The Women's Institute and soggy bottoms - cakes, of course!

Facing the might of the Women's Institute can be a tormenting experience - they're certainly not all Damson jam and Jerusalem.

Remember the then Prime Minister Tony Blair being heckled, jeered and slow hand-clapped by these formidable guardians of Middle England when he addressed the WI conference back in 2000 to speak about Labour's traditional values?

The only time I've been on the three underpant trail with the WI was a few years ago when I had to audition for the good ladies in order to speak at their meetings. I auditioned with my friend Sally Hillyear, who was then the fund-raising manager for the Hampshire Autistic Society.

On the back of my fund-raising running adventure around the British Isles in 2007, we thought it would be a great idea to roll out a series of talks to WI's, Rotary clubs, business groups, schools and other organisations to boost the profile of the charity, autism and to promote the book which I had published.

I'll cut to the quick, and here's an extract from my book, "Around the British Isles in 80 Races":

A few days after the Harlow run and the day before my trip to South Wales, I had a tough gig to attend in aid of the running project. I had to audition before the Women’s Institute, the same trusted organisation of fearsome ladies who once gave Tony Blair a torrid time at their national conference a few years back.

This was the Hampshire WI who, a few times each year, hold auditions for speakers wanting to talk to their members around the county. You could describe it as the WI does X-Factor. I even paid a fee for the privilege of attending the audition and then £10 for an entry in the WI handbook if successful. Fellow WI members were invited to attend the auditions, and for this outing 43 ladies had turned up to the headquarters in Winchester to hear four speakers talk on a variety of subjects from press photography and the world of gastronomic delights, to adventures in Borneo and my subject…autism and running.

I was there with Sally from the Hampshire Autistic Society. As we were greeted by a lovely lady called Cherry, offered tea and small talk, I was bricking it. So too was Sally who admitted later that if we could have made a dignified exit then she would have – and I would have joined her. We could hear the laughter from upstairs where the Fleet Street photographer was in full swing. We didn't have too many laughs in our half-hour ditty.

At the appointed hour, a petite, silver-haired lady called Fearne met us and led us into the room where the fearsome-looking 43 ladies greeted us. It was intimidating. We had five minutes to set up, so Sally and I busied ourselves putting up a display, plugging in a computer and a projector for a five-minute film which we wanted to show at the end.

I am never normally edgy with public speaking, but it was the sight of those ladies clutching their pads of paper and pens and the fact they were judging us which was unnerving. They were no Simon Cowell, but this was so bizarre.  When the lady in front row started scribbling some notes within seconds of Sally talking I thought “uh oh, we’re dead in the water!”

In truth the talk went well as the ladies warmed to us. We got a few laughs; we also got some tears at the end from the video which I had put together with a friend from the BBC telling the story of autism through the eyes of Ross. It was an exhausting half hour, I was sweating badly by the time we left the room to make way for the talk from the flame-haired speaker about life in Borneo.

How did we do? Well, amazingly we got accepted, and during 2008 Sally and I have been doing a few WI talks in Hampshire.

So since then, I've given a fair few talks with Sally, who has now moved on to a similar job with the Fire Fighter's Charity, and it was a blast. People were always very generous with their donations and the WI are a lovely organisation with endearing values of fellowship, along with care and compassion, essential values which are too easily forgotten in today's sometimes selfish and greedy society.

In recent years, I've tended to give talks on journalism, and the other week I caught up with the Polegate WI, just outside of Eastbourne for their Thursday monthly meeting. The talk went well. It was chatty and conversational with a group of 30 ladies, and afterwards I made a beeline straight for the cake stall for a cup of tea and a piece of cake!

The point of writing this particular blog was partly to mention about the relevance of the WI today - it is very much an anachronism of a bygone age, but listening to the ladies talk about issues in their community (in this case they were thinking about protesting over the closure of Polegate's public toilets) and that fellowship for one another, this warms the heart. 

One wonders whether organisations like the WI and Rotary, for example, will still be around in 50 years' time. As its stalwart members pass away, will these community organisations wither too? I hope not. I hope there will be future generations to carry the torch, otherwise where will all the great cake-making go?!!

These aren't sleepy, docile organisations. There is an edge to them. I was caught aback when the WI chairman at Polegate talked about using Facebook and silver surfing to promote what the organisation is doing and to engage with the local community. The WI and Facebook, what next, Twitter?!! But why not?

Both of my parents who are in their 70s use social media and the website - my mother to research her family tree and my father to pursue his love of stamps, as well as keeping in touch with the family. 

