"Good quality housing shouldn’t be left to chance. A city-wide licensing scheme would provide every renter in this city with a guarantee that, no matter where they live, they can expect to find safety, dignity and warmth at home"
✍️ Cllr @mineshparekh.bsky.social #Sheffield
“It turned out to be a hotel for fish – that's what people were calling it!”
For @wildsheffield.bsky.social's #ConnectingLimbs project, architecture students at @sheffieldhallamuni.bsky.social were tasked with designing ways to boost biodiversity on #Sheffield's River Sheaf
✍️ @sammgreg.bsky.social
If there’s one question we hear when we’re out and about more than any other, it’s this one: when will Now Then return to print, and what will it look like?
We’ve got more details on that, plus a chance to tell us what you want from Now Then 2.0 if you’ve not already done so ⬇️
#Sheffield
"This is Martin Luther nailing the 95 theses, except instead of the door to Wittenburg church it’s the wall of a micropub. And instead of objecting to the Catholic Church’s sale of indulgences, it’s protesting against someone drawing a two-metre tall bottle of Henderson’s Relish"
✍️ @seanmorl.com
“That is the river telling us that it's not having this constrained situation anymore, and it's going to try to create a more meandering course”
Connecting Limbs is an amibitious project to enhance 800m of the River Sheaf, using techniques that mimic those found in nature.
✍️ @sammgreg.bsky.social
As we recently revealed in our newsletter, we’re cooking up exciting plans to return Now Then to paper and ink later this year 📰
We want to know what you, our readers and contributors, want from a print edition of the mag. Find out how you can tell us online or in person 👇
#Sheffield #NowThen
Recently, we were lucky enough to have journalism student @rose-mason.bsky.social joining us on the @nowthenmag.bsky.social team for two weeks.
You can read some reflections from Rose about her time at Opus and at the magazine over on the Opus Blog ⬇️
"Every small act and thought is defiance... even their existence itself is a quiet rebellion"
Cherien Dabis's new film 'All That's Left of You' is an epic historical drama spanning seven decades in the life of one Palestinian family.
✍️ Sahar Ghadirian
"First, the good news: rock’n’roll never died, and Friday night's gig showed that a new generation of upstarts have picked up guitars, swaggered on stage, and grabbed hold of this fine genre"
HotWax and Jeanie and the White Boys at Sidney & Matilda, #Sheffield.
✍️ Hamish Yewdall
"A lot of local women buy fabric, and then when they come in next time they're wearing an outfit they made out of the fabric!"
Meet Scrap Dragon, the #Sheffield organisation turning trash into treasure in Burngreave 👗
✍️ @rose-mason.bsky.social
👋 Our 2025 Annual Report has now been published, with updates and reflections from all of our projects and workflows, as well as inside information about the future of Opus and what we hope 2026 will hold.
Take a look at it on our website here: https://loom.ly/QEsEaDk
"Each song is imbued with a brooding, clenched intensity, and a propulsive rhythm as tense as a tripwire drives the music"
Taut Angles at Mary Street Live, #Sheffield.
✍️ Mark Rezzano
"Gonzalez and keys player Callum Duffy fly through a twelve-song set combining wonderfully subtle acoustic guitar with an incredible lyrical dexterity"
Wesley Gonzalez at Sidney & Matilda, #Sheffield.
✍️ Steve Hunting
On the Opus Blog, we share a monthly round-up of articles, podcasts, books and more that our team have been learning from and found inspiring to our work 📚
Here's February's, featuring @amahra.bsky.social, Jack Becher and @indyjohar.bsky.social of @darkmatterlabs.org ⬇️
#SystemsChange
"As a standalone piece of theatre the production was gripping and beautifully presented, and it was striking just how much the political themes resonated today"
Our review for Utopia Theatre's #CrownOfBlood is in and our reviewer, Paul Szabo, loved it ⭐️
@sheffieldtheatres.bsky.social #Sheffield
“Artists who have a learning disability or who are autistic belong in our most prominent cultural spaces”
A new exhibition showcasing work from more than 70 artists with autism and learning disabilities has opened at @sheffieldmuseums.bsky.social. #Sheffield
✍️ @rose-mason.bsky.social
A watercolour and ink illustration of two people. One of them is holding a can of spray paint, and is painting a picture of the world on the side of the bridge behind them. The other is sitting on the floor cross-legged and playing a guitar. Behind them, a train is passing over the bridge.
