Pick of the day

Usborne Books for Christmas Gifts

2012-11-29T04:29:00.003-08:00

I've been working as an independent organiser for Usborne for a few months...it's a good way of working around my children and, although I would never have dreamed of being in 'Sales', I now sell a product I actually believe in.

I'm a complete book freak, and know that reading and looking at books (and the other products Usborne do, such as flashcards, 'snap' games in lots of languages and characters) is really beneficial for children..and adults. I reckon that learning whilst enjoying the learning.

Oh, and the reason I like this company is that you can get benefits back...free books if you or a group buy a over £100 of books. I actually give 10% of my takings to the host (or a stall fee) and various personal discounts.. and of course there are the deals advertised on the leaflets we have..

Schools can get a whopping 60% back in free books, by holding a sponsore read (or listen for pre school groups), combined with a book fair, can really boost your school's library.

And of course, they are smashing books!

Aid to Kabul, the Simple Way.

2012-11-29T03:57:00.001-08:00

Anyone can do this! I suppose you will need to know someone within the military in a war zone to do it.

I've recently come to know of a local campaign where a mum has 'mineswept' her friends to collect used toddler clothes and shoes for postage to Kabul, Afghanistan, where one of our troops has found that the lack of basic amenities for the locals has distressed him so much that he sent out word to local businesses in the UK to collect the above items...I guess businesses are bombarded with various requests at this time of year, as are individuals...but I (for one) had lots of stuff which I had intended to sell at one or two stalls previously and had to cancel through sickness...leaving me with stuff I needed to pass on.
By the grace of God, some critically underprivileged people can now have some stuff they really need, due to the concern of the member of military who then switched his plea to friends at home.
I hear he's really touched by the amount of stuff that's been collected from all the mothers who my friend has contacted, and this is just from a local word of mouth campaign.

This is an example of how social networking can work in a good way, and that's from me who would never have touched Facebook in a million years (I just thought it was an awful tool for people to spy, bully and cheat with)..but recently got on board due to starting my own concern as an independent organiser for Usborne Books.

I am unsure of the exact rules, but I asked how the heck is the stuff going to be transported?.Postage is very expensive...and the answer came back that postage is supposed to be free to a military address if under 2kg and packed in a shoe box. So there are going to be lots of shoe boxes going out there this month!

I'm just wondering if there are any more opportunities for getting aid to people in this way, and reading this may spark an idea in someones head that they may copy this idea...or are you already doing it and have a nice story to share?

North West Evening Mail | News | Teacher recalls joy of receiving gift box

2012-11-13T03:51:00.001-08:00

North West Evening Mail | News | Teacher recalls joy of receiving gift box

Just done my boxes, 1 for an infant boy and the other for a girl aged 5 to 9. I was disappointed last year, that we didn't get notified of where the boxes went, but only hope that the children got some joy out of them... Reading this is inspiring, and when you think about disaffected youth here, and the relative luxury and opportunity we all have, it is very humbling.

Happy Christmas to children of all faiths and backgrounds, all over the world.

NickyWardArt and The Bower Wirks

2012-11-02T17:06:00.000-07:00

I was quite good at art at school.. I found it therapeutical and fulfilling. However, since leaving school, many many years ago, I've never pursued the interest. Having children is wonderful for sparking off those forgotten interests, in an effort to interest/inspire/distract ...

Funny how going to Mass was and remains a very integral and treasured hour of the week, since having my children..and now I'm uncovering past authors and books, Enid Blyton, Peter Rabbit, Green Smoke, Tom's Secret Garden, Catweazle and other favourites, which I believe are fast becoming lost in a world where the children do not even remember the name of our Queen.

Well! Art is a delicious thing to re-enter, and even more fulfilling when enjoyed by your children. We were lucky enough to happen upon Nicky Ward at Chesterfield Canal Trust Fair during the summer 2012. My older son was instantly attracted to the Chesterfield Canal Collage, where he proudly beholds his contribution.

Yesterday, we participated in the Funny Faces workshop at Nicky Ward's own Bower Wirks. What an amazing art experience! Nicky is an afficianado of recycling, something I admire and aspire to . Her works are inspired, full of life and glowing with talent.

Nicky has recently held several workshops for adults and children. Her space is a veritable cove of enchantment. Check out the Bower Wirks on Facebook for pictures and more information...

Matlock Bath...and Pavillion Trust

2012-11-02T16:49:00.004-07:00

Anyone know has visited Derbyshire, or who lives in the area will know about Matlock Bath. A historical site, for medicinal purposes in faded days gone by. the baths are still there to be visited, along with an aquarium and gallery of interesting artefacts and pictures. This facility is free to visit and a good place to visit with children.

Along with a bikers paradise, plenty of good fish and chippies, there is an interesting array of shops including gifts and crockery, hippy clothes, biker wear, books and more, plus the famous riverwalk, ornamental fish and fantastic play areas for children, aswell as being close to Gullivers Kingdom and the Heights of Abraham.

Being the enthusiastic purveyor, collector and peddlar of books,( incuding but not exclusive to Usborne, Children's Publisher of the Year), I was happy to participate in a Craft Fair recently, with my Usborne books, at Matlock Bath Pavillion. I was shocked to lug my heavy loads up several flights of stairs, to a derelict hall, filled with puzzled and disorientated stallholders trying to make their wares look attractive within the dingy surrounding...crumbling roof and boarded up windows did not serve to display the hard work of the participants that well...
However, it was due to the volunteer worker, Trina that I was enlightened regarding how much actual work had already been done to save this listed building, and how much more there was to do...
I started to feel proud to be included on the first craft fair that was to raise funds for the Trust, and the atmosphere was cheerful. Call it the Dunkirk Spirit, but everyone took pride to display their wares to the fullest potential. Gregor McGregor, the man of the day (and the website, a Trustee) escorted interested parties for tours around the huge place, explaining the ambitious project and the potential to be had. I am all for it! Please support the next Craft Fair and browse the website for more infomation ...http://www.savethepavilion.co.uk/

Undercover Boss USA

2012-10-13T15:59:00.001-07:00

This is my absolute favourite programme of the moment..I happened upon it last week and have watched it about 3 times this week. I saw the UK version a couple of months ago, which was about the Ann Summers boss. Thought it was ok but a bit watery compared to the USA version, plus I'm not the biggest fan of A.S, not that I'm against anyone buying tacky underwear etc etc, more about having issues with their advertising campaigns in busy high streets (with lots of kids).
I think what impressed me about the yanks, during my previous time working as an Au Pair, was a) their pride in being American, and b) the encouragement and celebration of the fruits of hard work. In this country, if you are not already down, you are not too far away from a cynic who will put you down!
Absolutely love the tears when the bosses realises that they have some cracking employees and havn't so far done them proud..and that these same employees get the recognition they deserve, plus a good old wad of cash to help them in their ambitions (eg, to put their children through college, to enlarge a family home, to study, to pay off study loans etc.)
Heartwarming stuff...different from the depressing garbage churned out by the brits in the daytime (and the yanks are good at garbage also, just better at some things than we are.)
The brits are not all bad..after U.B.U.S,A, there is A Place is the Sun....Ah, if only.....!

Future Queen Topless Pics!

2012-09-17T11:20:00.000-07:00

Funny how this is one of my most viewed posts (tee hee!)

Is there anything more likely than the latest headlines to send lots of surreptitious searches from guys (and probably gals) on the internet to look and see what the scrumptious Duchess looks like clothed off?
I do feel sorry for the Prince, the poor guy obviously didn't remember, despite past indications that the French, or for that matter, any press have long zoom lenses and have no morals or boundaries... this is entirely forgivable, as he's also, obviously a trusting sort of chap. How wrong can you be.
I guess I am a cynical so and so, and think that if I were famous, I may have chosen an even more secluded spot (indoors with curtains closed, maybe?) before getting naked. Must be a stifling situation, if you want to go topless then you should be allowed without the glare of publicity..life, however is full of annoying stuff that prevents you from doing as you please.
I think that age, and probably the appearance of children will make the couple as distrustful and cautious as others, for better or worse.

Secret Millionaire - Bradford

2012-06-27T16:54:00.001-07:00

Who could not fail to be moved by the young successful poker player, Andrew, and his lovely Mother, who has cherished and shielded him (even from the knowledge of what an onion looks like). Sounds like I'm being critical, but I know exactly where his parents are coming from...the boy is a gambling prodigy, but also actually a doe eyed innocent who would be taken for a ride by every tom dick and harry who set eyes on him.

