Category Archives: News / Opinion

Give yourself a hyperlocal challenge

How do you measure community? Is it the friendliness of the locals? The Neighbourhood Watch schemes and committees that strive to make the place we live in safe? The clubs, societies, schools, playgroups, cafe on the corner or the fundraising for good causes?

The area in which you live probably has more going on than you know about. So how do you find out what’s happening?

The local newspaper, perhaps, is the obvious starting point for picking up news about where you live, but have you thought about launching you own news service – a hyperlocal blog – for your village, estate or town?

Occasionally, there are issues that affect the few streets in which you live, but would not interest your local reporter.

This is where a hyperlocal website can fill the gap.

According to Wikipedia (apologies. I know …), the definition of a hyperlocal website is that it can:

Focus on very specialized topics—stories and issues of interest only to people in a very limited area. So, for example, school board meetings, restaurant, community group meeting and garage sales can receive prominent coverage.

So while a missing cat or dog wouldn’t even make it to the news in brief column of the evening paper, it would undoubtedly be covered in the hyperlocal blog, complete with photograph and contact details of who to contact.

The blog may also contain lists of local doctors, library opening times, playgroups or children’s groups, how to contact local councillors – all the things that those living in the community live.

In October 2010, I launched a hyperlocal blog for the village in which I live. Called Common People, because it is known in the area for its commons (I’m not being rude to the inhabitants), the blog covers some of the stories or events that take place there.

I’d been thinking about doing it for some time, but it was only when Dan Slee, a local government officer in Walsall, goaded me by saying, “If you don’t do it, someone else will” that I created it. He knew that would make me set it up.

It’s all done voluntarily, carries no advertising and aims to be a community forum. It’s updated once or twice a week – occasionally more – and there is a growing and vibrant Facebook page that attracts lots of conversation.

From a fundraising walk and controversial planning issues to photographs of Christmas tree decorations that feature Pelsall landmarks, it’s varied – and quite often, the stories that are carried on the site are picked up by the local evening newspaper.

It’s a hobby, a work in progress and a part-time distraction. But it has got me more involved in the village where I live and I love encouraging conversation between the villagers. There are many more hyperlocal bloggers doing sterling work in their communities. Could you do it, too?

I’d recommend it – go on, give it a go!

What’s your favourite word?

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Is there an English word that makes you feel warm inside? A word that you love to use because it trips off the tongue beautifully?

What's your favourite word?

A few years ago, the UK public were asked to vote for their favourite sounding word and I was thrilled when serendipity took top spot in 2000 and the fabulous word nincompoop took top billing in 2007.

Just saying them makes me smile no end, but there are other words, too, that I love for myriad reasons.

Kerfuffle reminds me of a big fat marshmallow pillow; curmudgeon is a portly word that fills the mouth; miasma; squidgy; river; squib … the list could go on.
Which words do you love? Let me know.

By the way, if you love words, have you thought about adopting one?
Adopt a Word raises money for I Can, a charity that helps children who have communication difficulties.

Two of my friends are marrying today after many years together. I’ve just adopted the word “cherish” for them. I hope they enjoy their gift.

Nancy Dell’Olio irons out any confusion about feminism

Please, Sir, can I have less?

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According to a report in the Express & Star, Walsall Council is planning to cut portion sizes of its cooked school lunches in an effort to reduce obesity among the borough’s children.

Is portion control the problem or the food that is served?

Forgive my confused face here, but this seems ridiculous.

The council claims that infants and junior school portions are the same, which is leading to fatter, unhealthier children.

Obesity is undoubtedly a problem in the borough and I wouldn’t want to underplay the seriousness of it, but surely the local authority has to look at what foods it offers the youngsters in schools rather than just cutting portion sizes?

The ultimate responsibility for a child’s eating habit lies with the parent/s. If the adults stuff their faces with junk food and drink pop, it is hardly surprising their offspring pick up equally bad habits and grab for a bag of crisps instead of an apple when they are peckish.

