Volunteering for Blue Bear is my joy, but it’s not my job. I earn my living working as a security consultant which occasionally requires me to travel up and down the country, often staying in mid-level, business-type hotels. I quite enjoy it. It’s nice to have a pyramid of folded white towels waiting in your …
For some, Christmas is an unwelcome fuss of awkward work parties and uncomfortable family get-togethers, for others, it’s the mince pie-eating, mistletoe-smooching highlight of the year. I think Christmas should give us all something to look forward to, a glow of colour and sparkle of glitter in the deep darkness of mid-winter. A halftime break …
Amazing wasn’t it!? Wembley stadium housed a capacity crowd last night to watch England’s Lionesses defeat Germany in the Women’s European Championship Final. It was spectacular! The whole event was more than a sporting competition but a celebration of freedom, equality, and progress. Rather than larger louts swinging punches at each other, both sets of …
It’s hard to talk of hope at times like these. It feels insincere, shallow, a little offensive even. After twenty years of fighting the Taliban, UK and US forces withdraw and, in doing so, surrender the advances made in Afghan human rights and democracy to a fundamentalist group that rules through fear and violence. Haiti, …
In an attempt to survive Lockdown boredom, I decided to re-watch all of Disney’s feature-length films, from first to last, (yes, with 57 and counting, this could last a lifetime). I began with every intention of rolling my eyes at the endless display of helpless princesses that needed the aid of a prince and so …
I spent the past three months of lockdown living by the sea. Each day, come rain, wind, or snow, I’ve taken my coffee down to the beach for a morning stroll to clear my head, make space for the new day and watch the waves roll in and roll out. There’s something about the constancy …
I was recently asked to record a 1-minute acceptance speech for an online award ceremony. Sadly, it was made clear to me that this was a requirement made of each of the five nominees and couldn’t be taken as an indication of future glory. I found it surprisingly difficult to pen the 60-second epilogue which stood an …
Clothes horses and ironing boards. I’ve always thought that would make a good title for my autobiography, if I ever write one. I must have purchased at least eleven of them! Not because I am particularly fond of these household items, but rather due to the fact that they’re both awkwardly sized and relatively inexpensive, …
Christmas is going to be a little different this year. Quite unlike any other in our lifetime, I would hasten to suggest. This Christmas, in a scenario stranger than fiction, we have been forewarned by our governments where we can shop, how far we can travel and who we can and can’t hug, all in …
I was once admonished by a Business Coach for my frequent use of the word ‘can’t’ during one of our sessions. “Remove it from your vocabulary!”, I was told. “There is no cant. You simply choose to or choose not to.” Can’t had become the default answer to any uncomfortable challenge that was put my way. “I can’t …
This summer, we have been blessed at Blue Bear Coffee Co. with two exciting, creative talents to help us develop our social media and storytelling content. We are delighted to welcome on-board Phil and Sophie, and have started by asking what bothers them about the world and what are they doing about it? Phil Grant …
