Mary Reid

So there I was yesterday chatting to some green monkeys in Barbados.

Apparently 70% of the polio vaccines in the world are derived from these monkeys - I really don't want to know how. They can be a bit of a nuisance to farmers, but they are captured carefully and either passed to the animal reserve where I saw them, or to laboratories.

After all these years I can't get over the oddity of travelling. One afternoon I'm in the sunshine surrounded by tropical plants (like the magnificent ginger in the picture), animals and birds, then I go to sleep and wake up to one of those beautiful winter days with a clear pale light and mist over the frosty fields.

No-one can really understand cultural differences until they've experienced the dislocation of travel, and the 'otherness' of foreign places. That's why the statistics which show, for example, that the majority of Americans don't own a passport (including, until recently, Sarah Palin) are rather worrying.

During a lifetime in teaching I've always envied friends who were sent on business trips around the world. I counted myself lucky if I went on a training session to Watford - at my own expense.

Now at last, for the first time, I find myself on a paid-for trip in the service of education. And not in some worthy European capital but in beautiful Barbados.

Needless to say this is not coming out of public funds - I always have to put that in before Angry of Chessington accuses me of junketing at the taxpayers' expense.

For the last ten years or so my main bread-and-butter occupation has been writing text books on IT and Computing. I've written or contributed to over twenty volumes so far.

But it was still very gratifying when my publisher rang to ask me to be the lead author for a book aimed at the Caribbean market, working with a team of writers based over there. Especially when he mentioned that we would have to hold an initial meeting of the writing team in Jamaica or Barbados.

So on Friday I left grey, rainy Gatwick, and arrived in .... grey, rainy Barbados. But it was warm rain.

Since then the sun has come out and revealed white sands and blue sky. A couple of days of intensive work will be followed by a day or so of relaxation.

The whole process is incredibly energising and I'll arrive back home ready to get on with the project straight away.

A BNP leaflet was delivered in parts of Hook last weekend. I have been trying to decide whether to ignore it or to comment on it. I now think that by speaking out we may do something to stop its influence here before it takes hold.

The problem is that the BNP is a legal political party, in spite of its origins in the National Front and other neo-Nazi movements. It is now, very perniciously, trying to position itself as a middle-of-the-road 'common sense' party.

Nothing could be more misleading.

The leaflet very cleverly lists a whole lot of 'motherhood and apple pie' issues that most of us will agree with. "Lower tax for working families", "investment in British business", "more police on our streets", "protect our beautiful countryside", "stop the energy price rip off" - you can't disagree with any of that. It claims to be a 'family organisation'.

But tucked away among those issues are some policies which derive from the BNP's underlying racism. This is expressed as "making sure that British people are put first". But, of course, in this context, 'British' is code for 'white'.

For example, under "celebrating our British culture" it says

Rather than wasting money on melas and other minority events the BNP will promote OUR culture, like St George's Day celebrations.

In other words, anyone belonging to a minority - including many British citizens - are not truly British according to the BNP. Of course, if you asked them, the BNP would not count the Welsh, Scots or Irish as minorities - they can no doubt carry on celebrating their own festivals - but anyone with a non-white skin or a 'foreign' name must belong to a minority in their eyes.

The BNP's argument doesn't stand up. It promotes a notion of 'British culture' as if there is an identifiable, homogeneous culture which all (white) Britons share.  This shows a complete contempt for the extraordinary history of the British Isles.

The British people are made up of the richest ethnic mix that you can find anywhere in the world. From the Roman invasion two thousand years ago right up to the present day, this land has absorbed people of many cultures and racial types.

This is evidenced in two very striking ways. First, have a look round any gathering and notice people's hair. Black, brown, red or blond; wavy, curly or straight; what do these tell us about the physical makeup of us all? Most of us carry within our genes the memories of many other lands.

