Chard Brownies visit Museum

Pic 1 - left to right - Brown Owl Natalie Larcombe, Elladie Wilshir, Anna Littlechild, Tiffany Parkhouse, Georgina Hallett, Isla Roker

Chard 1^st Brownies were keen to try on vintage costumes as they joined trustees Vince Lean and Linda Vijeh at Chard Museum last week for a private visit to learn more about their town and, in particular, what life would have been like for children in Victorian times. The museum is keen to reach out to the local community by providing access to historic teaching aids and inviting groups to come and visit out of normal open hours. This month the museum is looking forward to a visit by the Riley Owners Club and a male voice choir from the north of England have also requested a tour.

A special Mother’s Day arts and crafts event is being held at the museum on Sunday 26^th March from 10am – 1pm.

SCOFF quiz

It came as no surprise to quizzers at the recent SCOFF (Swanmead Community of Families and Friends) quiz held at Swanmead School recently, that yet again, the ‘Profs.’ Team, led by head teacher Mark Walker, beat all comers to take away the trophy. Former teacher and town councillor, Roger Swann, did a sterling job as quiz master.

Fund raising lunch for Nairobi orphanage

Ilminster Rotarian and local fund raiser, Linda Piggott-Vijeh invited friends and colleagues to lunch with a difference this month, to raise funds for her upcoming trip to work at Nyumbani Village, an orphanage, near Nairobi in Kenya.

Linda said, ‘I first found out about this project through a Rotary colleague from Scotland, who I met whilst President last year. When she told me that she was looking for volunteers I jumped at the chance. Apart from paying my own expenses, I also wanted to raise some money to help support the charity. My own trip to India last September, to visit another Rotary funded initiative to support a Women’s Literacy project, meant that I had the opportunity to discover Indian wines. This fund raising lunch gave me the perfect excuse to open and share all 14 bottles of some very interesting wines I had brought back, and it seemed sensible to cook an Indian meal to go with. In all I was able to raise £300, doubling what I had previously raised; and everyone agreed that they had had a good time!’

NYUMBANI FUND RAISING LUNCH 

Chana Masala (chick peas)

Aloo Gajar Saag (root vegetables in spinach)

Dal Tadka (lentils)

Bainjan Taamata (aubergine and tomato)

Gaajar Shimla Mirch Moon Phali (carrots yellow peppers and peanuts)

Phul Ghobi Pyaaj (roast cauliflower and red onion)

Red bean Curry

Paneer Shimla Mirch Butter Masala (paneer red peppers)

Chicken Korma   -   Chicken Madras

Prawn Madras    -   Prawn Bhuna

Jewelled rice

Fresh lime pickle

Cucumber Raita

Tomato chutney

Chapatti

Coriander and garlic Naan

Coriander and garlic Popadoms

Mango cream

Mango and ginger jelly

Mango sorbet

Ilminster Fairtrade fortnight --- selfless selfies, bake off and food swap

This Fairtrade Fortnight, give farmers a break whilst enjoying yours!

Get your selfie-sticks and oven gloves at the ready; here’s how Ilminster is being asked to support Fairtrade Fortnight 2017

Monday 27 February – Sunday 12 March.

Selfless Selfies:  Categories (a) Individual; (b) group; (c) workplace; (d) Fair Hair salon

Whether a Fairtrade drink with friends or colleagues, a coffee morning, or children eating a healthy snack, we want to see individuals, groups and workplaces, enjoying a Fair Break during Fairtrade Fortnight.  Share your photos on the Ilminster Fairtrade Facebook page and we will shortlist the images that we think best sum up Fairtrade Fortnight in Ilminster.  Why not visit one of the local cafes* serving Fairtrade refreshments and ask for our cardboard teacup to add a flourish to your photo?  There’s no limit to the number of entries you can submit and all shortlisted entries will be put to a public vote; so, get snapping to be in with a chance of winning a Fairtrade prize! 

Post your photos, telling us:

• Who is enjoying a Fair Break;
• Where you are enjoying your Fair Break; and
• Which category you are submitting an entry for, i.e. individual, group, workplace, Fair Hair salon.

*Teacups are available at The Green House Ilminster, The Arts Centre, The Monks Yard and The Railway Carriage Café, The Trading Post, Lopenhead.

