Employ My Ability offers vocational training for young people with special educational needs and disabilities. Maddie Walters worked on her journalism with the aim of writing a column for us – Ed
This month Maddie is thinking about pets – therapy animals aren’t just for those with limiting conditions, we all feel better for with an animal
shutterstock
Everyone, disabled or not, sometimes needs a bit of creature comfort – and it can often come in the form of a pet. In this month’s article I will be talking about pets and some local pet shelters and charities. According to news articles and television ads, many pets are abandoned or surrendered to a shelter. Giving an abandoned pet a home is a great way to find your next pet! There are many local charities you can find online – but do call first, you may have to book an appointment to see pets available. Cats and dogs are great pets to have if you are disabled. In some cases therapy dogs are really helpful for people; most people know about guide dogs for the blind and hearing dogs for the deaf, but there are an increasing number of therapy dogs trained to help owners with debilitating conditions like epilepsy, and equine therapy is being successfully used to treat mental health issues too (see ‘Horse, the mood altering drug’, The BV Apr 22).
Pet experience If you can’t have a pet yourself, volunteering at your local shelter can help you get some experience looking after pets – and also some extra pet cuddles! At Thorngrove Garden Centre all of the Employ My Ability students and day services have welcomed the guinea pigs and rabbits and they are really enjoy looking after them! They have learned all about feeding, changing the straw, giving them water and making sure that they don’t run away or get lost. It is great practise for having a pet of their own, and enjoying some beneficial animal therapy I recently read an article about robot cats and dogs, too! They have been very helpful in nursing homes and respite care homes for elderly people with dementia.
Local support If you can’t take another pet yourself, you can still support a local animal charity, The Cats Protection Charity Shop is a great option (the nearest one is in the High Street, Gillingham). There are many wonderful pets that need a home – maybe it’s the right time for you, and you can find your next pet at a local rescue? If you are thinking about providing a forever home for a rescue pet, try the following local rescues:
Stour Valley Dog Rescue – just dogs Margaret Green Animal Rescue – all animals Cat’s Protection mid-Dorset – just cats Dog’s Trust – just dogs Angel Rabbit Rescue – Rabbits and guinea pigs Staffie & Stray Rescue – just dogs Waggy Tails – just dogs RSPCA Ashley Heath – cats and other small animals
These roles require enthusiastic, well organised individuals with a warm and welcoming nature to assist the House parents in our boarding houses, and the duties associated with the boarding operation, and to oversee the pastoral wellbeing of all the pupils in their care.
The successful candidates will have experience of working with young people and an understanding of safeguarding and child protection responsibilities, along with the ability to deal calmly
with sensitive situations.
Role 1 is a term time, full time role,
working 37.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday
Role 2 is a term time, part time role, working 25 hours per week
and the hours are 1pm until 6pm Monday – Friday
For further information and an application form, please go to:
Clayesmore is committed to the safeguarding and promotion of children’s and young people’s welfare and expects all staff and volunteers to share in the commitment.
Enthusiastic and committed Graduate Assistants are required for our Senior School on a fixed term contract. This exciting opportunity includes a full and active role in the pupils’ games programme, administrative support for our Senior Academic staff, and pastoral care of our boarders.
The successful candidates will play a full and active role in the pupils’ games programme and supporting the Girls’ Games with the provision of training, matches and school events. The successful candidates would have demonstrated proven ability in at least one of the following: Netball, Hockey or Tennis.
The candidates will also provide occasional classroom cover and, where appropriate, may be offered some teaching opportunities. These positions would suit recent graduates looking for experience prior to teacher training or seeking a short-term post prior to embarking on another career path.
This is a live-in position that will involve some evening and weekend work within the boarding house.
For further information and an application form, please go to:
Clayesmore is committed to the safeguarding and promotion of children’s and young people’s welfare and expects all staff and volunteers to share in the commitment.
An enthusiastic and committed Head Coach for Rugby with a Level 2 or 3 Rugby qualification and experience of planning and delivering a Rugby programme for Senior
School pupils is required.
You will play a full and active role in delivering our exciting sports programme and coaching either Athletics or Cricket would be beneficial.
Experience of working with Prep school children
would be advantageous.
This is a permanent, part time, term time only role. We offer a competitive salary and benefits for the successful candidate.
For further information and to apply please go to:
Clayesmore is committed to the safeguarding and promotion of children’s and young people’s welfare and expects all staff and volunteers to share in the commitment.
An enthusiastic and committed Graduate Assistant with a Level 2 Cricket Coaching qualification and experience of coaching any major team sport, is required on a one year contract. You will play a full and active role in delivering our exciting sports programme.
