Oxfordshire County Council is proposing cuts to children’s services which will see a reduction in the county’s Children’s Centres from 44 to 7. If you’re not a parent, you might be blissfully unaware of what this means: if you are, perhaps you have never needed the services offered by these threatened centres. Children’s Centres across the […]
West Side Story at the New Theatre Oxford
From the moment the orchestra struck up at the New Theatre, Oxford, I knew it was going to be spectacular. I love musical theatre: I love the way you can feel the vibrations in your throat from the music, and from the pounding of feet on stage. It’s an electric experience which always leaves me […]
BBC Women in Radio awareness days
I have written previously about my hatred for television, and although I have not always been so vociferous in my dislike, I have always preferred radio, even in my teens and twenties. I like the way radio elevates words above all else, and allows you to form a picture in your own head much the way […]
Knock knock
For someone who loves people, I am surprisingly anti-social. Given the choice between staying in or going out, I’ll take the roaring fire and a good book over a crowded wine bar any day. I have never yet been on my own for so long it becomes lonely, and I can’t imagine when that time […]
Why I've changed my mind about writing courses
I’ve always been a bit dubious about writing courses. Not because I don’t think you can learn to write – on the contrary, writing’s a craft, like any other – but because I have a deep-rooted fear of wasting time and money. I don’t want to spend time on ice-breakers, coffee breaks and introductions, when […]
When Christmas came early
Barely a few days into October, stylist Cristina Colli stood in my sitting room with an armful of Christmas decorations. A hair and make-up technician established herself at the table in the playroom, and the photographer set up under the expert eye of Leanne Bracey, Sainsbury’s Magazine’s Picture Editor. Christmas had come early. The resulting […]