Cathy Le Feuvre

Don't forget to .... Say Thanks!

 
It all started last winter in the coffee shop at my local railway station.

Bundled up against the cold, heavy coat and scarf, gloves and my usual winter woolly hat - I stood patiently in line for my morning cup of latte, looking forward to enjoying the hot beverage on the train into London.

'Excuse me, Madam.' I heard a quiet voice  in my ear. 'I hope you don't mind me saying so, but your hat is on inside out!'

Dressing in the midwinter gloom, I hadn't realised that my dark brown woollen cap was, indeed, inside out. But the gentleman standing behind me in the queue had noticed the rather obvious big, flapping white label on the top of my head.

Now, you might think this would make me awfully embarrasased. Well,  at the time, I was just really grateful to this kind stranger who had taken time to mention the fact to me. You see, it saved me from travelling on the train and  on the London Tube, and then walking a distance to the office looking rather silly with my inside-out hat on. I thanked him, the train came and I've never seen him since.

Which got me to thinking - it's little random acts of kindness which make the world a nicer place. There's been a lot of thinking around Random Acts of Kindness recently, but how about 'random acts/expressions of thankfulness' for those little kindnesses ?

It's taken a while but I've now started a bit of campaign to get more people to say 'thank you' - not just to people (family, friends, colleagues, even total strangers) but also to the world / God/ the universe for the good things that come our way, for little kindnesses received.

I just feel many of us go around sometimes having a bit of moan about life when really, there is so much, and so many people, to be thankful for. If you think it all sounds a bit sentimental - well, what's wrong with that? There was a time when common courtesy was to say 'thanks' routinely, write thank you letters for gifts received, and be just a little bit more appreciative of life in general.

I don't know whether it's because we all live in a more cynical world or because many of us are just too busy chasing our tails, our jobs, our success, our need to improve our lot, and worrying about the state of our finances, the world economy and our place in it all, that we sometimes forget the little pleasures in life. It's a cliche, I know, but do we really take time to 'smell the roses', or in my case, the early morning coffee?

I've started quite simply, on Facebook - the page is called 'Don't forget to .... Say Thanks!'  - and I'm hoping that lots of people will log on, 'like' the page and then recommend to others. But more importantly, use the 'Don't Forget to .... Say Thanks!' page to post their own thankful messages!

We'll see how it goes. I may start another website too - but in the meantime, please click on the widget on my front page, or on the picture below to log on the Facebook page.

 

So - let's give it go and see how far this thanks thing can travel.

THANKS!

 

A Small Act

Last Saturday (June 25th) I was in Saffron Walden (county of Essex, UK) for the screening of an amazing film.

A Small Act is an award-winning documentary film by Jennifer Arnold, which traces the story of Chris Mburu, a human rights lawyer who works in Geneva, is a Harvard graduate and is originally from Kenya. 

So how did a lad from an impoverished rural village in East Africa get where he is today? Well, largely it's the result of an immense amount of hard work and belief in himself, but also due in part to a generous woman in Sweden called Hilde Back.

Hilde sponsored Chris during part of his early education - without this he might not have gone to secondary school at all. Secondary school led to Nairobi University and then to Harvard in the USA and now to a job with the United Nations, travelling the world to advise and intervene on  human rights.

But all along he's never forgotten Hilde, and has himself set up a school sponsorship programme  to help promising young Kenyan kids to reach their potential in the way that Hilde's money helped him. He named it for his benefactor - The Hilde Back Education Fund - although he had not met her. And then he went looking for her and found that she was, indeed, amazing and inspirational.

He found not a rich person but a very unassuming woman who had escaped Nazi Germany in World War 2, but whose parents had died in the Holocaust. The fact that Chris himself often works with refugees and displaced people makes the new relationship between him and Hilde even more poignant.

A Small Act tells Chris and Hilde's story and the story of the Foundation and several of the children going through the selection process for sponsorship in one year. It was moving and challenging as the various stories were woven together. Having grown up in Kenya myself, it was truly an inspirational evening.

The special screening at Saffron Screen was in aid of the Kyangala Trust - another small charity that is trying to help people back home in Kenya, namely the people of Kyangala Village in Machakos region. The charity is based in Essex and I'm helping a little with some of their publicity and this was part of a fundraising weekend - some volunteers were also taking part in a charity cycle ride yesterday (Sunday 26th June). See My People page.