The successful candidate will also have or be willing to attend a course for an NPLQ.
This position would suit a recent graduate looking for experience prior to teacher training or seeking a short-term post prior to embarking on another career path. As the role involves some out of hours coaching and attending fixtures accommodation
is available if required.
We offer a competitive salary and benefits for
the successful candidate.
For further information and to apply please go to:
Clayesmore is committed to the safeguarding and promotion of children’s and young people’s welfare and expects all staff and volunteers to share in this commitment.
Countess Carnarvon, the chatelaine of Highclere Castle, will be giving a talk at the Exchange in Sturminster Newton this month about her latest book, The Earl and The Pharaoh. The Castle is, of course, the location for the ever-popular Downton Abbey TV series, and was the home of the fifth Earl of Carnarvon, famous for the discovery of the tomb of the young Pharaoh, Tutankhamun.
Lady Carnarvon’s book is a biography of the explorer, who died from blood poisoning after being bitten by a mosquito, not long after the opening of King Tut’s tomb. She has been able to write the inside story on the fifth Earl, thanks to the family archive housed in Highclere Castle. ‘No-one’s ever written a book about him,’ she says. ‘It seemed to me so extraordinary. It’s been like a wonderful treasure trail – reading his handwriting in the diaries … I hugely enjoyed putting it all together and building his character, it was absolutely fascinating.
‘I very much hope I got to know the man. He was partly an invalid for much of his life. In 1909 he was in a near-fatal car accident, from which he never really fully recovered. But he also had asthma – and he smoked!
Yet that never stopped him. He truly was not at all well, but he refused to give in to it. He had been working in Egypt before the car accident and it nearly kyboshed his return, but he did make it back. He had really found his passion in Egyptology and archaeology.
‘Above all, his life was marked by many small acts of kindness. Those have stayed with me.
‘For some biographies you have all the pieces of the puzzle and it’s simply a case of constructing the outside edge, then filling in the middle pieces.
With this book, I had the feeling that I had a bag of pieces and had to painstakingly pull them together without knowing what the final picture looked like! I had no box image, no straight edges … it was such a journey of discovery.
‘I often found mis-filed letters, un-dated diaries, intriguing notes … they all added greater meaning, but I had to find where they fitted.’
Into the archive
I’m fascinated by the idea of an archive at Highclere. Is there a grand subterranean vault dedicated to these documents?
‘No, there’s an archive room on the top floor, and there’s two muniments rooms on a stone staircase. Then there’s another archive room with more recent archives along another corridor. I’ve recently created a new room, which I love. It’s coloured the yellow of Egyptian sand and sunlight and warmth – NOT like where I am at the moment! In there I‘ve begun to gather together the archive of everything relating to the fifth Earl and Egyptology. It’s really exciting to bring things together in an organised manner instead of wondering which box something might be in, then – having put it back – forgetting where I put it. Which is rather the story of my life!’
So by now, does Lady Carnarvon know the archive extremely well?
‘No! Not at all! I honestly find it mesmerising in its immensity. I will never ever be able to get through it all. Sometimes I feel quite upset as I think I’ve missed something – and I have. Other times I can be excited when I discover something. I can never spend enough time there.
‘Writing a book is an intense experience, and I become totally wrapped up – I’m not good company and probably not a brilliant wife! As I write I’m ONLY reading around the subject, my head is constantly turning round the latest paragraph. As a writer I try and bring people with me; across the Nile in a brightly coloured boat, or getting on a donkey to go to the Valley of the Kings. I’m trying to bring the colour and experience of history, as well as the facts.
Countess of Carnarvon
‘Being tucked away in the archives means I’m not distracted by interruptions. If someone makes it up all three flights of stairs, they really must need to speak to me. My husband doesn’t bother! He’s very patient. He’s also very passionate about the fifth Earl. The discovery of the tomb was the first truly global media event. It’s such a legacy. And without the fifth Earl, Tutankhamun may not have been discovered.’
Has he been given enough credit for the discovery?
‘He’s been given no credit at all. He’s normally written off as the financier. Part of this book is trying to give him a larger place in history. He wasn’t recognised by anyone in this country for what he achieved. He was a humble, modest man, and then he died at the hour of his triumph, at just 56. What a legacy he left us.
‘I hope, to a small extent, I have completed Lord Carnarvon’s wish; he intended to write about his discoveries, but died not long after the discovery of the tomb. His book would have been full of more colour than mine, full of everyday credit to those around him, far more than I was able to include. It would have been a different book, but I hope I’m part way to telling the story of an extraordinary man and his extraordinary discovery.’
