Titles incorporating mental health lead shortlist for Childrens Book Prize

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Titles incorporating themes of mental health lead the shortlist for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize for 2023.

The winner, which will be selected from a total of 18 books across three categories and voted for by Waterstones booksellers, will be announced during a ceremony on March 30.

With six books nominated in each category, the illustrated books nominees include The Missing Piece, by author Jordan Stephens and illustrator Beth Suzanna, which is a story about family and friendship and gently tackles how to overcome feelings of isolation.

Elsewhere in the category, Gretel The Wonder Mammoth, by Kim Hillyard, explores the difficulties and anxiety associated with change and offers guidance on how to ask for help when feeling overwhelmed and lonely.

Completing the illustrated books nominees are What Do You See When You Look At A Tree? by Emma Carlisle, The Station Cat by Stephen Hogtun, I Am NOT A Prince by author Rachael Davis and illustrator Beatrix Hatcher, and The Fairy Garden written by Georgia Buckthorn and illustrated by Isabella Mazzanti.

The nominations for 2023 come after several years of challenges for children and young people in the UK, including the risk of loneliness and anxiety as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns.

Themes of mental health are also present in the books for younger readers category, with The Last Firefox by Lee Newbery tackling difficulties at school and home to deliver a subtle message on how to be courageous in the face of anxiety.

The other nominees in the category are The Book Of Stolen Dreams by David Farr, Nura And The Immortal Palace by MT Khan, Small! by Hannah Moffatt, Ajay And The Mumbai Sun by Varsha Shah, and The Lizzie And Belle Mysteries: Drama And Danger by written by JT Williams and illustrated by Simone Douglas.

In the books for older readers category, Angharad Walker’s Once Upon A Fever sees a world plagued by fantastical illness, the cause of which is believed to be strong feelings.

The category also sees the first ever graphic novel memoir on the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize shortlist, as Lewis Hancox tells his story of learning to become his happiest self in Welcome To St Hell.

All That’s Left In The World by Erik J Brown, The Cats We Meet Along The Way by Nadia Mikail, Ellie Pillai Is Brown by Christine Pillainayagam, and If You Still Recognise Me by Cynthia So also feature.

Following the unveiling of the shortlist, Waterstones head of children’s Florentyna Martin said: “Books have the magical power to aid personal development in safe, supportive spaces, whether readers are exploring on the page or visiting a bookshop.

“With the rise in mental health topics in children’s books, and studies showing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and social media on young people’s wellbeing, it is notable that we see reflections on mental health and identity on the shortlists.

“Our booksellers have chosen a list of exceptional new writing that offers something for everyone.”

The winning author in each category will be awarded a prize of £2,000, and the overall winner will receive an additional £3,000. If the prize is awarded to a partnership, the prize money will be split equally.

The winners will also receive ongoing commitment to their writing career from Waterstones.

The 2022 prize was won by Hannah Gold for The Last Bear.

Published: 09/02/2023 by Radio NewsHub

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Governments pledge to ban trail hunting in spotlight as Boxing Day hunts meet

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Labour, which introduced the original ban on hunting with dogs in 2004, pledged in its manifesto this year to ban trail hunting, as part of what it says are measures to “improve animal welfare”. A spokesperson for the Environment Department (Defra) confirmed the Government planned to ban trail hunting, telling the PA news agency: “This government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious animal welfare plans in a generation and that is exactly what we will do. “We are committed to a ban on trail hunting, which is being exploited as a smokescreen to cruelly kill foxes and hares.” The League Against Cruel Sports said figures compiled by its intelligence team found that since the beginning of August, 186 foxes were reported being pursued by hunts and there were 220 reports relating to suspected illegal hunting incidents. There were also 553 reports of “hunt havoc”, in which hounds caused disruption such as chasing other wild animals or pets, worrying livestock or causing traffic incidents, or disturbing the public, the organisation said. Emma Judd, head of campaigns at the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “It’s 20 years since the Hunting Act was passed but, since then, figures we compile consistently suggest hunts still chase and kill foxes as they did before the ban. “Hunts may claim they are following a pre-laid animal scent trail, known as trail hunting, but this has been shown to be nothing but a smokescreen to conceal old-fashioned illegal hunting.” She said trail hunting and loopholes in the Hunting Act made it “all but impossible” to enforce the law, and called for the Government to strengthen the legislation and introduce custodial sentences for those hunting wild animals with dogs, and to set out a timetable for doing so. Dan Norris, Labour MP for North East Somerset and Hanham and chairman of the League Against Cruel Sports, urged ministers to “listen to the majority view, including in rural areas, to close the legal loopholes that allow needless cruelty to animals, and implement a proper ban on hunting once and for all”. But Mr Bonner accused parts of the Labour Party of the politics of “perceived class and prejudice” and said: “It’s very sad that we may be going back to a point where we have to waste even more parliamentary time on this irrelevant issue. “If they are claiming that somehow this law needs to be changed to address illegal behaviour, then it needs to be very carefully thought through, and any proposals are brought forward do just need to address that. “Because what there can’t be any any case for is stopping people going into the countryside with a pack of hounds or dogs, and carrying out a completely benign activity, which is what hunts are doing.” He said there were 12,000 hunting days carried out each year which were legal and legitimate. While he said moves to require hunts to lay non animal-based scents and bring in a “recklessness” element to the offence would be survivable for most hunts, he warned Labour against “opening Pandora’s box” by revisiting the legislation, as he said it could become a toxic political battle. In the wake of widespread anger with Labour in rural communities over issues such as changes to inheritance tax for farm businesses and an acceleration of the phaseout of farming subsidies in favour of environmental payments, Mr Bonner also said it would be extraordinary to push a ban. “Given where the government is in its relationship with the countryside already, frankly it would seem extraordinary that they’d want to double down on an issue which really doesn’t matter.” While there are hundreds of jobs supported by hunting, it is a relatively niche activity, he said, but added it plays a key role in parts of rural Britain where farming is tough and mental health and loneliness are big issues. “It’s one of those elements that brings the rural community together and to remove that through an act of spite, if that was to happen, would be something which I think people would react extremely badly to,” he said. Joe Emmett, master and huntsman of the South Devon Hunt, said: “The hunt plays an important role in our local community and meets like Boxing Day are the perfect opportunity for locals and visitors to the area to come together.” The League Against Cruel Sports said polling earlier this year showed more than three quarters (76%) of the British public supported strengthening the Hunting Act, but the Countryside Alliance pointed to a survey over the weekend of more than 2,000 people in which just 5% put it in their top three issues for voting in the next election. Published: 26/12/2024 by Radio NewsHub

