MAY 2024 HERALD online

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THE HERALD • MID-MAY 2024 • Tel: 01530 244069 • Email: info@markfieldherald.co.uk
Pause for Thought
WHEN I WAS at school,
about fifty-plus years
ago, I was a boy who
sort of stumbled through,
approximately doing what
teachers asked of me, but
too approximately for their
liking, a fact they made clear
at parents’ evenings.
“Your son has the sword of
Damocles hanging over him”.
Whatever that meant. Answers on a
postcard please.
There were other boys. They were in tune with what the teachers were
getting at. And better still, they were cool. They had great hair. And
sometimes they would turn up to school with really cool records under their
arms. I don’t know why they did, but I know the effect the records had on
me. They were vinyl in big twelve-inch sleeves, making maximum impact
to this onlooker. Bob Dylan, Traffic, John Mayall, Cosmic Sounds … so
impressive. One thing I wanted was to be that cool.
And the words: She’s got everything she needs/ She’s an artist, she
don’t look back/She can take the dark out of the nighttime/ And paint the
daytime black. Wow. Dylan writing great words about women. Who knows
what they meant? And fifty-plus years later, still stumbling, pleased with my
record collection, and reading other great words about women. In the New
Testament. Mary, Martha, the woman at the well, the old, sick woman in
Galilee, Dorcas, Lydia - all special, faithful, wise and praiseworthy for some
aspect of their faith. Very clearly people to try and emulate.
Even nowadays there are women whose examples I am aware of. In
our own benefice, not somewhere miles away. Muriel Walker, whose
caring career teaching generations of village kids made such an impact.
Shirley Garlick, who amongst a million other things set up a meeting
place for potentially isolated people in Thornton. Delia Geary, who founded
breakfast church at the community centre because she has such a heart
for the community.
Cool is not where it’s at,
something to strive for. Practical
love for our communities most
definitely is!
Dave Robinson
Local Minister with the J22 Benefice
Me, attempting cool, circa 1972
Spot the difference!
There are 10 differences between the two
images below. How many can you spot?
There are 10 differences between the two images below. How many can you spot?
ANSWERS ON PAGE 22
Allowance has increased
Foster carers needed
PAYMENT and allowance benefits for foster carers in
Leicestershire have risen by nearly 7%.
Following a 6.88% rise in the National Minimum Allowance for foster
carers in England, the minimum weekly allowance for a foster carer has
increased to £170 per week, with the maximum weekly allowance going up
to £249 per week*.
Additional weekly skill fees,
paid in recognition of carers’
skills, experience and dedication
to continuous learning and
development, have also increased.
With 733** children and young
people in care, Leicestershire
County Council urgently needs new
foster carers to provide a loving,
safe and supportive home for
children and young people in care.
Most in-house foster carers can
get a tax-free allowance of £18,400
and also access further payments,
including clothing and school
uniform allowances, birthday and
holiday allowances, and festival
allowances.
Jane Moore, director of
children and family services at
Leicestershire County Council,
said: “We are so proud of our
carers. They offer their time, love,
and abundant skills to look after our
children and young people.
“We know that our foster carers
don’t just do this for the money, but
we know that it is something people
need to think about, especially
during the hard financial times
people are facing, and this payment
increase helps to show our ongoing
and unwavering support to them.
“The sad fact is that the number
Stupid birds outside are singing so loudly I can’t hear my ‘Relaxing Birdsong’ CD.
www.nickgowman.com
of children and young people in our
care is steadily rising year-on-year,
and we desperately need to recruit
more carers to ensure we are
offering our young people the best
chance of succeeding in life.”
Anyone interested in finding out
more about foster carer payments
and allowances can visit the
fostering in Leicestershire website
www.leicestershire.gov.uk/fostering.
Alternatively, they can attend
one of the upcoming ‘Find Out
About Fostering’ events, email the
Fostering Team at fostering@leics.
gov.uk, or call them on 0116 305
0505.
*Minimum and maximum
payments depend on the age of the
child or young person being cared
for, and are designed to cover the
basic cost of caring for them.
**figure correct as of April 2024.
Watching
birds is
positively
good for you
SO SAYS A new study out
of North Carolina State
University. It goes on to
say that watching birds is
even more beneficial to us
than watching other forms
of wildlife.
The new study found that
birdwatchers’ recorded ‘distress’
levels dropped by 13.7 per cent,
compared to that of nature-walkers’
at 6.9 per cent.
The study suggests that the
reason may be that birds provide
their own narrative and sense of
drama, which can be enough to lift
someone watching them out of the
everyday.
The author and presenter
Kate Humble agrees. “There is
something reassuring about life
continuing and nature just getting
on with it, even if it feels like the
rest of the world is falling to bits.
Birdwatching makes me feel part of
a bigger, richer, beautiful picture.”
“Birds give me an excuse to
explore and find some solitude and
calmness away from the bustle of
life,” says James Lowen, author of
52 Wildlife Weekends. “It helps put
me in my place.”