The Council have now provided this tiny business with the help they needed. The Council have provided a reasonable date to quit and they've provided them with new premises which will allow them to continue their good works.

I've thanked the Council for their kindness and I'd now like to thank everyone out there who has helped this wonderful place. In particular, I'd like to offer my personal thanks to Councillor Chris Chappell, Councillor Jim Kenyon and the mighty Grid Knocker for all they did to aid their cause.

Thank you all very much. My warmest regards.

Mind, you never know what your going to find when you read the Dear Deirdre Letter's page of The Sun newspaper.

Imagine my disappointment to read the words of my own wife of forty years who, without consulting me, wrote to Deirdre complaining about my lovemaking techniques and I quote, 'Deidre I do so hate his fat face. Is it still illegal to poison your spouse?'

But this ain't the reason for my posting. Not at all! I mean you'd be a fool to disclose this sort of sensitive information that relates to ones manly ability to pleasure his wife. After muttering, 'you brazen strumpet and rotten old cow', my eyes, both of them, were drawn to another letter posted by two men who's names I immediately recognised as being familiar. NEILL and FEATHERSTONE!

Straight away, I thought, 'hi up. Funny' and I read their letter. Basically, they held positions of power within a Council, both acknowledged being cruel and heartless toward a group of people with disabilities and both were now suffering with insomnia because of dreadful images of what lay before them when they entered Hell.

Deirdre, clearly a woman familiar with the plight of Rosé Tinted Rags, replied, 'a curse on the pair of you. I pray to the God that slew Kane and Able that you both suffer an eternity of anguish and regret for the way in which you helped destroy the lives of Gods innocents. Get stuffed. Clear off and put right all you've done wrong.

Then, frankly,it all got out of hand. This bloody agony aunt took things a bit to far claiming that if she ever bumped into the pair of them in a public place she'd kick off, thrash them with her handbag and get me involved in the fracas.

And I ain't having it. I'll be damned if this woman, albeit for good and honourable reasons, drags me into a fight with this loathsome, greedy and insensitive pair of public servants who've brought hurt, anguish and sadness to my dear and good friends at The Tann Brook Centre.

This story was on the front page of the HT website today for about 15 minutes before it was pulled - the link is here, as are my comments. Bill Tanner is doing some excellent work on the Futiles at the moment - we all suspected (and knew) that we were being stitched up - now we are starting to see by just how much and measures being taken to try and withhold the facts.

http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/11058417.Hereford_Futures___council_does_not_hold_board_papers/?ref=var_0

The Old Market

Leasing brochure attached

Old-Market-Brochure.pdf

I've just returned from a visit to Rosé Tinted Rags, situated at The Tann Brook Centre, Rockfield Road, Hereford.

On this visit I noticed a marked change in the moral of the staff. Last week they were optimistic, happy and certain that the Council, particularly a man called Tony Featherstone, who began this process of eviction, would display some compassion and understanding and extend their tenure so that they could have the time to find alternative and suitable premises. That was last week!

This week is an entirely different state of affairs. The fully abled members of staff were depressed, fearful for their future and utterly convinced that they are not going to be helped by the Council. As for the staff with disabilities, they are frightened. Many are tearful and as is common with those that have a disability, their concerns and fears are multiplied many times because of the cards they were dealt with at birth.

Frankly, its awful to witness and to know that all this is being done by a group of highly paid, able bodied people who, as far as I can see, simply do not care. The initial explanation from Mr Tony Featherstone, 'we only had to give them twenty four hours to go', pretty much sums up the position and mindset of this group who rule us and shape our lives.

Can I get the Council to even answer questions that this issue raises? No. They don't answer because they are not concerned. They are not concerned because they've never been touched by difference.

These good people are not begging. They are not out for a free ride and they are certainly not using 'disability' to win compassion and favour. They simply want a fair crack of the whip and time. Just time. That's all. They've no problem paying their way. They simply ask for time. Just a few more weeks of time. It's not much to beg for is it. And that's what they and I are doing. Begging! Yes, begging a huge organisation to show a little compassion and social responsibility.

Oh they'll off this, that and the other as inducements to get 'big business' to trade in Hereford. They may even allow some retail units a rent free tenure for a few years, but they'll not lift a finger to help those of us who live their lives with a disability.

To think that I cannot get the Chief Executive to look at this. This issue is on his desk. It's been there for awhile now but he won't look at it because he and others of his ilk ain't interested in anything other than 'business'. Yes, business. Money. Profit and the mighty pound. To think we live in times such as these. It's so depressing, so dreadfully unkind and its been delivered up to this good group of people by the very same organisation that is supposed to care for and support them.

