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Welcome to my blog which has been featured in The Guardian, on BBC News 24, Andrew Marr's Sunday morning show and Woman's Hour. It is also being archived by The British Library. Please contact me on 07939 811961 if you would like details about my creative, professional services.

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      October 2010
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      Camp Hope – The Great Escape

      I had planned to stay up and watch the first Chilean miner being brought to the surface – ending 69 agonising days beneath the earth’s surface. I had wanted to share their exhilaration and see their faces as they were reunited with their loved ones. I’m afraid I nodded off as this didn’t happen until 4am, but I immediately switched on to Sky News first thing this morning just as the third miner was brought up in that amazing capsule. It was an extraordinary scene.

      What has impressed me most is the composed nature of the men, the way they supported each other through their nightmare ordeal and found comfort in their strong religious faith, the meticulous attention to detail during the rescue and all the considerations that have been made to help them cope with their nerve wracking ascent.

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      Some questions for Lord Browne over soaring university tuition fees

      The radical review of university tuition fees by Lord Browne will allow universities to charge unlimited fees. It proposes a free market in fees, though universities charging more than £6,000 a year would lose a proportion of the fee to help cover the cost of student borrowing.

      Not only does this sound complicated, it will also deter many poorer students from applying, and even “middle class”.  But why is Lord Browne on one hand expecting teenagers to amass a huge debt for their university education, and then on the other hand saying that if they later have a job which doesn’t pay very much, they won’t have to pay it back?

      He said: “They will only pay it back when their earnings go above £21,000. If you choose to go into a job which doesn’t pay very much or if you choose to go out of the workforce to build a family, you won’t have to pay it back.”

      That doesn’t make sense to me, it doesn’t seem good economics. Surely a loan is a loan and should be repaid, just like any other loan, else it is wasted public money, which defeats the object of this review.

      It is estimated that only about 40 per cent of university graduates will repay their entire loans — including interest — with the rest of the debts being written off by the government. So how can this be perceived as a successful and workable scheme?

      Crucially, what guarantee will students have of improved teaching quality and more contact hours with lecturers?

      This is also set to result in the first major coalition confrontation as Lib Dem MPs  signed a pledge not to vote for rising tuition fees during the general election.

      I shall be visiting a university open day this weekend with my younger son James. It will be interesting to see what parents and lecturers say about this. I have felt a sense of relief during our previous visits that the review had not yet been published, that the moment which hard-pressed parents of future university students had been dreading was yet to come…

      Update 13 October: Cambridge’s Lib Dem MP Julian Huppert promises to stick to his election pledge and will oppose university tuition fee increases. You can read his interview in the Cambridge News here. This issue contributed to the defeat of the city’s Labour MP Anne Campbell back in 2005 and is obviously very important to Cambridge’s large student population. This world leading university is proactively seeking bright students from less privileged backgrounds and, like many other other universities, may suffer as a result of these proposals.

      Nick Hillman, our Conservative parliamentary candidate who stood against Julian in the 2010 general election, reminds me that although Julian does not support Lord Browne’s proposals, he has not come up with any ideas about what should be done.

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      James Cracknell and Headway

      All charities are very grateful for any celebrity endorsement they can get, though we do not seek it from such tragic circumstances as this. Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell sustained a devastating brain injury this July while cycling in America, and I am pleased to learn that the champion rower has been making good progress since his return to the UK.

      His stunning wife Beverley Turner, a television and radio presenter, will describe on Radio 4′s Woman’s Hour tomorrow morning the impact his brain injury has had on the whole family, and will say that although James is recovering well, there is a long way to go as many of his difficulties are not obvious to the general public. This is all too familiar to families of those with a loved one who has an acquired brain injury, who have suffered a tragic accident like this without warning, and can affect their lives for ever..

      Peter McCabe, CEO of Headway UK, will also be on the show to support Beverley and talk about how brain injury can affect families, explaining why brain injury is often referred to as the “hidden disability”.

      Thank you Beverley for highlighting these issues publicly, and I sincerely hope James continues to make good progress.

      Headway Cambridgeshire
      is the chosen charity I support as its chair of trustees. I never fail to be moved and inspired by the dedicated staff who work there, and the service users I meet who have suffered a brain injury.

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      How did you spend 10/10/10?

      Today is 10/10/10 and is meant to be incredibly lucky for some.

