Press release: NIO Ministers mark 102nd anniversary of the battle of the Somme
I am truly honoured to be in this most beautiful part of France to represent Her Majesty’s Government at today’s ceremonies to commemorate the Battle of the Somme. It is important that we remember all those from across the island of Ireland who gave their lives for our freedom during the First World War. The Battle of the Somme in particular has an indelible link with Northern Ireland given the remarkable bravery shown, and the scale of the sacrifice made, by the 36th (Ulster) Division and the 16th (Irish) Division. It is difficult for us to comprehend the horror that these men faced as they went forward into battle, but their contribution and sacrifice was immense and we should never, ever forget it. The Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP will represent the UK Government in France, whilst her Ministerial colleague, Shailesh Vara MP will attend the commemorative service at Belfast City Hall.The Secretary of State will lead tributes at the Royal British Legion service at Thiepval and the Somme Association services at the Ulster Tower and Guillemont. She will pay tribute to those soldiers from the volunteer Divisions raised in Ireland who made the supreme sacrifice on the battlefields of the Somme in 1916.Ahead of travelling to today’s ceremonies in France, Karen Bradley said: We are indebted to organisations such as the Royal British Legion and the Somme Association and Somme Heritage Centre who work tirelessly to ensure that their heroic contribution is always remembered. Across the UK and Ireland we continue to commemorate the wider decade of centenaries, in which we have learned about our shared history, in a spirit of mutual respect and inclusivity. This year in November we will mark the centenary of Armistice and the ending of the Great War, and we will take a further step on our path towards a shared future.
Department of Health and Social CareRoom 1N09Quarry HouseQuarry HillLeedsLS2 7UE This document has been withdrawn because it is out of date.Honours nominations from members of the public should be submitted through the ‘Nominate someone for an honour or award’ process.If a case is best suited for the Department of Health and Social Care, we will receive the information through the Cabinet Office.,NominationsThe New Year Honours list and the Queen’s Birthday Honours list acknowledge people who have made a difference in their field of work or community.It is for people who have worked beyond what is expected of them to make a positive difference for patients and the public. They can be in either a paid or voluntary role.Contact us For help and guidance on your nomination contact:
Whether you think they are a girly fad, or the best thing since the fairy cake, there can be no denying that cupcakes are big business. With more than 28 million sold in the last year, in the FMCG sector alone, (so says Kantar Worldpanel) – that’s more sales than the bakery classic, pain au chocolat. Far from being a short-lived trend, sales of cupcakes have increased steadily year-on-year, and the product is fast becoming a staple in any bakery, coffee shop or supermarket in-store bakery. This year’s National Cupcake Week has proved to be our biggest and best yet, with widespread media coverage, and was once again a trending topic on Twitter. While you may think we’re just trying to blow our own trumpet, the important point is that it gained coverage because it was an event of interest to the masses. By bringing it the media’s attention and the forefront of consumers’ minds, they are much more likely to go out and buy a cupcake from your shop. Many bakers have told us they had fantastic sales throughout NCW, which is what it’s all about. That, and raising money for our partner charity CLIC Sargent. One lady emailed me to tell me how her four-year old daughter had seen a story in her school magazine about how National Cupcake Week was helping raise money for children and young people with cancer, and she said she wanted to help. She started baking cupcakes, and with the help (we imagine) of her mother, set up her own Just Giving fundraising page, and at the last look she’d raised £75. So, even if you can’t stand the lavishly iced and decorated cupcakes that consumers go so wild over, remember, National Cupcake Week also serves to raise vital funds for a great cause.
