CELEBRATING QUEER CULTURE

Staying Queer during COVID-19

We’re happy to announce that we have received Emergency Funding* from Arts Council England to help keep us going and provide a programme of online and remote activity over the next 6 months.

Since cancelling our last event in March owing to COVID-19, we’ve been working hard to adapt to the new climate. We’ve also been trying not to panic at the possibility that the sort of live events we create *may* not be safe to organise until 2021. Our future looked, at best, risky. For that reason we’ve reached out to queer artists in order to generate a programme of activity that will support and uplift our community through these challenging times.

This funding enables us to continue our talent development strand for emerging artists. This will compromise both online workshops for complete beginners led by drag king and musical improv expert, Christian Adore, and a more in depth ‘Cabaret College’ for acts wanting to push their skills and learn how to devise their own material. The latter will be led by actor, writer and drag star Lucy Jane Parkinson, aka Louis CyFer.

A suited drag king with long hair and moustache looks directly into the camera
Christian Adore will lead ‘Drag king workshops’ for beginners

Alongside the talent development, we realise there is a need to connect with and hear the voices of the wider LGBTQ+ community and queer artists. To do this we will be creating a special zine both as a documentation of this strange time and a way to connect that does not rely on digital technology. This project will be led on by Leeds -based artist Okocha Obasi in collaboration with emerging producer Emma Bentley – Fox.

The zine will feature the voices of queer writers and artists alongside work submitted by members of the community who want to share their thoughts / dreams / ideas. We’ll print and distribute and launch with a special online launch party featuring queer performers and DJ set for indoor dancing. Along with this programme the funding will help us redevelop our website, and support staff time to ready the organisation for next steps.

We’re very thankful that we can continue to provide unique opportunities to ‘come together’ through queer culture and look forward to connecting with you all again. We’re also aware, however, that there are many great people and organisations that did not get this funding. It is one of the reasons why we will continue to make our work as accessible as possible and centre those otherwise marginalised.

In the meantime, we have set up a donation form on our website. All donations directly support our work in supporting queer artists and our community. We don’t know when we’ll be able to physically be in the same space again, (though currently we have no plans for physical events until beyond October). Your support ensures that when we can return to physical events, we’ll be back better than ever before.

Want to be the first to find out more about the above projects and opportunities? Sign up to our newsletter now!

Team Andro & Eve x

** Funding received – £10,900.

Vegan Elderflower and Berry Cake

To continue our Birthday celebrations, vegan blogger and baker, Kat of Kelham Island Kitchen has created this special celebration cake recipe exclusively for us.

Its just the sort of treat you’d expect to find at one of our events. For now, while we’re all staying home to keep ourselves and our community safe, we thought we’d share this gorgeous recipe with you in the hope you might want to get baking and create something truly scrumptious!

A vegan cake with pink icing sits sliced and ready to eat.

Kat says,.. ‘Enjoy a slice of this wonderfully summery Vegan Elderflower and Berry Cake. Making the most of seasonal ingredients,this cake is perfect for enjoying outside with a cup of tea (or a glass of wine). The elderflower gives a subtle floral flavour while the berries add freshness and cut through the sweetness of the cake’

If you do bake your own, tag us in any pics, we’d love to see! Enjoy! (If this recipe is a bit ambititous for you, check out Kat’s Vegan Banana Bread recipe instead; its pretty simple and also totally delicious!)

Ingredients 
  • 400g Self raising flour
  • 200g Caster sugar
  • 2 tsp Baking Powder
  • 400ml Plant Milk
  • 160ml Vegetable Oil
  • 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 5 tbsp Elderflower Cordial, plus extra for brushing the cake
  • 100g Vegan Butter softened
  • 200g Icing Sugar
  • 150g berries, I used frozen raspberries
Method 
  1. Pre-heat oven to 160’C (fan)
  2. Grease and line two cake tins
  3. Combine the flour, sugar, and baking powder in a mixing bowl
  4. Add the milk, oil, vanilla and elderflower cordial to the dry ingredients and mix until you have a smooth batter
  5. Fold in half the berries then split the batter evenly between the two tins
  6. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the cakes are golden and a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the centre
  7. Allow the cakes to cool in the tins before moving to a cooling rack
  8. Brush the top of the cakes with some elderflower syrup
  9. To make the icing. Put the rest of the berries in a small saucepan with a splash of water
  10. Cook on a low heat until the berries are really soft and you have a compote consistency
  11. Strain the berries through a sieve. Keeping the liquid to add to the buttercream
  12. For the buttercream beat together the butter and icing sugar until you have a smooth, fluffy icing
  13. Once the berry sauce has cooled, add to the buttercream
  14. To assemble the cake put half the icing in the middle of the sponges, then the rest on top.
  15. Smooth the buttercream on top of the cake then use a pallet knife to create a simple flower pattern on top of the cake.