But for some youngsters, the school meal is the only hot meal they get a day, so it is important that school catering services provide nutritious and filling meals.

Let’s pretend for a moment that this proposal by the council isn’t an exercise in cutting costs or getting rid of the catering facilities at the borough’s schools …

Here is a snapshot of menus at a Walsall primary school last term. A school lunch costs £1.80:

For example, day 1, week 1:

beef burger in a bap with ketchup

breaded small fry with parsley sauce

creamed potatoes or smilies

peas, baked beans or salad

iced apple sponge and custard.

(So, beef burger in a bap, smilies and beans, with a pudding. Hardly a nutritious repast.)

Day four, week 3:

Cottage pie, gravy, half a baguette

Pizza

Jacket wedges

Peas, baked beans or salad

Jam feather sponge and custard

(Cottage pie – hopefully with hidden vegetables in it – and peas, with a pudding. Better. However, they’d also get some jacket wedges, too. Carb fest.)

Day 3, week 5

Roast lamb, mint sauce, gravy

Cheese pasty

Creamed or boiled potatoes

Peas, beans or mixed salad

Shortcake and custard

(There are plenty of roast dinners on offer, if that’s your thing.)

Day two, week 7:

Pasta Bolognese

Vegetarian sausage roll

Garlic gread

Creamed potatoes

Carrots, sweetcorn or salad

Toffee muffin traybake

(Veggie sausage roll AND creamed potatoes? And a sugar-laden pudding?)

There are always baked potatoes (with cheese or coleslaw; no butter) and a pasta dish – called smart pasta, for some reason – bread (no butter), yoghurts and fruit available. Children can also buy fruit juice (30p), milk (16p) or milkshakes (35p).

I’m neither a dietitian nor a nutritionist and I’m not a person who would deny a child their pudding, but some menus appear to be less balanced than others.

School cooks I have spoken to about also complain that the menus are overloaded with carbs and there is not enough emphasis on freshly-cooked meals and vegetables. Smilies may be baked nowadays and not fried (making them lower in fat and therefore acceptable, say the authority’s catering service) but are they the best choice? Some school cooks think not* (*caution: not a scientific piece of research.)

There has also been a return to the menu of burgers and sausage rolls, but no doubt the ketchup that is served with them is low in sugar, so that’s all right … And are the sausage rolls/vegetarian sausage rolls high in fat? If not,

Traditional Sunday lunch by adactio (http://www.flickr.com/photos/adactio/10098413/)

I’d love the recipe, please.

There have been a number of occasions over these past few years – even before the Jamie Oliver revolution – that I tried to get some information out of the council’s catering service about the nutritional content of the menus.

Occasionally, I have been successful with information: for instance, I was told that the sausages contained 80 per cent plus meat, more than the premium supermarket ones. Hurrah for that.

Other requests for information have not been given (ie: does each meal have to be nutritionally balanced or is it a menu over a week that has to be balanced?).

I know the council staff have worked very hard to try to improve the menus over the years, introducing salad bars and making meals at primary schools more colourful, but there have been accusations from some parents (including me) that the standards seem to be dropping again, following the Jamie Oliver campaign.

Smaller portions of cheese pasties, bacon baguettes, doughnuts and chocolate crunch cake are not going to save the children from obesity. Bigger portions of healthier food might. Oh – but what of the cost implications?

Now, excuse me, as I have to go and decorate a chocolate cake I’ve just made…

I’ve used HOW MUCH data? Orange, you are wrong AGAIN

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I’ve blogged about Orange in the past, when it scrapped my email account without telling me.

It took a long time to trust the company again (actually, I’ve never really trusted it since).

When I swapped phones and renewed my contract in January (yes, stupidly staying with Orange, against my better judgment), I chose an HTC Desire with 500MB data allowance per month.

I asked for my new contract details to be emailed or sent via post to me. I received nothing.

I know that 500MB is not much data, but when I used 1g in the first month, I spoke to someone in customer services who told me not to upload photos, keep Facebook and Twitter to a minimum and not use apps like Sky and BBC news because they are data-heavy. He even laughed, saying “It’s only cost you £7.93 because of the package you are on, otherwise it’d be thousands.”

