Search results for: “ ”

Yes, gay people can foster children

© DGLimages Depositphotos

Apparently up to 60 per cent of people in the UK are unaware that LGBT+ people can foster children!

National independent fostering provider, Five Rivers Child Care, is calling on the gay community to consider local fostering opportunities, after a damning report shared at the start of 2020 has shown a record number of children are in care.

According to Government statistics, there are currently 78,150 children in the care system across England and another 7,200 foster carers are needed to meet demand and provide loving homes to vulnerable children and young people.

Ahead of LGBT+ History Month, which aims to promote the visibility of the LGBT+ community throughout society, Five Rivers is challenging a common misconception that sexual orientation prevents gay, bi and trans people from fostering.

Over 60 per cent of people across the UK are unaware that gay couples or those from the LGBT+ community are eligible to foster.

If just one per cent of the LGBT+ became foster parents there’d be no children waiting for a home

Just 480 children were placed in foster care with LGBT+ families in 2014, yet charity New Family Social claims if just one per cent of the LGBT+ community was to foster, there would be no children waiting for a home.

Commenting on the need for more LGBT+ foster carers, Martin Leitch, Head of Fostering Operations at Five Rivers Child Care, said: “There’s a desperate need for more people to enter the fostering industry. With nearly 80,000 vulnerable young people in need of a safe home we want to challenge misconceptions that might prevent LGBT+ members from fostering.

“It’s extremely important to have a diverse range of foster carers across the country to reflect the diverse nature of the children and young people entering the care system and provide role models from all walks of life. We have some amazing LGBT+ carers who are enriching children’s and young people’s lives every day and encourage anyone who would like to do the same to get in touch.”

People from all walks of life can become foster carers as long as they are over 21 years of age. This includes single people, co-habiting couples, same sex couples and people living in rented accommodation – the only requirement is a private bedroom for each foster child.

For more information on Five Rivers Child Care, visit https://www.five-rivers.org/fostering/, call the enquiries team on 0345 266 0272 or email carer.enquiries@five-rivers.org.

5th February 2020
Police are looking for witnesses after homophobic abuse heard at West Ham Vs Brighton football match

geralt / Pixabay

Police in London are looking for witnesses following on from alleged homophobic abuse at a football match at the London stadium.

Homophobic chanting was heard from a number of individuals during the match in the Sir Trevor Booking Stand at The London Stadium. It is believed to have involved home fans.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or can provide detectives with video footage is urged to come forward.

Inspector Matt Ashmead from the Met’s Public Order Investigation Team said, “We take allegations such as these extremely seriously and will act accordingly to any information brought to our attention. We work in partnership with the club and the stadium safety team to identify those who commit hate crime at football and we will take robust action against them.”

Arrests Made

(C) GOOGLE MAPS

Mr Ashmead continued, “With the assistance of law-abiding fans this weekend we were able to identify and arrest two individuals who were obtusely shouting homophobic abuse towards other supporters during this game. We welcome any further information or footage that would supply further evidence, or identify other offenders.

“Behaviour like this is completely unacceptable and perpetrators will be held accountable for their actions, so that the majority of law-abiding fans can enjoy a football game without the minority ruining their experience.

Second Match This Year

This isn’t the first time the police have made a call for witnesses to homophobic abuse heard at a football match. Last week officers were appealing for witnesses and footage after a match official at a Millwall v Reading match was subjected to homophobic abuse.

“If you have any information or footage to support our investigation please call us on 020 8246 9386 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”

4th February 2020
THEATRE REVIEW | Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Jamie is advised, by his career’s teacher that the best option for him, is to pursue a career as a forklift driver. Foolishly, despite the possibility of being surrounded by a plethora of fit warehousemen, Jamie opts for the more humdrum life of a drag artist!

He then decides, with some prompting from his best girl-friend Pritti, to attend the end of school prom in a dress. A slinky white number more akin to Wimbledon than a prom but hey, it’s a drag themed musical, so bitching’s my prerogative.

