Brap, the Birmingham equalities charity, has racked up 10 years and is celebrating on Saturday night (20th Sept) at the Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath.

Performing on the night will be The Special Beat (featuring Neville Staple and Ranking Roger) and ex-Birmingham Poet Laureate Dreadlock Alien.

Doors are at 9pm and tickets are £15 – available on the door or through www.theticketsellers.co.uk.

Among many other things, Brap produce the Speak Out magazine and are looking for submissions for the next issue. The theme is ‘This is Bimingham’:

Outside of London, Birmingham is one of the country’s most ‘diverse’ cities. It is also a city with one of the biggest gaps between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’. We want to know what this means to you.

Whether it’s an essay, photograph, poem, or story, this is your chance to tell everyone your perspective on ‘This is Birmingham’

Submissions need to be in by 24 October.

Here’s the blurb:

Every three months Speak Out will deliver a magazine packed with articles, stories, poems, photographs and comment, and to do this we need your help. Whether you’re a poet, an artist, a writer, a photographer or someone who has something to say send us your work and ideas. It doesn’t matter if you’re aspiring or established, young or old. All that counts is that you want the opportunity to share your work with the whole of Birmingham.

To get in contact with the Speak Out team email speakout@brap.org.uk or for more information go to brap’s website at www.brap.org.uk. Submissions for the next magazine must be received on or before 24 October 2008

The first issue is due out at the start of September and will be partly distributed by Birmingham Library & Archive services.  Here’s what issue 1 looks like: