Olly Benson
@ollybenson.uk
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
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
Meant to go out yesterday afternoon and pick up my meds from the local pharmacy. Glad I didn't, as I have since discovered the PM and Chancellor were in the building next door...
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defends Budget during visit to Rugby with Rachel Reeves
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has defended the government's tax-raising Budget, saying it will help lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty.
www.warwickshireworld.com
November 28, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Meant to go out yesterday afternoon and pick up my meds from the local pharmacy. Glad I didn't, as I have since discovered the PM and Chancellor were in the building next door...
"In ways being a pop star makes me think about the person I used to be compared to the person I am now. How is that person different? Or is she still the same?"
Fascinating CharliXCX piece on the reality of being a popstar.
Fascinating CharliXCX piece on the reality of being a popstar.
The realities of being a pop star.
According to my experience...
itscharlibb.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 8:02 PM
"In ways being a pop star makes me think about the person I used to be compared to the person I am now. How is that person different? Or is she still the same?"
Fascinating CharliXCX piece on the reality of being a popstar.
Fascinating CharliXCX piece on the reality of being a popstar.
Sounds fascinating in a political nerdy sort of way...
BBC Sounds - Materials of State - Available Episodes
Listen to the latest episodes of Materials of State on BBC Sounds.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Sounds fascinating in a political nerdy sort of way...
@janinegibson.ft.com Your next "Lunch with the FT" guest?
Sir Rowley Birkin QC is looking for love, ladies. What a catch.
West Country OAP aristocrat on hunt for bride 20 years younger
She must be taller than 5ft 6ins, have a shotgun licence, and not be a Scorpio
www.plymouthherald.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 8:49 PM
@janinegibson.ft.com Your next "Lunch with the FT" guest?
Long day in Leeds at the amazing Learning Disability and Autism Advisory Group meeting. Spent the day discussing the important topic of STOMP and STAMP.
Obviously train delayed on journey home, but back soon (if I don't fall asleep and miss my stop!)
www.england.nhs.uk/learning-dis...
Obviously train delayed on journey home, but back soon (if I don't fall asleep and miss my stop!)
www.england.nhs.uk/learning-dis...
NHS England » Stopping over medication of people with a learning disability and autistic people (STOMP) and supporting treatment and appropriate medication in paediatrics (STAMP)
NHS England » Stopping over medication of people with a learning disability and autistic people (STOMP) and supporting treatment and appropriate medication in paediatrics (STAMP)
www.england.nhs.uk
November 20, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Long day in Leeds at the amazing Learning Disability and Autism Advisory Group meeting. Spent the day discussing the important topic of STOMP and STAMP.
Obviously train delayed on journey home, but back soon (if I don't fall asleep and miss my stop!)
www.england.nhs.uk/learning-dis...
Obviously train delayed on journey home, but back soon (if I don't fall asleep and miss my stop!)
www.england.nhs.uk/learning-dis...
And so to Leeds. (Albeit not on the Pullman, which was waiting on the next platform)
November 19, 2025 at 8:15 AM
And so to Leeds. (Albeit not on the Pullman, which was waiting on the next platform)
👀 the reporter who wrote this...
Epstein saga reveals Republican rifts - and power of Trump's base
The votes in Congress to release more files came after the president faced pressure from within his own party.
www.bbc.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:12 AM
👀 the reporter who wrote this...
So you reduced the depth of the curve and put an island in the middle of the road? That's basic road safety design. I'm not sure what #AI actually did to help here?
AI cameras help reduce near misses at Coventry junction
Cameras detected near misses in Longford and helped calculate how they could be reduced.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 18, 2025 at 8:27 PM
So you reduced the depth of the curve and put an island in the middle of the road? That's basic road safety design. I'm not sure what #AI actually did to help here?
Come and play with open volunteering data! You know you want to...
Can you help us make volunteering opportunities easier to find and share? Join our hackathon to test and explore how open data can connect more people with opportunities to help. 3–4 December 2025, find out more
Open Data Infrastructure for Volunteering Hackathon.
Join us to help make volunteering opportunities easier to find and share
buff.ly
November 18, 2025 at 8:29 AM
Come and play with open volunteering data! You know you want to...
Modern life is scanning a QR code to go to a website to download a PDF to find out whether a baking tray can go in the dishwasher.
November 17, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Modern life is scanning a QR code to go to a website to download a PDF to find out whether a baking tray can go in the dishwasher.
Saw this earlier. As a result, guess what we had for tea tonight.
Risotto is not work. It is meditation, followed by self care.
My issue with risotto is 40 minutes of work gone in a couple of minutes ! I do love it though this looks v good . Dried mushroom so flavourful
November 17, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Saw this earlier. As a result, guess what we had for tea tonight.
This is what I think of when I think of Anita Rani vs the other contestants in celebrity #RaceAcrossTheWorld #ratw
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce destroys other parents during race at son's school
YouTube video by The Independent
youtu.be
November 16, 2025 at 10:39 PM
This is what I think of when I think of Anita Rani vs the other contestants in celebrity #RaceAcrossTheWorld #ratw
These are really interesting reflections on what civil servants do to help create legislation.
And I've finally found out what my brother did for all those years...
And I've finally found out what my brother did for all those years...
November 16, 2025 at 9:53 PM
These are really interesting reflections on what civil servants do to help create legislation.
