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Sinfonia Smith Square The Civil Service Choir welcomed Spring with two marvellous performances at Sinfonia Smith Square. The Chamber Choir featured in the Easter Festival, which is a sublime week of Easter concerts at Sinfonia Smith Square. The Chamber Choir performing at the Easter Festival The Easter Festival brings together some of the finest voices in classical music from across the city and beyond for a week of reflection, renewal, and transcendent beauty. Performing choral masterpieces and intimate instrumental works, which invite you to pause, listen, and reconnect with the spirit of the season. The Chamber Choir impressed by performing music by women composers Haydn's The Creation Performing Haydn's The Creation with the Brandenburg Sinfonia While on 26th April the full choir stunned audiences with a performance of Haydn’s The Creation alongside the Brandenburg Sinfonia, once again at Sinfonia Smith Square. Both performances were well received. If you missed them then you can catch the choir in concert soon, see more details below. The Choir performing Haydn's The Creation UPCOMING PERFORMANCES On the evening of Wednesday the 15th of July, the choir will be performing Gjeilo’s “Sunrise Mass” and Lauridsen’s “Lux Aeterna” at The Guards’ Chapel. These two beautifully emotive works are centred around the theme of light. They were last performed by the choir in 2019 and 2017 respectively, with not a dry eye in the room, and one audience member remarking “I thought I had gone to heaven”. The choir will then be taking this repertoire on the road, with a tour through the Netherlands in September! It may seem too early to mention Christmas… but the choir have a very special event for your diary. On the evening of Sunday the 13th of December, they will be performing Handel’s Messiah with the Fulham Brass Band at St John’s Church, Waterloo. Ticketing information for upcoming concerts will be posted to the Civil Service Choir website when available: www.civilservicechoir.org.uk. If you’d rather join the choir on stage, don’t be shy! They always welcome new members, and it’s no-audition. See Join us – The Civil Service Choir for more details. For a free taster session, please email etcetera@civilservicechoir.org.uk. The Choir at a rehearsal

The Sparta Golf Society has a wonderful line up of fixtures playing at courses mainly in and around London. Its history goes back over 100 years and they are still play for many of the original trophies. They welcome colleagues from both the MHCLG and DfT departments, their agencies and related bodies. In addition, family members and friends are also welcome. The wonderful East Berkshire Golf Club Their 2026 season kicked off at East Berkshire Golf Club near Crowthorne on 23rd April which turned out to be a glorious spring day. The course was originally designed in 1903 by Peter Paxton as a heathland course but has evolved over the year into a mature tree-lined parkland course. One of the many highlights of the day was an eagle two at the par-4 1st hole by our Treasurer, Pete Frost. A few photos from their opening fixture are below: Their second event is planned for 8th May at Thorndon Park GC, Essex hosted by their President, Ray Owen. Another superb course that purports to be the premier course in Essex. https://www.thorndonpark.com/ For full details of this and their future events why not visit their website at www.spartagolf.co.uk They are always open to new members of any standard so if you are interested why not email their secretary at secretary@spartagolf.co.uk North v South Golf match One exciting event this year is a meet up, possibly in the Birmingham area, with the SPARTA Northern Golf Society at a venue and date yet to be decided. Both teams team are raring to go for this exciting event! SPARTA Northern Golf Society Not based in or around London but fancy playing some Golf, then why not join our Northern Golf Society. The SPARTA Northern Golf Society has recently been set up and is working with staff based in the Northern regions to provide Golf opportunities for staff based in the North of England. Their inaugural event took place in April 2025. If you are interested in hearing more about the Northern Golf Society then please contact Nick Lyell - Nick.Lyell@dft.gov.uk Both Societies are looking forward to hearing from any potential new members.

