Catherine Summers from Devon has been shortlisted for the UK Blog Awards for her blog Not Dressed as Lamb, in the Fashion and Beauty category sponsored by RelationsLDN.
Now in its fourth successful year, the 2017 UK Blog Awards is the largest awards event for the UK blogging scene, celebrating the best creative writers, photographers and vloggers across 17 different categories. Catherine, who started writing in 2011, was selected as one of the eight finalists for the Fashion and Beauty category. “Nearly six years on from starting my blog, I've always written it to actively...
In recent years politicians and decision makers around the world have been drawn to appealing to the human emotions of fear and hatred for their backing and support. It is clear that motivations such as ‘tribalism’ (expressed in prejudicial racism, sexism, nationalism, etc.) and ‘desire’ (culminating in global consumerism) have been woven into political discourse in ways maybe not so generally seen since the 1920s.
This rhetoric has coincided with enormous austerity cuts to welfare services, lower wages and also widespread deregulation of rules governing corporate economic...
Welcome to the new Beacon LIfe blog where we share stories of what happens at our community centre in Beacon Heath.
Three miles for two bags of food
She walked into The Beacon Community Centre, anxiously looked at the groups of chatting people, turned on her heels and ran out the door clearly distressed.
I ran after her and asked if she was OK. “I’ve just walked from Exwick for the food bank, is it here?” she asked.
I reassured her that it was, made her a cuppa and introduced her to our friends from the Exeter Foodbank team who run a Friday session at our...
For those of us within the Judaeo-Christian tradition, there is a deep well of understanding that as human beings we are called to develop bonds and relationships of care and trust. The emphasis on our behaviour is to love one another – including those we would fear or dislike – and to live in harmony and unity across the brokenness and divisions of the world.
This approach is to work at different levels – personal, communal, national and international. In all things we are to seek justice and truth, the fruits of which will be fairness...
Although we may not be aware of it, in the last few generations in the West we have increasingly become ‘indoor people’. Whereas once almost everyone was a farmer or a gardener and spent most of their time outside, we have overwhelmingly moved to a more comfortable culture of life indoors. If we analyse our time, most of us will discover that our daily routines are spent in a building or a vehicle. The majority of the UK population will travel in a car, bus or train to work in a school, office, shop, hospital, warehouse, factory, etc. The amount of time we are exposed to the elements is...
Hospiscare, if you think about it, is a strange name for a charity.
It looks like a spelling mistake! If you were naming a new charity today you would pick something different, more dynamic and action focussed.
But 34 years ago, yes that’s how long we’ve been around, it made perfect sense. In fact it was a touch of genius!
Isca is the Roman name for Exeter, so we thought we would bring together the three things we did - Hosp(ice) Isca (Exeter) and Care. What a great name, capturing all the essential elements of the service we were starting. Hospiscare, Exeter’s own...
Once more our senses are being bombarded with manufactured images and messages of totally irrelevant and mostly unneeded seasonal tat.
It is nigh impossible to escape the Christmas kitsch which pushes us to value ourselves by what we buy, never mind the costs of consumerism to other people, other places or the planet. As long as the tills keep ringing, we can forget the bells.
So what is really at the heart of the Christmas story? In one word - ‘hospitality’.
We have an unmarried pregnant woman, marginalised in her own culture in an army-occupied land which is harsh...
One place arguably essential to student life, wherever you’re at university, is a good pub. I’m not a heavy drinker, I’m probably the lightest drinker possible to still be classes as a “drinker” so I don’t mean students need a good pub to get drunk, just to have a relaxed environment for socialising with friends.
The Victoria Inn, aka The Vic, can be found on Victoria Street; that’s not too hard to remember. With reasonably priced food and drinks, a friendly atmosphere and a location close to most student housing, it’s the ideal pub for students. The Ram on campus is okay but if...
Standing on a chair taking pictures is not ideal, but when the local newspaper photographers turn out in force to an official event its best you give them the front row.
A media frenzy in Devon, well yes, sort of. Press photographers were eagerly snapping Exeter’s sporting heroine Jo Pavey as she opened our new £1.2m day hospice in Honiton.
Flashbulbs were going off like crazy, watched by patients, supporters and staff who loved being part of the action. Being the Hospiscare press officer is more than balancing on a chair taking photographs, I also had to balance a pad and...
One of the most brilliant things about Exeter is its openness to vegetarians and vegans. Now, I’m not saying it’s completely open and there are no harsh judgements, however in comparison to some of the other cities in the UK that I’ve visited, Exeter is far from the worst.
In fact, there’s a lovely little vegetarian and vegan café in the Cathedral yard called The Plant Café. I visited there once before for a chai latte and a slice of carrot cake but was keen to return and try the famous vegan chocolate cake. I should make this clear now, I’m a vegetarian, not vegan, yet was eager...