I laughed, too.

Not anymore. Today, I received this letter in the post:

(click on image to make it readable)

First reactions? Bewilderment, shaking, tears … How can this be possible?

What?! This is all but impossible. I’d heeded the advice of the Orange adviser and cut down my usage – checking on my phone every so often to see if I was within limits.

After a call to customer services, I must admit I’m still not much the wiser (I was not in the right frame of mind for speaking to them). I was told there is a known “issue” with HTCs as they keep downloading data in the background when you aren’t using your phone. (Really? Has anyone else had this problem?).

I was told I’d used a phenomenal amount of data – 2,000 somethings were mentioned – I thought she said MB, but now wonder if she actually said gigabytes.

I was also told that my paltry 500MB data allowance had been removed and that I had 500MG allowance to access email. How so? I’d not asked for it to be removed. I want the evidence that I did ask for it to be taken off.

The customer service adviser told me to cancel my direct debit, pay the £21.69 I owed for my talk package. A report has been sent to the recalculation department and I was told “not to worry” because it would be sorted.

I’m sure it will be, but it yet ANOTHER error by Orange – don’t even get me started on my daughter’s pay as you go Orange phone (which we are now moving to another provider).

Orange – you are an absolute disgrace.

Sort it. And do it quickly.

UPDATE: March 19

Seems my phone has continued to chew data (980MB in a week), despite my having taken all the advice from Orange on changing the settings so that the phone would not continuously update.

I was advised by someone in a customer services today that they switch off GPRS – hardly a great solution. I might as well have a £5 phone. He also told me they don’t cap data because “they want you to use your phone”. Although he admitted it would make sense if they did so.

As the original query is still with the recalculation department, I have to wait to see what comes back. One thing is for sure, I will be doing what I can get have this contract declared null and void.

Farewell The Yam Yam

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So, today sees the end of The Yam Yam.

After two years of hard work by editor Mark Blackstock, the only online daily news aggregate site for Walsall news finishes. He has explained his reasons and while the online community understands and sympathises, it acknowledges it will leave a yawning gap in the town.

I – and the growing number of readers who have been drawn to this unique site – will miss it and can only hope that some financial help can be sought to bring it back online.

Where else can you find such a variety of business, news, sport and comment about Walsall online? The beauty of The Yam Yam is that it pulls news about the borough from a variety of sources – local newspapers, BBC and a growing lobby of local bloggers, who pull no punches when it comes to voicing their opinions about the town and how it is run.

And who else who would give an innovative school class project such exposure?

The gap will be particularly noticeable for the local business community, for there is nowhere else they can go to read such a comprehensive round-up of Walsall business news. While local papers may ignore the stories about smaller companies or entrepreneurs, The Yam Yam offers a valuable service in giving them a voice.

As the town looks to regenerate over the next few years, it is so important we hear the voices of the SMEs, the creatives, the start-ups and those who not only have the entrepreneurial spirit to flourish, but want to succeed in Walsall.

(This includes the Winning Opportunities for Walsall (WOW) programme, funded through the Walsall Partnership, is helping SMEs thrive in the borough, bringing jobs here.)

Could Walsall’s business community look at saving this unique site? The Yam Yam is the perfect vehicle to tell us about the success stories and the perfect vehicle to challenge authority and question the decisions being made in our name, using our taxes.

So, as the Yam Yam prepares to power down, let’s hope that a solution can be found so that it can continue in some way. Such ventures will never (although, never say never) make a profit, but it could be sustainable.

Editorially, it has worked. Could it possible work as a business venture? Fingers crossed …

How was dinner, darling? Erm … is honesty the best policy?

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The aroma is sublime and you know he’s spent AGES preparing dinner, so what’s the etiquette when he asks how the meal is – and you don’t actually like it?

What do you if you don't like the meal your partner has cooked?

Tricky, isn’t it?

Relationships are all about honesty, but is there a time when you can be too frank?

