Would you go on Mastermind or University Challenge?

Posted by on Dec 31, 2011 in Blog | 2 comments Did you watch Jungle Queen and X-Factor star Stacey Solomon’s surprise celebrity appearanace on Mastermind over Christmas? I was stunned at her confidence in pitting her brains against super chef Sophie Grigson, the Fast Show’s Simon Day and musician Steve Harley. After all, she does not come over as being Mastermind material. And surely brains and knowledge is what this programme is...
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Macmillan Cancer Support’s Biggest “Thank You”

Posted by on Dec 30, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 1 comment No words are spoken in this emotionally charged video, but the raw feelings of the six people it features are stripped bare as they read poignant and touching messages of thanks sent by from friends and loved ones suffering from cancer which have been published on the Macmillan Biggest Thank You. You too can add your thanks, those two little words which mean so much. Macmillan’s Biggest Thank...
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My Boxing Day boardwalk at Wicken Fen

Posted by on Dec 26, 2011 in Blog | 3 comments I was keen to try out my new Scarpa walking boots today, so we headed for the nearby Wicken Fen nature reserve this morning where we found many like-minded souls with no interest in the Christmas sales. Our Boxing Day walk was a mere stroll compared to what I am used to as we were restricted for time because my husband was keen to get to the early afternoon Cambridge United Boxing Day football...
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Let’s have some Merry Christmas cheer!

Posted by on Dec 23, 2011 in Blog | 12 comments Am I the only one who misses Christmas carols being played in our shopping centres and stores? Instead, the festive atmosphere is silent and sombre and I miss feeling that warm glow inside when I hear those lovely carols. No doubt political correctness is to blame, especially as our supermarkets are reported to shun selling religious themed Christmas cards for this reason. Even the buskers in...
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The 70th birthday Stephen Hawking symposium

Posted by on Dec 22, 2011 in Blog | 2 comments I feel extremely privileged to be able to attend a symposium to mark the 70th birthday of physicist Professor Stephen Hawking, a brilliant cosmologist acclaimed globally whose life has surpassed medical expectations. The remarkable Prof Hawking was told in 1963 that he had just months to live after being diagnosed with the degenerative Motor Neurone Disease, but he has miraculously defied medics...
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Government reforms ignore trans-racial adoption

Posted by on Dec 22, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 2 comments It’s the best Christmas news for any child languishing in care and waiting to be placed with loving, adoptive parents – the announcement today that the government is replacing its crippling bureaucratic process with a new system.  Proposals include forming an expert panel to develop a new system and assessment form so suitable placements can be made starting next year. I hope the...
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Downgraded by Ticketmaster

Posted by on Dec 18, 2011 in Blog | 8 comments I am still waiting to hear back from Ticketmaster after they double booked the Katherine Jenkins concert tickets I purchased several weeks ago as a Christmas present for my music loving pa–in-law. I had an email from them last week offering an upgrade, so I wasn’t too concerned. However, when the tickets arrived, I noted that they were inferior seats at the back of the stalls and...
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Have you tried dowsing?

Posted by on Dec 14, 2011 in Blog, My videos | 4 comments This was the first video I ever recorded and edited, it was very much a test video, and surprisingly it remains my most successful on YouTube, with almost 42,000 hits and 73 comments. Not bad for a trial run! I recorded a dowsing demonstration at one of my favourite country homes, Snowshill Manor in the Cotswolds, and viewers from around the world have shared their dowsing experiences, including...
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Families describe losing loved ones to sepsis

Posted by on Dec 12, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 6 comments I am struck by the generous selflessness of  bereaved families who genuinely do not want others to suffer like them after losing loved ones -  especially from deaths which they believe were preventable. They have offered to provide case studies about their traumatic experiences, which is crucial when highlighting the importance of a life-saving awareness campaign, such as sepsis, as they...
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Jeffrey Archer’s auctioneering tips – how to get money from the rich

Posted by on Dec 6, 2011 in Blog | 6 comments Many charities in the UK are £42 million richer thanks to the auctioneering skills of Jeffrey Archer. Today he shared his tips about how to get money from the rich at a fundraising conference on this theme. In the last 30 years, Jeffrey’s “hobby” has become auctioneering, and with more than 1,000 under his belt, he clearly excels at this.  I can see why he loves it so much...
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Medics petition government to make sepsis a clinical priority

Posted by on Dec 5, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 6 comments The sudden death of Brazilian soccer legend Socrates from sepsis, blood poisoning following an infection, comes at the same time that I am promoting the vital work of the UK Sepsis Trust, which is petitioning the government to make sepsis a clinical priority by establishing it as a medical emergency. Campaigners, made up of patients and their families, as well as doctors and nurses, are urging...
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Will the government’s life sciences plan find a cure for Alzheimer’s?

Posted by on Dec 4, 2011 in Blog | 3 comments Why isn’t there a cure for Alzheimer’s disease? And could David Cameron’s desire to encourage clinical trials with medical research companies in NHS hospitals provide a much needed opportunity to provide this desperately needed cure? However, I share concerns about confidential medical records being given anonymously to private firms for this purpose. The public should be asked...
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Are there transmissible cancers in humans?

Posted by on Dec 3, 2011 in Blog | 1 comment I was privileged to meet award winning scientist Elizabeth Murchison earlier this year when she explained to me her research which is dedicated to saving a fierce looking Marsupial creature known as the Tasmanian devil from possible extinction in the next 20 -30 years due to a transmissible facial cancer it passes on through biting other devils. Her inspiring story is featured in the latest Times...
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European robots perform brain surgery

Posted by on Dec 1, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 7 comments I am totally in awe of the advanced technology used to create “robotic surgeons” that can out-perform the skills of our best neurosurgeons, carrying out vital life-saving operations. Thanks to EU-funded researchers from Germany, Italy, Israel and the UK, this can be done. The robot has performed accurate keyhole neurosurgery on dummies, and when ready for humans, could ease the...
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