“A shrill scream echoes through the hallway, a white sheet of paper tattooed with an answer is held firmly in their hand. Around Thurrock, hundreds of other screams are uttered, hundreds of other sheets of paper are posted through letterboxes – the object of every hopeful college student’s desire: “Dear … We are delighted/regret to inform you that your application to the University of … has been successful/unsuccessful.”

There is no question about what will be going on behind the tiny porches of Thurrock over the next few months; the question that I am most curious about is what university will our brightest be enrolling to, if in fact they will be enrolling at any at all?

YourThurrock has challenged local colleges and schools recently with shocking statistics, all of which have been subject to an onslaught of defence. But the real question we at YourThurrock are asking is one of sheer simplicity: are you happy with the six percent, yes or no? No long-winded, embellished response, just the raw statistic as it sits on the paper.

Over recent weeks, there has been lively debate as to what defines a good university, with many blaming local politicians for revealing the quandary and some blaming local colleges and students for massaging these figures. The Completely University Guide factors in the following key components essential for Higher Education: entry standard, student satisfaction, research assessment and graduate prospects. The elitist Cambridge holds its academic reign and London South Bank falls to the bottom, with the Russell Group universities lingering around the upper regions of the league table. So to silence any retort, the “good” universities in the UK are diligently determined through meticulous methodology, which is improved upon year on year.

The catalyst for this dispute is indeed whether “good” universities reflect the educational standards for the borough, so let’s do a little compare and contrast: the entry standard to study English at the University of Cambridge is A*AA. The entry standard to study English at the London South Bank University is CCC. Therefore, someone who gets into the University of Cambridge, gaining top marks in all three A Level exams, in theory, should be more widely celebrated than someone who enrols into the lowest ranked university in the country, otherwise there becomes an iniquitous belief that an A* is as good as a C. The defence is the generic “they don’t do the courses I wish to study” – Russell Group universities offer variety and combinations envied by other, less prestigious universities due to the endowments given to these institutions for research and facility improvements.

For many headteachers, they have been forced to face the reality of falling university applicants and has become somewhat of an elephant in the room. Is it really lack of motivation on the students’ part or are our educational standards slipping on an already slippery slope, for most of which I blame Labour. At the end of a degree, every graduate yearns to be employed, particularly at a company proportional to their studies, and the “good” universities have the highest graduate prospects, which is why we should be pushing our students to the maximum, towards the best universities in the country, to one day see those very students powering our economy, government, education system, scientific breakthroughs, award winning literature and aspiring leadership. Why should we settle for an average university when we can push students to go onto the best ones? Every student has the potential and every student has the environment to exercise that potential, so why? Why isn’t that six percent of students attending “good” universities in Thurrock, sixty? I asked forty first and second year students at Palmer’s Sixth Form College what two universities they planned on attending. In bold are Russell Group universities, of which there are twenty.

Note that some knew one university they wished to attend but not the other, so therefore chose one from the following list, and then uncertainty.

East Anglia 2
Greenwich 4
Oxford 2
Goldsmiths 1
Queen Mary 3
Southampton 4
Brighton 6
Essex 6
No University 11
Open University 1
Cambridge 2
Unsure 6
Birmingham 2
Edinburgh 1
Bournemouth 3
Leicester 1
Anglia Ruskin 2
Kent 3
City London 2
Bangor 1
King’s College, London 2
Bath 2
London School of Economics and Political Science 1
Royal Holloway 1
Canterbury 1

As presented in the data, only fourteen out of forty are placing their hopes on a Russell Group university, which converts to only thirty five percent With over a thousand students at Palmer’s, the data is only a small population of the college; therefore the percent will undoubtedly go down as the quantity of students increase. Only four set their sights on the coveted Oxbridge – a meagre ten percent of all asked.

At twenty, the highest was no university with second as local university Essex, uncertainty and Brighton, and joint third being Greenwich and Southampton. Emma Gardiner, English Lecturer at Palmer’s, offered her wisdom as to why these universities were most popular: “…Over the past few years I’ve found that a lot of students here apply for universities based on location. University of Essex, East Anglia or the London universities are often first choices for students simply because they would prefer to live at home and commute. For those students who prefer to stay at university, the two universities in Canterbury are always very popular as students can stay there, but they can still get home in an hour or so if they want to.”

This paints us a shocking picture: do our students really value convenience over educational experiences? Has a complacency culture grown among us?

After speaking to some students, I’ve come to know the five considerations that ultimately decide the university of choice: location; tuition fees; courses available; prestige of university and its relevance to their career prospects, particularly those who choose no university. My choices are Oxford University and King’s College, ranked number two and sixteen respectively out of the one hundred and sixteen universities in the UK. To study English, my choices rank in two and twenty two respectively, both highly regarded universities in academic circles. My decision behind Oxford covers courses available, prestige of university and its relevance to my career prospects, as does King’s College. Sheer ambition has neglected the tuition fees and location: where there’s a will, there is a way. Though challenging, it prepares us for the real world, where you cannot rely on what is merely expected of you, but where you can rely on the prevailing of diligence, persistence and excellence.

