Guest blog written by Charlotte Pascall. Photo credit Michael Weatherall. It’s the end of the summer holidays. Teachers, like me, around the country are commiserating with each other as we face another long autumn term ahead. Parents are desperately trying to affix name labels to every item of their children’s clothing as possible, and celebrating …
Nothing categorises your social standing like international air travel.
A couple of weeks ago my wife and I were married (wahey). The following day we travelled down to Gatwick to jet off on our honeymoon. No points for guessing where. Still glowing with newlywed excitement, we entered our British Airways 747 ready for a nine-hour flight shoehorned into an economy seat at the back of the plane.
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 …