Watch the trailer for A Small Act by clicking here, or watch it through my Videos page.

But I leave you with a thought from the A Small Act website :

'Each of us has the ability to create change. Each of us has the power to do something small. As seen in the film, one small act can ripple out to affect countless lives. So what can you do? What’s your small act?'

The Verb

I have to admit I'm not a big BBC Radio 3 listener. Shocking I know, but true. If I find the station on the car radio once in a while while scanning for something else, I will tarry a very little while, but usually move on. Truth be told, if I'm listening to the BBC I'm more of a Radio 4 person - I've just enjoyed Woman's Hour  and still find it hard to start my day without my compulsory dose of the TODAY programme. I also, by the way, regularly do BBC World Service  (why not when you suffer from insomnia?) and Magic!

However, a friend and colleague, Liz Babbs, poet and author, secured tickets for a recording of BBC Radio 3's 'The Verb' last Friday so I found myself in the Radio Theatre at Broadcasting House in London in an audience which was, to say the least, eclectic! A middle aged woman in an anorak sitting shoulder to shoulder with a young couple, the girl sporting bright red dreadlocks. A good splattering of folk obviously in their later years but a good number of young'uns, trendy and smartly dressed. Their love of literature and performance and comedy the common factor. The only difference, perhaps, where they might go after the recording. The older guys  straight home; the younger ones, maybe, off to a club or bar. I'll leave you to guess where I ended up.

For those of you who don't know The Verb is 'Radio 3's cabaret of the word, featuring the best poetry, new writing and performances...'

The Bard of Barnsley, the very funny Ian McMillan hosts and this week he was on stage with Whitbread Poetry Award winner Bernard O'Donoghue and author Stella Duffy, who read a specially commissioned piece. The Verb 'word spy' Alex Horne presented a history of The Chinese Whisper with audience participation (practised in advance) and the 'acerbic duo' Ginger and Black performed 'musical comedy with a dark side'. My only disappointment of the evening was that Ian didn't present one of his own poems.

I've sat in some TV audiences and also been part of many many audience programmes for radio and TV as part of the production team (both BBC and ITV). But this was a first for me....sitting in a radio audience for what was basically a poetry and prose evening. And it was amazing! The tickets were free and I'm thinking now I need to sign on to the BBC shows website to see what else is on offer in the way of free tickets for performances. Obviously, judging from the size of the audience, this is no secret!

The programme was recorded 'as live' and recording started at 7.45pm and 45 mins later we were in the street plodding up in the wind and rain to Oxford Circus tube station. Yes, you guessed it - on the way home! I didn't make it home for the 10pm transmission but it's up there on the BBC IPlayer for the next few days. The Verb! Enjoy!

 

Freaks Geeks and Antiques?

I've just got home after battling my way down the M1 and M40, after spending a great two days in the Leicestershire countryside at the Church and Media Conference.  I've been going to this conference for many years but it's always fantastic to meet up with old friends, meet new ones, mix with other Christians who work in the media, catch up with BBC radio faith producers. Delegates are an eclectic mix of people of (Christian and indeed other and no) faith who work in the print or broadcast media, or communications or other associated online industries, and/or  people who work in 'religious media'.

At The Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick the sun shone - it was almost as if the British weather had begun to decide that it should be summer. In previous years, conference has been a busy time for me, as I've been part of the planning and conference team. This year, as a delegate, I could relax and really enjoy the sessions and the networking. It's always more than fun and friends. You can always learn something new about your industry no matter if you've been at it for as long as I have and this year I picked up a good deal of new and enlightening information particularly about social networking (thinking now I should be on Twitter as well as everything else) caught up on TV commissioning, and stayed up too late last night chatting to friends.

Highlights? An absolutely fascinating  session about Gaming - Jason Gardner from Fuse guided us through the basics of why many millions of people spend many millions of hours playing video games  and got us thinking about why we might have a natural disinclination to gaming and whether or not we actually might be missing out on one of life's little wonders! I once played Space Invaders, got a bit hooked on 'Tetris' on my Gameboy and have enjoyed the odd game of Sims (1). There's obviously a whole world out there!

