Your antidote to lockdown boredom in Peterborough

More events are due to be announced in March.

Newly founded City Culture Peterborough, working with Peterborough City Council and a number of community partners, has come up with these events which will be designed especially to reach those hit hardest by the pandemic.

According to Ofcom, between 1.1million and 1.8 million children do not have access to a laptop, desktop or tablet at home and government supply may not be able to keep up. As such, this programme includes some activities which aren’t reliant on digital access, as well as some available in multiple languages, and some in small online groups to offer one-to-one experiences.

Some events will be streamed live online however, such as Panto Dame Mama G’s Telling Tales on Telly (Saturday 20 Feb).

Others will be prerecorded for access any time, such as story time with Issy and the Leedsichythys (Available from February Half Term).

Other activities will be designed to give children a break from the screen such as a Make Your Own Shoebox Theatre craft activity, as well as allowing those with no internet connection a chance to take part. Adults can also try their hand at crafts with an Intro to Wood Block Printing course from award winning multicultural craft group Fabric of Society.

Director of City Culture Peterborough Pat Carrington MBE says: “We are so delighted to be able to offer this initial round of activity adapting arts and culture to the new normal. Due to the pandemic, access to museums, arts and culture has been a challenge, but we know how much arts and culture means to people. Therefore we see it as our duty, as the new custodians of the city’s cultural portfolio, to make it accessible for all wherever and whenever we can – not just during times of crisis - which is work that this pilot program will inform.

“We are exceptionally grateful to Arts Council England for this very much needed lifeline for the city and look forward to producing more fun and sustainable ways for people to enjoy arts and culture in our city.”

To find out more about these free activities, head to vivacity.org/FreeThingsToDo.

While Peterborough Museum, Flag Fen and the Key Theatre are no longer run by Vivacity (which continues to run leisure services in the city as part of Peterborough Limited), during this transitional phase, these events will continue to be hosted on the Vivacity website while City Culture Peterborough’s digital home is being developed.

If your family is not able to access the internet easily, then the Key Theatre Box Office has been transformed into a message hotline in order to sign families up.

Simply telephone the Key Theatre on 01733 207239, leave a message with a name and number and you will be contacted by a member of the team. Messages are being picked up Mondays and Thursdays between 10am and 4pm.

For any further queries, e-mail [email protected]