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  

Bitter pills

I ran out of  vitamin tablets this morning so went to Boots to buy some more.  (I take them because I eat a lot of rubbish and not as much healthy stuff as I should, but don't tell the kids). 

They had a 3 for 2 offer so it seemed logical to go for that.  But I noticed that they only had two six-month packs of normal A - Z pills left.  The others were for old timers aged 50+ and I only turn a mere 49 next March.  Then I did some maths.

Given we're already into late December, it will be almost 2022 when I get through the two "standard" packs.  And at that point I'll just be weeks away from my 50th birthday.  How bloody depressing.  So I dried my eyes, added a 50+ pack to my basket and headed off to pay.

In happier news, yesterday was Charlotte's 10th birthday.  Quite a moment.  

She was delighted with her haul, with lots of family members and close friends being particularly kind to her.

This included her cousin Holly who produced another show-stopping cake with her own supremely talented hands.        

Fuelled by frosting and with little else to do, we decided to have some family fun.

This was the moment Jamie met his little sister in hospital  precisely 10 years and one day ago.

Yes, he was a little bit shocked.

A decade later, he remains baffled by who she is and what she's there for.  

No York, No York

Today's Amazon delivery just arrived.  It was a tub of screen wipes (which aren't particularly damp and don't wipe up much) and a stapler which is much smaller than I thought and therefore not what I was after.  

I wonder what I can order next?

In common with most other parts of the country, it's half-term here in Leeds.  But all of our best-laid plans have been scuppered.  Twice.  

The original idea was to spend half-term in Northern Ireland.  I haven't been back since March and we haven't been there as family since New Year.  The flights were booked in August but, a couple of weeks ago, Northern Ireland was hit with new restrictions including a ban on entering other people's homes.

Given that the whole point of going across was to visit people, there was no point in travelling.

So, as a mini-fallback, Vanessa booked for us to spend last Sunday night in York, arriving there at lunchtime.  But, late on Saturday evening, she received an email from Jamie's school to say that someone in his form had tested positive for you know what.  The result was a mandatory period of self-isolation for Master White until Wednesday 4 November.  (This has since been extended by an additional 24 hours).    

Hopefully we'll get to York another time instead. 

To his huge credit, Jamie is putting a brave face on the situation and keeping himself busy. 

But as someone who likes nothing more than to get outside and be active, another week and a bit of this will be a challenge for him.

Still, as has been the case so far with this blasted pandemic, there are so many more people coping with much bigger challenges than us and we will simply suck it up. 

I hope you're getting a bit of respite from all the bad stuff and, like us, looking forward to better times ahead.  

They will come, you have my word for that. 

Action Barry

Well, it's all got a bit crap again, hasn't it?

As Leeds folk will be all too aware, the city has become one of the latest parts of the country to have new movement restrictions placed on its residents.

We can't have friends or family over, not even into our gardens, and the rule could be in place for many months to come.  

Leeds City Council have also gone a step further than Bozo Johnson by advising locals not to go to pubs and restaurants.  It's not backed up by any kind of legal enforcement, it's the Council trying to take a lead and people can make their own minds up.  Fair enough.

In the meantime, we've got to try to keep ourselves busy.  My two pieces of physical activity today have been to go to the supermarket.  And then go back to the supermarket.

This was not the plan.   This morning's visit was to get what we need for tonight's tea.  Exciting stuff indeed.

The second trip was to get what we need for tomorrow night's tea (Charlotte and I are cooking a two-courser). But I didn't really need to do that today.

In truth, the only reason I went was to avoid reseeding the lawn. 

I bought the soil and seeds the weekend before the last lockdown, almost precisely six months ago. And since then I haven't been arsed to do the job.

But I'm determined to enter the next phase of nothingness not doing nothing.  

Nope, its Action Barry from now on.

Starting tomorrow.  Or maybe Monday.    

By the way, I saw this sign outside Morrisons. 

Really?!

Belfast gorilla

As is my habit on a Sunday morning (I'm a dull and predictable animal), this morning I listened to a recording of yesterday's Pick of the Pops on Radio 2.

It was special episode with not two but three charts from this week in years gone by.   (Exciting, I know).

It began with 1978 (when Grease was the word), 1987 (when the streets had no name according to Bono and the boys) and 1998 (when the Corrs wanted to know what I could do to make me love them but needn't have worried).

This was all good until Vanessa pointed out that, despite feeling like yesterday, 1998 was 22 whole years ago.  And then I did some maths.  I'm currently 48 years old.  If you had 22 to that, I'll be 70. What a heartwarming thought that was on a hungover Sunday morning.        

More merrily, the kids returned to school this week which was a positive development for all involved.

Let's hope they get to keep going for a few more weeks at least.

Meanwhile, the increased coronavirus restrictions have not helped people's moods over the past few days, necessary though they appear to be.  And it means we've never been in more need of a laugh.

So thank you to my tiny friend Jason Kyle for sending me this short video which has made me chortle ever since.

 

Flying the flag for Northumberland

It's the night before the big return to school, for Charlotte at least.  Jamie goes back for a bit on Wednesday in advance of his first full day on Thursday.  

Charlotte is still mildly hesitant about the prospect, but will hopefully settle in well.  Meanwhile, her big brother got up early this morning for a "practice walk" before returning to try on his uniform for the first time in more than five months. 

Leeds schools are amongst the last in the country to go back, which has only served to increase anticipation levels.

But, with time to spare last week whilst other kids crept back into their classrooms, we headed to Northumberland.  Thankfully our tent stayed locked in the shed with a nice caravan our living receptacle of choice.