Sayers the Bakers has been fined £170,000 after admitting 13 breaches of food safety laws at a shop and a café in Liverpool.One customer vomited after finding mouse droppings on the pasty she was eating, Liverpool Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday (2 March).Images presented to the court showed mouse droppings in a kitchen and food storeroom, a dead rodent lodged behind a freezer and debris across the premises.The charges related to two sites: the Sayers-owned Pound Bakery and Café, in St John’s Shopping Centre in Liverpool city centre, and the Sayers bakery branch in the West Derby suburb of the city.The court heard staff at the Pound Café had failed to deal with an extensive rodent infestation after a customer contacted Liverpool Council’s environmental health team on 12 February 2016.Johnathan Ball, prosecuting on behalf of Liverpool City Council, said: “The customer explained that they had taken a bite out of the pasty and had subsequently vomited after noticing the droppings on the surface of the pasty, close to the portion they had just eaten.“Officers were clearly concerned by the nature of the referral and decided to visit the premises that day.”The inspection found evidence of a serious rodent infestation and managers agreed to immediately close the café.Ball said mouse droppings were discovered in the main kitchen area, the storeroom and the basement, along with debris and grease.The court heard a dead mouse was found behind a freezer in the basement, and the single wash basin provided for staff was blocked by equipment.Ball said: “The amount of droppings throughout the premises indicated that rodent activity had been on-going for a significant period of time.”The café was inspected on 15 February last year, when it was awarded a zero-star hygiene rating (meaning urgent improvement is necessary). It later reopened.A follow-up inspection on 22 August – at the request of Sayers managers – uncovered a rotting mouse corpse under the food counter.“Officers commenced that inspection in the front counter area of the café and noticed an unpleasant odour,” said Ball. “A dead mouse was subsequently discovered on a snap trap under the counter and it appeared to officers that the mouse had been there for a number of days.”The café was given a one-star rating and representatives from the company were interviewed under caution.Separate proceedings were also under way after a random inspection at the West Derby branch on 7 December 2015 that found evidence of an extensive cockroach infestation.Ball said cockroaches were found caught in traps on the floor, and behind a fridge and freezer.The court heard the 100-year-old company, which operates 169 stores, fully co-operated with the investigation and that both branches have since been awarded the highest five-star rating for hygiene.James Heyworth, defending Sayers, said: “It is a source of real regret to the company that their own systems failed on this particular occasion. They have done what the court would expect them to do in terms of their conduct afterwards.”Heyworth also pointed out that the mouse infestation at Pound Café came during major refurbishments to St John’s Shopping Centre, which he claimed caused the displacement of rodents in the building.He described the issues as an “uncharacteristic lapse”, adding that staff at the store – many who have worked there for a number of years – have been very upset by what went on last year.“They very much take pride in their work, as does the management.”When contacted by British Baker, Sayers said in a statement: “Poundcafe in St Johns Shopping Centre, like many other businesses in Liverpool City Centre, was unfortunately affected by the considerable amount of construction work taking place late 2015, early 2016.”This gave us challenges in relation to mouse infestation as their normal nests were disturbed. Unfortunately, we had an isolated incident in St Johns which should not have occurred. Health and hygiene is our top priority and this is the first time we have ever been charged with such an offence. We have now invited Liverpool City Council to re-inspect the shop to back up our thorough audit results. In addition we are appealing against the level of the fine.”
Finsbury Food Group is planning to close premium baked goods business Grain D’Or, with the potential loss of 250 jobs.Based in Brent, London, the business supplies own-label products including pastries, American muffins and speciality breads to retailers and foodservice customers. It is a major importers of Normandy butter – a key ingredient in its croissants – and one of the UK’s largest importers of Canadian blueberriesGrain D’Or, described by Finsbury as “balancing automation with hand-craft skills to produce premium products”, has operated at a loss for some time.And despite bids to improve the business – including tight cost controls and the introduction of new working practices – Grain D’Or has continued to do so, said Finsbury.In the 12 months to 1 July 2017, Grain D’Or produced an overall operating loss despite generating £28.5m in revenue.Finsbury is proposing to close the Brent site, and is launching a formal period of consultation with employee representatives including unions.Last month Finsbury Food Group reported that declining prices had contributed to a 1.4% drop in UK bakery turnover across the business.The business did report, however, that the decline in UK bakery sales had slowed from 2.9% in the first half of the year to a 0.1% increase in the second half. The company added that trading in the UK bakery division was stronger in the second half of the year versus the full 2016 financial year as prices had started to rise again.Grain D’Or was part of the Fletchers Group of Bakeries acquired by Finsbury Food Group for £56m in 2014. Foodservice business Kara was also acquired by Finsbury in the deal.In 2013, Fletchers undertook a £4m expansion of the Grain D’Or manufacturing facilities, converting three industrial units into a “state-of-the-art bakery facility and dispatch centre”.Finsbury said none of its other businesses are affected by today’s announcement.
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With locations in Las Vegas, London, and, of course, Brooklyn, the beloved Brooklyn Bowl venue continues to be one of the more successful independently owned franchises in the 21st century. Much like Bill Graham’s beloved Fillmore venues, promoter Peter Shapiro continues to forge into new territory. While rumors of a new location in Chicago have been circulating, it seems that the Brooklyn Bowl crew are considering one more new location as well: Nashville.According to a report in the Tennesseean, the Brooklyn Bowl is scouting some locations in Nashville, TN, including spots “along the Charlotte Avenue corridor and… between the area south of Broadway and the Gulch.” The article quotes Jesse Mann, chief strategic officer of Dayglo Ventures LLC – the holding company for the Brooklyn Bowl – as saying, “We’re always on the lookout for unique opportunities to grow Brooklyn Bowl into exciting new markets, and Nashville certainly fits that bill… We love Nashville!”As Brooklyn Bowl locations range from 25,000 to 75,000 square feet, there are certainly a lot of options for the new locale. It will be exciting to see what a Brooklyn Bowl Nashville has to offer.Meanwhile, in a recent interview with Live for Live Music, Shapiro addressed the rumors of a new Chicago Bowl. He said, “I’ve heard the rumors of Chicago too and…I don’t want to get into the formality of confirming, but usually when there’s smoke, there’s fire.” You can read more from Shapiro, including his thoughts on Phish at Lockn’, Fare Thee Well, and more by following this link.
