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Birthdays and punctuation
Happy Founders’ Day and Thinking Day! It’s all about the apostrophe. Some would like one between the “r” and the “s”, to show possession by Robert BP alone. Others put it after the “s” to show possession by both Robert and Olave – which I prefer. Others leave it out completely, but the punctuation pedant…
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From Vinyl to Virtual
There’s something about those of us born in the 1960s. A certain resilience. A knack for getting on with things. A way of navigating life’s challenges that feels almost second nature. We are neither Boomers nor Xers. We are Gen Jones. The Trumpton Generation. Looking back, I realise how much my approach to leadership has…
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Eight Things I’ve Learned Over the Last Twelve Months
As the year draws to a close, I’m taking a moment to reflect on the past twelve months — a year filled with its fair share of challenges, surprises, and personal growth. This quiet time between Christmas and New Year feels like the perfect opportunity to pause and take stock of the lessons I’ve picked…
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On LGBTQI+ Scouting…
I no longer actively work with a Section, I do other things as a Scout volunteer, but I was a leader in UK Scouting throughout the 80s and 90s, when being gay in Scouting wasn’t something you admitted to. Indeed, the institutional homophobia at the time was palpable. Since then, things have changed for LGBTQI+…
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20 of life’s little lessons
I was chatting today to an old friend in Nairobi. We come from different backgrounds and different cultures. We disagree about many things, but we have remained steadfast friends since early adulthood. We started to talk about the advice we would offer our younger selves. We began to make a list. Here are a few…
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Harrods Christmas Bears
For a whole host of reasons, I have become increasingly interested in the history of Teddy Bears – not something you’d normally expect of a balding, middle-aged charity chief executive. But, over lockdown, the adventures of Ben the Bear were chronicled on Facebook, as he helped me with shopping, eating and other tasks of daily…
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Why I ride my bike to work
When I speak to people in some parts of the world, they are very surprised to hear that I ride my bike to work. (Well, actually, I get the train from my home in the countryside to London, and then ride from the station to my office.) I’ve been told that riding a bike in…
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A welcome to new UK citizens
As a Deputy Lieutenant, I have the privilege of presenting citizenship certificates to new UK citizens. Here’s the text of the speech I made at this afternoon’s ceremony… Good afternoon everybody and a very warm welcome to you – to this wonderful County of Oxfordshire. It’s one of England larger counties with an area of…
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Jodie Chesney
I am struck by the extent to which I have become inured to stories of violence and knife crime in the UK. This morning’s pictures of Jodie Chesney in her Scout uniform – and reading of her participation in the Award – have punctured the bubble. I grieve with her family and friends – and…
