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Update.
My thanks and gratitude to all those generous people who
expressed some degree of pleasure at the last issue of
Potential Unleashed, and those who asked to be "kept in the
loop". I know that the format and content leave much to be
desired and would really like to get some critical feedback.
I would remind those who know - and those for whom this is
new - that one of the presuppositions of NLP is "there is no
such thing as negative feedback".
Health Champion Project
I have now successfully completed all the
formalities required for this initiative and have been
accepted as one of the eight "champions" for this pilot
project operating in Burnt Oak, under the auspices the
Borough of Barnet, and with the support of the Royal Society
for Public Health (RSPH) and the National Health Service.
This has meant that qualification was subject to
considerable investigation. I have now been certified
by the UK Government's Disclosure and Barring Service.
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| The inaugural Health
Champions meeting |
With Michael Mallows at our
second meeting |
One unexpected and very happy coincidence,
which I had not anticipated when applying for this
involvement, is that my old friend and colleague Michael
Mallows who, for many years, was Assistant Editor of
Nurturing Potential and my co-author of Peace of Mind is
a Piece of Cake has also been accepted as one of the
Health Champions. [Click on the pictures above to
enlarge them.] If you would like to know more about
Health Champions, a very good description will be found at
http://www.humber.nhs.uk/services/community-health-champions.htm.
My latest rant
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Pharmacy2U
My friends on Facebook may be somewhat
weary of my recent complaints about the Pharmacy2U service -
or, more precisely, lack of service. But I believe it
is important to draw as much attention as possible to a
situation that involves poor service, poor administration,
and a waste of public money in an area - namely the
|National Health Service - where funding is already
unsatisfactory.
And this is particularly important to me
when I previously praised the service I received from
Pharmacy2U. It is only right that the other side of
the coin be revealed. This is even more relevant given
that it was not too long ago that Pharmacy2U was fined
£300,000 (frankly no more than a mild rap on the knuckles
from a feather duster) for unethical behaviour. Their
behaviour these days demonstrates an unacceptable arrogance
and reveals that they are now victims of their own success.
I could recount the whole saga of failure
to supply my medicine, of failure to acknowledge any of my
queries and many other complaints, but I think it is
sufficient to direct your attention (if you are interested)
to the complaints listed at
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.pharmacy2u.co.uk
and the similar experiences of so many others.
The
Victory Services Club
This could easily be one of the best-kept
secrets in London. A club at Marble Arch, with a bar
that sells drinks at provincial pub prices, that has an
excellent restaurant offering cordon bleu cookery, a library
and reading room, and a grill room that provides pub food of
superior quality. And all this for the ridiculously
low price of £20 per annum. Additionally it offers
en-suite first-class accommodation from as little as £75 a
night including a full English breakfast.
Well, you may think, there has to be a
catch somewhere. And there is. Membership is
restricted to serving or past members of the Armed Forces or
their families. When I deplored my conscription into
the Royal Engineers, little did I imagine that 65 years
later it would enable me to enjoy this privilege.
Nowadays it is always my immediate choice
of venue when I have to meet someone "in town", or when I
want to entertain family or friends.
Here are some of my guests in the period
since Potential Unleashed 001. [Click on pictures to
enlarge.]
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| Andrea Newman |
Mary McClory |
Julian Lyons |
Dr Sally Blackburn |
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| Quiz Night |
With Philip |
Three Sinclairs |
Family Group |
The delightful Andrea Newman and I enjoyed
a champagne tea in the Club. Andrea is a well-known
author whose most recognised work is probably Bouquet of
Barbed Wire that was twice made into a TV drama.
Mary McClory is the widow of the author of
Journey Through a Small Planet, Emanuel Litvinoff,
whose life in some respects overlapped my own, from
childhood in the East End of London to being a frequent
customer at the Cosmo Restaurant in Swiss Cottage in the
post-war years.
Julian Lyons is my godson. His
father Sasha Lyons was my best friend for more than 30
years. We were schoolmates, then housemates.
When I returned from living in Switzerland, he it was that
found me a job through one of his transport connections that
eventually led to my several decades with the Sea Containers
Group.
Dr Sally Blackburn (G.P. now retired) was
a friend when I was working for Containerships in the early
1990s in Teesside. At that time she lived in Ilkley.
We severed out connection when she found the man who was to
be her partner for the next 20-plus years. Recently
she contacted me ("out of the blue") and ascertained that I
was, indeed, the same Joe Sinclair of all those years ago.
Then she came to London, where she has a bijou flat in
Kensington, for a few days, and it was my pleasure to invite
her to dinner at the Club. Her main home is now in
Harrogate, and it was on my way to visit her there two
months ago, that I had my car incident, where my passenger
side window inexplicably shattered, and I had to abort the
trip.
The Quiz Night at the Club was not only an
enjoyable occasion for my daughter Caroline, her husband
Tony, and my granddaughter Jessica, but we took first prize
which was a three-course dinner for two with a bottle of
wine.
The final three pictures are of various
members of the Sinclair clan. My son Philip, his wife
Jo, and his two daughters Hannah and Sarah (in the Family
Group picture), and including daughter Caroline spending our
Quiz night voucher.
Metaphors and Matzo Balls.
[Click to enlarge]
The cover for my new book is shown above.
The graphics were provided by by grand-daughter Jessica-Ann
Jenner, who also drew several of the illustrations that
appear within. I provided some samples of the verse in the
previous issue 001 of Potential Unleashed. Here, as a
taster, are a couple of stanzas from other sections of the
book. First the section concerned with
Medical
Procedures and then the opening of the final,
autobiographical section.
Friends old and new . . .
and family.
The period was saddened by the death of my
oldest friend, the only one still remaining from my school
days, the wonderful actor Ron Moody, with whom I had shared
the stage at the London School of Economics for two of
the annual revues, Place Pigalle in 1949 and
Freeziesta in 1950.
I had made contact, just a few months
earlier, with his daughter Cat, whom I was hoping to
persuade to illustrate my forthcoming book of poetry.
Alas, after due consideration she concluded that it was a
commitment that she hadn't the time to make. A very
talented artist, here is a simple but evocative sketch she
made of her father.
[Click to enlarge]
And to the readers of this blog, may peace
and happiness attend all of you
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