Blog
The changing face of Britain’s High Street
The future of Britain's High Street is in our hands. It's no good moaning if we lose our unique and distinctive independent shops, including those friendly book stores with heaving shelves. Like me, you might have a favourite book shop you would hate to lose. An...
My one weakness, and other news
I've been unashamedly stocking up on 100 watt light bulbs because I can't live without them in my office. I only use one, or two at the most, in my house. I need them because my eyesight is not brilliant and I can't function in a dimly lit room. I first wrote about...
Could the internet help save our homeless?
I love this story about how an internet campaign raised $10,000 dollars within four days to save a family from being evicted from their home. It shows how creative America is with its use of the internet in rallying support and raising desperately needed funds. Under...
Diamonds are not a girl’s best friend
"Here's a present for you mum!" Those were David's first words when he arrived home from uni for Christmas on Friday. Instead of being given a lovely package to open, I was presented with a huge bag of dirty washing! It made me smile. I know it sounds corny,...
Our charity champion and No 10 petition
I wanted to update you with some great news. Our Headway Cambridgeshire patron John Hayes, a Shadow Minister, has won the prestigious parliamentary Charity Champion Award for disability. John was stunned and thrilled with the award and I was there with our CEO Andrew...
Chairman of the board
I'm afraid blogging is going to have to take a back seat between now and the end of the year as I focus on meeting a crucial deadline for my publisher. I also have important commitments as chair of trustees for Headway Cambridgeshire which supports adults with an...
Black Wednesday
They are both iconic British retail emporiums which failed to keep up with modern times and maintain their public appeal. But it's still a sad day, a very sad day, to learn that both Woolworths and MFI (whose furniture can we joke about now?) have gone into...
Families at war
I don't see there being any winners in the horrible court case between a mother and her author daughter, Constance Briscoe, who is a part-time judge. Constance described her very unhappy childhood in her book, Ugly, including how she was - allegedly - starved and...
Christmas, the credit crunch and alcoholism
I issued a press release this afternoon on behalf of a client, Veronica Callanan, a recovered alcoholic who now runs her own rehab clinic, and within seconds the deputy editor of Take5 magazine responded and said she "would love" to run Veronica's story. We...