      I spent the day visiting a stunning garden which is only open three times a year to the public. It is close to where I live and I can’t understand why I have never visited it before. I can thank one of my blog readers for alerting me to today’s open day, and I took my friend Wendy with me, an art conservator and accomplished jazz singer, who heads off to Australia next weekend on a five month stay.

      As we drove through into the gracious grounds of  Chippenham Park, Wendy and I marvelled at the wonderful collection of varied treas. We marvelled at the creative planting and clipped hedges, the clever and amusing vistas and fabulous sculptures which we adored. We both thought it was an incredibly witty garden, and its designer clearly has a terrific sense of humour and succeeded in bringing the garden alive in a captivating way.

      We were not the only visitors who were hugely impressed. One man told me he considered it superior to the National Trust’s Anglesey Abbey, and one of the plant sellers told me he felt it was the best garden in East Anglia. It really is a very special, if belated, discovery. So 10/10/10 was certainly fortuitous for me.

      There are so many other tiny corners of England that gladden the heart in the same way. “There’s just nothing like this in Australia,” mused Wendy, with a sad tone in her voice. “There’s nothing like it there at all. England just has so much history, and there is such a cosy feel about it.”

      Wendy loves the beaches down under, as well as Sydney and its spectacular harbour. But this is a corner of England that tugs at the heart. When she is thousands of miles away, Wendy will look back and remember how we we ended our visit tucking into the tasty home made cakes which were served on the manicured lawn. As we basked in the warm autumn sun sipping our tea, I felt Wendy was already beginning to feel homesick.

      I’m looking forward to her return next spring because I hope to join her on a house hunting trip to Puglia where she wants to buy a property near the beach….

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      Did you meet the underground strike buddies in Covent Garden?

      Who brightened up the day for frustrated London commuters when they faced more chaos and severe disruption caused by the latest underground strike action?

      Were you one of the commuters in Covent Garden cheered up by a random act of kindness from a mystery team of buddies?

      Just check these videos to see if you can identify which company sprang into action to live up to its name – from giving out flowers and a cuddly toy, to preserving the modesty of a woman who needed to get changed for work….

      And…

      Thanks can be sent to team buddy at First Direct

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      The Eagles have landed!

      Besides the surprise of seeing the considerable lead Yvette Cooper had with 232 votes in a Shadow Cabinet ballot – what would have happened if she had entered the Labour leadership contest instead of her husband? – I was not expecting such strong support for twin sisters Maria and Angela Eagle, neither of whom are household names.

      Maria Eagle, 49, (left) is the new Shadow Transport Secretary and her previous roles include Equalities Minister as well as  Minister for Children. She played chess for England and is a keen cricketer. She is the daughter of a printworker and went to Oxford. Voting records show she voted against laws to stop climate change, but will her brief not include concerns about this, and getting traffic off the road to reduce carbon emissions?

      Angela Eagle, (right) a former union official, made news headlines two years ago when she became the first female MP to tie the knot in a civil partnership. She has been appointed Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. She was also educated at Oxford and her previous middle-ranking roles included social security minister  and pensions minister. She is a chess player too and was joint winner of the British Girls’ Under-18 championship. They are currently the only pair of sisters in the Commons.

      There was a commendable record number of eight women elected to Labour’s new Shadow Cabinet, with another three women already in Cabinet posts. The present coalition Cabinet has only four women!

      The full Shadow Cabinet is:

      Leader of the Opposition Ed Miliband MP

      Deputy Leader and Shadow International Development Harriet Harman MP
      Shadow Chancellor Alan Johnson MP
      Shadow Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Minister for Women and Equalities Yvette Cooper MP
      Shadow Secretary Home Ed Balls MP
      Chief Whip Rosie Winterton MP
      Shadow Education and Election Coordinator Andy Burnham MP
      Shadow Lord Chancellor, Secretary of State for Justice Sadiq Khan MP
      Shadow Work and Pensions Douglas Alexander MP
      Shadow Business, Innovation and Skills John Denham MP
      Shadow Health John Healey MP
      Shadow Communities and Local Government Caroline Flint MP
      Shadow Defence Jim Murphy
      Shadow Energy and Climate Change Meg Hillier MP
      Shadow Leader of the House of Commons Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP
      Shadow Transport Maria Eagle MP
      Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Mary Creagh MP
      Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Angela Eagle MP
      Shadow Northern Ireland Shaun Woodward MP
      Shadow Scotland Ann McKechin MP
      Shadow Wales Peter Hain MP
      Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Ivan Lewis MP
      Shadow Leader of the House of Lords Baroness Royall of Blaisdon
      Shadow Minister for the Olympics Tessa Jowell MP
      Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office Liam Byrne MP
      Lords Chief Whip Lord Bassam of Brighton
      Shadow Attorney-General Baroness Scotland

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      Johnny Depp school visit – if you don’t ask, you don’t get!