The St James and Westminster players are the only civil service drama society and have been going for over 70 years!. So far this year we have put on one online production "An Amateur Sleuth's Casebook" which featured all original pieces around the themes of spies, detectives and espionage. We recently launched our you tube channel, the links below will take you to just some of the recent recordings including our productions from 2025 including Twelfth Night performed in February at the Camden Peoples Theatre and our Halloween online production of "The Ink Runs Red" full of spooky tales. Subscribe to be notified when we upload new content https://youtu.be/xnC-9F1Dq6I - Twelfth Night https://youtu.be/WxvYw72z1uA - The Ink runs Red https://youtu.be/waN0YdKWQ40 - An Amateur Sleuth's Casebook For 2026 we have two face to face productions going on, in September we will be performing Mike Leigh's "Abigail's Party" at the Civil Service Club on the 8th - 11th September, rehearsals will begin at the end of June. We have cast most of the parts but there is still one vacancy for a male actor. Please email karen.notaro@justice.gov.uk if you are interested in auditioning. Later in the year we will also be performing "Educating Rita" by Willy Russell. Information about auditions will be released after the summer. We are always on the look out for new people to join, whether you fancy treading the boards, or working behind the scenes on directing, writing, producing, tech or stage manager. No experience necessary either!. Not based in London?? – No problem, we are doing a further two online productions in 2026 "Wicked Wedding" on 23rd & 25th June and then a production for Christmas full of festive fun. If you are interested in joining, please contact sjwplayers@gmail.com or karen.notaro@justice.gov.uk Thanks

The UK’s annual celebration of cycling takes place starts on 8th June and runs on until 14th June. Why not get involved? Run by Cycling UK for more than 100 years, Bike Week is the UK’s biggest celebration of cycling and a chance to show how cycling can make everyday life better for people and communities across the country. Cycling UK’s mission is to create happier, healthier and greener lives through cycling, and through Bike Week they are inspiring more people to experience its benefits. Whether you cycle every day, ride occasionally or have not been on a bike in years, Bike Week is for you. Visit their website at Bike Week 2026 | Cycling UK Not really a cyclist but interested in learning? Learn how to cycle with confidence by visiting Bikeability https://www.bikeability.org.uk/find-cycle-training/ To find a provider near you, visit the Bikeability website and use the search function by entering your postcode. This will show the Bikeability training providers operating in your local area who you can contact for more information: Looking to learn how to cycle with confidence? You’ve come to the right place! Bikeability is the leading cycle training programme in England Free Bike Week cycling sessions for Whitehall staff To mark Bike Week 2026, the Bikeability Trust is offering free cycling taster sessions for Whitehall officials on Wednesday 10th June. Open to all abilities, sessions include: Beginner-friendly, traffic-free cycling Guided urban rides to build road confidence Free Dr Bike safety checks and minor repairs No cycle? No problem – cycles and helmets can be provided. 📍 Starting point: King Charles Street📅 Booking deadline: Monday 1 June Spaces are limited – sign up via the booking form to take part: https://bikeability.wufoo.com/forms/bikeability-cycling-taster-sessions-bike-week-2026/ What to get more involved join the Cross Government Cycling Network The Cross Government Cycling Network has loads of things going on over bike week. Why not join their knowledge hub Step 1: Sign up to Khub for free (using your gov.uk email) Step 2: Follow link to Civil Service Cycling Network page Step 3: Request access to group - please use the information box to share where you are based. Step 4: hit ‘subscribe’ to get notified of new content on the site by clicking the 3 dot menu on the right of the page and clicking 'subscribe'! Step 5: post your questions, suggestions, articles consultations about cycling here!! Can you complete the Bike Week Bingo? Give it a try