The King of All Media, Howard Stern, has announced that he has put together a special all-star cast of musicians to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles Revolver album. All of the songs were recorded by artists in various studios around the world, and will be featured on a special via the media icons Sirius/XM’s Radio show this coming Friday, October 7th at 5pm EDT.Artists such as Joe Bonamassa recorded “Taxman” live at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, with James Taylor recording a version of “Here, There and Everywhere” in a hotel closet while the singer-songwriter was on tour. The performances will be played in album form on the Stern show special.Here is a list of the other performances:– Cheap Trick “She Said She Said”– Grace Potter “Good Day Sunshine”– Gov’t Mule “And Your Bird Can Sing”– Grouplove “For No One”– O.A.R. “I Want To Tell You”*– Living Colour “Tomorrow Never Knows”*– Madisen Ward & The Mama Bear “Yellow Submarine”– Jewel “Eleanor Rigby”– The Milk Carton Kids “I’m Only Sleeping”– Rachael Yamagata “Love You To”– J Mascis “Doctor Robert”– Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats “Got To Get You Into My Life”* Recorded in Howard Stern’s Sirius/XM Studio[via Billboard]
The Saint Mary’s Office of Institutional Research conducted the annual Graduation Destination Survey to gain a general statistical overlook on what graduates of the class of 2016 intend to do after graduation.According to the survey, of the 331 women in the graduating class, 283 students responded for a response rate of 85.5 percent.The survey showed that 67.7 percent of students will enter the workforce, 31.2 percent will attend graduate or professional school and 12.8 percent will participate in an internship or externship.The data also showed that 7.1 percent of students will participate in voluntary service.Stacie Jeffirs, director of the Career Crossings Office, said Saint Mary’s encourages students to participate in voluntary service.“The one great thing about Saint Mary’s is it’s encouraged to participate in service — it’s part of the curriculum,” Jeffirs said. “Students have an opportunity to explore those options a little bit more readily at the College, and they are encouraged to pursue those opportunities post-graduation. There’s a strong value here at Saint Mary’s in service to others, so I think it’s definitely one of those areas that students are very interested in pursuing.“It’s a great opportunity after you graduate, especially for students who are in their own discernment process and trying to learn a little more about who they are and where they see themselves in the world. Being able to go out and participate in service for three months, a year, two years — it’s a great opportunity for graduates to learn a lot about themselves.The survey showed that 2.5 percent of students will enroll in military service, which is an increase from the previous graduating class, which had fewer than .5 percent.5.7 percent of students reported having “other” post-graduation plans. According to Jeffirs, “other” includes fellowships, traveling and taking a gap year. Jeffirs said there is overlap in the data because some students will volunteer or work, while also attending graduate school.Jeffirs said this data demonstrates the College’s mission.“You have to look at not just the statistics and the data and the percentages of where students are going, but you also have to look at where they are going and what they are doing and how that fits in with how they believe Saint Mary’s has prepared them for the world,” Jeffirs said. “Regardless, if the student is going to employment or graduate school, going into service [or the] military, the graduates think Saint Mary’s has prepared them very well for what they pursue.”According to Jeffirs, a survey is sent to graduates one year and five years after graduation to gauge how well their time at the College has helped them in their career paths.“When you look at the mission — to prepare women to make a difference and make a positive impact on the world — the survey and the results of the survey demonstrate that and show that Saint Mary’s is accomplishing that part of the mission,” Jeffirs said.Sofia Piecuch, a senior global studies major with concentrations in international development and anthropology, will move to Geneva, Switzerland to intern at the Istituto Internazionale Maria Ausiliatrice (IIMA) and Volunteers in Development, Education and Solidarity (VIDES) Human Rights Office, she said.“Its mission is to promote a network between the Salesian family — the biggest Catholic religious order in the world — and the United Nations, in order to protect and promote human rights,” Piecuch said. “The office seeks to be specifically involved in the drafting of international policies that promote the right to education for all.”Beginning in January, Piecuch will spend two years as a missionary with Heart’s Home, a Catholic non-profit organization that aims to foster and spread a culture of compassion, she said.“This is an international mission that focuses on accompanying the poorest and most vulnerable members of society,” she said. “I have not yet been given an assignment, but my top three choices were Senegal, Brazil and the Philippines.”Piecuch said the variety of courses offered at Saint Mary’s have helped her gain a broader perspective of the world.