If there is anyone out there who can get Mr Featherstone to shift his ground and be kind then please do it and do it now because this little business, Rosé Tinted Rags is going to go under together with the hopes and dreams of those who simply want the chance to meet their friends at work, form friendships, produce wonderful art works and products and just for one day, one brief moment in time, to feel that they are valued and they are worth our time and thoughts.

Please help Rosé Tinted Rags. My very warmest regards to you all.

T'other night I came stumbling out of the battle cruiser after the landlord screamed, 'clear off and don't come back'.

Now, this particular establishment is situated in close proximity to Commercial Road. To get home and definitely be hit in the face with the frying pan you can either go down the little road that brings you out opposite the Littern Tree or you can go the quicker and ever so edgy way through the Old Burial Ground.

And so I began staggering up the road and into the aforementioned burial ground humming the old rock classic by Brotherhood of bloody Man, 'Save all your kisses for me' when all of a sudden I heard the words, 'you! W.a.n.k.e.r.', to which I replied, 'Goodness how do you know these things about me?'.

Two young chaps emerged from the darkness and the first said, 'Give me a cigarette or I'll kick your head in'. The second, clearly trying to outdo his colleague said, 'Yeah and if you don't I'll break your legs'.

I was immediately struck by both these options that were clearly placed before me to consider. I found it interesting. Here they were, bereft of hope and ambition but still, despite their fiscally knackered situation, they were swimming along with the ethos of the 'free market', placing their wears before me and basically saying, 'this is what we have got, these are your options and do you wish to trade'.

Anyway, I didn't give them a cigarette but told them that I'd hurt them both. Badly. And if ever they did manage to kick my head in and break my legs, once I'd rested up and recovered from the terrible event, I'd find them beat them both within an inch of their lives and then seek out their parents and do the same to them.

Keen to frighten the living day lights out of them and to ensure they remembered never to bother me again, I told them that if I did these things to them, the Constable found me and I was dispatched to prison for two years, I'd do my time, come home, find them and repeat my Modus Operandi upon them and their lovely parents.

If you like this was me joining the free market, displaying my goods and inviting them to make their choice whether or not to trade.

They chose not to trade, so did I and we all parted as friends and I continued my journey into the Kebab Shop where I purchased my large mixed kebab before staggering home to meet her. My wife of forty years.

Oddly enough, she got to the door, opened it and offered me her free market conditions. She said, 'Fatso if you come in I'm going to hit you in the face with my frying pan.'

I thought lovely, you cannot dampen the entrepreneur spirit of the great British public. I made my choice, entered the dwelling, was subsequently hit in the face with the frying pan and I went to sleep!

The Council have decided that this place that provides, love, care, comfort, friendship and training for our brothers and sisters who have a disability must move over, be gone from their premises, and make way for the Road To Nowhere.

There's a piece on the Hereford Times Readers Site. Please, take the time, go on the site and make a comment objecting to this decision.

Thank you all very much. My warmest regards.

Hereford Voice hit a new record today with 139 visitors online at the same time! I managed to get a screen shot by which time it had dropped down to a mere 136 visitors online lol 

I didn't think I was bothered either way. Until I watched the news tonight I honestly couldn't have cared less about the subject but then, whilst watching the news report about two guys who got married in a Registry Office I found myself smiling.

I suddenly found myself smiling! I was smiling because all the people in this news piece were smiling and they were happy. Because they were happy and I could see they were happy, it made me happy. What can be wrong with that?

What a great Country we all belong to. Yes, we British have got some odd and quirky national traits that many beyond our shores will never understand but 'we' are the greatest nation on Earth and we've left our mark on this planet with our greatness, our culture, our language, science and the arts.

It's no wonder we are overwhelmed by immigration. Who wouldn't want to be here and be able to say, 'we are British' and today's events that see same sex couples having the right to marry only serves to make us even greater than we were yesterday!

Hereford Man Jailed For Life For Stabbing Friend To Death

Stacy Hales

A man from Hereford has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering his friend in the city in August last year.

At Worcester Crown Court today, Stacy Hales, aged 36 (DoB 03/10/1977), of Belmont Road, Hereford, was found guilty of murdering Steven Paynter, aged 46. He was sentenced to serve a minimum of 22 years in prison.

Following a two-week trial, a jury unanimously found Hales was responsible for stabbing Mr Paynter, known to friends as Taffy, during a fight at his home in Rylands Street.

Also sentenced today were Stephen Munn, aged 21 (DoB 04/12/1992), of Golden Post, Hereford, and Mark Edwards, aged 22 (DoB 13/10/1990), of Prior Street, Hereford.

Murder victim Steven Paynter

They received 30 months each after pleading guilty to the offence of violent disorder at the start of the trial.