The SPARTA History Society has some incredible talks upcoming. Their talks are online from Great Minster House (GMH) and Leeds if you are able to attend in person then please do as our speakers like an audience. Thursday 30th April - Lost Victorian Interiors - Steven Brindle Online Talk from GMH 5.7 Microsoft Teams meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/38288347787619?p=IqV4HToFMuKeRlttmx Victorian London was the richest city in the world, the centre of British society and of a global empire. The houses of the upper and middle classes reflected the complexity of contemporary society and culture, in their interior design. Almost all of them have gone, but happily, many of these interiors were photographed by Bedford Lemere & Company. Steven Brindle takes us through a selection of these interiors, which range from lavish Plutocrats’ mansions, to crowded middle-class homes, sophisticated Aesthetic interiors, grand Georgian residences, Oriental rooms of various kinds, and interiors conceived as works of art, and as settings for collections. Dr Steven Brindle Brindle is a well-known historian and writer, who worked for English Heritage for many years. He specialises in the history of architecture and engineering, with notable publications including Brunel, the Man who Built the World (2005), Windsor Castle, a Thousand Years of a Royal Palace (2018), Architecture in Britain and Ireland, 1530-1830 (2023), and London – Lost Interiors (2024). Wednesday 6th May - How the car remade Liverpool's built environment - Sam Wetherall Online Talk from BAC Leeds Office 1pm Microsoft Teams meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/39595865579495?p=umiB84kNJ4ceE1xYJr Britain's Detroit In the 1960s, Liverpool's economy, its built environment and its relationship with the wider world was profoundly reshaped by the automobile. The city's overhead railway, its tram system and many of its bus and rail services were torn down, cancelled or heavily reduced while a new grid of roads and tunnels were built to accommodate the city's rising car-ownership. Three new car plants were constructed to offset the city's massive unemployment crisis. As the Liverpool's maritime economy declined, oil became the major import into the docks, processed in a new complex of terminals up in the Wirral. During these years the city's Lord Mayor referred to Liverpool as Britain's Detroit. At the same time new activist movements came to resist these changes, from mothers barricading their streets to seal them off from traffic to Welsh militant terrorist blowing up parts of a dam which was built secure water for the city's car factories. Talk given by Sam Wetherell senior Lecturer in the History of Britain and the World at the University of York. This is based on his new book Liverpool: A Story of Britain. Tuesday 12th May - Consumer Society in eighteenth-century India - Dr Jagjeet Lally Online Talk from GMH 5.7 1pm Microsoft Teams meeting Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/363609942165461?p=NCyl3Lbg2HBAsK0QIV Talk based on the book Badshah, Bandar, Bazaar: Commerce and Everyday Life in the Mughal World by Dr Jagjeet Lally. The impact of Mughal rule on India remains a hotly contested topic of debate. Some see the regime as a benign entity, others as one harmful to India’s long-term development. But by fixating on the king’s actions rather than those of his subjects, have we been looking at the issue the wrong way round? Badshah, Bandar, Bazaar turns conventional wisdom on its head to examine what has long been taken for granted. Through the eyes of numerous real-life characters, it demonstrates the power of bankers, moneylenders, merchants, middlemen, artisans and all manner of ordinary folk in making – and eventually breaking – the might of the Mughal Empire. Jagjeet Lally is Associate Professor of the History of Early Modern and Colonial India at University College London, where he is also Director of the UCL Centre for Transnational and Global History and Co-Director of the UCL Centre for the Study of South Asia and the Indian Ocean World. A historian of South Asian economic and material life, and the author of two other books, among them the prize-winning India and the Silk Roads: The History of a Trading World(2021). Recent work with the media includes being a guest on Greg Jenner’s ‘You’re Dead to Me’ podcast (BBC Radio 4/BBC Sounds), where he talked about eighteenth-century India, and being the historical consultant on a two-part documentary on India for Channel 4. Tuesday 2nd June - Queer Georgians - Dr Anthony Delaney Online Talk 12.30 Microsoft Teams meeting Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/38774953609916?p=PvDz8r7OgIRPDwtCHX A Hidden History of Lovers, Lawbreakers and Homemakers Mother Clap’s Holborn coffee house is open to all comers, a place of companionship and community, until a tip-off leads to a midnight raid. Two women, exiled from their families, set up a utopian homestead in a remote Welsh cottage, inspiring a generation of Romantic poets. The celebrated Chevalier d’Eon, soldier, diplomat and spy, challenges a rival to a fencing match. The sweepstake is not over who will win, but whether the Chevalier is a man or a woman. In this dazzling work of restorative history, Dr Anthony Delaney has traced the stories of people daring to challenge society’s expectations, unearthing archives and court records to reveal the tragedies and the joys of queer life three centuries ago. Breathing new life into the forgotten and offering radical new interpretations of celebrated figures such as