Things in the library 5th February...

 Things Orwellian... 

The Reading Group read and discussed '1984' this week and it scored very highly (84%) despite having being written in 1947. Many comparisons to be made with current society (fake news etc) but also enjoyed purely as a fiction. Ironically the imagined 'telescreens' are what enables us to keep the Reading Group active despite lockdown. Our next book on 3rd March will be Ben Elton's 'High Society'.

Things to celebrate...

I believe Feb 12th will be the start of the Chinese New Year - the year of the Ox. In Chinese culture, the Ox is a valued animal. Because of its role in agriculture, positive characteristics, such as being hardworking and honest, are attributed to it. Although the family reunion dinners will not be possible I hope that if you celebrate this festival you enjoy your day.

Things about home working ... 

A fascination article here about the changes brought by home working and the inequalities that may come about given that it is broadly the case that wealthier neighbourhoods have more potential remote workers. If working from home becomes the new normal, many restaurants, cafes, gyms and other locally consumed services may migrate away from city centres towards these neighbourhoods. The graph shows (if the figures are accurate) an amazing correlation between working at home and deprivation.

Things about safeguarding...

The NSPCC, with support from the Home Office, has launched a new initiative that will give ten local authority areas access to a package of support and training that will help them to expand the services they provide to children.  Local safeguarding partners can apply to join the programme for free. In addition, the NSPCC will offer free advanced training to agencies within six of the selected local authority areas to support them to provide Letting the Future In, the NSPCC’s therapeutic recovery service that helps children who’ve been sexually abused to rebuild their lives. 

...and continence

NSPCC Learning has published content to help professionals recognise and respond to continence issues that may affect the children and young people they work with. The content covers: the causes of continence issues; the impact these can have on a child’s wellbeing; what to do when challenges related to continence may indicate a safeguarding or child protection concern; how best to support children and young people with continence issues; and information about who should be providing intimate care, including information about vetting and barring checks, privacy and boundaries.

Things to have your say... 

The UK has comprehensive tobacco control legislation in place to help protect people from the harmful effects of smoking and encourage people to quit. This legislation has contributed towards smoking rates falling to their lowest ever on record in the UK.

Yet despite this positive news, smoking still remains one of the biggest causes of death and disability across the UK. Current figures show that smoking kills 75,000 people in England each year. This shows that there is still more work that can be done to address this issue.

The Government have launched a new consultation on current regulations for tobacco, related products and packaging. The consultation is open till 19th March. They want your views on how effective legislation has been in: 

- discouraging people from starting to use tobacco products

- encouraging people to give up smoking

Things to eat...

A Chinese fish dish is apparently a regular part of the New Year celebrations, this steamed sea bass sounds lovely.