Celebrating Young People’s Achievement

I attended the annual presentation evening for Kirklees Young People’s Service at Batley Town Hall this evening. The title ‘Celebrating Young People’s Achievement’ was chosen because the aim was for young people to not only be presented with accreditation and certificates for their success but also to give them the opportunity to present, perform and showcase their talents and achievement.

 We enjoyed  dance, music, presentations and drama from a sample of YPS projects. It was great to celebrate and be proud of our young people, the vast majority of whom do
many  good things which are scarcely recognised. The media always seem ready to highlight the bad behaviour of a tiny majority as if it is typical of all young people.

The high point of the evening for me was a drama by the Yorkshire Mixtures (LGBT) young people’s group. They depicted how homophobic bullying drove a boy to attempt suicide. It was a moving and thought provoking drama.

It was also great to meet a sporting legend, Robbie Paul, the rugby league legend. He spoke about his time in Batley, coaching boys from Wilton and Fieldhead not knowing they were rival estates. Both groups got on extremely well. He also told us what he thinks are the four important qualities that are required to excel in any field. The first letter of each spell CRAP.

Rugby legend Robbie Paul with the Batley West councillors

Sudden Illness

Unfortunately, a week ago, on Saturday evening, 19^th March, I suffered a stroke. I lost all feeling and movement in my left arm and leg and the left side of my face went numb. I knew immediately I was suffering a stroke and thought to myself, my career is finished! However I was lucky, it was a transient stroke, a transient ischaemia attack (TIA) to give it its medical term. It was caused by a blockage to a blood vessel, stopping the flow of blood to the brain. This eventual disperses and normal function is restored. The more serious type is a burst blood vessel which does not repair itself easily so is more permanent.

The ambulance arrived after 4 minutes I am told, and the paramedics took good care of me, got me to Pinderfields hospital very quickly and I soon came round whilst in the ambulance. I am indebted  to the paramedics for their swift response and care!

Unfortunately, whilst in A & E I suffered another stroke. This happened while I was on a trolley, not fully dressed, with electronic contacts all over my body, being monitored and feeling fragile. I was scarcely able to speak, I just wanted to be left in peace, and allow the professionals to do what was necessary.  However my wife needed someone to comfort her and was delighted when her sister arrived, she brought her into the cubicle to see me but it was the last thing I needed and caused  me to have another stroke. Luckily it was short-lived.

I was kept in hospital for 48 hours and was seen by a consultant, who said I could be discharged, subject to all the tests being positive. I had an ultra-sound scan on my neck to check for blocked arteries which showed none were blocked but narrowing had occurred. The physiotherapist and occupational therapist gave me the OK and I was given a list of exercises to strengthen my left arm and leg. I received my medications and discharge letter that evening and was happy to go home after thanking the nursing staff for the wonderful care I received.

My relatives and friends had been notified that I had suffered a stroke and feared the worst. Unfortunately they had not been told it was a mini stroke and I had recovered, which is a great shame because it caused them unnecessary alarm and upset. I would have preferred them not to have been told.

I am now well on the way to a full recovery as can be seen by this recent photo, and I am looking forward to my election campaign. When I am re-elected I will re-assess my situation.

Wilton TRA's Grow Your Own Event



There was a lively atmosphere at Bleak House for the KNH Grow Your Own Event on Saturday (19^th March). 40 children from Wilton Estate came along to plant sunflower seeds in a competition to see who could grow the tallest sunflower. Cash prizes will be awarded in July, to the three winners.

There was also a clown who made funny shapes out of balloons, face-painting, party food and a free raffle. Cllr Peter O’Neill drew  the winning tickets for three lucky children who each got an Easter egg. Everyone had a great time!



Kirklees Women’s Alliance International Women’s Day Conference

This year’s conference celebrating International Women’s Day, was held at Dewsbury Town Hall on St Patrick’s Day. It focused on the inequalities that still exist despite women’s participation and immense contribution to the political, social and economic landscape of this country.

 The speakers: representatives of the Southall Black Sisters       who serve the needs of black women, Karen Moore of the London Resource Centre which  supports Million Women Rise and Beatrice Botomani of the Bradford Refugee Forum whom I met last year at the Why Refugee Women Charter in Leeds.

    


Also the Mayor was present and gave his speech which came after my speech to the conference. I felt it was a great honour to be asked to address the conference, I enjoyed the experience and was humbled by the warmth of the reception from the audience. I had the opportunity to read my poem which encapsulates much of how I feel about women, “Women have strengths that amaze”. It was received rapturously!

There were various workshops which considered how women are affected by poverty, domestic violence, homelessness, offending behaviour, substance misuse and healing through creativity. I and all the other delegates thoroughly enjoyed the day and I for one, am already looking forward to next year’s conference.

Anayat, myself and Fakhara

Congratulations and thanks are owed to Supriya, Habi and Fakhara for their inspiration, dedication and hard work which made the conference the success it was and also for their continuing commitment to KWA.