For my next blog, I will write about the social media conference I attended last week at MSN headquarters in London which, to me, painted a very frightening and worrying future for unchecked journalism through the rise in citizen journalism with social media and the web.

But for now, here is the WI embracing social media and the web in the way it should; an exciting doorway which opens up whole new vistas.

I believe if we ever lose the likes of the WI or Rotary, then we will have lost our sense of community. We’ll also have lost some of the best cake-makers too with not a soggy bottom in sight!

One week after the Boston Marathon bombing, is revealed faith lethally dangerous nonsense?

AS London Marathon runners today remembered the victims of the Boston bombing, so we can only hope that in time we may discover what exactly prompted the deadly attacks.

Interrogators are waiting to question Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who lies in a serious condition in hospital after being captured on Friday following the massive manhunt when two women and an eight-year-old boy were killed in blasts close to the finish line of the marathon.

Older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev died during a gunfight with police in Boston on Thursday night, and the motives for the attacks are endless - a premeditated, well-organised attack, or a smaller, isolated deadly assault.

One report has suggested the FBI were apparently aware of Tamerlan's radical support of Islam since he had been interviewed in the wake of the September 11th attacks. However, the FBI decided not to pursue the case any further.

As the finger of suspicion predictably, though not necessarily accurately, pointed towards Islam, NBC News reported that Tamerlan made six visits to what is described as "a known Islamic militant" in a mosque in the Russian republic of Dagestan. Of course, time may show that religion had no part to play in this dreadful crime which caused shockwaves because of the killing of innocents in such a public arena.

The outpouring of solidarity among London Marathon runners, with the 30-second silence and the wearing of black ribbons, only demonstrated the special bond which unites runners, whatever their sex or age, whatever their nationality, whatever their skin, whatever their religion.

I was in church this morning listening to the running-mad vicar of Christ Church in Swindon, Simon Stevenette, extol the virtues of our wonderful sport. Wearing a ropey pair of well-worn running shoes for the beginning of Holy Communion, the vicar spoke about the disciplines of marathon running in his address to the junior congregation and what Christians could learn from this single-mindedness in pursuit of their faith and their love for Jesus.

We even sang the best running-based song in the hymn book, Sydney Carter's "One more step along the world I go....from the old things to the new....keep me travelling along with you."

Assuming religion, and that still remains a huge assumption, had a part to play in the Boston attacks, I wonder sometimes whether the Islamic world would have demonstrated the same restraint and tolerance had a radical Christian terrorist committed an atrocity in the Arab world in the name of their religion. We saw the outrage and protests prompted by the uploading of an anti-Islam film on YouTube and the publication of Muhammad cartoons in French and Danish magazines to recognise instantly the deep-rooted passion.

And I am then reminded of a quote by Richard Dawkins, the Oxford author famed for his popular science books on evolution, along with his views on religion, atheism, and cultural evolution. This quote was pointed out by my friend Jenny, a newspaper cutting stuck to her kitchen mirror to serve as a constant reminder about the futility of religious extremism.

Many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense. 
Beliefs might lack all supporting evidence but, we thought, if people needed a crutch for consolation, where's the harm? September 11th changed all that. 
Revealed faith is not harmless nonsense, it can be lethally dangerous nonsense. 
Dangerous because it gives people unshakeable confidence in their own righteousness. 
Dangerous because it gives them false courage to kill themselves, which automatically removes normal barriers to killing others. 
Dangerous because it teaches enmity to others labelled only by a difference of inherited tradition.
And dangerous because we have all bought into a weird respect, which uniquely protects religion from normal criticism.
Let's now stop being so damned respectful!

Whatever our beliefs, or not, revealed faith, as Dawkins describes it, is extremely dangerous. Revealed faith may not necessarily be the seeds of the carnage which was reaped in Boston seeing dozens of innocent people maimed - 176 bystanders and runners were injured - yet as an uncontrolled entity, which we have seen tear apart communities across the world, from Sri Lanka to Syria, from Karachi to Kenya,  it is absolutely lethal.

Those who carry out such acts are not believers, but patently psychotic.

They do not carry the courage of their religion, more the folly of their own personal beliefs - whether it is Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist or a murderous act perpetrated in the name of their nationality, tribal belonging or sexuality. Instead they merely insult the purity of their beliefs.

They are an invidious poison for which there is no place in our society and for which there is seemingly no antidote either.

If you can't run a marathon without a terrorism risk the world is in a dark place

THIS is 78-year-old Bill Iffrig lying on the floor close to the finish of the Boston Marathon, stunned and dazed after being caught in the horrific explosion which killed three people.

