Archives for October 2011

Today was the launch of the BBC's Give An Hour campaign, to get us decrepid over-55's online. It's a great idea, but I do resent being lumped in with what sounds like an age group too old to handle the complexities of the new techno-age.

Although, come to think of it, if I didn't have four sons all of whom can help teach me all sorts of stuff about computers, I don't know where I'd be...

Age UK announce an Internet Champion every year - someone who's of mature years who can be held up as an ambassador to others, to illustrate just how the internet can transform your life - in a good way. They're looking for the 2012 candidates right now.

My mum, who's very annoyed she cannot stay online on her iPad on her upcoming cruise (!) would make a great ambassador...

You up for it, mum? Anyone else?

Find out how you can help someone you know online with the BBC's Give and Hour campaign by heading to bbc.co.uk/giveanhour

Apparently we all gain between two and four pounds in weight - just because it's winter. It's because we FEEL we should eat more to stay warm, we always feel hungry because our natural levels of melatonin decline. We develop a taste for fatty food in autumn, plus we do tend to sit in front of the telly more.

All I know is that I do indeed put on weight in winter, and heartily dislike going out for a walk or a bike ride when it's hailing and snowing.

But mostly I blame Downton Abbey, Spooks (RIP), X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing.

Little Carys, now three and a half, can stand, but cannot talk - and is a full-time responsibility for her parents and team of carers. And it's rough, with a very depressing and bleak outlook.

But amazingly, a cure could be around the corner. And this makes it all especially poignant for the thousands of parents of children with Rett.

Because, somewhere in a lab in Scotland, scientists have been able to reverse the effects of the defective gene that causes the syndrome. Potentially, it means that one day, there could be a cure and the chance for kids already affected to be "saved" from their dismal future.

No wonder parents like James, and his wife Bonnie (who live in Twyford) are so motivated to raise awareness - and money - to try and get this vital research speeded up and developed in time to save Carys.

If you're interested in supporting them, and finding out more, you can follow Carys on

facebook or on their webiste.

And no, he doesn't have a girlfriend or a wife, or indeed much of an ordinary private life at all. We all know why - and so does he. But he still prefers white water kayaking and plummeting into a foamy, turbulent vortex of fear.

Talking of facing your fears - if you have always fancied singing for happiness, and joining a choir, we are still recruiting at the BBC Berkshire Choir. Just pop along any Wednesday or Thursday at 7.30pm. The choir meets at The Open Learning Centre in Bracknell on Wednesdays, and at The Methodist Church in Wokingham on Thursdays. Why not give it a try?!

For starters, you can bid on the chance to be an extra on Downton Abbey. Can't you just picture me sitting there quietly waving in the background of the grand salon at Highclere? Or maybe just fussing around as a WW1 nurse in the Downton Abbey military hospital?

Or what about a flight in a helicopter, over the white cliffs of Dover, and alongside a Spitfire and a Hurricane?

It's going to be a fantastic, and huge, event - all in aid of military charities. Sunday morning, from 10, with, apparently, a top soprano singing from the grand tower and a flypast!

See you there!

Today, it was Lt Colonel Zaheer Shah - who's a consultant surgeon at the Royal Berkshire Hospital but who is ALSO a serving army doctor in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He's just come back from Afghanistan, and says that the medical unit there is actually probably the best hospital in the world. The survival rate for soldiers, and local Afghan people who're caught up in the war, is fantastic - no matter how bad the wounds.

"If you come in with a pulse," Zaheer told me, "you have a 96 per cent chance of survival." He told the story of a little Afghan child, who'd been shot through - yes, THROUGH, the head when caught in crossfire. Almost unbelievably, they saved him and he went home to his family on day five.

Like I say, you just want to thank God sometimes. And as the mum of a son who's absolutely determined to go into the Army - it makes me feel a whole lot better that guys like Zaheer are running the best hospital in the world for our soldiers.

Talking about inspirational military men, I'm looking forward to talking to an old friend, Falklands veteran and hero Simon Weston tomorrow!

Now if that fact alone doesn't encourage more women into science careers (something I was talking about a lot today), I don't know what will!

He comes fom Yorkshire, where his family were brought up - and only moved down to Berkshire when he was sadly widowed, and left with three young sons to bring up. But there was never any sense of bringing them up on his own - with such an extended family, he has always been surrounded by them. He told me that, such is the size of their extended family and community, when his brother got married, they had five thousand family members turn up at the wedding! Perhaps we all have things to learn from such tight bonds!

Also, if you love your local history, watch out for South Today's special report on the "rescued" church of St Mary, at Hartley Wintney. It has been disused since 1870 but has recently been reopened (some times) to the public thanks to the Churches Conservation Trust. South Today's special report is scheduled for transmission on Thursday.

Never thought I really fancied cars.... Mine always becomes a work horse, carrying around a load of old clobber. If I have more than one or two passengers at a time, I always have to have a grand clear-out, rather like emptying the spare room of the house for a surprise visitor! But today, whilst doing our regular "Insider's Guide" to Something Interesting To Do This Weekend - I found myself peering into the glossy catalogue for an auction of "fine historic automobiles" at Ascot Racecourse. No I didn't fancy Chris Evans' old Ferrari (estimate: £32,000) nor even the John Wayne "Brannigan" E type Jag (it was a movie, by the way - in 1966). For me, the quintessentially stylish 1953 Jaguar Roadster with cream body and red leather interior. It just sighs Hitchcock/Grace Kelly at you, doesn't it? If I have any filthy rich millionaires reading my blog, please note - this is what I would like for Christmas. I can only just afford the big sunglasses and long, white chiffon scarf it would demand! Oh, and I'd have to check if my garage is big enough.

Today I decided to try out the power of stand-up. My guest paper reviewer, Matt Johnson of the Reading Rockets, agreed to give it a go, too.... When you think of it, I, like lots of people, spend far too many hours per day sitting on my backside. I drive for at least three hours a day, then sit down whilst broadcasting for three hours, then with meetings and such, that's probably even more - before you even factor in time in front of the TV!!!

So today, I decided to stand up on the radio. And I discovered a whole new energy. Listeners say they noticed the difference!

Gyles Brandreth, my old mate from TV AM days, was a guest today. He reminded me that Churchill was a well known stand-upper, dictating his entire "history of the English Speaking Peoples" whilst standing up, or at least standing at his specially made high desk.

Gyles himself is doing stand-up, by the way, in a UK tour of his one man One to One show.

It was one of those sort of pieces designed to encourage catty comebacks, and it certainly has done! All sorts of miaows are now flying around, musing that I have "had work done", that my smile is suspiciously taut (Aaargh!) and that I now have fewer wrinkles and crow's feet than a decade ago.

There's also the nuance that anyone who has given in to the vanity of having a gastric band operation (such a vanity, wanting to beat a recurring weight problem and be healthy...) is therefore highly likely to have taken the next step to Hell - a facelift or even Botox!

Well, no, I haven't. Not a bit of it. But I reserve my right to do so should I ever feel I need to.

Hopefully, if I carry on getting such backhanded compliments, I won't feel the need for a very long time!

By the way, if you want to keep young, start singing. Here's how....

You can sing yourself happy at the BBC Radio Berkshire Choir, just by going along any Wednesday or Thursday at 7.30pm. The choir meets at The Open Learning Centre in Bracknell on Wednesdays, and at The Methodist Church in Wokingham on Thursdays. Why not give it a try?!