While shopping for a prom dress, he’s persuaded by Hugo, the shop owner and a retired drag veteran, to perform at the Legs Eleven cabaret show, in Sheffield, yes I said Sheffield, not Berlin in the ’30s but Sheffield! Despite last-minute anxieties, his performance is a success and well met by all his classmates. Thus giving momentum to his dreams of a Martina Navratilova prom night.

However, throughout all this, he had an erroneous belief that his dad had been holding a torch for him. A belief urinated upon from on high, when on a surprise visit to his dad, it becomes apparent that Jamie’s mum had been sending birthday and Xmas gifts addressed as his dads. With devastating effect, his dad tells Jamie, he never supported him or sent any gifts, quite the reverse, that Jamie had always been an embarrassment which is why he abandoned his mum to start a new family.

-Exit stage left: A very distraught Jamie.
-Que: More heart-wrenching tunes.
-Exit handbags: Copious amounts of tissues.

Through the course of the show, one grows proud of the protagonist’s ability to grow a tough skin in the face of adversity, particularly from the main antagonists, his homophobic dad and fellow schoolboy Dean, who adds racism to the smouldering pot of jealousy and hatred. All controversial topics which were deftly and eloquently handled by Jamie and his fellow classmates.

The audience roared with approval when Jamie delivered a bitch slapping, Kung Fu kiss to his would-be assailant, Dean, during one such attack, which sent him packing with his tail between his legs.

The show culminates with a feel-good finish. Our princess does go to the ball and it all ends with a sprinkling of fairy dust and happy thoughts.

The talented kids in the show bring intense levels of energy and high octane dance routines whilst the senior members of the troop keep it grounded with solid acting performances, to a great storyline that bravely tackles all sorts of current and controversial issues in a positive manner. A clever use of set and stomping songs all contributed to the deserved awards this musical has won.

Noah Thomas who plays Jamie, is a master of the eight-inch high stiletto strut and snuggles naturally into character, whilst other mentions must go to Mellisa Jacques (mum Margaret) who gives a memorable and lung-bursting rendition of “He’s my boy” and audience favourite, Hiba Elchikhe who plays Jamies best friend and her performance of “It means beautiful”.

Already booked to see it again!

Most of the original cast have taken the show on tour, so do make the effort to catch it when it visits your town!

Five Stars from me!

Book tickets to see Everybody’s Talking About Jamie here

3rd February 2020
FILM REVIEW | Richard Jewel, Clint Eastwood shows he’s still got it

Richard Jewell ★★★★

89-year old Director Clint Eastwood shows he’s still got it.

In Richard Jewell, he tells the story of the man who was initially blamed for the bomb that exploded in Atlanta, Georgia during the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Paul Walter Hauser is fine as Jewell, an overweight security’s guard who still lives with his mother (Kathy Bates in overacting mode). A back story of a reporter (Olivia Wilde) who will do anything to get her story (including sleeping with FBI agent Jon Hamm) did not happen so take this film with a grain of salt.

Sam Rockwell is very good as usual as the man who never doubted Jewell’s innocence.

In Cinemas now

3rd February 2020
FILM REVIEW | Uncut Gems, fast, furious, heart-pounding and brilliant

Uncut Gems ★★★★★

An Adam Sandler movie connotes bad acting and a stupid plot. Not ‘Uncut Gems’ – it’s fast, furious, heart-pounding and brilliant.
Shockingly and shamelessly ‘Uncut Gems’ has been ignored by the people who give out film awards – its Sandlers’ best film ever as well as one of the years top movies.

The action and plot in ‘Uncut Gems’ builds and accelerates into hyperdrive – a feeling probably akin to being on meth with the high becoming more and more intense until an explosive ending.

Sandler plays Manhattan gem dealer Harold Ratner, a man known to place a few bets in his time. He comes across a rare black opal which he wants to sell for a big score. But it’s not as easy as it sounds. Other people (criminals) also want their hands on the opal, meanwhile, Ratner owes money to loan sharks, he’s been cheating on his wife (Idina Menzel) with his sexy and saucy mistress who is his assistant in the jewellery shop (Julia Fox). Also involved is a professional basketball player dangling lots of money in his face to spend on jewellery. Combining all this and what you have is a man whose life is spiralling out of control to a point where it’s do or die for Ratner.

