To Australia and New Zealand and so i shall not be writing anything on this blog for a few weeks. I will keep my ears and eyes open for any interesting stories to tell you when I get home.
By the time I get home it will almost be light evenings again, the air will smell of spring, and more of us will have a bounce in our step. Gorgeous.
Saturday, 16 February 2008
Wednesday, 13 February 2008
The secret of sex - learn to enjoy it
Sam Roddick, founder of Coco de Mer and daughter of Body Shop legend Anita Roddick spoke at our annual conference today. In a direct, sensible and thought provoking speech she urged us to ensure young people know the route to good sex is to enjoy it. Sounds obvious hey, but we know that for many people enjoyment is not on the agenda.
The last two days has been quite remarkable and a real privilege;
We held our first ever awards dinner, hosted by Mica Paris, Brook Ambassador, TV Presenter and Singer. Full details, including photos, of the winners will be on our website in the next week or so - wonderful work being carried out by passionate people.
The awards dinner was also attended by Tracy Cox, relationship expert and a brilliant Brook ambassador alongside colleagues, supporters and friends of Brook. Now it is all over, the adrenaline is dwindling and I am too tired to write anything more. Except of course thank you to the young people and staff who made it sure it was a success. Thank you also to our main sponsors Bayer Schering Pharma, Organon and Durex.
We launched a hard hitting campaign It's Your Choice www.brook.org.uk/itsyourchoice and on the back of this an article appeared in the guardian society pages entitled young people can be responsible about sex. Others recognised the power and potential of our new campaign - describing it as clear, direct and informative.
Running a big event like the awards and conference is a bit like running a marathon for me, just before its over, you're sure you'll never do it again, and even before the legs have stopped aching, you know it won't be long before the planning and preparation starts.....I look forward to starting planning our 2009 jamboree in earnest before too long!
The link below is to an opinion piece I wrote about young people, responsibility and sex that appeared in the guardian this week http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/feb/13/youngpeople.health
The last two days has been quite remarkable and a real privilege;
We held our first ever awards dinner, hosted by Mica Paris, Brook Ambassador, TV Presenter and Singer. Full details, including photos, of the winners will be on our website in the next week or so - wonderful work being carried out by passionate people.
The awards dinner was also attended by Tracy Cox, relationship expert and a brilliant Brook ambassador alongside colleagues, supporters and friends of Brook. Now it is all over, the adrenaline is dwindling and I am too tired to write anything more. Except of course thank you to the young people and staff who made it sure it was a success. Thank you also to our main sponsors Bayer Schering Pharma, Organon and Durex.
We launched a hard hitting campaign It's Your Choice www.brook.org.uk/itsyourchoice and on the back of this an article appeared in the guardian society pages entitled young people can be responsible about sex. Others recognised the power and potential of our new campaign - describing it as clear, direct and informative.
Running a big event like the awards and conference is a bit like running a marathon for me, just before its over, you're sure you'll never do it again, and even before the legs have stopped aching, you know it won't be long before the planning and preparation starts.....I look forward to starting planning our 2009 jamboree in earnest before too long!
The link below is to an opinion piece I wrote about young people, responsibility and sex that appeared in the guardian this week http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/feb/13/youngpeople.health
The secret of sex - learn to enjoy it
Sam Roddick, founder of Coco de Mer and daughter of Body Shop legend Anita Roddick spoke at our annual conference today. In a direct, sensible and thought provoking speech she urged people to ensure people know the route to good sex is to learn to enjoy it. Sounds obvious hey, but we know that for many people enjoyment is not on the agenda.
The last two days has been quite remarkable and a real privilege;
We launched a hard hitting campaign It's Your Choice www.brook.org.uk/itsyourchoice
We held our first ever awards dinner, hosted by Mica Paris, Brook Ambassador, TV Presenter and Singer. Full details, including photos, of the winners will be on our website in the next week - wonderful work being carried out by passionate people.
The awards dinner was also attended by Tracy Cox, relationship expert and a brilliant Brook ambassador and alongside colleagues, supporters and friends of Brook. I am too tired to write anything more right now except thank you to the young people and staff who made it sure it was a success. Thank you also to our sponsors Bayer Schering Pharma, Organon and Durex.
The last two days has been quite remarkable and a real privilege;
We launched a hard hitting campaign It's Your Choice www.brook.org.uk/itsyourchoice
We held our first ever awards dinner, hosted by Mica Paris, Brook Ambassador, TV Presenter and Singer. Full details, including photos, of the winners will be on our website in the next week - wonderful work being carried out by passionate people.
The awards dinner was also attended by Tracy Cox, relationship expert and a brilliant Brook ambassador and alongside colleagues, supporters and friends of Brook. I am too tired to write anything more right now except thank you to the young people and staff who made it sure it was a success. Thank you also to our sponsors Bayer Schering Pharma, Organon and Durex.
Saturday, 9 February 2008
Good news and stunning performances
I was so pleased that Dawn Primarolo, public health Minister announced new money for contraception this week. At Brook we have been increasingly worried about the cuts to contraceptive clinics over recent years. We have been calling for increased leadership and resource for contraception and now we have got it. Next week we launch our own campaign on promoting contraceptive choice. Watch this space and the Brook website on Tuesday to find out more.
