diary of a recovering student is moving…come with me to abisworld.wordpress.com

Following my recent birthday I have decided it’s time to grow up! That means leaving my student identity behind and embracing the world of adult news. All my news blogs will now be posted on the fresh and exciting  page www.abisworld.wordpress.com

Education is key to remedying obesity

Britain is becoming a fast food nation

 

Abi Mowbray

Children are being taken into care at a time when obesity appears to be spiralling out of control.

A healthy alternative to a dial out pizza has become a reduced fat ready meal while a work out has become a twenty minute session on the Wii.

An unhealthy trend

The Americanisation of the UK food industry, which started with the bombardment of British high streets with 1960s milk bars, is almost complete as pram battles against pram in the queues of fast food restaurants across the country.

The ‘happy meal’ is the fast food industries’ key assault weapon. Adding a toy to a calorific meal in a brightly coloured box is a marketing ploy designed to satisfy the appetite of increasingly fat children and tired parents.

The Boar War highlighted the ill health of the British underclass. Conscription today would undoubtedly reveal a similar issue; a large portion of the nation would simply be too fat to fight.

Impact on families

In an era when child abuse is constantly being redefined, killing a child with kindness (or a week’s worth of happy meals) now constitutes as child abuse, just as starving a child does.

But whether it is fair to remove a child from overweight parents straight from birth is an issue of contention. Surely the answer is not to swoop into a maternity ward all guns blazing but instead to provide parents with the educational tools needed to transform their lifestyle.

We have saturated society with calorific easy options and now there is a responsibility to remedy the situation. The answer is not to punish the most vulnerable families who have fallen foul of the bargain bucket but instead to educate them.

Journalism Versus the PR Machine

Abi Mowbray

Journalism is drowning in a flood of PR.

That’s what ex-government Press Officer and author, Simon Goldsworthy, told Westminster journalism students this week.

Journalism is a second rate citizen in the “information market place’ Goldsworthy inferred. As companies are increasingly willing to pay for PR at a time when consumers are less willing to pay for news.

PR’s ‘tap of favour’

The struggling journalist has to rely on PR’s “tap of favour” said Goldsworthy, as “a journalist stumbling across a story walking down the street, is as likely as a policeman coming upon a crime.” He said.

“PR is a discipline which serves its paymasters” said Goldsworthy, “it isn’t on a mission to tell the truth. We are there to keep (journalists) from the facts.” The antithesis of the hard up truth seeker that to me is the journalist.

In effect Goldsworthy accused newspapers of being the PR guy’s parrot. The journalist is unable to reach the truth and so survives on the scraps of flavoured information thrown to them by the PR machine.

Dissident PR

But surely the journalist has defiantly beaten the PR system when the bad news comes to print? The breaking story? The exclusive?

Not according to Goldsworthy. That too is the work of PR. The dissent, the aggrieved, but not the journalist.

What a gloomy perspective on the world of news for an aspiring journalist.

Exciting beginnings

Ex-international footballer Nii Odartey Lamptey invited me into his Ghanaian school

My first real taste of journalistic practice was in Ghana where so often I was the unlikely policeman.

I hunted out exciting stories and went in search of the relevant people to interview. When I found the right doctor, footballer or government agency worker they would always talk to me. Not a PR man in sight.

In Ghana they were not suspicious of my notepad and pen. They freely exchanged information with me and I was obliged to answer only one question in return; “How do you find Ghana?”

I found Ghana liberating, honest and journalistically free.

The final word

As I write this from my desk in England I am mindful of a host of legal barriers that gag the media, already fighting against capitalism’s burly big brother in the form of PR.

But journalists are by nature bloody minded and as the struggle continues even Goldsworthy conceded “journalists still have the last word.”

London Speaks out Against Homophobic Hate Crime

I shot this footage at a candlelight vigil held at Trafalgar Square last night to remember Ian Baynham who was fatally attacked there last month. Read the full article at www.courantseven.wordpress.com

BNP Gain Support In Britain’s Longest Recession

Abi Mowbray

More than half of Britain believes the BNP “have a point” with policies that speak out for the ‘indigenous white British’, a YouGov poll has revealed.

22% of those questioned said they would “seriously consider” voting for the BNP in the next election.

The Daily Telegraph poll suggests that public support for the right wing party has increased since Nick Griffin’s Question Time appearance.

