Losing services

A lot of the events reported in the local news don't affect young people, I know that. But sometimes there are big news stories that have an impact on everybody and over the last couple of weeks we've seen two.

First, we were told last week that the West Cumberland Hospital might lose its Accident and Emergency (A&E) department, because they can't afford to keep it opened and pay the doctors and nurses needed.

If it does close, the next closest A&E is Carlisle or Barrow depending on where in Copeland you are, and it could take over an hour to get there.

This week we have learned that Milton Studdart (ex-rugby league player from Moresby Parks) had to be taken to Carlisle because staff at WCH couldn't treat him. He had a heart attack on the way and he died.

His wife has said that if there had been a cardiologist (heart specialist) employed at WCH, Milton might well have survived, and the worry is that the more services we lose, the greater the chance that people could die needlessly.

We have also learned that the Police Station in Whitehaven may have to close as a result of cuts to the Police funding.

This could also mean a loss of experienced officers and PCSOs, which means fewer staff, and that means that vulnerable people -- such as the elderly and infirm -- are more likely to feel at risk.  Thousands of people have already signed the petition.

In other news...

Schools across the borough have recently had their Harvest festivals, and many of them have donated the food collected to foodbanks. St Bridget's School, Egremont showed off their achievements to the local press this week.

It's worth remembering that some people rely on foodbanks to keep their families fed: North Lakes Foodbank supports around 500 people every month. Many of these people have jobs, but don't get paid enough to pay all their bills and have enough money left to put food on the table.

The Harvest collections were great, but we have to remember that there are people going hungry all the time, not just this month.

Seeing things differently...

 

Anybody fancy taking a bite out of this?

Looks delicious

Well, actually it looks like crap, but the instructions for creating it make it sound delicious.

Actually, this is a picture of a kitty litter cake, they're pretty popular in America and I'm definitely thinking of making one for a Hallowe'en party.

  If you want to give it a try you will need:

·         Spice cake mix

·         White cake mix

·         Large bowl

·         Prepared vanilla pudding

·         Custard creams

·         Food processor

·         Green food colouring

·         New kitty litter box

·         Greaseproof paper

·         Chocolate bars (Fudge will do)

·         Metal litter scooper

·         Sheet of newspaper

Instructions

1.      Bake both cake recipes in separate pans according to directions. Cool completely before coarsely crumbling the cakes. Mix cake crumbs together in a large bowl.

2.     Mix about half of the prepared pudding into the cake crumbs. Continue to add in small amounts of pudding until the mixture is moist, but not soggy.

3.      Crush the package of custard creams into a fine crumb or use a food processor. Place ½ cup of the crumbs in a small bowl and mix in several drops of food colouring. Mix in all but ¼ cup of the uncoloured crumbs into the cake and pudding mixture. The crumbs add a sandy feel to the dessert.

4.     Line the unused litter box with greaseproof paper. Scoop the cake, pudding and cookie mixture into the litter box.

5.     Warm eight to nine chocolate bars in the oven or microwave until pliable. Shape each bars by rolling it between clean hands and forming soft points into the blunt ends. Roll each shaped bar into the reserved uncolored cookie crumbs before adding to the top of the cake. Sprinkle the green cookie crumbs over the finished cake.

6.     Place a clean litter scooper on top of the cake to use for serving. Set the cake litter box on top of a sheet of newspaper on the table.

New broom at PMQ

So, in the national news we've got the new Labour leader shaking up Prime Minister's Question Time. For anyone who doesn't know, that's an hour in the week when the Prime Minister answers questions from other MPs, and it's famous in part for the MPs behaving quite immaturely (some call it Punch and Judy politics). 

As the proverb says:

Jeremy Corbyn has said he wants to get away from the kind of behaviour that wouldn't look out of place in a primary school (though I imagine the head teacher would be pretty annoyed).

In and effort to give ordinary people the voice, he put questions to Prime Minister directly from emails and tweets.  He was passionate , but he was civil and polite, and asked the questions that mattered to his voters.

That said, Jeremy Corbyn has not been elected without controversy: he's already been in trouble for not singing the National Anthem at the Battle of Britain, and for not giving as many shadow cabinet jobs to women as his predecessors.

Nothing is perfect, and a new person taking on a job brings new problems as well as fixing old ones.

Perhaps it's worth remembering the other half of the proverb.

   

Local news

The first gathering of the Copeland Community Forum took place last week. This is a place where representatives of all the major sectors can come together: health, police, education, sport, charities, local businesses, and talk about the priorities for Copeland. 

Young people have been represented too, and the services offered by the Council will be shaped by these meetings, so it's important that everyone living in the borough comes forward with any thoughts about what would make life better in Copeland.

Seeing things differently

So, here's a video of the 41 most unexpected cat jumps of all time

Which is great, but when I watch it I just think the title's all wrong. It should really be, "There are two kinds of cat: evil cats and idiot cats".

And finally...

At the Women's Institute Centennial Fair in Harrogate, merchandise from Cockermouth was banned because the name of the town is too rude and may cause offence.

Captain Picard say...

 

Assisted Dying

The big news story this week is around the Assisted Dying Bill. As most of you know a Bill is something that MPs discuss and vote on to decide if it should become the law; and this Bill is all about whether someone has the right to be helped to die.