My quest for answers has led me to solid conclusion. There is of course only one real way to find out: come back and read my blog in five years time and I promise to tell you all about it…

“Life can be extremely hard for someone with a mental health condition. You can’t see a mental health problem and there is no cast or plaster to stick on a mentally unwell mind. If you’re lucky, there may be medication to help alleviate the symptoms of the condition and talking therapies to help you cope emotionally but there is nothing to alleviate the effects of the stigma, the prejudice and the discrimination suffered by the mentally unwell individual.

This discrimination is no greater felt than when one tries to apply for Disability Living Allowance. If one has a physical limitation, the process is easier as the people who perform the medical, if one gets that far, have a visual cue or something measurable to test regarding the suitability for work and the ability to perform everyday functions. Not so for the mentally unwell. How can one prove that one’s mental health issue stops them from engaging in everyday life? It’s not as easy as you may think, especially if you have a cyclical condition such as Bipolar Disorder or Adjustment Disorder, which may leave you with whole periods of time when you can function ‘normally’ and others which leave you in ‘crisis mode’. If one is in a ‘good’ period when one is called for the medical, the individual has no way of proving their disability and the chances of being refused the benefit they need.

There is also the problem of the very name of the benefit. I suffer with Recurrent Depressive Disorder and Adjustment Disorder (Depressive-type) but don’t consider myself to be disabled, although, by the Government’s criteria, I am. So, from the outset, the mentally unwell may believe that they are not entitled to DLA; in fact, that was my belief before someone told me that I was, indeed, entitled to the benefit. I am, at times, able to cope with the voluntary work I do but, at others, I would rather stay buried in my quilt, unable to find the strength to face being around other people or handle the stress of paid employment.

The problem then becomes – how does one prove one’s disability when you cannot see it and it is difficult to explain to someone without one’s condition how it affects one’s life without some common frame of reference? And how does that translate into what will actually fit into the criteria on the gargantuan form one has to fill in?

The difficulty with the DLA form is that one is encouraged to put one’s case in terms of the ‘worst case scenario’, how one is at one’s very worst. This is not conducive to good mental health as mental health services encourage one to look to one’s strengths as a means of building self-esteem and mental well-being. The form, however, has to be filled in and it can completely demoralise a mentally unwell person. The worst, however, is to come. The interminable waiting for the decision from whichever unqualified bureaucrat has been given the power over one.

The waiting, however long, eventually comes to an end in one of two ways – the joy of acceptance or the agony of rejection. And if the answer is rejection, the thoughts rush through one’s mind – Did I not ‘sell’ my problems strongly enough? Am I really not unwell enough? Why did I put myself through all this emotional pain for nothing? – and down one goes into the dark pit of depression and self-loathing.

A decision then has to be made by the rejected claimant – should I appeal? In such a dark place, it takes someone with incredible strength of will or someone who is in blind desperation to go through the appeals process and risk another rejection. If one is lucky, one will find help available to assist them through the appeal process but that help is not necessarily easy to find and the quality of help not necessarily good if you find it.

I can write about this from personal experience as I am one of the people whose claim for DLA was rejected and as someone who is currently awaiting a decision on my appeal and I can say that, as hard as the initial DLA form completion was for my mental health, the letter I had to write asking for an appeal was worse as I had to go into minute detail, going further than I wanted to or dared I should ever have to go, to try to impress upon the bureaucrat, upon whose decision my future hangs, my need and the reasons for it. I had to drag out my suicidal ideations and suicide attempts, my anxiety attacks around groups of people, my personal circumstances upon which my mental health stands on a knife-edge and every single horrifying thought in my head. And I’m still not sure if I’ll get the Disability Living Allowance that, according to the Government’s criteria under the Disability Discrimination Act, I’m entitled to.

The most horrific thing is, I have been told, although this may not actually be true or not actual policy, that most DLA claimants who cite mental health issues as their reason for claiming may be being automatically rejected when they put in their first claim. The reason I was given was that, in this age of austerity, rejecting the initial claims of mentally unwell claimants, thereby dissuading some to appeal, is a good way of making cuts in the benefit bill. How disgusting, how discriminatory!