Anne Lister, Queer Georgians is an invitation to view our shared history in a whole new light. Dr Anthony Delaney actor and historian has a PhD in history from the University of Exeter, where he is an Honorary Fellow, and presents the History Hit podcast After Dark. Friday 5th June - Thomas Jefferson and ending of Slavery - Professor Nicholas Guyatt Online Talk 12.45pm Microsoft Teams meeting Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/343832092646695?p=HrVciuMz3e0l1LFhUC Jefferson's Wolf: A Founding Father's Troubling Answer to the Problem of Slavery 4th July 2026 is the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and of the ringing claim that “all men are created equal.” The author of the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson, owned more than a hundred human beings when he wrote those words and many hundreds more before his death, exactly fifty years later, on 4th July 1826. He freed just a handful of enslaved people across his long life, and a handful more in his will. How do we account for the fact that America’s founding proponent of equality was so thoroughly implicated in slavery? Most historians have presented this as a ‘paradox’ – but in his new book Jefferson's Wolf (co-authored with Christa Dierksheide), the key to understanding Jefferson’s thinking about slavery is to appreciate his unshakeable commitment to Black exclusion. Jefferson became convinced that an independent American nation had to be a white nation; while he argued privately (and, occasionally, publicly) that slavery should be abolished, he insisted that those freed from slavery should be removed from the new nation. When this proved wildly impractical and when African Americans themselves refused to leave Jefferson’s antislavery impulses were easily subdued. In this talk he will explain how he developed his ideas about race and slavery, how he maintained them even when he was challenged by his contemporaries, and the impact of his inaction on the slavery question for the future of the United States. Nicholas Guyatt is Professor of North American History at the University of Cambridge. His books include Bind Us Apart: How Enlightened Americans Invented Racial Segregation (Basic Books, 2016), The Hated Cage: An American Tragedy in Britain’s Most Terrifying Prison (Basic, 2022) and, with Christa Dierksheide, Jefferson’s Wolf: The Struggle to End Slavery in the Founding Era (Harvard University Press, 2026). He has written about American history and politics for the New York Times, the New York Review of Books, the London Review of Books, and the Guardian, among other publications. Tuesday 23rd June - “I’m Out! Escape to The Frontier" British POWs in WW1 – Peter Hart Online Talk from GMH 5.7 1pm This talk is based on Peter's book, written with Gary Bain, 'Beggar Me! I'm a Prisoner! British POWS in Germany, 1914-1918' and focusses on the attempts to escape from camps deep within Germany and the many trials and pitfalls they faced in trying to get out of Germany. Some escaped, far more were recaptured. Its a thrilling tale of daring do! Thursday 2nd July - The Wars of the Roses seen from Today - Professor John Watts Note In-person event only GMH LG15 1pm Professor John Watts is a renowned historian specializing in the politics and political culture of later medieval England and Europe. His book, The Wars of the Roses: A Medieval Civil War, offers a comprehensive analysis of the Wars of the Roses, exploring the underlying dynamics of a typical civil war. His book emphasizes the fluidity and uncertainty of these civil wars, once authority broke down, anything could happen. The talk will be raising money for the Woodland Trust UK's Largest Woodland Conservation Charity - Woodland Trust Thursday 9th July - The JFK assassination, The Umbrella Man and Other Stories What We Talk About When We Talk About the JFK Assassination - Martin Fitzgerald Online Talk from GMH LG9 1pm This talk is prior to Edinburgh Fringe Fest Yes Really! Dallas, 22 November 1963. The main event is supposed to be on Main Street – crowds fifty deep, a blizzard of ticker tape. A few blocks away in Dealey Plaza, the scene is quieter: a handful of people, clear skies. A man with an umbrella. A woman with a polaroid. A dressmaker with vertigo. These are the strange, true stories of the ordinary people who opted out of the main event, only to spend the rest of their lives unable to leave it. This is a book about memory, about how we construct our shared history, and about what happens when your life is defined by a single, fleeting moment. It's about a group of real people who opted out of the main event before John F. Kennedy was assassinated, only to find themselves accidental witnesses to the most scrutinised six seconds of the twentieth century. Martin Fitzgerald is an author and screenwriter from London. His first book, Ruth and Martin’s Album Club (2017), was a collection of reviews of classic albums written by