I do love Northumberland.  My three years as a student in Newcastle in the early 1990s left me with a huge love and admiration for the people of the North-East.   I was also fortunate to be chosen to represent Northumberland in the 1990 rugby union county championship, pulling on the famous green, red and yellow jersey five times.  That gave me the chance to meet fellow teammates from other parts of the county and to visit different places for training and games. 

The Yorkshire Dales are fab, as is the Lake District which we visited last month.  But most tourists are well aware of them. 

In contrast, I regard Northumberland as a well-kept secret. It obviously varies from place to place but, in general, Northumberland is not as crowded as some destinations a little further south and therefore feels a little more relaxed.  

The natives also have a wonderfully laid back but self-assured attitude to life and, of course, there is no shortage of wondrous sights.

We stayed in Cresswell with its golden sands...

...breaking waves...

...and spectacular sunsets.

We visited Warkworth Castle...

...and Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.

We conquered the stepping stones at Druridge Country Park...

...went to Alnmouth to celebrate National Fish and Chip Day...

...and popped into Ashington because I've never met anyone from that famous town who doesn't have an interesting story to tell.

Us being the Whites, we obviously didn't completely miss the rain which fell hardest in Amble. 

We hoped to go on a Puffin Cruise...

...but Dave was forced to disappoint.

To stay dry, the kids bought some snazzy clothes from Amble's array of charity shops.

Jamie looked the part.

And Charlotte did too.  It was only later that Vanessa mentioned her "crop top and hairband set" was actually a toddler's dress and belt. 

And with that, summer 2020 was officially done.

Good luck to all kids, mums, dads and teachers for the big return tomorrow. 

Home alone

Three quarters of the White family are currently in Lytham on an overnight seaside trip.   Latest reports suggest that it's not raining there.  

Here in Guiseley - where this quarter of the family unit remains - the rain is about to restart and my plan to paint the garden shed is in tatters.  Excellent!

This "unfortunate" turn of events has forced me to watch the cricket, snooker, Moto GP and Formula One thus far.  

Later I shall feel compelled to tune into the rugby league, rugby union, baseball and football (plus more snooker if the player who's not called Ronnie O'Sullivan makes a fight of it).

Since my last ramble on here, we hired a motorboat on Lake Windermere and didn't capsize.

We embarked on our first "Rishi Dishy," taking advantage of the Government's uncharacteristically generous "eat out to get fat, then go for a bike ride" scheme.

We went for afternoon tea to fulfil a commitment Vanessa made to Charlotte at the start of lockdown.  (Plus she had a voucher).

I had two huge boxes of beer delivered.

Followed by another one.

And most excitingly of all, Charlotte had another promise kept when Vanessa finally allowed her to get her ears pierced. 

The rest of the clan are due back in Guiseley tomorrow afternoon, by which point I hope to have most of a day's work competed.

And then on Wednesday, we're due to back out on the road as a reunited four-piece band to cower in a tent in the middle of a field until Friday,  Heavy rain and thunderstorms are inevitably forecast.  With added lightning.  Can't wait.  

Spacers

There they go, the intrepid high wire artists about to spend the following three hours fumbling around on the edge of space -  or high ropes assault course to you and me.  They'll eventually return to Planet Earth via a zip wire.

And me?  Not a chance.  I'm watching the FA Cup Final.  Yes, my team Arsenal are playing.  But that's not the real reason.  Heights are not for me.  And neither is publicly soiling myself in front of a wife and two children who already don't respect me.

Earlier today we went on yet another walk, this time to Orrest Head where the views of Lake Windermere were spectacular. 

Charlotte was a little bit bored by this stage and chose to use binoculars to watch Vanessa and Jamie marvel at the scene rather than get too close herself.

At least she was able to see more than if she'd been sitting on this bench placed behind a big tree.

The weather has been OK today, which is always more than acceptable to us.

But yesterday it was, well, 30-odd degrees with full sun.  We could barely believe it.

We visited William Wordsworth's house.

The kids went for a paddle.

And later they had for their first swim in a proper pool since the start of lockdown. 

Luckily Vanessa and I found an ideal place to watch them in action (on the other side of the glass).

The weather was so exciting that Jamie and I put on our party shirts to celebrate, whilst Charlotte had a chocolate sundae.

I'd better be off now as I've got football to watch and beer to drink.   I really hope the rest of the family don't have nightmares tonight because I'm bound to be tired.      

The sun won't come out tomorrow

Something really strange happened today and it's thrown all of us into a state of confusion.

The sun came out.

This is not a holiday experience we can recall and we're not really sure what to do next.  

As luck would have it, we did pack shorts but only because we've heard of other families having gone on holiday and the sun's come out.  We're grateful to them for encouraging us to pack for all weathers.   

It rained pretty much all day yesterday, as it did on Monday.  It is due to rain again tomorrow too.

However, today has been, well, nice.

Yesterday Jamie took us on a big walk.  

(He also bought a new snazzy hat.

And Charlotte bought an equally swish Dick Turpin mask).

Jamie took us on another walk today.  But walks are very much his thing rather than hers and younger sister protests have resulted. 

For example, she refused to look over this big stone wall to admire the view.

She also refused to climb this hill, unlike Vanessa and Jamie (who you can just about see).

Here's a kind of close-up.

We're planning to get our bikes out tomorrow, which Charlotte (who I fear may actually be allergic to forward motion) is also dreading.

But, for now, it's chillax time.  And we're all good with that.