Memoir
In the Shadow of the Oak
Wendy Metcalfe finds an oasis of peace just off the beaten track. One of the things I decided to do during lockdown was extend the amount of walking I did every day. Before lockdown that would [… read more ]
Month: November 2020
News
Citizens Advice in the Community: ‘We’re Constantly Looking For Ways to Support People’
How has the pandemic affected the local voluntary sector? In a three part series, Covid-19 Community Reporter Paris Ali-Pilling interviews Citizens Advice Portsmouth’s Chief Officer, Sandy O’Neill to find out how the pandemic and lockdown has affected [… read more ]
News
Mother, Teacher, Employee and Neighbour: Balancing Home and Work in Lockdown
Covid 19 Community Reporter, Dianna Djokey, interviews local resident Laura Rook, who works for Portsmouth City Council’s Mediation Service, about her personal experiences of the pandemic, including managing home schooling while working from home, and [… read more ]
Culture
Family History in Photographs: A Different World
In a new series, John Callaway explores his family history after discovering boxes of old photographs and documents which belonged to his parents. ‘They represent a view to a bygone age,’ said John, ‘and although [… read more ]
Culture
Feminist Book Club Launches Second Book and Virtual Meet-Up
The second online meeting of a recently launched feminist book club takes place on 16th December 2020, exploring the memoir The Space Between Black and White by Esu Goldsmith. Sarah Cheverton reports. The Feminist Book [… read more ]
News
‘Different Communities Have Different Needs’: Supporting Access to Services for All
In the last of a three-part interview, Dianna Djokey interviews local Mental Health Community Development Worker and co-ordinator of Portsmouth’s Cross Cultural Women’s Group, Shipa Ahmed Khan, about her work with vulnerable women from minority [… read more ]
Social Issues
Something for the Weekend: On Greg Clarke, Inclusion, and What’s In A Word?
Ian Morris returns with his weekly column and this week, he responds to Greg Clarke’s recent resignation and explores the issue of inclusive language. I love words, and possibly the more obscure the word, the [… read more ]
Fiction
Dowdy Street
By Sue Shipp Dowdy – that’s what they call me. Dowdy! They can’t be bothered to give me my full name – James Dowdy Street. No. All I hear is: cut through Dowdy, turn left [… read more ]
Poetry
Two Gardens
By Richard Williams How many mornings slid one into another, under the pergola of a lockdown garden, a mug of black coffee as shadows swung by, waiting for the page to turn. A book [… read more ]
Poetry
The Rainbow on the Wall
By Linda Hilborne Lying back on the sofa. It was so exhausting to be ill without that extra worry: will I get pneumonia next week? Millions of other people painfully processing that same fear. [… read more ]