Watch the video, and he is the grey-haired man in the orange vest who felt the full force of the blast's shockwave and was seen crumpled to the ground on the Tarmac.

Initialy when I saw the TV footage, I thought he had died. Instead, Bill, who comes from Lake Stevens in Washington State, suffered nothing more than a scrape to his knee, picked himself up and courageously finished his third Boston Marathon in little over four hours. www.heraldnet.com/article/20130415/NEWS01/704159868#Lake-Steven-runner-just-feet-from-blast-in-Boston

As my running friend, Gary O'Brien, neatly wrote on his Facebook page: "He got up and finished. Yet another one the terrorists failed to beat." Spot on Gary!

As I went for an early morning run over the South Downs this morning, I revelled in the spectacular view of the grassy slopes on a windy, drizzly morning overlooking the English Channel - sharing the freedom which the spineless and cowardly terrorists would deny us.

Thoughts turned to Boston and what those amazing runners went through - many of whom unselfishly ventured to hospitals in their running kit afterwards to give blood. We are a special breed - not unique - but in our own way we share a spirit and determination, as well as a steely resolve, which is not necessarily shared by others.

Runners enjoy a kindred spirit, even in the heat of battle. For marathon runners, in particular, everyone recognises what those around them have endured over the past four or five months of preparation and training; the hard miles run, the sacrifices made, putting their body and mind on the line to complete 26 miles.

And for thousands of runners, whether it was Boston yesterday or in London this coming weekend, they will also have used whatever reserves they have left, in the midst of their punishing training schedules, to fund-raise countless millions of pounds for good causes.

I love runners and I love running because of that special cameraderie. Over the Downs this morning I passed a couple of runners setting out as the sun was rising. In silent, respectful acknowledgement with a raised hand and a nod of the head, we set off on our own little journeys. You don't necessarily get that in other sports.

I have run three marathons and written before how if you don't believe in God, running those 26 miles is the nearest thing to a spritiual experience you will enjoy. It is that sheer goodness of mankind which sweeps over you like a warm wave as the crowds cheer you on unashamedly, and fellow runners pull you through this Holy Grail of the sport.

Thank heavens I was wearing dark glasses at my most recent London Marathon when I felt tears as I ran down Birdcage Walk - it was raw emotion and relief at having completed this epic journey. There is no feeling close to the ecstasy which sweeps your body when you cross that finish line.

And now I am thinking about the possibility of running the Amsterdam Marathon this autumn!

Relief at finishing the London Marathon

During the Olympic and Paralympic games, you half expected to hear of a terrorist outrage. The oxygen of publicity and all that jazz when the world's attention was focused on this great sporting carnival. It didn't happen.

So why did terrorists choose the Boston Marathon and set off the bombs, not when the elite runners were passing and when the television cameras would be fully trained on the finish, but on those runners finishing in four hours - almost two hours after the men's winner?

Because that's what really strikes at the core. This was a bombing of the innocent.

There are initial reports that an eight-year-old boy is among the dead. There is a quote from a police source saying: "We started grabbing tourniquets and started tying legs. At least 25 to 30 people have at least one leg missing, or an ankle missing, or two legs missing." But why?

Why choose a marathon as a backdrop to a terrorist outrage is simply unbelieveable. It is surely the lowest of the lows.

To capture the perceptive Facebook words of another friend which so strike a chord: If you can't run a marathon without a terrorism risk, the world is in a dark place!

 

Margaret Thatcher, pickled onions and why I wouldn't be a councillor for all the chocolate in Cadbury's!

 

 

ON the stroke of ten o'clock, a group of 30 union activists collected in the foyer of the smart Eastbourne Centre on the town's seafront.

Armed with placards, this motley crew from the union Unite were about to march half a mile to the town centre offices of local MP Stephen Lloyd to hand in a letter ahead of a debate in Parliament next Tuesday over farm wages.

Unite are opposing plans to abolish the Agricultural Wages Board, which they believe will bring enormous poverty to already struggling farmworkers across the UK.

Ironically, just as the union were about to set off on their march, I was sitting on a sofa in the foyer chatting over a cup of tea to the Liberal Democrat MP for an interview about hearing loops - Stephen Lloyd is severely deaf and wears a hearing aid.

I hd received an advance press release from Unite advertising their protest - clearly they'd not checked whether the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament was around.

But fair play to him, once I told Stephen what they were doing, he broke away from the interview, courteously broke up the crowd to ask "who's your leader?" and spent chatting to the group for the next 15 minutes about the travails of farm workers - even though Eastbourne is not agricultural heartland!