From central leadership to local action, if I was excited at Dawn Primarolo's announcement, I was equally excited by the stunning performances of young people involved in a creative arts programme as part of Trafford Youth Service. Performing at the Greater Manchester Sexual Health Network conference, they cut straight to the chase - talk to us, inform us, help us, don't judge us, hear our stories.
And one young woman blew delegates away with a performance of her own song. The song focused on her hopes, dreams and aspirations and the experiences of 'living, watching and learning in the neighbourhood she lives'. The key message I took from her song was, sexual health is intimately bound up with the rest of her life. Her hopes for the future helping her manage and negotiate the day to day pressures of living in a deprived part of Manchester where drugs and violence are commonplace.
It was humbling and insightful. It challenged me yet again to ensure we address the core task of helping children and young people grow, develop, stay safe and dream. Anything short of that has the potential to simply tick a box.
From central leadership to local action, if I was excited at Dawn Primarolo's announcement, I was equally excited by the stunning performances of young people involved in a creative arts programme as part of Trafford Youth Service. Performing at the Greater Manchester Sexual Health Network conference, they cut straight to the chase - talk to us, inform us, help us, don't judge us, hear our stories.
And one young woman blew delegates away with a performance of her own song. The song focused on her hopes, dreams and aspirations and the experiences of 'living, watching and learning in the neighbourhood she lives'. The key message I took from her song was, sexual health is intimately bound up with the rest of her life. Her hopes for the future helping her manage and negotiate the day to day pressures of living in a deprived part of Manchester where drugs and violence are commonplace.
It was humbling and insightful. It challenged me yet again to ensure we address the core task of helping children and young people grow, develop, stay safe and dream. Anything short of that has the potential to simply tick a box.
Monday, 28 January 2008
Helping parents and carers talk to their children about relationships, emotions and sex
Chris Bryant, Labour MP for Rhondda in Wales, today launched teenagemothers.org.uk a website that provides the opportunity for visitors to vote on key issues relating to young people, sex and relationships, including whether sex and relationships education should be statutory. I urge you to visit his site and vote.
It is always helpful when there is a fresh voice in the ongoing discussion about youth sexuality and teenage pregnancy - on this occassion there has been a focus on Chris' recommendation that a leaflet should be sent to parents of 11 or 9 year olds depending on what you read. If you are a parent, grandparent, a (real or pretend) aunt or uncle or a sibling there are already booklets available to help you.
Visit the Parentline Plus website at www.parentlineplus.org.uk or fpa at www.fpa.org.uk
Both have some very useful advice and support.
It is always helpful when there is a fresh voice in the ongoing discussion about youth sexuality and teenage pregnancy - on this occassion there has been a focus on Chris' recommendation that a leaflet should be sent to parents of 11 or 9 year olds depending on what you read. If you are a parent, grandparent, a (real or pretend) aunt or uncle or a sibling there are already booklets available to help you.
Visit the Parentline Plus website at www.parentlineplus.org.uk or fpa at www.fpa.org.uk
Both have some very useful advice and support.
Sunday, 27 January 2008
Remaining open, humble and connected
Some things can never be said enough and the importance of asking the experts - in Brook's case young people - can never be stressed to often.
Some people and organisations involve their clients better than others. For me it is a matter of principle and professional credibility, and our responsibility to open ourselves and the way we do things for questioning if the existing structures do not enable effective participation. If we do not involve those we seek to serve in all of our work, we potentially get the questions, the answers and the messages wrong. This was demonstrated recently where young people were asked their views about different forms of contraception - one asked, what is contraception. We had taken some knowledge for granted - what does sexual health mean to young people and how important is it?
In the evaluation of a sexual health project several years ago, some recipients of the work were very clear - talk to us about HIV if you like, we might even enjoy it, but unless we get to think about our experiences of racism and other discrimination it is unlikely to impact on our behaviour and our sense of empowerment.
We must be sure that we are open to changing the way we do things so we can truly get expert opinion and be willing to listen to what they say, so what they say influences the things that we say on their behalf.
Some people and organisations involve their clients better than others. For me it is a matter of principle and professional credibility, and our responsibility to open ourselves and the way we do things for questioning if the existing structures do not enable effective participation. If we do not involve those we seek to serve in all of our work, we potentially get the questions, the answers and the messages wrong. This was demonstrated recently where young people were asked their views about different forms of contraception - one asked, what is contraception. We had taken some knowledge for granted - what does sexual health mean to young people and how important is it?
In the evaluation of a sexual health project several years ago, some recipients of the work were very clear - talk to us about HIV if you like, we might even enjoy it, but unless we get to think about our experiences of racism and other discrimination it is unlikely to impact on our behaviour and our sense of empowerment.
We must be sure that we are open to changing the way we do things so we can truly get expert opinion and be willing to listen to what they say, so what they say influences the things that we say on their behalf.
Sunday, 20 January 2008
The Kiterunner
I went to see the film Kiterunner last night. It raises all sorts of issues relevant to personal, emotional and moral development. If I was still working with young people on a day to day basis I would be getting it on DVD as soon as possible, using it as a stimulus for discussing (boys) friendships, trust, loyalty, power, rape and consent.
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