Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Chief Executive of the Guide Association, known for modernizing Girl Guiding and championing young people's confidence and direction.
On the island
Eight records
Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves
Aretha Franklin and Eurythmics
this was in the charts when I was about 16 years old but at the time I didn't understand what feminism was… this song which very powerfully said women don't have to always just be behind a man for success, they can be successful in their own right was something that really resonated with me
the narrative is around somebody who comes from a place which was very difficult, but having some potential and seeing an opportunity and going for it
this is homage really to my big brother and sister… they used to dance to this song and they danced to this song so much that they actually wore holes in our carpet
Frankie Goes to Hollywood were so different when they came onto the scene from anything we were hearing… this song kind of summed up that sense of wow, this is new and nobody else knows what this feels like
we developed a project working with young people around drug and alcohol issues. And one of the songs that we used to use to help kind of prompt their thinking was this song… Lots of people think this is a song promoting drug use, but actually it isn't
You're My Best FriendFavourite
we chose this one, Queen, You're My Best Friend. And so we had this song playing as we walked back down the garden path, which was our version of the aisle. And it's absolutely true. Sean is my very best friend.
my mum… said, I really want this song played at my funeral… I wrote to Harry Seacombe, and extraordinary, I got a reply, and he said your mum's right, she did hear me singing the song, but I haven't actually recorded it. But I hope the enclosed is helpful.
A version of this song was used as a theme tune to the iconic film Cathy Come Home, which following that film, the charity Shelter, was started. I became a trustee of Shelter… I'm incredibly proud to be a trustee of the organisation.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:31Is it important to you that things have a sort of practical, life enhancing force behind them?
Yes, it really is. Many, many years ago, I reached the conclusion that what I really, really wanted to do was to work with young people. And more importantly, I wanted to work in the not for profit sector because I was brought up with a really very strong sense of personal responsibility. but also responsibility to the wider world. And I have sometimes faced some criticism for some of my choices, working in the field of drug and alcohol addiction, working in the field of sexual health. But actually I was brought up with a very, very strong moral compass which said to me that you don't turn your back on people because they're vulnerable or because they've got problems and you certainly don't turn your back on people who are being discriminated against. What you do is you stand by those people and do what you can.
Presenter asks
3:08Why then is it the ultimate feminist organization?
Uh I think the first thing to say is what do I mean when I say the word feminist? Because actually I think many people see it as a hugely negative word. When I say I'm a feminist, all I mean by that is that I believe that there should be parity between men and women, socially, politically and economically. And you know, some people like to interpret this as, you know, she hates men or she's angry with the world. I'm actually pretty happy with the world and actually really love men. But the fact remains that we still don't have that parity between men and women, and therefore the job isn't done, and it isn't time to stop talking about that yet.
The keepsakes
The luxury
my family and my friends are the world to me, and if I've got to be there on my own, then I at least need to be able to look at their lovely faces frequently.
Presenter asks
6:42Some people might be made rather uncomfortable with the idea that guiding gets involved in that sort of area [No More Page Three campaign]. How would you reply to that?
I would say what guiding is about is what is relevant to girls and young women today. And actually, this is how the society is, and our girls and young women are very aware of these issues. So we're not exposing them to things they aren't aware of. What we're doing is we're creating a safe space for them to talk about them and express their views about them.
Presenter asks
10:55Do you remember the impact of [your father losing his job] on the family?
The thing that I remember most was his absolute determination to get another job. He would leave the house every day and he would walk for miles and miles and miles and he would go in every shop, every factory, and he did that until he got a job.
Presenter asks
16:22Tell me about your first few days in work [as an apprentice police photographic technician]. How did it go?
Well, it wasn't the best first few days in work. Um in the interview one of the questions they asked me was if I was squeamish. And I didn't consider myself to be squeamish, so said no. But it became very clear very quickly that this was beyond squeamish because I was exposed to the most horrific of images, you know, um people that had died in car crashes. people that had killed themselves, children that had been starved to death. I think I knew on my very first day that I had made a terrible mistake because I was actually physically sick. And I said, you know, I really don't want to be a person that can see these images and not feel physically sick at them. So I resigned and actually left without another job to go to.
Presenter asks
21:02Do you think it's the case that we just need to abandon ideas of innocence [when talking to young people about sex and relationships]?
I think we need to forget that. That notion of, you know, by talking to young people about the realities of some things you are taking away their innocence, that presumes that young people didn't know about and weren't aware of the things. The fact is most young people are aware of a degree of life in the big wide world that we certainly weren't aware of. So we can't hold back. The fact is they know. So when I was a t teenager, I wasn't aware of pornography. Actually, pornography regretfully, is so easily accessible nowadays on social media. And so my view on this is it isn't going to help them by pretending it's not there. If they're accessing it and seeing it, then we have a responsibility to help them understand that that is not a true representation of a relationship between two people.
“I was brought up with a very, very strong moral compass which said to me that you don't turn your back on people because they're vulnerable or because they've got problems and you certainly don't turn your back on people who are being discriminated against. What you do is you stand by those people and do what you can.”
“My mum was an incredible woman. She wasn't educated, she wasn't academically bright, but she was incredibly bright in life. And she dealt with having an incredibly shy little girl on her hands with a huge amount of compassion, but also with a really good balance of determination that this wasn't going to define who I was.”
“I found confidence in that year and I also realized that I was good at something and that other people saw good in me and I don't think that had occurred to me before.”
“I wrote to Harry Seacombe, and extraordinary, I got a reply, and he said your mum's right, she did hear me singing the song, but I haven't actually recorded it. But I hope the enclosed is helpful. And in the package was an old cassette tape of him singing the song. And so I went to mum and she was just beside herself because firstly she was beside herself that I would write to Sir Harry Seacombe. I mean that's not the sort of thing we did in our family, write to celebrities. Um but even more, of course, taken aback by the fact that there had been a response. So It was very poignant at her funeral when the song was played, and I still have that old tape.”