Soapbox Shout. Websites should not be boring!

Guinness is Good For You So, we had decided it was time to get a new dog. Well, not actually new, more rescue. Our beloved Staffie and her ‘sister’, an elderly English bull terrier, both left us in 2019. We started with the internet of course, always the first port of call for anything these days, and there were thousands of dogs needing a home; shouldn’t take too long. We emailed and left voice messages, all to no avail. What’s the point of advertising dogs for rehoming if you don’t answer queries, and the dogs are still there three weeks…

Hello, My name is Laura Lawrie. I am married, with two grown-up daughters. I retired five years ago at the age of fifty-seven, having worked for the Local Authority for twenty years as a Senior Practitioner Social Worker. I had always envisaged working until age sixty but when  the opportunity to retire early arose, I did not  hesitate. It was exciting to start a new chapter in my life, one where we could plan a break at any time,  without considering annual leave or work commitments. Feeling liberated, we planned trips to Europe and further afield, all of which were…

In the UK, as in most of Europe, trust in politicians and the political system is steadily declining year after year. Political apathy among all age groups is high and protests are getting louder, more frequent and more violent. In the UK, many feel that they are not getting a fair deal and social mobility has stalled. The consequence of this is that people from less wealthy, less influential backgrounds remain disadvantaged for life. However, the undeniable truth is that it is impossible to prosper as a society if we don’t include in our development every UK citizen, regardless of…