Its been a long time since my blog announcing the intentions of the project we called “One Big Community – 1bc” – Much water has passed under the proverbial bridge, Had the great privilege of working with some wonderful young people. They pulled together huge events – Trended number 1 in the UK when launching with one of the biggest ever independent on-line debates – Took over City Hall to stage the first event that heralded the start of their youth consultation project “Sounding Out London” and ran an amazing residential in Kent to really get the ball rolling with workshops exploring the root causes of youth violence.

Amazing energy – So many unsung young heroes.

The team tried hard to pull as many youth organisations and authority bodies together behind the project as possible – One Big Community – What it says on the tin – This was the vision and the ethos – My quote about it taking a whole City to keep its kids safe taken from the wonderful old African sentiment that it takes a whole village to raise a child – Its true. this should be an ambition shared by all – We have lost far too many teenagers on our streets. It never seems to stop. It has to stop!

But lets look at the term “Youth Violence” It is seen so much in the media it is almost like its treated as a brand – This has to stop also – Violence is a man made phenomenon not something that just fell out of the air.

I feel that we have to look at how violence has been manifesting in young peoples lives – We live in a far more violent society today than the one our parents grew up in – Television – Films – Video Games – Everywhere you turn gratuitous violence is widespread and embedded in our culture – Look at the way the big brands target poor children almost from the cradle. Yes, poor children. The big brands are enterprising and callous in the extreme – It is all about profits. They clothe/feed… endorse the kind of music artists and sports stars the kids aspire to be like then they invest many millions of pounds advertising their products in inner city areas – The “mood” advertising normally tends to reflect “attitude” as much as inspiration – It is not just the clothing brands it is far more widespread than that – It ignites materialism in young minds from a very early age – Kids with struggling parents or no parents at all – How they going to afford this “stuff” ? Does Mental Health in young people also get affected by the pressure young people in poor areas are put under? I certainly think so!

I think the adult world needs take a long hard look at itself – Even the 24 hour news channels now showing looped tape coverage of terrorist outrages – Which is exactly what the terrorists want of course…Why do we need to see the violent scenes repeated over and over? The media and the big brands that pay their wages – More responsibility is needed. Can we stop the plague of teenager killing teenager? We have to believe we can – Most importantly though we must listen more to the youth of London – Give them a platform to be heard from so that they can be fully engaged in the finding of solutions to problems that they are most affected by.

Politicians, authority bodies – Media owners and the brands.. Must be made to listen. Far more young people are victims of crime than are perpetrators – And these kids, especially those from BME backgrounds, are victims many times over. The stereotyping that comes with the territory if you live in certain crime affected poor areas is also widespread. We can end this if we give young people the positive platform most of them already rightfully belong on. The more young peoples voices can be heard the better – Not just those that have transgressed by the way – This is a sinister trait of the authority bodies that these are the only young people ever paid any attention too – There are far more budding young entrepreneurs and good upstanding citizens among BME youth than their are gang members. Not that you would believe it if your a white middle class bank executive from the shires reading the London Evening Standard on the way home from your City Office!

We need our young people to be better enabled to speak directly to City Hall on issues that affect them. It should not be rocket science for a coalition of youth organisations and charities to come together in the way 1bc was intended so that a well constructed, sustainable and independent youth assembly can be developed – What better way for the next Mayor of London to best informed on youth issues?

I am getting on my bike (actually it is my good friend Winstone’s bike lol) tomorrow to ride 100 miles in the Prudential Ride London event raising money for Cambridge House the host of the project.

I am not as fit as a fiddle but it is still the best way I could think of to spend my 56th Birthday!!

Please feel free to support if you have the inclination

https://www.justgiving.com/Gary-Trowsdale/?utm_id=7

Be blessed not stressed… Thanks!

G x

They have a wonderful saying in Africa that “It takes a whole village to raise a child” – With 152 teenagers murdered on the streets of London since 2005 perhaps it is about time we adopted the attitude that “It takes a whole City to keep our children safe” – Every time a child dies on the streets of London a piece of London dies with them. With 7 deaths already this Year it is time to say enough is enough – It is time to make a stand. It is not enough to point fingers and blame others – London is OUR city and this is OUR problem – The Police cannot solve the problem alone, in fact without the support of the entire London community they have no chance of solving it at all.

