#bbcspoty

#bbcspoty is Twitter-speak for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. The shortlist of nominations was announced yesterday, and has caused a certain amount of upset (an understatement). Many, including myself, are incensed that there are no female representatives amongst the nominations. This year the BBC might as well rename the title BBC Sportsman of the Year.

Just because there are no women on the shortlist doesn't mean, of course, that there weren't women eligible to be there, or deserving of being there. Many female sports stars, including multiple world champions, have been omitted or ignored. Names such as Rebecca Adlington, Jess Ennis, Keri-Anne Payne, Chrissie Wellington, Helen Jenkins or Beth Tweddle would have graced the shortlist and wouldn't have been consider undeserving. But no, not a single woman is on the list.

There are a number of factors which might be taken into consideration when we ask why this has happened. Here are a couple.

First of all, the way that nominations are made militates against women appearing on the shortlist. Sports Editors from a number of newspapers and magazines are asked to submit ten nominations each, and these are aggregated to come up with the ten most 'popular' sports stars. However, the publications polled include the men's magazines Nuts and Zoo, for instance. So the nomination process is skewed towards men being nominated.

And secondly, sports coverage on television, on the radio and in our newspapers is dominated by men's sports. Partly that's the fault of the media organisations who choose to do that, and partly that's our fault because they are only responding to what the British public want to see.

But I suggest that the BBC could have used BBC Sports Personality of the Year to educate and to challenge, and to open our eyes to the wonderful women sports stars that we ought to be proud of and voting for.

So BBC I suggest that you look at the way that the shortlist is drawn up. The way that it is drawn up at the moment is not a public service but a public disservice!

A new granddaughter

I've become a proud grandfather again. Rachel Grace was born early last Thursday morning, weighing 8lb 1oz. And just the following day we went to visit!

Welcome, Rachel

Congratulations to Phil and Liz, who will make brilliant parents. And welcome Rachel into the world.

The downside of Othona wildlife

At the moment the downside of Othona wildlife consists of mosquitos and thunder flies. I have a leg that has a couple of nasty mosquito bites, and at the moment there seem to be a lot of thunder flies in the air. I hope that thunder is not on the way - it's a clear blue sky at the moment.

The wildlife at Othona

The wildlife at Othona is brilliant, and by wildlife I don't mean the party scene or nightlife. Because we are right on the sea's edge, we have a number of different species of wading birds within a hundred yards or so. But closer still, coming into the Othona grounds we have rabbits and hares (I've never seen hares this close to before), and all kinds of birds that I don't normally see in my garden at home. We have mistle thrushes and a whole throng of swallows (all right, I know that the collective noun for swallows is a flight of swallows). I'll try and post some photos that I've taken when I get better internet access.

Apparently there are badgers as well, but I haven't seen any of those as yet.

A swallow fledgling

A hare, with mistle thrush behind

Sunday church

Yesterday was Sunday, and I went to church! Not very surprising, I know. In the morning I went to the Anglican church in the village of Bradwell, St Thomas' Church. It was a Baptism Roll service where all the families who had brought children to be baptised at the church in the last two years (38 invitations had been sent out) were invited back to renew their baptismal vows. Not many children turned up, which was a real disappointment to the clergy and congregation, but the rest of us enjoyed a lovely family service, and participated in a Teddy Bears Picnic and Pass-the-Parcel. I was introduced to the congregation and made to feel very welcome.

In the evening there was a special service at St Peter's Chapel. Every Sunday evening during the summer months a service is held at St Peter's, led by different groups of people. The service yesterday evening was led by the Canonesses of the Holy Sepulchre. In a very creative way they led us to think about the Word of God (in this year of the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible) and about how God's Word was passed on from the very beginning, and is still passed on today.

The VAPs have arrived

Today the VAPs have arrived. VAP stands for Volunteer Action for Peace, and the VAPs that I'm talking about are twelve young people from all over the world, from as far away as Taiwan, who have come to spend two weeks working at the Othona Community. They will be involved particularly in working on the reed beds that form a vital part of the community's drainage system. They have come to share together in community life, to meet and learn from people from a wide range of different cultures, to work and to have fun.

It will be great getting to know them, and to learn about the places that they come from. VAP 'works towards creating and preserving international peace, justice and human solidarity for people and their communities. Through a range of working projects ... VAP provides volunteers with opportunities to work together with people from around the globe and in partnership with local groups to enhance and empower communities.'

Our VAPs are all sleeping in tents, so I hope that it doesn't rain too much over the next couple of weeks.

Friday morning

Wednesday and Thursday were spent at home and visiting some of the family, but I had to arrive back early this morning because I had an appointment at the local primary school in Bradwell. At the pilgrimage one of the people I got chatting to was the head of the school in the village, and she invited me to go and look around the school. This I duly did this morning.

I've now been invited back to the school next week, to take an assembly there and tell them a little about Othona. Those who know me well will know that I love going into school and interacting with children, so this opportunity is right up my street.

Tuesday evening

I think that I'm going to have to give up on the counting of the days, I've lost count.

Tuesday evening was an interesting occasion. We were due to eat our meal at 7.00pm, but because some of the community core members had gone to Chelmsford for the afternoon the meal was postponed until 7.30pm. No problem! 

But then, at about 7.20pm, a man with a couple of youngsters came in the door of the community. It had just started raining and he explained that he was leading a youth group barbecue on the beach adjacent to the community but because it was raining they wondered whether might they be able to come and take shelter with us. 'Of course,' they were told, 'and bring your sausages and we'll heat them up in the oven.' Over fifty youngsters then traipsed in, together with their leaders, and we all set to to make them welcome, give them something to drink, and making sure their sausages were cooked through.

It was great to show some Christian hospitality to these youngsters, but it did mean that our meal was delayed. We eventually began eating our lasagne at 8.45pm!

Sabbatical - Days 4 and 5

The Sunday after pilgrimage was a quiet day. We enjoyed a late breakfast, and then went up to the chapel  for a service (thank you, Rosie).

I then took Margie home, and we met up with Hannah and Chris, and the lovely Daniel, for the afternoon.

I went back to the community on Monday afternoon, after taking Margie to the doctors and her occupational health appointment in the morning. It was good to spend the afternoon and evening on some of my sabbatical reading.

There aren't many people in the community at the moment, just the core members. It's a chance to get one or two jobs around the community. Unfortunately one of the jobs is stripping and retiling the shower room of the core block, where I am staying with some other members of the core community, and so showering might not be so easy for the next week! If you're planning to come and visit, bring a peg with you for your nose!