It's vital we change our bahaviour to save the planet says Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation

With the future humanity itself teetering on a proverbial knife-edge as it fights to stave off the ravages of man-made destruction to our natural world, the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation was quick to embrace last week’s Earth Day. It issued a no nonsense statement that spelled out the dangers of climate change and our loss of biodiversity as we continue to compromise the nine planetary boundaries – the environmental limits within which humanity can safely operate.

Sailing the canals was not as relaxing as Gyles Brandreth imagined

I was amused to hear that our good friend Gyles Brandreth admits that he sometimes found the apparently idyllic practise of serenely gliding around Britain’s canal network less than relaxing. It seems that the man who can do everything - actor, wit, writer, raconteur, broadcaster and former MP and government whip - is not very good at steering a canal barge.

Popstar to priest - the extraordinary story of the Rev Richard Coles

By any measure the Rev Richard Coles has led an extraordinary life. For a start he is probably the only English country vicar who cheerfully admits that he spent several years of his youth hammered on drugs. Richard of course is best known as regular host of BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live programme.

Sir Anthony Hopkins, 83, becomes oldest Best Actor winner at the Oscars

Grand to see British talent triumphing in last night’s Oscars with Sir Anthony Hopkins taking the award for best actor.The 83-year-old Welshman won the award for his role in The Father playing an elderly man struggling with dementia but fighting to retain his independence.

More former heads of state join Nobel laureates in pushing for a Peoples Vaccine

More former heads of state and Nobel laureates are signing an open letter calling on US President Joe Biden to back a People’s Vaccine and grant a waiver to help scale up global access to Covid-19 vaccines for poorer countries. Signatories include former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown and former French President François Hollande are joining Archbishop Desmond Tutu and around 170 others backing the plea.

Adam - the only Frost that would be welcome in any garden

With the sun shining and life gradually creeping back to some semblance of normality, ithe BBC is advertising the 2021 Gardeners’ World Spring Fair. Tickets are for sale now. This heart warming event is a reminder that among the many speakers waiting in the wings at Clive Conway Productions is Gardeners’ World presenter Adam Frost who also appears regularly on the BBC’s coverage of RHS Flower Shows.

Gyles Bandreth and the 40 years of royal friendship behind updated royal biography

What a wonderfully moving and tastefully devised royal send-off the Duke of Edinburgh received at Windsor Castle at the weekend. Tellingly perhaps Prince Phillip had planned it himself. What a remarkable man! Gyles Brandreth's Philip: The Final Portrait reveals the real story of the man who was the longest-serving consort to the longest-reigning sovereign in British history

Shirley Williams: the Liberal Lion who was admired and respected across the political divide

It’s been a week in which we have had top say farewell to some fine people. Understandably it was the Duke of Edinburgh’s death and funeral that dominated the news but we also endured the tragic loss of the actress Helen McCrory and of course the veteran politician Shirley Williams.

Tutu Foundation UK calls on Government to recognise just how serious racism is in our society

There has been much dismay at the Government-commissioned report on racial equality in Britain today after it claimed to have found no evidence of ‘institutional racism’. Now the Tutu Foundation UK is urging the Government to recognise and acknowledge the true seriousness of racism and its impact in our society.

Leading youth specialists form partnership to help communities recover from Covid-19

An alliance of specialists who bring shared success in tackling social and economic problems including knife crime and drug addiction are offering their expertise to the government and other bodies to build a quick and effective pathway to helping communities recover from Covid.

TV historian Lucy Worsley dispels popular myths about both Queen Victoria and Jane Austen

Ever popular TV historian Lucy has two online talks in our Curtain Up series. One is Queen Victoria: Daughter, Wife, Mother, Widow' which challenges the conventional view of the great monarch as a grumpy old lady dressed in black. The other is Jane Austen at Home which paints a vivid picture of the author through the houses, places and possessions which mattered to her. Lucy dispels the myth of the cynical, lonely spinster.