To say Sandler is brilliant is an understatement. I saw this film last year at the BFI London Film Festival and didn’t know what to expect going in. When I left the cinema 135 minutes later, my head was spinning and my mind took hours to process what I had just seen. The ending is such a crescendo it’s so unlike anything you’d expect from a Sandler movie.

Directors (and brothers) Benny and Josh Safdie (who did the award-winning 2017 film Good Time starring Robert Pattison), with a script by both of them (and Ronald Bronstein), bring us a superb film that’s thrilling, intense, and will have you on the edge of your seat. And while all the cast is brilliant, Uncut Gems is Sandlers’ movie.

Go see it just for him, and expect the ending to just blow your mind.

‘Uncut Gems’ is on Netflix but is also currently playing in cinemas.

3rd February 2020
THE UNDATEABLE GAY | Joins a gay walking group

For years, my friends have been nagging me to get some gay friends. Apparently they’re concerned that my circle consists of straight ladies, their husbands and my gaggle of old dears from the church.

“You’ll never find a life partner surrounded by us!” Are they trying to tell me something? Lucky I’m not a sensitive soul otherwise I might think they were trying to palm me off.

In a way, I guess they’re right. Being stuck in my circle of ‘straights’ is probably not the most pro-active approach to meeting ‘the one’ or any gay friends come to that.

After their persistent advice, I finally decided to take action. I Googled gay men’s groups. And up popped a gay man’s dinner club. I quickly searched for the date of the next meal, only to discover the group was now defunct.

Probably for the best. I’m sure it would have ended up involving copious amounts of alcohol and I’d have bedded half the men before you could say ‘gay men’s dinner club.’

Known for my perseverance, I refused to give up at the first hurdle. As I scoured the Google search engine, the Gay Outdoor Club caught my eye.

Once I’d clarified that it wasn’t a dogging event, I became increasingly disinterested. JOKE. I became very interested.

I soon discovered that it was a gay walking group. How exciting. Not only would I get to meet fellow gays, I would get exercise and fresh air into the bargain. I had two options to choose from. A London group or the Surrey Hills. Coming to the conclusion that I could walk around London anytime, I decided on the Surrey Hills.

I also noticed that they indulge in coffee and cake at the end of each walk. Cute. And the cakes are baked by some of the members. Being an amateur Mary Berry myself, this gave my spatula a twinge of excitement.

Armed with a lemon drizzle loaf (my speciality), I nervously turned up at my first walk. This particular day was a 13-mile ramble around Hascombe. Yes, Hascombe. I still don’t bloody know where it is but it’s blooming beautiful.

Shaking hands with all the men that were attending the walk was daunting and as the introductions finished, it was clear that I bought the median age range down by about twenty years.

One of the older guys came up to me and offered me a sweet from an open bag he had in his hand. Ignoring advice I’d been given as a child about accepting sweets from strangers, my hand reached into his sweetie bag.

“Which colour willy would you like?” He bellowed as my fingers realised they were fiddling with sugar-laden penises.

As we set off on our walk, the usual small talk ensued as I was asked, “Where do you live?” “What’s your job?” But it was so bloody nice. The surroundings were glorious and I was engaging in conversation with some really friendly people. And they were gay. My friends would be so proud of me. The only conversations I’ve had with gay men in recent years have been via Grindr.

A few miles in and this rather charming, camp man came up to me and grabbed me by the arm. Maybe this is a dogging group after all, I thought as I felt his hand on my arm.

“I just have to tell you darling. Your eyebrows are FABULOUS! They are even better than Kim Kardashians!”

We soon spent the rest of the afternoon laughing and talking random rubbish with each other. We had the same stupid sense of humour and outrageous outlook on life.

As I left the walk that day, my eyebrow admirer came running up to kiss me goodbye. “I feel like I’ve known you my whole life!” He said as we embraced. And it was true. We had clicked automatically. And do you know what was even more refreshing? It was a purely platonic encounter. I certainly felt no romantic notion towards him and I knew the feeling was mutual.

As the walks are only once a month, I found myself counting down the days until the next one. I’ve now been a member for five months and have loved every minute of the days out.