Fairtrade Bake-Off: 

So, you think you’re Mary Berry or Paul Hollywood?!  Here’s a chance to prove your baking prowess…Pop into Ilminster Cooperative and pick up the February edition of ‘Food’ Magazine.  Inside (pages 52-53) you will find a Fairtrade Chocolate and Banana Loaf Cake recipe.  You can also download the recipe here.  Using Fairtrade ingredients, where indicated, we are inviting you to bake your best loaf and bring it along for judging at the Market House on Saturday 4 March from 11am.  Our judges are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to get their teeth into the cakes and choose a worthy winner.  Who will be crowned this year’s Fairtrade Bake-Off champion?

Swop-o-meter:

What items in your shopping basket could you swop for Fairtrade ones? Coffee, tea, chocolate, bananas, sugar, even dried fruits and rice…the choice is growing all the time and includes household cleaning products and gifts.  We want to keep a running total of the items you have swopped during Fairtrade Fortnight; so, share photos of you and your Fairtrade purchases on our Facebook page, or by using the contact us feature on our website (www.ilminsterfairtrade.uk) for the chance to win our shopping basket of Fairtrade goodies. 

We can learn a lot from Samaritans

With local county elections coming up in May, it is interesting to see the contradictory approach used in relation to those who represent us politically and the way in which a trusted voluntary organisation such as Samaritans goes about its business.

Samaritans who volunteer at the Taunton branch gathered at Moose Hall this week to kick start the process of selecting their new Director for the next three years. I was fortunate to have been involved in the selection of our current Director, Liz Flower, three years ago. Of all of the organisations I have ever been involved in, or worked for, certainly Samaritans are unique in the way in which they undertake to do this.

The process takes a full six months, and starts with a cross section of volunteers forming a working party; one person for every 10 volunteers. The working party is expected to have a mix of old and young, long serving and new members, and to have gender balance.

What then follows is that each and every branch volunteer is individually interviewed by a member of the working group, in the strictest confidence, and asked who they feel would be the best person to take on the mantle of Director. Perhaps just as importantly, they are asked who they feel would not be suitable. Up to four of their fellow volunteers can be named. Interview questions cover the qualities and skills required, and the needs of the branch, in addition to the personal traits of those considered to be suitable.

The working party then meet in secret to collate the information gathered, sift through the names put forward and to begin the process of ranking them. At no time can anything be discussed by anyone outside of the meeting, and individual volunteers are not expected to speak to colleagues about their choices. Once a list of potential candidates has been formed a preferential shortlist of around six candidates is drawn up of those to be approached by the Regional Director, resulting, one hopes, in the eventual appointment of a new branch Director, with a lead in time of 3 months spent with the incumbent to learn the ropes. 

What is important about the way in which this is done, is that it is NOT an election, it is a selection, and absolutely no canvassing or jockeying for position is permitted, and this does help to ensure that the chosen person will best be able to lead without inducing the love them or loath them ‘marmite’ effect.

From my own experience, other organisations have much to learn about the way in which Samaritans go about selecting the person who will lead them. Given that each branch is autonomous, and with no paid staff at all, in the 8 years I have been involved with Taunton Samaritans I have experienced an organisation that has clear boundaries and expectations and that, in general, works like clockwork.

What a pity that those that govern our country seem not to be able learn from this. 

Random acts of kindness

When one chooses to lead one’s life in the public eye it must be expected that from time to time one will receive communications of shall we say, a dubious nature. Over the years I have had several letters, often hand delivered to my door, which can be of concern.

The communicants, in my case, are usually male, with a tendency to write to me making their point either in red or green ink, in capital letters and underlined. Clearly they mean business. For the most part this is of little concern to me, and contrary to advice, if they provide their contact details I do try to respond; if for no other reason than that one of the key issues that seems to occupy their waking hours is that no-one will listen to their concerns. On only one occasion, where the correspondent had contacted me in relation to a letter that had appeared in press, have I felt it necessary to alert the police, just in case.

My apprehension on arriving home this week to find a blue envelope on the doormat, in handwriting that I did not recognise, just saying ‘Dear Stranger’, was understandable. Imagine my surprise therefore that on opening it I found a typed message saying – ‘Hey there, we hope you are having a great day. We just wanted to brighten it up with this little card. Wouldn’t it be better if we could all did (sic) something to make somebody else’s day better? We started with you. Today we challenge you to show love to 3 other people and tell them to do the same. If you receive this message shout ‘I got the message’. Keep smiling :).’

