How Cameron should reach out to grassroots

Posted by on Jan 29, 2011 in Politics | 5 comments While speculation continues about who Andy Coulson’s successor will be, a couple of reports  caught my attention today. The first was the front page story in PR Week which states that Andy Coulson helped push through “a radical restructure of the Downing Street comms operation” just days before his resignation as comms director. The new structure will see the merger of Number...
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You can have a SuperBlog too

Posted by on Jan 27, 2011 in Blog, Social Media | 13 comments I would like to thank Ian McKendrick for my new professional website, or SuperBlog, as he describes it. As it is still based on a WordPress theme – originally designed by my social media mentor Geoff Jones - it was quite a painless process for him to transfer the files over. It means that I still have my blog, but the main focus is on my professional skills. I know that Ian, a popular...
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Living with a monster child

Posted by on Jan 27, 2011 in Blog, News | 13 comments I was appalled to read a shocking court case in my local paper today about a mother who was too frightened to wake her violent teenage son to send him to school; he has only attended 22 out of 175 sessions and she pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to secure his regular attendance at school. The sympathetic magistrates in Ely gave the bullied mother a 12-month conditional discharge and...
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Why Public School Boys Run Britain

Posted by on Jan 26, 2011 in Blog, Politics | 4 comments I’ll be watching Andrew Neil’s BBC 2 programme this evening, Posh and Posher: Why Public School Boys Run Britain. The focus will naturally be on David Cameron and Nick Clegg who both had a privileged education. Let’s separate the words “public school” and “boys” and examine these two issues separately. The education these two political leaders had –...
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Tackling global food shortages and GM crops

Posted by on Jan 24, 2011 in Blog, News | 6 comments The chances are I might not be around in 40 years time, but my sons will, and their children too. I want to know they are going to have food to eat. I also want to believe that others in the world will be able to eat as well. According to a report by Sir John Beddington, the government’s chief scientist, called “The Future of Food and Farming“, that may not be the case. He has...
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A walk around Barrington

Posted by on Jan 23, 2011 in Blog, Personal | 5 comments Today I put on my walking boots for my first trek this year to join doughty members of Cambridge Rambling Club. We met in Barrington, a village south of Cambridge where I used to once rent a cottage on its picturesque village green. It’s so gorgeous that it is the kind of place which locals find hard to afford to live in any longer as it attracts well heeled affluent commuters. My walk...
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An evening with John Gummer and climate change

Posted by on Jan 21, 2011 in Blog, Politics | 15 comments I was curious to discover what John Gummer had been doing since stepping down as a Conservative MP at the last general election to champion climate change. So I was only too happy to accept an invitation to hear him speak to Cambridge university students and city supporters last night, and join them afterwards for a fine fish supper at Loch Fynes. Now Lord Deben, I found him a passionate,...
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David Cameron meets charity leaders

Posted by on Jan 20, 2011 in Blog, Headway | 4 comments I am delighted to learn that Headway UK was one of 13 charities invited to meet David Cameron and key Cabinet  members to discuss the transformation of public services. Charities play a vital role in delivering crucial services not met by government, such as Headway, which provides rehabilitation for adults with an acquired brain injury, and it is essential that these services continue, and they...
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The dangers of a one man brand

Posted by on Jan 19, 2011 in Blog, PR | 5 comments I am a huge Apple fan and desperately sad to learn that its CEO Steve Jobs is unwell again and being treated for neuroendocrine cancer. He has been widely credited with transforming Apple from a failing company in the 1990s to the very desirable and hugely successful brand it is today. The big question is, can it survive without him at the helm? Such are the shock waves surrounding the health of...
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The Soil Association and Carter-Ruck

Posted by on Jan 19, 2011 in Blog, PR | 2 comments Receiving a letter threatening libel from Carter-Ruck is fairly certain to send shivers down your spine. They are said to have sent such a letter to the Soil Association, the organic farmers’ group, after it objected to a planning application from its client to build an intensive pig farm.  Carter-Ruck is reported to have written to them saying that their objection is defamatory and should...
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Will you donate your excess body fat to the Klaxon Institute?

Posted by on Jan 19, 2011 in Blog, Sponsored Post, UnrulyMedia | 5 comments Those of us who would like to shed few pounds can donate our unwanted flab to the Klaxon Institute in Harley Street where a revolutionary reverse liposuction technique has been devised to help save the world’s starving people in the third world by injecting it into their bodies. The video shows how they are able to live off other people’s fat for months at a time without having to...
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The Court of Protection Deputies

Posted by on Jan 18, 2011 in Blog, News | 3 comments One of my blog posts which still attracts huge interest was about the Court of Protection. Many people have posted comments describing their terrible experiences, but I wondered if it was all bad, if there were some helpful deputies appointed by the court to help families. If so, could they please let me know. This is the most recent comment posted last week from a woman who seems traumatised by...
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Bankers and those bonuses

