Korea blimey

I started this blog in the run up to the birth of our first child, who turned out to be Jamie, and chronicled the early years of his life along with his sister Charlotte's.

I haven't updated it much in recent times because I think it best to let both of them get on with what they do without me publicly embarrassing them more than necessary.

However, less than an hour ago, Jamie received a letter to say that he has been selected as a member of what's known as the UK Contingent to travel to South Korea in 2023 to attend the 25th World Scout Jamboree.

We're just as proud - Charlotte included - as he is excited.

There is a lot of work to be done between now and his big trip but that journey has now officially begun.  

Well done son.    

Jab - Chop - Drink

A notable day today as I had my first dose of vaccine...  

...before getting a long-awaited haircut. 

Lots of others seemed to be following an identical itinerary.  

Getting vaccinated reminded me of going to vote.  I spent some time getting all built up and telling myself that what I was about to do was quite important.  And then it was over in a matter of seconds.

A dedicated vaccination centre in the centre of Bradford was my port of call, after booking myself in yesterday when supposedly healthyish specimens aged 45-49 were invited to join the queue. 

The mood was positive and the folks involved in providing the service were every bit as impressive as I imagined they would be.  

Their professionalism contrasted sharply with my local barber experience.  

I only go there as there's rarely a long wait, mainly because few other customers choose to visit and the act of getting your hair chopped only takes about 10 minutes.  In that short period, a random man who I've usually not met before hacks at your locks with an assortment of metal implements before requesting £9 for his efforts.  My rule is to hand over a tenner if I've avoided a blood injury, which was the case today but still a rarity.

That was the upside of today's styling experience.  The downside was that I now like a grey Gareth from The Office.

 Jamie had his hair cut today too, but he went to a proper barber..

And now looks like this.

Have had my jab and a hair assault, I now have a desperate craving to find a beer garden to complete my one day Covid triple crown.

I seem to recall that life used to be a bit more complicated than this.     

Marching On Together

 

It has been a "memorable" few days.

I was recently asked to write an article which was published on the same day last month by the Yorkshire Post and Yorkshire Evening Post.    

It was about a project called Leeds Tech Angels, dreamt up and piloted by my big-hearted genius of a friend Ben McKenna.

Helping kids without access to the internet or a suitable machine has become a huge issue around the country for reasons we all understand. 

However, Ben was already on top of this in the early weeks of the pandemic.  First, he helped establish  Digital Access West Yorkshire (DAWY) to acquire, refurbish and distribute unused IT equipment - preferably laptops - to digitally excluded children in the region.  In the four months from April, DAWY had given over 50 machines to those in need. That took us through until August when Ben gave me a call. 

Thanks to support from a gaggle of partners including  Leeds Community Foundation, Leeds City Council, Ahead Partnership, Zero Waste Leeds and DAWY itself, Ben was preparing to launch a new project which is now known as Leeds Tech Angels.  It went live at the beginning of December with the aim of encouraging employers and the public to donate any spare laptops and tablets for use by young people across the city who were without one. Ben's busy team of volunteers would then wipe them of data, install new software and get them out to the right homes. My mission was to help promote the good works, a task made easy thanks to incredible levels of support from the Yorkshire Evening Post and its wonderful editor, Laura Collins.   

And it was all going well, the highlight being a delivery - just days ago - of a large consignment of top notch laptops from Leeds-based financial services firm Hitachi Capital.  

But, on Wednesday morning, I received a phone call.  Around 40 Leeds Tech Angels laptops had been stolen overnight from a storage facility and the police were on the scene.  

It was a truly devastating moment.  40 laptops snatched from the hands of deprived kids.  Classy.

There was no way we were going to let the baddies win although, clearly, we couldn't do it alone.

So I contacted the Yorkshire Evening Post who ran a great story to help us.  We were also put in touch with Leeds United who had indicated a willingness to help.  Those conversations took place precisely 48 hours ago.

Yesterday morning, Ben set up a GoFundMe page and, at lunchtime, Leeds United's star striker Patrick Bamford tweeted this.

Since then (at the time of writing), £17,000 has been raised.  It would be good to get that total up a lot more by Monday when the draw for Patrick's shirt is likely to take place.  

But, after the draw, the appeal will go as we want to help as many kids as the generosity of the people of Leeds allows.

Once again, HERE is the link to the GoFundMe page.

Also, if you have laptops or tablets that you no longer need, we'd love to have them too and HERE is the link to explain the simple process.

Thanks if you've managed to read all of this.

And double thanks if you're able to help