Humansolutions Bulletin - May 17th 2018

As we notified you recently, new data protection rules are being implemented soon. To comply with the legislation, we will shortly be deleting our existing databases. Consequently, if you wish to receive news of publications, events, offers and news from Neil Thompson and the team at Avenue, you will need to join our new database. This will mean that you will continue to receive our fortnightly humansolutions e-newsletter, the occasional Learning IMPACT supplement and other ad hoc communications from time to time. If you have not already done so, please enter your email in the box on this page https://humansolutions.org.uk/bulletin/. If you have already signed up to the new database, you do not need to do anything further. Thank you.…

Many years ago I came across the idea that, the further away from something you are, the simpler it appears, and that idea has stuck with me. What it was referring to was the tendency for complex matters to seem quite simple and straightforward from a distance. If you don’t have a full grasp of a situation, it is very easy indeed to oversimplify and thereby rely on a distorted picture that can be very unhelpful in a number of ways (not least in creating unnecessary tension and ill-feeling). Consider, for example, the case of domestic violence. So often I have heard people say words to the effect of: ‘If he is hitting her, why does she stay there? Why…

Our new research suggests that autistic people are among the most isolated and lonely in the UK. We compared the results of our new survey of almost 900 autistic people with the Government’s own data and the findings indicate that autistic people are four times as likely to be lonely as the general public. Our previous research suggests that 79% of autistic people feel socially isolated. We are calling on Tracey Crouch MP, the minister with responsibility for tackling loneliness, to make sure the Government's upcoming strategy addresses the root causes of loneliness for autistic people. Tracey Crouch MP recently spoke about her work, including a visit to an autism service, at the inaugural meeting of the All Party Parliamentary…

Lecture given by Alan Johnson MP at JRF and Prospect’s 4th Annual poverty lecture "When I was asked to present this year’s lecture I was a Member of Parliament and the next general election was three years away. The British people, having decided in 2015 to elect a Conservative Government with a small majority for a five-year fixed term have just been asked to decide again – Theresa May having become a convert to repeat referendums. As a result, the small majority has vanished and as for a five-year term there is some doubt as to whether this government will last five weeks.You will recall that when she stood outside No.10 to surprise the nation by calling a snap election, Mrs May…

As parents, all we want for our children is for them to grow up happy. Compared to this one ultimate goal, others pale into insignificance. It doesn’t matter if your child has a school career festooned with string of A* exam grades and is set for a braggable future career, if they’re not happy. That means happy in themselves, happy with the world around them and armed with an ability to shrug off problems and move on. And that’s a state of mind we can nurture in our children - an acceptance of themselves, a mental contentment, a willingness to see the glass half full rather than lament the lack of more. Click here to read more

Public Concern at Work is the whistleblowing charity. Established in 1993, we have led the new approach to whistleblowing that - both at home and abroad - recognises the key role it can play in anticipating and avoiding serious risks that arise in and from the workplace. Public Concern at Work aims to help make whistleblowing work so that dangers, wrongdoing and serious risks that threaten the public good are deterred or at least detected before serious damage is caused. We pursue this aim through our free confidential advice line, the support and services we provide to organisations, our policy work and our public education activities. Through these activities we promote the role of whistleblowing in furthering organisational accountability, individual…