Fundraiser to skydive for charity

A SKY-DIVING FUND-RAISER will jump from 10,000 feet in support of a charity that has helped her.


Jenni Wormull plans to skydive from10,000
feet to raise money for charity.

Jenni Wormull, 22, of Monkdowns Road, Coggeshall, will skydiving over the Salisbury Plains on the 2^nd March in aid of Sense.

Miss Wormull was born with Charge Syndrome, a condition that affects her sight and hearing.

Sense has supported her over the years and is now helping her overcome the challenges of living independently.

“I wanted to raise money for Sense because I think they are an amazing charity that helps deafblind children and their families get the most out of life.

 “They have helped me to see that it is ok to need help sometimes.”

Sense is a national charity that supports children and adults who are deafblind to reach their potential and maintain their independence.

Miss Wormull will jump alongside another Sense Volunteer, Stacey Smart, 22, from Plymouth. Together they hope to raise £1000.

Anyone wanting to donate should visit www.justgiving.com/staceyandjennie

 

 

Let them eat cake...

Dawn French as Geraldine Granger
in The Vicar of Dibley.

The big piece of news today is that the Church of England has decided to let gay clergy men become bishops.

At last it seems that the Church has realised that diversity and equality within the clergy is a good thing and that the thought of a gay bishop is no more upsetting than Dawn French in the Vicar of Dibley.

But no. There's a catch. Gay members of the clergy will be able to become bishops as long as they remain celibate.

In 2005, the Church ruled that someone in a same-sex civil partnership could become a priest as long as they were celibate. This latest ruling, that will give gay clergymen the right to become bishops, follows the same format – they have to remain celibate.

If the church has backed down on those in civil partnerships becoming vicars and now bishops and is willing to recognise their sexual orientation, then why continue to deny one of the things that is a defining characteristic of that orientation? Of course, being gay – or straight for that matter – does not mean that life revolves around sex, but it is an important part of relationships, both physically and emotionally; forcing someone to give that connection up for a career boost seems both selfish and cruel.

How would the Church be able to tell if someone is telling the truth about what they did last Friday night or not anyway? Are they going to spy on gay bishops? Follow them down the street? Lead them into temptation and take incriminating photographs?

The bishop of Norwich, Rt Rev Graham James, confirmed the decision to allow gay clergymen to become bishops, in an interview with the Independent, but he also added that; “because of the controversy surrounding such appointments, any gay cleric looking to become a bishop would be expected to answer questions on the nature of their celibacy” - something that straight clergymen do not have to do.

Of course, the church forcing someone to take such a quiz could guilt someone into revealing any transgressions but what a patronising, sad and hypercritical farce that would be.

So it seems that, while the church appears to be taking steps to embrace its gay community at last, it is on a slippery slope and hasn’t really made much progress. Yes, they are offering more opportunity to gay members of the clergy but at the same time, deny them of something that defines and is a part of who they are.

In this modern society where gay relationships are openly accepted, civil partnerships are increasing and people feel free to be themselves, rather than living a lie just because of social pressure, no one should have to explain their sexual conquests to anyone, regardless of religion.

And anyway, more to the point, if you're going to let someone have their cake, you might as well let them eat it too?

Left: The villagers in Dibley find out they have a women vicar. The show demonstrates how the church is able to adapt to change, as is it's congreagation's perceptions of women in the clergy. If people can accept a women priest for who she is, then why not a gay bishop?
 

 

Just call me Little Miss Sunshine

2013 in now in session and as usual, in the run up, I made a whole bunch of new year's resolutions that I believed would improve my health, my weight, my friendships and my life as a whole. A new year demands a fresh new approach and by the end result in a whole new me.

However, when I thought about it I realised that they were actually the same as my resolutions for 2012. None of which I achieved or stuck at for very long. In fact, the whole shebang simply caused me to feel miserable and resent the fact that I'd made any resolutions at all. My life did improve in 2012, but this had nothing to do with the little list of rules I made up to follow or the restrictions and demands I placed upon myself. Not only did I fail to lose and keep off the 21 pounds I had decided to lose or fail to run a 5km but these in turn also caused me to flout another of my resolutions - to be happy and healthy with who I am.

