Big Society: The Trend Continues

I must say I'm enjoying all this "Big Society" malarkey. The debate about what in the hell it means, the irony of Liverpool City Council complaining it doesn't have to fund its involvement (which is the point, after all), the claims that volunteering is in decline, the claims that volunteering is doing just fine.

Wavy Dave must be pleased that it's all travelling in the right direction.

Because the big idea in the "Big Society", if there is one, is really for the Tories to make political capital out of a number of trends that have been building and converging throughout the past decade. They know that faith in our institutions has been in decline, that various facilitators are enabling us to personalise retailing, entertainment, travel, finance, politics and now public services. They know that everyone (except investment bank executives) is focused on sustainability and how to achieve more with less. They know these trends are not going to ebb away any time soon.

But who cares if the Tories try to claim the credit? That's politics. I'm all for having more Big Society debates. The more we focus on the problems of how to deliver public services more cost-effectively and efficiently, the better.

Rower's Revenge 2009

Well, that's a wrap for 2009.

An average of 4.84 training sessions a week for the past 50 weeks and a time of 1:39:59 in the Rower's Revenge - 58th overall, 11th in M40-49 group - just pipping Oikonomics, who smoked me on the bike. I was 49th and 9th respectively last year, so I'm going to have to do something radical next season...

In the meantime, I've raised 60% of my target for Prostate UK - you can help beat that by donating at: http://www.justgiving.com/simondeanejohns/.

Join us next year!

Thanks to SussexSportPhotography.com for the pic.

Duathlon Result

Well, the '09 fundraising campaign got off to a decent start at yesterday's DB Max Chilly Duathlon - a 2 mile run, 10 mile cycle, 2 mile run, orbiting a very windy Castle Combe Race Circuit.

My challenge was to take it steady on the first stage, which can be tough if you're feeling great and get carried away. Luckily I remembered my heart rate monitor this year, so I was able to rein myself in. That meant I finished the first stage fully 1 min 27 secs slower than last year, and I cost myself another 16 secs in transition. But it was all plain sailing from there. The bike leg was 2 mins 42 secs faster than last year - and I even had some jelly beans left to top last year's final stage by 31 secs. Overall, a 1 min 30 sec net improvement at 58:17.05.

Next stop: Mallory Park for a rowing triathlon on May 4.

Please take a moment to donate a fiver or so to Prostate UK if you can.

Another Season In Aid of Prostate UK

Another season begins!

This will be my third competing in aid of Prostate UK in various rowathlons (row, bike, run - I hate swimming lengths!) and duathlons arranged by Will Whitmore at DB Max, and culminating in Marlow Rowing Club's Rower's Revenge in October.

The pressure's on, because this year I've followed Mark Allen's base training suggestion and spent much of the past 4 months training below my maximum aerobic heart rate to try to improve performance when the rowathlons start in May. The first 'warm-up' event is the DB Max Chilly Duathlon at Castle Combe Race Circuit next week, on 1 March - a cheeky 2 mile run, 10 mile cycle, 2 mile run that took me 59 mins and 47 secs last year. So whether the extra time and patience has been worthwhile is about to be sorely tested!

Will it all be for nought? Not if you donate a tenner each... ;-)

I'll post the stats on my Justgiving page, and share the highs and lows right here, as the season progresses. Last season's results were:

Trybike Mallory Park Rowing Tri - May 5th - 2.5k row, 20k bike, 5k run (time 1:19:13 - 21st overall). Dodgy transitions definitely cost me a place.

Castle Combe Rowing Triathlon - August 10th - 3k row, 20k bike, 3k run (time 1:11:51 - 27th overall and beating 2007 time of 1:13:29). It was all down to the run; more training time on the bike required.

Reading Rowing Triathlon - August 16th - 2.5k row, 7k bike, 2.8k run (time 36:22 - 19th overall). Went too quickly in the row, which killed the run, but it felt good and I couldn't resist ;-)

Marlow "Rowers Revenge" - October 5th - 4k row, 25k bike, 7.5k run - (time 1:42:50). Beat previous time (2005) by about 10 mins :-)

Mo-gress

Well, twelve days into Movember and the photos just don't do my effort any justice at all, so I won't repeat them here.

In fact, my mo' is much more visible than the camera suggests, and such an eyesore that I have to creep home at night. Young ladies are beginning to give me very strange looks indeed, when they used not to notice at all. Young men run away. Dogs cross the street, and cats hiss.

Bring on the 30th faster, I say.

In the meantime, you can donate to The Prostate Cancer Charity by clicking here and using your credit card, or by writing a cheque payable to ‘The Prostate Cancer Charity Re: Movember', referencing my Registration Number 1586826 and mailing it to:

The Prostate Cancer Charity
First Floor Cambridge House
100 Cambridge Grove
Hammersmith
London W6 OLE

The money raised by Movember is used to raise awareness of men's health issues and donated to The Prostate Cancer Charity which will have an enormous impact on many men's lives and the awareness will help us to fight prostate cancer on every front - through research, support, information and campaigning.

Did you know...

• Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK. 35,000 men are diagnosed every year and one man dies every hour.
  

• 1 in 11 UK men will be diagnosed in their lifetime.

For those that have supported Movember in previous years you can be very proud of the impact it has had.

Movember

One of the er... upsides to working in a client's offices with lots of people is participating in their crazy schemes.