I asked the dinner question on Twitter and the general consensus was “don’t tell the truth”. I struggle with that.

I believe in the old adage of honesty being the best policy, but I do appreciate there are ways of telling the truth without necessarily hurting their feelings. And such an approach has to be tailored to the person whose meal you are about to criticise.

What I may say to my partner is very different from what I may tell a friend who asked the same question.
If the children pick at a dish, we urge them to tell us if they liked it. Our philosophy is that if they say they enjoyed it, we’ll probably make it again.

So, last night, as we sat down to eat, my son picked at it … he clearly wasn’t enjoying the lovingly-created, home-made curry, made from scratch (including the roasting of the spices). I didn’t particularly enjoy it, either.

When the killer question came: “What do you think?” There was a pause that was a micro-second too long and a very carefully-worded appraisal (which, in all honesty, sounds far grander than it actually was).
I’d like to think the same would happen if the tables were turned.

But what do you think? What would you do?

A lesson in finance for children

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It’s not easy teaching your children the value of money.

When I was young, 10p would burn a hole in my pocket and my mother would berate me about my eagerness to spend. If I ever had money for my birthday or Christmas, I knew what it would be spent on IMMEDIATELY.

“Keep it a while,” my mum would tell me. “There may be something else that you would prefer. And put a little aside for a rainy day.”

Few children have no idea what a rainy day is, financially-speaking, though, do they?

According to a survey conducted by the bank Halifax last year, a child’s average pocket money is £5.89 a week – a drop from 2009 when the average was £6.24. Some are given it as reward for doing chores; others are not.

Many people say that giving children pocket money helps them with the essential life skill of budgeting and gives them some independence. I wonder how many actually save some of their pocket money into a bank account?

I learned to “save a little/spend a little” over time. (I’m not saying I’ve never been in debt or that I’m not now, but it’s a philosophy I have passed onto my children. Or, I tried.)

So when my telephone contract came up for renewal, my daughter pounced on me: “Can I have your old phone?” “Pleeeeeeaaase.”

I had a think about this. Of course, she could have the phone. But that would be too easy, wouldn’t it? Would she appreciate the fact that I had given her my old phone? Probably in the short term, but that’s all.

I looked up my old phone model on one of those websites that buys second-hand phones and saw it was worth £22.50. Not much, maybe, but that’s a fair few weeks’ pocket money off her nan.

A compromise was to be made: she could have the phone, but only if she saved £22 and paid for it. That stopped her in her tracks for a while. I could see the mathematical cogs whirring around in her mind, working out how long it would take to save for it.

The next question came: “Could I have the phone now and give you some money every week for it?” My answer: no way (another lesson in buying things “on the knock” was now under way. This girl needs to be more financially savvy).

Debt may not be bad, but attitudes towards debt can be. While she is likely to be in debt up to her eyeballs if she goes to university or takes a mortgage in later life, it’s the kinds of debt that she and her fellow classmates need to be educated about.

The new PSHE curriculum now teaches financial education, but it’s not the golden bullet; it won’t answer all the questions or provide the solutions. But it may help to change attitudes a little and help them understand the psychology of retail/business.

So, a few weeks after the first conversation about saving for the phone, my daughter came up to me, as pleased as punch. She had saved the £22 and handed it over. I gave her the phone.

Even she agreed it had been worth doing. She said it had focused her mind as to how much things were worth and what you had to do if you wanted something, but couldn’t quite afford it.

I’d love to say it made her more patient, rather than wanting things NOW, but that would be taking it just a little too far … she’s already talking about the next phone she wants!

How do you teach your children to be responsible with money?

How Sainsbury’s turned me into the Grinch

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You know that thing about Christmas being stressful?
Yesterday, Sainsbury’s very nearly turned me into the Grinch.
No, I wasn’t out shopping for food (I’m not *that* mad). No, my daughter decided she wanted to make the gingerbread house that featured in the December 2010 magazine.
Doesn’t it look amazing?