Last year, although I am still carrying some of those rogue pounds, I did manage to fit back into a dress I hadn't worn for 4 years and learnt how to dress to suit my shape, as well as exercising more instead of going on yet another fad diet. I may not have managed to run my 5km Race for Life race, but I did raise nearly £800 for Cancer research in the process and made people laugh on the day by dressing up and dancing across the finishing line. I also graduated with a good degree, got a unconditional offer from my university for my Masters degree and found myself 4 work experience placements.

Not really such a bad year all in all.

This year, .

2013 will now be the year when I embrace my achievements rather than focusing on my failures and while I will still aim to improve my lifestyle, I wont weep with misery when it takes a little longer than I thought. Instead of sobbing over a number on the bathroom scales or berating myself for not heading to the gym, I am going to focus on the fact that I am making an effort to eat healthily and walking to uni instead of getting the bus. Rather than stressing out over the amount of uni work I have to do, I am just going to get on with it by taking positive action and asking for help if I need it.

Instead of coming up with some ridiculously high standards that I will come to resent and curse, I have instead decided to celebrate what I achieved last year, do something positive everyday and make an effort to take part in something that may improve someoneelse's life, rather than just my own

Just call me Little Miss Sunshine.

But my main challenge for this year is going to be to take a first aid course. Being able to help someone in this way, whether they have slipped on the steps of the underground and broken a wrist or have collapsed in the street, would be something incredibly positive I could take from 2013. Having lost a grandparent to a sudden heart attack a few years ago, I know how important it is to have certain skills; being able to keep a family member with us, for even a few more minutes, would mean a great deal to me. Bearing all this in mind, learning how to perform CPR correctly could be the most important thing I do this year.

It's going to be busy. It's going to be tough. It's going to be big.

2013 is indeed in session.

University Challenge...

So, it's the end of term. I've survived. Hurrah!

I seem to have made it through the first term relatively unscathed: all my assignments have been handed in on time, I passed my law exam, I am up to about 70wpm in shorthand and I managed to avoid getting ill until this last week. I have managed to gain three work experience placements at both national and local publications and have another in the process of being organised and have had work published online via The Kingston Courier. I also have interviewed someone from Strictly Come Dancing, learnt to tango, been chased by a rutting stag and performed an enthusiastic rendition of Abba's "Dancing Queen" with one of my tutors.

Thus I declare this term a success.

But I know that, even though I may have found this term a challenge, that the next term is going to be a step up in workload, difficulty and stress levels. I am therefore vowing to continue to work hard, do my best and try to keep a positive attitude and a smile on my face - even when I would rather be eating my body weight in chocolate, drinking lots of red wine and sobbing into my pillow.

The hard work starts here. I have taken on new challenges and learnt new skills this term but now it is time to actually put that all into practice.

For starters, this blog.

So far, it has been all about my experience on this course and any endeavours I have taken on, but now I want it to change my focus for this blog. It will still include posts about interesting interviews or exciting news stories I have covered but I want it to have a more journalistic focus, blogging about current affairs, political developments and national stories. I hope that this will help me to develop a more critical way of thinking about the news and perhaps widen my audience by linking to other relevant blogs.

I also want to try and tackle more "serious" stories, whether news or features. So far, although my writing has developed in structure and skill, I feel that I have been covering more frivolous stories - such as deer chasing people up trees and how to make ginger bread biscuits. Rather than just volunteering for stories, I am going to make the effort to find my own and do research on them before presenting them at conference.
Hopefully my work experience will help me with this - I hope to be able to have several bylines in a few publications by the time we come back to uni.

I will also refuse to be nervous of voicing my ideas in conference and I will apply for a different, more involved job on the Kingston Courier when the opportunity arises.

I refuse to let the thought of all the assignments, exams, expectations and new challenges frighten me.

My first challenge of the year will be my work placement on The Independent on Sunday and yes, I am nervous. But I am going to embrace the challenge, do my best and try and make an impression. Hopefully a good one but if it all goes horribly wrong then I'll try to take it on the chin and look forward to the next opportunity.

Wish me luck...

"Getting my tango on" in the name of Journalism...

This week, as well as having to learn hideous phrases such as "substantial risk of serious prejudice" and "subject to a reasonable letter of explanation and contradiction" for our law exam and try and get up to 60 w.p.m in shorthand, I also had the joy of conducting my first proper face to face interview.

