Yesterday evening I had the pleasure of visiting WINGS, and I drove home feeling reminded why events like this matter so much. For those who do not know it, WINGS is one of the UK’s largest international Scout and Guide camps. Every few years it brings together thousands of young people from across Britain and…
I have spent a good part of my working life travelling, working with people from other countries and, from time to time, trying to explain Britain to them. That is not always easy. The country we describe abroad is often tidier than the one in which we actually live. We talk about parliamentary democracy, ancient…
Whenever a long-established youth organisation changes its uniform, somebody inevitably declares it the end of civilisation. This week it is Girlguiding, which has announced the first significant whole organisation redesign of its uniform in more than three decades, (there have been other section redesigns along the way) alongside a simpler expectation of what members need…
One of the unexpected pleasures of leading Cats Protection has been discovering just how much there is still to learn. People sometimes assume that when someone becomes the Chief Executive of a charity, they somehow become an expert overnight in whatever that organisation exists to do. The reality is rather different. I arrived with many…
Today was the day Heartstopper Forever dropped on Netflix, so Mark and I sat down this evening to watch it, having loved the television series from the beginning.We came away feeling exactly as we hoped we would: happy. Yes, the critics are probably right that the film’s tighter running time means some of the wider…
There are evenings when you know, almost from the opening minutes, that you are listening to someone whose ideas will stay with you for a long time. The St George’s House Annual Lecture, delivered this year by Lord Jonathan Sumption, was one of those occasions. It was a privilege to be there. Lord Sumption hardly…
On the wall of my study hangs an old cutting from the Lichfield Mercury, dated 11 November 1988. The headline reads: “Breaking out!” The page is yellowed now, the photographs are grainy and the print has faded. But it remains one of the things on my wall that means the most to me. The article…
Walking around the Leys Festival in Blackbird Leys at the weekend, I was struck by just how much society depends upon volunteers. The festival itself was created through a partnership between local residents and the University of Oxford’s Cultural Programme, bringing together community organisations, performers, sports coaches, artists and many others for a day devoted…
I don’t often write directly about local political issues. When I do, I think it is important to be clear that these are my own personal reflections as an Oxfordshire resident. They do not represent the views of any organisation I lead or support, nor of any of the civic offices I am privileged to…
There is something rather wonderful about the end of term. Schools empty. Teachers exhale. Parents begin wondering how many days it will be before someone announces they’re bored. And youth organisations across the country somehow summon the energy for one last concert, performance or celebration before everyone disappears for the summer. Those who know me…