Second, English is not only an almost universal language, but it also has one of the biggest vocabularies.  English has lots of clusters of words that mean almost the same, for example, pig, swine and pork or house, abode, dwelling, domicile and habitation.  These words derive from different languages and were absorbed into English at different periods. They permit great subtlety in the use of language, because each synonym takes on a slightly different connotation.

This multi-lingual vocabulary was Shakespeare's key resource, and we have given it back to the world. It is a living demonstration of the glorious cosmopolitan heritage of our country.

Back to the BNP leaflet, which exploits the very language that owes so much to so many cultures. Here are some other examples:

A better NHS with British nurses: the BNP would invest more money on the NHS, cut waiting lists and make sure that British nurses were employed for a fair wage.

Presumably the overseas nurses that the NHS relies on should be paid an unfair wage? If not, why pick out British nurses?

The BNP don't 'hate' anyone, we just want to make sure that our own people aren't turned into second class citizens.

Every BNP supporter I have ever met has started by saying something highly objectionable about ethnic minorities, so the first claim is clearly false. But even ignoring that, where is this threat to create second-class citizens?  'Our own people' is obviously another code for 'white'.

It's wrong that immigrants who've never paid a penny into our system can come to soft touch Britain and go to the front of the queue.

'Immigrants' is, of course, code for 'non-white'. Where would the NHS be without overseas workers? What about the teachers we welcomed into London a few years ago to balance the shortfall? How much do they contribute to UK taxation? And what is this queue for?

I could go on, but I'm just itching to put the leaflet through the shredder, which is where it belongs.

It might be a good idea to drop in to the Hook Centre on Saturday (29th) as there's a lot going on.

The Christmas Craft Fair runs all day (from 9.30am - 4.30pm).  The last Craft Fair was terrific with a huge range of superb handmade goods.

Many people around here are interested in local history, so there's an open session from 10am to 12 noon, when Kingston Museum's local history team will be there to give you ideas and show what they can offer to support your research.

Finally, if you come with children over the age of 8 they can be happily occupied during sessions entitled "Gods, men and monsters" at 10.30am or 2.30pm.

Then there's always the books ....

Try it yourself here.

There has been an outbreak of graffiti in the last couple of weeks in the Woodgate Ave/Hartfield Rd area. It wasn't street art - just tagging, hence my headline.

Of course, the Police Safer Neighbourhood Team were able to identify the culprits from their 'work', and two have been arrested.

Apart from that, have you noticed that there is very little graffiti locally? Probably not, since people spot graffiti when it is there, but are not aware of its absence.

This has not happened by chance. The Graffiti Strategy, which was adopted by the Council, Police, environmental organisations and others, has been incredibly successful over the past 4 or 5 years since it was launched.

It relies on simple techniques. The Police keep databases of tags so can quickly identify them. The Council clears graffiti in public spaces very quickly, especially if it is offensive; taggers soon give up if their tags are removed within a day or so. Our Neighbourhood Rangers simply deal with it as soon as they see it, cutting down on any bureaucratic nonsense around raising job requests. Save the World Club works with young people to beautify the areas that they might have been tempted to spoil.

If you see any graffiti in a public place report it to the Council or phone the Graffiti Hotline on 0208 547 5560. Generally speaking homeowners are responsible for removing graffiti from their own property, but you can get advice on how to do this from the hotline.

If your own property is targetted then phone the Chessington North and Hook Police team on 020 8721 2001, or if it isn't in the ward, then phone Kingston Police on 020 8541 1212.

This is a bit of a personal story, but one that reflects on the wonderful work of some people who work for the Borough.

My mother has Alzheimer's, and she moved into Amy Woodgate House about six months ago. Amy Woodgate is a specialist home for people with dementia. I have known for many years that it has a good reputation, but I have only realised just how special it is since I have had first hand knowledge of it.

At Amy Woodgate they have adopted the Eden Alternative approach as their overall strategy for caring for the residents. This is a programme that was started in the US and, in their words, "The bulk of our work to date has been in de-institutionalizing the culture and environment of today's nursing homes and other long term care facilities."

