A DIVINE INSIGHT INTO CHURCH

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

A divine insight into church

Internet users around the world can now tour Leicester Cathedral's Gothic interior with the simple click of a mouse.

The historic building is one of the first cathedrals to be featured on Google Maps and visitors to the website can see most of the church's grade II*-listed stonework, alter and vibrant stained glass windows, as well as neighbouring St Martin's House.

Web users can even stand on the cathedral's altar for a vicar's-eye-view of the pews, and explore the building's numerous vestibules.

The panoramic images on Google Maps were taken by Leicestershire photographer Chris Jones.

Chris, who captures many photographs of Leicestershire for Google, said: "I think it's a really interesting building to document – especially with the Richard III connection."

He could take images from 30 specific points, or "steps", inside the church, and those are the points from which the Google Maps visitor can view the cathedral's interior.

Chris, who runs LeicesterPhoto Design, in Littlethorpe, used a digital camera with a panoramic head, taking three shots every 90 degrees.

He then "stitched" the images together with software supplied by Google to give a realistic impression of the building's interior.

In August, he uploaded his first church to Google Maps when he visited St Mary de Castro, in Castle View, Leicester.

He said: "It's up to me what buildings I choose to include in the map and, at the minute, I'm concentrating on heritage sites.

"There's so much history in Leicester it's not hard to think of places which would be of interest to a great many people.

"I think this is a great way of opening up places of interest."

Chris has also added Launde Abbey to Google Maps, which goes live today, as well as churches in Bottesford and Lutterworth.

A spokeswoman for Leicester Cathedral said: "This is a fabulous way to publicise your church and to show those who are nervous about coming over the threshold what it looks like inside."

Stuart Bailey, chairman of Leicester Civic Society, said the new Leicester additions to Google Maps was "marvellous".

He said: "The more we can do to promote our city's heritage the better.

"If someone in Colorado can go on the internet and take a tour of Leicester Cathedral then that's fantastic – and if it encourages them to come to Leicester, that's even better."

To view the cathedral, visit Google Maps and click on the doors of the building.

RECEPTION AS EXHIBITION ENDS

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Reception as exhibition ends

A reception has been held to mark the end of an exhibition commemorating the 40th anniversary of the expulsion of Asians from Uganda.

The show, From Kampala to Leicester, began at New Walk Museum in July.

It told the story of Leicester's Ugandan Asian community from1972 to the present day and how the 10,000-strong community which settled in the city has influenced its development.

The exhibition, which was extended by a week because of its popularity, featured films, personal testimonies and rare artefacts borrowed from Leicester's Ugandan Asian community.

Belgrave Business Association hosted a reception at the museum on Friday for 60 guests, including Leicester East MP Keith Vaz and city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby.

The association's chairman, Dharmesh Lakhani, said: "The influx of the Asian community has played a major part in Leicester as we see it today.

"It was important to recognise the part the community has played in Leicester's history, reflected in the exhibition put on by the museum."

PEACE WALK PROTEST AT FACTORY

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

"Peace walk" protest at factory

Peace campaigners staged a demonstration yesterday outside a factory which makes parts for unmanned military drones.

The protest, by people on a 90-mile "peace walk", took place outside the Thales factory, in Scudamore Road, Braunstone Frith, Leicester.

Participant Penny Walker, of Leicester CND, said: "The walk is to mark the Drones Week of Action, to campaign against the use of unmanned aircraft in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"The Leicester Thales factory makes electronics for the Watchkeeper drone, and that is why we held a demonstration outside."

The walkers, who come from around the country, were met by the Red Leicester Choir outside the factory yesterday afternoon.

They were due to set off again this morning from the Gandhi statue, in Belgrave Road, Leicester.

The 90-mile walk started near Lichfield, in Staffordshire, on Saturday, and passed through Hinckley on the way to Leicester yesterday.

It will continue towards RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, where the march will finish on Saturday.

Another participant, Maya Evans, of Hastings, said: "During a visit to Afghanistan last December, I met a 19-year-old whose brother-in-law – a trainee police officer with a wife and one-year-old son – was killed in a drone strike."

She said the idea of the march was to get people talking about drones in the places which the walkers pass through.

Ms Evans added: "We are walking in solidarity with those killed or harmed by drones."The walk coincided with a 20,000-strong protest in Pakistan, led by former cricket international and politician Imran Khan.

Drones are unmanned aircraft equipped with weapons and cameras.No-one from Thales was available for comment yesterday.

