Remembrance Sunday - British Commonwealth Countries

 Armistice Day - Pilots of the Caribbean & Flying For Britain

When forces join together we break new ground and take-off to higher heights. Ex-military, City Government personnel, actors, historians and other special guests where amongst the audience standing on the 17th floor of City Hall Westminster watching over the magnificent views of the grounds of Buckingham Palace where the traditional celebrations of Armistice Day took place observing the two minute silence at 11am on 11/11/2022. Following the procedure witnessed from the window view The Pilots of the Caribbean event with Flying For Britain Film Premiere began. 

Spring Blossoms

Break the bias through stories

International Women's Day 

March is the month for Ms Rose Blossom, it's the month of International Women's Day/Women's History Month and when this blog began, nine years ago. I've had remarkable opportunities to empower girls and young women ( boys also included) at primary, secondary schools and library centres as a storyteller and author, encouraging them to aspire higher and believe they can fly from World Book Day/Week to the month end. Sharing my own journey and other stories of fly girls/ pioneer women it was delightful to see how much of a positive impact a good story can make. I was also fortunate to be recruited on to the BBC 100 years of storytelling tour around the UK, with the aim to encourage the next generation into storytelling careers.

How awards can help writers growth

Queen's Honours Awards

Reflecting on June's journey in my work of girls and women empowerment I humbly received the honour of a BEM award from the Queen's Honour birthday list, this prompted me to do a blog post to share the importance of accepting awards and why one should. Whilst working to support women and girls in the community is a vocation and not expectant of awards, there is also a joy of being celebrated and your work recognised. The Prime Minister officially acknowledges the panel's shortlisted candidates, after the government hands them over to the Queen who has the final approval. Why would one dismiss the awards under Order of the British Empire? Well, one reason Black Asian and Ethnic Minorities, BAME people do not accept these awards is because of the title being associated with empire? 

Why Race is a major component of failing school inclusion

 Women and Writers of Colour

Black Books - Non-Fiction

Last week my blog post was on inclusion failure as schools celebrated School Diversity Week, and this week gives further evidence on this matter. Not only are activists seeking to address the lack of black history in the school curriculum, but there are also findings that only 7% of women writers being studied at GCSE level English Literature, and a shocking 0.7% of writers of colour being included in the English Curriculum Key Stage 2- 4. The race equality think tank Runnymede Trust and Penguin Random House collaborated to investigate the lack of representation from ethnic minority authors and writers of colour. 

Why Inclusion is Failing?

 School Diversity Week

This week schools work on celebrating LGBT+ & Equality and Inclusion from 21st - 25th June. Last week I posted on Autism and Inclusion discussing why we need to celebrate our differences. But when the week is over, things return to normal, and only when the nation has campaigns do we remember to celebrate or create changes for excluded people. This is the same for Black History Month, a time when there is a possibility for black professionals to be invited into schools to give talks, and for our history to be shared in lessons. Things have improved recently with some schools taking time to collaborate with black-led organisations. The celebrations include the start of mandatory black history as The Black Curriculum since June 2020 campaigned for this to be actioned, and have trained over 3,300 teachers and 3,500 students reached to date. But why is inclusion failing?

Lessons for the Write Mind

Mental Health Awareness Week

Writing Webinar
led by Amanda Epe, Jo Robinson, and Anita Kelly

The past week with kindness as a theme for mental health awareness week, my colleagues and I began the week with free delivery of writing for wellbeing webinar, as a therapy to cope with the lockdown.

An intimate group of 13 participants joined the webinar to reflect and write about their resilience in overcoming struggles in the past, delivered by Mental Health Trainer Anita Kelly. Writing workshop facilitator Jo Robinson talked about lockdown learning, what have people learned about themselves, looking at the positives, and how they have been kind to themselves prompting the writing task.

How we celebrate IWD 2020

Each for Equal with Fly Girls

We are in our favourite period celebrating International Women's Day, Week, Month and looking forward to the year 2020 for the Fly Girls Wellness project.

On Sunday 8th, International Women's Day Fly Girls be active walk & run group met for Sunday celebrations after our regular run, to share stories and have a healthy drink, it was cheering to all who took part in the Vitality Big Half Marathon, and a special cheers to three of our first time half marathoners.

Our first-timers are still smiling since the 1st March, they say running uplifts you and we know that buzz you get afterward. However, our team are feeling on a high for their achievements, Jackie a very easy going gentle paced runner had recently started training for the event and had a smashing time of 2hrs and 34 mins, running most of the race and walking the last 3 miles.

The Borough of Cultures 2020

All Rise

Join us for RISE- the opening event of Brent's year as London Borough of Culture on Saturday 18 January at Wembley Park. RISE will be a spectacular family-friendly outdoor show, with a local community cast of hundreds, telling the story of Brent through dance, theatre and projections, set to an incredible soundtrack, against the backdrop of Wembley Stadium. Brent is the home of Rachel Yankey, Riz Ahmed, Zadie Smith, the Grunwick strikers, legendary family businesses, famous Irish pubs, trailblazing young poets, Metroland Brent 2020, London Borough of Culture architects, great roads and the builders of the biggest Hindu Temple in Europe. Like Brent they did, and do, things in their own way.

Come rain or shine, ALL RISE!
Saturday 18 January 2020 Performance at 7pm Olympic Way, Wembley Park www.brent2020.co.uk/programmes/rise/

End Violence Against Women Conference

16 Days of Activism

Amanda Epe speaker
Stop The Violence Conference NCC

Keeping the conversation going days after the 16 days of activism ending on Human Rights Day December 10th is vitally important in society to end the violence against women. Commencing on End the Violence toward women and girls day 25th November the conversations focus on women's safety against sexual and domestic violence globally. On a local level in a Newman School in West London, a panel of women spoke on issues to school girls at the annual Stop the Violence conference.