Train reliability hits the buffers as annual cancellations exceed 360000

More than 360,000 train services across Britain were fully or part-cancelled in the past year as reliability is at a joint record low amid major staffing shortages. PA news agency analysis of the latest Office of Rail and Road data found 208,000 services were fully axed in the year to November 9. A further 161,000 were part-cancelled, meaning they did not serve at least one of their scheduled stops. The rail industry produces a cancellations score – counting full cancellations as one and part-cancellations as half – which shows the equivalent of 4.0% of the 7.3 million trains planned in that period were cancelled. That is the joint worst reliability performance in figures dating back to March 2015, when the annual cancellations score was just 1.9%. Services are being particularly badly disrupted on Sundays as many operators rely on train drivers or guards volunteering to work paid overtime on that day. Great Western Railway, Northern and ScotRail are among the operators affected. Rail journalist Tony Miles, of Modern Railways magazine, said: “Much of (the poor performance) is to do with a failure of successive governments to really resolve the staffing issues on rail, and that includes getting a proper seven-day railway in the terms and conditions (of train crew) – and recruiting enough staff – so they don’t have to rely on overtime and rest-day working. “This is putting people off trains and back onto the roads, which is completely contrary to what Government ambition should be.” Mr Miles claimed some train drivers have opted out of extra shifts since the Labour Government offered a multi-year pay deal to their union Aslef without changes to terms and conditions. He predicted cancellation figures are “probably going to get worse” because drivers are retiring faster than they are being recruited, describing the situation as a “ticking time bomb”. Mr Miles said Network Rail “struggling” to maintain its infrastructure because of inadequate funding is also partly to blame for the high number of cancellations. He added there is an increase in the number of train staff off work because of sickness as the coronavirus pandemic means many people with a virus now think staying at home to avoid spreading it is better than struggling into work. Michael Solomon Williams, of pressure group Campaign for Better Transport, said: “Delays and cancellations erode passengers’ faith in the railways. “The rail industry and Government must work together to invest in both the workforce and infrastructure to improve reliability across the whole network.” The operator with the highest cancellations score in the year to November 9 was Avanti West Coast at 7.8%. It was followed by CrossCountry (7.4%), Northern (5.7%) and Govia Thameslink Railway (5.2%). The best performing operator was c2c – which runs services between London and Essex – with a score of 1.6%. In November, then-transport secretary Louise Haigh said train operators have been asked to prepare for their performance statistics to be displayed at most stations to boost transparency. Her successor, Heidi Alexander, told PA earlier this month: “We are clear that we need to move to a seven-day railway. “We are too over-reliant on rest day working and so that’s a big priority for me as we move into the new year.” A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Passengers are being let down by poor services, which is why we are committed to delivering the biggest overhaul of the railways in a generation. “Bringing services back into public ownership will put passengers at the heart of everything we do and allow us to reinvest into our railways. “We have been clear we will not tolerate poor performance and will continue to hold all operators to account, regardless of ownership.” A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, said: “We know how much passengers rely on the railway and the importance of reliable and punctual services. “Rail staff work hard to enable five million journeys every day and the industry is working together to address the main causes of delays and cancellations. “Delays and cancellations can occur due to various factors like weather and flooding, industrial action, infrastructure issues such as track or signalling faults, train faults and external incidents such as trespass. “When this happens, we are raising awareness of delay repay compensation to ensure passengers can easily claim what they are entitled to.” Published: 26/12/2024 by Radio NewsHub

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Titles incorporating mental health lead shortlist for Childrens Book Prize

Titles incorporating themes of mental health lead the shortlist for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize for 2023.

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Governments pledge to ban trail hunting in spotlight as Boxing Day hunts meet

Train reliability hits the buffers as annual cancellations exceed 360000

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