It’s so amazing seeing parts of the countryside that I would never, ever venture into. And with wonderful conversation and laughs from many beautiful souls I’ve met. It’s innuendo city most of the time. Which is right up my alley. Pardon the pun.

It’s the best decision I’ve made in years to join. My advice to you all: Even if you feel scared, just take the plunge. Join that group, book that trip. Grab life by the balls!

During the most recent walk, I engaged in conversation with the chairman.

“We are always looking for new people to lead the walks”, he told me.

“I’d bloody get us lost!” I insisted.

“That’s what I thought five years ago and look at me now. I lead walks and I’m the chairman!”

“Are you trying to groom me?” I quickly retorted. Oh, how we laughed.

Jokes aside, Tullene (my best friend) later said to me that she can see me becoming the chairman one day. Watch this space!

30th January 2020
RESTAURANT REVIEW | Other Side Fried, London

★★★ | Other Side Fried, Brixton, London

Fried chicken was all the rage in 2019 – will it be just as popular in 2020? Well, The Other Side Fried (OSF) is trying to make sure this will be the case.

With five locations in London, including two in Brixton, they are all about fried chicken – just what it says in the name! Buttermilk – dipped chicken is offered in several burger varieties. In my quick visit there one Saturday afternoon to the flagship restaurant in Brixton (not Pop) – the Honey Butter chicken burger stood out on the menu. Loads of pickles and lettuce under the chicken with bacon on top – was – to borrow a well-known phrase – finger lickin’ good! It wasn’t that large considering the price – £8.45 – but it was delicious thanks to the smoked honey butter sauce. My friend had the Bacon Cheese chicken burger with OSF special sauce – at £7.45. Other burgers include the Classic, Buffalo, Garlic & Mayo and Vegan – all priced between £6.45 and £8.45. What makes OSF chicken burgers taste better than KFC? The quality for one, and secondly the taste – OSF are original, and good.

The order of fries was very good – they were of the small-sized variety. I asked for no salt so that I could taste them as they should be tasted – plain, but they came salted – oh well – but were cheap (£2.45). The Dirty Tots were superb. A bit pricey at £5 – they were topped with bacon bits and delicious ranch/hot sauce but weren’t hot at all. We thoroughly enjoyed these and ate them all up.

We tried the Garlic Butter Mayo and Smoked Honey Mustard (superb) dips to go with our chicken and fries (a must at 50p each). If you want bacon or Parmesan cheese these will set you back £1 each. Beer, wine (pending liquor license approval in the main branch) and soft drinks are available as well.

If you find yourself in either Camden (Camden Lock Market), Leicester Square or Peckham (Peckham Levels), you’ll find their other locations. They are smaller so there are less menu options but the quality of food is the same throughout all the locations. The original location is right near Brixton tube station – you can’t miss it – it’s all glass – and an ugly orange inside. Too bad loud rap music was on play – not pleasant for this small 16-seater location. And unusually it was not busy at all when we were there – at Saturday lunchtime.

Thanks to OSF – it looks like the fried chicken craze is here to stay – though I’d still stay away from Chicken with waffles – it’s so so wrong!

Find out more: http://www.othersidefried.com

29th January 2020
CAR REVIEW | Jaguar F-Pace SVR

Catapult for the Road.

Jaguar’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) has taken their spanners to the all-important and top-selling Jaguar F-Pace. Looking through the model options on the F-Pace, it would seem that the V6 S we tested back in May 2018 has now gone, replaced by this all-new SVR model.

On paper alone, it doesn’t sound like much progress has been made from replacing the 375PS supercharged V6 with a 550PS supercharged V8. You might be thinking “hold on Stuart…” because these figures alone are impressive. I’ll grant you that they are. What it lays down on the road doesn’t exactly look like much in terms of the 0-60 second sprint. Just 1 second is knocked off the S models 5.1 second time.

Where the fun lies is in the top speed that you’ll never achieve on the public road of 176mph and the massive increase in torque delivery you will get when you put your foot down. Now you have 680Nm from 2,500 – 5,500rpm. We don’t need to consider the old model anymore.

