Bex and Sarah on BBC south news for Cancervive.

As a follow up to the Newspaper article i blogged about Bex let me know tonight that she was going to be on BBC south news. sadly not living in sussex anymore i couldn't see it on TV but thanks to the internet i know have it saved on my laptop. I remember when Pam died and the pain and distress, but for it to happen a 2nd time......I'm so proud of them. they are the only friends i kept in touch with after i moved to essex and i'm so glad i have.

Video

Sussex Argus: Achiever of the year awards 2008

 

My Best Friend from my childhood in the Sussex The Argus website:

 

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/generalnews/display.var.2153088.0.sisters_find_strength_from_tragedy_to_help_others.php

Herts and Essex Observer Newspaper - Self Harm feature

Sadly it didn't get published in time for Self Injury Awareness Day on 1st March but it was published nevertheless in the 20th March edition.

Mum asked me why i felt i needed to share my story - well, it was only though reading an article in a magazine that my only friend who knew at school gave to me that i realised i wasn't alone and wasn't the only person who cut herself. So my hope is that maybe there are other young people or in fact older people who can realise that there is help out there. Unfortunately they got both the URLs at the bottom wrong but if people want to find out more i'm sure they will google them.

Artist unveils 'newspaper house' - BBC News website

An artist uses discarded freesheets collected from across London to make a house. read more here

Herts and Essex Observer - Complaints Letter

Last week i wrote a complaint and sent i via email to my local newspaper, and this week as the Ed said in his emai reply he published it this week:

although i disagree with the Ed - i don't think anything justifies showing a picture as close-up and graphic as that! the image was of an injury cause by a football stud to a player's knee during a womans football match. the text with the image described the injury as 7 inches across and needing something like 16 stitches! well on the paper the picture size was 4 inches across and the wound took up the size of the photo.

and it seems i wasn't the only person upset my the picture.

On the plus side though, the editor has agree to do a feature on Self Harm for SIAD (Self Injury Awareness Day) on 1st March. He said he will get one of his team to email me next week sometime. i mentioned my history of self harm in my original email but the Ed checked if i wanted that published and although i don't feel i have to hide it - i mean everyone i know from my past who may read the newspaper probably knows anyway - i decided its wasn't appropriate to include in my published complaint, after all i think the image would affect any ordinary person!

Halloween taken to extremes!

Something i found on the BBC News website:

"the many uses of a halloween pumpkin"

i'm with the elephants! mine are in the garage stored in the dark and cool, waiting to be eaten!

L-R: my mini pumkin i grew this year, a 99p bargin from tescos and a home-grown that was for sale on mum's route home from work - again £1

Bring back 80's kids TV

BBC breakfast TV this morning was talking about children’s TV and how that only 17% of kids TV these days is "home grown", so made in the UK. They were saying that there are more cartoons these days and not as many factual or drama programmes for children. So I thought I’d list the things I remember watching on TV.

· Mr Ben
· Bertha
· Charlie Chalk
· Fireman Sam
· Sharkey and George (US I think)
· Poddington Peas
· Play Days
· Spot
· Blue Peter
· Byker Grove
· Art Attack
· The Really Wild show
· Morph and the art show he featured on - can't remember the name of it.
· grange hill
· live and kicking
· the racoons (US)
· postman pat
· noddy
the demon headmaster

I know noddy is still going today, (although it has been digitally remastered and now looks more like a computer game!) and also the really wild show, art attack, blue peter. I’m not sure about grange hill; I think it is still going.

Things like postman pat and fireman Sam are available on DVD and video I think. So parents who remember then could show them to their kids that way. I know I would.

I caught a glimpse of a kids programme on BBC the other afternoon, it’s this latest craze called Lazy Town, which seems to be set in the future and the space age. The main character is a young girl who has bright pink hair. With one other real human being and then the rest of the characters were cartoons. What confused me though (as I think it is supposedly a "home grown" programme) was that the main character has an American accent yet every other character has a British accent.

One programme I do think it positive these days which is aimed at pre teens I think is Tracy Beaker, based in a series of books. It looks at children’s home, fostering and adoption - dealing with real issues as well as the light hearted day to day stuff of a pre teen likes fashion and boys etc. In my list it was Biker grove that used to handle these issues.

The news says teenagers are the most poorly served with TV. With channel 4's hollyoaks being the only programme really. But I never watched hollyoaks as a teen, but then we all know I was never a normal teen!

Surely these days’ teenagers are probably more likely to be online, on msn chatting to friends etc than sat in front of the TV.

And anyway normally in the news they are constantly saying that kids should be out and about playing with friends, being active, so they don't become obese! So which is it more British TV? Which they want the government to put more money into. Yet then you can guarantee that they will say kids are sitting in front of the TV too much again.

Talk about mixed messages!