The most important lesson I learned in all that I saw and heard during my year of office as President of the Methodist Conference is summed up in the words of a young Bosnian Muslim survivor.   He shared these words at the first Holocaust Memorial event held in Britain on 27th January this year.   He [...]

Ivy Gutridge came to Wolverhampton from her home town of Swindon with her husband Ken. A committed Methodist all her life, Ivy was a member at St John’s Methodist Church in Wolverhampton. After a member of family who was seriously ill and cared for by Ivy had died, Ivy reluctantly took on the role of [...]

Sometimes I avoid Chapel Walk. I don’t have time to talk to John who sells the Big Issue. But I like to sit on the bench outside the front doors of the Vic, Victoria Hall. Sometimes I take a mug of coffee with me,-and sometimes an extra one for John. Recently John asked me about [...]

In the last week of January, the Reverend Thurairajah Samuel, a Methodist minister in Morley, visited his home village, Thirukkovil, in east Sri Lanka.  Several members of his family had been killed and his family house destroyed in the tsunami disaster of 26th December 2004.  He was accompanied by the Reverend Dr Inderjit Bhogal, a [...]

My first impressions, when I saw the pictures on the TV, of scenes of floodwaters along The Wicker in Sheffield, took me back to the hurricane and floods of New Orleans and the Tsunami.  June has been our month of monsoon.
New Prime Minister, Car Bombs, Bomb alerts, Terrorism, War and the Smoking Ban have been [...]

Gill Hicks lost both her legs in the 7/7London Underground bombs three years ago.  She is now walking between Leeds and London [200 miles] with her new artificial legs. 
I met Gill when she and her WALK/TALK Team walked through Sheffield.  The Sheffield length of the walk commenced in the City’s Peace Gardens.  Leader of [...]

What if?  by poet laureate Andrew Motion adorns the side of a Hallam University building. Written for the 2007 ‘Off The Shelf ‘literature festival.
From the Sheffield Telegraph 01 November 2007:
Travellers to and from Sheffield rail station took a longer look than normal at the side of Hallam University’s Owen Building on Wednesday afternoon.
A light show playing [...]