The series continues over on the Opus Blog, where you can read six more reflections from #ThePeoplesNewsroom team about how storytelling can help us transition to new economies on a liveable planet.
Read 'Lessons for a Story Commons' now ⬇️
www.weareopus.org/blog/categor...
'Lessons for a Story Commons' is a new series from the team at #ThePeoplesNewsroom.
For the past two years, they've been exploring how changing the way we tell stories can be key to changing the future itself 🔮
The introductory piece is in @nowthenmag.bsky.social ⬇️
"The trumpet interplays with guitar riffs, the bass reverberates your chest – these are songs written to bring the party to venues like this, and it works"
Red Rum Club at Sidney & Matilda, #Sheffield.
✍️ Hamish Yewdall
"The way we've chosen to deal with our ‘Lady Macbeth’ is so completely different from Shakespeare's version"
Opening at The Crucible in #Sheffield, we speak to director Mojisola Kareem about 'Crown Of Blood', a new adaptation of Macbeth set in 19th century Yorubaland.
✍️ @rose-mason.bsky.social
Research shows that 9 in 10 people globally want more action from their governments on climate, and 7 in 10 are prepared to put their own money in to help.
On 14 Feb, South Yorkshire Climate Alliance are hosting a free event in #Sheffield on how we can mobilise this climate majority 🌎
Details ⬇️
"We brought a bit of the mattress back and started to grow tomatoes in it!"
At the South Yorks Sustainability Centre's research summit, we learned how visits to a Jordanian refugee camp helped @granthamcsf.bsky.social find new ways to tackle the climate crisis in #Sheffield
✍️ @sammgreg.bsky.social
"This set of musicians have a musical symbiosis second to none, which they showcased to a sold-out crowd at their first gig of the year"
Faint Paint with @cal-innes.bsky.social at Delicious Clam, #Sheffield.
✍️ Steve Hunting
A watercolour and ink illustration showing two people sitting outside on the grass, alongside a river. One is sitting on a tree stump, reading from an open book. The other is sitting cross-legged on the floor listening to the story, alongside a tower made of colourful building blocks.
The series continues over on the Opus Blog, where you can read six more reflections from the team about how storytelling can help us transition to new economies on a liveable planet #ThePeoplesNewsroom
Read 'Lessons for a Story Commons' now ⬇️
www.weareopus.org/blog/categor...
We're proud to launch 'Lessons for a Story Commons', a new series from #ThePeoplesNewsroom 🎉
These lessons emerged from a group of creatives who gathered to share examples and prompts for shifting the way we tell stories.
Start reading in @nowthenmag.bsky.social ⬇️
📢 Abolitionist collective Cradle Community are hosting an event in #Sheffield on 31 January, in collaboration with local poet Sarah Lasoye.
Expect an afternoon of creativity, learning and experimentation, exploring how we can become active bystanders in our communities.
Tickets ⬇️
The NHS in #Sheffield is considering handing control over the medical data of thousands of people in the city to #Palantir, a US firm with links to the Trump regime.
"It continues the privatisation, outsourcing, and asset-stripping of the NHS," one local doctor told us.
✍️ @sammgreg.bsky.social
“Thank you to everyone who spoke up, campaigned, and stood together... in the crosshairs of a powerful international corporation”
Community organisers in Sharrow, #Sheffield, are celebrating after a proposed new McDonald’s was refused planning permission for a second time.
@sammgreg.bsky.social ✍️
"This is local people choosing to put their savings into something good for the planet" – @alexidimond.bsky.social
A project designed to tackle climate breakdown in #Sheffield by raising capital from citizen investors has hit its target much earlier than expected.
✍️ @sammgreg.bsky.social
"When we look at complex problems, they often fall outside any one remit – but if we're to overcome them, that needs to change"
Over on our blog, Opus co-founder James Lock shares his thoughts on how we can begin to tackle the most urgent problems we collectively face ⬇️
#SystemsChange
