Yesterday, the 18th of February 2023, City Red Buses, part of the First Group, had their last day of operations in Southampton after nearly a century and a half. Chrissie Bainbridge, who retired in 2017 after over 40 years in the bus industry, talks to us about buses from the 70s to the present day. Chrissie Bainbridge started as a bus conductress in Southampton in the 70s, and then progressed to many senior roles. In this podcast, she shares an insight into how things were when buses were subsidized by the public purse, and the complexity of running a private transport bus operation, from strategic planning to scheduling, to sharing responsibility with the local authority for various parts of the infrastructure. 
It's a complex picture, which she is best placed to unravel.
If like me, you like buses, or just curious to understand some of the complex task of keeping buses on the road, then set aside 35 minutes for this podcast.

#community #passengers #bus #drivers #punctual #subsidised #privatised #schedule #roadworks<

Southampton Teenage Covid Podcast Episode 5: How could the school of helped differently within the Covid pandemic with those with access arrangements? Was it hard when the whole family had to work from home what changes did people need to make? 

Phoebe, a teenager who was diagnosed with dyslexia at the end of year six it was a real struggle during lockdown ’It knocked down my confidence’ and ‘It was a real struggle’ referring to the schoolwork being set.
  

Molly had to give part of her room to her mum to use as an office, but it was hard to find the balance between personal space and being a public area for the family. How did they deal with having a critical worker in the house? 

In this episode, Molly and Phoebe talk to Joseph Jennings about all things Covid. 

At the start of the pandemic in Southampton, 14-year-old Liam from Lordshillwas attending a special education unit, because of his autism-specific needs. Was his ‘bad mental health’ due to his autism or the fact he was desperately lonely, he asked himself. 

 Molly, a teenager from West End whose parents were critical workers, describes herself as oblivious to what was happening in the world, as she never watched the news or took interest in what was happening in her immediate community.

But the lockdowns offered them the space to explore what they needed to change in the way they saw themselves and the world around them.

Their self-awareness, candor, and maturity as teenagers are food for thought!

What link could there possibly be between Cluedo &Dora the Explorer and Katie’s secondary school education during the pandemic? How did the pandemic impact Oliwia’s relationship with her strict Polish parents?
In our third podcast in the Teenage Covid Podcasts series, 16-year-old Isabel talks to her mates, Katie and Oliwia, whose candid and humourous recollections reveal how they dug deep into their personal curiosity to cope with the pandemic challenges.
Thank Goodness they didn’t drink bleach as the American President Trump suggested! Duration 20min

Episode 2 Published Monday, Dec 26, 2022, Katie Interviews Lili

In this 10-minute episode, Katie talks to Lili, who feels that the initial slowed-down pace of the pandemic restrictions was beneficial for her mental health, but the restrictions led to social anxiety and other issues that have not been completely resolved to date. 

Like so many other children, she was glad to have proper family time with both her parents, who previously were out at work. But the pressures of having to try and complete all her daily homework on a single computer she shared with her two sisters, and the lack of personal space took its toll.

Charlie, 16 years old, talks to Basti about his experiences with the pandemic. Given his extended family in Germany and America, Basti had an insight that many of his peers did not. Duration 15 min This series is a We Make Southampton production, funded by the Southampton City Council Stronger Communities Team

On May 08, 2022, at the launch of the Solent Freeport at the Horizon Terminal in Southampton port, Alastair Welch, the regional director of Southampton Port, spoke about the importance of the freeport for businesses. His presentation included some outstanding statistics about our city's port activity in Southampton, including:

·       Southampton port is the UK’s biggest export port, with £14 billion pounds worth of goods exported from the port every year in about 1 million boxes of 40 foot, 80% of those come from the Far East.

·       Southampton is UK’s biggest cruise turnaround port, and it was the ONLY port in the WORLD that was able to receive and process and manage passengers and crew and vaccinate them, and get them going on their journeys

·       Southampton port supports around 15,000 jobs regionally and over 45,000 nationally.

This 30 min recording is Alastair’s presentation at the Solent Freeport launch, accompanied by the relevant slides produced by ABP.

His presentation was preceded by Brian Johnson, Chair of the Solent Freeport, who spoke about the importance of the Freeport regionally, within the context of the Government's three objectives for Freeports:

·       to be national hubs for global trade and investment

·       to promote regeneration and job creation

·       to be hotbeds for innovation

The full live stream 4h recording is available on Solent LEP YouTube Channel, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRla8mpHYpg&ab_channel=SolentLEP

 Footnote:
Up until 2013, Alastair Welch was the managing director of  Southend airport which he helped to transform and bring in record numbers of passengers.  Mr. Welch, who joined the airport in 2007, has overseen the installation of a new control tower, railway station, runway extension, and terminal and welcomed the one millionth. passenger (as reported by David Trayner in Southend Echo)
The beginning of Alastair's speech includes a reference to Southend Airport, where the James Bond film regarded by many as the best ever – Goldfinger – was filmed partly back in 1964, starring Sean Connery.

A very moving and heartfelt speech from the British Sailor Dee Caffari MBE, at the Solent Freeport Launch on World Ocean Day 2022, about oceans, sailing, and inclusivity. Below are a few extracts

'The sea does unite us all no matter where we are, and even if it means something different to all of us. Around the world, the ocean is relied upon for health, for our climates, trade, transport, and food. And that is no different to being right here in the Solent. 

I've been fortunate enough to sail around the world now six times: solo, as part of a team, leading a team the right way, and what's regarded as the wrong way. [...]  Having spent a large portion of my life at sea, I've been privileged to look at sights and sounds that most people never experience; endless horizons, beautiful sunrises, glorious sunsets, and wildlife in its natural habitat. It's a joy to see the natural environment and see the power of mother nature in all her glory, testing us to our limits. The ocean acts as a barometer of our planet's health, and we need to look after it. It's our responsibility. I'm very lucky to call the ocean my playground, my office and have it as my race track. 

 The home waters of the Solent is where it all began. A career change from teaching led me to the Isle of Wight where I retrained to start my sailing career 22 years ago [...} all the stars of my big projects have happened here, in the Solent. 

It's a technical place to sail, it's tough. In fact, if you can negotiate the waters of the Solent, you can handle sailing anywhere on the planet. [...]
We have a wide tidal range testing any planning skills. We have a wonderful natural geography that gives us this unique area that allows for industries, science, sports and leisure to all come together. Given all the benefits to this wonderful area, is it really accessible to all?

 We're going to hear a great deal about being inclusive, levelling up. It here I urge caution. I'm talking to you from a sporting perspective, in the area where we've launched around-the-world campaigns. [...] But maybe it's a result of all this success that we've had, that the sport of sailing or access to the water is still seen as exclusive, inaccessible and elitist... or even I'll go as far to say that despite the local population, being in a region of 1.3 million people, that the majority of the children have never been in on the water in this region. They probably have never even taken a ferry to the South Island. There's nothing inclusive about that. 

We can do more and we must do more. And I believe the initiatives such as the Solent LEP, bringing together this report on the strategy for Solent 2050 can help address these issues and really deliver a difference for the young people thinking what's next in their future? Am I stuck here? Or am I excited to be here? If they can see it, they can be it'