People with mental health problems are not all simply ‘spongers’, some of us have real needs and would rather work if we could but how many employers would actually want to employ someone who, due to their condition, may not be as reliable as someone less qualified but without a mental health issue? Some of us contribute to society in other ways, such as voluntary work, which is every bit as valuable as the work undertaken by those without our disability. We are not just after hand outs; we are after fair treatment and recognition that our needs are just as valid as those of the physically impaired. All we want is a helping hand so we can get back on our feet and can contribute in whatever way we can.
Until next time…

If you would like to comment on any of my columns, please send them to valen1971@hotmail.co.uk or you can check out my personal blogs at http://valen1971.webs.com/ or http://valen1971.blogspot.com. You can also find me on Twitter (@valen1971).

“A lot has been going on in the states recently; many people aren’t interested in international news however this one could have impacted all our lives. A Republican U.S Representative Lamar Smith introduced the “SOPA”. Now on the surface a Stop Online Piracy Act may sound like a good thing, as it’s protecting the film and music industries however it wouldn’t just be attacking those websites. It was looking to shut down anywhere that would have any kind of pirated products whether that’d be songs, films or even pictures and information.

When this was introduced it was also introduced with PIPA (Protect IP Act) in order to raise awareness. As soon as internet organisations such as Google and Wikipedia heard of this they didn’t waste any time in alerting the public of the outrageous outcomes that would follow if the act was passed. All of its users quickly started sending letters to their congressmen and doing anything they could in order to prevent the bill from being passed.

On the 18th January 2012 Wikipedia and many other websites all came together and had a 24-hour blackout in order to show the world what it would be like if SOPA came into action. Many people panicked and many teachers were angered the next morning when they found that essays they had asked their students to write had not been written. It didn’t just affect students globally but adults who research a lot in their careers have also experienced a lot of problems. Google also contributed to the blackout by collecting over 7 million signatures from many users and companies that would boycott the act.

After all this happened, on the 20th January, Lamar Smith announced that he was going to postpone the bill until the necessary adjustments had been made in order to reach an “agreeable solution”. Worldwide people were celebrating this triumph, causing “SOPA is Dead!” to trend on Twitter. Internet companies are telling people not to give up the fight as they’re all aware that the battle has been won for now but there still may be a war to come.

“It’s a little bit scary how many stores are closing down. Every week there’s news that another store is on the verge of going into administration – most recently Hawkins Bazaar, Past Times, Peacocks and Bon Marché have all admitted they’re in trouble – and I do wonder if soon there’ll even be a High Street, as we know it, left.

Already many stores have been replaced by a variety of shops offering goods for just a pound or less, but how many of these do we really need? And are they the only store that can survive in what was once a bustling shopping area?

As a child I remember going into Grays on a Saturday morning and spending hours looking around all the shops, both in the precinct and on the High Street, including Woolworths and Somerfield, before having a nice lunch in McDonalds (only if we were good of course). But now, not one of these stores remains in Grays Town Centre. Who would have thought? Instead we have a walk-in health centre, pound stores and a betting shop in their place.

The arrival of Lakeside, which celebrated its 21st birthday last year, had a huge effect on the way we shop and many stores moved to follow their customers. Now, I assume, as more stores begin to sell online, the ease of internet shopping is doing the same thing. But it saddens me to see what we once knew as a Town Centre or a High Street changing so drastically in such a relatively short space of time.

So this year, as a belated New Year’s Resolution if I may, I’m going to make a conscious effort to visit Grays Town Centre and spend my pennies on the High Street in the hope that my continued custom may prevent a few more stores disappearing from our High Streets.

“There is a need for a change in the way we think about politics in society; for instance, there is an assumption that one has to be a ‘professional’ politician to get anywhere. This is, to a certain extent, true. To truly understand politics, one must first have studied the subject and understand the philosophical underpinnings as well as the ideological underpinnings of the chosen party one wishes to represent; this requires money to attend university courses and afford all of the associated costs inherent in being a student…or does it? Surely, the truth of the matter is that all that is required of someone is the interest in politics and the willingness to read up on the subject which can be done in the privacy of one’s own home? The only reason one would have to go to university for a politics course is the snobbery of the ‘professional’ politician who would look down on the enthusiastic but motivated amateur as less able to grasp the concepts of their subject.

Assuming one could successfully clear the first hurdle of preparing oneself for one’s foray into the political arena with the ‘professional’ jackals, the next problem is how to deal with the tribalism that is inherent in most modern democracies. Is there actually a party that reflects one’s world view? There is, in the UK at least, the choice of three main parties reflecting the moderate left (Labour), the moderate right (Conservatives) and the centre ground (Liberal Democrats). I call Labour and the Conservatives moderate in their approach simply to separate them from the extreme ends of the political spectrum (the British National Party, the Communist Party) and not necessarily because their entire membership or range of views are all moderate. These three main parties may not really be to one’s taste with regards to their world view but there are plenty of smaller parties, however, there is less chance of wielding any real power with them.

