Latest news with #SamHarvey
BBC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Plans for Nottingham's Rainbow Quarter beyond 'wildest dreams'
"For so many people over the decades, to have had something like a Rainbow Quarter would've been beyond their wildest dreams."Author and historian CJ DeBarra says Broad Street in Hockley, Nottingham, has "always been the absolute queer heart of the community".And now its status looks set to be cemented with a project to establish the city's first official LGBTQ+ friendly area, similar to Manchester's Gay for the Rainbow Quarter - made up of Broad Street, Carlton Street and Heathcote Street - were announced at Notts Pride on 26 July and are still in the early stages, but those behind the project hope it can come to fruition in 2026. Sam Harvey, who co-directs trans advocacy group the Nottingham Pastel Project, is spearheading the initiative."Our organisation is keen on acknowledging Nottingham as a trans sanctuary city which celebrates the rights of LGBT people," he says."Similar cities that have that status have a dedicated area which recognises queer history."If London, Manchester and Brighton can have it, why can't we?" Sam, who has the backing of Nottingham City Council and It's in Nottingham, the city's business improvement district, says the "hard part" has already been done."We already have so much history packed into that area," he adds."What we want to do is make sure people outside the local queer community area are aware of it."CJ, who is behind the Notts Queer History Archive - which preserves and celebrates the experiences of LGBTQ+ people living in the county - LGBTQ+ community were, at one time, "hiding in plain sight", they say, and gravitated towards Hockley."Hockley wasn't built up at that point and this end of town was run down, but people didn't ask questions around here," CJ is now a vibrant area of Nottingham - with bars, restaurants and shops - and is home to a series of rainbow roads, first created in says it is "only right" that the Rainbow Quarter be based in Hockley."We've had several decades where we've gravitated towards the Lace Market and the old train station, but from the 1980s onwards we moved towards Broad Street and we've never left," they add. Walking through Hockley, CJ points out a number of spots linked to the LGBTQ+ first Pride event - called Pink Lace - was held outside the Broadway Cinema in Broad Street in 1997.A stone's throw away is The Health Shop, which opened more than 30 years ago and was somewhere gay men could seek sexual health still operates as an NHS service, giving advice and support around substance use and sexual door is the GAi Project, a gay and bisexual men's HIV prevention initiative launched by actor Sir Ian McKellen in Lord Roberts pub in Broad Street has been a queer-friendly venue since the 1970s and was popular with gay men at the George's Wine Bar was another popular spot, but it has since closed down. Sam says the Nottingham Pastel Project will apply for funding and grants to support the creation of the Rainbow Quarter, which will be made official by changing the city's maps and installing believes the move will benefit the area by bringing more people into Hockley, adding that the key to the project is that there is a mix of venues and businesses in the area."We're up there with the greats in terms of queer-friendly cities and we need to shout about it more," Sam says."'Given what we've seen from both research into similar districts and a significant increase in revenue during Notts Pride, we are confident that we'll see a return on investment for the Rainbow Quarter."Sam has been working with Carl Austin-Behan, LGBTQ+ advisor to the Mayor of Greater Manchester who helped set up the city's Gay says: "Actually having an area designated as a queer quarter is really important because people see it as a destination."It does draw a massive amount of money and economic return."Lucy Robinson, director of resources at East Midlands Chamber, shares a similar view and says: "It will absolutely help to boost businesses and get more footfall into shops."We do see in Manchester in the Gay Village, the amount of vacant floor space in commercial units is lower than anywhere else in the city."We are likely to see that investment does pay dividends." Independent businesses agree it is a positive move for the CEO of the Broadway Cinema, Lucy Askew, says it will be a "meaningful development for our staff and audiences"."It feels like a lovely pre-destiny about what Nottingham means," she Chambers, director of Zeus Bars Limited, which runs three businesses in Hockley - 31K, Yolk and Skein - says it will be a good move commercially."It's good that it is finally being labelled to give people a safe space to eat drink and shop in Hockley," he says."The community here in Hockley is stronger than it's ever been and adding more like-minded people to the area can only be a good thing."Meanwhile, Amber Hodgkinson, assistant manager at Wild Clothing in Broad Street, thinks the plans are "brilliant"."We've had the rainbow roads for a while and it is such a vibrant area of Nottingham," she says."We have a lot of independents around here so any sort of tourism would be great." An online consultation on the plans states that the Rainbow Quarter will be "more than just a location".It adds: "It would be a symbol of inclusivity, acceptance and progress for the LGBTQ+ community in Nottingham."The Rainbow Quarter would provide a dedicated space where LGBTQ+ individuals could feel safe, supported and celebrated."The Rainbow Quarter is expected to be made official in time for next year's Pride month in June.
