4 LIBERTY FESTIVAL RETURNS TO QUEEN ELIZABETH OLYMPIC PARK As London welcomes a summer of world athletics, visitors can enjoy a free summer day out for all the family at Liberty Festival. On Saturday 15 <strong>July</strong> at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, from 13.30-18.30, go along and check out the incredible line up of deaf and disability arts. You’ll also be able to have a go at a range of activities and sports. Try out wheelchair basketball, boccia, sitting volleyball and even new age kurling. With live music, dance, circus, street theatre, DJs and tasty food, the day has something for everyone. For an even bigger day out, get a ticket to the World Para Athletics Championships London <strong>2017</strong>, in the London Stadium from 14-23 <strong>July</strong>. A specially commissioned exhibition, by artist, photographer and film-maker David Hevey and supported by Shape Arts, will feature high quality, vibrant and empowering large scale photographic portraits of disabled people welcoming visitors to Liberty Festival and the World Para Athletics Championships London <strong>2017</strong>. Full information at the website www.QueenElizabethOlympicPark.co.uk PARLIAMENT AND THE FIRST WORLD WAR IN WESTMINSTER ‘Parliament and the First World War’, a new, free exhibition opens this week in Parliament’s historic Westminster Hall. Running until 28 September, the exhibition, which includes a multi-touch table, enables visitors to explore documents, paintings and objects which demonstrate the profound changes in Parliament and democracy that occurred during the war years. A poignant addition to the exhibition will be a light projection of the names of those recorded on the First World War memorials in Parliament. These names House of Commons 1914, oil on canvas by Leopold Braun © Palace of Westminster Collection. include the 46 Parliamentarians and 26 Parliamentary staff killed in service. The exhibition highlights personal sacrifice through the stories of people connected with Parliament, including William Leveson-Gower (1883-1918), a clerk who began working in Parliament in 1908. He witnessed the Foreign Secretary’s 1914 speech in the House of Commons Chamber on Britain’s intention to join the war, giving him a unique insight into the political developments of the day. Four years later, he joined the Coldstream Guards and served in France, where he was killed by an enemy shell in October 1918 – just two months before the war ended. In Parliament, as elsewhere, women stepped up during the war to occupy many roles traditionally held by men, a development which was the subject of many serious debates at the time. Visitors to the exhibition will learn how that dynamic played out in Parliament itself, through the story of the Girl Porters – the first women to work in the House of Commons who were not either cleaning or kitchen staff. The Palace of Westminster is home to one of the world’s busiest parliaments, with more than a million visitors, including 100,000 school children, passing through its doors each year. Visitors from the UK and overseas are welcome to watch debates and committee hearings or take an audio or guided tour throughout the year. Visitors booked on tours of the Palace of Westminster will have access to the exhibition. Access is via the Cromwell Green Entrance. parliament.uk/visit t h i s i s l o n d o n m a g a z i n e • t h i s i s l o n d o n o n l i n e