The Sainsbury's gingerbread house (December 2010 magazine)

Of course .. how hard could it be?
Haha!
It was a NIGHTMARE to build.
The actual recipe was easy to follow and we just about managed to eke out the recipe so that we had enough to build the house.
The template was very carefully drawn and cut out; the dough was also very carefully cut out and was (almost) spot on.
Then it went in the oven and sort of warped.
It meant the pieces didn’t fit together properly and required a major salvage operation involving industrial amounts of royal icing (home made! First time I’ve made it) to ensure it stuck together.
There was much huffing and puffing (and swears in the head that were inappropriate for such a festive time of year). It took FOREVER to put together – four hands and six tins of tomatoes for support.
The operation turned me into the Grinch. Pah! to Christmas. I wanted to chuck the whole lot in the bin.

Sink estate gingerbread house. I was already thinking how to make a rusting pram and discarded tyres at this point

It didn’t look good. It looked awful. While we had started off envisaging a beautiful Hansel and Gretel creation, the reality seemed to be a sink estate house, complete with old washing machine outside the front door, half enders for a garden and rusty pram by the gate.
Thank goodness, then, for copious sweets, more icing sugar than you could shake a stick at, and some creative flair from an 11-year-old.
Turned out alright in the end … yes?

Ah!

(no, we won’t be attempting it again. I daren’t tot up how much it cost to buy the ingredients!). Merry blooming Christmas.

What’s the benefit for children?

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Child benefit is the sacred cow that has been slaughtered before our eyes.

I understand the need to make massive savings. The country is in the mire; we owe £900 billion and that is forecast to soar to £1.1 trillion by next year.

According to the UK Debt Bombshell , it is the equivalent of every man, woman and child paying back £15,213. UK pays £120 million debt interest every day to foreign governments.

That kind of debt is not sustainable. Everyone agrees that significant savings must be made across the board. Something has to give.

Getting rid of child benefit for high earners, those people earning over £44,000, is one idea.[picapp align="right" wrap="false" link="term=george+osborne&iid=9913374" src="http://view2.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9913374/the-conservative-party/the-conservative-party.jpg?size=500&imageId=9913374" width="234" height="156" /]

The Chancellor George Osborne, who before the election pledged to save child benefit, says it will save £1 billion a year.

While there are undoubtedly good arguments to scrapping a universal benefit for high earners – whatever they are (that depends, naturally, on whatever you earn. It’s probably £5,000-£10,000 more than what you are on) – the dichotomy comes with the mathematics.

In a one-income family, with the sole earner’s yearly salary at about £44,000, they lose their child benefit. For the oldest child in full-time education, that payment stands at £20.30 a week, with £13.40 a week subsequent youngsters. For that one-income family, it means losing £1,752.40 if there are two children in the family.

That’s a lot of money.

While some families may not even notice the money going into their bank accounts every month – see India Knight’s tweet about how she used her child benefit (she also tweeted that she didn’t claim it after 1998 when she returned to work) – for others, it is the difference between being able to keep the house warm in the winter; it is being able clothe their youngsters. It isn’t about paying for piano lessons.

But the real problem for the angry middle classes and Mumsnet and the like is the incredibly iniquitous decision to allow two parents who each earn just under the 40 per cent threshold (£40,000 each, say) to continue claiming child benefit.

How does that seem remotely reasonable? To many people, including Tory activists, high earners and those who will continue to receive child benefit when the changes come into effect in 2013, it is a monstrous policy.

Is the government sacrificing the simplicity of the system, by introducing a crude cut-off point without any regard for household income, for fairness?

All of this rather overshadowed Osborne’s next announcement to cap the amount of benefit any family can claim to £26,000. Of course, the comfy middle classes won’t be wringing their hands about that.

What next? What are the next elephants in the room to be sacrificed? Winter fuel allowance; pensioners’ bus passes; free TV licences for pensioners? More than likely. We are, as this government continues to say ad nauseam, all in this together. Unless you are super rich. Then that doesn’t apply, of course.

Jayne Howarth Media

Freelance Journalist