Transition Bedford

Ban Ki Moon addressing the conference

This clip is essential viewing for anyone following Copenhagen

As Copenhagen fails do not despair!!! There will be an international treaty but it will be led by the people, it will probably be done in a couple of years and it will be much more ground breaking, deep routed, driven and worldshiftng than that being discussed at Copenhagen. I’ll explain myself below.

I put a lot of faith and hope in Copenhagen but taking a step back and viewing this conference as part of wider set of activities the timing was quite clearly not right.  We often hear the Einstein quote;

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them”

Most world leaders are well and truly still using the same kind of thinking that caused the problem and given a mindset that is almost “mindset as usual” lets imagine that our leaders came up with what is from our current thinking an “ambitous, fair and legally binding treaty”. Do not underestimate two consequences;
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On the 15th of November i wrote a blog article about Patrick Hall’s (MP to Bedford and Kempston) decision to vote against the 10:10 bill. He kindly responded to the post and I promised to publish his response “in full” here below. In fact there’s two response letters. The first is his response to the blog post and the second is his response to my earlier request that he vote in favor of 10:10. He and i will always disagree over his decision but i have the upper most respect over his attention to mine (and i imagine other constituents)  questions and requests. Truth is we now need much much more than attention if we are going to get ourselves out of this hole. Bold leadership is imperative.

It’s also worth noting that this subject was discussed on TB google group were one of the TB Initiating Group members has put forward some really insightful comments that most certainly opened my eyes. I haven’t named the individual because i haven’t asked permission but you can read the discussion in full here.

My Ref PH/LJ

18 November 2009

Dear Mr Hughes

Thank you for your email sent 17 November 2009 regarding your recent blog post on the 10:10 campaign. After reading the content of your blog, I feel it necessary to formally respond as clearly my views have been misunderstood.

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Lynn Serafinn (right) receiving BBW Award

This month, I had the great honour of receiving the Bedfordshire Businesswomen (BBW) 2009 Award for “Working within a Community Organisation or Not-for-Profit Organisation”, for my work as Founder of the Global Wellness Circle, a holistic health and wellness community, as well as my more recent work as Chair of Transition Bedford.

The winners of the BBW awards were announced Wednesday 18 November 2009 at the Woburn Sculpture Park. There were 6 awards in various business categories, all sponsored by Barclays Bank. Transition Bedford was specifically cited during the ceremony as a key reason for their selecting me for this award.

If any of you are unfamiliar with BBW, it is a long-established and highly reputable not-for-profit networking organisation for women who live and/or have business interests in the Bedfordshire area. I have been a member now for 2 years, although the awards were not restricted to members only. The women in this organisation own and run some of the most successful and influential businesses in the county, if not the country.

To have Transition Bedford be recognised at this level is not only a personal honour for me, but it is also a clear indication that the need for and importance of the work we are doing together at Transition Bedford is starting to be duly recognised by local business owners.

After the awards, I spoke with Jenny Tomsett, President of BBW, about having Transition Bedford lead a presentation at one of their upcoming meetings in 2010. (more…)

I am not sure if this is entirely appropriate, but I would like to use this opportunity to praise some of the very fine businesses we have here in Bedford. In particular, I note that we have some very good restaurants. There is Casa Del Tequila and Saffron in Tavistock Street.  There is also The Orchid Bay and Indiya in The Broadway.

We have The Swan Hotel, The Embankment Hotel and Eat Fish on the Embankment near the town bridge and we have the fabulous Barns Hotel and The Kings Arms in nearby Cardington.

We even have a Lebanese Restaurant,  Reem in the High Street and, opposite it, we have our very own Casbah, which means that one can sit in the Casbah and watch the world go by, without even leaving Bedford!

Yesterday, I visited Harpurs for the first time. I was so impressed, I have written a very positive review of the place on my website. If you are interested, you can find it here:

www.richardgillard.webs.com/GeneralLinks.html#Harpurs

Finally, surely no review of Bedford Cafe Society could be complete without mention of our most excellent Real Ale Public House, The Wellington in Wellington Street.