Oxford Flute Summer School still has space for more applicants

The wonderful Oxford Flute Summer School which will be held at the city’s Radley College this August is looking for more applicants. The school, which is open to young flute players aged from 15 to 24, provides tuition, experience and encouragement to players of all abilities.All you need is to love of playing the flute.This summer it takes place from August 15th to 20th.

How the spiritual and non-violent ministry of Desmond Tutu follows the path of Christian mysticism

A new book exploring the spirituality of Archbishop Desmond Tutu says that the lifelong campaigner for peace and social justice is a Christian mystic and Saint.That is the conclusion of Michael Battle, the author of Desmond Tutu: A Spiritual Biography of South Africa’s Confessor which was published last month.Battle knows Desmond Tutu better than most. He has not only known him for decades but was ordained as an Anglican priest by him in South Africa in 1993.

Julian Lloyd Webber on the joys of the random discovery of new experiences

Our every move seems to be monitored by the marketing industry with random algorithms sending all manner of unwanted suggestions about what we might want to buy next.You know the stuff. It pitches up on our phones, tablets and laptops with monotonous regularity. Hey, you bought a lawnmower last week so how about looking at our leaf blowers? Or you listened to The Beatles so you are bound to love The Rutles? For this reason among others I enjoyed hearing Julian Lloyd Webber on BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House on Sunday singing the praises of a new app called Stack.

Historian Lucy Worsley explores the very British obsession with murder

You only have to see the number of cop dramas reeling in millions of viewers almost nightly on TV to know that, as a nation, we Brits simply love a murder.From Line of Duty to Morse, Lewis and Endeavour. From Unforgotten to Vera, the fictional body count is staggering. And thats before you even begin to examine true crime documentaries or the books, plays and murder walks that dwell on this dark but compelling subject.

Newsman Clive Myrie to take over as host of BBC's Mastermind

Journalist and news presenter Clive Myrie has been signed up to replace John Humphrys as the host of the long-running BBC quiz show Mastermind. What a good choice. Quietly authoritative and a hugely experienced broadcaster, Myrie brings exactly the right mix of friendliness and gravitas to the role.

The golden rose named after Leah Tutu the "repeat-flowering mensch"

Meet the beautiful modern shrub rose 'Leah Tutu' - a floribunda with large golden-yellow, almost Dahlia like blooms that contrasts strikingly with its rich green foliage.It’s been around a while and was introduced to the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show back in 2009. It was specially named after the wife of Archbishop Desmond Tutu who had a red rose named after him at the same illustrious horticultural event.

Architectural historian Dan Cruickshank's guide to 500 years of Soho

One of Britain's best-loved historians, Dan Cruickshank, eveals an intimacy with centuries of rich and varied history as he guides us around the Soho of the last five hundred years. We learn of its original aspirations towards respectability, how it became London's bohemian quarter and why it was once home to its criminal underworld. The bars, clubs, theatres and their frequenters are described with detail that evokes the heart of the district.

Rev Richard Coles new book The Madness of Grief explores love and loss

The Rev. Richard Coles, vicar, broadcaster and former pop star, is certainly no stranger to the many and sometimes strange ways in which grief can affect people after the death of a loved one. After years of performing last rites, conducting funerals and comforting bereaved parishioners, he had seen it all. Then, just before Christmas 2019, his husband and partner of 12 years, David, died at the young age of 43.

West End producer Cameron Mackintosh donates £500,000 to help the pandemic's unpaid theatre freelancers

Theatrical producer Cameron Mackintosh has donated £500,000 from his foundation to the Theatre Artists Fund to help hard-pressed freelance theatre workers weather the financial crisis caused by Covid. It is part of the essential effort to get the theatre industry, present and future, and its workers back on track after a year of dark auditoria and desperate efforts to figure out how to workaround the necessary restrictions of the pandemic.

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