Yes, I am no different, and the trial by cooking, as I've heard is the norm on this programme, often produces similar results....millionaires and prodigies are not the same as us mere mortals, and do not need to know what the different veggies are (is it an onion, a garlic, or even a ginger?), or how to operate a can opener...they are too busy making lots of cash!

I'm sounding like I'm criticising again, but sincerely am not. I cried buckets during this programme, and, as accused by my Mum as being a God botherer, couldn't help but think how very happy God must be to see the lessons learned during the making of this programme, and the amazing life changes experienced by Andrew and those that met him.

All who we met in the programme are inspirational people, the ex addicts, working with those that need help by way of a publication..for no material gain whatsoever...and the youth worker, obviously a priveliged young man who saw a need for supporting young people in the area, and sacrificed a career in music.

I couldn't help but think that the Children's Cancer Hospital man (with his 6 year old sick grandson, an enthusiastic fund raiser, again with nothing to materially gain) had his suspicions about Andrew....I may be a rusty old cynic but the whole demeanour of the man pointed towards thinking that he thought Andrew possibly maybe a secret millionaire...if so and if not, and just plugging his cause on a telly programme, good on him for promoting his cause rightly and justly.

If you havn't seen it, go on the internet replay and prepare to weep!

The Anniversary of the Bailey Report/Parent Port

2012-06-07T14:47:00.001-07:00

Does anyone know what this is?

Let's take a moment to remember the Panorama programme 'Too Much Too Soon' last year, which was the first and only time I heard the above mentioned. It appears that the results from the Report and the Port have underperformed to the degree of minus Flop.
No-one knows about it...well, a few do, and these people have complained that it's such a complicated process to wade through the wordage, and it's so difficult to make a complaint about advertising that it's very offputting.
It's almost as if the government is not really that bothered about the loss to the faltering economy through the banning of immoral sales techniques...how cynical of me.

Please read below, the shorter the better after trying to wade through the Parent Port eh?!

I wore make up and short skirts as a teenager...not to school though, make up, jewellery and short skirts were not allowed and I think this is better for a learning environment, (ask me why if you think this is insane). My Dad was not happy but my Mother was supportive. However, times were more innocent.

Make up kits and dressing up are great for creativity. However, mimicking sexual behaviour watched on tv, playing violent/watching violent console games with adults who think this is ok may backfire on a child not old enough to have the judgement to separate reality from tv, music video or computer game. Also to realise the consequences of actions whilst role playing the games they've viewed in the school yard or elsewhere.

Many of the girls I went to school with embarked on more adult behaviour than they were mature enough to handle. I suffered from low self esteem and anorexia as a result of this. These things should not be whitewashed.
Anorexia and self harming in girls is on the up. The incidence of violence by young men towards young women is also on the increase, and possibly this is unreported as being mirrored, girls violence to boys. The spread of STD's over a broad age spectrum have been on the rise for years.

Recently, in a parliamentary discussion about the recent court case where Asian men living in the UK had used young girls for sex, it was claimed that the young girls had no innocence and were highly suggestible. The retort from an MP was that it is no wonder that some young women today that they act as they do whilst some having poor upbringings, are vulnerable, and being bombarded by so many sexualised images in the media.
Sex sells and the young are being targeted as 'fair' marketing game, due to the fact that they have the most available cash.

Things are much worse nowadays, music videos are disrespectful to women and the images young women are supposed to mimic are of shallow celebrities. The latest ipad. ipod or console game is more important than the African children who do not have clean water or any education (this is still very common)...
Last year I listened to a programme described Chinese factory workers who have committed suicide due to the pressures of producing huge numbers of Ipads.

Is this right?

Surely not; social awareness is very blurred at the moment as to what is and is not important in the social education of a child. I want my children to see a GCSE and an NVQ as a valuable goal. I will feel disappointed for them if what they get before these is an STD.

I've witnessed a family of a mother and 3 children who all had matching BRAND trainers but did not have an oven to cook food on, and had been lent money for a takeaway...the 6 year old daughter had a tin of sweetcorn for breakfast as there was nothing else.

I recently rejoined Facebook for business purposes, after a very short initial registration period years ago, as I have never been comfortable with social media. Many stories I hear about Facebook with regards young people, are e-bullying and the sexualisation of young people.

In addition to this is the habit of teenagers of 'clothing off' and publishing photos of themselves, ready for the interests of any male who cares to browse...irresponsible when you take into account possible future repercussions, whether it be in a professional or personal sphere.

It's with disgust that I removed 2 acquaintances as they'd displayed photos on their pages of half naked teenagers, one of these men has even older daughters, but the girls who posted these pictures may not stop to reflect until they are older. Maybe they will some regrets and want to bring their own children up differently.

Peer to peer links on porn websites and private browsing, available on most browsers are a dangerous combination to vulnerable children, who for some unimaginable reason are still not protected from peadophiles on the internet. As stated in the John Venables case last year, he was charged for downloading child porn, 'This is not a victimless crime'.

The danger of being called a prude is insignificant when the cost of the national youth destruction last year is taken into account. Is it all about the lack of jobs? Or is some of it about the intensity of commercial marketing and the almost complete lack of focus and support regarding positive moral teaching, about sharing with those less fortunate, focus on education instead of how you look for school, team and community spirit etc.
These things are supposed to be highlighted as a result of the nation's 'austerity' measures. Yet the sentiment is very faint - almost inaudible, except in the exceptional cases of this years' Jubilee celebrations and focus on the Olympics, which have been fantastic so far.

If we are to get back to basics, the government needs to be more serious about guiding the media and advertising moguls into more responsible behaviour. If not, the economy may gain but to what long term personal cost for today's youth?

The Last Supper

2012-03-31T14:30:00.000-07:00

An apt following from The Lamb, on Youtube, is this video and choral music from The Last Supper (the Passion of Christ). I cannot see which choir is singing, but it is beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLBC64AB4635ECD7D2&feature=player_detailpage&v=ngwAn-V0bDQ

The Lamb

2012-03-31T14:21:00.001-07:00

The Lamb

   Little lamb, who made thee?
   Does thou know who made thee,
Gave thee life, and bid thee feed
By the stream and o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
   Little lamb, who made thee?
   Does thou know who made thee?

   Little lamb, I’ll tell thee;
   Little lamb, I’ll tell thee:
He is callèd by thy name,
For He calls Himself a Lamb.
He is meek, and He is mild,
He became a little child.
I a child, and thou a lamb,
We are callèd by His name.
   Little lamb, God bless thee!
   Little lamb, God bless thee!

William Blake, 1794

The Lamb (Songs of Innocence and Experience) was intended to be sung; William Blake's original melody is now lost. It was made into a song by Vaughan Williams. It was also set to music by Sir John Tavener, who explained, "The Lamb came to me fully grown and was written in an afternoon and dedicated to my nephew Simon for his 3rd birthday." American poet Allen Ginsberg set the poem to music, along with several other of Blake's poems.

The lamb is a common metaphor for Jesus Christ, who is also called the "The Lamb of God" in John 1:29.

I've never been a great listener of Jamie Cullum, but as usual, Radio 4 does the job by teaching me something new yet again. I'm sad to say I was completely ignorant of The Lamb, before yesterdays' Desert Island Discs, either as the William Blake poem or as the subliminal psalm written by John Tavener (1944, not to be confused with John Taverner, born in the 15th Century, spookily both being composers of religious music).

Jamie's mother sang at church, and would take young Jamie in the car practicing this piece on the way...what a fantastic experience this must have been. I don't think my kids would appreciate me trying the same thing somehow, sadly being completely out of tune no matter what.

Youtube has lots of brilliant versions, but the most electrifying one for me is the Tenebrae Choir. I would like to sit in a darkened chapel with lots of candles and hear the choir sing this, but am very happy with the download too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLBC64AB4635ECD7D2&feature=player_detailpage&v=h-mSmEfLmZc

Mother Teresa, picture of radiating light..

2012-03-15T15:05:00.001-07:00

I've just read the excellent book above, and love this picture of Mother Teresa. It has amazed me how this small determined person changed the world. Her critics, including the late Christopher Hitchens seemed to carry around an unhealthy hatred of her, and her firmly entrenched views still seem to attract fury from her detractors. Yet, never has one woman been so revered since Our Lady.