Dance classes have become incredibly popular over the last few years following the success of the reality TV show and, with the current series in full flow, I wanted to see if there are any budding twinkle-toes in Kingston.

Rather than a news item, I wanted to write the piece as a feature article for the Kingston Courier - a new form of writing for me! Primary research for features is obviously just as essential as it is for news and one of the main ways in which to do that is through interviewing - again, another skill that I have had little practice in and one that I am keen to practice and improve as much as possible.

However, rather than just relying on an interview and a few quotes, I decided that I needed to experience Strictly Fever for myself to see what exactly inspires people to join a dance class and, after the initial novelty dies off and the sequins from the Strictly costumes have been packed away, how many keep going back?

In the past, I have tried several styles of dance, including tap and salsa and although I enjoyed them it was pretty obvious that I was never going to be the star of the dance floor. While I can stay in rhythm and manage to pick up steps fairly quickly, throw another person into the mixture and it is almost guaranteed that I will fall over, kick my partner or - as I did taking part in one embarrassing salsa lesson - get too carried away and spin into another couple, sending them flying.

As luck would have it, one of the professional dancers from Strictly series 3, Izabela Rai, runs a popular dance class in the Kingston Working Men's Club on a Thursday night. She was kind enough to agree to both an interview and much to my delight - and sheer terror! - letting me participate in her beginners class.

Although I have conducted interviews over the phone before, I have never attempted one face to face and it is a completely different experience: trying to take legible notes down with someone watching you is incredibly nerve wracking as is trying to remember all the questions you had planned on asking! I'll admit, I did attempt to write my notes in shorthand for all of about 10 seconds but gave up and reverted to an interesting mixture of italic longhand, text-talk, smiley faces and underlining.

But for my first interview I could not have chosen a better interviewee: Izabela was lovely, incredibly funny, charismatic, chatty and a delight to interview; she spoke freely about her experience as a professional dancer on Strictly and how she felt it influenced her class numbers and popularity without too much prompting from me, allowing me to concentrate on what she was saying and getting it down on paper without having to panic about my next question. An added bonus was that she, very kindly, didn't mind or complain about my lack of professionalism when I got nervous giggles halfway through my interview!

The dance class that Izabela had told me to come to was her beginners class, which runs on a Thursday at 6.45, with students of all different ages and of both genders - it was a pleasant surprise to see so many male students: in previous dance classes I have been to men have been so few that many ladies end up having to learn male steps, which adds to great confusion when changing partners.

Beginning my ballroom experience with a tango and the rhumba was daunting but Izabela was just as easy to learn from as she was to interview; knowing that I had very little dance experience, she was incredibly patient and happy to show me steps over and over, bearing with me when I lost my balance or forgot which foot was my left or right. The man who was brave enough to partner me too was incredibly kind and patient and didn't seem to mind when I burst out laughing or got out of time with the music. Considering that I had essentially crashed his dance lesson, I am so grateful to him for his help and patience. However, as I picked up a few steps my confidence grew and by the end of the lesson I was almost there and ended up really happy with what I achieved.

I spoke to a few of the other students after the class, asking them about their reasons for starting to dance and found out a few interesting things about peoples inspiration for taking up lessons - but you'll have to read my article to find out more! (See the Kingston Courier website for updates over the next few weeks.)

I hope to do a bit more research in the coming weeks and have been invited back to Izabela's dance class for their Christmas Party - at which Izabela herself will be performing, as well as members of her class - so hope to include that in the piece as well.

In terms of my first experience of interviewing, I think that perhaps I lucked out by finding someone so willing to talk to me - I'm certain that all of my interviewees wont be as chatty or as responsive as Izabela! - but at least it has given me some things to consider and think about for next time.

For more details about Izabela's classes or to join one yourself, please go to her website at www.izabeladance.com or twitter at @IzabelaDance and as always keep an eye out on the Kingston Courier website for more articles and news written by me and my fellow journalism students.

My fellow journo also "got her tango on" this week - check out her latin experience.

Three work experience placements; madness or an opportunity too good to miss?

After weeks of relentless and seemingly fruitless phone calls and emails, of being passed between departments and editors and left on hold, I have finally managed to secure work experience. But not just at one publication but three!