Part of me was relieved that it was not something dreadful, part of me was amused, part of me wondered why I had been singled out, and by whom, and another part of me was grateful that it was not one of the ubiquitous email messages that do the rounds threatening dire consequences if I did not respond.

Whilst it did brighten up my day, I still feel that on balance I might have been more responsive had I known the identity of the message giver.

SCC learning disability service changes

At this month’s full council meeting of Somerset County Council, planned changes to social care service provision, in particular those related to the care of those with learning disabilities, attracted considerable attention.

The intention is that I future the service will be contracted out to social enterprise, Dimensions. The issue, as might be expected, generated a large number of questions. The concerns expressed, mainly by members of the union Unison, focused on the impact of the planned changes put forward by Dimensions.

Their unease largely concentrated on changes to staff pay and conditions, in addition to the planned closure of some day centres and the challenge of providing continuity of care for this vulnerable group of people. Dimensions maintain that cuts are needed to reduce costs, although if it is to be believed, this was not intended to be the key driver for transferring the service. I must admit that any time I hear the phrase, ‘transformation and re-structure’, my heart sinks. I am hard pushed to think of any instance where this has had a positive outcome. Despite denials, it would be gullible of us to think that the real issue is anything other than funding cuts.

Earlier in the week I, along with around 100 others, attended a Learning Disability Partnership Board open day. We spent much of the time listening to presentations from both service users and providers. Personally, I found it all rather too cosy, especially when through my support of others, I have had first-hand experience of providers, both within social services and outside, that continually fail to deliver on their promises. 

There is plenty of evidence that far from decreasing, demand for services is increasing at a time when it is becoming impossible to continue to maintain the same level of service we might have had the benefit of in the past.

Where funding a whole range of services is concerned, in the case of Somerset County Council, the issue of the ongoing cost of servicing loan debts taken out by previous administrations cannot be ignored; the fact that no alternative budget or amendments were put forward by the critics did not go unnoticed. To compound the situation what we are seeing, sadly, is central government increasingly putting the onus on local authorities to bear the brunt, and taking all the flak for it.

I understand the requirement to balance the needs of those who make use of services, such as schools and health care, with those, like myself, who use very few services, despite making a financial contribution towards them. It may well be a judgment call, and a tough one, but it is people’s lives we are concerned with here. As a single working person, I know that the time will come when I will need to access some of these services. Rather selfishly, what I am worried about is that when the time comes there will still be money in the budget to provide me with what, having been a tax payer for many years, I feel I am entitled to receive.

How we manage the challenges ahead remains to be seen. There are no easy answers. What I will say though, is that it is easy to criticise, but what we should all be doing is working together to find a solution.

Election fever already?

The closer we get to local elections in May I am increasingly dismayed to witness the petty posturing and name calling that is becoming ever more prevalent. Personally, I find the nit picking and snide comments sickening. Behind closed doors the extent to which our political parties, all of them, attempt to undermine the opposition by making smug comments and asides, in addition to posing specious, mischievous questions, is shameful. One can almost see the protagonists patting themselves on the back for having scored a point.

Mind you, I also find it amusing when it becomes clear that orchestrated questions from members have been ‘planted’. I feel strongly that attempts to stifle public debate should not be permitted in a democracy. The public are not stupid, and those that do find a voice will not tolerate it. I always feel that democracy is truly at work when the public turn out in force to protest. On occasion petitions are also presented where there is a collective desire to bring about change. Many of those who choose to attend public meetings in person to put their point across are accomplished speakers, but many also find it a harrowing experience; the words often used to express their feelings are ‘disappointment, upset, let down, demoralised and frustrated’.

It seems such a pity that there is collective outcry when people are at odds with the decisions that are to be taken. Why is it that as a society we feel the need to criticise rather than praise?

In my day job, a large part of what I do is to motivate others. Whilst on occasion criticism is necessary, I find that I am able to bring about the best in people if I focus on the positive aspects of their performance, making them feel valued, yet still looking at ways in which we can work together to help them improve, whilst taking the time to explain how and why decisions are taken that may have an impact on them. The results can be astonishing. It is the working together with a common aim that brings about success. Maybe I am politically naïve, but if only the time and effort spent on ‘getting at the opposition’ were spent on a more collaborative approach towards improving the lives of those we represent just imagine how different the outcomes would be. 