I think and experience that women with strong views really upset some people, including other women. Is this because the male gene is threatened? Anyhow, her views on abortion and contraception certainly caused much controversy. I think she just deeply believed in the biblical teachings and was not to be swayed by uncertainties. Everything she did was in good faith.

Mother Teresa was criticised for 'cosying up' to dictators. Indeed, she was civil to all, and fostered positive relationships with those who may be able to agree to helping with the financial side of her needs for the poor. She asked for, and accepted money from dubious sources from unsavoury country leaders. But this was done in an effort to do good to the millions of people who were hurt and left with nothing in war zones. Sadam Hussein agreed to her request to open an orphanage in one of the most dangerous areas under his command.

So she was heavily criticised, and so was Jesus, who was her model.

Then, when her doubts and loneliness in faith came to light, Christopher Hitchen was at her heels like a rottweiler, calling her an atheist and a fraud. How laughable, and how badly educated he was about his victim.

Mother Teresa may have done things that others find wrong, but she tried her hardest to be the perfect model for the poorest of the poor and gave her all for the needy, in mind, body and spirit.

God Bless her and salutations to her.

You Can Help to save Park Pharmacy Trust

2012-02-21T16:37:00.022-08:00

It seems often to me that life just isn't fair..and that things happen to us and other people that are breath takingly unjust.
Please take time to go to the following link to the Trust website/read below and you will be shocked at the actions of Plymouth council.
http://www.parkpharmacytrust.org.uk/

Please also take a moment to click the link below to go to the Care2 website or alternatively go to the Care2 website and sign the petition, which can be found by clicking on Petitions and searching for Park Pharmacy Trust.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/can-you-help-to-save-park-pharmacy-trust-plymouth/

STOP THE AUCTION OF MR PARK’S CHEMIST SHOP BEFORE 4PM TODAY

STOP PRESS: PLYMOUTH CITY CAN IF THEY WISH CALL OFF THE AUCTION OR PUT IT ON HOLD. THERE ARE MANY IRREGULATIES IN THIS WHOLE AFFAIR INCLUDING THE AUCTIONEER DISCLOSING THE IDENTIFY OF OTHERWISE ANONYMOUS BIDDERS.

In a calculated manoeuvre bailiffs acting for Plymouth City Council have arranged an on-line auction of Mr Park’s chemist shop at the top of the Merchant’s House Museum. Not for default on rent or in breach of agreements – but because of unjustified legal costs generated by the Council in a fight over development in a public park. The auction, which consists of one Lot, the C J Park pharmacy, has no reserve price. It will go to the highest bidder at 4pm today. And if the Council is not satisfied with the amount of money it gets from the sale, I was told on Friday, they have another order that they can use to seize all our assets at Thorn Park Lodge.

The auction has no reserve price and the items are not listed. The goods in the Merchant's House Museum were seized but not removed and the auctioneer has not recorded the accession numbers of the individual items making it impossible to know if anything is missing. This is a catalogued collection, owned by a registered charity in one of Plymouth City Council’s accredited museums. And what grieves me most is the way the council has in a cavalier way disregarded its duty of care to all the people who trusted us with their precious donations of hundreds of items of trading stock.

On Friday I went to the High Court London, to try to get an emergency injunction to stop the auction on the grounds that the auctioneer had included in the sale a vast number of un-seized goods (many of which are on loan) that are located in Thorn Park Lodge as one Job Lot. The Council knew I was going when they refused to voluntarily cancel or halt the auction. However, following a telephone call I made from the High Court to the lawyer at Plymouth Council, the auctioneer has now removed “All items with regard to the prescription books/literature in this auction.” He has also, inadvertently revealed the identity of many of the anonymous bidders, revealing that the collections manager of Plymouth City Museums and Art Gallery is bidding in the auction.

What in heaven’s name is going on?

First Plymouth City Council refuse the offer of free mediation from a charity Conflict Dispute Resolution. Instead they spend public money on London solicitors and fees to bailiffs and seize the C J Park pharmacy in the Merchant’s House. They then do nothing while the museum is open to visitors but after the tourist season the Council then spends more public money going to the High Court to try to buy the C J Park pharmacy for themselves by private sale, at approximately one tenth the amount of the debt. When the judge discovered that after the loss of its main collection, Park Pharmacy Trust would probably have the same debt as before, he dismissed their application and ordered them to pay their own costs.

The collections of Park Pharmacy Trust are of National and international importance and the The Wellcome Trust, the Science Museum, The Museums Association, The Pharmaceutical Society, The Royal Society of Chemistry, National Archives, are very concerned. If the auction is put on hold, there is a very real chance that sufficient money will be raised to pay the debt owed to Plymouth City Council. The Local Government Ombudsman, who is currently carrying out an investigation, has suggested that Plymouth City Council put the auction on hold while he completes his investigations. Sadly they have declined this suggestion as well as another one made by the Trust.

The predicament of Park Pharmacy Trust is similar to the Wedgewood Collection in which the High Court ruled that the collection could be sold to realise a debt. The difference between the predicament of Park Pharmacy Trust and the Wedgewood Collection is one of magnitude. Over £18 million will be needed to stop the sale of the Wedgewood Collection whereas the debt to Plymouth City Council is around £70,000 (including interest and profit costs).

The auctioneer has passed to the bidder all costs associated with a collection containing poisons and possibly controlled drugs. The bidder will also have the cost of making good the Merchant’s House after removal of the display. The extra cost burden and restrictions placed on the bidder are resulting in very few bids. The Council is therefore very unlikely to realise anything approximating the debt. If the auctioneer is allowed to sell the un-seized assets of Park Pharmacy Trust at Thorn Park Lodge as part of this job lot then Park Pharmacy Trust will have to go into liquidation. This will leave the unpaid debt and the loss to the community of an award winning charity that provides a range of well needed services, free of charge, to the community of Plymouth.

The behaviour of Plymouth City Council whose museum is in receipt of Renaissance funding from the Arts Council and grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund is deplorable. We wonder what Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh, who is patron of the Friends of Plymouth City Museums and Art Gallery would say about this abomination. And the Council and the Auctioneer are trying to pass off the legal obligations under the Poisons Act, the Medicines Act, the Veterinary Medicines Regulations, Misuse of Drugs Act, COSHH regulations and much more onto the bidder.

Background

When Mr Park retired on the last day of 1983, the fixtures and fittings of the family chemist shop were going to be auctioned. This treasure house would have been lost to Plymouth but for the efforts of a conservation society. In two weeks of hectic activity which mobilised the whole of Plymouth, the society raised a loan and purchased the entire pharmacy. Park Pharmacy Trust, a registered charity, was then established to own, manage and make available to the public, this marvellous piece of history.

Mr Park’s chemists shop, the bit of Plymouth’s heritage that survived the war, was rebuilt at the top of the Merchants House Museum where it re-opened to visitors in April 1984. There it rapidly became a very popular tourist attraction where thousands of visitors could go inside the shop, try their hand at old fashioned pill-rolling (and earn a certificate of proficiency in the art of pill rolling) and talk to volunteers on duty in the pharmacy. A weekend event held at the Merchant’s House Museum Pharmacy is Phun, attracted record numbers of visitors.

Park Pharmacy Trust has received National recognition for both its innovative approaches to life-long learning and as a tourist attraction for visitors to Plymouth. The pharmacy was televised Nationally to over 8 million viewers when Park Pharmacy Trust became the joint United Kingdom winner in the Tourism/Heritage category of the BBC’s “It’s My City!” competition.

The trust has its headquarters in Thorn Park Lodge, in Mutley Park Plymouth. At the lodge is a pharmaceutical library, a collection of materia medica (used in the past for making pharmaceutical preparations) an extensive collection of artefacts and old fashioned proprietary goods. People of all ages visit its headquarters (by appointment) where they are transported back in time by the touch and smells of our pharmaceutical past and can even earn a certificate in pill rolling and powder envelope folding. For many years the trust has been developing a medicinal garden at Thorn Park Lodge where visitors can learn about plants used in the medicine or just sit and enjoy the surroundings. In addition to visits to the Lodge, the trust runs recall reminiscence sessions at residential homes and day centres, science based children’s workshops at primary schools and participates in fun days and exhibitions. Its science-based practical workshops for primary school children, Children’s Industry Workshops have attracted National and International recognition including being short-listed for the prestigious Jerwood Award.