With Friday’s announcement that Britain is currently experiencing the longest recession on record, the sudden increase in right wing support comes as no surprise.

Recession and racism

There is a definite historical correlation between recession and support for right wing policies that seek to scapegoat minorities.

Public money used to fund unpopular wars in the thirteenth century led to recession and the eventual expulsion of the British Jewish population.

Hitler and Mussolini both capitalised on economic decline to project their parties’ racial policies to desperate nations.

Today, history is simply repeating itself.

Insecurity is the greatest catalyst for racism.  People want an easy answer, a simple solution. A party who will facilitate voters’ desire to blame someone, anyone, will always do well in a recession.

Political consensus

The rise in support for the BNP has also been attributed to a consensus between the main political parties. A vote for the BNP is apparently a protest vote. But too many ‘protest votes’ will become a majority vote.

We must not return to a thirteenth century mentality.

The Jews arrived in Britain from France. It was Medieval society’s refusal to accept them as ‘British’, that allowed for their expulsion. Similarly, Griffin refers to black Britons as “racial foreigners”.

To misquote Martin Niemoller who at first supported Hitler’s rise to power but later realising the extent of his extremist policies opposed him, “First they came for the ‘racial foreigners’ and I did not speak out-because I was not a ‘racial foreigner’. Then they came for me.”

Animal Conservation Centre Ousted By Hotel’s Perfect View

Abi Mowbray

Syon Park’s animal conservation centre is to be demolished within the year to make way for a new Hilton hotel.

Tony Purdy founded The Tropical Forest on the Duke of Northumberland’s estate nearly two decades ago. Since then he has educated everyone from toddlers to Grannies on exotic wildlife.

The centre gives people the chance to get up close and personal with parrots, lizards and lemurs to name just a few.

“Look guys this is Elvis the Crocodile. We rescued him from a zoo that closed down. If we weren’t here he wouldn’t have anywhere to go.” Keeper, Richard Sharp takes kids round the park at feeding time.

But Elvis’ future hangs in the balance once again. As The Tropical Forest’s lease expires next September, and Purdy’s request for an extension has been blocked.

No lease extension

The extension is needed in order to allow time for a new location to be found for the centre.

Purdy said “We were hoping we could stay here until we found somewhere new but the Hilton said we’ve had plenty of time…I’ve been told by the Duke’s Estate that it was the hotel themselves who objected.

Purdy admits that though most of the animals will be re-housed, “there is a problem trying to find proper homes for the big fish.”

With the animals’ future looking bleak, the centre’s last hope lies in a six thousand strong petition that has been sent to London Mayor Boris Johnson.

“They have that petition (which includes names of celebrities and local councillors) it’s now about what they can do with it.” Said Purdy.

Council agreed demolition last decade

Michael Baxter, Agent for the Syon Park Estate said that the demolition of the Tropical Forest was agreed in the late 90s, as it is “architecturally inappropriate” and does not fit with the Estate’s long-term renovation programme.

Baxter also cited a legal obligation to the council as the reason for the demolition.

John Hardy at Hounslow Council, confirmed “When the planning permission was given for the hotel one of the obligations was that the Tropical Forest be moved.

“We have explored whether that could be lifted but it’s not something the hotel would want because the Tropical Forest would ruin their view. The Duke and the hotel don’t want them there.”

The Councillor is working to find a new site for the Forest but with Purdy unable to foot the huge bill of building a new centre, and the Council “unable to help them with the cost,” Hardy’s efforts look set to be nothing more than a gesture.

British School Starting Age Too Young?

Abi Mowbray

The ‘Leading Research Bodies’ are at it again!

This time they are telling us that children in Britain are starting school too early.

School's the key to social success for this five year old

The general consensus seems to be that five is too young for children to be donning long grey socks and ill-fitting blazers.

The six year old is apparently much better equipped to cope with the stresses of school dinners, farm visits and cuddling the class hamster. As far as I can remember that is what formal education consisted of at age five.

Perhaps a lot has changed in the last 17 years? Perhaps Reception classes have put down Annie Apple and Duplo counting blocks in favour of quadratic equations in an effort to climb the league tables? I am however, doubtful.

The National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) states there is no “educational rationale” for children starting school so young.

Social Benefits

You’ll forgive me if I do not treat this as breaking news. Surely the benefit is a social one.