And so to the 19 random questions…
1. What’s your relationship with Dorset?
It is a beautiful county of cliffs, fossils, sea and hidden valleys. Growing up I remember a number of summer holidays playing tennis on grass courts, going for walks and I took my son down there when he was little to look for fossils.
2. The last film you watched?
In the cinema? It was the latest Mission Impossible, which was great fun.
3. It’s Friday night – you have the house to yourself, and no work is allowed. What are you going to do?
Have a long bath with a book.
4. What was the last song you sang out loud in your car?
It always seems to be ABBA!
5. What would you like to tell 15 year-old you?
Just to try your best.
6. Tell us about a sound or a smell that makes you happy?
Always roses and birdsong
7. The best crisps flavour?
Popcorn! (I mean, that’s cheating, but I’ll allow it – Ed)
8. What’s you’re secret superpower? I really don’t think I have one?!
9. What would you like to be remembered for?
Being kind.
10. What shop can you not pass by?
A bookshop with coffee inside. Who can resist?
11. Chip shop chips or home-baked cake??
Homemade cake, every time, thank you!
12. Tell us about one of the best evenings you’ve had?
Burns Night at Highclere – a night just filled with friends and dancing and laughter.
13. Your favourite quote? Impossible to answer. I don’t have a single quote – I have many quotes and many poems. I refuse to pick just one!
14. Your most annoying trait?
I work too much!
15. What was the last gift you either gave, or received?
I don’t actually remember – I love to do it, I am always giving little presents.
16. Your top three most-visited websites (excluding news and social media)?
I really only use the web for work or news – it’s not a very exciting answer is it?
17. What in life is frankly a mystery to you?
Coincidence.
18. You have the power to pass one law, uncontested. What will you do with it?
Sorry, I’m going to choose not to answer this one – there are just too many laws that need reform for me to narrow it down to one.
Just click play above to listen. In politics this month, Mike Chapman, for the North Dorset Lib Dems, is looking at the innate risks involved when one party stays in power too long. Pat Osborne, for North Dorset Labour, discusses the need for a clear roadmap for change on climate action. And Ken Huggins from North Dorset Greens is calling ‘total greenwash tosh’ on the government.
The Countess of Carnarvon is our Random 19 guest this month – Jenny chatted to her about her latest book ‘The Earl and The Pharoah’ – exploring the fascinating life of the fifth Earl of Carnarvon, famous for the discovery of the tomb of the young Pharaoh, Tutankhamun.
Lastly, Terry spoke to journalist Andrew Livingston to hear more on his story about the numbers of birds of prey being posioned in Dorset, following the news that the RSPB say Dorset is one of the worst counties for raptor persecution.
The BV podcast brings you highlights from the latest issue, as well as exclusive extras you won’t find in the magazine. If you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to take a look at the April issue of the BV here or explore the website to find articles and stories featured. But don’t forget, our podcast goes beyond the pages of the magazine, providing you with exclusive insights, behind-the-scenes stories, and in-depth conversations with our guests.
With a new manifesto for the new financial year, Dorset Chamber’s Ian Girling takes a look at what the Chamber does for Dorset businesses
shutterstock
Hello and welcome to my April column. As I write this, the sun is actually shining and it feels like spring is finally in the air! This month will see Dorset Chamber publish our manifesto for the year April 2023 to March 2024, setting out our priorities for the year ahead. I thought I’d take this opportunity to share a very brief overview.
Member benefits This year will see us continue to add value to our member businesses, as well as maintaining our focus on increasing membership as the leading business support organisation in Dorset. We will continue to work on enhancing the whole range of benefits we offer that protect, connect, promote and save our members money.
International trade One of our key roles as a Chamber accredited to the British Chambers of Commerce is building a global economy through international trade. We will continue to encourage Dorset businesses to consider international trade opportunities and seek new overseas markets through our general advice and training programme. We continue to offer a first class documentation programme for Dorset exporters.
Lobbying One of our most important roles is our voice for businesses: we lobby at both a local, regional and national level. We’ll continue to provide media comment and campaign for business on key issues.
Networking This year our busy events programme will include a wide range of networking opportunities and the opportunity to learn from expert speakers on a range of critical business issues. Our successful sector-based events will also offer business leaders the opportunity to meet and discuss common issues on an industry basis.
The Festival Finally, April sees the official launch of the Dorset Business Festival in association with Lester Aldridge. The three day celebration of Dorset businesses is taking place in October. Consisting of a conference, a business exhibition and the return of the Dorset Business Festival, this promises to be the business event of the year in Dorset. If you’d like to find out how Dorset Chamber could help your business, please visit dorsetchamber.co.uk or call us on 01202 714800. We’d be delighted to hear from you!
