Easter Day Musings & Rants

It is heartening to see that the Church is united in condemning the government's welfare reforms. Church organisations and support groups such as my own see first hand on a daily basis the appalling impact that cuts to welfare are having for people with long term illness, disability and those unable to find work. Frankly, it is these organisations that see the real effects and it is they to whom so many people turn to for help. I see the hardship caused to the vulnerable in our society all the time. Many of those we support through Blue Skies are fearful of every letter in case it threatens further reductions in their benefit or yet another flawed medical assessment. For them each day is a struggle and a helping hand or sympathetic ear goes a long way to easing their stress. New members to our group tell the same story. They are afflicted with sometimes crippling mental illness yet deemed well enough for work. Only last week, a member of our group living with his poorly mum in a two bedroom bungalow received a letter telling him he has one room too many and will therefore have his benefit cut to pay the ill thought out 'bedroom tax'.  Is it any wonder our disabled and vulnerable feel victimised? Personally, I would like to see other organisations joining forces with the Church to create a united front against a government out of touch with the genuine needs of its people. Perhaps then, we can call a halt to what some are branding a 'war on the poor'.

Turning to road safety as I occasionally do in this blog, I am once again witness to another case of the most appalling driving I have seen. In total disregard for the 30 mph limit through the village of Lutton this morning, a driver saw fit to drive inches from my rear bumper and overtake at ridiculous speed just to get to a house a few hundred yards further down the road. The driver of this monster of a vehicle (gold Volkswagen 4x4) was left in no doubt of my dismay when I passed him further down the road exiting it.
It really does make me more sure than ever that dash cams should be a mandatory requirement in cars. They are exceptionally cheap and very easy to use. Just knowing that they are being recorded would be enough to make idiots such as this think twice. There should also be a means by which footage could be uploaded to a road safety body whose job it would then be to investigate the most serious of cases and to publish the footage online for all to see. Perhaps naming and shaming would act as an effective deterrent to those who clearly believe they are above the law.

The clocks went forward an hour last night. Most won't give it a second thought and can adjust to the change in time quite easily. For me, it is something I hate. I rely very much on my routine - it helps me to function and plays a vital role in my fight against depression. Any change to my routine is very disruptive and the change to British Summer Time is something I really don't cope very well with. I know it is just a fact of life, but waking this morning to find that I had missed 'Broadcasting House' completely was really too much to bare. Instead I had to take my shower listening to 'Steve Wright's Love Songs', something I never normally do. Yes I know it's all very trivial but for someone like me whose routine is their defence, it can be quite a major thing.
As I look at the clock, it is approaching 1pm. This to me feels wrong, it shouldn't be this late and I feel as if I am behind and running late. In a few days, I'm sure everything will feel normal once more, but I do wonder if all this time changing is really necessary...

I did hear on the radio recently that Easter is considered the largest and most important event in the Christian calendar.  It is a shame that for a great many people, Easter just means chocolate eggs and hot cross buns. I suspect commercialisation (that's a long word!) has resulted in Easter taking second place to Christmas but it was nice last week to see that our local schools place huge importance in this holiest of events. A church service attended by the local schools was held at Holbeach St. Mark's, a very fine church built to the designs of Ewan Christian in 1868-69.

It has wonderful stained glass windows, each telling a story and depicting the major events in its history. I am fortunate that my circumstances allow for me to attend these services - had I been working, my son wouldn't have been able to look out to see his dad's beaming grin amongst the congregation. As it was, my wife was, for the first time, able to attend as she had been able to finish work early. I place huge importance on being there - above all else in fact - I think it's so important.

I am hopeful that the coming couple of weeks will see the first part of the grant transferred to our Blue Skies Group bank account. I have managed to negotiate for us to receive two-thirds of the full amount in the first payment. This will enable us to launch all our arts & craft projects and buy all the equipment we need for the computer skills sessions I will be running. We have also benefited from the donation of a digital camera which will enable our members to take photos and edit or print them. I am hopeful that we will be able to put together an exhibition of our photography later in the year.
We were joined by a new group member on Thursday. I had met him on the previous Tuesday and he was keen to help out with the group. His timing is perfect and I am sure there will be a lot he can become involved with. It's not often you come across people who fit in straight away, but Paul clearly has and brings with him many skills useful to the group. It also transpires that he has the skills to administer our new Blue Skies website which will help me tremendously. A real win-win for all concerned.

 Warmest Easter greetings to you all.

Richard Griffiths

I once again find myself lamenting the loss of yet another fine British actor, Richard Griffiths who has died at the age of 65. Richard was one of my most favourite actors and will be best remembered by me for his roles in Withnail and I, the Harry Potter Films, The History Boys and the Mr Finchley radio series.

So Far Away

Earlier this week, I read an article about the Voyager I space probe and the fact that it is believed by many to have left our solar system. This is debated by NASA who believe the probe to be still within our solar system but what isn't disputed is that the probe is a very long way away from its home planet Earth - 18 billion kilomenters away, give or take a few million.

