More Bills

Love, Belief and Balls

Bollocks. I’m just going to write what I feel and deal with the fallout later.

In 1992, I went to see the Gloria theatre company’s marvellous musical adaptation of the Ruth Rendell book, “A Judgement In Stone.” Sheila Hancock won several awards for her lead role as the housekeeper, Eunice. As I had to wait for my wife to finish her business in the Ladies, I missed the opening three minutes of the play. What I didn’t realise until many months later is that the production had used the conceit, rather like Blood Brothers, and given the ending away in the first scene. So, ignorant of this, I watched on in horror as the nice, benevolent Ms Hancock was revealed to be a mass killer in a terrifying denouement.

Why do I keep thinking of this play whenever I read anything about the much publicized Downs Syndrome Bill?

I’ve been…

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Attitude adjustment would solve our homeless problem

Eye View

Our attitude towards the homeless is a barrier to solving the problem. The old notion is that the poor deserve to be so:  if people would just apply themselves, they wouldn’t be homeless.

image: KamloopsThis Week

Finland’s experience shows how a shift in attitude makes a difference.

In 1987, Finland had a homeless population of about 20,000 out of a population of five million –a rate of four homeless per thousand.

To address the problem, Finland adopted a “Housing First” philosophy, said Juha Kaakinen (Globe and Mail, August 13, 2021).

Kaakinen, chief executive officer of Finland’s non-profit Y-Foundation, was addressing a panel convened by The Canadian Urban Institute.

Another panelist, Leilani Farha, said that part of Finland’s success is the result of shift in mindset. For Finns, homelessness is not an option.

“People have a right to housing as part of their constitution.” said Farha,

Finland’s solved the problem with…

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Accessibility and informational barriers to an age friendly railway

Being mobile and able to travel in later life is linked to a good quality of life. Against a backdrop of an increase in the number of older people in the UK and an increase in the amount of travel per person for this age group, the number of older people using the railway is in decline. The purpose of this paper was to report on an investigation on issues around accessibility and information provision for older rail passengers. Download in full here

Source: Centre for Policy on Ageing – Ageinfo211029208