      The surprise visit of Hollywood hearthrob Johnny Depp to a primary school after being sent a letter by a nine-year-old schoolgirl asking him to help her classmates “mutiny” against the teachers just proves that if you don’t ask, you don’t get, and nothing is impossible.

      Shocked staff at the school in Greenwich had only 10 minutes notice that the world’s most famous pirate was going to appear with some fellow shipmates; they are filming at a nearby naval college. How could he refuse the enchanting letter penned by Beatrice Delap which said:

      ‘Captain Jack Sparrow, At Meridian Primary School, we are a bunch of budding young pirates and we were having a bit of trouble mutiny-ing against the teachers, and we’d love if you could come and help.

      ‘Beatrice Delap, aged nine, a budding pirate.’

      This video shows what happened when he turned up:

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      The complexities of international adoption

      International adoptions should not just be accessible for celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Madonna.

      I’ve heard of two stories about about these adoptions recently – one is inspiring, and the other is tragic, denying a young boy left disfigured after being thrown face down on a fire, the chance of a loving home.

      I’ll tell you about 10year-old Kevin Wafula first who was flown to America from Kenya for major reconstructive surgery to his face after being hurled face-first into a burning fire when he was only 4 or 5 years old. He was left with a disfigured face and the loss of his left hands, and had been cruelly abandoned by his parents on the streets of Kenya when he was little, and lived in an orphanage there.

      The generosity of philanthropist Paul Zimmerman (Kevin’s legal guardian in the States) and the South Hill Rotary Club funded Kevin’s trip from Kenya. Shriners Hospital provided his reconstructive surgeries free of charge in the Washington community where he settled  in well the local school. He has had three major reconstructions over the last few months, enabling Kevin to sleep with his eyes closed, but he now has to leave America. On 18th October Kevin is due to fly back to Kenya. Several people in his American community have warmed to him so much that they expressed an interest in adopting him, but are unable to because of complex international adoption bureaucracy. He will return to his orphanage, turning his back on the kind of hope and future opportunities he may never have again.

      I find that tragic.

      Then there is the inspirational story of Francesca Polini who lives in London with her banker husband Rick and offered to adopt a black or Asian child because of the national shortage of ethnic minority couples offering to adopt – only to be refused because they were “too white”. What makes Francesca’s story remarkable is that she was not wanting to adopt because of infertility difficulties, but because she and her husband genuinely wanted to give a child from a deprived background the chance to live in a loving environment.

      Francesca, a former Greenpeace communications director, eventually adopted a baby girl from Mexico after overcoming countless obstacles and bureaucracy and believes there should be a radical review of the UK adoption system, with regulated international adoption agencies being able to help families in the UK, instead of being forced to use less reputable agencies overseas.

      She has also set up an organisation called Adoption with Humanity, and has written an enthralling book recounting her experiences. A quick search on mumsnet shows that some of the countries families have used for international adoptions include Guatemala, Kazakhstan, China, Thailand and Russia. And David Miliband and his wife Louise are perhaps the UK’s most famous couple for adopting two baby boys from America.

      I met Francesca recently and I’m convinced she has the determination, energy and skills to help make a change to the complexities surrounding international adoptions in the UK.

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      Dating 2.0, create your perfect man

      Hand picking the perfect man, bit by bit. This video should put a smile on your face ;)

      Why not use one the social network tabs and share this with your friends too, put a smile on their face as well :)

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      UK agency axed which helps find missing people

      The families of missing people are devastated to learn that the National Policing Improvement Agency which helps find missing people in the UK is to be axed to save government funding. The NPIA maintains a database of 44,000 people listed on its Missing Persons’ Bureau, and it also has a database of unidentified bodies. It provides funding and operational support for police to conduct cold case reviews to identify these missing people.