We set up the Spirit of London Awards in 2008 as a legacy project for all the young people that we had lost senselessly – We wanted to show the World the reality about our young people, that the vast majority of them are good and that a large percentage are exceptional – What we wanted to do above all else through the strength of our investment and endeavors was to create a network of empowered young people who more than any other demographic group wanted to see solutions to the negative issues affecting our inner city areas.

A few weeks ago one of the young people that have come through the Spirit of London awards nominations sent me an email asking for my help. Jeremiah Emanuel is 13 Years old and was nominated last Year as a Young London hero for his work as Deputy Youth Mayor of Lambeth – His friend had been stabbed to death in a stairwell in Wandsworth. The Police said he had been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time – A victim of the gang culture bullying that is all so often now getting out of hand – Jeremiah wanted to make a stand – He told me he knew far too many young people that had either lost their lives or been hurt as a result of gang culture and he wanted to do something positive to try and stop it.

Now we are helping him mobilise the youth of London to come together as ONE BIG COMMUNITY for a day of youth empowerment to show the World they want the violence to stop – We want to mobilise the entire London community to stand behind them – These young people are our future and we all share the responsibility of keeping them safe – We know that there are problems in our inner city areas with poverty and deprivation rife in many of them – There can be no excuse for murder though and the culture of violence, the knife and the gun, has no place in a civilised society.

We want to see every one of the 32 Boroughs involved and already the youth management team have connected with a large percentage of them. They are working with SOMEWHERE TO and Livity to find the best locational venue to stage the event and will then announce the date.

We need to support them 100% to the hilt and everybody in London needs to make an effort to mobilise the youth of their own area to get involved.

Please email info@onebigcommunity.org.uk for more information and to be added to the support database.

These are OUR kids, they are OUR responsibility – Lets show them how much we care!

Thanks

Gary

On September 20th 2008 I managed an event called “The Peoples march against Knife crime” after 29th deaths of teenagers on London streets that Year something drastic needed to be done and when we brought together 63 victim families in total to march and speak as one voice we hoped it would lead to politicians and media owners taking the problem of youth violence more seriously and investing in the positive solutions needed to end the cycle. Sadly this was not the case.

The new Mayor of London supplied us with a video to show on a large screen we erected in Hyde Park – It was a message intended to support our initiative – He spoke about the Olympics planned for 2012 and also his Bike scheme – He congratulated those present for their ambition to see an end to the violence and for doing something positive.

One of the victim family members present on the march was an ex British light heavyweight boxing champion called Mark Prince. Mark lost his son Kyian to youth violence in 2006 – His son was captain of the England youth football team and touted as a future England captain. I met Mark at a planning meeting we staged in Islington with family members of Ben Kinsella who had tragically been killed a couple of months back – It was a sombre setting but Mark was typically upbeat and determined despite his pain which was still raw and very evident – This is the kind of guy he is.

Fast forward almost 5 Years and Mark is seeking a return of his boxing license so that he can return to the ring and fight for a living – His desire and passion fuelled by his need to carry on his youth empowerment work – sadly he has fallen victim to the cuts and the economic crisis and so has turned to the only trade he knows – The noble art of boxing.

I have seen Mark working with kids and seen first hand how impressive he is as a role model and mentor – The youth identify with him both for how real and accessible he is but also how inspirational he remains despite his loss. He really believes in young people and they identify with this very clearly.

The work that Mark does is vital and if we are going to ever see an end to the cycle of violence that continues to blight London’s inner city communities then people like him need support and investment – he is now fitter and more focused than in his heyday – He is 44 he is not a spring chicken. Plenty of fighters older than him are still fighting however and do not have the same drive and desire – I do not believe the Boxing Board of Control should be depriving us of the opportunity to see mark Prince climb back in the ring.

Every punch Mark throws he will throw for every one of us fighting youth violence. This is not about winning titles this is about making a difference.

In 5 Years in office the Mayor of London has done nothing to even come close to even helping to find solutions to the problems our inner city communities face. His investment record in youth projects is atrocious and apart from the boy scouts and girl guides he seems completely detached.

Mark Prince is the kind of hero we need so if you are reading this blog I implore you to show support through social networks or by emailing your support to the British Boxing Board of Control admin@bbbofc.com and let its Chairman Mr Charles Giles know your views.

Mark can be found on twitter @markno1prince and the hash tag I would ask you to include in any message is #ReturnOfThePrince

I know that Mark has the full support of many other victim families including Richard Taylor and Brooke Kinsella who were both part of that momentous Peoples March and who remain two of the most prominent campaigners against youth violence in the Country.