RNZ News
02-07-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Ultra runner Sam Harvey breaks world record
Ultra-distance runner Sam Harvey is back in the country after running 791km in Australia - and he's planning more records. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
ABC News
25-06-2025
- Sport
- ABC News
Endurance athlete Phil Gore sets Backyard Ultra world record at Dead Cow Gully
Australian endurance athlete Phil Gore has broken the world record for the Backyard Ultra marathon after running almost 800 kilometres in five days on a southern Queensland cattle farm. The West Australian ran 119 laps of the 6.7-kilometre course at the Dead Cow Gully Backyard Masters event outside Nanango, 180km north-west of Brisbane. "It's amazing," Gore said after crossing the line in the early hours of Thursday morning. "The bar keeps getting raised higher and higher and I'm glad that I'm still able to keep up with it. Gore ran 797.3km to break the previous world record of 116 loops, which was held by Belgian Łukasz Wróbel. Billed as a race with no finish line, the Backyard Ultra format has no predefined length or time but requires runners to complete a 6.7km loop every hour. The competition is over when only one runner remains to complete a loop. A field of 263 runners set off at 7am on Saturday and the final two competitors were still running before daybreak early on Thursday. Sam Harvey from New Zealand was the final runner to drop out of the race at the start of the 118th loop, which set a New Zealand national record for the Backyard Ultra distance. "I wanted to get to sun-up … and 500 miles, but gravity wasn't my friend," Harvey said, adding that his Achilles tendon "blew up" on Tuesday night. During the event two female national records were broken. Australia's Holly Ranson ran 61 loops (408km) and New Zealand's Jane McAlpine ran 53 loops (355km). Race director and fourth-generation cattle farmer Tim Walsh said the event, which attracted runners from Japan, Belgium, Spain and the United States, was now a fixture on the international running calendar. After running for five days straight, Gore joked that his next race will be shorter. "I might do a 24-hour instead," he laughed.
The Guardian
23-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Mental health experts concerned about Coalition plan to scrap workers' right to disconnect
Leading mental health experts have raised concerns over the Coalition's plans to repeal 'right to disconnect' laws, arguing that backtracking will have various negative consequences for employee stress and burnout. The world-leading legislation, passed in early 2024, allows Australian workers to refuse to monitor, read or respond to work communication outside paid hours, unless doing so is unreasonable. Winding back the reforms would be a 'regressive step', said Prof Sam Harvey of the Black Dog Institute. 'We've come a long way to understand how important these things are in mental health. Rolling back the legislation would be a problem,' Harvey said. The reform passed as part of an industrial relations bill, opposed by the Coalition, which criticised Labor over a rushed process – exacerbated by a last-minute discovery that the bill inadvertently allowed criminal penalties for breaches, which was quickly amended. The industrial relations minister, Murray Watt, said last year the laws aimed to address workers having to take 'constant calls or constant emails with an expectation that they're going to be monitoring and responding, when they're not getting paid to do it'. Union groups backed the change, put forth by the Greens as part of complex negotiations, while business groups said it was unnecessary and could lead to job losses. The Coalition argued it would create 'confusion and uncertainty' and reduce the ability for workplaces to have flexible working arrangements. Peter Dutton has vowed to repeal the right to disconnect, a position recommitted to by the shadow IR minister, Michaelia Cash, two weeks ago. On 12 April, at a press conference with Dutton, she claimed the change was 'costly, it is confusing and … complex'. Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter In a statement, Cash said the Coalition would consider any evidence that mental health protections for workers should be expanded, but claimed the changes had led to some employers having to work extra hours themselves. 'There have long been protections against unreasonable overtime in the Fair Work Act, which we support. Employers also already have obligations to protect the health and safety of their staff, including their mental health. These obligations will continue,' she said. Prof Patrick McGorry from the mental health organisation Orygen, who has endorsed the mental health policies of both major parties at this election, backed the right to disconnect laws for ordinary workers. 'You've got to look after yourself. If you can't switch off, it will affect your mental health,' he said. 'For most workers it's not necessary for them to be available and work beyond the hours … If there is a need to contact people outside working hours, that should be formalised and they should be paid.' McGorry said arrangements should be different for executives or senior staff, who were better-compensated than ordinary workers and therefore needed to be more flexible, but that it should be a conversation inside workplaces. 'If people are forced or required to always be 'on', that's not good for many people,' he said. Prof Ian Hickie, from the University of Sydney's Brain and Mind Centre, said the laws helped create better work-life balance. He said laptops and smartphones, as well as the work from home shift, saw people often working longer hours at home before or after their rostered shifts. Sign up to Afternoon Update: Election 2025 Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key election campaign stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'The right to disconnect is an important piece of legislation,' he said. Hickie said he would 'absolutely' have concerns if the law was repealed. Harvey said researchers were identifying increasing levels of poor mental health among young workers in Australia. While the root cause was not yet certain, he said one hypothesis was the further extension of work into home life. 'It's very hard to get away from work. Mobile phones, emails, social media can follow you everywhere. What we know is people having a chance to disconnect from work … like office workers getting a chance to switch off, is important,' he said. In a statement, Watt stood by Labor's reform. 'The right to disconnect changes made during the last term are already having a big impact on the lives of millions of workers. Uninterrupted time for yourself, with your partner and with your children is vital not only to be happier, but also helps employers with worker retention,' he said. In Australia, support is available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14, and at MensLine on 1300 789 978. In the UK, the charity Mind is available on 0300 123 3393 and Childline on 0800 1111. In the US, call or text Mental Health America at 988 or chat