The fact that we can still receive radio signals from the probe is by itself amazing. The distance does necessitate a six hour wait until they are received by NASA but considering the probe dates from 1977 when it was launched, this has to be one of our most enduring accomplishments.
It is difficult to imagine something made by us being so far away. The vastness of the environment it is in means it will take another 40,000 years before it reaches the very nearest star and even then it will be two light years away. The sad thing about all this is that even if there is anyone left on Earth, there will be no radio signal to indicate it had arrived there as its plutonium batteries will run dry in 10-15 years.
The Arthur C Clarke in me would like to think that some distant space traveller will find it, give it an oil and brush up, recharge its batteries and send it on its way again. The likelihood is that it will simply drift through space for eternity.

 

I do though like to cling to the possibility that it will be discovered by some distant civilisation and its on board gold-plated video disc played to reveal the 'sounds of Earth', messages of greeting and photographs taken of a very distant blue planet.

Frank Thornton

It is so sad to hear that Frank Thornton has passed away. To anyone my son's age, his name will mean nothing though I suspect it's only a matter of time before he discovers my collection of 'Are You Being Served' recordings. Of course, he will be remembered by many for his role as Captain Peacock in the long running BBC comedy of the 70's and early 80's.

He was of course like many of his ilk, a highly accomplished actor who starred in many films including The Early Bird, Carry On Screaming, The Bed-Sitting Room and Gosford Park, to name just a few.
In 1997 he took the role of Herbert 'Truly' Truelove in Last of the Summer Wine, replacing Brian Wilde who had suggested him for the role.
He twice appeared as the character of Bert Dingle in the British soap opera Emmerdale, once in March 2000 and again in October 2002.
Following the death of Trevor Bannister on 14 April 2011, Thornton was one of the two last surviving members (the other being Nicholas Smith) of the original cast of Are You Being Served?.

Publicity

The article about Blue Skies appeared online Friday. I did worry in case I had been mis-quoted as the newspapers don't tend to seek you approval beforehand. It was actually rather good and I was pleased that it emphasised the fact that we'd been successful in winning a funding grant and the things we are planning to do with the money.

Support group’s cash boost

Published on 14/03/2013 16:05

Spalding’s Blue Skies peer support group is expanding its activities after winning a £3,600 grant from the Government’s Mental Illness Prevention Fund.

The cash, expected at the end of the month, will be split between funding existing weekly Thursday art and craft sessions at the Ivo Day Centre, and buying computers, IT training and digital photography equipment.

Group spokesman Matt Webb said: “There are 15 of us in the group, and it’s growing as we’re getting more referrals through doctors and social workers.

“We want to raise awareness that we’re here for everyone who has mental health issues, many of whom, particularly men, never tell anyone their problems and become isolated.

“Once you get like that, it may seem impossible to open up to anyone, even your GP, about how you feel, and that way you can become seriously ill. For many people the only way out is to find people you can talk about it with.”

The group renamed itself Blue Skies a year ago when it launched the Thursday craft workshop on top of weekly talking meetings on Tuesdays at the Johnson Hospital.

Matt, whose background is in IT training, aims not only to enable people to use the Internet more productively in leisure time, but also to enable people, including those who have recently been released back into the community, to go online to access and apply for anything from accommodation and training to jobs and benefits.

More than 30 visitors came along to a Blue Skies Mental Health Awareness evening and art exhibition (pictured) at the Ivo Day Centre earlier in the month.

Get in touch by ringing 01775 652300 and leaving a message for Blue Skies, emailing blueskies.lincs@gmail.com or www.facebook.com/blueskies.lincs

In the Local, Parting with One of My Babies & Weird Weather

I was contacted by our local newspaper the Lincs Free Press today who want to run a feature on our Blue Skies support group. I had expected them to simply print the photo they had taken at our mental health awareness evening on 1st March but the woman I spoke to wanted to do a larger editorial. This is great as publicity is always a problem with any type of group and I'm hopeful that the group will become known to a larger number of sufferers and professionals across the county.

As an act of charity, I have decided to part with one of my DVD recorders and give this to one of our group members. He has a DVD-Video combi machine and asked me to look at it for him as the discs were failing to load. I disassembled it and found that the tray had become jammed. Being made almost entirely of plastic, it's just a matter of time before it wore out. Sadly nothing is ever built to last nowadays. It is possible to replace the drive as everything inside is modular, but a new drive would cost £200 plus shipping rendering this option void. I feel sorry for him. OK he didn't pay much for it in the first place - just £5 from a charity shop. He uses it to transfer films from his camcorder to DVD.
Over the years, I have collected various items of equipment, much of it obsolete as everything I want to watch can be downloaded from the Internet in a matter of minutes and put straight onto DVD if needed. It occurred to me that I do have a couple of DVD recorders. One I use solely for its inbuilt Freeview tuner, the other I tend not to use. As much as it pains me to part with it, I have decided to donate this to him to enable him to continue transferring his films to DVD. It's a good solid machine, and works well.
My wife will tell anyone that when it comes to giving away equipment, to me, it is like losing a family member. She is right in a way. I do become attached to things and I get used to seeing things in certain places. In some ways it is a comfort. I do though feel good about what I am doing. I know it will be going to a good home and I feel good for being able to help someone.