Development

It feels like SVO has done some work on the iQ-Al (D7a) modular platform that is shared with the enjoyable XE saloon. And that work feels a little more than a mild tweak and a tap with a hammer. Finally, the F-Pace has the handling that enables it to keep up with its greater power outputs. It can still plough on but this time you can encourage the rear end to catch up far quicker than before. There is no doubting that the extra grunt in useable lowdown torque helps to attribute to this vastly and enjoyable improvement.

What this also means is it can all get a bit messy and a lot of fun. It makes for a big car that feels less nervous. Even on moist roads, the traction is all there and exploitable. Now we have a car that gets a bit twitchy on the rear when confronted with coming out of fast roundabouts if you so wish for it to do so.

And all of this happens before, and by accidentally, that you select S on the gear stick. I’ll be a little unprofessional here and say I did scream and cry at the same time as it shot down the road like a stone from a catapult. What felt like a fast vehicle suddenly became even faster with more response from throttle inputs and manual inputs with gear changes.

Legally you can’t use this outrageous amount of power all the time. There comes a time where you need to be civil to other road users. Sometimes that means shutting off the snarling exhaust sound system controlled by a system of flaps and baffles.

On a normal kind of drive or commute, the F-Pace SVR is a gentle giant. Its interior on this press model, were rather cosseting and the though the seats didn’t visually lend themselves to look comfortable, did a good job.

Attention To Details

Inside the F-Pace, there is an absence of race materials. Instead, Jaguar has opted for leather and soft-touch materials where it is needed. It’s fit and finish are OK though they would struggle to match those from BMW and Mercedes and its looks are a little dated now.

And this is a shame because this is Jaguar and it’s a premium brand of car. But it fails in a few areas of neglect that niggle a bit if you go looking for them. The glovebox, for instance, has some unrefined sharp edges around it and then we get to my visual dislike in a Jaguar interior. Namely in the ambient illuminations set in the doors. Personally I’ve never liked blue lighting. It’s a harsh light so add this to the black and red leather interior and you do wonder who at Jaguar is in charge of making this decision. Other interior colours are available in black with cream or tobacco or all black.

And this is the main problem for the F-Pace. It’s 4 years old in 2020 and dated inside because of this. Thankfully for £210, you can tick a box that gives you a choice of 10 colours. Keep it white as standard and you wouldn’t need this.

All this extra doesn’t come cheap and that’s before you’ve added your own essentials. You’ll regret not adding such items like the ‘driver assistance pack’ at £3100 so you can kiss the reasonable list price of £75,335 goodbye. Add the options that we have here and it tips the scales at over £83k.

Can I justify this to you? If motoring is on a budget then no, this F-Pace is not for you but you might find what you want lower down the range. That said, if a fast SUV vehicle with a kick is what you want, you’d find a lot of the competition out there quite lacklustre. There aren’t that many as accomplished and as outrageous as this and that’s why I’m rather taken by it.

Love

Sound

Civilised driving

Can be an unruly brute

Loathe

Blue ambient lighting

Expensive options that you need

Interior design showing its age

The Lowdown

Car – Jaguar F-Pace SVR

Price – £83,625 (as tested)

MPG – 22.1mpg (WLTP combined)

Power – 550PS @ 6,000 – 6,500rpm

0-62mph – 4.1 seconds

Top Speed – 176 mph

Co2 – 272 (g/km)

All pictures: Stuart M Bird (C)

29th January 2020
Theatre Review | Peter Pan Goes Wrong – National Tour

★★★ | Peter Pan Goes Wrong – Sheffield Theatres

The cast of Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society are back, with a disaster filled version of Peter Pan. Somewhere between the scenery collapsing, the technical hitches, backstage fallouts and some unrequited love between cast members, the troupe try to desperately to keep the show on the rails as chaos increasingly takes over, Peter Pan stops thinking happy thoughts and the crocodile becomes the star of the show.

