Community The
importance of remembrance The
importance of remembrance The
act of observing a Two Minute Silence began in 1919
following the Armistice at 11am on the 11th November 1918
at the end of the First World War. In
1921, the year the Legion was formed, ‘Armistice Day’
was formally adopted as the national day of Remembrance
and the British Legion was charged in its Royal Charter
with organising “Festivals of Remembrance, services
and parades to perpetuate the memory of sacrifices made
during service with Our Armed Forces in war and peace”.
Since
then, the Legion has been responsible for organising
national, regional and local ceremonies of Remembrance to
reflect the nation’s concern that the human cost of
war should not be forgotten. These include: The
annual Poppy Appeal – the nation’s symbol of
Remembrance. The
Two Minute Silence at 11am on 11th November when the
nation pauses to honour those who gave their lives for
peace and freedom. The
annual Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall
to pay tribute to all those who have given their lives
for our peace and freedom. The
Parade and Service at the Cenotaph in Whitehall on
Remembrance Sunday organised by the MOD in conjunction
with the Legion. This
year 11th November falls on a Friday and, as in previous
years, millions of people across the nation will stop at
11am for a Two Minute Silence to remember those who
fought, and those who are still fighting, for all of us
today. How
the Poppy Appeal began The
first donations for artificial poppies were given in
Britain on 11th November 1921, inspired by John
McCrae's 1915 poem 'In Flanders' Fields'. Some
of the bloodiest fighting of World War One took place in
the Flanders and Picardy regions of Northern France. In
the aftermath of the war’s total devastation the
only thing which would grow on the land was the poppy.
McCrae, a doctor serving there with the Canadian Armed
Forces, wrote these verses about what he saw: In
Flanders’ fields the poppies blow We are
the dead. Short days ago Take
up our quarrel with the foe; In
Britain, Major George Howson, a young infantry officer,
formed the Disabled Society, to help disabled ex-Servicemen
and women from World War One. Howson suggested to the
Legion that members of the Disabled Society could make
poppies and the Poppy Factory was subsequently founded in
1922. The
original poppy was designed so that workers with a
disability could easily assemble it and that principle
remains today. More than 70% of Poppy Factory employees
have a disability or chronic illness. Let’s
be fair to the old who need care This
country’s present system for funding long-term care
of the elderly is “full of anomalies”,
according to Sir Christopher Kelly, former Permanent
Secretary at the Department of Health. He made this
comment when the Joseph Rowntree Foundation published a
new discussion paper calling for a national debate on how
better to share the cost (of care) between the state and
private individuals. With
the number of over-80s set to double in the next 30
years, people of all ages need reassuring that they will
be able to get good-quality care when they need it, and
will not have to impoverish themselves in the process. The
paper argues that the current system is unsustainable
because it provides neither a clear-cut set of
entitlements according to how much care people need, nor
a well-accepted set of rules about how much they should
contribute (linked to ability to pay). Options
suggested for consideration include improving the system
that helps pay for residential and nursing care according
to an older person’s diagnosed condition. At
present, some people get all costs paid by the NHS and
others receive very little, even though they might face
similar-sized care bills. A particular anomaly is that
some with dementia, who need a lot of personal assistance
with daily tasks, may receive little or nothing because
they do not require nursing. The
authors suggest limiting the extent to which people are
required to sell their homes before they can get local
authority help with care costs. Raising the threshold
from £20,500 to £100,000 would mean that, taking a
worst-case scenario, someone selling an average-priced
house would not have to spend more than half the proceeds
on paying for residential care. People
on low incomes, who currently have to give up almost all
their pensions before getting local-authority help,
deserve a better deal. “The £18.80 a week they keep
in pocket money undermines their dignity as independent
adults and could be doubled for a relatively modest
public cost,” says the report. Germany
extended its social insurance cover in 1995 to pay for
long-term care, and uses a uniform assessment to
determine everyone’s entitlement. People can take
this entitlement as residential care, home care services
or cash. Japan, for example, calculates how much care
each person requires and covers this through a state
insurance scheme that requires everyone to meet ten per
cent of their care costs. Can
we break the flying habit? For
thousands of years men tried to fly and failed. “If
God had intended us to fly, he’d have given us
wings,” said the cynics. Then suddenly it happened
– the aeroplane was invented. Now taking to the sky
is possible for millions and aircraft emissions have
become a major eco-worry. The gases are released high up
in the atmosphere where they do more damage than they
would on the ground. The
proliferation of low-cost airlines operating more and