At the moment the focus is of course on budgets. In the case of Somerset County Council, the decision to raise the council tax precept by just 3.99% this year was criticised heavily. Clearly there is a desire to balance the books whilst avoiding rises in taxes that will prompt a referendum. I understand the cost of a referendum could be as much as £1 million. What the general public may not always be aware of though, is that when an election is held many of those manning the polling stations and presiding over the count, are council employees. I was disturbed to discover recently that many local councils not only grant their employees the day off in order to ‘help out’ at elections, but that the day off is granted with full pay. Those offering their services then have the added benefit of receiving payment to take part in the election process; this can be anything from £135 to £225, depending on the seniority of the role they undertake. In effect they are receiving double pay. I have no desire to make myself unpopular with our hard-pressed local authority employees, but surely this cannot be right?

Death of shoplifter

On hearing about the unfortunate incident recently, in which a homeless shoplifter, caught stealing two bottles of wine, died as a result of injuries he suffered when tackled by a security guard, my first thoughts were, like many I suspect, was that if he was homeless then why wasn’t he stealing food?

The more I thought about this, the more it was brought home to me that I was in danger of being judgmental. Not a good trait when you are a Samaritan.

On considering the issue further, I was mindful of the attitude that many members of the public have towards the homeless we see begging daily on our streets. The self-righteous, of which there are many, walk on by with their heads averted, their contempt all too evident. Others may well throw the odd pound or two from their well stuffed wallets at them, as they go about their business of succumbing to the temptation of cruising the shops to buy things they do not need.

Having been homeless myself, both as a child and an adult, albeit briefly, I hope that I am able to show compassion to those who find themselves without a roof over their heads.

The reasons for their predicament can be many and various, not readily understood by those of us who consider ourselves to live ‘normal’ lives. Clearly in the case of these disaffected people something has gone seriously wrong in their lives. More often than not there will be mental health issues, caused by abuse in a surprising number of cases, along with drug and alcohol problems. All of this makes them difficult, disruptive and unpredictable people to live with.

In searching for a solution, what the homeless need first of all is for someone to understand their situation and to be able to offer practical help. Professional help is sadly lacking, especially as funding cuts continue to have a relentless impact on service provision for this forgotten sector of society who have no voice. Over the years I have learnt that it is those who scream longest and loudest that get what they want.

In the meantime, I make a concerted effort to at least acknowledge those I see on the streets, and if possible try to engage them in conversation as fellow human beings. Rather than give them money I often offer to buy them a meal, something that they choose. The absence of choice is one of the most demoralising aspects of their situation. On the occasions I do hand over money, I have to ask myself, who am I to choose what they decide to spend it on? We only have to witness people bundled up in doorways to know that their circumstances are far from ideal. Rightly or wrongly, drinking alcohol or taking drugs may be their coping mechanism for getting through each miserable day.

Getting back to my original point, the incident that occurred in Trowbridge, aside from the sad death of the man in question, will no doubt have a devastating effect on the life of the security guard and his family. A real case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Most of us can recall specific moments in our lives when split second decisions have life changing consequences. A salutary lesson to us all.   

Drivers need to be more aware

It should be of concern to us all that the latest figures for fatalities on Somerset’s roads, released this month, show that in 2016 25 people were killed in 23 fatal collisions. Although this is below the targets set by SCC, the figures show an increase when compared with 2015.

Using latest Department for Transport figures, the 23 fatal collisions are estimated to have cost more than £46 million in damage and lost output, not including the emotional impact of the irreplaceable loss of a family member.

Despite the UK being the 2^nd safest country in the world there were over 186,000 injuries recorded on our roads in 2015; and that is just those that were reported.

Living in a rural area, and witnessing on a daily basis the behaviour of drivers along our narrow country roads, it was no surprise to me to find that 14 of the fatalities in Somerset occurred on rural roads. Contrary to popular belief, the overwhelming majority of casualties were over the age of 59, not the young tearaways and boy racers many of us might think.

This is in line with the increasingly high percentage of those well over retirement age who choose to settle in the south west, many of whom should think twice before venturing out in onto the roads.

There are frequently calls for road safety to be improved.

