Developing Tomorrow's Potential, Today!
the Second World War required that men and women from all corners of the then British Empire were needed to come to its aid.
Even after having volunteered to do the same during the First World War, men and women from Africa and the Caribbean, once again came and fought for the United Kingdom and its now commonwealth. That generation regarded it as a privilege & honour to join & serve in the various branches of the British armed services .
“It can be easy to be intimidated by Owen at first with his loud voice and him walking around in his Greens and I’m pretty sure he probably scared a few people during our various expeditions, but don’t be fooled, because he has a big heart and is a pretty laid back person.
Owen was there at the start and to the end of my DofE expedition adventure and was more than a leader and is now a supportive friend. He isn’t there just for the expedition but wants to guide you to accomplish more; you essentially become part of his network too. He kept an eye out for jobs relevant to me and gave me suggestions of what I could do for other sections of my DofE. I completed my Duke of Edinburgh Award Gold residential with Owen, who took a group of us on Operation Girder 2011 to help out at an SDA Pathfinder’s summer camp for a week. He looked out for us that week and made it fun for us too by hosting a bonfire at our campsite and entertaining, not only us, but the kids at camp too by attempting to be Tarzan and swinging on a rope across water when they dared him too. He is great fun to be around, and I remember once he tried to scare the team on a practice expedition by hiding in a ditch for quite a while before jumping out to scare them; he was very serious and had a camouflage sheet and put on army face paint too.
Owen can be fun and has lots of object lessons to pass on through the stories he tells and experiences he shares, but also has our concern at the back of his mind too. He puts us in line if we get out of hand and is there to keep the spirits up when times get down, such as defusing tension between team members or reminding us what we are trying to achieve when it gets too difficult.
If you are willing to participate and be involved in what Owen has to offer you can not only accomplish more than your DofE but also meet a lot of new and great people along the way.”
Kylie Wong, GG2, 3rd May 2013
“My experience with Owen has been one of a kind and definitely a brilliant and enjoyable one. He understands the youth in addition to being someone who you can rely on and is always around when needed. He made me feel welcomed and at home from the first day due to his youthful character and outgoing personality which encouraged and inspired others to be who they are and not afraid of new things or new people outside their comfort zone. Obviously he got me through a vigorous Gold Duke of Edinburgh experience talking about his experiences and properly advising me about what and what not to bring along on expeditions, as well as what I can do to prepare myself for the adventure ahead of me. He is an outstanding role model who looks out for everyone.”
Vietanh Nguyen, GG4, 30th April 2013
As a parent and a person that works to with young people I need to ask your opinion on the following article (https://apps.facebook.com/theguardian/society/2012/feb/18/being-raped-by-gang-normal) Please copy and post the link into your browser to make it work. Thank you.
Rob Parsons (Evening Standard)
24 Feb 2012
Hundreds of footballers in a London league will wear black armbands and observe a minute’s silence this weekend in tribute to a 27-year-old player who died suddenly during a game.
Team-mates first thought Kelvin Brown had tripped over during the match on Hackney Marshes but players from both sides, including a local doctor, rushed to his aid when they realised he was unconscious.
An ambulance arrived within minutes but Mr Brown was pronounced dead upon arrival at Homerton Hospital last Sunday. A post-mortem examination showed he suffered a heart attack.
The Manchester United fan, who lived in Homerton, had shown no signs of illness or discomfort during the opening 40 minutes of a top-of-the-table clash between his side, Bromley by Bow, and Mohammedan. He played in the Inner London Football League and had been due to start a new job the next day as a transport worker.
Mr Brown, whose younger brother Curt was watching from the sidelines, was described by club vice-chairman Naz Hussain as a “role model for every-one in the community”.
“He was a very honest and loyal guy with a great sense of humour and he was well-liked by his team-mates and others within the football community,” said Mr Hussain. “Memories of the smile he always wore will never be forgotten. Kelvin was not only a loyal and valuable player but also our friend and brother.”
Mr Hussain said the club was struggling to come to terms with the loss, which came six weeks after a morale-boosting tour of Bangladesh. The players plan to remember their former team-mate with a charity game.
“When I got home that night as my wife …served dinner, I held her hand and said, I’ve got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.
Suddenly I didn’t know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly. She didn’t seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why?
I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn’t talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Jane. I didn’t love her anymore. I just pitied her!
With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Jane so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.
The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn’t have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Jane. When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.
In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn’t want anything from me, but needed a month’s notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month’s time and she didn’t want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.
This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day. She requested that every day for the month’s duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.
I told Jane about my wife’s divorce conditions. . She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully.
My wife and I hadn’t had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mommy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don’t tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.
On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn’t looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.
On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me. On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn’t tell Jane about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.
She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily.
Suddenly it hit me… she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.
Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it’s time to carry mom out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day.
But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn’t noticed that our life lacked intimacy. I drove to office…. jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind…I walked upstairs. Jane opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Jane, I do not want the divorce anymore.
She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Jane, I said, I won’t divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn’t value the details of our lives, not because we didn’t love each other anymore. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart. Jane seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away. At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I’ll carry you out every morning until death do us apart.
That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I run up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed -dead. My wife had been fighting CANCER for months and I was so busy with Jane to even notice. She knew that she would die soon and she wanted to save me from the whatever negative reaction from our son, in case we push through with the divorce.undefined At least, in the eyes of our sonundefined- I’m a loving husband….
The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves.
So find time to be your spouse’s friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!
If you don’t share this, nothing will happen to you.
If you do, you just might save a marriage. Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up See more
“Dear Perceptions Challenged, I would like to thank you so much for renewing my son’s confidence since he left school, short of his main GCSEs. Charlie was abandoned by many educational avenues due to the timing of his exams. The system in place could not offer any support for him ,you were a corner stone in providing advice and positive support that carried him through until he joined college and found his way again in education. So many children and youths fall between the paperwork of mainstream education and school curricula. Charlie now is on his way to achieving his Gold Duke of Edinburgh award, completing his GCSEs and has found positivity and fulfillment in community volunteering, once again, thank you!”
Mrs E. Cranwell-Ward
Sunday 25th July 2010 saw the staging of Beckenham Hope Seventh Day Adventist Church’s annual Family Funday.
Held at Croydon Road Recreation Ground, with good weather, the event was attended by approximately 350 people, throughout the day.
In addition to
Perceptionschallenged.co.uk were on hand to assist in bringing further variety to the day by arranging for five officers from Metropolitan Police’s TSG 4:5 to attend the event.
TSG 4:5 were able to successfully interact with members of the public by providing them with the opportunity to
The event was definitely a success for the organisers and the contribution made by TSG 4:5 was appreciated by the members of the public.