more routes only increases the temptation. According
to Friends of the Earth, aviation is now the fastest-growing
source of greenhouse gas emissions and UK passenger
numbers are expected to rise to 500 million by 2030. So
what do we do about this particular addiction? Just say
no? Very difficult. Travel less? Maybe. Until aviation
fuel becomes scarce and expensive, or alternative means
of powering aircraft become available, there are steps
that can be taken to reduce the harm done. The price of
an airline ticket could be related to environmental costs
by increasing tax on aviation fuel and/or adding VAT to
ticket prices, but even then the cost of a ticket may
rise little in real terms. All
short-haul flights could be replaced by high-speed rail
and boat services. Carbon emissions trading, another
option already in limited use, is the system whereby
industries that can’t reduce their own carbon-dioxide
emissions buy permits from those industries which are
able to do so. But campaigners say that this scheme
dodges the issue and is ethically flawed. From
an ethical standpoint, it is worth remembering that
tourism is a vital source of income for developing
countries and the aircraft industry can now create more
fuel-efficient planes. Anita Roddick would like to see
money generated by carbon trading and air passenger duty
spent on sustainable energy projects and to fund research
into renewable energy. An
aircraft emissions charge is being actively discussed
within the European Union. The principle that “the
polluter pays” is already enshrined in European and
UK policy. On a
small scale, there are other things we can do. Instead of
using planes like buses, we could take one flight a year,
say environmental campaigners. Take fewer trips but stay
longer. Future Forests (www.futureforests.com) estimates
that a return trip to New York emits 1.23 tonnes of
carbon dioxide, which can be cancelled out by buying two
trees (they absorb the gas). But wouldn’t that, too,
be dodging the issue? The
poisoned chalice I can’t
remember who coined the phrase in relation to the England
coach’s job but it was an appropriate one. Two
unimpressive qualifying games and the tabloids’
‘Sven must go’ campaign is gathering momentum. Sven
is not the first England head coach or manager to come
under pressure. Remember the heading “Swedes 2
Turnips 1” when Graham Taylor’s England lost to
Sweden. When
Glenn Hoddle, arguably the first person in England to
lose his job over his beliefs, got into difficulty, it
was as if people were sitting in ambush, waiting their
opportunity to sack him. Being a World Cup
winner in 1966 did not save Alf Ramsay’s job four
years later. When Kevin Keegan resigned after the
pre 2002 defeat by Germany, the pressure was written all
over his face. Now we
all have our opinions about whether England should play 4-5-1
or 4-4-2 about the diamond or the Christmas tree and
whether or not Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney can play
together. The only difference is that we have the
opinions without the responsibility! It is
sadly a fact of life that if you are the England head
coach, not only will you be vilified in the tabloids but
your private life will be fair game for the media. It
can be a lonely existence. OK there is a pretty good
salary but surely a human being is also entitled to be
treated with dignity. In
2002 Scripture Union and Damaris Trust contributed to the
debate with their publication “What does the Bible
say about Sven on football” (ISBN 1 85999 690 6). As
people who love sport and who love Jesus, what should be
our attitude to Sven? In Romans 13 Paul tells us to
respect those in authority. While Paul is really
referring to political powers – not the head coach
of the Isthmian Games team, there is an application.
We should respect the authorities in our sports. Jesus’
command to love our neighbour as ourselves is also
relevant. We
should pray for Sven and Andy Robinson, Seb Coe, Duncan
Fletcher etc. Are you praying regularly for those
in authority in your sport? Drop them a note of
appreciation and support. By
Stuart Weir of Christians in Sport Become
a seasonal post sorter Father
Christmas may have his team of elves to deal with all the
presents up there in Lapland, but who helps the Royal
Mail sort the mountain of Christmas post down here?
The answer is: a multitude of temporary staff, and
recruiting starts each November. It’s
not just students who can make a little extra Christmas
cash – anyone up to the age of 65 can do it. You
can even specify the times when you would prefer to work
– with a round-the-clock choice. Each
year people of all ages: students, housewives, senior
citizens, earn extra cash for Christmas. A short
induction course is provided on the first day, including
advice on how to lift heavy sacks of Christmas mail!
(Apparently more time is lost in the postal service
through bad backs than anything else.) The
Tree Council’s National Tree Week: 23
November – 4 December National
Tree Week is the Tree Council’s festival to mark the
start of the tree planting season, and a nationwide
celebration of trees and woods. Across the country there
will be lots of opportunities to plant trees, or to take
part in events, walks, talks, songs, story-telling and
tree dressing. Is
there something missing from your patch - not enough
trees or even no trees at all? To mark the 30th
anniversary of National Tree Week, The Tree Council is
inviting everyone to help make trees matter by planting
and celebrating trees in National Tree Week. |