It has also received two grants from the Royal Society of London COPUS (Committee on the Public Understanding of Science) and other grant awarding bodies. It received a commendation for its innovative educational work from the Gulbenkian Trust’s Museums and Galleries Awards.

Mr Park’s chemist shop in the Merchant’s House Museum, Plymouth, England

· This, the tourist attraction considered by many to be the jewel in the crown of the Merchant’s House Museum, was televised to 8 million viewers when Park Pharmacy Trust won the BBC’s, It’s My City! competition in the category of tourism and heritage.

· This is the tourist attraction that was going to be lost forever from Plymouth when at the end of 1983 Mr Armstrong Park was retiring and the contents of his family chemist shop were to be auctioned on 14 January 1984.

· This was the last remaining family pharmacy in Plymouth which represented to the people of Plymouth the last bit of old Plymouth --- the part that wasn’t destroyed in the blitz.

· This is the chemist shop that the museum had been monitoring for 8 years, but when Mr Park told the museum he was retiring on the last day of 1983, the museum was unable to do anything about it.

· This is the tourist attraction that, with the help of BBC Spotlight, was secured by a loan in order to stop the auction and save the whole collection for the people of Plymouth.

· This was a magnificent demonstration of partnership with all political parties working together with one object only, to save Mr Park’s chemist shop.

Registered Charity 294774

VAT 887 6847 41

Dr Jan Knight

Chairman of Trustees

Tel: +44 (0)1752 565 676

Email: jan@knightscientific.com

ParkLodge

ThornPark

Plymouth, PL3 4TF

Phone: +44 (0)1752 263 501

ParkPharmTrust@btconnect.com

February 2012

PARK PHARMACY TRUST RELEASE

There are only unti 4pm left to save Park Pharmacy Trust

Plymouth City Council has seized all the assets of Park Pharmacy Trust and is currently selling them in a public auction.

Bidding stops at 4pm on monday 27^th february

the trust needs pledges of money to enable it to bid at the auction

Contact: Dr Jan Knight, Chair of Park Pharmacy Trust,

jan@knightscientific.com, telephone: 01752 565 676

Note for editors:

This story touches on issues at the heart of local authority accountability and on the vulnerability of charity assets to distraint for debt. The Trustees of Park Pharmacy Trust have carefully followed all channels to protect their collections and the continuation of their public responsibilities and been frustrated by apparent Council indifference to the issues involved. The sorry tale can be explored at length by inviting comment on issues as diverse as innovative approaches to mental health and fun for the elderly, schools workshops supporting: health, science, engineering, maths, history and employability, local government competence and accountability, charity issues, disposal of museum collections, health and safety law in relation to seizure of chemicals, open spaces and many more matters of public interest. We offer our support and cooperation in providing names and telephone numbers of independent commentators in all of these areas to enable a full public interest disclosure of council ineptitude in this matter.

IThe auction consists of one Lot, the famous C J Park pharmacy, rescued for the people of Plymouth in 1984 together with hundreds of items bought and donated to the collection. The auction catalogue includes many assets of the trust that have not even been seized. And while the collection is completely catalogued (by Park Pharmacy Trust) none of the catalogue numbers that identify the donors of items have been recorded by either the Museum or the Auctioneer. The behaviour of a museum in receipt of Renaissance funding from the Arts Council and grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund is deplorable. We wonder what Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who is patron of Plymouth City Museums and Art Gallery, would say about this abomination. And the Council and the Auctioneer are trying to pass off their legal obligations under the Poisons Act, the Medicines Act, the Veterinary Medicines Regulations, Misuse of Drugs Act, COSHH regulations and much more onto the bidder; we believe this is illegal.

Park Pharmacy Trust, which has owned, displayed, conserved, interpreted, managed and provided staff for the display in the Merchant’s House since 1984, is determined to buy back this wonderful piece of Plymouth’s history. It is looking for people who will pledge any amount of money for donation or loan to the trust in order to save this wonderful collection. Such donations will be eligible for tax relief.

Debt enforcement measures are being pursued actively four years after a David and Goliath tussle over planning permission that would have destroyed the medicinal garden and blighted a park within a conservation area leaving behind an unfinished housing development. The planning issue is a complicated one (see Annex 2) but the Council has consistently refused to engage with the Trust or to seek a mutually supportive way around the issue of legal fees incurred by Plymouth City in defending their position.

When the head teacher, Mrs Liz Hill, of Hyde Park Infants School, near Thorn Park Lodge learned that the trust was in danger of being closed down, she said “We can’t lose you, you are part of the community and moreover, you are embedded in our curriculum.“

What is the Council doing?

Despite flawed procedures and an acknowledged failure to follow up issues when pointed out to them, the law is on the side of local authorities simply through their determination of planning applications on officers’ advice – they are the last resort. In addition to the initial time and trouble taken by the Trust to make officers aware of the issues Trustees pursued the whole procedure as far as judicial review when the default position – that the Council in effect cannot be wrong – was stated. Since that time the Trust has proposed numerous ways of allowing the Council to recognise the community worth of this work while writing the ‘debt’ off against services rendered or collection transfer –all to no avail. Legal officers have consistently refused to engage and extra costs have been added as a result of the Trust’s attempts to resolve the matter.

Initial costs of £18k disbursements plus £34,000 of local authority legal department profit charges, awarded by the Court against the Trust, have now been increased by the Council going to the High Court to obtain a certificate of seizure. This certificate includes over £12,000 of interest and £5,500 of execution costs and Sheriff’s fees, bringing the costs owed to £71,493.

In its latest attempt to supply a mutually acceptable compromise the trust has asked to make monthly payments of £250 in order to repay the initial non-profit £18k of costs. This offer has been refused.

The Council and the Wellers Auctions could be heading into serious legal health and safety issues

In March 2010, Park Pharmacy Trust won a prize for providing a sample of Blue Pills for analysis by the Royal Society of Chemistry. It was in connection with the celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s Presidency of the United States and the suspicion that his verbal and physical rages were due to ingesting Blue Pills, which the analysis of the sample we sent to the RSC revealed contained 33.6% mercury, 80-120 times the World Health Organisation’s acceptable daily intake. And though the trust had not realised initially that it had Blue Pills in the collection, when discovered, knowledge of how to handle the Blue Pills and subsequently store them was within its expertise.

The trust has been trying to explain to the Senior Lawyer Miss Julie Rundle that the Council could get into serious health and safety trouble if they were to go ahead with a public auction of the collection. We have informed the Council of Legal and Ethical Advisory Service fact sheets of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society concerning handling and disposal of chemical and pharmaceutical items in the trust’s collection. The Council has never valued the free professional services provided to them nor appeared to understand its legal responsibilities regarding this kind of collection. The Council and the Wellers Auctions we believe are guilty of selling restricted goods. And ignorance of the contents of the bottles is not an excuse as we have been warning Miss Rundle of this fact for a few years. I have even suggested she contact the Royal Pharmaceutical Society legal department and obtain names of qualified consultants. The Council might come to realise the value of the professional services provided by Park Pharmacy Trust free for some 27 years. They have chosen to go down the route of passing off the responsibility to the bidder. This is wrong and probably is illegal. This was why when the pharmacy was rescued from auction in 1983 the curator then of the City Museum was so keen not to own the collection.

Annex 1

What does the Trust do and what do people think about it?

· Park Pharmacy Trust is a sitting tenant of Plymouth City Council at Thorn Park Lodge, Mannamead, Plymouth. The Lodge and medicinal garden is within Mutley Park, which is in the Mannamead Conservation Area.

· Park Pharmacy Trust provides valued services to the community. The trust has recently had two mental health grants from PCC for our work with elderly patients and others with stroke and Alzheimer’s disease. Park Pharmacy Trust invented Recall Reminiscence using its collection in 1984 to run the No matter how bitter the pill, the memories of it are sweet workshops. These have taken our trained volunteers all over Devon county, but over the past few years the trust has concentrated mainly on services to Plymouth.

· The trust’s hands on practical Children’s Industry Workshops, of which there are 5, have won international acclaim. And the trust was short-listed for the prestigious Jerwood Award for these workshops. The Trust was winner of the BBC’s It’s My City! competition and used its prize money on the medicinal garden. Over the years the trust has won many awards and grants and is planning at the Wolseley Business Park to have its second Victorian pharmacy accessible to people and schools in a area of Plymouth with a considerable amount of social deprivation.

