David Tennant reading bedtime stories on CBeebies – too good to be true!

David Tennant will be reading bedtime stories for Cbeebies over Christmas.

I’m glad to see that CBeebies has snapped up David Tennant to read bedtime stories now that he’s no longer travelling the Whoniverse. They have had some fabulous actors doing this (and could make a fortune with a DVD of the best ones – are you listening BBC Worldwide?), but this for me is the chocolate flake in the ice cream cone. That fiddling noise you can hear is me setting the video recorder now (David’s stories are set for transmission over Christmas, but the exact dates are not out just yet).

The news ties in nicely with something I stumbled across on RNIB’s website this morning: a Christmas appeal to raise money to produce books for blind and partially sighted children. Ninety-six per cent of books published don’t make it into formats that people with sight problems can read. RNIB wants to get more children’s books produced for Christmas. You can read about the appeal and the real impact on children on RNIB’s webpage. It’s also the place to go to donate…

NB: The stories that the lovely Mr T will be reading are The Christmas Bear by Henrietta and Paul Stickland; How High Is The Sky by Anna Milbourne, illustrated by Serena Riglietti; Small Mouse, Big City by Simon Prescott; Emily Brown And The Elephant Emergency by Cressida Cowell and Neal Layton; and Miki by Stephen Mackey.

If you haven’t already read Cressida Cowell and Neal Layton’s wonderful Emily Brown stories, do so as soon as possible! You don’t have to start at the beginning (it’s not Harry Potter!), but That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown introduces Emily and Stanley wonderfully.

Alternative Christmas gift idea no.2

I find the notion that 21st Century Britain has tens of thousands of homeless people appalling. It’s appalling 365 days a year, but there is something about Christmas which magnifies the tragedy.

Homelessness isn’t just about sleeping on the streets. There are the homeless people living in hostels, squats, bed and breakfasts and sleeping on friends’ floors. Often they live miserable and isolated lives and suffer from debilitating mental and physical health problems. Crisis wants to offer these people companionship, care, hot food and warm clothing this Christmas – you can help them do that. You can donate by calling 08000 199 099 or give online.

Perhaps you’ve already bought your Christmas cards for this year, but if not here is a thought – give the £20 you would have spent on cards to Crisis  instead. That money would pay for health treatment for up to two homeless people. £30 will pay for 60 Christmas dinners. Last year 2000 settled down for Christmas dinner at Crisis Christmas – many of them had had their lives shattered by domestic violence, divorce, redundancy or ill health – something that could happen to any of us.

You don’t have to believe in a virgin birth in Bethlehem to believe that Christmas is a time for thinking of others and showing our better, more compassionate sides. I’m off to make my donation right now – I hope you’ll follow me too.

Water, water everywhere

The Doctor (David Tennant) in full geek chic mode

I don’t care what any of the fanboys on the forums say, Russell T Davies and David Tennant will be sorely missed from Doctor Who next year (much as I love Stephen Moffat and am keeping an open mind on Matt Smith). The Waters of Mars is (so far) the best episode of Doctor Who ever. I sat perched on the edge of the sofa for the whole hour and for once Christmas can’t come soon enough.

Having been thoroughly drenched on the jog back from school this morning, water is very much on my mind today – and so, MI directs you to two of the many ways you can help provide clean water to people without this most basic of needs.

You can combine your good intentions with your Christmas shopping and head to Oxfam Unwrapped to buy safe water for ten people - for just £9. Sometimes it’s hard to believe such a small sum of money can make such a big difference.

Or you can head to Water Aid and get involved by donating money or time, or perhaps including it on your wedding list (I bet like many people you already have a toaster, bath towels and cutlery…).

And you know that the lovely Mr Tennant would heartily approve of either of these big-hearted decisions. So before you go off to rewatch The Waters of Mars on iPlayer, take a minute to make a difference for someone who not only is unlikely to ever see this fabulous hour of television, but much more crucially, doesn’t have clean, safe drinking water to hand at this very moment.

Happy things

So, back from a week on the North Norfolk coast (bracing but lovely) and ready to blog. First things first a fabulous story from The Week:  A waiter who was given a £10,000 reward for helping to convict a rapist has given the money to the victim. Lloyd Gardner, 22, rang the police after seeing CCTV footage of a man wanted in connection with the rape in Exeter. He recognised two women on the film, and they led police to rapist Jakub Tomczak. Mr Gardner, who earns £20,000 a year, said the money would have been useful, but that he did not deserve it and hoped it would help the woman rebuild her life.

So we say hurrah for Lloyd Gardner! What a lovely man. Another happy thing is BeWILDerwood. If you have young children and can get to Wroxham (just east of Norwich), make a date in your diary now to visit when it reopens in the spring. It’s a woodland-based adventure park with lots to climb, swing and slide on. At £10 a head (for adults and children tall enough to Be WILD Now!) it’s also excellent value for money. You could take a picnic, but the food is delicious and not extortionately priced. I found the whole day stress-free – which can’t be said for all family-friendly places!

And, now it’s nearly the weekend – a third thing to make you happy (I hope).

PS If you haven’t already filled a shoebox for Samaritan’s Purse, there’s still time to do it (you have until November 18 to drop off your boxes). Add to 1.2 million shoeboxes sent out to children who won’t be getting Christmas presents and bring a smile to a little face this December. But be warned, Operation Christmas Child is addictive. I started out filling one box, this year I’m sending three and wishing it was more. It doesn’t have to be expensive, send supermarket value soap and flannel, some pocket-money toys, colouring pencils, and a bag of sweets (not chocolate though) and make someone’s Christmas really special.