And I've finally found out what my brother did for all those years...
And I've finally found out what my brother did for all those years...
This Christmas I will be buying all my loved ones eco-friendly clothes pegs...
November 16, 2025 at 3:22 PM
This Christmas I will be buying all my loved ones eco-friendly clothes pegs...
On the lovely Marston Vale line today. Two-carriage train. 20 passengers tops.
Two LNR survey staff who asked the passengers where they were travelling to for the first 3 mins and then sat and played with their phones for the rest of the journey.
Two LNR survey staff who asked the passengers where they were travelling to for the first 3 mins and then sat and played with their phones for the rest of the journey.
November 15, 2025 at 5:34 PM
On the lovely Marston Vale line today. Two-carriage train. 20 passengers tops.
Two LNR survey staff who asked the passengers where they were travelling to for the first 3 mins and then sat and played with their phones for the rest of the journey.
Two LNR survey staff who asked the passengers where they were travelling to for the first 3 mins and then sat and played with their phones for the rest of the journey.
Reposted by Olly Benson
14th November 1940 is etched into the story of Coventry. Not only the destruction but the message of peace and reconciliation that came out of the ashes.
November 15, 2025 at 12:18 AM
14th November 1940 is etched into the story of Coventry. Not only the destruction but the message of peace and reconciliation that came out of the ashes.
Reposted by Olly Benson
Want to develop skills in engaging children & young people in #ChildHealthResearch? New #CPDapproved course on 10 & 11 Dec (mornings, online) by AYPH co-delivered by young trainers. https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/education-careers/courses/cpd-approved-course/engaging-adolescents-young-adults-your-health
November 13, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Want to develop skills in engaging children & young people in #ChildHealthResearch? New #CPDapproved course on 10 & 11 Dec (mornings, online) by AYPH co-delivered by young trainers. https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/education-careers/courses/cpd-approved-course/engaging-adolescents-young-adults-your-health
If you know, you know...
Asking without asking 😅☘️
YouTube video by Alana & Josh
youtube.com
November 12, 2025 at 9:42 PM
If you know, you know...
Heartbreaking Long Read from Pamela Gordon in the @theguardian.com.
When I met Craig he was 13 and homeless. I still thought his life might turn around. I was tragically wrong
The long read: I knew he was running away from something. It wasn’t until many years later that I discovered the truth
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Heartbreaking Long Read from Pamela Gordon in the @theguardian.com.
. @rogermosey.bsky.social is always my go to person for the most insightful analysis of a BBC crisis. This is his take on the current one.
November 11, 2025 at 9:54 PM
. @rogermosey.bsky.social is always my go to person for the most insightful analysis of a BBC crisis. This is his take on the current one.
Reposted by Olly Benson
The reaction to the Panorama edit has been nothing short of hysterical. Yes the BBC has some impartiality problems. But its biggest isn't the one you think.
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
The truth about impartiality at the BBC
And the hysteria of the current "crisis"
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:22 PM
The reaction to the Panorama edit has been nothing short of hysterical. Yes the BBC has some impartiality problems. But its biggest isn't the one you think.
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
Reposted by Olly Benson
A story of grief, community, and hope... 🧵
November 10, 2025 at 10:30 AM
A story of grief, community, and hope... 🧵
Not generally one for listening to true crime podcasts, but Nicola Thorp's #Charlene: Someone Knows Something tells an incredible tale following the disappearance of 14-year-old Charlene Downes in Blackpool in 2003. Very much a story that needs a wider audience.
Charlene: Somebody Knows Something
In 2003, 14-year-old Charlene Downes mysteriously vanished from her hometown of Blackpool. Chilling stories started to spread. And when two men are arrested for murdering Charlene, they are accused of...
pca.st
November 7, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Not generally one for listening to true crime podcasts, but Nicola Thorp's #Charlene: Someone Knows Something tells an incredible tale following the disappearance of 14-year-old Charlene Downes in Blackpool in 2003. Very much a story that needs a wider audience.
#Traitors Finale was 50% shouting "come on, don't muck it up now" at the TV and 50% trying to work out exactly where on the Speyside Railway the explosion was filmed.
November 6, 2025 at 10:30 PM
#Traitors Finale was 50% shouting "come on, don't muck it up now" at the TV and 50% trying to work out exactly where on the Speyside Railway the explosion was filmed.
Fascinating deep dive into the wonderful world of production/library music, and how so many of TV/Film themes that you instantly recognise were recorded as library music rather than specifically for that show.
And how those tracks are now being used in hip-hop and elsewhere. With @20k.bsky.social
And how those tracks are now being used in hip-hop and elsewhere. With @20k.bsky.social
The Secret Soundtracks of Movies & TV — Twenty Thousand Hertz - The stories behind the world's most recognizable and interesting sounds.
In the ‘60s and ‘70s, world-class musicians gathered in smoky studios to record tracks that you couldn’t buy in a store… but ended up everywhere. In this episode, Dallas and the TTH crew dive into the...
www.20k.org
November 6, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Fascinating deep dive into the wonderful world of production/library music, and how so many of TV/Film themes that you instantly recognise were recorded as library music rather than specifically for that show.
And how those tracks are now being used in hip-hop and elsewhere. With @20k.bsky.social
And how those tracks are now being used in hip-hop and elsewhere. With @20k.bsky.social