Thanks

Gary

2012 the epilogue:

For the third Year running the Prime Minister called SOLA “An epitome of the Big Society” in his speech at the reception for the SOLA nominees on the 29th November 2012. I think he really does emphasise with SOLA and the vision for the project – I am sure as Hell mind you that he does not have the slightest inkling for how tough it has been to create and manage the project – The big society ideal is all well and good but when your dealing with civil servants (The System) it is beyond difficult to get them to support anything that encompasses change – Change does not equate with them easily given it might threaten their comfort zone – Imagine a world where there is no youth violence for instance – Why would we need a youth violence division at the Home Office?

Cynical? It is hard not to be when you have been on the journey that I have been on and encountered the kind of people and situations I have encountered. In my experience Governments do not run this country they take temporary charge of the system that runs the Country. The system is run by Civil servants and the civil service is the biggest employer of people and manager of technology infrastructure in the land by far.

It has been almost 18 months since my last Blog and a lot of water has passed under the proverbial viaduct – We have seen two more SOLA shows staged – The Royal Albert Hall on Monday October 10th 2011 and the O2 Arena on Monday December 10th 2012. With the first event having been staged at the Alexandra Palace in 2009 and the 2nd at IndigO2 in 2010 this is 4 events we have managed to stage during one of the longest recession periods the UK has experienced. We have created a standard in live youth award events and we have done so against very high odds and without Government or local authority funding. We have raised almost £1 Million to stage and manage the 4 events – We operate out of a couple of desks in a community office in Peckham SE5 – We don’t have a Prince as a benefactor with all the grace, favour and middle England hand outs that encompasses. We are seen as a ghetto charity pure and simple. If we do not knock the doors very hard we cannot expect them to be opened.

We have fought to establish SOLA as a means of bringing some balance into a world where young people are generally stereotyped negatively by the media. Targeted by the big commercial consumer brands unmercifully yet generally under invested in by all and sundry outside of the youth sector where the cuts have decimated services. SOLA is generic but by and large a big percentage of our young nominees come from inner city communities where the ethnic minority groups are not exactly minority in a lot of areas. I personally dream of a colour blind society where equality is king and success goes to those most deserving – That day may be a long way off but I believe that one day it will come. For sure though it may need to come through revolution more than being able to rely on evolution!

London is now one of the most multi cultural cities in the World – Its ethnicity and demographic variances making it perhaps the most diverse City of all – It has a long way to go before it is free of prejudice and an even longer way to go before equality is the standard we must demand for it to be however.

Look at the higher management echelons of the civil service and tell me what you see – You can do this easily enough if you care to use internet search engines to resource the information – There is very little diversity in evidence let along equality.

I am not suggesting there are racial implications – far from it I think the issue is far simpler than this but in essence just as alarming – I think the system is flawed.

Now look at the media – Look at the leading tabloids and broadcasters at senior management and editorial level – You will find the same flaws.

Look at the marketing and advertising industries and again the same inequality is starkly illustrated – This cannot be an academic issue as SOLA proves conclusively how many high achievers are coming out of ethnic minority groups.

Very alarmingly from the perspective of being able to affect change I have regularly come up against a challenge with SOLA in that the brands find it “too urban” according to marketing agencies – There is something very sinister in this given that it is a reference that has only been used in general terms since the black music industry reinvented itself as the “urban” music industry as more and more young white artists started adopting music of black origin as a genre of their own.

To summarise – I feel that it is the class system that is holding us back from becoming the beacon of equality I would like to see London become. The system is largely managed at the top end by white upper and middle class academics. I believe this will change as our young people storm the bastion of privilege through their drive, ambition, desire and endeavour to succeed.  It wont change quickly enough though unless it is highlighted as an issue and not allowed to be seen as a taboo subject. Those of us in a position to do so also have to make sure that young people of all colours, creeds, gender and religions are treated with 100% equality – Diversity is not good enough it is equality our kids deserve and that is what we have to strive for. That is ultimately what SOLA is about.

There is a scene in a classic film starring Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise called “A Few Good Men” – It is a courtroom drama where Tom Cruise’s character is cross examining a feisty old war General played by Jack Nicholson – Nicholson asks him “What exactly is is it you want from me” Cruise responds with “The Truth!” .. The Nicholson riposte is sharp and loud “Son You cant handle the truth”

Is there a class system here in the UK that is suppressing young people that come out of what are now largely poverty affected inner city areas? Perhaps that is a question we could pose to the Mayor of London to see what his views are on the issue.