MEN AND MENTAL HEALTH

A meeting this evening, long in the planning, at Diversity Hub, Churchgate, on the topic, "Men and Mental Health".

This follows on from a number of "Men as Leaders" workshops (which kicked off with a first meeting in the bowels of Leicester Adult Education College on International Women's Day, 8 March 2012 - see blog post for that day). Some of the men who were at that meeting are here for this one.

Like the meeting in March, this one is keyed to an international commemorative event: this is World Mental Health Week.

Men tend not to be very at addressing their health needs - mental health being no different.

Professionally, I'm often involved in activities, projects and schemes associated with taboos of one sort or another among the faith and cultural communities: domestic violence, forced marriage, organ donation - you name it. So it's surprising (even refreshing and stimulating) to realise that this evening I'm a member of a community - white British males of a certain age - for whom, by and large, their mental health is a taboo subject.

And accordingly, it took me blooming ages to do this blog post; writing and rewriting it until all it appears as is this cut down version of something that had pretensions to be more insightful.

THIS WEEK'S VISITORS (2,311)

Regular update on the number of pageviews received from different parts of the world in the week just ending.

1. United States 938
2. United Kingdom 675
3. Russia 285
4. France 135
5. Spain 75
6. Ukraine 60
7. India 50
8. Germany 43
9. Latvia 29
10. Poland 21

This week's total: 2,311 (last week: 2,362). These are aggregates of figures from the top ten countries only. Blogger's analytics doesn't show the numbers of pageviews below the tenth-ranking country and they don’t show the cumulative total including those additional countries, which is undoubtedly larger than the number shown above.

The world map at the top of this post is the graphic that I see on the stats page. The darker the green, the more pageviews from that country. I can see different versions of that map for "now" (i.e. in the last two hours), "today", "this week", "this month" and "all time". They're updated each time I look at them.

SUBSIDISED JABS FOR PILGRIMS

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Subsidised jabs for pilgrims

A city pharmacist has joined a scheme to give pilgrims travelling to Mecca subsidised meningitis jabs.

Everyone going to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages has to have the injection and a certificate to prove it has been given at least 10 days before arriving and within the past three years.

Hundreds of people from Leicestershire make the pilgrimages each year.

Altaf Vaiya, who runs the Alpharm chemist in Belgrave, is offering jabs for £30 – less than half the price charged by some GP surgeries – because they are subsided by the Muslim Council of Britain.

Mr Vaiya said: "It is a mandatory visa requirement for all those travelling to the Hajj to have a meningococcal vaccination.

"The visitor density, crowded conditions and the low humidity of the dry season puts pilgrims at particular risk of meningococcal infection.

"As a registered partner clinic of the Muslim Council of Britain, we are offering the vaccine as well as a certificate for a subsidised price of £30.

"We will also be giving advice on staying healthy during the Hajj."

Hajj is a major pilgrimage which is considered compulsory for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it.

Zuffar Haq, a spokesman for the Leicester Mercury Patients' Panel, said: "People should know that they can shop around for these travel vaccinations which are needed for many countries, particularly in these financial times, and that GPs no longer have a monopoly on this issue."

City GP Professor Azhar Farooqi, chairman of the Leicester City clinical commissioning group, which will take on responsibility for running city health services in April, said: "Prices do a vary a lot between GP practices.

"In my own, East Leicester Medical Practice, we used to charge £70 but have recently reduced this to £30. A lot of our patients wanted the vaccinations and we wanted to make sure they didn't go without."

Dr Shuja Shafi, deputy Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain and chairman of its health and food standards committee, has welcomed the move.

He said: "Several years ago, our survey showed a wide variation in the cost that Hajj and Umrah pilgrims incurred in obtaining the meningitis vaccine.

"The advent of the Department of Health preferred vaccine provided an opportunity to negotiate on behalf of the community an all-inclusive, cost-effective vaccination programme with the manufacturers.

"More than 1,250 pharmacists and GP practices across the country have chosen to participate in this programme."

BELIEF, FAITH, RELIGION AND NO FAITH OR RELIGION AWARENESS DAY AT DE MONTFORT UNIVERSITY

A meeting this morning at De Montfort University (Eric Wood Building, The Gateway), planning for an inter faith event to be held on campus later this year.

This is the second meeting of this steering group. The first (19 September) was attended by Rosemarie Fitton, Senior Lecturer in Interior Design at DMU and nominated member of Leicester Council of Faiths.