He could have ducked and dived, but Stephen fronted them up for a very civil conversation. That's politics, where different opinions and ideals clash, and where sometimes common ground can't be found.

When Stephen returned, we chatted briefly about Margaret Thatcher and I asked why he wasn't in the House of Commons on Wednesday when Parliament was summoned from its Easter recess to pay tribute - or not - to Baroness Thatcher. "I felt consitutency work was more important," he countered.

We talked about the speeches in the House of Commons and how difficult it was for MPs on both sides of the House to pay their respects to someone who has died, but whose policies and the way she governed the country for 17 years you did not agree with.

What has been refreshing about the debate surrounding Baroness Thatcher's legacy is the honesty. True, some of the opinion on the left and right wing has been extreme - from nauseous bile spilled by the extreme left, to gushing, noxious fawning from the far right.

To be fair, the best article I've read about the whole Thatcher legacy was brilliantly written by Mark Steel in The Independent where he perceptively observes: "If someone robs your house, you don't say: 'I disagreed with the burglar's policy of tying me to a chair with gaffer tap and stripping the place bare, even taking the pickled onions, which I consider to be divisive. But I did admire his convictions.'"!   www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/mark-steel-you-cant-just-shut-us-up-now-that-margaret-thatchers-dead-8568785.html

Absolutely brilliant and so neatly put. Thatcher's legacy is a mixed one. I interviewed a number of politicians this week about how history will judge the Conservative leader, and the over-riding theme from those with a positive spin was that she was a Prime Minister with absolute conviction and principle. Others talked about someone who caused enormous misery with her Government's policies, setting us on a course for the problems we face today.

I guess at least Margaret Thatcher stepped up to the mark, just as Stephen Lloyd did and countless other politicians do each an every day as MPs and councillors.

This week in Swindon, Rod Bluh stepped down as Conservative leader of the council after seven years at the helm. I admire the man for having the courage of his convictions and firm principle - sounds familiar? He wouldn't have won many popularity contests since he was the focus of some ugly smear tactics from some of the most spineless and pathetic people you could wish to meet.

However Rod always held the high moral ground and proved himself a man of integrity and dignity, even when that vitriol disgustingly spilled over to insulting video spoofs portraying him as Hitler in his bunker - Rod is Jewish who lost family members in the Second World War and was evacuated from Vienna in 1939 . www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/4325160.Council_leader_s_family_torn_apart_by_Holocaust/

He was genuinely respected by councillors on all sides of the political divide. At times, he hated the politics and wondered why consensus for the good of the community couldn't more often be found.

When he spoke, people listened - they may not have agreed, but he held court. Mistakes were made, of course, but his adminstration's results in the toughest of economic times will serve as the best testament of all to the critics.

Never mind the allowances, I wouldn't be a councillor for all the chocolate in Cadbury's. Not for the hassle, not for the constant interference in family life.

One friend of mine on Swindon Council has endured a non-stop barrage of extremely personal abuse from protestors upset about the building of a new school in the town. The decision was made long ago, the decision has been scrutinised, the councillor's conduct in making those decisions have been scrutinised, yet still the castigation continues because this person too stepped up to the mark, served their community when they and fellow councillors made a decision. Yet, in a democracy, some will never accept a decision if it goes against them and they resort to the lowest of common denominators.

I write this with no political dogma - in fact I regard myself as apolitical. In fact, when I was editor with the Swindon Advertiser I was sure the Tories thought  I was a rabid socialist, the Labour party believed I was an ardent Conservative, and the Lib Dems wanted to hold a referendum on the subject!

However I didn't agree with many of  Margaret Thatcher and her Government's policies which destroyed the fabric of our society and transformed the industrial landscape forever. However, she didn't deserve some of the sewer-like vitriole which has spilled forth this week, nor did she deserve the Sainthood with some believe should be reserved for the Iron Lady without question.

To me, she will go down in history as someone who stepped up to the mark in difficult times, was a strong leader who made tough decisions and never wavered. I do wonder, however, how she would have dealt with the bankers and their greedy bonuses today!

Shine a light for autism - and make a difference

AS a parent, there is something very special and endearing about your child falling asleep in your arms; the warmth and closeness of their body, the steady breathing, that adorable innocence written all over their face, and the light touch of their arm resting against your chest. 

Of course, as the years skip by so the age of innocence passes as those special moments are consigned to the overflowing locker of life's cherished memories, only to be repeated in adulthood when your son or daughter returns to you at a time of stress and trauma.

For my son Ross, at the age of 15, he is no longer a child, yet his severe autism prolongs that age of innocence. At the weekend, as he eased his head into the crook of my arm drifting off to sleep, I wondered what thoughts filled his head? What does he dream of, and, for someone who has never uttered a sentence in his life, what language fills his head.