celebrities upon hearing them for the first time. It featured contributions from Richard Osman, Ian Rankin, Bonnie Greer and many more. Martin’s particular interest is taking well-worn stories, approaching them from a new angle and finding the comedy and absurdity within them. Thursday 30th July Belgravia Walk - Belgravia The Myth that made millions or a tale of Two Cities 5.30pm cost £10 Meet in Victoria Station outside WH Smith If you are interested in attending any of these History Society events then please do get in contact with Robert Baker robert.baker@dft.gov.uk for more details History Society YouTube recordings Professor Marion Gibson ‘The Secret Lives of Witches https://youtu.be/rh4oM7qSweg Virtual Walk down Marsham Street https://youtu.be/TYJKJO9xAgg John Buckley The Normandy Campaign 1944 https://youtu.be/x-z5ZJGHG14 Dr Michael Jones Richard III - hero or villain? https://youtu.be/Fi8mRMB9EN8 Lee Jackson talk on Dickensland https://youtu.be/VoK4yWYBpLo John Dickie - The Strange Death of Cosa Nostra https://youtu.be/kPKMfAkVkyM Nick Jesson - The history of the Inca Empire https://youtu.be/TdQXiDbaYjg Nick Lloyd The Eastern Front in the First World War https://youtu.be/Z3OxHv5jagY Gareth Russell - The Palace Hampton Court https://youtu.be/JJ9NEqxiPDg Brian Spurrell - Erith & Belvedere football club https://youtu.be/nSiYeYjDYl0 A History of Women in the Civil Service, Victoria Iglikowski-Broad https://youtu.be/fsSCPlRJQs0 The Mercenary River A history of London’s Water, Nick Higham https://youtu.be/rwKA3vFj118 Medieval Ghosts – Eleanor Janega https://youtu.be/dwr9xgpxo7k Young Elizabeth: Princess: Prisoner. Queen, Nicola Tallis https://youtu.be/9JPa8TZnPxc Robespierre and the French Revolutionary Terror https://youtu.be/pG5su8Weyas The Rise and Fall of the British Welfare State From Poverty in 1900 to Poverty in 2023 https://youtu.be/A0fli3jrwRI RNLI Talk (note first 16 minutes audio) https://youtu.be/P0s_cIapzpI Motherland 500,000 years of African History – Luke Pepera https://youtu.be/Silhn-gdfvs Railway 200 Talk - Road to the Stockton & Darlington Railway https://youtu.be/dcSWpqCEplI A History of Homelessness https://youtu.be/ecBprR-NF3Q The Son of Prophecy: The Rise of Henry Tudor – Nathen Amin https://youtu.be/Y8NYq5TL5FM 'Who planned the Victorian railways - and did they get it right? - Coln Divall https://youtu.be/CD1DP6oMgIQ Crusader Criminals - Steve Tibble https://youtu.be/Fomhalm_QFU Railway 200 Talk - Female Railway Workers in World War II https://youtu.be/7q6R51ltfhU The Social History of London Houses https://youtu.be/p9We-YG-1TE Railway 200: Pendolino to Preservation https://youtu.be/lSdqyO1mIjI Late Medieval Scottish Dress https://youtu.be/7Nly1C6w8kY Railway Power and Politics in Britain Talk not recorded Railway Heritage Trust Railway Heritage Trust | The Role of the Railway Heritage Trust https://youtu.be/0Gi1lniGDAA Railway 200: The Coming of the Railway https://youtu.be/Y9UvSMm61Vc The Waiting Game https://youtu.be/tHO-uj_FrMc Defeating the V2 Ballistic Missile https://youtu.be/V4U2N655mIc Railway 200: British railway talk 1890-1914 https://youtu.be/4b2K0FO9Ov0 Africa in the Roman Empire https://youtu.be/ew7qSp5jLL8 Enslavement, Environmental Change, and the Making of the Global Firearm Frontier, 1650-1850 https://youtu.be/ew7qSp5jLL8 Railway 200: Fire and Steam: How the railways transformed Britain https://youtu.be/cg_dmZUiZV8 Railway 200 - Railway Posters https://youtu.be/o9AEuONwlWI Railway 200 National Archives Railways Talk https://youtu.be/4Jsm02tY8ds An Accidental History of Tudor England https://youtu.be/nmtYPVHCQu4 Roads to Rome https://youtu.be/AVhj4WfnAr8 Railway 200 Taking the Train https://youtu.be/LRqf78ZbBtc Railway 200 British Rail 200 Years design Online Talk https://youtu.be/t4PsUhsr4wM Railway 200 The Railway Clearing House, Roy Edwards https://youtu.be/S0368pPP3N8 Why was Britain first? Rethinking the history of the industrial revolution’ https://youtu.be/f8UrvUEEOkI Railway 200 The risks of the job – staff safety on Britain’s railways in the past https://youtu.be/fnyALPCflls Why the 800th Anniversary of Magna Carta is 2025, not 2015 Professor David Carpenter https://youtu.be/Qlw5VRURsBQ How to survive a Mongol invasion? Nicholas Morton https://youtu.be/utTcWWanrqk The Blood in Winter: A Nation Descends, 1642 - Jonathan Healey https://youtu.be/bMuLmdtF5Hw The Global Middle Ages https://youtu.be/K_Iig1G6Xiw Twentieth Century Seaside Architecture https://youtu.be/qA1qXDUxXII The 1946 WW2 Victory Parade https://youtu.be/hI3RgMGoK-w Economica Talk Victoria Bateman https://youtu.be/b9oHhazYonk The hidden history of women's football in England https://youtu.be/gTTQNluk60o African Emperor - Septimius Severus https://youtu.be/TbHjruGzmUI Crispina Peres https://youtu.be/K4aiSZG7Nz0 Culture Wars in Republican Rome https://youtu.be/306yCJPnfQg How the Second World War is remembered Please let me know if you would like a link to the recording