      Chief Constable Peter Neyroud, the NPIA’s chief executive, explains how vital their work is: “The NPIA is the centre of expertise for the police service in cases of missing people. There are around 1,000 cases of unidentified bodies across the country, dating back more than 50 years. We are trying to create stories with endings for families who may still be grieving. It is extraordinary how many people know someone who has gone missing. Most of them return but many do not and these stories have no endings.”

      Who is going to provide an ending to these tragic stories if the NPIA is axed? The vital work this agency does has a considerable impact on the lives of those who are desperately searching for a missing person, like Valerie Nettles, whose son Damien went missing 14 years ago, and says: “That leaves families like mine back in limbo again, without focus, support, direction, hope. There is more hope for a lost puppy with the support of the RSPA than there is for my lost boy and others like him?”

      A Facebook campaign has been launched to save the agency, and supporters are asked to write to their MPs objecting to the cutbacks. This is a letter they are urging people to copy and forward to their MPs:

      The NPIA Missing Persons Bureau is the national and international point of contact in the UK for all missing and unidentified cases and is the entre for information exchange, knowledge and expertise on the missing.  It provides an integrated service for missing adults and children. People who go missing can travel extensively, crossing borders on a regional, national and international level.  There is a real need for a national operational unit to manage both missing children and adults.

      Currently, outside of the smaller NGOs, there is no support for parents of children abducted into the UK and little available to parents of children missing abroad, having the NPIA Missing Person’s Bureau has enabled smaller NGOs to get additional governmental department services so rightly deserved in these cases.

      The Bureau also has strong productive links with related groups and charities, including Forever Searching.  It has provided a platform to bring these smaller NGOs together to share and exchange information and advice, and more importantly to give the families and friends of missing loved ones a voice through these organisations.

      Let us highlight for you the risk and the impact that closing of the NPIA Bureau would have on the issue of missing people.

      • patterns of missing indicating crime and harm going unnoticed
      • long term unresolved cases
      • unresolved suspicious and murder cases
      • duplication of effort trying to resolve these cases and safeguard individuals
      • inconsistent and impeded response to cross-border cases
      • inability to improve and disseminate good practice
      • failure to resolve cases using other national services such as the national Missing Persons DNA Database, Missing Persons Dental Records file and the National Fingerprint Database
      • lack of oversight of joined up multi-agency services

      Again, let us highlight for you the risks of splitting the services offered by NPIA into other agencies:

      There will be confusion around responsibilities in various cases involving adults and children who go missing together and children who turn 18 whilst missing. There will be significant difficulties regarding those aged 16-25 years.  This age group is vulnerable as they are in a transition period between childhood and adulthood, i.e. information and advice drop in service Check-Point provide services for young people up to the age of 22. http://www.torbay.gov.uk/checkpoint  Young people who are cared for in the care system are eligible for support until they are 25.

      Separating missing children and adult police co-ordination will have a negative impact on the police response.  We believe that the Missing Persons Bureau is essential to link missing persons cases and link victims of murder who have been reported missing.

      Missing people are known to travel large distances; this is especially true in cases of parental abduction.  Our charity has much experience in this area from its support to families and friends.  A national service like the NPIA is needed to resolve these cases.

      Without a national Bureau working to resolve both missing adult and child cases we have great concerns that the impetus of the recent Taskforce may be lost. Some of the issues identified by the Missing Persons Taskforce include:

      • Lack of public understanding on the issue of missing people.
      • Data collection is poor.
      • Responses from multi-agencies are not co-ordinated.
      • Roles and responsibilities of all agencies are not clear
      • Levels of support to families of the missing is not sufficient

      Further details on these recommendations to improve the multi-agency response to missing incidents are set out in The Missing Persons Taskforce report.  http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/Missing-persons-taskforce.html

      Supported by smaller NGO’s such as ourselves and Missing Abroad, the group Family and Friends of the Missing have been calling for additional support to people caught up in this nightmare situation.  This resulted in EDM1119 which subsequently came to nothing.  We urge you to continue the work of the NPIA Missing Person’s Bureau within the new National Crime Agency.  Strong links to the charitable sector are also needed to provide the necessary support and comfort to the families left behind.

      The most important issue for families and friends is to have a unified, structured and supportive Governmental body working to in this field to help find those who are missing.

      We would respectfully request that the services provided for missing people are not compromised by the re-structure of police services and the phasing out of the NPIA.

      You can find your MP here, please write him the above letter. I shall.

      Please read here the 14-year agonising search by Val Nettles for her missing son Damien.

      In memory of those who are still missing.

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