Posted by on Jan 12, 2011 in Blog, News | 20 comments I admit I am not a financial expert, but what puzzles me about bankers is why they are very well paid to do a job and rewarded with a huge bonus on top of it, sometimes several million pounds. Is it too simplistic to expect them to enjoy their work in which they should strive to succeed, and that they should do it for an agreed salary like the rest of the working population. If the salary needs...
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Blood money for England’s Hepatitis C and HIV victims

Posted by on Jan 11, 2011 in Blog, News | 7 comments It’s too late for some, for those trusting patients who died after being infected by contaminated haemophilia blood products from the NHS during blood transfusions in the 1970s and 80s. But at least some justice is finally being seen to be done. Even if victims and their families have had to wait decades – and 2,000 have tragically died waiting for this moment out of 4,670 people who...
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A lady can never have too many shoes …

Posted by on Jan 11, 2011 in Blog, PR client, Robert Sturdy MEP | 6 comments I have a pile of colourful shoes to choose from for every occasion and outfit, and I am sure I am not alone. So it is good news to hear that shoes will now be cheaper, thanks to the ending of the so-called ‘Shoes War’ which my MEP Robert Sturdy has campaigned against as Conservative International Trade spokesman in the European Parliament. It appears that the punitive EU duties on the...
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How to Make a Blog Book Review

Posted by on Jan 11, 2011 in Blog, Social Media | 9 comments Blogging is still very much a buzz word for 2011. If you need any convincing, you can learn from those who have made a success of it in a new ebook, How To Make A Blog Book, by Murray Newlands which is now available for free download. This is how social marketeers like Murray work – they share their information for free, and readers can then forward the information and encourage others to...
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The King’s Speech

Posted by on Jan 9, 2011 in Blog, News, updates | 15 comments I absolutely loved The King’s Speech, which has been nominated for a host of screen awards. It made me realise how fortunate we are today to have supportive public speaking organisations like Toastmasters, which I belong to in Cambridge. Although none of our members have a stammer, a couple are deaf with a speech impediment. Speech therapy is vital, of course, but being able to speak in...
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EastEnders, cot deaths and and baby swaps

Posted by on Jan 7, 2011 in Blog, News | 5 comments My friend’s neighbour in Cambridge is an EastEnders’ scriptwriter. I was told that he heads off to Cambridge University Library each day to draw on his creative juices, away from the distractions of his demanding young kids, where he sits in the midst of one of the world’s greatest collections of  books and manuscripts. I used their fabulous facilities once, surrounded by rows...
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Supporting charities with funding

Posted by on Jan 6, 2011 in Blog, Headway | 6 comments One of the new professional services I am offering this year is assisting charities by completing their funding applications to various trusts and the lottery. As many charities struggle in the present economic downturn, there are potential pots of gold which I could help charities access by filling in their application forms, some of which are complex. As a journalist and academic researcher, I...
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Why new authors should never give up

Posted by on Jan 5, 2011 in Blog | 8 comments I was thrilled to hear about new children’s author Jason Wallace whose debut novel, Out of Shadows, won the prestigious Costa Children’s Book Award. What makes this victory so sweet is that Jason was turned down by 100 literary agents and publishers; I bet they are now regretting their hasty decisions. I do wonder how much time agents spend reading submitted manuscripts, particularly...
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Rooting for Johnson Beharry VC

Posted by on Jan 4, 2011 in Blog, Headway | 0 comments I  must admit I have never watched Dancing on Ice before, but I shall tune in for latest series starting this weekend as one of the celebrities include war hero Johnson Beharry VC, who is an ambassador for Headway, the charity I support which provides rehabilitation for brain injured adults. The decorated war hero hopes to inspire other soldiers and  brain injury sufferers by beating off stiff...
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The Welney Swan Feed

Posted by on Jan 4, 2011 in Blog | 3 comments I count myself lucky to have the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in Welney right on my doorstep, and paid my regular visit to their swan feed this week, one of the highlights of my winter. It was sad to see a couple of dead swans trapped in the ice. A warden informed my friend that autopsies had been carried out on dead swans and the results showed how some deaths were caused by them swallowing...
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In tribute to Pete Postlethwaite

Posted by on Jan 3, 2011 in Blog, News | 6 comments I was saddened to hear of the unexpected death of Pete Postlethwaite, one of our finest British actors, and a favourite of mine who I was lucky enough to see in his one man show, Scaramouche Jones, at the Arts Theatre, Cambridge, a few years ago. He was only 64 and had been having treatment for testicular cancer. I loved his quirky features and all his thunderous perfomances were tremendous and...
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Do I suit blonde?

Posted by on Jan 1, 2011 in Blog, Personal | 13 comments Here I am dressed to the nines as Kitty Killer for a New Year’s Eve murder mystery dinner party. Do I suit blonde? I felt very femme fatale, and it was great fun to have a whole new look for an evening which made me feel very vampish. I was not the killer, btw, but a spy disguised as an investigate journalist who was probing the life of the murdered man. What a dramatic entrance into the...
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