The Mayor tried to launch a scheme in 2010 which he called his “Black Boys mentoring scheme” – We felt the [project was rather badly labelled and felt compelled to tell him so. In any case it was a dismal failure so not too much damage was done as it flopped without really getting out of the starting traps. A delegation of our young people went to speak to his management team about their views on it at the time and one of the objections they raised to the stereotyping was that they clearly would not have been able to launch a scheme calling it a “white boys mentoring scheme”

The Mayor is currently flavour of the month of course after his spectacular success at the Olympics – After Ken Livingstone helped win London the 2012 games it has to be said that Boris made hay with its deemed success – I felt it was close to being the biggest fraud in history. Billions of pounds and limitless resource and infrastructure backed up by almost infinite positive propaganda by the media and low and behold we won a heap of medals. meanwhile people in the youth sector were facing having to try and make things happen with zero funding and no resource while trying to get the national media to cover positive stories about young people is like trying to get blood out of a stone.

Just imagine what would happen if the same resource that the Government put into the Olympics was put into our young people?

Happy New Year

The riots and looting were awful. There can be no real excuse for the violence and destruction and in the end we were probably lucky that more lives were not lost. Many young people were involved and some of them were already hardened criminals. There were also quite a few silly young people caught up in the heat of the moment that did things out of character.

The prime Minister has said that parts of society are sick. This is hard to argue with. I feel he should have taken time to reflect however before passing summary judgement. Tonight on channel 5 we see the return of celebrity big brother and millions will tune in to see if Karry Katona is snorting coke again or if the girl from the only way is Essex can string two sentences together without saying DER. The tabloids will lap up every minute of it and devote page after page to its promotion. Sick society – What about the media that fuels it?

I think the thing I am struggling with most at the moment is the extreme nature of the sentences being passed for young first time offenders caught up in the riots. I know that many will agree but here is my dilemma. Having spent quite a few years now supporting anti knife crime campaigns and having worked with many families who have lost their kids to this form of violence I feel entitled to ask where all these prison cells have suddenly appeared from and also how come the judciary are doing what they are told by the Government.

They told us there were not enough cells to put away first time offenders caught carrying knives and yet now they incarcerate first time offenders for taking a bottle of lucozade. They told us that sentencing was at the discretion of the courts – Something they could not interfere with.

As I say, the riots were shameful and sanity had to be restored to our streets. Few would argue this. Declaring war on every single kid that got caught up in them is not right either though.

Many more kids have been killed with knives since we campaigned unsucesfully for tougher sentencing. If the Government had reacted in the same way as they have now proven they can to enforce tough justice, would lives have been saved?

Do they owe an apology to families who have lost loved ones that might have been saved? They said there were no prison cells and they said that sentencing was at the discretion of the courts.

Time to reflect.

It has been a while since I last blogged. Recharging the batteries would be a great excuse – Telling it how it is however I just been too busy to find the time. We are into the final countdown for this Years Spirit of London awards already!

Putting the spotlight on the positive youth of London was the rationale for setting the awards up back in 2008 – There were 29 teenage deaths in London alone that year due to youth violence – We wanted to do something to address the imbalance with all the negative media this was generating – We felt that with so many good people already running various crime intervention projects a new approach was needed to tackling the negative issues.

Ultimately there are a hell of a lot more good kids than there are bad its just that the negative actions of the minority grab all the headlines – we felt that given they are the main “victims” of crime as the main demographic the feral minority target, if we could mobilise them into a “movement” then this would be one of the most telling things we could achieve. We realised it would be hard funding wise as the money set aside by the Government and local authorities is generally given to projects that target the feral minority directly. The kids coming out of the toughest areas who make the right choices and do not engage in criminality are largely overlooked. Simple fact is though we really believed it could make a difference if we developed a “trojan horse” style project like that and so we went for it anyway!

The plan with SOLA was audacious in that we set our sights on a fusion of the BAFTAS, the BRITS and the MOBOS as our template and “The Community Oscars for young people” as the strap line to explain what was in the box affectively!

Thanks to the efforts of an amazing team of people, many of them youth volunteers from Southwark and Haringey, we pulled off the event we had aspired to deliver when on the 27th November 2009 we staged the inaugural Spirit of London Awards @ The Alexandra Palace in North London. The young people who had come together through the award nominations were quite amazing and with the support of sponsors like Moss Brothers we were able to recreate the Oscars format we set out to achieve. It was an amazing evening.

