Ken Loach to appear as guest speaker at lecture held in honour of miners' union boss

Bafta-winning director Ken Loach is to be the speaker at the first lecture to be held in memory of Davy Hopper.
Ken Loach will appear at this year's Durham Gala after leading the first Davy Hopper Memorial Lecture. Picture by PA.Ken Loach will appear at this year's Durham Gala after leading the first Davy Hopper Memorial Lecture. Picture by PA.
Ken Loach will appear at this year's Durham Gala after leading the first Davy Hopper Memorial Lecture. Picture by PA.

Durham Miners' Association (DMA) has put together a programme of events to accompany this year's Big Meeting, which will be held on Saturday, July 8.

As part of it, I, Daniel Blake director Ken Loach will lead the inaugural Davy Hopper Memorial Lecture, set up in memory of the association's general secretary, who died suddenly last July following a heart attack.

Tens of thousands of people attend the Durham Big Meeting.Tens of thousands of people attend the Durham Big Meeting.
Tens of thousands of people attend the Durham Big Meeting.
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The talk on the Friday evening will be held at the DMA's headquarters in Redhills in Durham and will be presented by Education 4 Action.

Mr Loach, a social commentator and also director of Kes, The Wind That Shakes The Barley and Bread and Roses, will also speak at Gala the next day, as will Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Mr Loach's talk, which will run from 5.30pm to 6.30pm, will be followed by a screening of his film The Spirit of 45 at 7.30pm.

The feature tells of how the spirit of unity buoyed Britain during the war years, and carried through to create a vision of a fairer, united society.

Davy Hopper, general secretary of Durham Miners' Association, who died last July.Davy Hopper, general secretary of Durham Miners' Association, who died last July.
Davy Hopper, general secretary of Durham Miners' Association, who died last July.
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Also on the programme for the Friday is Poverty is Political, which starts at 2pm at Redhills, where people will be able to explore the centre.

Food and refreshments will be available.

All events are free but ticketed and anyone who would like to make a reservations can email [email protected]The events are part of an extensive programme of cultural and educational events organised by the E4A team to run alongside the Gala Week activity programme.

For details of the full programme visit www.durhamminers.org/e4aAll meetings, unless stated otherwise, will take place in the Committee Room or Main Hall - the Pitman’s Parliament -, Miners’ Hall, Red Hills, Durham City.