Viewing all items in Resource Category: Looking at your Community

Country roads may look inviting to drive, but the statistics tell a different story. For collisions on rural roads are around four times more likely to result in a fatality. Such is the finding of the NFU Mutual Rural Road Safety Report 2024. It found that in 2023, an average of one in every 32...

Our peregrine falcons are dying. We have lost 80pc of our UK population in the past 50 years. That make them one of the most-at-risk British birds. Peregrine falcons are special – they are among the fastest animals on the planet, and the largest species of falcon in the UK. But although some rewilding and...

Our WW2 veterans are dying out, and so this year, how about making a special effort to publicly thank any WW2 veterans in your church and community in the November issue of your magazine?    You may have read the recent news story about the Arctic Convoys veteran, Dougie Shelley, who asked for birthday cards...

This autumn the BBC has been in the process of discovering our favourite school hymn. It gave the public a shortlist of 50 hymns to choose from. The vote was organised by the BBC’s Songs of Praise team, with an accompanying programme, The Big School Assembly Singalong, hosted by singer and presenter Aled Jones. Aled...

All in the month of October Those magnificent men in their flying machine… The Iron Lady of Britain The brave Desmond Doss of Hacksaw Ridge Surge in violent attacks on A&E nurses The scary amount of money spent on Halloween How does our nearest airport rank? Increase in attacks on cats and wild birds **...

It was: 750 years ago, on 27th Oct 1275 that the city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands is traditionally considered to have been founded. 200 years ago, on 25th Oct 1825 that Johann Strauss II, was born. This Austrian composer is best known for his waltzes, including The Blue Danube. 125 years ago, on 20th...

It was 125 years ago, on 20th October 1900, that the American aviation pioneers the Wright Brothers made their first untethered glider flight at Kill Devil Hills in North Carolina. This was a key moment in the history of aviation, although their first powered flight of a heavier-than-air aircraft came three years later, on 17th...

One hundred years ago, on 13th October 1925, Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven, was born. She was the first woman Prime Minister of Britain (1979-90). Her father, Alfred Roberts, was a grocer and Methodist local preacher in Grantham, and she was brought up as a strict Wesleyan Methodist. At one point just before the...

Eighty years ago, on 12th October 1945, US Army combat medic Desmond Doss became the first conscientious objector in US history to receive a Medal of Honour for heroic actions. He saved the lives of 75 men during the Battle of Okinawa. The film Hacksaw Ridge told his story. Doss was born in Virginia in...

 18th October is the feast day of St Luke, who is the patron saint of physicians. So this is a good month to pray for those in the NHS… A&E nurses face an increasing barrage of punches, kicks and spitting – and having weapons aimed at them. One was even threatened with an acid attack. ...

The RSPCA has warned pet owners to be ‘extra vigilant’ after a 30 per cent increase in airgun attacks against cats. One cat was shot five times in the leg and belly. Another had her spine fractured by a bullet. As one owner demanded: “How could someone do this to a poor, defenceless animal?” But...

When did you first spot Halloween-themed items in the shops this year? Some were on sale in August. Seriously. August. But perhaps no wonder – as in the UK Halloween has become the third-largest retail event after Christmas and Easter. In 2019 we spent £474million. By last year it had grown to £776million. Who spends...