• The trust has received small grants for projects, such as the mental health project it is running for Plymouth City Council, and tiny amounts of money it makes in selling post cards, pill rolling certificates and other items. It receives small donations in the jar in the Merchant’s House Museum. The Council receives the income from entrance to the Merchant’s and it can be seen in the many entries in the visitor book very flattering references to the volunteers who man the pharmacy alongside statements that the £3.50 entrance fee was very good value.

• The trust’s only guaranteed income was £3,400 in 2010 from the Council for hire to the City Museum of the C J Park Victorian pharmacy in the Merchant’s House Museum. The collection is insured by the Council for £65,000. It is fully interpreted, catalogued and manned with trained volunteers and the trust provides professional specialist curatorial services free of charge. Over the years it has become a very popular tourist attraction and the trust has been featured on television on a number occasions. The Council charges entrance fees for people to visit the Merchant’s House and chemist’s shop.

• Visitors do not realise that the Trust does not receive any of the entrance fee.

Annex 2

The Planning Issue that has created the debt

· When Planning permission was granted in 2006 to build 4 terraced houses in the garden of Thorn Park Lodge it was said in the report to the committee that “none of the site falls within the park”. That statement was wrong. The Historic Environment Officer, in his witness statement said “I made no reference to the extension of the site into the rear garden of the Lodge or any concerns arising therefrom. This was no longer a real issue in my view given the boundary changes.” The boundary had not changed and all the arguments that followed were therefore flawed.

· There is no right of appeal by third parties to the granting of planning permission. The only course of action is to try to have the application quashed by judicial review. However, unlike a planning appeal against refusal, it is not permitted to revisit the merits of the planning application. To this day no one in the Council can say, in retrospect, that the planning decision was a good one.

· Many people were shocked by the outcome of the judicial review and really believed that the number of errors would have been sufficient to justify a quashing of the application. However, the judge said at the hearing, “If there are errors in a report to the committee and the committee accepts the report then you are stuck with a flawed outcome.” He also said “officers are professionals: sometimes they are right and sometimes they are wrong”. “If the committee accepts the officer’s recommendations, right or wrong, good or bad, we are all stuck with them”.

· The grant of planning permission was based largely on the fact that the planners believed wrongly that Thorn Park Lodge and garden was a residential property and not parkland. However, it was subsequently discovered during the time of the preparation of the judicial review hearing, that Thorn Park Lodge and garden were within the boundary of Mutley Park. In addition it was discovered that the land was compulsorily purchased in 1951 for the purpose of providing walks and pleasure grounds. There are also a number of restrictive covenants on Mutley Park. The Council had in fact made an error in advertising and then giving itself permission to change a tiny portion of the medicinal garden from greenscape to residential.

· The time taken in the run up to the judicial review hearing resulted in the mistake regarding the designation of the land being recognised. The Council would need permission from the Secretary of State now, to sell the garden for residential use.

· Had Park Pharmacy Trust not challenged the planning decision the garden and historic boundary wall would have been sold and bulldozed. It is also very likely that the community would have been left with a building site of half built and unsold houses, similar to that on the west side of Mutley Park. Yes, the trust would have complained to the Secretary of State, but the garden, pond, trees, beds, walls and wildlife would have been destroyed.

· The garden had been built by thousands of hours of volunteer work together with over £150,000 of grant and prize money. The trust had no alternative but to accept the verdict as it had no money to appeal against the decision. However, it does not mean that the trust should have just stood idly by and watched 25 years of work of volunteers at Thorn Park Lodge destroyed.

· In view of the ethical issues involved, in particular the mistakes made by the officers, which had they not made these mistakes would have led to a recommendation for refusal of planning permission, it seems cruel for the Council to capitalise on these mistakes by securing £34,000 of profit costs (plus £12,000 now of interest), against Park Pharmacy Trust. These issues were discussed at the costs hearing when the judge acknowledged that the in-house legal costs were profit. He also said that it is normal practice for local authorities to put these costs in the bill but he added, it was entirely up to the Council to decide what it wanted to do regarding repayment of the costs awarded.

Annex 3

The story of the Park Pharmacy Trust origins

When Mr Charles Armstrong Park retired on the last day of 1983 the fixtures and fittings of the family chemist shop were going to be auctioned. This treasure house would have been lost to Plymouth but for the efforts of a conservation society. In two weeks of hectic activity which mobilised the whole of Plymouth, the society raised a loan and purchased the entire pharmacy. Park Pharmacy Trust, a registered charity, was then established to own, manage and make available to the public, this marvellous piece of history.

The C J Park pharmacy, the last remaining family chemist shop in Plymouth, established in 1864, was rebuilt at the top of the Merchants House Museum, Plymouth and opened to visitors in April 1984. There it rapidly became a very popular tourist attraction where thousands of visitors could go inside the shop, try their hand at old fashioned pill-rolling (and earn a certificate of proficiency in the art of pill rolling) and talk to volunteers on duty in the pharmacy.

The trust also owns the Edwardian pharmacy of Miss Mary Burr, Nottingham, the second woman to become President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. This pharmacy had been in the Cookworthy Museum, Kingsbridge, until recently. It has now been taken into the community, rebuilt in a development trust business park, in order to be accessible to everyone, especially those unable to climb to the top of the Merchant’s House. This new visitor centre, not yet complete, will be the first stage of the trust’s long term plans for a Museum of Health Man.

The trust has its headquarters in Thorn Park Lodge, Thorn Park, Plymouth. At the lodge is a pharmaceutical library, a collection of materia medica (used in the past for making pharmaceutical preparations) an extensive collection of artefacts and old fashioned proprietary goods. People of all ages visit its headquarters (by appointment) where they are transported back in time by the touch and smells of our pharmaceutical past and can even earn a certificate in pill rolling and powder envelope folding. For many years the trust has been developing a medicinal garden at Thorn Park Lodge where visitors can learn about plants used in the medicine or just sit and enjoy the surroundings. In addition to visits to the Lodge, the trust runs recall reminiscence sessions at residential homes and day centres, children’s workshops at primary schools and participates in fun days and exhibitions. The trust was winner of the BBC’s It’s My City competition in the category of heritage and tourism.

Some details of Park Pharmacy Trust can be seen at www.ParkPharmacyTrust.org.uk.

I would like to add to the above that there are many who avoid paying a variety of debts, including child maintenance, who are not treated in this extremely shabby way by local authorities or judges, and are given the opportunity to pay off debts in (often very) small amounts as a matter of course. And they are not running a Trust or charity.

Please take a moment to sign the petition on the Care2 website.Search 'Petitions' for Park Pharmacy Trust.
Or try the link below;
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/can-you-help-to-save-park-pharmacy-trust-plymouth/
Thank you !

Reported Possible 1 in 10 Children in the Netherlands abused by Catholic Priests

2011-12-16T14:39:00.000-08:00

Today, I heard the sobering news broadcast on Radio 4, as above but no details (I don't want to know the details, pray for the suffering who have been victim to this heinous crime.) I honestly wonder whether paedophiles have some form of hidden career adviser telling them that Catholic Priest is the number one career to go for.

I can't understand it...UK, Ireland, Germany, and now the Netherlands..Forgive me for missing any countries out, I'm just quoting the news broadcasts of the past year and a half.

This is another devastating knock on the Catholic Church. I'm not alone in finding paedophilia the most sickening of habits of the human race, preying on the weak and vulnerable. Suffocating and disabling those who should be nurtured and helped to develop in the best of ways. And the Catholic Church (like any Church) is a flag holder for children, as in the bible.

Catholicism is a faith which I find addictive, ingrained in me. Selfishly, the comfort of the words of the creed and the beauty of the music of the Mass is an indulgence. But I find myself talking to friends who are not Catholics but are committed to their faith in God, and feel a certain dismissal, a polite nod and no comments, when (and why do I do this?) feel I have to say, 'Well, I'm Catholic so we attend this church'. It's almost as if King Hal was breathing over my shoulder!