Diabetes Expert Patients' Programme Final Session

I dropped in to see the final group on the final session of the Diabetes Expert Patients Programme today. I wanted to say hello and well done for having the resilience to stick it out to the end.


I think it is a very valuable programme, well worth the investmenty that Batley councillors made last year. Its the fourth programme run in Batley since last summer. There has been excellent feedback, so we know it works.


It supports people to manage their condition allowing them to enjoy a good quality of life. It allows people to stay in control of the condition, instead of it being in control of the the person. It allows us to learn from and support each other and realise we are not alone.


The value of the programme is demonstrated by the volunteers who come back to help out. In this case, we have three volunteers, Jamilia, Dennis and Jim who have actually delivered the programme!


It sad that this is the last session as everyone has made friends with each other but there is no reason why they should not stay in touch. Hopefully they will join the self-support group of people from the previous programmes, who meet monthly to have a coffee and a chat. This would allow them to update each other on what they are doing, if they are reaching their weekly achievable targets and if not, to receive the encouragement to succeed.

In the current economic climate, prevention is the only sensible direction for the NHS to move in. Prevention is vital for the survival of the health and social care services.

Sport in Bradford Open Day

I attended this Sporting Heroes event at Odsal Stadium today, at the invitation of the West Yorkshire Archive Service. There was memorabilia from the Bulls, City and Park Avenue and some interesting archive material.

John Mason of the Bulls Foundation, who leads The Past Times Project, holds the Cup along with me.

Sporting heritage is an area which surprisingly, is rarely given sufficient attention, even though sport has a massive impact on the lives of most people, either as participants or spectators. Sport brings great pleasure to families with a family member who takes part, as was the case with our family. Our son Sean had a 10 year career in junior football including 4 years as a Bradford City junior player at the centre of excellence and the family rarely missed a match. At university, he chose to play rugby union.  Our past sporting heroes are great role models and inspire young people to be active and keep fit and to live responsible lives.

It was very interesting seeing a DVD showing all the sporting events that use to take place at Odsal such as speedway motor cycle racing and stock car races. The stadium was used for tennis tournaments in the1930s and Bradford City played their home matches there, following the fire in1984.

It was interesting to hear about the heritage project that the Bulls are undertaking, which includes capturing the memories of players and fans. Also, great to get the chance to pose with the Rugby League Cup, even though it was a replica.

The most interesting part of the exhibition was the display dedicated to lieutenant Donald Bell, a Bradford Park Avenue player who died in the battle of the Somme in 1916 and was awarded the Victoria Cross for valour. He is the only professional footballer to be awarded the Victoria Cross and the FA have bought it so it can be publicly displayed.

 

I hope sport fans in Bradford, take the opportunity to visit the exhibition.

 

Visit to Holmfirth Fairtraders’ Co-operative

Veronica, myself,Carol, Helen and John at the Holmfirth Fairtraders' Co-operative

I visited the Fairtraders’ Co-operative at 32 – 34 Huddersfield Road Holmfirth, for the first time today. I went to meet Veronica Pasteur, Head of Campaigns at the Fairtrade Foundation. She was visiting Holmfirth during Fairtrade Fortnight and the previous evening she spoke on “The Great Cotton Stitch-up”. She wanted to see the Fairtraders’ Co-operative and was also keen to connect with Kirklees Council in view of our successful bid for Fairtrade town status for Huddersfield. In recognition of the outstanding bid, the steering group submitted, fair-trade status was also awarded to the whole of Kirklees. Veronica was full of praise and admiration for this as well as for the co-operative.

The Fairtrade Co-operative was an absolute wonder, packed full of colourful treasures to fire the imagination in a building that has a very special atmosphere and character. It was a mini department store of must have delights. I wondered, is this Holmfirth’s best kept secret? I had never seen or heard of it before but I will spread the good news.

I also met John Drewery of the Fairtrade Co-operative, and Helen, the buyer for the business. She told us of the strict vetting procedure goods are put through before they are considered for sale in the shop. Every aspect is taken into account, including not only manufacture, but also the raw materials, the suppliers and the methods of transport. The provenance of every constituent used in the manufacturing process is checked. A star system of 1 to 5 stars, is used to grade goods according to their level of fairtade and environment friendly status. Very few goods with less than 2 stars, are awarded the fair-trade quality marque allowing them to be stocked in the shop for sale.

Cost is a priority issue. Fairness for producers and consumers has to be considered and also the business has to be profitable or at least break even, which means that the price has to be right. Some producers price their goods out of the market. Also they have to be careful not to compete with the local shops, who are very supportive of the venture.

This project is an inspiration!  All those who helped set it up and those who work hard, day to day as volunteers, to further the cause of trade justice, should be very proud of their endeavours. They are harnessing the essence of human spirit, a belief in fairness and justice, for the creative benefit of our society.