Having successfully clearing those hurdles, one finds oneself as an elected representative but this is where the entire system starts to break down and where the biggest change is needed. Taking the UK as an example, it only requires watching five minutes of Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) to see that the tribal nature of politics stops any meaningful work being done as there is a constant battle between the parties of a sort that would not look out of place in a school playground – jeering, shouting, braying and bleating. This tribalism bleeds into the entire election process with political point scoring, the ‘blame game’ and, in some cases, outright slander, all with a view to grasping power. The constant circus of regular elections means that the ‘professional’ politicians seek the most popular, vote grabbing ideas rather than doing what’s best for the country as all they are really bothered with is getting re-elected. I am not, however, advocating the scrapping of regular elections in favour of a dictatorship, however benign it may be. I am, however, putting the case for the abandonment of tribalism in favour of the citizenry of the UK electing representatives who are willing to put aside their ideological differences and work together in the best interests of the country.

At the moment, we live in a society that is ruled by the politics of fear, the politics of scapegoating and the politics of self-interest. The current partisan system requires that a group of people are seen as ‘the enemy’ of a well-run, orderly and affluent society, in order to deflect the blame from the ‘professional’ politicians who are usually to blame. To take a current example – the Conservative/Liberal Democrat Coalition Government first blames the previous Labour administration who allowed public borrowing to escalate and then looks towards the ‘underclass’ of benefit recipients as a burden, a leech on the coffers of the Treasury. Crass generalisations are made about benefit claimants by both sides of the political divide in an attempt to put the blame on the poorest in society. “The benefits system must be changed,” cry the politicians and the burden of the current cuts to public spending fall on the shoulders of those who are least able to bear them.

‘Spongers’ is an oft-used term for people on benefit but, in most cases, the recipients of benefits are far from wanting to be reliant on what meagre funds are given to them by the State. Many people would like to get back to work but are stymied in their efforts to gain employment for reasons as diverse as lack of academic qualifications, stigma and prejudice. They are, however, made the scapegoats for reasons of requiring an enemy for their followers to hang all the problems of society on.

This situation is intolerable. The UK has several hundred Members of Parliament who are in a constant struggle to gain or re-gain power by creating enemies for the general population to project their collective shadow on. Surely, it would be better if they all worked together to solve the problems rather than back-biting each other and scapegoating whole sections of society? If the current contingent of MPs had only half a brain each, there would still be around three hundred brains that could be put to better use solving society’s problems.

The situation is made worse by the fact that the ‘professional’ politicians are onto a good thing with fairly large salaries, far larger than most people in the UK will ever see, and they have the added perks that come with the job. Some MPs even come from moneyed backgrounds so have little conception of the ‘real’ world that the people they represent live in day-to-day. And, behind it all, is the fiction that you have to be a ‘professional’ politician to make a difference, to engage in the political arena; a fiction that ‘professional’ politicians are only too eager to maintain to protect their little empire and the benefits they enjoy.

What is needed, right now, is a new way to think regarding politics and who we elect to govern us. We need to look at the political ideologies we have available to us, stripped bare of the partisan tribalism and create a new vision from the best each one has to offer. We need to elect representatives who will adhere to the principles of justice and fairness to all, and not just the favoured few. We need to usher in a New Age of politics – the age of the politics of aspiration, the politics of hope and the politics of equality.

Until next time…

Perhaps its due to the significant liver damage we have sustained following Hogmanay or the enduring jousting between the Boy Cameron and Fat Eck regarding devolution or maybe it’s the fact that the majority of us far Northerners (as distinguished from the North) really have very little interest in the Olympics, outwith watching the beach volleyball.

We have neither the weather nor the facilities to watch any world class standard of athletics. The annual world cup cross country or the 10K invitation is as close as we get and crowds of less than 200 regularly brave the driving sleet to watch some (1 or 2) world class runners career round a mud covered park whilst avoiding the perils of hypothermia. It is televised and this is perhaps the nub of our Olympic non interest.

It would be easy to mump and moan that yet again London has scored and been granted a licence to print money, but what’s the point. For us its all about engaging in what is arguably one of the most corrupt organisations in the world, possibly second only to FIFA, but it will bring benefit to some of the poorer areas of London, god knows Oxford Street needs help, sales down and the rich, struggling to find bargains.

For us the cost of travel, as with almost all commuters in England, is becoming prohibitive, (cheapest quote for a day return to London £237.00) that, along with the very limited allocation of tickets, to the North makes it a trip for the rich, famous, infamous and chinless flunkies of government.

Thus the nub, why would we venture to remove ourselves from a comfortable arena to head to London, to engage in the herding (of course if it all goes pear shaped kettling) of thousands to watch events that may last minutes, sometimes seconds, rather than sit in some park watching a huge screen, drinking beer and ensuring our livers remain a constant source of concern. Just like Scottish football, yes it still exists, we as a nation cant be bothered going to games, the cost, the weather, the facilities and the product simply aren’t worth it.