 

Welcome to our new Board Members

We’re delighted to announce the appointment of two new board members. Lola White and Ellie Wyer join Andro and Eve founder and CEO, Katherine Warman, as Directors of the board and have been in post as Directors for nearly 3 months.

Lola White

They bring to the organisation a robust set of skills and knowledge in HR, finance, partnerships and organisational development in both the private and public sectors.

Ellie Wyer

Katherine Warman CEO of Andro and Eve says ‘I’m delighted that Ellie and Lola are now part of Andro & Eve as they bring a wealth of expertise that will help develop the organisation. At such a challenging time for the culture sector, we are working hard to respond to the situation we find ourselves in, and are planning ways to adapt our delivery model’.

Andro and Eve celebrates 4 years producing events to celebrate queer culture this week, so we’re very pleased to be able to share this news with you. To find out more about our board and team, head here. 

Vegan Banana Bread

ingredients to make a vegan banana bread are laid on a wooden table. Sugar, flour, wooden spoon, bowl.

We know life is incredibly tough for so many people right now. Not least LGBT+ people isolated from supportive friends and networks that can be a lifeline. We know we’ve been missing our queer community and queer life in Sheffield during lockdown. We’ve been working hard to bring you some content that might prove useful, or bring joy. Our Instagram Stories and Twitter feed are full of news, resources and online events that can help members of the LGBT+ community during this pandemic.

Today we’re sharing something tasty. If you’ve been to one of our events you’ll know how important a feature our cakes are, and we’re missing them. Over the coming week we’re celebrating 4 years since our first event in Sheffield (a cosy screening of Jamie Babbit’s But I’m a Cheerleader, at which a giant cheerleader skirt cake made a splash!)

So what better way to mark 4 years of Andro & Eve than by sharing a recipe from our very own baker, Kat, otherwise know as Kelham Island Kitchen. Her blog is full of delicious vegan cooking, and her cakes are a staple of Andro & Eve events. Fun fact – Kat was the very first volunteer for Andro & Eve, back in 2016!

Ingredients for banana bread on a wooden table. Bananas, sugar, flour, oil.

This cake was featured at our January screening of SILVANA at Yellow Arch Studios. Its proper comfort food, ideal for coping with lockdown life, and not too expensive to make either. We know how hard it is to make ends meet for a lot of folx right now. It may be a quarantine cliche, but an easy banana bread, may be just the tonic. (I certainly enjoyed baking and eating this last week as a test – Katherine). Enjoy!

(And if you do bake this, please tag us @androandeve in any pics. We’d love to see!

Why not chuck in some dark chocolate chips, peanut butter or toast a slice with some coconut yoghurt for breakfast?

Kelham Island Kitchen’s Vegan Banana Bread 

Ingredients 

  • 3 large, overripe bananas
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1tsp mix spice
  • 200g plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 150g brown sugar
  • 75ml vegetable or sunflower oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 100ml oat milk – if it needs it

Instructions 

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 (160 fan) mark 4
  2. Grease and line a loaf tin
  3. In a large bowl mix the flour, spices, sugar and baking powder
  4. In a separate bowl mash the bananas then add the oil and vanilla
  5. Mix the dry and wet mixtures together, if needed add the oat milk
  6. After a thorough mix pour into the prepared loaf tin and sprinkle some brown sugar on the top
  7. Bake in the oven for 45min – 1hr until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean
  8. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before removing to cool
  9. Enjoy!

 

 

Keep in touch

Sign up to our newsletter to keep up-to-date with our latest news, events and offers.

Donate

Your donation will be used to help us continue to support queer artists and culture.

  • £ 0.00