So, during Movember (the month formerly known as November) I'm growing a Mo. I'm doing this, it says here, because I'm passionate about tackling men's health issues and being proactive in the fight against prostate cancer - the most common cancer in men in the UK.

But I'm really doing it for the cringing sense of embarrassment the new Mo grower gets from watching the eyes of the person he's speaking to being drawn irresistibly to the mangy spider materialising on his upper lip. And from feeling the inevitable question grow throughout the conversation until his victim is obliged to enquire, "What the hell is that?" Or worse.

You can donate to my Mo by clicking here and using your credit card, or by writing a cheque payable to ‘The Prostate Cancer Charity Re: Movember', referencing my Registration Number 1586826 and mailing it to:

The Prostate Cancer Charity
First Floor Cambridge House
100 Cambridge Grove
Hammersmith
London W6 OLE

The money raised by Movember is used to raise awareness of men's health issues and donated to The Prostate Cancer Charity which will have an enormous impact on many men's lives and the awareness will help us to fight prostate cancer on every front - through research, support, information and campaigning.

Did you know...

• Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK. 35,000 men are diagnosed every year and one man dies every hour.
  

• 1 in 11 UK men will be diagnosed in their lifetime.

For those that have supported Movember in previous years you can be very proud of the impact it has had.

A Rower's Revenge

Finally, after about 50 weeks of steady training, I had my revenge yesterday. It was indeed a dish served cold, with lashings of rain and mud. White kit would not have been my first choice, but then I'm raising money for Prostate UK, not a rehab unit for super models.

I'm pleased to say that the rain and local flooding did not prevent me beating my 2005 time - run on a cool dry day - by about 10 minutes, coming in 49th in 1:42:50.28. Proving not only that you can get younger, but also that a 2007 Bianchi road-racer with clip-in shoes is a much faster mode of transport than a 1997 Trek hybrid, even with mud guards and pannier racks removed.

And I must add that it was a special pleasure to repair (quite literally) to the warmth and hospitality of the George and Dragon with my father, on his much anticipated visit from Oz, for an excellent steak and ale pie and about 7 years worth of aimless conversation.

Wear Your Y-fronts Over Your Trousers

Nothing like a quick 5 kms scamper around a public park in your underwear for charity to spice up your weekend. Pants in the Park is on this Sunday, 15 June at 11am in Battersea Park, London (and elsewhere in the UK). Registration is at 10am.

Cameras allowed.

Mens Sana in Corpore Sano

Now that I'm "rising 43" (as my children's school might put it) any motivation to keep in shape is critical.

So I'm competing to raise money for Prostate UK again this year in a series of "rowathlons" organised by DB Max.

Rowathlons are triathlons with the swimming leg replaced by a stint on an indoor rower. I find them satisfying to train for because of the variety in the three elements and the need to build gradually towards an event. So I can train all year to avoid the beer belly and still not get stuck in a rut. Oh, and I can also sit down to watch inane daytime television during the rowing sessions, instead of staring at the black line on the bottom of a pool.

Of course, the events themselves are where the rubber hits the road, and you really get to see the results of all the training (and any missed sessions!).

These are niche events, with 100 to 150 competitors - not some giant crowd - and tend to be run at race circuits or parks to avoid the hassle of traffic (and hills!).

So far, there are three events scheduled for this season:

• Trybike Mallory Park Rowing Triathlon - May 5th - 2.5k row, 20k cycle, 5k run
  
• Castle Combe Rowing Triathlon - August 10th - 3k, 20k, 3k
• Reading (Green Park) Rowing Triathlon - August 30th - 2.5k, 7k, 2.8k

Why not give one of them a go?

Waiting for Gordo

I'm no political activist, nor wedded to any political party. But I'm not apathetic. I prefer my politics 'unbundled' and simply want to ensure that I'm getting real value for my tax spend - that the root causes of social problems are solved efficiently.

Research tells me that I am not alone, but what tools exist to help us achieve this?

Needless to say, the government of the day is particularly untrustworthy when it comes to demonstrating value for all the money we give it. The opposition are generally at the opposite extreme. The various media are concerned only with what is “news”, which is to say what they believe to be immediate, significant and topical - usually the posturing of the main political parties. And only the PR-skilled, lucky or very persistent ever get their message into the news. Like politicians and those who hire lobbyists.

The rest of us have been pretty much left with the National Audit Office, which provides great ammunition for everybody to use. But the NAO quite rightly focuses on how the government is currently spending or promising to spend our money now, and can't ever be seen to be using its fact finding and reporting as a basis for 'campaigning' for change.

So, it's up to us as citizens to find other ways of keeping the pressure on. But how?

Charities and other 'pressure groups' often do a good job of including the humble citizen in their activities e.g. Scope, Cancer Research, Oxfam. Otherwise, it's self-help.

Of course, "self-help" could mean voting, and even swapping your vote at the next General Election. But while you're waiting for our beloved Prime Minister to call one, you could get an overview of the problems as the politicians see them (and comment on your MP's blog), share your views with others via social networks (Facebook, MySpace, Bebo etc), comments on blogs and email, participate with other vigilantes in our 'special relationship' with the US, sign up to a petition that proposes a solution to the root cause of your problem, write to the civil servants with your problem directly, or report an issue to your local council.

If there are other self-help measures, I'd love to hear of them.