Here are two of the guiding principles (in American-speak, but you get the picture):

An Elder-centred community imbues daily life with variety and spontaneity by creating an environment in which unexpected and unpredictable interactions and happenings can take place. This is the antidote to boredom.

An Elder-centred community honours its Elders by de-emphasizing top-down bureaucratic authority, seeking instead to place the maximum possible decision-making authority into the hands of the Elders or into the hands of those closest to them.

In practice, it means that everyone who works at the home, plus carers and relatives, are involved in making sure that each person is treated with dignity and is listened to carefully.  For each resident, this is their home; they make their own choices, as far as possible given their condition, about how they spend the day, what time they do things and where they go.

Detailed observations are made of each person's means of communication, gestures, expressions, likes and dislikes, habits and preferred activities. Residents tend not to be very good at conversing with each other, but staff chat, encourage and listen to the residents all the time. There's a lot of hand-holding, good eye contact and hugging.

The home is divided into units of no more than 12 people. Most people tend to keep to the familiar small-scale setting, although they are can easily join others if they wish. Mealtimes are seen and enjoyed as important social occasions. Usually people eat at small tables in a large dining/living area within the unit. 

There is also a full-time activities officer who plans all kinds of trips out, as well as visitors to the home.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that a person with dementia enjoys on average only 2.5 minutes of real social interaction each day. That is so far from what happens at Amy Woodgate.

All the Council Resource Centres for Older People (ie day and residential centres) have adopted the Eden Alternative philosophy.  Their excellent work was recognised recently in a national awards scheme, when they were Highly Commended for Best Workforce Development Practice in the Skills for Care Accolades 2008.

It's great to be able to report, from first-hand experience, that a service offered by Kingston Council is of such high quality.

Christmas Park and Ride has been operating for two weeks already, and it will carry on through the January Sales until 17th Jan.

The idea is simple. You can park for free at Chessington World of Adventures, then take the special non-stop bus to the centre of Kingston. The buses run every 10 minutes and the return fare is £1.50 (free, of course, for under 16s), so it's much cheaper and easier than driving into the town.

It's a great idea, and surprisingly rare in the London area. In fact, until a year or so it was the only Park and Ride service in the whole of Greater London.

You'll probably spot some of the drivers in Santa outfits nearer the time.

Talking of January Sales - I think the whole world went to Marks and Spencers today.

The Kingston Guardian website has an article that refers to Ian and me, so I guess it will appear in the Surrey Comet as well this week.

Kingston councillor perks made public.

Perks given to Kingston councillors have been made public in the latest register of gifts and hospitality.

Leader of the council Councillor Derek Osbourne was entertained by the Korean Residents' Society last year.

Deputy leader Coun Barry O'Mahony had lunch at City restaurant Smiths of Smithfields in April, as a guest of John Miles of Bishops Palace House.

Coun Ian and Mary Reid were invited to the Rotary Club President's Dinner.

Coun Ian Reid was also given a taxi home from the best council to work for awards in August, in which Kingston came twenty-first.

Councillors must declare any gift or hospitality over the value of £25.

Now I have no problem at all with putting our register of gifts and hospitality in the public domain. I just don't understand what possible news interest there is these items.

Do I need to explain anything?

Kingston Rotary invited me (and Ian) to the dinner in honour of their retiring President, because his year as President and mine as Mayor had overlapped by all but a few weeks. Hospitality offered to a Mayor does not have to be declared, but because this dinner took place after my mayoral year had ended I quite properly reported it in the register.

So what?

I suppose the real story here is that, contrary to public belief, councillors are offered very, very few 'perks'. In fact, I did once have to turn down an invitation because there was a danger that accepting it would compromise my impartiality on an issue.  And a resident once bought me some flowers to say 'thank you' for helping them.

That's about the extent of it.

It's that time of the year again - the Christmas lights have been duly switched on by the Mayor in Malden Rushett and Chessington North  Parade (as in picture).

Tolworth lights will be switched on, with some ceremony and fun family activities, next Wednesday from 5pm onwards.