God intended unity for the human race, and it's hard enough with our (sometimes rather awful) human nature. But you would expect those with faith to, if not do really well, but not have strange sexual leanings...or if they do, avoid the admission into priesthood. I know that paedophiles do head towards professions where they have easy access to children (priesthood being an easy target), but I feel that those around them, surely, should try really really hard to pick up on those who are not using the sacred sacrament of priesthood in the right way.

I really wonder whether I should be putting my trust into the faith I was baptised into, much as I love it. I would be so happy for my sons to be alter servers, but can I really leave my boys alone for 2 minutes in the care of the workers for my given faith? I feel sorry for my parish priests, who I feel are trustworthy. This is another hard day for the Catholic faith, and I feel that our faith is truly degraded by the actions of those who do not deserve the sacrament of priesthood, and by the inertia of the Vatican.

History of the Bible Resource for Older Children and the Young at Heart

2011-12-08T14:51:00.000-08:00

I've been looking at lots of children's books lately, visited a religious book shop and browsed in a few online shops. There are some really sumptuous books around, which is the reason why the e-reader will never conquer the printed word.

I would rather have a beautifully crafted book than any number of jewels and have to really stop myself from overindulging, especially in the discount bookshops that are all around, where you feel justified in a couple of purchases due to the discount. Market stalls are bad for me in this way too.

There are some wonderful bible resources, especially for younger children, but how do you interest an older child who may not have had any previous interest or teaching in the Christian faith?

Here's how...some snappy and straight to the point bulletins of information, with modern and humerous illustrations. I have attached some of the work of Mike Dalby, and there will be more to follow....watch this space.

Advent

2011-12-04T23:50:00.000-08:00

This year, more of us are feeling the pinch. For the first time in my life, I'm not earning an income due to redundancy (voluntary, but the pressure was on). Not complaining, there are far worse off than me and I never lose resourcefullness in case of the possibility of famine.

This year there seems more and more awful adverts on kids tv, pressuring parents to buy, buy, buy. And our instincts make us not want to have the child who is laughed at at school for not having the latest so-and-so. I was one of those who sorely felt the unkind remarks, having old school and not so well off parents, and was the laughing stock in my old fashioned shoes and plaits.

But I feel I have the last laugh now, having had good ethics taught to me, and which have made me stronger in the face of adversity.

Here are a couple of great examples of the feeling of many of us who want to reject the soulless and commercial Christmas sold to us by profit grabbing companies churning out stuff to divert our children from the true meaning of Christ's official birthday.....they were created by my newly aquainted minister of our local Family Centre Church, Mike Dalby (who is a 'capital fellow', as quoted in any good Charles Dickens novel.)

Banned Lynx Ads, not before time.

2011-11-23T13:33:00.000-08:00

To the outcry from people who think all women who object to the Lynx ads are lesbians or crotchety old maids with vinegar for blood, I answered in this way;

Glad they've been banned, a certain percentage of the population will be disappointed, though. I don't want my sons to grow up with the idea that all women are good for is bending over an oven door with her baps out.

As someone who struggled with the pressures of premature sexuality, and think pressures today are far worse, I ended up as a professional and independent woman, with no help from the media.

If men want to look at titillating stuff let them buy a mag or a dvd; why should the entire population have it shoved down their throats? We don't have national pride or religion shoved down our throats, Oh no, this would be seen as offensive!

Maybe it's time we got a few moral values straight around here.

Some people don't appear to know what they want. They want to salivate and talk about women in one sense, then we are called insulting names if women oblige vacant and shallow fancies. And then called names if women object! Make your minds up.

Some comments stated unfairness, harking back to the coke ad, where women in an office were waiting for the hunky window cleaner to arrive outside their window. Apart from the fact that this ad must have been around 20 plus years ago?? I agree, why should there be any sexual exploitation going on at all? Although I must say I think it's more heavily weighted in the female direction as a generalisation.

The old chestnut of, 'you must be a lesbian or an old maid to object to female exploitation', makes me smile...I expect there are any number of lesbians who don't mind a bit of female flesh on view...and old maids, well, what have they got to lose?

Horrid Henry etc..Childrens' Books Today

2011-11-16T13:48:00.000-08:00

I've felt a rant coming on for a couple of days..after hearing the author of the Horrid Henry books on Desert Island discs, R4. Sounds a really educated woman (Cambridge graduate). Not sure if she has kids, she didn't mention any in the short time I had to listen. Somehow think she surely can't have children, hmm.

I felt The Rage was when she replied to the interviewer, after being asked if she got bad feedback from parents saying that they disapproved of Horrid Henry's ways.
She said, no not at all, in fact they actually liked Henry, and disliked his brother perfect Peter, who is really good in the story. She continued, in further reply, that there is a Horrid Henry in all of us, I mean, who hasn't, like Henry said/thought, 'What an awful present so and so has just given me....why don't they just give me the money?'
.....See what I mean? If my boys came out with that one I would go hairless! Brings me back to a previous R4 programme, which was a discussion about morals and the sense of entitlement which seems now to be rooted in British society (an import from the USA I think, and funnily enough the authoress I speak of is a yankee).

Great shame, and I can foresee battles ahead for me, because I will not be buying, or reading Horrid Henry to my boys. Guess she has no negative feedback from parents because the ones who, like me, don't like this brand of disrespect being poured into our youngsters brains, wouldn't bother to give feedback, but carry on reading the many good books there are available.

Having said this, I bought a job lot of 'Horrible' books, in anticipation for my 5 year old's later understanding, as I've seen a couple of the programmes and think they're very funny.
Upon reading a few pages of the Horrible History books, I found things here that I disliked...disrespect for adults (especially older people), unbalanced views on various parts of history, and (I always feel uneasy about this, having skimmed a few older kids books which have a bit of a 'teenage before I'm ready' theme) stating that Church and school are boring...well if the child thought these life experiences weren't boring before, they sure will now, won't they?

I have to accept the fact that I'm now 40 (ancient) and as a youngster, read every one of Enid Blytons' books. I think now many of them must be almost incomprehensible to kids, unless they go to a boarding school? I also read a vast array of different types of books, but none of which I can remember preaching anti establishment, or disrespectful stuff. I cannot remember my choices being censored by my mother, apart from not being allowed certain girls mags which promoted kissing and boyfriends.

I swiftly disposed of a younger children's book a while ago, too. It was a story about a gorilla who comes into a little girls' bedroom and invites her on a trip to the zoo. She was scared at first but (picture opposite text, rear view of gorilla in rainmac, holding little girl-in-nighties' hand. Can you visualise what I was thinking?)...but had a great time at the zoo with new friend. Just the kind of thing I really really don't want my kids to think is ok.. I skimmed it and slung it.

I feel quite angry that some adults are teaching children the wrong social habits by what they write.
I will be pre-reading any choices made in the next few years when it comes to children's books. As if we don't already have enough problems with the telly!

Saying that, I don't know if I've mentioned complaining to R3 around a year ago. On the way back from Mass one Sunday evening, lovely mass on Radio 3 and hymns, very relaxing. The next minute, not even realising the programme had ended and a drama had come on, a man shouting 'F**k' harshly and loudly jarred the atmosphere in the car.

Really annoyed because my two small sons were in the back, we swiftly switched over. The answer I got back from the Beeb was that there is no watershed on radio (the time had been well before 9pm). Very good of them to inform me of that, and I've been wary of the station ever since.

Operation Christmas Child, Liberia, Hotel Rwanda

2011-10-14T15:25:00.000-07:00

It's good if every day brings a new smile, lesson and experience. In the same week I watched a programme about a midwife from the uk spending 2 weeks in a hospital in Liberia..it was such a touching programme, I stayed up late to watch because it was worth the exhaustion and broken sleep later. Then, many years after buying the dvd and not watching it, I watched Hotel Rwanda at the weekend. Gosh, I really did sob at this film.

My reverance for a film is rated by how much I cry to it. I cannot really cry to such stuff as Four weddings and a funeral, and prefer the mock up version of; 3 fights, 2 weddings and a funeral, by Steve Cougan. However, I am a real bore, and only really enjoy films with a decent historical, political, social or moral message. Eeek, I thought turning into my Mum was scary, but even this is kind of worse but I just can't help it.

If you havn't watched Hotel Rwanda, you have missed out and need to be updated on social injustice recently and that which will always be, without decent democratic government and a moral code. I've always felt a little cold towards the big Charities, because of their high administration costs, but if this is the only supply to help these helpless and proud people then this must be the way until we can produce a more personal way of contibuting to people...there but by the grace of God go I.