Hales stood trial with his girlfriend - Kim Horry, aged 20 (DoB 03/08/1993) of Copse Cross Street, Ross-on-Wye – who was charged with assisting an offender, but she was found not guilty.

Mark Edwards

The jury heard how on the afternoon of 3 August Hales, Munn and Edwards went to Mr Paynter’s flat in Ryelands Street to demand he pay back £40 he owed Hales for bike parts he had sold to him.

Hales, who is known as Buzz, took exception that his friend was having a relationship with Joanne Fryer because she had previously been in a relationship with him.

A witness (who cannot be named for legal reasons) stated that Hales had become violent as soon as he arrived at the flat and assaulted and strangled Mr Paynter, who armed himself with a knife. Munn and Edwards remained outside the flat and when the witness attempted to leave they blocked the way.

Stephen Munn

Meanwhile, the fight between Hales and Paynter continued and ended when Hales stabbed him in the neck with a large kitchen knife, which was found afterwards by police in a communal shower room next to the flat. It was favoured by forensic officers and a pathologist that this had been the murder weapon.

Hales, Munn and Edwards made off from the flat while Mr Paynter collapsed in the vestibule outside his door and died through loss of blood. Other residents in the multi-occupancy property raised the alarm and called the emergency services.

Meanwhile, Hales, along with Munn and Edwards, fled to his home address on Belmont Road where he cleaned himself and got first aid for a cut to his arm.

Once the emergency services had attended, Hales was quickly identified by witnesses as Mr Paynter’s attacker and he was arrested by police within a few hours.

Detective Inspector Dave Williams, who led the investigation, said: “In court, Hales claimed he did not see a knife and only saw ‘a flash’. He denied ever handling a knife during the struggle and could not account for how Mr Paynter suffered the fatal injury. 

“However, we are convinced Hales went to that flat with the intention of doing serious harm to Mr Paynter: he had made threats about this earlier in the day, he took along two henchmen – Munn and Edwards – and deliberately wore steel toe-capped boots in anticipation of violence.

“I find it very sad that Hales’ moment of madness over relatively trivial matters has led to Steven Paynter’s murder and he has been cruelly taken away from his family, including his two children. Our thoughts are with them at this very distressing time.

“At the time, his death also caused great concern to those living in and around Rylands Street and the wider Hereford community and I hope I can reassure them that this was an isolated incident that stemmed from a dispute between parties known to each other.

“I would like to thank all those who assisted with the investigation in a variety of ways and thank those who were inconvenienced by the investigation particularly those affected by the closure of Rylands Street for some days due to essential forensic examination.”

Following today’s sentencing, Steven Paynter’s family released a statement: “As a family we are delighted that justice has been seen to be done today, however nothing is going to bring Steven back to us.

“What happened is a tragic waste of a human life and Steven leaves behind two children, family and friends.

“Steven’s death has come as a shock and has devastated his family and friends: this is something we will never recover from.

“We are grateful to the police for their work and the support they have given us.”

Camella Webley, the mother of Steven’s 12-year-old son Ben, added: “Ben misses his father terribly following his tragic death.

“Ben was very close to him: he would often spend weekends with him and do many activities together. Sadly his father has been taken from him far too early.”

Issued: Friday 21 March 2014 - Source West Mercia Police

I thought I would create a small topic to explain how to use TAGS in new topics. 

Tagging:

The ability to 'tag' content with special keywords and then find other content tagged with the same keywords.Perfect for searching.

Below are a few images showing how to add as many TAGS as deemed appropriate for a given topic.

Richard Woolley is Director of Resources at Herefordshire Housing. ‘We saw the refurbishment of our main office as an essential part of the change management process,’ he says. ‘So whatever we did not only had to offer exceptional value for money, it also had to help us deliver more and better services to all of our residents and other stakeholders as well as offering us the chance to improve the way we perform as an organisation and as individuals. For those reasons we had to work with a company that ’got’ us as an organisation so that they could take part in the process of change, help us work better as an organisation and a business and deliver outstanding results. We’re delighted not only that Fresh Workspace were more than able to deliver but also challenge us with new ideas.’

The first step was to make a bold but welcoming statement to people from the moment they walk in the door. Behind the revamped reception is the new beating heart of the building, a hub space with eye-catching floor to ceiling graphics, soft seating, flat screen televisions, benches, tables, kitchen and breakfast bar, which not only functions as a breakout space for colleagues but also as a welcome space for residents and other visitors. The space is fully equipped with WiFi so is usable by anybody.

‘It was essential that the design should break down silos,’ explains Richard Woolley. ‘Not just those that may exist between members of the internal team but with tenants and everybody with whom we work. It’s a space for everybody. We wanted the lack of hierarchy and vibrancy we had introduced as an organisation to be evident in the design of the refurbishment. We needed the culture we had to be reflected in the places we work and meet.’