£12 a month to watch the footie on TV is a much better prospect and this is where we stand. Oh yes some merry few of us will travel to London , will even have a great time, but the majority will let the Olympics pass them by as a standard of why devolution is the vanguard of what we perceive as fairness, why be interested in something that is unfair.

Its not retribution for ‘66’ , or even the Poll Tax, its not even us going in the huff its more about our thinking that the Olympics should have been put into a Northern English Town rather than London, thus make it a fairer country. We want fairness in all things, devolution may well bankrupt us but who cares its time for us to give it a go and seek the freedom our ancestors sold for a few coins.

England would be a better place without us, mind you when we invaded York after Bannockburn the residents were pleased to see us, they invited us to stay … well some did, but its time for England and Scotland to become men, what do I possibly know about the England psyche, enough to know you have better things to spend your money on than us. Fairness and equality is what we ask but as the Olympics show they have nothing to do with being part of the UK. Mind you the North is getting a fast rail link soon, pity no one up there will be able to afford it.

YT masks its ignorance of the economy (No you don’t-Ed) by often asking the question: “What does this mean to the man in the street?

Some say that Thurrock is better equipped than most to see out the recession. So perhaps what is happening at Petroplus will be a real litmus test for the borough.

Lakeside looked busy at Christmas and was really busy between Christmas and New Year but “the car park was busy” is hardly the most forensic form of economic analysis.

For every Next (no need for pre-Christmas sales) there were shops (Hawkins Bazaar) going into administration.

This is clearly going to be a pivotal year.

A Better Class of University

Earlier this week, we published figures that showed Thurrock had a lamentable number of its young people going on to the “better” universities.

The good news is that the problem is being addressed by more of the senior schools having sixth forms. Too many students are not ready for sixth form colleges and appear to get lost there.

Those figures will change in 2013 and onwards.

And a key to that is that the senior schools have a culture of aspiration, a can do feel to them, that others in the borough, could do well to learn from.

Politics

YT produced a plethora of news articles after Wednesday nights cabinet. There was lots to get your teeth into and lots of important items that were not commented on at all.

Labour looked like a team that needs a “refresh” in the transfer window. The team of eight was reduced to six (holiday and sick leave). Of those six, only three looked like they were in charge of their brief. Not a great return on over £200,000 of Thurrock Council taxpayers money).

The Tories were about and about on the streets of Corringham yesterday, perhaps delivering that message.

Twitter

Our local MP, Jackie Doyle Price wrote an article in the Huffington Post where she called it “the perfect vehicle for empty vessels.”

There are two MP’s that we follow. One is Harlow MP, Robert Halfon (Cons). Robert uses twitter perfectly to show to one and all that he is totally embedded in the Harlow constituency. Robert loves Harlow. Another is Walthamstow MP, Stella Creasy who also uses it to give a real taste of life in Walthamstow in 2012.

Football

“I hope you die ref, I hope you die” The referee at Grays Ath v Redbridge had committed that most heinous of war crimes of sending Kenny Beaney off. The “fan” followed him around the ground and stood next to the club chairman as he continued his foul mouthed and despicable rant. “I hope you die”.

We have not heard what action has been taken but we do hope it is robust.

Life without University?

“Secondary school, college and university – it’s the educational hierarchy that has always existed and it’s the mountain most college graduates are expected to climb, but in a world of unemployed intellectuals, a plethora of debt and students with the ‘unemployability’ factor, has university escaped its shackles on the educational chain? Is there the possibility of life without university?

Hidden in the collegial pandaemonium of Palmer’s canteen was my table and a small group of friends, discussing our plans after we were shot out of those blue reception doors and propelled into the daunting ‘real world.’ A communal shock echoed around the table when I said I was considering not attending university in two years time. “Why don’t you want to go Abbie?”, “You’re clever and you have to go!”, “That’s really surprised me: Abbie Maguire’s not going to university!” were the comments that made the canteen feel all the more carstrophodic. Abbie Maguire is expected to go to university because Abbie Maguire is predicted good grades at A Level and therefore, Abbie Maguire ‘belongs’ at university. Does she, does she really?

I know what you’re thinking “This is another poor student moaning that university fees are way too high and therefore just won’t go. Well here’s a suggestion – get a job and save!” It’s a common and obvious remark. If you have no money, go out and earn money. It sounds sensible and logical enough, but easy it is not. Could this be the explanation as to why so many choose not to enrol in the elite universities? Or are more people just concerned with getting a degree because they think it will give them more of an employability factor, where they do it is no longer in the equation? Or are people intimidated by the red bricks that line the walls of this elite institution?

