"In our winter city, the rain cries a little pity..."

"In our winter city, the rain cries a little pity..."

Thousands of volunteers are gearing up to provide food, warmth and what little festive cheer they can to record numbers of homeless people this Christmas - amid fears of rising risks to life.
The homelessness charity Crisis is opening up festive shelters in major towns and cities across the UK, including not only worst-hit London but also Birmingham, Coventry, Newcastle, Edinburgh, South Wales and elsewhere.
Other charities, both nationwide and more locally-focused, are also stepping up relief patrols, setting up shelters and encouraging members of the public to donate either supplies or their time to help feed, clothe and shelter those in need as temperatures plummet this Christmas.
The relief efforts come amid mounting concerns about Britain’s homelessness problem, with soaring numbers of people sleeping rough - up by 169 per cent since 2010.
And the latest official figures suggest 726 people died while sleeping rough or in emergency accommodation last year - up 22 per cent on 2017, with the average ages being 45 for men and 43 for women.

"Homeland actor's goal is to save children's lives..."

(Past pieces here from Sierra Leone:

http://aidanrad.blogspot.com/2008/12/sierra-leone-in-september.html

https://metro.co.uk/2012/04/27/sierra-leones-scars-run-deep-despite-charles-taylors-comeuppance-3822522/)

A Hollywood star who helped break England’s penalty shoot-out curse hopes to repeat the feat this weekend - while bringing help to children struggling to grow up in a country ravaged by civil war, famine and the ebola virus.
David Harewood saved two penalties to help the England side win last year’s Soccer Aid game in a shoot-out at Manchester United’s Old Trafford ground a year ago.
And he has been encouraged in his hopes of further success by the senior England side breaking their spot-kick curse and winning shoot-outs against Colombia in last summer’s World Cup and to beat Switzerland in Saturday’s Nations League third-place play-off.
He is also keen to point out he conceded just one goal during regulation play last time around, whereas team-mate and former England and Arsenal stopper David Seaman let in two.
This Sunday’s match will be staged at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge stadium for the first time, as an England side featuring former internationals such as John Terry, Joe Cole and Michael Owen - and managed by Sam Allardyce and Susanna Reid - faces a Rest Of The World XI including Terry’s former Blues team-mates Didier Drogba and Michael Essien, as well as Eric Cantona and Robbie Keane.

In memory of a very Great-Uncle Reg, one D-Day hero among many...

Some words from my mum on her late uncle and my great-uncle Reginald Brownhill, proud former Para and brave D-Day veteran...

My dear Uncle was a Para and landed in France on D-Day 1944 on the secret mission.

On the plane, he was seated beside a 17 year old Private Hopkins who said: "I'm scared, Corp."

Uncle replied: "We all am mate, but we gorra get on with it. Stick by me I'll mek sure yo'me all right."

"You go out thinking you're joining a Boy's Own adventure..."

A D-Day veteran who feared he would not survive a night of bombardment after landing on a Normandy beach is among those returning across the Channel for an emotional 75th anniversary commemoration.

Ninety-four-year-old Arthur Hammond - known to friends and family as "Les" - was desperate to sign up to train as a fighter pilot aged 18, only to be turned away after failing an eye test.

Yet he found himself called up six months later for the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and the eager then-19-year-old was among those descending on Juno Beach as part of the Normandy landings.

Only, none of his colleagues lived on - and the enthusiasm he felt beforehand very swiftly turned to fear, when confronted by the death and destruction all round and enduring a night of bombardment at the foot of Hill 112 he felt sure he would not survive.

"Things are happening..."

“This type of emotion - without football, I think it’s impossible to live...”

“And in the middle of the celebrations, I break down...”

“How can you be afraid to be happy?”

- “Because whenever you get too happy, something bad always happens.”

　

It’s a little bit funny, these last few months. That is, oscillating between all of a sudden breaking into laughter or breaking into tears. Cracking into a grin or crinkling the eyes - abruptly and inexplicably so, any which time.

Ah, come on, you Spurs. Never again #Spursy, or so this our Champions League campaign might - nay, must - suggest, having us somehow grasp not defeat but victory from the jaws of not victory but defeat, and just so incessantly.

And now here we are, this weekend. Somewhere even the most optimistic Tottenham supporter - should such a someone exist - could not have dared to dream, let alone see us do.

All while hoping my eyes do see the glory of that cup at White Hart Lane, while also knowing to appreciate all they are seeing in the meantime.

Beaming. And yet tear-ing up, at the littlest thought of what’s ahead or maybe more all significantly all those precisely-recalled moments of every goal, every assist, every near-miss, every tackle or deflection or save or hoof or, er, VAR that’s added all the more glory to the story.

Tears, eh - ah, 2019 and too many years before have produced plenty, here, there and everywhere. Many as vaguely unexplainable, if asked, as those suddenly smudging through even while commuting by Tubes these last few weeks and simply thinking once more of those magic words: “Here’s Dele Alli...here’s Lucas Moura...oh, they’ve done it! I cannot believe it!”

The new Tottenham Hotspur stadium: "Das Teuerwerk"...

(Kicker magazine, Monday 08 April 2019)

For some it's been 18 months in the waiting, or for others 18 years in the making.

But patience has finally paid off for Tottenham Hotspur fans after English club football's second largest stadium finally opened for business.

Heung-min Son went down in history as the first man to score a goal in an official game at the North London side's £1billion new ground on the footprint of their old White Hart Lane stadium, almost 120 years after the old venue was opened and two years after it was demolished.

Danish playmaker Christian Eriksen added a late second on Wednesday night as Spurs marked their homecoming with a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace, ending a five-match run without a win and ahead of Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg against Manchester City.

For all its stunning appearance and stirring unveiling, the new stadium has come late and at quite a cost.

Wednesday's grand opening began with mock-operatic singing on the field, as well as a marching band, before a burst of fireworks above the north London skyline - as well as a roar of relief fromfans who have spent almost two seasons exiled at Wembley.

Yet years of delays may well have done Spurs and their supporters plenty of favours - at least in learning lessons of local rivals' new-build hitches.