I am an auntie to many and the positives to children starting school at five appear to be simple. Mothers (or indeed fathers) are able to return to work while their child’s social development is enhanced through interaction with their peers in a classroom environment. Shimples?

I have a Spanish niece. She started school at three, as most Spaniards choose to. At home time she says “go away Daddy!” And a playground chase ensues. She colours, she counts, she sings. She has fun!

The late school starter is easy to spot at a party or playground. They are the child who has wrapped themselves around their Mummy’s leg monkey-style. They thumb-suck, they cry and they inevitably leave early.

Yet more money wasted on pointless research?

Recession Threatens Improvements in Disabled Transport in Lead up to Paralympics

Mothers with prams also struggle on London's Underground

Abi Mowbray & Rosie Duffield

Step-free tube access looks set to become the recession’s latest casualty, Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, says cost is the cause.

Green Park tube station is currently undergoing a £97million renovation to make it more accessible.  Gareth Bacon, a Conservative member of the London Assembly, questioned Johnson on the value of the renovations in the midst of “the worst recession in 80 years” at Mayor’s Question Time this morning.

Johnson said, “We don’t, in the current circumstances have the money… (step-free access) remains my objective, but we can’t deliver now.”

More pressing matters

Bacon grilled the Mayor on his decision to continue on with renovations whilst there are “more pressing matters” to spend the money on.

He went on to accuse the Mayor of funding “an expensive gesture pretending to solve a problem.”

Bacon criticises step free access in general and believes that few stations allow disabled passengers to disembark, because of large gaps between platforms.

Nightmare travel

Disabled Ben Parkin, 21, has found his own way around the problem. A regular passenger on the Tube, he bought his own ramp at a cost of £100 to make accessing the trains easier.  He describes getting around on the Underground as a “nightmare” and is “limited” in where he can go.

The Mayor described his verdict to push through the Green Park scheme, as “a difficult decision”.  So far, Green Park has cost £34million, which he argued would be “lost” if building work stopped and the remaining money spent elsewhere.

Aspirations slashed

One in three of London’s tube stations were planned for renovation by 2013, however Johnson admitted that his former aspirations have been slashed.

Mark Demery, Head of External Relations at the Greater London Council (GLA) said, “The 2012 bid made great play of London’s ability to cater for Paralympics. Our job is to press to see that the commitment made in the bid is delivered.”

By Abi Mowbray and Rosie Duffield www.rosieduffield.wordpress.com

Guildford Graduate Is Hairspray’s Leading Lady

Abi Mowbray

Chloe Hart is the envy of the recently graduated world. Fresh out of Guildford drama school, she has landed her first ever lead role, and what a place to start.

As Hairspray’s Tracy Turnblad, Chloe is living the dream. Following in the footsteps of 2008 Olivier Award winning Leanne Jones, she brings the West End’s big is beautiful heroine to life.

Oozing with confidence, Chloe  embodies the exuberance of the theatrical world. But it hasn’t always been plain sailing for her, I can hardly believe that this award winning singer has survived on a handful of comedy cameos up to now.

First lead role

“I’ve never had a lead role. I’ve always been the little comedy cameo. I’d think, ‘Ok I’ve only got about three or four lines but I’m going to make it a bigger role than it is and carry the character through into other scenes’ and stuff like that. But not stealing the scenes.” She insists with a cheeky smile.

Struggling against the slimline stereotype so beloved of casting directors, Chloe admits that her size has been a worry.  “I’ve always had doubts because of the way I look whether I would struggle to get roles.”  But adamant that she could remain true to herself and her West End dream, Chloe leapt at the chance to grab the lead in her favourite musical, Hairspray.

“There were other girls who could play Tracy, there were loads at the auditions but in my heart I knew I could do it.”

Positive attitude

“I think I’m a really positive person and that came across. At the audition they could see how much I wanted it and how much I’d give my heart and soul to do it. It’s not a role you can take lightly, you’ve got to give 150% to it and I think they saw that from me in the auditions.”

Chloe has taken the daunting jump from comedy bit part to West End heroine in her stride.

“To come straight into this was very daunting. But because she’s a role that I know I can connect with it and hasn’t been too scary.