Operation Christmas Child is one perfect way of directly giving a bit of a surprise and hopefully a lot of fun to children who basically have very little. Humbling, in our society where we frequently over compensate for lack of time, and guiltily buy overpriced, and over indulgent toys for our kids, who mostly do not appreciate or play with them. Small shoeboxes, how much can we cram into a small space?

Toothbrush, soap, head band and hairclips, little ballerina skirt and a cuddly toy for a girl, the same for a boy, excpet it's a ball, a small meccano kit, hat and gloves, sunglasses and cap and sweets for both, whatever we can find, simple.

Local churches are taking surplus stuff, and inviting helpers to pack boxes if you have a spare hour or two.

You can pay postage of £2.50 online, and actually track where your own personally packed parcel goes, be it the Crimea, Africa, India, etc.

God Bless all who read this.

Red Arrows, Chatsworth Country Fair

2011-09-02T15:48:00.000-07:00

I took the boys today, to the best show I've seen for ...well, decades, being a bit of a wrinkly at 40. It was massive and we just didn't manage to get round it in the 6 hours we spent there.

I was really excited and emotional to behold the Red Arrows...(imagine being in that position, we are not worthy!! etc..especially for the tribute shown to Jon Egging who died on 20th August. I have so much admiration for the team, and much was made of the lady member, all credit to her (I think you have to prove yourself doubly as a woman in this kind of situation, so she much be an exceptional person, along with the rest of the team and all involved.

We used to go to Finningley to see them every year back in the day. They were as stunning as expected and my littlest one was beside himself with joy watching. I don't know whether my older one really took it all in, as I kept having to nudge him during the lapses when the display team went away and came back with their new formation, but we all had an idyllic day.

Then there was the Household Cavalry, again, a spectacular sight. Then more, near the end of the day, when 5 did a 'freefall', from the Princess of Wales' Battalion. An amazing and emotional day. Boys loved it as much as I did.

I was trying to control the emotion inside me all day, but was really tearful. Feel much of the time (apart from my loved ones and friends) it's a dark world with so much negativity, evil, indifference to the the decline in moral and social standards and worship of all things shallow. Here, today were bright and shining examples of all Britain's greatest attributes. Here it was clear to see real talent, hard work, focus, determination, dedication, perseverance, team spirit, humility, tradition, pride not in self, but in the greater good for all.

It's easy to believe that most of the pilots and service people in the Cavalry etc, of all ranks, have priveleged backgrounds. But when you look at who they actually are, you realise that this is not the case and everone has a fair shot, if they have what it takes. My heart bursts to think good really does overcome the negative, the dreary and the apathetic themes of the news programmes each night.

Trying to create a link to the Telegraph video of it, which is really good... how on earth do I do it?, help! Anyhow, look at today's Telegraph/BBC webpage and the pictures on the Chatsworth Country Fair website and you're sure to be impressed.

The loaves and the fish

2011-08-17T15:56:00.000-07:00

Whenever I've read the story of the loaves and the fishes, I've wondered about the circumstances which led to it. Was it really a complete miracle, where the meagre amount of food stretched to 5000 people? I think the 5000 people listening to Jesus that day was in itself a huge coup for the cause of Christianity, or even Judaism in biblical times.

Today I've cooked a meal for our family on my husband's birthday, 10 people, including 4 children (a bit of a cheat, but hey, kids are hungry creatures!) So on request from my husband to do a simple chili & tacos I started out with two packs of mince, garlic & seasoning, tin of toms and left to simmer...then I added more toms and veg, simmered further and separated some to a 'kids pot' and added hot spices and beans to the 'grownups pot'...then I added a tin of chicken curry, a tin of beans and yet more toms...etc etc, yawn, to the grownups pot too. Huge pot of rice and 2 packets of tacos. Relatively unplanned, pile of tins of the side, quite embarrassing really for the claim of a home-made chili, but seemed to go down well and my 5 year old boy said it was the best tea he could think of...

Which has made me wonder if the fishes and the loaves actually came about through the community spirit of people wanting to stay and listen to Jesus and making impromptu rushes away from the site to bring refreshments to family and friends.

We will never know.....but I feel it's ok to speculate, and would not detract from the phenomena of Jesus' influence.

Movie and other Media Age Ratings for Children Not OK

2011-07-31T14:39:00.000-07:00

Is it really deemed to be of no effect that a 5 yrear old has viewed and played age innapropriate console games and seen a movie aged PG13+, meaning, 'Consider whether you're going to let you're 13 year old+ watch this'....and means not suitable for a 5 year old. See Commonsense Media for reviews.

People with children aged 16 had walked out of a 13+ movie due to the total lack of suitability for children. I then watched some clips and this confirmed that this is not a film I would have in the house, even for adults. This was echoed in the reviews by several parents.

But amazed me was the number of people who had actually taken under 13 year olds and then complained about it...to quote one, ''A.N. other' actress oiled up and sexy was not what my 6 year old needed to see'.

Whether it was sexualised content, violence, swearing or plain bad content/plot/role models, what is the shock in finding a film rated much older than the child unsuitable?

It goes on from there...'Bloody war violence', certificate 18 is not suitable for 5 or 6 year olds and really, how can anyone misunderstand why not?...Because of stupidity, lack of responsibility or just complete lack of consideration, to the child they are exposing it to.

The incidence of children being exposed to usuitable media is now a huge problem. What is going to cure the problem of the lack of supervision, and the word, 'No' from feeding the 'supply and demand' chain of the media makers from making the garbage and raking it in?

I can say 'No', but am prevented from protecting this child when he is not with his responsible and loving family.
Must be a problem echoed in courts up and down the country, courts that are not receptive to the problems which have created the Big Society and questions as to why today's youth is so disaffected in parts...maybe it is not to do with Broken Britain, ie broken families, but the actual quality of care the child gets in the clutches of those who do not really give a hoot about the effects on children or what they take in from the media.

Another wave of screwed up kids on the way, Prime Minister......I wonder what the verdict will be in 10 years time, and will the law be the same ass as it always has been.

Being Brave Souls and solving this would pave the way for better things to come, would that Doing the Right Thing was the real issue, instead of that which gains in a monetary sense from the European Union...oh, and lawyers lining their pockets, plus judges who do not have the blindest clue (should they for one minute care) about the connotations of what is to become of the children they make sweeping judgements about in court.

Priesting in a New World

2011-07-24T15:24:00.000-07:00

This article (see below) is over a year old, but was printed off and inserted in today's bulletin at Mass. It must be a reflection of how our parish priest must be feeling (and he always does seem anxious, tired and overworked. Having recently had surgery, he is still running 3 parish churches. Wow, is all I can say, as I have no idea what this involves, but here we have an insight;

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Priesting in a new world
By Fr Brendan Hoban

'A RELIC of the Curé (parish priest) of Ars is coming to Knock.

The Curé (or St John Vianney) was a parish priest in Ars, near Lyons in France, who was renowned for his piety – particularly for spending long hours in the confessional. He struggled to reach the academic standards in the seminary and, for some years, there was a doubt about whether he would ever be ordained.

However, after ordination and an appointment to Ars, he became famous throughout France and the Christian world. At one point the number of pilgrims coming to Ars had reached 20,000 a year.

A simple, gentle, patient and cheerful man, he was canonised in 1905 and proposed as given the title ‘Patron Saint of Parish Priests’. He’s in the news again because last June, when Pope Benedict opened ‘The Year of Priests’, he again proposed John Vianney as a model for priesthood. Hence, the decision to celebrate the Year of the Priest by bringing his relics to Knock and other venues.

I must admit my heart sank when I heard that the Curé of Ars was re-proposed as a model for priests in 2009. While I have nothing but admiration for the saintly Curé, what worked as a model for priesthood in 1905 hardly responds to the needs of our vastly different context for priesting in the 21st century.

It seems starkly obvious that dusting off a century-old model and refurbishing it for modern times wouldn’t work with the old Ford Model T and won’t work with the gentle Curé. What, . Trying to ride the same horse going in different directions.

We are expected to be approachable, sensitive, caring and available, inspiring leaders, competent administrators, good organisers, able preachers, involved with schools, organisations, committees, visiting the housebound, kind to the old, concerned about the young, sensitive to everyone and to be available to everyone all the time.

