive performance to China
Photos by: Li Xiaocao. Winchester-based Blue Apple Theatre has recently returned from an international collaboration in Beijing, where Artistic Director Richard Conlon co-directed an inclusive adaptation of Journey to the West with Chinese partner Intellectual Heart Theatre Company. The production, staged at the Luminous Festival in China’s 798 Art...