Trick or Treat?

Did you spend last night dishing out sweets to little vampires and ghouls? I didn't. It was throwing it down here, I think the only thing out and about last night was the undines and they don't like sweet things.

I got my butt well and truly kicked on Monday by my tutors. I've got 2 months to prepare my Creative Practice, Poetry, Prose and Dissertation - help! I'm a procrastinator - get me out of here. The good news is I have a digital camera and it's nice and shiny. So, I'll be out and about taking pictures a bit later on. I hope to get some photos uploaded later on in the week, but I won't promise in case it all goes horribly wrong.

Yesterday, was Child Protection Training. NHSD gets a significant proportion of calls about and by children, and the service is committed to protecting children. I must admit, I was horrified by the statistics that were given to us, especially considering that it's likely to be the tip of the iceberg. If you have a chance, have a look at this. When people think about child abuse, the focus tends to be around sexual abuse. Apparently, this is on the decrease, but the other types of abuse: emotional, physical and neglect are on the increase. One to two children die a week in England and Wales because of abuse. When I think about statistics, i think 'ah, these are just numbers'. Actually, they are not, they have names: Victoria, James, Jenny, Peter...

Sorry, I didn't mean to come all heavy handed and righteous on you. Look, it's safe, I've put my soap-box away.