I’ve known people who have graduated from Cambridge, dropped out from Cambridge and been accepted to Cambridge, but is a degree now just considered a degree. Perhaps, much like in the working world, are students looking for any universities that will except them, let alone apply for that coveted place at Oxbridge? If I achieve my predicted grades, I could be a possible contender for Oxbridge but part of me wants to pursue the Open University, which some profusely question.

“Over the next week, I will be asking 100 people from my sixth form what university that plan on attending. I predict surprising results…

“I have lost count of the number of people who tell me I should be using Twitter. 140 characters and you can announce your thoughts to the world – or rather who you have as an audience.

Twitter has been enthusiastically embraced by politicians. We are always looking for ways of making contact with an electorate which has grown increasingly cynical about the motives and abilities of their politicians.

But I believe it is having a malign influence on political debate. It is dumbing debate down with political discourse becoming an exchange of clichés. 140 characters leaves room for a statement of view with nothing to substantiate it. Unqualified assertions are the stuff of propaganda, not the stuff of mature political debate.

Of course the fact that the statements are put out there does give the opportunity for challenge and engagement. To Diane Abbott’s credit she regularly engages in such online debate. It was perhaps only a matter of time when she would be caught out by ill-chosen words because she was determined to have the last one.

Of course for journalists the Twittersphere is a gift. Tweets are proving as fertile a ground as expense claims as a way of humiliating politicians. Each time a politician puts a foot wrong through poor or provocative choice of language we end up with the spectacle of a news media chasing around after them when there are big issues which should be the focus of political debate.

It is also encouraging politicians to dash around trying to be the first to capture the current zeitgeist. Anyone who grew up in the 80s remembers Bob Holness with fondness – do we really need to know that Ed Miliband does too? Is that what we really expect the Leader of her Majesty’s Opposition to be thinking about. I expect to be hearing about his plans to tackle the financial deficit. On the other hand – I suppose if you have nothing to say a bit of bit of popular culture is always a winner with the voters – unless it has a typo.

I do have a Twitter account. I have yet to use it. I am not sure that many of my constituents would sign up to hear my latest missive, though I can imagine many politicos would. As the audience is self-selecting I am not sure that it even reaches out to the people the messages are intended for. If anything it is reinforcing the tendency of the political class to talk among itself and may perversely increase the gulf between politicians and their public. If we just look at last week’s row over Diane Abbott. Most people in this country were glad that some of the thugs had been banged up for murder at last. They weren’t really too interested in debating the nuances of what might or might not be racist.

Ultimately what the people want from their politicians is leadership. They dont want crass politicking. They dont want meaningless clichés. They want to be confident that the issues which their politicians are looking at are the ones they are worried about.

“I find other channels of communication far more effective in engaging with the electorate and making a constructive contribution to debate. Online? I think I will park the Tweets and stick with The Huffington Post.”

My resolutions are:

Do my best to ensure a future for a user-led mental health service user involvement project.
Campaign for the legalisation of voluntary assisted suicide for all those who want it.
Write one column per month for Your Thurrock.
Be honest and blunt with everyone (even to the point of offending them).
Set up a group of like-minded people with a view to creating a new cultural and political renaissance.

This year is, for me, a year of rebirth and, in order to cut away the baggage of my previous life, I have chosen to discard the name I was given by my parents and have chosen a name which symbolises my new self, Valen. I have used ‘Valen’ as a pseudonym for years on various projects but I have decided that it will become the name I will use most of the time with a view to changing my name by deed poll in the future.

I will start to write letters, organise meetings and generally make a complete nuisance of myself in the pursuit of my aim to change the world for the better and I invite my readers to be a part of my quest. I am looking for people who can see the almighty mess the world is in and want to change the landscape of our society. The ‘professionals’ have caused our society nothing but pain and it is time that we, the enthusiastic amateurs, take control of the reins to see if we can make a better job of it.

Some people may think me mad but there is a precedent for amateurs changing the world – Darwin was an amateur in his field, yet he changed the world with his theory of natural selection. There is nothing stopping a determined group of amateurs making a similar contribution to the history of mankind except our own apathy and I’m not giving into apathy anymore.

I will be sending monthly updates to Your Thurrock as part of my column with more regular updates, including the full texts of letters I send out to MPs and their replies, being posted on my personal blog at http://valen1971.blogspot.com.

I hope some of you will come along for the ride.

Until next time…

If you would like to comment on any of my columns, please send them to valen1971@hotmail.co.uk or you can check out my personal blogs at http://valen1971.webs.com/ or http://valen1971.blogspot.com. You can also find me on Twitter (@valen1971) or on Facebook (valen1971).