“Taking courses on Islam and the politics of the Middle East helped me be a better host each summer to the women from the MENA (Middle East/North Africa) region who come to Saint Mary’s for a State Department-funded Global Women’s Leadership Initiative through the Center for Women’s Intercultural Leadership,” she said. “Studying abroad in Austria helped me grow in independence, maturity and fluency in German. Taking anthropology courses engaged my desire to understand other cultures and view it as an effective lens for constructing appropriate international development initiatives. Philosophy helped me think critically as well as write methodically, with proper argumentation.”After graduating, senior Danielle Gibaut plans to move to Chicago and work as an account executive at Chicago-23, a marketing agency. Gibaut, who majored in business administration with concentrations in marketing and international business, said Saint Mary’s has prepared her in different ways for her future.“All of the group projects helped me gain better communication skills,” Gibaut said. “The [senior comprehensive project] from my fall semester definitely prepared me for the world I’ll be doing in the real business world. I found my voice here at Saint Mary’s, and I know that’ll be something I carry through my career path.”Senior Melissa Fitzpatrick majored in communication studies with minors in public relations, advertising and film studies. She said she will be doing a year of service in Brockton, Massachusetts.“I’ll be volunteering for an organization called the Holy Cross Family Ministries,” Fitzpatrick said. “Their mission is to bring families together through prayer. The year of service also includes living in community with about seven other volunteers. We’ll share dinners, weekend activities and really learn to live in solidary with one another.”According to Fitzpatrick, she is excited for this journey and said she could not have done it without Saint Mary’s.“Saint Mary’s has taught me how to be a better friend, listener, student and servant,” she said. “I wouldn’t be where I am standing today without my Saint Mary’s friends, professors and mentors. Graduating from Saint Mary’s, I know I am prepared to face whatever is in store for me.”Senior Isabella Gagnon, who majored in psychology, will be commissioned as a second Lieutenant in the Army Signal Corps. She said in an email she will report to Fort Gordon, Georgia for signal and communication training in September.“Saint Mary’s really helped me step out of my comfort zone and really empowered me as an independent woman,” she said. “I feel so confident going to a work force that is only about 15 percent women. I was able to write my senior thesis on challenges women face in the military, so I feel very excited for the opportunities that I will have to give women in the military more of a voice.”Gagnon said she and her fiancée will both be part of the Active Duty Army, and she is excited for the future.“I hope there will be many opportunities for me to share my faith when we move to new places and make new friends,” she said. “I’m so thankful to always have Saint Mary’s and be part of such a wonderful alumni network.”Tags: Commencement 2016, job overlook, service, SMC employment
A Raisin in the Sun Lorraine Vivian Hansberry was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Nannie Louise Hansberry, a teacher, and Carl Hansberry, a real-estate broker. Her progressive parents examined her birth certificate, and after seeing the word “Negro” printed by the hospital, immediately crossed it out and wrote “Black.” After a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer, Hansberry died at the age of 34, the same night her second play, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, closed on Broadway. A passage from the play is engraved on her gravestone: “I care. I care about it all. It takes too much energy not to care. The why of why we are here is an intrigue for adolescents; the how is what must command the living. Which is why I have lately become an insurgent again.” Five decades after Raisin first opened on Broadway, playwrights still continue to be inspired by Hansberry’s gripping drama. Bruce Norris’ homage to the iconic story, Clybourne Park, was awarded the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2012 Tony Award for Best Play. As part of its 50th anniversary season, Maryland’s Center Stage produced Clybourne Park in repertory with the world premiere of Beneatha’s Place, focusing on the untold story of Walter Lee’s younger sister. Dubbed The Raisin Cycle, the new plays have introduced the Younger family to a brand new audience. On the 30-year anniversary of the beloved drama’s Broadway premiere, PBS aired an uncut, three-hour TV adaptation of A Raisin in the Sun starring Danny Glover and Esther Rolle. Director Bill Duke told The Los Angeles Times, “This play transcends time and race. It applies to all poor people. What Lorraine says is something that should be said often: Folks that don’t have money, folks that society looks down its nose at, are some of the noblest spirits among us.” Raisin returned to the Great White Way for the second time, starring stage and screen great Phylicia Rashad, Tony winner Audra McDonald and rapper-turned-actor Sean “P. Diddy” Combs in his Broadway debut. “At this point of my life, it’s one of the scariest things I’ve ever done because it’s