This assistance can only happen in some very specific circumstances: the person has to be terminally ill, with (probably) fewer than six months to live, and the prescription of a lethal dose of medication must be agreed by two doctors.

For some people, this is a good thing, as it helps people who are very close to the end of their life, often living in pain and discomfort, to die with some dignity.

For others, there's a fear that it could change how we view life, and could lead some people to feel like a burden, and want to die for the good of their families.

This is a subject that people on both sides feel really passionate about, and today's vote will likely lead to some bitter disappointment

Tony Nicklinson, who campaigned to be helped to die

Local News

The Gaiety cinema is set to reopen after 12 years.  That means the people of Copeland won't have to travel to Workington to see every new release.

It's not all good news though: the Gaiety has limited access for the disabled, and the Copeland Disability Forum have expressed their disappointment that wheelchair users will not be able to make use of the building.

The cinema owners have said that they investigated improving disable access, but the layout of the building itself makes this impossible.

If you were making the decision to reopen or not, what would you do?

Seeing things differently

Remember, there's always more than one perspective:

And finally...

Science is magic. Wow.

Its migration not an invasion

National news

The big story in the news is about migration to the UK hitting record highs from the start of the year up to march according to the office of national statistics, now I won’t go in to the figures but I do think that it is important to say that no matter your own opinion, migrants do make a massive contribution to the economy and we do need them, also I do see some peoples point that we are a small island nation and we do need to keep an eye on it. There is little chance of this affecting people in a negative way as it’s more likely to boost the economy and there for it will help people more.

Local news

In local news the Sellafield sticks go on and they not budging, there in protest over pay and on Tuesday a 48 hour strike is under way. I’m going to take a step back because I don’t want to get in to the hole how, what and why because I think that there is a big picture here that these people are exercising there right to strike which is their right to do, mean will these people are not getting paid jurying the strike, so it all comes down to them doing want they think is right and I applaud that.

In other news

It’s me Jon it’s my last day today at Copeland borough council and I’ve got to say I’m sad to be going, I’ll miss the gang and all the great work we’ve been doing jurying my time here. It’s been a true pleasure being here and seeing all the hard work they put in for all you youngsters I wish you all the best of look in the future and a happy yet sad good bye.        

 

Should young people be seen and not heard?

Should young people suffer in silence? It sometimes feels like it.

So, a recent study has found that children living in England are among the most unhappy -- more unhappy than kids in countries such as Ethiopia, Algeria, Colombia and Turkey. And one of the main reasons for the level of unhappiness is bullying.

Bullying has happened in schools for as long as I can remember, and a lot of people would say that it's always going to happen. It's inevitable.

Well, I say no. Why should bullying be allowed? If adults behaved the way a lot of children do they'd be arrested for victimisation, or harassment or assault: these are crimes. But because it's children doing it to other children we seem to think it's acceptable.

It's not acceptable, it's not inevitable, and we can do something about it. Anyone who wants to do something about changing the attitude in schools can contact me by Twitter or Facebook, and we can work towards greater happiness for children.

You can find the full report here

Power to the (young) people

Should young people be seen and not heard? Not according to Jeremy Corbyn.

He's the guy in front of the Labour leadership election, and could well become the new Labour party leader. But he's not very popular with his own MPs.

For one thing, he tends to think like a young person (despite looking like a retired janitor): he's against the belt-tightening policies of the Conservatives, he campaigns for human rights internationally and he voted against the war in Iraq, and university tuition fees.

He's also talking about making politics more accountable.  He wants MPs to listen to the people who vote them in instead of making decisions without consulting them.

Jeremy Corbyn is likely to be the kind of politicians that young people like: he's anti-establishment, and he thinks everyone should be equal, instead of having very rich people living alongside people surviving on food banks.

If he is elected as the new Labour leader, politics could get a whole lot more interesting.

GCSE results

For many young people, this week is huge: GCSE results could mean getting money from parents who made foolish promises: 

"Well Susan, we said £20 for every A* didn't we, so did you get any? How many? Twelve?!) 

But for some it has meant a sleepless night of worry; tears at not getting what they hoped for; feelings of fear and confusion.

To those young people who got what they wanted/needed/expected: well done.

To those who didn't, here's something for you to consider.

Jon said:  it’s not the end of the world trust me I got next to nowt when I did mine. Plus there are many different things you can do to improve on them. You can even resit them. I’m redoing mine at gen2 so don’t despair try to keep an open mind because you just don’t know what opportunity is around the corner. 

“So do not cry or life will pass you by, 

just retake that test and do your best 

because I won’t judge because I’m eating fudge”.

Bike relay

Next Wednesday (26th August) there will be a bike relay from Millom to Lowca, calling at eleven coastal points to launch our new interpretation boards.

If anyone would like to take part, either by cycling, or just sending the cyclists on their way, the departure times at each board are

Start Time Start 

10.00 Millom

10.15 Haverigg

10.50 Silecroft 

11.50 Bootle

12.50 Ravenglass

13.30 Drigg

13.55 Seascale

15.10 St Bees

15.55 Whitehaven

16.15 Parton

Hugh Branney the chairman of Copeland coastal initiative project board said, “It will be a fantastic day along the coast celebrating the achievement of the local communities and cheering on our local cyclists whilst learning about Copeland’s diverse coastal heritage.”   

So come along if you're free. Of course you're free: it's the summer holidays.