Dear Geochemists, Some good news to share with you! As part of the annual GGRiP conference, a fringe-inspired open-mic night was held in the beautiful setting of the Lapworth Museum on the University of Birmingham campus. Those who were brave enough to take to the stage included the chair of the Geochemistry Group, Paul Savage playing the guitar and singing, and the Birmingham based band 10 Foot Dragonfly, who included James Bendle, Matt Allison, George Bendle, Richard Forrester, and Mark Andrew. The band did an amazing 30-minute set, including a medley paying tribute to Brum legends, Black Sabbath. We also held a geochemistry inspired art competition, with 10 amazing entries that were on display for the whole two-and-a-half-day conference. The winners of the competition were Kerys Meredew for their photo ‘Fuego at Dusk’ and Elaine Gao for their photo ‘Sunny days on the Assynt Fieldtrip’. With these events and over the entirety of the conference, we were fundraising for the the Midlands Arts Centres GREEN FUTURES campaign https://macbirmingham.co.uk/lovemac/everychild/green-futures<https://eur…amp;reserved=0>, a great cause that resonated for many delegates of the conference. We raised a total of £245, of which we couldn’t be happier about!’ Sally Pennington (Director of Development, Midlands Arts Centre) has been in touch with plans for our donation: THANK YOU FOR YOUR AMAZING DONATION On behalf of all of us at Midlands Arts Centre, I want to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you for your extremely generous £245 donation to MAC’s GREEN FUTURES campaign. We are very proud to be your supported charity. MAC’s GREEN FUTURES campaign raises money for events and workshops that are created and produced with, and for, young people and families in our community. We use art, creativity and curiosity to empower people to think about their impact on our planet, work together to make a change and to positively channel climate anxiety felt by many. Because of your donation, this summer, we will produce a brand new free workshop for 14 young girls from a care setting in Birmingham, who, through no fault of their own, have very few opportunities for creative activities and are at-risk at being completely excluded from art and culture. The workshop explores reusing, repairing and recycling Sari material, inspired by our major free exhibition showing in our main gallery, OFF-BEAT SARI. Thank you so much again for thinking of MAC – our donors, and your generous gifts, mean the world to us and it is really special when people come together in their own networks and spaces and champion MAC’s work. All the best George