Mischief Theatre returns following on from The Play That Goes Wrong and The Comedy About A Bank Robbery with two hours of laughter-inducing slapstick humour as the fictional cast try desperately to get through the performance. With slick precision and perfect comic timing, the cast plough through a barrage of jokes with a broad scattergun approach to the humour, as some jokes hit the mark, some miss completely and with another gag always rapidly following the last.

There were certainly plenty of smiles, chuckles and belly laughs to be had throughout the show’s duration, although the last ten minutes did descend more into silliness than comedy, but this didn’t detract from the feel-good factor the show produces. Cast member Oliver Stenton steals most of the scenes he touches; whilst Tom Babbage captures the hearts of the audience as the hapless Max.

If you have seen Mischief Theatre before, then you will know exactly what to expect and you won’t be disappointed as they continue with their trademark humour. If you’ve not, then Peter Pan Goes Wrong is a great introduction to them with an enjoyable, silly and easily entertaining show.

Peter Pan Goes Wrong is at Sheffield Theatres until 1^st February 2020 before continuing on its national tour.

29th January 2020
Hate crimes against transgender people decreased by 23 per cent in Scotland

The latest statistics from the Hate Crime In Scotland report show that charges in relation to transgender hate crime decreased by 16 per cent in the 2018/19 period compared to the year before.

Court proceedings were commenced in respect of 29 of the 40 charges.

In the same period, homophobic hate crime charges increased by five per cent.

In total, 40 charges of transphobic hate crime were reported to the Procurator Fiscal in Scotland in 2018/19. The previous period recorded 52 reports, this is a decrease of 23 per cent.

In contrast, crimes charged and reported on the basis of sexuality increased to over 1100 reported crimes.

In 2018 to 2019 hate crimes based on sexual orientation rose by five per cent according to a report on Hate Crime In Scotland. There were 1,176 charges reported in 2018-19. The numbers of crimes reported and charged have risen year on year since 2010, except in 2014/15.

Since 2010 hate crimes against gay and bi people have increased by over 160 per cent.

Homophobia the only hate crime to rise

CREDIT: Yastremska-bigstock

In contrast to religious, race and gender identity-based crime, hate crime based on sexual orientation is the only hate crime to steadily climb.

Although race-based hate crimes are the most reported type of hate crime, the number of charges reported has decreased by 37% since a peak in 2011-12.

29th January 2020
This is where you shouldn’t take your valentine’s date

Pexels / Pixabay

Valentine’s day is fast approaching and for many of us, the question about where to go with our date still looms. From romantic dinners to hiking, the options are never-ending. But what is the perfect date?

Farawayfurtniture.com were keen to find the answers and surveyed 1,546 people, asking them to rate each date activity out of 10 (10 being very good and 0 being very bad).

Drinks, came on top as the best activity to do on a first date, according to 38% of respondents. One respondent stated that having an alcoholic beverage on a date, made them “more talkative and social.”

Attend a comedy night, was surprisingly rated the second-best date. A whopping 36% said this would be their favourite activity.

The third best-rated date was, in fact, a walk, according to 35% of respondents. On a budget? No problem- just take your date on a walk!

Farawyafurtniture.com revealed that the typical dinner date, is NOT the most favoured activity- despite popular opinion.

One respondent commented saying dinner dates were “too formal and often awkward.”

Instead, people rated active and fun activities much higher.

Furthermore, the experts revealed that people would rather go to a museum (25%) than a theme park (13%).

To delve deeper, the experts analysed the different activities different age groups preferred. The results found that…

People in their 20s do not want to go for drinks! Only 42% of respondents rated this the best idea, in comparison to over half of the respondents arguing mini-golf was the best activity (51%).

Say no to picnics…

Finally, if your date is in their 20s, avoid picnics and museums.

Having a picnic and visiting a museum were the worst-rated ideas by people in their 20s.

People in their 30-40s, were the only age group, that rated dinner and drinks the best first date. Surprisingly, no other age group rated drinks and dinner the best activity.

People aged between 40-50, seem to love their comedy nights, with 40% rating this the best first date.

People aged in their 50-60s appear to keep things simple, with a walk being the best first date.

This was closely followed by a comedy night. Make sure to avoid theme parks and bowling though- these ideas were rated the worst by people in their 50-60s.

29th January 2020