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I had a request today from my former Web Design Teacher at college. It was to support her campaign to stop Tower Hamlets College in East london cutting their adult animation course in half from 2 days a week to 1 day a week. It really is a good course (I know because I’ve done it myself!) with great staff at value for money, so to lose something like this would be a shame.

You can read more about it, voice your comments, lend your support – because this type of bureaucracy is like a cancer to all creative people:
How can we save our courses?

Here’s what I wrote anyway:

So, the incompetence of Tower Hamlets College admin has finally bubbled to the surface and is beginning to boil over… It’s a shame, a real shame.

I came to Tower Hamlets and did the Animation course there in 2003-04, and Prisca’s Interactive New Media course the following year. I would have done the animation course there again if I could because I think the team of Prisca, Rogor and Nick are absolutely awesome (Zak was also a great help whilst I was there).

In all my educated life, Prisca and Roger are within the top 5 teachers I’ve ever had the pleasure of studying under, and that’s saying something. I learned much on those Tower Hamlets courses, made some life-long friends and wouldn’t be the creative person I am today were it not for those courses and their guidance. In fact, my time there was part of the inspiration behind me heading a course this late summer at LCC at Elephant & Castle called ‘Identicons’. If it weren’t for people like Prisca and Roger then I may not have had the inspiration, confidence and skills to pull it off. So THANK YOU!

Possible solutions… It’s been shown that if you remain within the parameters of a disfunctional system – be it a family, organisation, council or nation’s government, progress – if any – will be hard, slow, and at ‘their’ pace. Whereas, if you recruit allies (in the case of the council and big business – lawyers!) to help fight your corner, it levels out the playing field. Also, you’re in more of a situation to hit them where it hurts; if not financially then somewhere else – in the case of Tower Hamlets College their carefully crafted reputations! Get other art societies and organisations, the press and associated businesses involved. If a campaign were to be launched then I’m sure we all have at least one or two clients that we could at least get to put their name to something… You already have my vote!

Remember, strength in numbers people! Let’s get together and effect a change.