Month: January 2015

Saving Ashcroft

This is a personal account of Thursday’s public meeting of the Save Ashcroft campaign, with some extra information and contact details for the campaign thrown in.

On Thursday 8th January in Norwich there was a public meeting organised by the Save Ashcroft Campaign.

Ashcroft is a women only mental health facility in Norfolk – the only one in the entire county to be precise.

To quote from the online petition that has been running on this issue, which is available at https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-ashcroft:

Why is this important?

Ashcroft provides essential care services for women who experience mental health difficulties. It is an almost unique service, being one of only two women-only specialist mental health units in the country and is a hugely valuable resource.

Norfolk should be proud of its assets, not trying to save a few pounds forcing Ashcroft to close its doors.

More information about Ashcroft and this campaign can be found at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-30352968

To contact the campaign email saveashcroft@gmail.com or visit the Save Ashcroft Facebook page or @SaveAshcroft on twitter. Mention twitter, my own following on @aspitweets has just topped the 1,500 mark.

The meeting was very inspiring with lots of moving stories from people who have previously benefited from the existence of Ashcroft. Simon Wright MP, ultra loyal member of the coalition government whose cuts (which he voted for time after time) showed up and was given an absolute roasting, which was quite amusing to listen to. The current state of play is that funding has been secured for seven beds for three years, which is excellent but not enough – the only acceptable final position is that Ashcroft’s future is 100% guaranteed.

I only have a few pictures this time…

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A Hectic Couple of Days

Between two hard days imaging at James and Sons and an important evening engagement in Norwich (of which more in a later post) I have not had a lot of time for blogging recently.

On Wednesday I took part in a bridge evening at The Jolly Sailors, Brancaster. Though the standard was pretty ordinary the people were nice, and it was an enjoyable evening. I won 70p at the tables, a respectable amount given the stakes for which we were playing.

Yesterday and today were taken up with imaging, some of the products of which I shall share with you…

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The first of three arrangements of racing cars - decide which one you like best.
The first of three arrangements of racing cars – decide which one you like best.
Racing cars 2.
Racing cars 2.
My third and final effort with the racing cars.
My third and final effort with the racing cars.

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The Ched Evans Case

This is not a subject that I have blogged about before, but anyone familiar with my personal twitter account (@aspitweets) will already be familiar with my position on this subject. I have been provoked into producing a blog post about this by the behaviour of Oldham Athletic FC, allegedly supported  by the PFA.

First up, to deal with the most tiresomely repeated objection made by the pro-Evans faction to those on my side of the debate: He has not served his sentence – he has been released under licence half way through his sentence and if he fails to meet his probation conditions he can be sent straight back to jail.

Secondly, having a conviction for a crime this serious debars Evans automatically from many jobs. Being a professional sportsperson should be one of those. Whether or not it should happen, we all know that children make heroes of sport stars, and that on its own is sufficient for there to be a child protection issue here. Evans should, as others in his position he were not former professional footballers would have to, go through whatever programme is deemed appropriate for ex-offenders looking to find jobs.

While i bitterly regret the presence of people so unprincipled as to make this necessary, the governing bodies (FA, UEFA, FIFA) need to take action in situations like this. In theory, since Evans’ probation conditions ban him for going abroad a lifetime ban from the FA would be sufficient to make sure that whether they want to or not no club can sign Evans. In practice, I would like as insurance to see UEFA and FIFA match that life ban, to make sure that there is no getting around it.

I have a message to all who currently support Oldham Athletic: turn your back on this club because it no longer merits your sujpport. If your are a season ticket holder, return that ticket and demand your money back. And this last applies to supporters of Oldham’s opponents as well: do not turn out for the games – make Oldham play in empty grounds for so long as they keep Evans on their books.

I never like to put up a blog post without pictures, so here are some from yesterday at work…

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A classic FA Cup match and Some Other Stuff.

Last night’s FA Cup 3rd round match between AFC Wimbledon and Liverpool was thoroughly enjoyable. Although two goals from Steven Gerrard were enough to prevent what would have been an almighty upset, there were moments in the match when memories strayed back to 1988.

The BBC’s Assistant Political Editor, Norman Smith suffered yesterday for parroting the Tory line, a hecklers shout of “Get back to London” being one of the politer comments. The full story can be read at: http://voxpoliticalonline.com/2015/01/06/pillock-bbc-reporters-duff-nhs-question-makes-milibands-day/

One of the pictures I tweeted yesterday on @aspitweets was of one of the new buildings at Hillington Square, and I received a response from the official Hillington Square twitter account, @HillingtonSq thanking me for doing so.

I have plenty of photos to share…

From yesterday in King's Lynn.
From yesterday in King’s Lynn.

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No not the Hillington Square shot mentioned in the text - this was taken a day later.
No not the Hillington Square shot mentioned in the text – this was taken a day later.

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The first of a few pics from Sunday.
The first of a few pics from Sunday.

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The Hillington Square shot that was praised on twitter.
The Hillington Square shot that was praised on twitter.

A Bumpy Ride for the Tories!

Today is FA Cup third round day, but the own goal that dominates it has been scored by the Tories. Their first campaign poster of 2015 has backfired quite spectacularly with a variety of suitably altered versions appearing all over the internet.

I have a good one in my added media section courtesy of https://twitter.com/RantyHighwayman and also a good one from Sid (https://twitter.com/red13charlie)

Sid's version of the infamous poster
Sid’s version of the infamous poster

Fortunately, living in King’s Lynn I have a very good candidate to vote for in this general election – Jo Rust (Labour).

I also have some of my own pictures, both from King’s Lynn today and from yesterday at work…

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One example of effective alterations to the Tory poster!
One example of effective alterations to the Tory poster!
These last images are from yesterday at work.
These last images are from yesterday at work.

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An Urgent Petition

 Below is the plain text version of a document that I have a fancier version of in the added media section:

IMPORTANT PETITION – PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE

I came across this about the Waltham Forest Disability Resource Centre on twitter not long ago. As someone who has been running a social/ support group for adults with Asperger’s syndrome without ANY FUNDING AT ALL since October 2012 I have some understanding of how the people involved with this group will be feeling, which is why I urge you click the link below, sign this petition and share with as many people as possible:

http://www.change.org/p/councillor-robbins-and-fellow-council-members-council-to-reconsider-the-decision-to-cut-all-funding-for-waltham-forest-disability-resource-centre-which-will-prevent-its-charitable-aims-of-supporting-the-disabled-community

URGENT!!

As well as the prettied up version I have some photos to share…

Petition

The prettied up version of the main post.
The prettied up version of the main post.

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