We are in the middle of the most severe financial crisis in living memory. We are suffering the most severe austerity measures in living memory. The austerity measures that the ConDem Coalition forced upon us to solve the problem of the enormous budget deficit are not going to solve it in the five-year timeframe they thought it would; it’s now going to take seven years, which is longer than the current term of the Coalition. Austerity measures on this scale have never lasted as long as the current ones have to last, let alone an added two years. According to experts, it is now too late to stop the austerity measures without spooking the financial markets. The banks that caused the global financial crisis seem to be carrying on as if nothing was their fault, paying their bosses huge bonuses for their sterling work of bring about a global financial apocalypse; banks who, indeed, threaten to move their businesses overseas at the mere hint of sanctions against them. The previous Labour Government that allowed the banking system to take such risks with the money in their charge by de-regulation now fails to take responsibility for their part in what happened.

Hmmmmmmmmmm…

I have been rather vocal in my assertion that the ConDem spending cuts are a way of culling the human herd, of killing off the underclass of society – the people on benefits and the elderly who are seen as leeches sucking the blood from society’s coffers. Now, according to the local media, pensioners are going to have to make the impossible choice between keeping themselves fed and keeping themselves warm because of the high cost of energy production that is being passed down to the consumer. And I’m not entirely convinced that it is just pensioners who will be making that choice. We have extremely cold weather forecast for the coming winter and, even with the poor accuracy of the long-range forecasts, I’m not sure they’re wrong. So how can the ConDems say with straight faces that their spending cuts aren’t hurting the most vulnerable in society? I don’t see any of the current intake of MPs making that choice but then, aren’t they just overpaid parasites feeding off the misery and suffering of the people they say they represent? What I’d like to know is – what are the ConDems going to do to try and help those they have hit hardest with their austerity measures?

If I’m right about the cuts being a way of culling the human herd, can we expect to see the books from closed-down libraries being burnt on huge funeral pyres onto which we will toss the bodies of the elderly, infirm and vulnerable who die during the winter having decided that they would rather die of hypothermia than starvation? All the Government would have to do is make sure that the pyres are kept dowsed in some flammable liquid to stop them going out and it will look like the Springfield tyre fire in The Simpsons. The pensions crisis would be over in a flash and the benefit bill would likewise be reduced, leaving the ‘productive’ section of society safely protected from the harsh realities of living hand to mouth, not knowing where the next meal is coming from. But beware; the lower classes will then be the targets of Cameron and his cronies until only the rich survive.

I may have painted a rather bleak picture but am I the only one who can see this being a real possible future? I may have exaggerated a bit for the sake of shock value but we’re not far from that dark reality that I have fixed in my mind.

I was a little dismayed that the focus of the recent strike action was on the purely selfish concern of public sector worker pensions rather than the greater issue of how the cuts are going to affect the poorest and most vulnerable. With such a narrow focus, even with two million strikers, it made for a pretty poor message. If there should be a repeat performance, the strike should focus on the bigger issue and then more people might come out in support and deliver a message to the ConDems that cannot be ignored.

So, while those of you who are in a position to celebrate Christmas this year, please spare a thought for those who will be lucky to make it through the winter alive. Be kind and reach out to those in need because one day it could be you.

Until next time…

If you would like to comment on any of my columns, please send them to valen1971@hotmail.co.uk or you can check out my personal blogs at http://valen1971.webs.com/ or http://valen1971.blogspot.com. You can also find me on Twitter (@valen1971) or on Facebook (valen1971).

STILL jet-lagged and in New York City for the week as it is my 50th birthday (Nov 24th), I got up at 4.30 am to write, edit and publish some stories.

I noticed a tweet from St Luke’s Hospice telling us that there was still places left for the Brighton Marathon in April 2012.

Four hours into being 50 and I am agreeing to running a marathon. Well, there are people in their nineties doing them.

It is about time I did something for the hospice, as we have been reporting on other people’s good work for the great charity.

I stood there filming the St Luke’s Triathlon recently and did feel, another year and I haven’t done anything.

So, having taken off thirty years since my last one (Inverclyde) and having been one of the youngest runners of the first ever London in 1981 and since my daughter in law, Katrina Allen is running her first London next year…..

So, now for the running, now for the fundraising. Lots of ideas…Maybe YT will become payperview for St Luke’s!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes.

I guess 50 should be celebrated like a good cricketer does when he reaches the half century. A wave of the bat to the crowd and then check your mark, survey the field and head down and concentrate on the next 50. This isn’t the dress rehearsal etc…

Back in April, I highlighted the deplorable state of the provision at Grays Hall Outpatients Department and one would expect that the situation would be well on the way to being resolved by now but it has not. In fact, nothing seems to have been done about the situation at all. The posters declaring that service users are “seeing the same doctor as usual” are still on display in the waiting area and yet, in the last four appointments I have had there in the last year or so, I have seen four separate doctors – all members of the same consultant’s team to be sure but not really the continuity of provision that the posters make the bold claims of. Worse still is the fact that only one of the four doctors seemed to have read the notes that their colleagues had written about my case, leaving me with the trauma of cataloguing the circumstances of my previous and current problems before being rushed out of the consulting room as if there was a fire in the building.