Balancing For Better in Brent

Being Fly and a Pride in Brent

                                                                              Poet Iman Hamid

March is always a great month of celebrations for Ms Rose Blossom's fly girls projects. It is the anniversary of this blog which commenced on International Women's Day 2013. During this period collaborating with other women's projects, with individuals and organisations celebrating women is part of our major focus. One such is the partnership with Brent Council who invited participation form Fly Girls Wellness to share and inspire other women and the community at large.

Fly Girls at The Vitality Big Half London Marathon

Fly Girls Weather the Storm

BBC Clip on The Big Half Vitality Run

Two weeks ago on Sunday 10th March a few of our team were anxious as for most it was their first ever half marathon. Fly Girls Running Community are a beginners running group that meets on Sunday mornings for a run around Wembley Stadium, ten signed up to do the 13.5mile run as a group and others separately for alternative distance runs scheduled for the day. The motivation for our team to do this was the knowledge that your peers were with you on the route, regardless of the distance you were from each other during the race. Having entered the 5km and 10km races locally and London wide the next progressive step was to try this race out, but by no means was anyone under pressure to enter.

'Becoming' A book by Michelle Obama

Becoming an author

Accomplished could have easily been an alternative title for Michelle Obama's debut book 'Becoming'. We are taken back to her childhood and growing up in the first chapter and mostly throughout part one. So detailed was this section that it could have the reader wondering whether or not this would be an autobiography rather than a memoir of becoming the First Lady and the First Black First Lady. Michelle nee Robinson was a fastidious student and she recalls her determination to be her best in education from her first days at school in spelling quizzes. Her parents had sacrificed enormously for their children's education, Michelle and her older brother Craig, their background was the building blocks for both of them to excel academically, Michelle going on to Ivy League institutions.

Writing and Wellbeing

Writing as a Social Therapy

Are you a writerholic, who like many others and myself use the process to clear your mind, make sense of situations and the past? Many writers are addicts to pen and paper and for this reason it is their therapy. It brings clarity to their thoughts as writers dig into their subconscious. As writers express themselves and become real with their words there is a remarkable transformation of feelings.

African Fashion Week London 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAxouoCZCFY&feature=youtu.be

Drop me a mail for further info

Why Mindfulness is important for Wellness

MIND, BODY & SPIRIT

Mind, Body, Spirt for wellbeing

Welcome to the official summer month of June. Reflecting on the month of May i challenged myself on the Bill Thwaites sugar free month. Subscribers to the challenge were to give up sugar, wheat and processed foods. The main purpose of this was to curb our addictions. I subscribed unknowingly of the whole foods to eliminate which was giving up wheat and processed foods.

Why Writers Must Be Bold For Change

Young Writers Being Bold for Change


Young people have much to say and are the ones who can change the future, the power is in their minds and in their hands. In order for writers to improve in their writing they go through the process, the continuity of writing and rewriting daily. The young people have the added advantage of improving and honing this skill and developing creativity at an early age. It is ideally their time to begin the writing career if they feel fired up with passion for their words and thoughts to be expressed and published.

This years International Women's Day theme was Being Bold For Change, Brent Council's International Women's Day celebrated this with intriguing speakers, dance, poetry and workshops. The highlight of the performers were the young poets namely Zara D and Rares Maglan. Zara aged 9 performed an inspiring poem The Empowered Women which she delivered with confidence and zeal. Public speaking is an activity most people fear, however this young lass owned the stage, having started performing at the age of 3 years and since gaining several acting roles.

Rashmit Kalra launches Colour of Silence

Reviewing Colours of Silence a collection by poet Rashmit Kalra

Colours-Silence-Rashmit-Kalra-ebook

Heart, mind and soul has been poured into the poetry of Rashmit’s enriching “Colours of Silence” book, and added with the essence of love. Wearing her heart on the sheets the readers can feel the vibrations of the poignant penned works, ranging from her own search to the meaning of life; spiritual connection to humanity, the creator and all creation; and her thoughts on pain, loss and end of life. Divided into two sections Glimpses of Self and Whispers of Life these verses have words, phrases and paradoxes that all beings can relate to. Selfish and egotistical are what authors and writers are described as by eminent authors themselves, yet when reading the Glimpses of Self, themes of oneness with others, the view of nothingness of all creation and the unpretentiousness thought of meaningless labels in the Divine Glimpses polarize the self-centered belief about authors like Rashmit. The Whispers of Life section paints the colours of nature, celebrates the beauty of life and has a calming effect to silence the mind of fear and embrace the flow.

International Women Day 2015

Encouraging Fly Girls to Make it Happen

Amanda Epe delivering school assembly

I was delighted to lead the assembly for International Women's Day at Ricards Lodge School to approximately 500 girls this week. Invited and introduced by the Assistant Head Teacher Mrs Sawyerr who leads the campaigns in the assemblies, I began by asking the girls if they were ready to fly and if they believe they can fly. The key point was to deliver messages of self-worth and determination.

FGM Education and Campaign Work

A Flying Start

Outspoken

"A Fly Girl" first released as an ebook end November 2014 had a flying start being in the best seller list from the first week, and a month later still a hit. In collaboration with Black and Outspoken this book went on a book blog tour, on an exciting international travel. Tundun Adeyemo professional and passionate, and her team were all extremely excited over the six weeks of the book tour. It travelled from the U.K to Nigeria and U.S.A being featured in top blogspots as well as national papers and magazines. In one particular publication the author interview created a grand buzz, going viral with over 500 social media shares. Needless to say it was overwhelming with the interest request for a debut author.