Is it just here or are we having some pretty wild weather at the moment? As I sign off from this post, it has become very dark and we have a sort of hail storm with tiny snowballs now covering the garden. A few minutes ago we had bright sunshine...

A Right Royal Mail Farce

If there's one thing guaranteed to get my dander up, it's poor service. Today, the target of my rage is the Royal Mail who are charged by me with lacking common sense and being intentionally unhelpful. Sorry, but I need to give vent to my anger.
We have been waiting for a couple of parcels. Delivery of both parcels was attempted this morning, but we were both out. Rather than attempting to leave them with a neighbour or leave them somewhere safe such as in our dustbin or 'over the gate', our postman/woman - for I really cannot distinguish which - opted to leave one of their 'something for you' cards. The card clearly states that the items were too large for the letter box so have been returned to our local delivery office where they can now be collected. Now our last postman had no problem finding a safe place for parcels and noting their location on a card and this I found to be a more than satisfactory arrangement, unbroken for the last three years.
I found the card wedged in our letter box at 3pm after returning home from my group and promptly drove the 10 miles to our 'local' delivery office at Holbeach expecting to be able to claim the parcels there. Instead I was told that they were not there for me to collect and that I would have to come back after 10.30 tomorrow morning. Needless to say, I was fuming and as one who suffers with high blood pressure, I opted to storm out rather than argue my case. It would have got me nowhere and frankly anyone who has to be separated from the people they serve by a glass screen, and talk through a tiny gap, is not interested in providing anything resembling a service.
Having allowed my blood pressure to return to a normal level, I have filled in and submitted an on-line complaint form siting a complete lack of common sense and incorrect information which saw me complete a needless 20 mile round trip. I am deceiving myself to expect anything near an apology and wholly expect to have to drive another 20 miles tomorrow to collect my items. Only this time, they had better be there.
I have for a long time suspected that the Royal Mail has put profit before customer service. I'm afraid that this latest example of crass incompetence pretty much confirms my belief.
Hermes, DHL, FedEx, TNT, Yodel = choice.

Being 40 and a Successful Evening

I turned 40 last Thursday. There, I've said it. I really didn't want to make a big deal of it and thankfully the day passed with the minimum of fuss. I had been secretly dreading it - I don't know why as most of the people I work with are in their 40's and 50's, some even older. Most are in good health physically and some act as if thy were twenty or thirty years younger.
Being 40 doesn't make me feel much different to how I felt when I was 39. I still have the same aches and pains and I don't gain any sort of additional entitlement having advanced an extra year. I suppose it does give me license to grunt more and to tut at the prices of every day items and food staples. On a brief visit to my parents earlier, I heard my father bemoan the fact that the local newspaper now costs 'thirteen shillings'. This is apparently 65 pence in new money. Oh how I am beginning to sound like him, for I said a similar thing in Asda only the other day to nods of agreement from other shoppers within my new age group.
What makes me feel old is being able to remember when things were cheap and when you went home with a full shopping bag and change from a ten pound note.

Last Friday evening was our Surfing the Waves event - an evening of mental health awareness. In truth the whole thing had been organised by a colleague. We (Blue Skies) were there to promote our activities and exhibit some of our artwork. Attendance was good and the talks well received. I learnt an awful lot about Cannabis, much of it reinforcing my conviction to steer well clear of it. There are conflicting views on whether it aids or worsens mental health conditions and a lot is still unknown. Cannabis is something I have tried once before. All it did for me was to reduce me to fit of giggles which lasted for hours and left me feeling very hungry. We were treated to a talk from one of our local NHS Governors who informed us of the good work being done in Lincolnshire to streamline mental health services. Our host also gave a brief talk for which she can be justly proud. It takes a lot of courage to stand in front of a group of strangers and talk in intimate detail about your struggle with poor mental health.
It was nice to meet some new people too, particularly the SHINE ambassador who, I found out to my utter disbelief, hadn't been informed of Andrew Harrison's passing last year. I was mortified at having been the one to break the news to her and once she had calmed down and composed herself once more, managed to give a good talk about SHINE to the gathered audience.
It was a good evening for Blue Skies also, and we attracted a lot of interest from not just the visiting public but the local press also. Our art display was their main focus of attention and grabbing the largest of our paintings, the photographer insisted we have our photograph taken. I didn't have the heart or the nerve to tell him we hadn't painted it and if anything is said we will claim it is a copy! After all, it isn't signed. As soon as the photo is published, I'll insert it into this post.
Our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/blueskies.lincs has had a few more 'likes' since Friday and a couple of nice comments have appeared.
So for our first evening of mental health awareness, we can certainly claim it a success. Now we've 'done' one, perhaps we should do another later in the year?