The issue of the high staff turnover at Grays Hall was brought to the attention of the Chief Executive of South Essex Partnership Trust (SEPT) about a year ago by my very self and yet, despite being given assurance that the matter would be looked into personally, there has still been no hint of an investigation, let alone any findings. This is hardly a satisfactory state of affairs for an organisation that proclaims that it is “providing services that are in tune with you”. Neither is the fact that some service users from Thurrock have to go all the way to the Mental Health Unit in Basildon Hospital to access some of the services they rely on. A trip to Basildon may be alright for those with concessionary bus passes or their own transport but is a costly affair for those of us who have to pay the bus fare, bearing in mind it is a weekly expense at a time of financial uncertainty. There is also the matter of the extra stress of the bus trip for those of us who suffer with varying degrees of social phobias. My own problem is rather mild but a trip on public transport is still a stressful affair even for me.

Another issue for me is that my appointment at the Mental Health Unit is at 8:30am in the Community Resource Centre. This would not be a problem normally but, if the bus gets me to the hospital late, I cannot get into the building as the door is kept locked until 9am when the receptionist arrives and that is hardly helpful especially in the rapidly approaching cold weather. Even if things are running on schedule, some of my fellow service users and I are left standing outside the building for minutes, waiting for the therapist to open the door for us. Hardly “providing services that are in tune with you”.

I have been accused by my current therapist of having a problem with mental health staff, which is something I strenuously deny. I hold my previous therapist in the highest regard and my current therapist is reasonably good. I believe that most members of staff in SEPT are trying to do a difficult job under increasingly difficult circumstances. I have got a problem with SEPT as an organisation though. I believe that SEPT is suffering from Sick Organisation Syndrome (SOS). SOS is where an organisation is completely oblivious to the fact that, while they may believe they are wonderful, they are actually falling down on the job in a big way. In Thurrock, SEPT is the epitome of a sick organisation. What makes matters worse is that the Trust’s public governors seem to be completely oblivious to the problems with the quality of provision in this area. During a public member’s meeting earlier this year, a Trust governor for Thurrock admitted that she was unaware of the high staff turnover at Grays Hall when I brought it up. I was amazed, as I would have thought that it was her responsibility as a governor to know all the important issues in the area she represents. How else can SEPT let down their service users?

It would seem to be impossible to be let down any further but SEPT manages to do just that. Bearing in mind that the Trust is supposed to be a South Essex organisation, they seem to spend more time thinking about their newly acquired areas of Luton and Bedfordshire rather than fixing the problems with their provision for South Essex. The Trust, in true empire building style, has also acquired some community (physical) health services to provide as well. Where, however, does that leave the poor mental health service user in Thurrock? Left at the bottom of the agenda as a mere afterthought, apparently.

I could go on SEPT bashing for ages but the bad aspects of the Trust are endemic of a deeper problem at the heart of mental health provision in general, a darker and more damaging problem for the service users who rely on the services provided. The problem of which I speak is the apparent push by mental health trusts towards service user dependency on their services, thanks to the new Payment By Results (PBR) method of funding. PBR means that service users may be discharged having achieved a short-term stability in their condition but before they are truly ready for discharge simply so that they can be re-referred later. Each new referral nets the trusts a significant additional payment, more than if a service user is kept in the service. It makes financial sense for the trusts to keep their service users dependent on their services but it does little to help the poor service user.

The problem with building a dependency on statutory mental health services is the fact that service users will never be able to become fully productive members of society because getting work will be almost impossible and they will be unable to contribute to the public coffers. It also means that the types of services that would really help the service users are not available through the trusts because they will not be funded to provide them. Peer support opportunities that would be the most beneficial for people with mental health issues will struggle to find independent funding on their own and the service users will be left, unaided and dependent on statutory services that have little or no incentive to heal their service users. During a conversation, a fellow service user said to me that “the commissioners should just give us the flamin’ money and we’ll run our own services” and, for the good of the mental health service users, I have to say that I agree with him.”

If you would like to comment on any of my columns, please send them to valen1971@hotmail.co.uk or you can check out my personal blogs at http://valen1971.webs.com/ or http://valen1971.blogspot.com. You can also find me on Twitter (@valen1971) or on Facebook (valen1971).

There is a Groundhog Day element to John’s life but you get the feeling that come the nuclear war, only three things will remain standing and one of them is Tattoo John.

There was a lot to catch up on: jailtime, love, the riots and a whole lot more.