Viewing all items in Resource Category: Looking at your Community

Enid Blyton, one of the most successful children’s writers of the 20th century, died 50 years ago this month, on 28th November 1968. She wrote more than 760 books. She was born in 1897 and as a baby nearly died of whooping cough. Although best known for her Noddy books and the Famous Five series,...

Just 80 years ago, on 9th Nov 1938, Kristallnacht (the night of broken glass) began, when the Nazis burned over 1400 synagogues and destroyed thousands of Jewish homes and businesses in Germany and Austria. More than 30,000 Jews were transported to concentration camps, and by the end of the year, Jews were prohibited from schools...

The Royal British Legion, in partnership with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, is encouraging people to individually commemorate over one million Commonwealth Service men and women who were killed during the First World War. The losses were felt in almost every town and village in the UK and throughout, what was then, the British Empire....

As autumn begins to head towards winter, spare a thought for any older person in our community who has been bereaved. They may be struggling with some depression just now. A recent study has found that older bereaved people, particularly those aged over 85, are four times more likely to experience depression than those who...

When did you last talk to your local pharmacist?   If it has been some time, now may be the month to pop in and share with them any health concerns that you have. ‘Ask Your Pharmacist’ week is an awareness week aimed at reminding communities of the wide range of services that pharmacists can offer. ...

How much time did your children spend on social media today?  Educationalists and child psychologists are warning that their smartphones have become an all compelling master that demands hours upon hours of their daily time and attention. ‘Teenagers today are in a seemingly unbreakable relationship with their phones, and – more importantly – the social...

Prince Charles will celebrate his 70th birthday this month (14th Nov) with, among other charity events, a London Palladium gala starring Britain’s’ finest magicians.  Organisers have promised ‘jaw-dropping’ illusions and comedy ‘giants’. Charles has been a lifelong fan of magicians and was even inducted into the secretive Magic Circle in 1975 after performing a classic...

All in the month of October Diary of a Momentous Year:  October 1918 Celebrating Paddington Bear’s 60th anniversary The day that ‘War of the Worlds’ came to America Sir Walter Raleigh: Queen Elizabeth l’s favourite adventurer and courtier THE WAY I SEE IT – Whatever happened to ties? Don’t miss the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms!  (19 October...

It was: 400 years ago, on 29th Oct 1618 that Sir Walter Raleigh died.  This famous English explorer, writer, poet and courtier was a favourite of Queen Elizabeth 1. Well known for popularising tobacco in England. Executed for treason by King James 1 (mainly to appease the Spanish). 100 years ago, on 1st Oct 1918...

October 1918 was the month when both sides, in their different ways, decided that they had had enough war. The Germans, following their defeat at Amiens, no longer had any hope of a strong negotiating position in peace talks, let alone victory. Their economy was struggling, and morale was low. The Allies, now sure of...

Paddington Bear made his first appearance 60 years ago, on 13th Oct 1958, when the book A Bear Called Paddington, by Michael Bond, was published. Paddington is of course a fictional, anthropomorphised bear who has featured in more than 20 books that have been translated into 30 languages and have sold more than 30 million...

Orson Welles’ famous radio adaptation of War of the Worlds by H G Wells was broadcast in the USA 80 years ago, on 30th Oct 1938. It was said to have caused nationwide outrage and panic as – in the tense political atmosphere just before the Second World War – listeners thought the events described...