Guide How to survive a stabbing - talk coming up at Midhurst Library
Books Sussex Newspapers group arts editor and marathon runner Phil Hewitt is beating back the demons with a new book which celebrates the massive mental health benefits of running.
He will be talking about the book, Outrunning The Demons (Bloomsbury, 2019), at Midhurst Library on Wednesday, September 11 at 7pm. Tickets £5 each from the library.
As Phil says: “Running can take us to fantastic places. Just as importantly, it can also bring us back from terrible ones. For people in times of crisis, trauma and physical or mental illness – when normality collapses – running can put things back together again.”
After watching a cricket match in Cape Town, South Africa, three years ago, Phil was mugged – stabbed, punched, kicked and effectively left for dead in a grim, desolate suburb.
Astonishingly, just as he could feel himself starting to drift away, he was scooped up and whisked to hospital by a passing pizza delivery driver. Two deep stab wounds, 15 stitches, three broken ribs, battered liver and stomach, bruised all over.
Phil resolved to heal himself by getting back to his first love, running…. And it proved a remarkable way to outrun the demons of PTSD and his blood-soaked pavement. Which is why it became the title of his new book – Outrunning The Demons.
In it, Phil tells of his own experiences and their aftermath – and also interviews 34 people from around the world who, as he says, have been to hell and discovered that the surest, safest, quickest way back was to run. He interviewed people caught up in 9/11 and the Boston Marathon bombing; people who have lost loved ones to murder and natural causes; people who have suffered addiction, alcoholism, anxiety, depression, violent and sexual assault; sheer bad luck – and even a nose-diving jet.
The result is a remarkable collection of stories about hope and survival
– a genuinely uplifting celebration of the strength of the human spirit and all the good that is unleashed simply through running.
A new evening society in Chichester will help provide access to the arts to include working people and those unavailable during the day.
The Arts Society Chichester Evening is opening its doors to new members on Thursday, September 19 with the first lecture at Chichester’s Assembly Room, North Street, starting at 6.30pm.
Spokesman Dave Betts said: “Currently, the three local Arts Societies present lectures during the daytime, making it difficult for some of working age with an interest in the arts to get involved. That is now all about to change!
“The inaugural lecture, with doors opening at
6pm for a complimentary drink, will feature Alexandra Epps, official guide and lecturer at Tate Modern, Tate Britain and Guildhall Galleries, who will explore the work of John Piper, master of artistic diversity and designer of the early-mid 20th century, and whose colourful tapestry enjoys pride of place above the High Altar in Chichester Cathedral.”
Dave added: “The Arts Society is an international charity with currently 90,000 UK members and nearly 400 societies, providing first class lectures, given by curators of national museums and galleries and university lecturers, as well as arranging daytime outings, holidays and social events for members.
“Subjects cover a broad range of the arts, from fine art, ceramics, jewellery, architecture, music, dance and much more. Members also carry out conservation work in stately homes and National Trust properties and provide schools with access to workshops and events for pupils.”
Annual membership to the new society, The Arts Society Chichester Evening, is £50 and will include entrance to ten lectures over the coming year, a quarterly Arts Society magazine and an invitation to the society’s summer social.
Lectures are generally on the third Thursday of every month and members are welcome to bring along a guest for £10