It took an artist creating a paper model of Balsall Heath Park, a world-renown Imam explaining Ramadan to non-Muslims and the gifting of trees in an inner-city neighbourhood, for me to understand why I no longer write books.
Continue reading “Why I stopped writing books”With gratitude to the Covid-19 vaccination programme at Millennium Point
I found it strangely moving having my Covid-19 vaccination at Birmingham’s Millennium Point this morning.
Continue reading “With gratitude to the Covid-19 vaccination programme at Millennium Point”The urban green of Birmingham
I’ve recently discovered where I live – in the countryside in the heart of Birmingham.
For around the past thirty years, I’ve been aware that I live in a city, the second largest metropolis in the UK to be precise.
I thought I was surrounded by buildings (mainly ugly ones), a spaghetti of junctions and a blast of cars. I just saw miles and miles of hideous sprawl wherever I happened to be. Continue reading “The urban green of Birmingham”
Personal power: We can make people feel good all day
Something happened on Kings Heath High Street that made me feel good all day. Whenever I remembered it, I smiled. If I felt a bit low, I just had to recall that thing and I felt happy again. And again. And again.
So what was that thing? Continue reading “Personal power: We can make people feel good all day”
Tony Iommi inspires me to make art
For the first time in my adult life I look out to the world and don’t know what to do. The problems of Brexit Britain seem overwhelming. The world-at-large with Trump in charge is terrifying and yet I trust no political party to steer us through. I don’t know who to vote for, who to march for, or what to say any more. Continue reading “Tony Iommi inspires me to make art”
Loneliness: Accident or Injustice?
I am delighted to announce the publication of Loneliness: Accident or Injustice?
Loneliness: Accident or Injustice was commissioned by the Diocese of Oxford (Board of Mission) and the Archway Foundation in response to research by the Church of England and Church Urban Fund which found social isolation was the most wide-spread social concern of our time. Continue reading “Loneliness: Accident or Injustice?”
Loneliness and rural communities
Living in the countryside brings its own risks of isolation. The perception that close-knit rural communities provide a buffer against loneliness might be the reality in some areas but it’s by no means true for all. Continue reading “Loneliness and rural communities”
Loneliness and new communities
When post offices in rural communities were shut down[1], it was not just the inconvenience that residents complained about. People who lived in the affected villages regularly reported that the “heart had been ripped out of their community.”[2] Continue reading “Loneliness and new communities”
Loneliness and younger people
It’s a little known fact that the younger adults are, the more likely they are to feel lonely. Those in the 18 to 24-year-old age group are more vulnerable to loneliness than those in any other age bracket. (48% feel lonely often compared with 25% aged over 65.)[1] Continue reading “Loneliness and younger people”