Overall I think that I am a reasonably good driver, but as someone who drives almost 1000 miles per week I feel strongly that although there is certainly room for improvement, it is our own behaviour as drivers that is almost exclusively to blame for incidents that occur. This was really brought home to me when I recently attended a national Speed Awareness Course in Taunton. Almost without exception we were middle aged, and to all intents and purposes seemingly upstanding, law-abiding citizens. Clearly that wasn’t the case, or we would not have been there. Going back to school to learn the error of my ways, having had a clean driving license for many years, was a sobering experience. In the run-up to attending the course (in order to avoid gaining points on my licence), I took a straw poll of friends and colleagues which revealed that almost without exception everyone I knew had at some point been required to attend such a course.

During the course of the day I learnt that 95% of collisions are down to driver error, with rural roads being the foremost danger area; motorways accounting for just 4% of collisions. Having passed my test 40 years ago I was surprised just how much of the Highway Code I had forgotten and was also forced to consider that it is the complacent familiarity of the roads within one’s immediate neighbourhood that is the key cause of careless driving. Having taken on board some of the tips suggested, I have now made a concerted effort to change my driving habits, and as a result of my experience in attending this course, I believe that it should become compulsory for us all to do so every five years or so, just to keep us on our toes.  

It seems ironic that as the local communities I represent call for a reduction in speeding limits, or safety measures to be put in place, that very little action is taken unless an incident has already taken place; all a bit late if it happens to involve a loved one.  

CHRISTMAS FUND RAISING

Members of the Rotary Club of Ilminster gathered in town to hand over cheques to two local community groups. The money has been raised during a carol singing fund raiser in December.

Clinton Bonner was pleased to received a cheque for £80 to help with Christmas Lights in the town, and Sweet Surprise also received £65, with the remaining £50 going to Ilminster Youth Club.

Trading standards

I am always keen to take advantage of training opportunities, so it is no surprise that I registered for a workshop that included nutrition labelling, offered by Trading Standards, through the Devon & Somerset Partnership.

17 of us attended the session, the majority, like myself, had their own small businesses, but many were working as environmental health officers for local authorities.

From Dec. 2016, nutritional labelling became mandatory for the majority of pre-packed foods. Thankfully, one of the key exemptions is unprocessed single ingredient foods. All the more reason then, to shop in our local farmers’ markets and independent shops rather than line the pockets of supermarkets.

I discovered that, ‘handcrafted food directly supplied by the manufacturer of small quantities of the product to the final consumer or to local retail establishments directly supplying the final consumer’ are exempt from labelling. Unpicking the legislative gobbledegook, in reality this means a business with less than 10 employees and a turnover of less than £1.72m., where their products are sold in the same county as the manufacturer, or in an adjoining county if within 35 miles of the county border. Phew.

Shoppers will by now be well used to the mandatory labelling on food packaging, giving details of what are termed the ‘big 7’, which includes details of energy, fat, carbohydrates, protein and salt …. per 100g. The format in which this is presented is strictly regulated, as is the popular, but optional, ‘tombstone’ red, amber, green traffic light system shown on the front of many packages. This is intended to allow the consumer to easily have a direct comparison of key information between products. My main gripe here is that often the suggested quantity of their ‘portion’ sizes are misleading.

Our major supermarkets are also the biggest culprits when it comes to deceiving us. I recently bought something called Chicken Munchies. It stated on the front that I was buying ‘pieces of chicken’, only to find that when I got home, in the small print on the back of the label it stated ‘chicken with water and potato fibre added, and re-formed’; not the same thing at all.

The session also covered permitted health & nutrition claims, which are very strictly regulated, with just 30 claims being approved. I am old enough to remember adverts that claimed ‘Guinness is Good for You’, and ‘A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play’; both claims would no longer be permitted. One of the key issues raised was the difficulty in enforcing online ‘distance selling’ claims that openly flout regulations. Claims such as ‘eat five bananas a day and lose weight’ spring readily to mind.