The BNP on Question Time

It’s a tricky one. Do you go with the principles of freedom of speech and allow vile fascists a place at the Question Time table, or not? In my humble opinion, you have to give these narrow-minded racists the chance to air their views, not matter how abhorrent I find them. I’m not at all sure that Question Time is the best place to do it though – I can only hope that Auntie is giving Nick Griffin enough rope to hang himself with. Fingers crossed anyway.

On this subject, you should take five minutes to read this Independent article: 10 things you should know about the BNP when you watch Question Time tonight. Some jaw-dropping stuff in there. You may already know that Nick Griffin is a convicted racist who said Hitler ‘went a bit too far’. Did you know he stood in the witness box at his trial (for inciting racial hatred) and said: “I am well aware that the orthodox opinion is that six million Jews were gassed and cremated and turned into lampshades. Orthodox opinion also once held that the world is flat.” Such odious claptrap provoke a string of adjectives that I won’t sully your pixels with. But, he’s one of the few people in the world to whom I will mentally, at least, attach a four-letter label which begins with ‘c’. And it’s a word I thoroughly despise and will not use out loud. [Reaches for the mental toothbrush once more…]

I won’t be watching Question Time tonight. I will not bolster that nasty little man’s ego by boosting the viewing figures. I won’t presume to advise what you should do tonight either. What I will say is that we all carry the responsibility for challenging these racist and ignorant views when we encounter them. So please don’t duck the issue, or pretend not to hear, when people come out with this vile nonsense. Unless there is real, physical danger, do challenge it, loud and proud. 

And while we’re about it, Hope Not Hate is still doing its bit to bring down the BNP, so you could head over there too.

Take action against poverty

Pumpkin cut into a Halloween lantern

My daughter and I went shopping in town today. We’re not regular shoppers (not counting the weekly food shop, natch), but do enjoy the bus ride into town occasionally and browsing our favourite shops (Lush, Lakeland, Evolution (I’m trying to relive my youth but without actually purchasing incense sticks) and, of course, any bookshops).

For the most part we were Christmas shopping – presents for my nieces, something for Abigail’s reception teachers, and so on. But wandering along the high street, and giving some cash to a busker who, if not actually homeless, clearly enjoys a different standard of living to me and those walking past and ignoring him, I felt a little queasy (alright, a little queasier than usual) at the rampant commercialism on the high street.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t buy anything – but who really needs the quantities of plastic Halloween tat that’s being peddled? And, when so much of the world’s resources are used by so few, we – the few – have a great responsibility to try and even things out.

In this season of spending, we can all do our bit to take action against poverty. You could pledge a small regular payment to charity, or you could pop into your local Oxfam shop and pick up one of its Unwrapped catalogues. Small actions can make a big difference, so choose yours and take a step to making poverty a thing of the past. Because poverty is not just being too poor to buy a glow-in-the-dark bat, or a pumpkin-shaped candy bucket. Poverty affects every aspect of life – your health, your education, your-well-being. It’s shitty – to be blunt – and not something I’d want for anyone I know. And because I’m the kind of person to set up this kind of blog, it’s not something I want for anyone.

So, forgo that set of sparkly devil horns and put £2 in an Oxfam collection box instead (other poverty-alleviating charities are available and equally condoned in this context).

I’ll keep this short and sweet…

Melting chocolate

I love chocolate. I’m also a big fan of Fairtrade – though roll on the day when such a label is an anachronism. This week, I learn from the Guardian, is Chocolate Week, and the nice people at Ethical Consumer magazine have rated the most ethical chocolate brands on the market for Grauniad readers. Here is their list of the best from 38 companies on a range of 17 ethical criteria from use of palm oil to workers’ rights.

Go on, grab a bar of Divine chocolate and treat yourself – it’s easily the tastiest way to make the world a better place!

An excellent post that you should read today (no, not one of mine)

Came across this excellent blog post today: The Bystander effect and would urge you to read it. Having read it, I’m promising myself to break away from the crowd more often. Perhaps you will too.

Alternative Christmas gift idea no.1

We all have people who, when asked what they want for Christmas or a birthday, will say they ‘really don’t need anything’. It’s all too easy to buy a bottle of something alcofrolic, a box of chocolates, or a voucher for them – I have been guilty of this too.

Women learning to read. Credit: Ami Vitale

Well, as more people accept that the world has limited resources to use up, why not take your loved ones at their word and buy them an Oxfam Unwrapped (or similar charity gift) this year?

The first of the great presents I would like to draw your attention to links into another recent post on the subject of literacy: Reading classes for adults. For £30 you can give the gift of adult literacy. Your money pays and trains teachers, provides books, chalk, blackboards and other classroom equipment.

Don’t be tempted to buy your dad another M&S jumper (don’t get me started on the thousands of gallons of water a jumper uses to produce or clean in its lifetime…), if he really doesn’t have a Christmas list, then buy him something that does more harm than good this year.

Floods, mud and some real heroism in Manila

It’s easy to become inured to tragedy half way around the world. A hundred of so dead people in a country you’re not sure you could find on an unlabelled map is just one of those things, perhaps?

It’s true that there is nothing you or I can do for the 140 people killed in the devastating Manila floods – including Muelmar Luz Magallanes, the brave 18-year-old who plunged into the flood waters to rescue his three younger siblings, went back for his parents, and then his neighbours. Finally he rescued a six-month-old baby and her mother caught in the churning waters. His heroic efforts exhausted him and he was swept away to his death.

We can be inspired by his bravery and self-sacrifice though. We can click on a link to Oxfam and donate a small (or large) amount of money to help the thousands of people forced from their homes by the floods. You can help to prevent a public health disaster.

Still not sure? Imagine your home covered in mud from deadly landslides, cut off from water, food and power. Wouldn’t you want someone to help you?