Our newsletter for December 2025 is now avaliable.
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Highlights
Arena Seminar 2026
We are thrilled to announce details of the Arena 2026 Seminar. This will be our 40th Seminar, taking place over the weekend of 20th to 22nd March 2026, and is definitely not to be missed. We are pleased to be returning to the Riviera Hotel in Bournemouth, where we can enjoy the excellent service and facilities that have been a hallmark of previous years.
Many of you will have attended earlier Arena Seminars and will know that the event has become a major weekend in the photographic calendar, bringing together a first-class group of speakers and photography enthusiasts for a weekend of lectures, discussion and the opportunity to share inspirational photography.
Booking for this Seminar will be using our new, enhanced booking system, which allows you to reserve your place and pay online. Please click here to book your place.Please read the instructions carefully to ensure that your accompanying hotel booking takes advantage of the special rates agreed for the Seminar.
Just a reminder: the only way to take part is by attending in person – there will be no streaming or online option. We’re expecting the seminar hall to be full, so make sure you book your place early.
And now, please make yourself a cuppa and find out who will be presenting over the two days.
Book Launch: City Centre Survival by Janey Devine
We are all concerned to keep our city centres a vibrant place, somewhere we enjoy visiting and can feel proud of. But many city centres across the UK are struggling.
Inspired by one of the speakers at the 2018 Arena Seminar, George Georgiou, Janey took up the challenge of photographing her home town of Southampton. Shocked by the rapid changes in the city centre, she began photographing the city and taking portraits of people she met.
Conversations revealed many common issues. Although a strong civic pride was evident, people had serious concerns about how their city centre was changing. Mass redevelopment, shop closures, increase in the student population were seen as major issues. Lack of consultation about the development of their home town, left many feeling excluded and sidelined.
Wanting to explore these issues further, Janey expanded the project to include other similar sized towns and cities across the UK. Each had once played an essential part in the country’s industrial development, but the same concerns were voiced by the people she met.
City Centre Survival is the culmination of this project, and explores how history, changing fortunes and planning decisions affect the lives and outlook of people in towns and cities today.
Janey’s portraits and photographs, combined with a collection of commissioned essays by historians, academics and councillors, results in a thought provoking book about a important subject that has no easy solution, but one that concerns so many of us.
City Centre Survival is a limited edition book. Copies can be ordered on-line
www.citycentresurvival.co.uk.
Use the discount code ARENA25 for £10 off!
Presentations and Talks
There are several presentations and talks by Arena Members over the next few months.