This is an area that Devon & Somerset have started a project on this year

Whilst the workshop was interesting, what I found of most use was the information available relating to how ordinary everyday people, especially with the rapid advance of technology, can unwittingly be subjected to all kinds of scams and rogue doorstep trading. On a daily basis, the news is full or reports of ‘suckers’ lists’ of those particularly prone to fall for scams. Most often it is the elderly who are targeted. I came away with a handful of ‘No cold callers’ stickers, which can be useful if for no other reason than that if someone does knock on a door displaying such a sticker they are immediately committing an offence. I am also in the process of arranging a training session locally to highlight key areas that we all need to be aware of in order to avoid being victims.

Quite by chance, in the following week I was contacted by a local business owner who was tearing his hair out, having been subjected to credit card fraud. His main frustration was that he could find no official authority that was willing to help or advise.

Rotary Youth Speaks Competition

Eager students waiting their turn on stage, with host Stuart Shepherd

The Rotary Club of Ilminster Youth Speaks Junior Competition, held annually at Swanmead School, has been going for as long as anyone can remember. For the club, it is one of the key events of the years that specifically focuses on community involvement.

Sponsored by Greenslade Taylor Hunt, with Charles Clark as Chair of the adjudicating panel, it is a hotly contested competition as schools battle it out to win. Also on the adjudicating panel are Anna Bowerman, stalwart of The Warehouse Theatre, and Richard D’Rozario, Head of English at Wadham School.

The competition is aimed at encouraging young people, in teams of three, to learn how to argue their case for issues they care about. They may talk on any subject of their choice, as long as they do not cause offence! 

This year 8 teams from 6 schools took part, and although each member of the team is judged separately, they are also judged for the way in which they have prepared their topic, and provide support for each other when facing the daunting prospect of speaking on a stage in front of an audience of 100, made up of teachers, parents and supporters.

Hosted by Rotarian Stuart Shepherd, guests were greeted by President-Elect Veronica Horman, and Linda Piggott-Vijeh, last year’s President, had this to say, ‘I have been involved in Youth Speaks for over 15 years and I can honestly say that the standard has never been higher than it was this year. The passion with which these young people were able to state their case, their enthusiasm, and the well thought out arguments are a lesson to us all. These local students were smartly dressed, and spoke confidently, with few notes. I know from my own experiences that it is no mean feat to speak in front of such a large audience; certainly, some of our politicians would do well to take lessons from such talented youngsters.

As serious subjects were debated, at times we laughed (table tennis bats used to get us to clap to order), and at other times we were entertained with weird and wonderful facts and figures (comparing the cost of a new runway at Heathrow to the price of chicken nuggets). The selected topics were pertinent and relevant. The speech given by this year’s winning team from Neroche School, given my recent involvement with a women’s literacy project in India, was something I could readily identify with on a personal level.

At the end of each speech the speaker was asked a challenging question by a member of the audience, and the responses showed a high level of competence. Of course, none of this could be achieved without the support of teachers and parents.

Whilst in this modern world there is a need to focus on achieving good exam results, education has far more to offer than that, and public speaking skills should be at the top of the list. It was interesting to note that morning after there was a news item on how actor Orlando Bloom is being invited into schools to help students sharpen up their acting and presentation skills; with the workplace now being so competitive such skills have never been more important.

Impressed? How could those of us who witnessed this competition fail to be so; if our future is in the hands of such a talented bunch of individuals, then we can sleep safe in our beds at night.’

Women Against State Pension Inequality - motion passed at SSDC

I was delighted to be invited to join the Women Against State Pension Inequality at SSDC's offices after the full council meeting last week.

WASPI are a campaign group that fights the injustice done to all women born in the 1950's affected by the changes to the State Pension Law (1995/2011 Acts).

The women have been campaigning hard to reverse the state pension age for women back to the original age of 60. Under the current legislation, those like myself, who were born after 1951, are going to be adversely affected, particularly as it is felt that insufficient notice was given so that we had little time in which to review our plans for retirement. 

It was especially pleasing that the motion to lobby the government over this issue was passed during the meeting, although I was surprised that it was not unanimous.

Cllr. Linda Vijeh

Why not mention the war, Boris?

On listening to news headlines I was interested to hear remarks from several journalists in response to comments made by foreign secretary Boris Johnson as he caused outrage by urging French President François Hollande not to "administer punishment beatings" on Britain for choosing to escape the EU "rather in the manner of some World War Two movie".

Whilst it seems that all were quick to jump on the bandwagon in expressing outrage, comparing him to Basil Fawlty, I am afraid I disagree.