The SPARTA Netball Club has continued to build momentum over the past few weeks, with strong attendance and a great level of engagement across all sessions. The group has welcomed a mix of regular players and newcomers, creating an inclusive friendly and supportive environment for all abilities. Sessions have focused on improving core skills such as game understanding, passing accuracy, and positioning on court, with plenty of opportunity for match play. This has helped to build confidence and team cohesion, with noticeable improvement in gameplay across the group. We look forward to continuing this progress and welcoming more members in the coming weeks. We now have a regular slot fortnightly on Tuesdays at 6pm at the Home Office Sports Hall (opposite GMH). The netball club is free to join for Sparta members, and sessions cost £3 each. For more information, please contact isabelle.rosher@dft.gov.uk

Netball at Sports Day 2025 SPARTA is pleased to announce that the SPARTA Netball Club has relaunched. On Friday 23rd January, they held a netball taster session at the 2 Marsham Street Sports Hall, bringing together 17 colleagues from four different departments. After a quick warm up, they ran a few simple drills before moving into a friendly game, which turned out to be very evenly matched. The group included a mix of complete beginners and regular players, but everyone got involved, supported each other, and had a great time. There was also clear interest in establishing a regular netball club, so plans are being made for more sessions similar to the first one and then, if there is the interest, joining a local league to play some matches against similar level opponents. If you are interested in joining the SPARTA Netball team for a session to see if you like netball then please do get in touch with Isabelle Rosher at Isabelle.Rosher@dft.gov.uk Click here to go to the SPARTA Netball Page NETBALL

The SPARTA Astronomy Society are pleased to announce that after pre flight checks lasting several months their society was successfully launched with its first meeting at the end of last year. Ideas were gathered and plans for many exciting future missions were discussed and are now being put into motion. If you are interested in space, space flight, astronomy and stargazing but don’t know where to start, come and join the club! Open to everyone we kick off on Friday 13th February with a beginners guide presentation. Message neil.nevill@dft.gov.uk for an outlook invite and further information/to join about the Society. Click here to go to the SPARTA Astronomy Page ASTRONOMY SOCIETY

Superstars Cricket Club are already preparing for an exciting year of cricket in 2026. The Superstars CC on tour in 2025 Nets Nets have been booked in the excellent facilities provided at the Oval cricket ground. These are taking place in February and March, and more nets are planned for April. Contact osdsuperstars_cc@hotmail.co.uk if you are interested in joining them for nets. All abilities from beginner level to Ben Stokes (but with less injuries) level welcome. Tour A tour to Suffolk is being organised for the early May bank holiday. This a fantastic opportunity to visit some new locations and meet the team. Bring your whole family for a superb weekend trip away in a wonderful location. Full details will be made available on this link in due course Superstars Cricket Club Summer Fixtures Superstars are planning an exciting range of fixtures for this summer. Many of the fixtures have already been agreed with various opponents who play cricket at the same social level of Superstars CC. Details can be found on this link Superstars Cricket Club Want to Join The club is always looking for new players of any standard and you can contact them at osdsuperstars_cc@hotmail.co.uk   if you’re interested in playing social cricket. Come along have some fun and meet some nice new people. Click here for the SPARTA Cricket Page CRICKET

After a full-on festive season of carols and Christmas music through the ages, the Civil Service Choir have started preparing a new repertoire for Spring! On Sunday, the 26th of April , the choir will be performing Haydn’s The Creation at Sinfonia Smith Square. Published in 1800, The Creation is one of the most exalted achievements in choral and orchestral music and the first choral work to be published with both German and English texts. In this performance it will be in English. Inspired by the Book of Genesis and Milton’s Paradise Lost, Haydn’s oratorio captures the emergence of light, life, and order with sublime artistry. Through radiant choruses, masterful orchestration, and expressive solo passages, The Creation affirms the beauty and majesty of the natural world. Join us for an evening of transcendent music that continues to inspire awe and reverence over two centuries after its premiere. At Smith Square, the Civil Service Choir has recently given performances of Mozart’s Requiem with “impressive