Although there is much we know about autism, theirs is still a cotton wool world filled with mystery and misunderstanding.

It is why World Autism Awareness Day on April 2nd was an important event which put the condition, which touches the lives of two million people in the UK, into everyone's sharp focus.

This was not about tokenism, as some mealy-mouthed national awareness days have fast become when the wearing of a flower or ribbon is deemed a popularity vote, such as ticking a "like" button on a Facebook page.

Autism, like Aids, is hidden. It's a condition bathed in mystery, prejudice and misunderstanding. That's why there was immense value to autism awareness day, but did it succeed?

Three weeks ago I was pleased to speak at an autism awareness workshop in Swindon organised by the Rotarians from District 1110 eClub. I spoke about the Wiltshire autism alert card which was launched by the Swindon branch of the National Autistic Society in conjunction with Wiltshire Police two years ago www.swindonlink.com/news/launch-of-the-autism-alert-card-in-wiltshire-

Man with badger-like hair speaks
about the autism alert card

I had no idea what to expect from the day, whether this would simply serve as an information session, a talking shop, or a day of action.

There were some interesting presentations including one from Swindon South MP Robert Buckland, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Autism, who spoke about the implications of the Children and Families Bill, which will see the biggest overhaul of the special education needs system in 30 years.

Sally Grubb and Oriana Morrison-Clarke from the Swindon branch of the NAS highlighted about how the society crucially helps those with autism and provides support for their carers.

Jackie Smith, head teacher at Uplands School, a special school in North Swindon where the workshop was held, turned the spotlight on an imaginative initiative called The Shop; a charity shop which is run by students with severe or profound learning disabilities.

Most fascinating of all was a double-header presentation from community nurse Kirk Anderson and psychologist Simon Kitson who provided an interesting insight into the thought processes and strategies adopted by those with autism. It was a terrific eye-opener and, for example, helped me understand more why Ross tends to walk around with his fingers in his ears.

But a talking shop it wasn't. Thanks to the persuasive skills of the energetic Tim Mason, president of Rotary District 1100 eClub and his erstwhile partner in crime, Lorna Breslin, deputy head at Uplands, they cajoled delegates into joining them in a plan of action.

This included setting up a task and finish group to look at how the District 1110 eClub can work in partnership with the community to promote awareness of autism, as well as developing a scheme which accredits businesses and workplaces which are autism aware. Now that is a great idea.

Taking the excellent example of Uplands School, they also want to develop work experience, employment opportunities and social enterprises to provide real jobs for folk with autism.

These are all credible, sustainable ideas with potential which could make a real difference to those with autism, to help them realise they can be of value in their community and not simply written off.

Perhaps the boldest idea, however, was to turn Swindon blue on World Autism Awareness Day.

Just as many cities across the UK choose to light up their buildings red to mark World Aids Day, so the idea was floated about doing the same in Swindon for autism, whose key colour is blue - autism is five times more common in boys (1 in 54) and among girls (1 in 252), so the colour represents boys diagnosed with autism.

Some towns and cities in America and elsewhere in the world make this very public declaration of awareness, less so in the UK. With little more than two weeks before World Autism Awareness Day, I severely doubted whether this laudable goal in Swindon would be achieved.

But Tim Mason is not a man who is easily defeated and so on April 2nd, the John Murray Building (the tallest building in Swindon), the iconic 160-year-old Christ Church in Old Town, as well as the former Town Hall were all turned blue at night. What an amazing achievement in such a short period of time.

On April 2nd, social networking was lit up with autism awareness day messages - slogans and logos - and I believe this proved to be a major force for change.

In Eastbourne where I work and live, the Town Hall clock always glows crimson red on World Aids Day - a true beacon across the seaside town supporting a worthy cause. But on April 2nd in Eastbourne, the only blue could be found in the frozen faces of folks braced against a chill easterly wind blowing off the English Channel.

It was a similar story at other towns in the UK born out of blissful ignorance. If only there were more Tim Masons around who are powerful catalysts for action and who can makes things happen.

Let's hope that what took place in Swindon earlier this month will provide a domino effect for World Autism Awareness Day in 2014. Not tokenism, not box ticking, but providing a beacon for change among a more tolerant and understanding society, which takes care of those who are disadvantaged and don't all have a voice.

Lorna Breslin and Tim Mason use Post-It notes and plenty of persuasion to ensure actions
and not words were the lingering memory of the Autism Awareness Workshop in Swindon last month.