Boris does indeed say some rather daft things on a regular basis, and with monotonous frequency behaves likewise, not a good trait in his position. However, suggesting that he should not have made reference to the war is rather naïve.

Many of our European neighbours have on more than one occasion expressed a desire to ensure that we are punished for upsetting the EU apple cart in choosing, by democratic means, to sever our formal ties.

In a different context, we can all recall countless occasions when family members or friends are told ‘not to mention’ something that may well cause unpleasant memories to be brought to the surface, resulting in friction and upset.

Whilst we all want to lead peaceful lives, it is this very reluctance to face up to past events, and the ongoing impact they continue to have, that often prevents people finding acceptable solutions when presented with future challenges.

It is only by taking into account past actions that as a society we can hope not to repeat the mistakes made.

In the case of Brexit, a decision that was thrust upon many who were not in favour of it, we would all do well to remember the war; if for no other reason than to ensure that we do not ever have to go through the same experience again.

We entered the EU of our own free will and in choosing to leave we should be allowed to do so with dignity and without bitter, punitive measures put in place merely to teach us a lesson.

To willingly attempt to damage Britain economically, politically or in any other number of ways, will only come back to haunt them.

Our planned departure is akin to a divorce; the most successful ones are those where both parties can go their separate ways feeling fairly treated. Our newspapers are littered with accounts of acrimonious break-ups, where fortunes are lost and no-one is a winner, except the lawyers.

Finally, it has not escaped my attention that since the New Year there appears to have been a significant increase in TV advertisements urging us to buy German made products. I wonder why?

Dorset Police Male Voice Choir return to Ilminster to raise funds for Air Ambulance

Following the success of their last concert in the town, The Rotary Club of Ilminster are pleased to announce a return visit of the Dorset Police Male Voice Choir, who will perform with local soloist Amanda Downing to raise funds for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance Service. 

The event will be held at The Minster Church, Ilminster on Saturday 18th March 2017. 7.30pm (doors open at 7.00pm). 

Tickets, £10.00 including light refreshments, can be purchased from The Greenhouse, Silver Street, Ilminster or telephone Ilminster 01460 55050. 

Corrective breast surgery

I was sorry to read about the plight of Georgina Truman in the Western Gazette. As a former breast cancer sufferer, thankfully now in the all clear, it is a predicament that I am all too familiar with. Back in 2004, when I was first diagnosed. It was the devastating effect that it had on my personal life that caused me me the most anguish, as I had just got engaged to be married, and was self-employed. Not only did my breast cancer destroy my relationship, but I did not have the luxury of being able to take any time off work. Georgina is quite right, chemotherapy can be extremely gruelling.

On not being satisfied with the options offered to me through the NHS, and some of the treatment I had received, and because I wanted to get the whole thing over and done with, and get on with my life, not waiting for months on end between bouts of hospital visits and further surgery, I started to consider other options.

Firstly I went to France, where the opinion was very much one of ‘this is what you have, this is how we are going to deal with it’, take it or leave it.

Quite by chance I bumped into an Indian surgeon on one of my hospital visits. This culminated in me deciding to go to India for my surgery, the best decision of my entire life. For the first time since being diagnosed I felt in control and that I was being listened to. The outcome was that during surgery, lasting 7 hours, I had three surgeons who carried out a mastectomy, a reconstruction and a reduction on the other breast, all in the one operation. Despite a spell in intensive care, I was back on my feet and home with 2 weeks, ready to get on with my life, with virtually no visible scarring. In order to fund this I had to put my house on the market, and I realise that this is not an option available to everyone.

In the case of Mrs. Truman, I can fully appreciate her frustrations. What must not be underestimated is the psychological impact of physical disfigurement, both on her and her family. 

I do however have some sympathy with the CCG. What they are faced with is increasing funding cuts and a much higher demand for services. There is only so much money to go around and some tough decisions need to be made, however unpalatable. 

In my own case, I am all too aware that the breast implant that was inserted after my mastectomy does have a limited life span and its removal is something I have started to consider, as it will leave me with very lopsided breasts. I have already decided that when the time comes I shall have both breasts chopped off, even if it means having to take out a bank loan to pay for it.

I do not know what Mrs. Truman’s financial position is but, should her appeals to the CCG not be successful, I would be happy to help her explore fund raising options to enable her to undergo the surgery she wants.