On a more personal level we are very passionate about and have been actively involved through the Derby Link in the Chernobyl Child Lifeline charity for a number of years. Each year we try to host a couple of children for two weeks. It's wonderful to see a child arrive quiet, tired and more than a little frightened, blossom and become full of life. Some of them are quite ill, others are just weak, they all come from the area where the radiation is below the evacuation level but well above the acceptable level.
Life is hard for them without the radiation; if for instance they go to the dentist at home they get no aesthetic even for extractions. One of our girls had thirteen teeth out under a general and the first thing she said when she woke up was thank you; it still brings tears to my eyes.
Believe it or not because of changes in the National Health Service we now find it almost impossible to provide the service that fixed the teeth of so many of the children!
To get some idea of what Chernobyl means have a look at Motorcycling through Chernobyl, I'm not sure of everything that Elena says but the truth of the pictures and what happened is clearly visible and people are suffering and will suffer for generations to come. People are so stupid, I still find it hard to believe what happened there.
As a Christmas present I was bought a weekend course at Zantium Studios to try Kiln Formed Glass with Barbara Coulam. I had a wonderful time and met a lovely group of people, read about what we did and the processes involved.
In 2008 we went to Jersey and when we got back I wrote this short paragraph that still stands.
“Back from a great holiday, very relaxed and very poor. We are lucky we are relatively well off but I have to say that Jersey is not the cheapest place for a holiday. However, if you can afford it, it's great. Pick of the week Durrell Zoo or correctly Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. I should really say Pick of the Year; on a few occasions in a lifetime you feel you have come across something really good, this is one of those! Occasionally, I just want to shake the hand of someone and say thank-you for being who you are (were), Gerald Durrell is one of those people.”
The Herbert Strutt School has been transferred to a charity called “The Guardians of Strutts” which intend to hold it in trust for the people of Belper. This is I hope great news giving us a self financing Community Center to read more go to the site for the Centre or the Belper Strutts Society Site where the day to day activities of the volunteers, etc can be followed.
A long term campaign I have been watching and commenting on is BATS (Belper Against Tesco Superstore), because of the way Tesco and the Amber Valley Planning Department operate developments on the "Belper relief road" are slow and spasmodic but I will continue to follow and comment upon them as they develop. This is very important for Belper we must get it right!
Tracey writes stories, all sorts of stories, some are for children and some for adults, most are short but they are getting longer. In all cases they are well written and many of them are funny and/or thought provoking. Here is the first of hopefully many to be published here and by others, this is a simple story for children inspired by one child and illustrated by another. "The Thing" is just simple magical; children love it, particularly if you use their name.
We have both been interested in Speedway for a long time, Tracey is the real fan but I can claim to have seen it first as I was taken to what I believe was the Brummies as a child. My dad was a big fan and would have been as happy to see the Brummies return as he would have been sad to see the Cradley Heathens demise. We had both been going to Wolverhampton for a number of years on an intermittent basis (It is nearly sixty miles away.) but Tracey now goes to Birmingham on a weekly basis complete with an assortment of children, most of whom come back convinced it's great.
John is off on his world travels again and yet again he has spurned our offer to host his blog. This time he is favouring BlogSpot and can be found at aSmithOnTour. So now he is not only taking very good pictures, in exciting places but he is also running his own site! Life only gets better as you get more adventurous.
He has been to Africa on tour a number of times and has now written a number of Blogs; all are full of his wonderful pictures as he trailed for miles across country in his Disco(very) which was specially modified for the trips. Read about the first trip here and the Second here and the current rash here at A Smith on Tour over at Blog Spot.
Corfu Sunshine is a web site I have set up to help promote the small Greek village of San Stefanos on the north-west corner of Corfu. It is such a great place for a quiet restful holiday with the family, sun, sand and good food. Over the years we have become friends with many of the locals and it is now more like spending a weeks holiday at a friends house than going on a foreign holiday.
Belper Art Group is where I go to throw paint at paper every Thursday night. A great way to pass a couple of hours relaxing and meeting people. I used to be incapable and now I am just incompetent, so I have made some progress.
Frank