power and emotion” and Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem – after which Jools Holland OBE exclaimed “this choir is one of the best I’ve ever heard”. Do not miss this outstanding choir’s performance of The Creation. Tickets range from £15 to £30 and are available now: Haydn - The Creation - Sinfonia Smith Square The choir’s Chamber Choir will also be performing a free lunch-time concert at the Sinfonia Easter Festival on Tuesday the 31st of March . The repertoire will cover inspiring sacred works by female composers. Secure your free place now: The Civil Service Choir - Sinfonia Smith Square Looking for a new years’ resolution that boosts wellbeing? Why not join the choir on stage! They always welcome new members, and it’s no-audition. See Join us – The Civil Service Choir for more details. For a free taster session, please email etcetera@civilservicechoir.org.uk Check out the Civil Service Choir on their webpage or check out the SPARTA Choir webpage by clicking here CIVIL SERVICE CHOIR

The SPARTA Personal Safety Course is now under way. Over 20 staff from across DfT and MHCLG along with a few colleagues from the Home Office came together for the first two sessions of the SPARTA Personal Safety Course which is run by Stay Safe Global. The course is 8 one hour sessions spread over 8 weeks and covers everything from how to avoid getting your phone stolen (which is much easier than you would think) to what to do if someone tried to abduct you. By teaching you some simple skills you can escape from any number of dangerous situations. Stay Safe Global have worked with survivors from across the world. learning from their experiences and sharing this important knowledge with those attending the course. The course even covers self awareness in locations that may not seem dangerous but have hidden dangers that you should be aware of. If you wish to join the remainder of the course then there are still a few spaces available. Get in contact with us at SPARTA@dft.gov.uk

The SPARTA History Society continues to host a set of excellent talks. Here are a few that you can attend over the next few weeks. For full details of all the talks coming up this year get in touch with Robert Baker at robert.baker@dft.gov.uk Wednesday 11 th February   Twentieth Century Seaside Architecture - Kathryn Ferry Online Talk from GMH Room 5.7 1pm and available as a Microsoft Teams meeting  Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/37296345379772?p=xvBx5YNaQR7eITB6l6   Talk based on Kathryn’s new book of the same title, this talk explores how seaside buildings changed between 1920 and 2000. Though this period covers both the heyday and the dramatic decline in popularity of the British seaside holiday. Dr Kathryn Ferry is an architectural historian. She has published on numerous seaside subjects.   Thursday 19 February   Crispina Peres: The Heretic of Cacheu – Toby Green Online Talk 12pm Microsoft Teams meeting Join the meeting now   Toby Green will give a talk on the extraordinary story of seventeenth-century West African slave trader Crispina Peres. Toby Green is professor of precolonial and Lusophone African history and culture at King’s College, London. A Fellow of the British Academy, he is the author of The Rise of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in Western Africa, 1300–1589 and, most recently, A Fistful of Shells, also published by the University of Chicago Press. Tuesday 3 rd  March     Economica: A Global History of Women, Wealth and Power – Victoria Bateman Online Talk from GMH Room 5.7 at 1pm and available as a Microsoft Teams meeting  Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/32055105888670?p=8Kzpihen7kxbz9UFmr   Dr Victoria Bateman is an economic historian.  Her book Economica rewrites our understanding of women's role in the economy, and tells a more accurate economic history of us all. Wednesday 11 th March The hidden history of women's football in England - Carrie Dunn Online Talk at 1pm as a Microsoft Teams meeting Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/32445630029569?p=7TJHogDvPnJlKJwzda   Carrie Dunn is a sports writer.  She has covered events from the Ashes to the Olympics for national and international publications and is a regular broadcaster on TV and radio. Join her for this fascinating talk delving into the history of the Women's Football in England.         Monday 23 rd  March African Emperor - Septimius Severus - Simon Elliott Online Talk 1pm Join historian and broadcaster Simon Elliott to explore the remarkable life of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus.    The African Emperor explores the life and eventual death of one of the greatest warrior emperors in history.    If you are interested in any of the upcoming talks or on joining the SPARTA History Society then please contact Robert Baker at robert.baker@dft.gov.uk Check out the SPARTA History Society webpage by clicking here HISTORY SOCIETY