We had a glimpse into the near future with the BBC's Tim Plyming who guided us through some of the plans the corporation have for coverage and public interaction during the Olympics and Paralympics next year. And David Willson, CEO of More than Gold (the churches response to multi sports events like the above) filled us in on what this great organisation is doing to enthuse the British churches about the opportunities next year. Working for The Salvation Army until recently, I've been involved in Olympic related projects for several years but it was great to hear David's eloquence and enthusiasm for sport and ministry. 

And then we came to the very final session. If you've never heard of the 'digitalnun' then you'll have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about. She's Dame Catherine Wybourne, Prioress of Holy Trinity Monastery, Oxfordshire, a tiny Benedictine order (two nuns and a dog, her words not mine), a closed order who reach out and share their vocation via the internet. Their ministry includes running 'online retreats' !

Somewhere during the conference someone had coined the phrase 'Freaks, Geeks and Antiques' and Dame Catherine - dressed in her full habit - bravely took this as her theme.

'Some people think we're freaks and geeks and antiques' as Christians. Dame Catherine who might look a bit stereotypical, is astonishingly surprising! Imagine - a nun who pretty much stays in her closed order but reaches out to the world not just through prayer but also through the worldwide web. This is a nun who TWEETS!!!! and Blogs! Highly intelligent and able, funny, committed to the Christian way of life, and helping to communicate the Christian message sensitively and appropriately. Wow! Really challenged by what she said - reminded us that it's not just enough to chatter away on the internet, but that as people of faith we have responsibilities - to ourselves and to those with whom we are communicating! She's no freak, certainly not a geek and by no means an antique. I made some notes and the themes may well come up again as I think about them a bit more. Right now my head is exploding just a little with all the new and challenging information.

While I go and quietly lie down, I've given you some links if you want to find out more about the people I've met and listened to this week, including the Church and Media Network who run this conference and who've just launched their new website. 

But before I sleep, I reflect finally on something profound we also heard today - from the Controller of BBC 1 Danny Cohen. Dr Who won't be back for a full series in 2012! Shock and horror! Fear not, though. There will, apparently, be a special run for the 50th anniversary in 2013. Check out the 'Twitterfall'  from the Church and Media Conference. 

Mark Curtis-Jenno Charity

I've been going to the same hairdressers for the past 7 or so years. The choice of a hairdresser who you can trust implicitly is absolutely vital. Whether we are inclined to vanity or not, for many women our hair defines us and it's essential to feel entirely comfortable with our salon of choice and its staff.  Today they guided me through a radical hair transformation - I went blond after a lifetime of brunette. But that's another story altogether.

After 7 years, you get to know the staff at your hairdressers pretty well and at mine there's a great stylist called Kaz. A while back Kaz tragically lost her husband Mark, to whom she was devoted. His death came as a great shock to all who knew him and while I was not priveleged to be among that number, in the intervening months I have been in awe of Kaz's determination that Mark's passing will not be in vain.

Mark was just 47 when high blood pressure took his life and Kaz and her family and friends are determined that good will come out of tragedy. They have set up a charity - the Mark Curtis-Jenno Charity - to try to ensure greater awareness of the effects of high blood pressure and to help those who might be affected to identify symptons and to take steps to lower blood pressure to prevent stroke and heart attack.

They have worked tremendously hard already. As their new, and still developing, website says:

Kaz Curtis-Jenno is determined to not only keep Mark's legacy going, but to prevent any other families from experiencing the devastating loss of a loved one due to high blood pressure. Aortic Dissection is associated with Hypertension (high blood pressure) and we believe that not enough is being done to inform people of just how dangerous this can be if left untreated.

Kaz and her family and friends aim to raise awareness of Hypertension, what it can lead to and how to get it treated. Their fundraising efforts will be for the Blood Pressure Association and also the CTCC (Cardio Theoretic Critical Care) Unit of the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford where Mark was treated.  

Kaz and her team are currently working towards registered charity status, which requires that they raise a minimum of £5000 in a year. They are planning a series of fundraising events to try to reach this target and raise awareness of the cause.

That website again -  www.markcurtisjenno.co.uk