so intense, it’s so emotional, it’s so hard,” Combs told the Associated Press. The production made history at the Tony Awards when Rashad was honored with the Best Actress in a Play trophy, becoming the first African-American woman to receive the honor. Director Kenny Leon reassembled his leading players for a 2008 adaptation of the production, which was seen by 12.7 million viewers on ABC. Now, director Kenny Leon (who also helmed the 2004 revival) brings the Younger family back to their very first Broadway home at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Why did he want to bring the drama back after only ten years? “This is the play that keeps on giving,” he told Broadway.com. “If all the other great American plays—Death of a Salesman, Streetcar, A Moon for the Misbegotten—if they have been done every four or five years, surely [it’s time] to revisit A Raisin in the Sun.” Featuring Denzel Washington as Walter Lee, LaTanya Richardson Jackson as Lena and Sophie Okonedo as Ruth, the new production opens officially on April 3! Denzel Washington A Raisin in the Sun made history, becoming the first play written by a black woman (a 29-year-old, no less) to ever be produced on Broadway. But the journey to the Great White Way wasn’t easy—it took over a year for producer Philip Rose to raise enough funds to bring the play to New York. After short pre-Broadway tryouts in Philadelphia, New Haven and Chicago, A Raisin in the Sun opened on Broadway on March 11, 1959 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, starring Sidney Poitier as Walter Lee Younger, a struggling son with big dreams, Claudia McNeil as his mother Lena and Ruby Dee as his hardworking wife Ruth. While writing for the progressive black newspaper Freedom, Hansberry discovered Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem,” published in his book Montage of a Dream Deferred. “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore and then run? Does it stink like rotten meat or crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?” The young author began working on a play exploring the struggles of a poor, black family living in Chicago, loosely based on her own family’s story. Originally titled The Crystal Stair (a line from the Langston Hughes poem “Mother to Son”), A Raisin in the Sun centers on the Youngers, a lower-class family who is offered a sum of money to stay away from the white neighborhood where they have purchased their dream home. Star Files
The Hansberrys’ white neighbors were so intent on pushing them out of the neighborhood (and the family was so intent on staying) that the Hansberry v. Lee case made it to the Illinois Supreme Court. When the state ruled against the Hansberry family, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the decision, allowing the family to stay in their home. Thanks to the Hansberrys’ persistence, it was no longer legal for white residents in the United States to push African Americans out of their neighborhoods. Related Shows You read it in school, you’ve seen it on stage and maybe you even have both TV adaptations on DVD. But do you know the real story behind Lorraine Hansberry’s groundbreaking 1959 family drama A Raisin in the Sun? Read below to learn all about the Younger family, from the real events that inspired the story to the newest Broadway revival starring Denzel Washington, LaTanya Richardson Jackson and Sophie Okonedo, now playing at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Robert Nemiroff, Hansberry’s ex-husband, became a champion of the late playwright’s work after her death. He adapted many of her unpublished poems, stories and letters into the play To Be Young, Gifted and Black, which premiered off-Broadway in 1968. Singer-songwriter Nina Simone, a close friend of Hansberry, wrote a song of the same name in her memory. After the success of A Raisin in the Sun on the Great White Way, Nemiroff teamed up with Charlotte Zaltzberg to write the book for a musical adaptation of Hansberry’s groundbreaking play. Judd Woldin and Robert Brittan wrote the score, a mix of jazz, blues, gospel and of course, traditional musical theater. “It is a strange [musical] but a good one,” The New York Times reported. “It warms the heart and touches the soul.” Starring Joe Morton as Walter Lee, Ernestine Jackson as Ruth and Virginia Capers as Mama Lena, Raisin won two Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Sophie Okonedo Show Closed This production ended its run on June 15, 2014 The Hansberry family bought a house at 6140 S. Rhodes Ave. in Washington Park—a white, upper-middle-class neighborhood that the playwright later described as “hellishly hostile.” They were violently attacked by their neighbors, who were constantly trying to get the family to leave the neighborhood. The Hansberrys refused, and agreed to stay in their home at all costs. “I [remember] my desperate and courageous mother, patrolling our house all night with a loaded German Luger, doggedly guarding her four children,” Hansberry wrote. Hansberry wrote two screenplay adaptations of A Raisin in the Sun, but both were rejected by Columbia Pictures for being too controversial. The third time proved to be the charm, and a draft that more closely resembled the stage play was greenlit. Poitier, Dee and McNeil all reprised their roles for the film, which won a special award at the Cannes Film Festival. View Comments