The then Labour Government were all over us like a rash now as we had clearly delivered something with strong value so when the then Minister for Schools promised us significant funding to take the project forward it seemed the next step of the journey would be a lot easier. Our plan entailed us being able to build outreach programmes to engage the SOLA Ambassadors in could also be implemented earlier than envisaged. Sadly the promises never came to anything more than that and we found ourselves without any funding at all due to the election.

What went on during this period was quite an eye opener for us in terms of the way things work in Whitehall – The “politics behind the politics” as many refer to the way the “system” works. What has gone on since, especially how we managed to stage SOLA 2010 at the IndigO2 having gone almost 18 months without any kind of official funding at all…. well a book will be written at some stage I am sure. Downing Street receptions and the full support of the Mayor of London but zero help with funding. We had to fight and scrap for every penny invested in the brand. At times the struggle made the old saying about “pushing water up hill with a spoon” a “boast” given we would have done anything for a spoon!

The team of young people behind the project had grown significantly however and it was the youngsters who came through “behind the scenes” to selflessly work to promote their peers that provide the biggest success story of all attached to the project. We also had the support of our Southwark Young Advisor team and their wonderful lead Chloe Newman – This is not the right moment for me to go into too much detail about the selflessness of the team or the individuals involved. Time enough for that as the story behind how we are staging the event this year at the Royal Albert Hall is disclosed. I will however bring to your attention some of the heroes behind the scenes.

The SOLA Youth Management Foundation is now pulling the strings and Whitney Iles, Emanuel Cagengue, Andre Campbell and Richard Serunjogi are young social entrepreneurs blazing a trail for their peers – The SOLA Ambassador programme is also taking shape and the amazing young people who have come through the class or 2009 and the class of 2010 awards truly are inspirational.

Again there will be more about the likes of Dean Atta, Mizz Camara, Haley Rea, Bobby Kensah, the Ladywell School Young Citizens, Vanessa Sanyauke, Jessica Elliot, The Respect Team,  Dennis Gyamfi , Mariama Samba, Ebonie Barlow-Reid, Ritz, Omar Choudary and the rest… In the months to come…. We are told that the Olympics is going to make London proud well I can tell you that these young people are making London proud already. And they will provide a true legacy that will serve us well.

So the countdown now begins to Monday October 10th 2011 and the 3rd Spirit of London Awards at the ROYAL ALBERT HALL – Who could have imagined we would be rolling up at such a salubrious venue to pay homage the great and the good of London’s youth when we first set out our vision for the brand – It is a huge challenge of course but it is one we are rising to with the help of some very talented people such as Nadu Placca of Mocca events who is our event manager this Year and George Ebenezer of GGI who is managing our artist recruitment for the support acts who help give the night its “oomph factor!” watch this space for some extremely talented artists being announced in the coming weeks.

In the coming weeks I will also talk about the support our celebrity ambassadors such as Christine Ohorougu, Ashley Walters, Adam Deacon, Brooke Kinsella, Rio Ferdinand, Jermain Jenas and Jermain Defoe will be giving to the event this year and finally…

A big mention for our latest media partners, on-line youth broadcasting sensation SBTV – They are busy putting the finishing touches to the launch of their own new website next week and with over 50 million viewers the word “sensation” really is not being over played! A big thank you to Jamal Edwards, Liam Tootill, Rick Tank and the rest of their crew – They join the Sun and Kiss 100 as our own “Premier league media partner Team” – Every top Premier team needs a top Manager of course and with Toby Burnham of Freud Communications coming behind us in this respect this Year we really are going to be in good shape to get the message out that “The Kids are alright!”

The nominations for this years community Oscars for young people lighting up their local communities commence on Monday July 4th so be ready to get nominating – We have a new national award this Year for THE YOUNG CAMPAIGNER OF THE YEAR and we are also introducing an ACHIEVEMENT THROUGH FASHION category to the existing London-based awards – It is going to be mad, hectic, stress central and an absolute blast!

Please follow the progress and with the capacity of the event up to 3,000 this Year I hope to see many of you there on the night!

May the Spirit of London be strong in you!

G x

With special thanks to Dan Janes of Converxion who is now managing our on-line activity in support of the wonderful web build work Digital Marmalade have done with the site development – The regenerated site will be live on July 4th in time for the launch!

Oh and thanks also to Jess Marcel my poor PA for the next 4 months who will be trying to make sense of my spelling and grammar and keeping the admin in order!

