BLACK HISTORY IN BRITAIN - WWII

 BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2022

Black History Month 2022 was about building blocks and breaking barriers to inclusion through educational events. It's been a busy month as usual where the demand for storytelling increases for both adult and children/young people's workshops. However schools and institutions are beginning to recognise the inclusion of Black History throughout the year. The highlight of my Black History Month activities was the event at RAF Marham - Aviation Heritage Centre - on Wednesday 19th October, this day was dedicated with  a tribute to Justice Philip Ulric Cross. The day witnessed the unveiling of a plaque and a seminar celebrating his life in the conference room named after him. This event is an example of the building blocks to inclusion of people of colour, as Black, Asian and other minority groups have always been hidden in history.

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?

Why do we need to celebrate Autistic Pride Day?

 Autism and Inclusion

This year's theme for World Autism Day is "Inclusion in the Workplace: Challenges and Opportunities in a post-pandemic world." It's such an important topic, particularly because we see autism as a challenge and they rarely highlight the advantages in various institutions. I began working in compulsory education in a secondary school at the beginning of the Millenium as a Learning Support Assistant where I worked with pupils registered with special needs. From the onset in that school and in future schools and colleges I've worked in, I remarked at the high intelligence many of the autistic pupils portrayed. However, their strengths went uncelebrated. Schools focused on ensuring that mainstream pupils' exam grades put the school in good stead. Until the world unlearns to define what "normal" is, we will be forever fighting for inclusion for all people. 

Run Together : COVID-19

Stay Socially Connected

Fly Girls UK - Stronger Together

On Tuesday going on information by our governing body England Athletics and Public Health England we suspended our social meetings, run activities and so forth until April because of COVID19. It was disheartening to hear that the epidemic would cancel our meetings until further notice and social distancing is the order of the day. Our members had recently returned to join the Spring Season Sunday meetings after long-term injuries and were looking forward to exciting expeditions along the canals and further afield.

Over the years members have made friends and bonded and also made Fly Girls Wellness Sunday morning activities their routine. In the same vein, emerging writers and others who attend the writing workshops for wellbeing enjoyed the benefits of meeting each other and new people to share writing and discuss topics they write about in a trusting space. So the news of postponed activities hit everyone hard.

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.

Climbing from 2019 to 2020

Time to recollect and envisage our growth

Fly Girls Wellness Pride of Brent/
Fly Girls UK Sundays at Wembley Stadium

We have climbed! Be it steep hills or mountains, in taking our baby steps and keeping moving we have gone from strength to strength in the Fly Girls Community and with our collaborative partner projects in 2019. We started the year on a walking mission up and down the hills of Harrow, starting from Wembley Park and taking a detour back to Wembley Park. Led by our walk leader Priti Khatri it was a cold Sunday morning on our first-morning meeting back for the year. The objective was to get some strength training in and enjoy the local surroundings especially for the members entering the Vitality Big Half Marathon.

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.

Pride of Brent Awards 2019

The Fly Girls Pride

Fly Girls Wellness being awarded
by Brent Council Leaders and Mayor of Brent
Leader Cllr Muhammed Butt, Mayor Cllr Ernest Ezeajughi
and far-right Chief Executive Carolyn Downs

A fortnight ago our community group celebrated being awarded the Pride of Brent at The Drum in a glitzy and glamorous event. The Fly Girls Wellness originally started as a running group in 2016 for beginner runners before catering for the needs of all its members and listening to the voices of the community by adding the walking element.

Three Ways to Transform Your Health

Three Easy Ways to Transform the Health of Your Body and Mind

It may seem difficult to lead a healthy life, but it’s actually quite simple to make a few small changes. These little alterations can quickly add up to create a healthier and happier you.

All it takes is some extra work and careful planning to get on the right track.

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.

Lace Up for 2019

What was and is to come

It's been a while since the last post on this blog, and what a great year 2018 has been for Fly Girls Wellness services with our running and writing communities. Our work empowering women has had a significant successful impact on members and inspiring others in the wider community. Two participants of the writing workshops have published their debut books at the end of the year.

Fly Girl Marcia

Marcia at BMR
Brooklyn, New York

One of the founding members and our front-runner for Fly Girls (FG) Running Community Marcia is a passionate runner whose essence motivates the team. Mileage Marcia loves running with her community on Sunday morning at Wembley Stadium. On event days at the Stadium FG runners run independently and Marcia does just that and encourages the others through the group chat.

Pushing for Progress

International Women's Month Review

Amanda & Leena Khatri at The Grand Hall
Brent Civic Centre

We celebrated the fifth anniversary of Ms Rose Blossom project on International Women's Day with a large community of women at the Brent Council Pressing For Progress Event. It was an honour to be part of the speakers/presenters included on the 8th of March. A diverse mix of women, young and old and in between shared stories of activism in pushing for progress for the empowerment of women, including Samira-Caterina Monteleone from Brent's UK Youth Parliament, Maggie Toy on the Suffragettes in Brent. Also on the line up for entertainments were an Asian Bollywood troupe, from the over 60s Brent Punjabi Association Dance Group.

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.

Anthony Joshua's Victory

Boxing Bootcamp

Anthony Joshua's tug of war Victory
Victory Park

Despite being a freezing cold morning last Thursday, hundreds of parkers turned up for a fun filled boxing fitness session, an Our Parks and Lucozade partnership with world champion undefeated heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua, AJ as special guest chief trainer.

Turn up tone up team of OurParks coaches kept the sports enthusiasts motivated and warmed up for 30mins before AJ took the centre stage in Victory Park fields in East Village, Stratford. The cheerful boxer got everyone doing squats to sprinting on the spot, and we did shadow boxing techniques in this masterclass.

The hype continued in part two with the tug of war game, of course AJ on the landslide victory side. It was an amazing and magical morning training with the Sportsman, leaving everyone feeling pumped to have trained with AJ and engage with him, needless to say the buzz of outdoor exercise.

Making it Important

Make it Happen

On the second Sunday of the month it was the first Fly Girls RunTogether meet for 2018, nine of us turned up ready to get active at Wembley Stadium, no matter the cold weather this morning. It's around about this time, the middle of the first month that we tend to forget our new year resolutions and goals we wish to achieve for the year. However our team were vibrant this morning and we talked about running goals individually and what 5km races we could do together as a group at our brief meeting before our warm up.  Here's a few tips on making sure you make it happen for an active 2018.