On top of that we have to deal with a series of complex pastoral situations, expected to respond to the complicated needs of people in the world today while at the same time implementing a series of often impractical norms and regulations from bishops who are at a safe distance from parish life and officials in Rome who never worked a day in a parish in their lives. And then if the priest doesn’t get it right a self-appointed nest of aggressive reactionary ultra-conservative Catholics are at hand to point out the errors of our waWe are caught in a kind of stereo world, and are not quite sure where the sounds are coming from or even sometimes what they mean. On the one hand we listen to ‘the signs of the times’ and respond to the needs of his people, including openness to lay involvement and sensitivity to people’s experiences and needs; and, on the other hand, we operate a hierarchical and patriarchal system of implicit control. Trying to ride the same horse going in different directions.

We are expected to be approachable, sensitive, caring and available, inspiring leaders, competent administrators, good organisers, able preachers, involved with schools, organisations, committees, visiting the housebound, kind to the old, concerned about the young, sensitive to everyone and to be available to everyone all the time.

On top of that we have to deal with a series of complex pastoral situations, expected to respond to the complicated needs of people in the world today while at the same time implementing a series of often impractical norms and regulations from bishops who are at a safe distance from parish life and officials in Rome who never worked a day in a parish in their lives. And then if the priest doesn’t get it right a self-appointed nest of aggressive reactionary ultra-conservative Catholics are at hand to point out the errors of our ways or report us to our bishop and to Rome.

Who, in his right mind, would want to find himself trying to respond to such competing and conflicting expectations? And with little or no appreciation of or training for such complex and demanding work. And, at the same time, to be forever on duty – living over the shop, as it were – and often living isolated and lonely lives, while colleagues leave for more satisfying climes and bishops and popes lob advice at us from the far distance. Is it any wonder we have few vocations? Isn’t the big wonder not that so many have left the priesthood but that so many of us are still hanging in there? Is it any wonder that so many of us are tired, tired, tired?

On top of all of that priests have become bad news. Unfairly and discouragingly, though understandably, all priests have had to bear the burden and the stigma of the clerical child sexual abuse scandals, in a way for example that teachers haven’t to bear vocational responsibility for the failures of an equivalent tiny minority of their colleagues. And, of course, as the priest is the easiest clerical target to get on the public radar, we are now endlessly humiliated and disparaged in the media and, if the truth be told, the butts of endless jokes about our sexual lives.

Priests – many of them suffering from overwork, lack of energy, confusion and burnout with little sense of support in or understanding of their plight – are now beginning to wonder is there anyone left on their side anymore.

Last Sunday as I bought an item in a shop the owner took my money, gave me the change and then handed me €20 and said, “You’re having a hard time of it, buy something for yourself”. The sudden gesture of disinterested kindness left me speechless and afterwards as I examined my own attitude to it I was struck by how much it meant to me and how vulnerable I was.

To tell you the truth I don’t think Pope Benedict has any idea about what’s happening to priests in the world: that we’re struggling to pastor our people in a complex and difficult world where old answers make no sense to new questions; that we find ourselves in a place we’ve never been before and we wonder, sometimes fearfully, about when or if we will emerge from the bleakness; that we’re disappearing and will be effectively gone in 20 years, unless the priesthood is reimaged and re-invented for a different world; that we need to examine issues like the ordination of women, celibacy and priesthood; and that encouraging us to be like the Curé of Ars seems like a last straw that might break many a camel’s back. And many a priest’s spirit.

I don’t expect to be in Knock for the relics of the Curé of Ars. The implications are just too depressing to contemplate.'

......What a huge shame. The dissilusionment of the writer in this article is palpable. Having just read it and having never before heard of Fr Hoban, it appears that he is a strong voice and head of the Catholic Priest Association. The thought of no priests, and no Catholic church is a frightening thought, to me, and watching our congregation today, to many others. There are not many Catholic churches in our area, but they are well used and maintained. The priests do seem slightly strained and/or, 'at arms length' when you exchange words after mass. The parish priest I mentioned at first, who seems about to buckle under the pressure at any time, is the warmest and gentlest man you could meet. I guess the heavy burdens of the parish weigh heavily on him.

Pope Ratzinger is a very intelligent, educated man, and a prolific writer. It would seem that he needs to seriously look at the way things are 'on the street' and act on this.

Religious Relics - Treasures of Heaven (BBC4) - revised post

2011-06-27T14:34:00.001-07:00

There was a stunning programme, which I watched on Sunday, having missed Mass for the first time in ages. It was about religious reliquary, and was on BBC 4, well worth a watch. It's about an hour long.

I was glued to it, but most most moved by the story of the assassination of Archbishop (The Most Reverend) Oscar Romaro of San Salvador, who spoke against the Salvadoran government in the 70's, when there was a major public uprising, savagely squashed by the government, who ordered the army to kill protestors out of hand. There is a clip of him quoting 'Thou shalt not kill' and telling soldiers they had no duty to obey an order which is against the law of God.

Romero was shot the next day in Church (24 March 1980), after speaking the sermon of the grains of wheat. The sermon was very apt, the grain of wheat may die but bring forth many sheaves of wheat. He knew he was about to die.

I have read more, and would like to devote a post to him, in the hope of introducing him to more people, as I unexpectedly was. The lady (interviewed in the programme, a scientist) who had much to do with preparing a shrine for him, containing his bloodstained alb and chasuble, was clearly very invested in him and said that she wanted people to be aware and to learn more about this man. There is an icon being made by a South Amerian artist which shows the story of his death; this entire shrine being a modern religious relic. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012248j. It's only on for 5 more days on iplayer.

PS One thing that did slightly irk me was that the presenter did state a couple of times that Catholics 'worship' saints. I think a huge chasm between the CofE and Catholics, created by Henry 8th and still remains to this day is founded on many myths and misconceptions about Catholic worship (which in essence is not really that much different to Cof E if we're talking about being Christian as opposed to anything else).

Please do note that the late Catholic Saint John Henry Newman started out as a Calvinist, became an Anglican scholar and high accademic/tutor at Oxford University, slating the Catholic faith as idolatrous and being degrading, but then on actually researching and becoming enlightened in the truth of the faith and the creed, converted to Catholocism.

Catholics are taught that we do not worship anyone but God (the Holy Trinity) and we indulge in the adoration of Our Lady, this is the reality. If we were to learn more about the truth of the differences between the Church divisions, and put aside the atrocities committed by anyone who claimed/claims religious cause, we may be far more successful in out efforts to gain in the ecumenical church today, which is what I think God is really aiming for.

I really think that if we are happy with out own beleifs and accept that others may have different ones, and that whoever we call God is the same one, then we would all probably argue alot less over something that God really did not intend us to argue over. I love the Catholic Mass and although I enjoy my son's CofE school Mass, I will stick to the Catholic Mass, I identify so much with it. But Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and the Muslim faith are all positive and wonderful if used in the right way. It's human fault that spoils religion, not religion itself.

New Beginnings, For me and our Bird table.

2011-06-18T15:06:00.001-07:00

Hurrah, Thursday was my last day in my job, 24 years after joining on a YTS at 16 years old, I have broken loose. It was wierd, I was tense all week but on the last day, although felt lots of affection for my long time colleagues, no regrets or sadness. I felt more upset today about it if anything although not sad to not be going in next week!
I've been very busy watching and feeding the wild birds in the garden lately...a nest of chicks fell on the floor when my husband was tree pruning and to see them so tiny, scrawny and vunerable made my maternal hormones kick in like mad. Hence now the cost of feeding an increasing fan club of the bird table has become a little eye popping. In addition to this, the biggest fattest squirrel I've ever seen visited the other day. He had an undeniable grin on his face, amazed at his good fortune..it was as if he's happened upon an oasis. A squirrel surely can't do too badly in the wild, but easy pickings or what. Well, my baking disasters also end up on the table, it's great to see them being demolished and enjoyed. This would not be possible by human consumption.
The son of the big fat squirrel visited today too. He's smaller but not shy at all. I thought he was a bit cheeky so I knocked on the window to shoo him away. In addition to this, some bigger birds are coming and chasing away the little ones. I'm a bit concerned by this, as the table is really for the small birds and fledglings. There are some really tiny balls of feathers hanging on there much of the time. So need to research about a mini scarecrow to fit on a bird table, or a sign which says, 'Big bullies keep off!', in bird language. Hmmm.