Like buses - cliché I know - I waited for weeks and then received three replies in the same day, from Press Gazette, The Maldon and Burnham Standard and The Independent on Sunday, all from editors inviting me to complete a placement with their publication. Being rather overexcited, I accepted them all, thinking that each offered me different experiences and the potential to increase my experience in one hit.

It is only now that I have realised how potentially mad this is.

Not only will I be experiencing different aspects of journalism in a short, intense space of time and trying to prove myself to the reporters and editors that I will be working with - in the hope that they may offer me other opportunities in the future, but I will be experiencing commuting for the first time, trying to keep up with university study and current affairs while I am not at uni and attempt to continue working part time too.

Madness.

I'm looking forward to all of my placements but especially the one at the Maldon and Burnham. Having written an article for them before, I seem to have created a good impression already. They have assured me that they will be able to provide lots of interesting activities and opportunities for me, including stories and by-lines if my writing is up to scratch. I'm also hoping that I may be able to get a foot in the door there for when I am qualified and searching for a job. Fingers crossed.

Journalism.co.uk says that: "Work experience has always been a part of getting into journalism, and in today's tough jobs market, it is more important than ever. The benefits to work experience are many; something that looks good on a CV while also giving you real, practical skills that will serve you well as you break into journalism." and most publications agree with this, valuing previous experience and by-lines almost as much as qualifications.

So while I may have been a bit rash in trying to complete nearly four weeks of work experience placements during my Christmas break, I am hoping that it will be worthwhile. Hopefully, rather than just stressing me out, getting me lost on the underground and financially bankrupting me when I give up my job to concentrate on the placements, it will increase my knowledge of newsrooms, hone my writing skills and maybe, just maybe, open up an opportunity for the future.

Bring it on...

When we arrived at Kingston University on the 13th of September for our introductory day, all of our tutors stood up, introduced themselves and told us all how difficult this year would be. They told us that we should wave goodbye to our social lives, buy ourselves a good diary and  resign ourselves to being hassled, exhausted and completely and utterly committed to our course for the next 12 months.

At the time, I accepted this as a challenge. "Bring it on," I thought. I found my BA difficult - not only the studying but having to deal with housing problems, awkward flatmates, financial troubles and medical issues - but got on with it. I seemed to have a knack of just getting on with everything and managed to balance my study with two part time jobs, a boyfriend, a few glasses of wine during the week and still come out with a decent 2.1 degree. So yeah, I'll admit I thought I had it sorted.

However, I am beginning to feel a slight sense of panic. There just do not seem to be enough hours in the day all of a sudden. Where has all the time gone?!

With two exams looming, I am sure I am not the only student on this course to suddenly - to put it mildly - be freaking out about how much there is to do and how there literally just does not seem to be enough time to do everything.

And I really am trying: I carry my law books around with me, I see Teeline special outlines every time I put a pen to paper and I am constantly on the lookout for potential stories for the Kingston Courier.

Still, it seems that our tutors warning were true; hello, hassle, hello exhaustion. Commitment... well, personally I would love to tell my commitment to sod off for a few hours so I can get a decent nights sleep without dreaming about the requirements for an Fair Comment Defence (media law has well and truly got to me)but despite all the fear and the anxiety and the mind boggling amount of items on my to-do list, I love my course too much.

Thankfully, despite the fact that this week my brain wants to shut down completely due to media law overload and my writing hand wants to resign due to serious "shorthand-claw", I am loving every terrifying second. I am learning new techniques of writing, fine tuning things I already knew, discovering multimedia aspects of journalism that I never knew existed - live blogging was an eye opener - and how to avoid creating "substantial risk of serious prejudice."(Get that, McNae's) .

All in all, although I am finding it difficult at the moment, I know that my passion and enthusiasm will get me through to the end of this course. I know that I have the ability to do well at this course and I know that it is going to take a lot of hard work and determination and I am sure that I will at some point shed some tears about something or another. But I also know that it will all be worth it in the end.

So, again, I say, "Bring it on." Bring on the assignments, bring on the exams and the stress and the panic because I know I can take it, I know that its going to be worth the effort and that in 12 months time there will be a silly graduation cap out there with my name on it .