This event was originally scheduled for Wednesday 21 November, during Inter Faith Week. That's proving to be a popular day, with a number of activities planned:

• Highcross exhibition (0930-2000);
• Choice Unlimited II at Leicester Tigers (1000-1800);
• Brooksby Melton College's Interfaith Events Day (0930-1415);
• Leicester University World Faiths Advisory Group lecture (1230-1400).

It might have been difficult to fit in another commitment! Thankfully, it's already been decided before this meeting to move the event back a week to Wednesday 28 November - an auspicious date for me as that's my birthday.

I'm given a few minutes to introduce myself and say what the Council of Faiths can bring to the table. We should be able to make available our full exhibition and drum up support from all our member faith communities.

I'm glad to be able to do one thing which I consider an improvement. The group has (it appears to me) tied itself up in knots, trying to cover all the bases, not offend  anyone or leave anyone out, entitling the event "Belief, Faith, Religion And No Faith or Religion Awareness Day". I persuade the steering group to drop this in favour of something simpler, such as "Religion or Belief Awareness Day". I like that "religion or belief" formula and it is what's used in the Equality Act 2010 after all, for good reason.

EVIDENCE POINTS TO EXISTENCE OF JESUS

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Evidence points to existence of Jesus

I really appreciate the platform that Mercury Mailbox offers for the discussion of various matters and, as a new contributor, I also appreciate the comments that others have made regarding the information that I have presented so far.

The interchange of experience and information can only be good.However, in commenting on my letter about the historicity of Christ, I am sure that most readers will realise that letters are edited by the Mailbox team, and for good reason.

With this in mind I would like to say that only about half of my letter was printed and I really feel that the material left out would be beneficial to the ongoing discussion.

The two first century historians I mentioned, Josephus and Tacitus, are not the only non-Christian writers who have referred to Jesus in their writings.

Pliny the Younger and Seutonius also accepted that Jesus was a real person.

Referring to early non-Christian historical references to Jesus, The New Encyclopedia Britannica states: "These independent accounts prove that in ancient times, even the opponents of Christianity never doubted the historicity of Jesus."

The historian HG Wells is reported to have said that a man's greatness can be measured by "what he leaves to grow and whether he started others to think along fresh lines with a vigour that persisted after him."

Wells, although not claiming to be a Christian, acknowledged: "By this test, Jesus stands first."

We could also ask, is it reasonable to believe that a man who never lived could have affected human history so remarkably?

Just think about it, even calendars today are based on the year that Jesus was thought to have been born.

I fully accept that the Roman historians never actually met Jesus, but they, by their writings, show that they accepted that he lived. So they must have trusted their sources and, as respected historians, their word has value.

When I consider all of the available information – the harmony of the Holy Bible, the historical writings, the opinions of those of greater intellect than me and the effect he had on Mankind, I am absolutely convinced of the existence of Jesus Christ as a truly historical person. But what is he doing now?

Keith Coleman, Worthington

PHILOSOPHY IN PUBS, OCTOBER 2012

On the first Wednesday evening of every month, Leicester PIPs (Philosophy in Pubs) meets upstairs in the Crumblin' Cookie on the High Street. Our stimulus is the two-part question, "What is honour? And does it matter?" Clare facilitates this evening at what proves to be one of the most lively enquiries we've had for ages, carrying on well beyond the final thoughts that close the formal part of the proceedings.

Visit Leicester PIPs page on Facebook (and check out The Crumblin' Cookie too, while you're there).

NETWORK FOR CHANGE AGM AT GUILDHALL

At Leicester's medieval Guildhall this evening, for the Annual General Meeting of Network for Change.

Network for Change is a local Voluntary Sector organisation providing Supported Housing, Community Outreach and Resource Centre activities designed to meet the needs of adults whose mental health problems have impacted significantly on their quality of life. Network’s values and working practices focus on the Recovery Model and person-centred approaches to enable wellbeing and potential.

I used to teach at Network for Change: basic literacy, communication skills, study skills and (most significantly for me) Creative Writing. I ran the Creative Writing group on Friday afternoons for five years. I loved that and was sorry that I had to give it up. I still try to give whatever support I can to Network for Change at every opportunity that might present itself.

The highlight of the evening is the presentation given by participants in the recent Plan W peer mentoring project. The "W" stands for Wellness.

There's a lovely-looking buffet, including some very nice homemade cakes; but after having fallen foul of some dodgy tidbits at a reception last week, I'm not feeling brave enough to indulge myself.