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Olly Benson

@ollybenson.uk

2.4K followers 300 following 1.5K posts

NHS Englander. Ex VCSE and BBC. Mainly interested in public participation and engagement, so stuff around people, volunteering, building communities, health, power, digital, media etc. Husband | 🚸 Dad x2 | 💔 #ACHD 🌍 Warwickshire, UK ollybenson.uk

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 19d

The news is out... #volunteering #nhs

The NHS needs you: Streeting's volunteer army to play board games with patients

From Wednesday, people will be able to go to a single dedicated NHS Volunteering website

inews.co.uk

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 9m

Upon my retirement, I would undertake a grand tour of the parks of the UK to stare upon the (by then) rusty and overgrown outdoor gym equipment and ponder whether anyone actually used them in earnest, beyond treating them as a bit of a novelty.
(Honestly, I'd love someone to prove me wrong)

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 12h

What policy themed visitor trail would you do upon retirement? I would pilgrimage to visit the 100 Rishi Sunak outdoor chess sets around the country. I genuinely think it would be one of those fun random things that would take me to places I’d never otherwise go to

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 11h

"More than half of the young people involved said they would like to reduce screen time, but 46% felt “unable” to. And then came the kicker: “93% of young people who have attended a youth centre say it has made a positive difference to their lives.”"

Britain's youth clubs have been quietly decimated. What's most revealing is that few seem to care | John Harris

These vital spaces have been the first targets of cuts in a nation that favours age over youth – despite being the remedy for blights such as social division, polarisation and loneliness, says Guardia...

www.theguardian.com

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 11h

Justin inadvertently has taken a picture of the NHSE office in Manchester.

Justin on eurostar @eurostarjustin.bsky.social · 12h

How it started today and how it's going...
#TrainLife

A pair of Manchester trams seen from above a street near Piccadilly.

Platform 3 in Brussels Midi/Zuid: e* 9167 from Amsterdam to London.

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 1d

Where we had our wedding is now the affordable alternative to Soho Farmhouse, apparently...

My night at Hertfordshire’s affordable alternative to Soho Farmhouse

Tewinbury Farm Hotel, once a dairy farm, is now a collection of lakeside lodges and woodland huts with lovely walks nearby perfect for families and stylish weekenders

www.thetimes.com

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 2d

Inspiring first post. Looking forward to what comes next.

Polly Mackenzie @pollymackenzie.bsky.social · 2d

My hero is a farmer, not a duck. Which will only make sense if you read this new piece by me, the start of a new substack which I am bravely calling How To Run A Country.

howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/its-the-de...

It’s the despair that’s going to kill us

Time to cheer up

howtorunacountry.substack.com

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 3d

Is it like the fact that skyscraper window cleaning is often done by people who spend their weekends rock climbing? It's basically extra training for them, and they get paid.

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 5d

By no means the main cause, but a significant factor is that modern logistics doesn't like a shop located in a town centre where you have to back a HGV down a narrow access road and offload using the tailgate lift. That adds considerable costs & why shops that don't sell lots of product do better.

Reposted by Olly Benson

Reach Volunteering @reachvolunteering.org.uk · 5d

🚀 We’re live! 🚀
The new, upgraded Reach platform is here — making it even easier to volunteer your skills or post volunteer opportunities.
Check it out 👉 buff.ly/YZM5Nzx
We’d love your feedback — and your help spreading the word 💙
#ReachVolunteering #Launch #Volunteer

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 7d

Can't help thinking that the alternative would be just as problematic. Introducing a bunch of ~10yo with no prior exposure to Welsh and expecting them to participate in the full school curriculum would be hugely disruptive to the teachers and other children.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 7d

Baffled why you would deliberately*add* cars into the photo. Could understand removing them.

(Or is it just a ruse to get people to share and look at the page? Bravo of it is.)

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 7d

This is sad. We regularly used to get puddings from Johnny in the Pudmobile when we lived just around the corner from St Albans station back in 2011.

Bake Off star's Hertfordshire bakeries forced to close

Johnny Shepherd, who appeared in the first series, cites

www.bbc.co.uk

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 7d

This is a pretty good listen on why you should concentrate on the safety briefing each time you fly...
(You might want to listen to part one first for the background to the crash).

BBC Sounds - Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford, Frozen in a Burning 747 (Tenerife Air Disaster 2)

Two airplanes have just collided on the runway at Tenerife Airport.

www.bbc.co.uk

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 8d

The train journey from hell: the Edith Pritchett cartoon

All aboard …

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Olly Benson

Sounds Familiar @soundsfamiliar.bsky.social · 10d

A very happy 25th birthday to the self titled debut album by the wonderful @tommcraemusic.bsky.social for today! 🔥

What’s your favourite track?

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 11d

Enjoyed this conversation between Mark Radcliffe and Miranda Sawyer. Still find it a bit mad that Mark and Lard ended up presenting the Radio 1 Breakfast Show for seven months.

Matt Deegan @mattdeegan.com · 12d

On the occasion of Radio 1's birthday, there's a great episode of @msmirandasawyer.bsky.social's @talk90stome.bsky.social with Mark Radcliffe talking about R1 in the 90s and Mark and Lard's 'journey' over the decade!
pod.fo/e/333257

Talk ’90s to me: Radio 1's most chaotic decade – with Mark Radcliffe of 'Mark and Lard'

The brand new podcast that dives deep into all things ’90s. In 1997, Mark and Lard landed the biggest job in British radio: hosting the Radio 1 Breakfast Show. Nine months later, ratings had plum...

pod.fo

Reposted by Olly Benson

Richard Sambrook @sambrook.bsky.social · 11d

open.substack.com/pub/mattwals...

The damned BBC - annoying, wrong headed, essential

It is the worst media and news service, except for all the others

open.substack.com

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 12d

Punch and a kick, for being so quick.

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 12d

Lead story in local news.

Antisocial swan removed from Stratford-upon-Avon

Reggie the swan caused disruption on the river for months, but will start a new life in Devon.

www.bbc.co.uk

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 12d

👋🏼 my office is five minutes from the station. (You can see it from the train if you know where to look).

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 12d

There was a write up about it on the Times this weekend...

The MP and the viscountess: 30 years on, scandal-hit pair sell up

David Mellor and Lady Cobham (the ‘quango queen’) are selling their hidden London love nest. Bought for £1.5m, it is now listed for £16m

www.thetimes.com

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 13d

I think it's someone with indefinite leave to remain doing their mandated community hours.

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 13d

BREAKING: The Big Ship WILL sail on the Alley-Alley-Oh today.

(I've woken Green Day up to tell them)

#annualSkeets

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 13d

That is the best tour name I have seen in a very long time.

1 1

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 13d

Sustrans has a new name...
www.walkwheelcycletrust.org.uk

Walk Wheel Cycle Trust homepage

The homepage for the Walk Wheel Cycle Trust website

www.walkwheelcycletrust.org.uk

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 14d

This is great from @joetidy.bsky.social. 'Mastermind' criminals target a cyber journalist because they think he works in IT...

Joe Tidy BBC News @joetidy.bsky.social · 14d

'You'll never need to work again': Criminals offer reporter money to hack BBC.
I recently got offered millions of pounds to give cyber criminals from the Medusa gang my BBC login. I played along to learn about how these 'insider threat' deals work.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

'You'll never need to work again': Criminals offer reporter money to hack BBC

Reporter Joe Tidy was offered money if he would help cyber criminals access BBC systems.