At drama school I never felt like a dancer because of all the leggy girls who could kick their legs past their heads but now with all the fun and cutesy dance routines in Hairspray I really feel like a dancer too. It’s probably to do with Tracy, she’s just so confident”

Comedy and charisma

Chloe lights up the stage at the Shaftesbury theatre from the very first scene. Though 1960s racial segregation and physical prejudice are central to the show, her perfect blend of comedy and charisma has you in stitches and tears all at once.

Starring alongside Brian Conley and her new Link Larkin, the gorgeous, Liam Tamne, Chloe is  the most contented graduate in theatreland.

The cast

“Brian Conley is a dream! He’s like a daddy except he’s my mummy in this. Liam, my new Link, and I have become best friends. We hit it off straight away and the first time we did the kiss in rehearsals it just wasn’t even an issue. He just makes it so easy for me.”

But what does the future hold for the young actress who is pulling in the crowds in her first ever lead?

Worried that after Tracy, the only available space for a larger actress in the West End is back in the shadows of slimmer stars, Chloe has drawn  inspiration from her ‘never say die’ Tracy alter ego, setting her sights on more lead roles.

Breaking boundaries

“Scaramouche and Elphaba in We Will Rock You and Wicked are two of the most fantastic female roles, other than Tracy. It would be a dream to even have the chance to audition for those. I know that looks wise it’s not something that people would necessarily see as normal but I think that with both the roles, they’re both meant to be different and they’re meant to be outcasts so why couldn’t they be slightly podgy? Fiyero could fall in love with her even though she’s green and a little bit chubby?”

“It depends on whether people want to break the barrier and take a risk. It’s up to the producers and the casting directors whether they want to take that risk or not.”

When Chloe stands on stage at Shaftesbury Theatre, I am filled with the belief that this is just the start of something big.

I look forward to seeing her in green.

Top Five Annoying Tube Habits

Abi Mowbray

Since coming home to London I have rediscovered the horror that is the tube. This evening on my long and interrupted journey home (of course there has to be at least one line closure every weekend) I was forced to change seats twice to escape people with bad tube habits. I call these people Rudetubers.

Rudetubers fall into five catagories, they are as follows:

1. The farter. Now admittedly there are two types of tube farter and it is important to make the distinction. The first is the accidental farter. The accidental         farter can be identified by a red face, only slightly visible over the top of The Metro, which the accidental farter quickly becomes engrossed in. The                         accidental farter will hold their nose and join in with mutual looks of disgust. The accidental farter is likely to get off at the next available stop but most             importantly the accidental farter is sorry.

2. There is another farter variant. A farter who shows no shame or remorse. The proud farter. The proud farter does not need to be sought out, as he (a             sexist assumption), will identify himself. Depending on the level of alcohol consumed he will either boast loudly of his flatulent triumph to friends or,                 as I witnessed only yesterday, profess his guilt to a silenced tube.

3. The nervous traveller. The nervous traveller does not frequent the tube. The nervous traveller is suspicious of the tube. A public hindrance at “the                     platform edge” and when disembarking. The nervous traveller believes a tube can become ‘full’, she (another assumption) strictly adheres to a queuing               system but most irritatingly the nervous traveller requires time. Time to get off, time to get to on, time to move her bags as you dive through the closing                 doors onto your platform. She believes that Londoners are in “too much of a hurry” and “have no manners”. And perhaps reinforcing her point, I find                 her the most irritating of all!

4. The sound wave criminal. The sound wave criminal is not exclusive to the tube. The sound wave criminal can also be found on the top deck of buses            and, previously, the smoking carriage of trains. The sound wave criminal will subject a tube to a blur of high frequency noise. Subject to the orderly                      protest of heavy page turning by suited Guardian readers, the sound wave criminal will often mount a three pronged resistance: chewing gum, texting                and increasing the volume. The broadsheet can offer no response.

5. The runner. The nervous travellers’ arch-enemy. The runner’s need to board a tube is greater than the rest of the stations’ and as such the runner often            physically discards other tube travellers, or in the psyche of the runner ‘competitors’. The runner does not queue on the right hand side of the escalator.              Perilously, the runner takes moving steps two, sometimes three at a time, brushing beads of sweat onto right hand sided bystanders. The runner’s final              lap is the platform. The runner will not stand aimlessly waiting for the arrival of the tube, no the runner leaves nothing to chance and the possibility                  that they will be beaten to the door. The runner will stalk the platform with a total disregard for the authority of the yellow line. The runner will get on                before letting you get off.