FOLLOW US www.twitter/spiritoflondon

Well it is not really rocket science is it. The media, entertainment, fashion, sport and fast food industries of course!

Back in the day I remember being coaxed into buying a milky bar by a little bespectacled boy wearing a cowby outfit. He used to shout “the milky bars are on us” – This was misleading advertising of course as my gran used to have to pay for them!

Fast forward a few years to when I used to creep into the Crown Tavern on the Albert Embankment SE11 to play the space invader machine when I was still only 14. ten pence in the slot and away I would go off into a world of my own. Saving the galaxy from a load of little green men who were marching down the screen in single file trying to shoot me before I shot them – Ducking in and out behind the rock shape thing that gave me sanctuary – I can still remember the adrenalin rush when I reached a new level and the feeling of frustration when I narrowly failed to beat my best score before lost my final life.

when you look back at our youth we always allow ourself a little leeway for nostalgia of course – Things always seem to have been rosier in the garden when we were kids… Well the thing is.. They were!

The Milky bar kid got elbowed aside by Ronald Macdonald a long time ago and the little green men have been replaced by real life human looking avitars that kids are encouraged to stab, shoot and run over in some cases (AKA Grand Theft Auto) – All in the name of entertainment of course. The marketing industry has been eating away at the “generation NOW” consumer market for a long time – Kids are made to feel second class citizens in the school playground these days if their trainers do not have 3 stripes or a giant tick (swoosh!) on them.

We live in a different age. An age where greed is seen to be good and materialism is driven by the media. Four page pull out supplements telling young people all about the latest overnight celebrities uncovered by the producers of BIG BROTHER and rain forests wiped out by the X Factor phenomenon with the amount of tabloid coverage. Ever seen the statistics for what generation is most widely phoning in their votes to help pay for Simon Cowells next private jet or Florida mansion? Why its the youth market of course.

Mobile phones.. Wow can you imagine what the Milky Bar kid would have made of mobile phones – Anyone know a young person who has not got one? Oh and the people they put on Big Brother and the X Factor – Can you believe how many of them end up having skeletons in the closet? ironic acts of fate or cynical exploitation to keep the ratings up and the tabloid coverage thick and lurid ? You choose.

Get rich quick – oh and yes of course the Apprentice with Sir Alan Sugar. Stab everyone in the back and have the scruples of an alley cat – Come out on top and you can be the next big success story – What message does this kind of programme give out?

Then there is Premier League football – The kids must have the shirt, the coloured boots and Sky TV subscription – Their idols.. The top players.. Role models?

In summary I think that times have changed very dramatically and young people have been targetted at younger and younger ages by the media and marketing companies… the innocence has been stripped away from youth and it is the adult world that are responsible.

Look at the fashion industry and the way it targets young girls. The fast food industry with its special offers and ever bigger burgers. The music industry with its download must have new releases and ring tones and now of course the new phenomenon of social media. Get the kids all into one place and then attack them with marketing messages and graphic images from every direction – Have you seen the branding on facebook or BEBO recently? – Look at youth culture programming now like SKINS and HOLLYOAKES – If a kid is not having sex reguarly by 16, doing drugs and drinking alcopops then it seems they are not normal according to the tone of these kinds of programme. Then there are all the new lifestyle mags that target girls but position boys with “attitude” as being cool – Has anyone been noticing that teenage girls reguarly put people like Colleen Rooney down as their perfect role model. I am not knocking Colleen she seems a really nice girl with some very good attributes. Lets be clear though the career choice she took after leaving school with no qualifications and no job is not one we should be suggesting ANY young girl takes let along be allowing her to become an iconic role model. Ironic in the extreme (and if you are wearing your brand colleen perfume right at the moment I am sure it is very nice so please dont think I am being critical of the way you smell! lol)

Anyway before I go off into a complete rant – Simply blaming bad parenting for the difference in attitude we see in young people today is not going to solve anything…… materialism driven through the media is at the heart of so much that has gone wrong… The must have and must have quick culture that sees yesterdays latest mobile phone redundant by tomorrow…. We need to think about how this can be adressed.. If indeed it can be.. The horse has bolted and the barn door is wide open!

Let us never forget that the vast majority of young people turn out well no matter what bad influences might lay in wait for them….. If we are going to find solutions for the feral minority that wreak havoc in some communities then we need first to recognise that things have changed and part of that change may well be that the feral youth are a product of our own making…… be the change you want to be… How poignant!

Now.. where did I leave that Milky Bar?

G x