Manchester Salon
public discussion forum for debating and engaging ideas
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The Salon Recommends
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People behind the Salon
Simon Belt - Coordinator
Born and brought up in Yorkshire, he moved to Lancashire on a civilising mission some 25 years ago. After some success there, he’s moved on to sunny Derbyshire where he’s now based. From the delightful surroundings of New Mills, Simon plans and coordinates the Manchester Salon - preparing discussions, booking venues, promoting via the website, Email notifications and management of the Salon's Facebook Group. Always keen to take on new themes to discuss, formats to experiment with and collaborations to explore, please complete the Contact the Salon form with suggestions of your own.
Hilary Salt - Chair
Keith McCabe - Advisor
Keith has been interested in the arts for a long time, having being one of the founders of the Angle Gallery in Birmingham - well known for its support for freedom of expression. Latterly, he has been involved in the arts and mental health organisation Brainstorm, and was a member of the committee of the Artsmill gallery in Hebden Bridge. He is keen to draw on his experience in both the arts and engineering to help the Salon to reach out to other organisations in the North West, in creative and innovative ways.
Jane Turner - Reviews Co-ordinator Jane Turner started her working life in the long-since re-organised, re-named and re-vamped Employment Department and gained a reputation as a rather "un-civil servant" when as Branch Secretary of the also re-named and now-merged old Civil and Public Services Association she was active in many campaigns and strikes. She found herself on her first picket line when on strike against the wage restraint being imposed by the Callaghan Labour Government, in the rather difficult economic circumstances of the time that have parallels with those we are being made to suffer for today. Becoming bored with life in the office, she returned to education to study Policical, Economic and Social History at the University of Liverpool and a post-graduate certificate in Education at Manchester Metropolitan University. Swapping the mundane routine of life in the civil service for the challenges of the classroom she began by teaching young offenders basic numeracy, literacy and ICT skills and was shocked to find that most of them, despite spending years at school, could hardly read or write and at the ages of 17 – 18 were already hooked on drugs and well on their way to a life of crime. So, naively thinking she could "make a difference" earlier, she decided to try teaching in Secondary schools and managed to hold on to her sanity doing this despite finding changes to the curriculum a rather more constant battle than that of poor behaviour and lack of discipline. During this eventful time she developed enough capability in using ICT to be considered "an expert" and for the last six years has been developing and sharing this expertise with teachers and pupils in the Secondary classrooms of Greater Manchester in an effort to make the practice of teaching and learning more up-to-date and engaging. Being a a product of third-generation Irish immigrants who settled in Liverpool and Derbyshire serfs she can get quite defensive about political attacks on the masses she grew up with and has a strong sense of social justice which can make her pretty angry about the state of the world as it stands and the ever-present injustice and inequality she has grown up with and longed to change. She finds a walk in the Derbyshire hills on a misty day calms her down a bit......but not for long! Working alongside the other "Salon people" she would like to find ways to engage with like-minded people and so is trying to develop the Salon reviews section in order to attract and involve those of us who perhaps see the world more critically.
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Simon Belt
Hilary Salt is a qualified actuary and a director of 
Keith McCabe grew up in Birmingham and has moved around the UK before moving North five years ago. He started work as an apprentice engineer, worked his way up to become a Chartered Engineer, and is currently working as a transport consultant specialising in environment and technology issues.