...........................................................................

This pile of pigswill and rancid excrement serves to illustrate why our public services and agents acting for them are completely detached from reality and have an overwhelmingly negative impact upon each and everyone of us.

This culture of pointless management speak was given a foothold upon all of us during the formative years of New Labour. Now, after years of denying commonsense and practical operational ability a way in through the management door, we are now subject to a stranglehold by these people who can produce this rubbish. And it is rubbish. If there is anything within this that you can admire and marvel at, it is the relative ease in which they can shovel this garbage out.

Me? I think its frightening that this culture continues to exist unchallenged by those with commonsense, operational ability and a tongue to say, 'No more. We've had enough of this corporate gibberish. Be gone. Leave us be!

So I've heard, can anyone confirm, deny or provide any evidence?

I see that they have added plants to that middle section of Newmarket Street now. I must admit, it looks just like Milton Keynes, sticks coming out of grey concrete.

aaannnyywaaaayyy...

That middle section is very wide and goes all the way down the road. Can someone just fill me in on why it's so wide the whole length? They aren't expecting/allowing people to use the entire stretch of the road as a crossing point are they? So that people can just cross where ever and whenever they like? I was under the impression that there would be dedicated crossing points, even if they didn't have traffic control.

Taking a leaf out of Ameys book.

DO THE ******* JOB PROPERLY FOR f*** SAKE

"BBC Hereford & Worcester's Nicola Goodwin taking a look at Holme Lacy Road in Hereford - the road surface was repaired after flooding, but it's not looking good..."

 https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=616582568414155

Possibly no-one is still interested in this after the topic was done to death on the Hereford Times website last week, before all the comments were pulled.

However, I would just like to say, I am glad the scheme has been cancelled for lack of parental support. IMO it is inappropriate for primary school children to be using tablet computers 'throughout the day', even if it were free to parents, which it wasn't to be. By all means teach pupils to be IT-savvy, but they shouldn't learn at that age that everything they do needs to be logged on a computer. They can learn that when they become office drones.

I was particularly annoyed because my child's school is not even an academy - but they have threatened to apply for academy status.

Imagine winning that! Bloody Hell! First thing I'd do if I won that sum of money would be to purchase half an acre of good land in the City. That's what I'd do. Good land that would sustain a herbaceous perennial plant.

Then I'd phone up Wilhelmina Krugg, the worlds leading expert in growing Urticar Dioica. I'd say, 'it's me, Fortyseven. I want you to come to Hereford in England and grow me a huge crop of bloody nettles. Stinging nettles. None of your mamby pamby nettles. Real stingers and I'll pay you twenty thousand pounds'. She'd say, ' Lovely. Yes. Do I have to sleep with you' and I'd say, 'No Krugg. Just grow me a field of nettles and then clear off home'. Bloody wanton strumpet!

Then, I'd phone up the local Nit Nurse. I'd say, 'it's me Fortyseven. How do you fancy diversifying. Leave behind your career treating pediculus humanus capitus and get into antihistaminics. Come work for me for twenty grand a week'. Of course,'she'd say, ' Nettle Stings! Yes, I'll take the job. Do I have to sleep with you?', to which, I'd say, 'why do folk want to sleep with me. No. Never! I'd never sleep with a woman who's entire life's work has been devoted to treating head lice. Keep your bloody hands off me'.

Then, I'd make the crucial call. I'd phone up bloody Wearside Jack. He, who decades ago made a number of hoax calls claiming to be the Yorkshire Ripper. I'd say, 'Wearside its me, Fortyseven, Im guessing that since you've been in prison and have been unmasked as a hoax telephone caller that terrorised a nation, you can't get bloody work'. ' its true',he said, 'being WearsideJack tends to hold you back from gaining employment in our local Call Centres'. I'd say, 'come work for me. Ten grand a week and you get to roll people I don't like in nettles and you get a company phone to call whoever you want'.

And then, with all the integral component parts in place, it begins. A reign of terror that only visits Cabinet Councillors and senior Council members of staff.

Then they'd be a tap,tap, tap on the hut door. I'd say 'who is it?' 'Its me, Bretherton. I've got your letter and I thought I'd take advantage of your extraordinarily kind offer.' 'Yes', I'd reply, by giving yourself up you get rolled around in nettles for the ten minutes rather than the thirty. Excellent. Good man. Now take all your clothes off and Wearside here will drag you around my nettle patch for ten minutes and once its done this good lady nurse Agnes will treat your terrible injuries'.

He'd say, ' I won't waste public money again. I've learned my lesson. Now I know what the consequences are, from hereon,Im going to be careful in implementing anything that'll get me another five minutes in that patch of hell on earth'.