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Family Stuff About us - who we are and what we do |
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Catherine
John
‘Boys’, 2017
Andrew on S.A.M.S. Radio 1, 2017
Go to: LLM • Schrödinger • RockStars! • Andrew and the Youth Parliament • “It won’t work…” • Tiger makes the news
Catherine studied for and was awarded the qualification ‘Master of Laws’, LLM. Her certificate is here. This will help her with her work for the Equality & Human Rights Commission.
Every house needs a cat (mice are a problem in Jamestown). Ours is called Schrödinger. If you don’t know why, check out Schrödinger’s Cat on the Wikipedia.
Oddly, our Schrödinger seems to like climbing into boxes…
In 2017 we rescued a kitten that was clearly abandoned and begging for food in Jamestown. She seemed to like hiding and leaping out at us as we passed. We named her Cato. Peter Sellers/Pink Panther fans will understand…
Andrew in full flow
A while ago Andrew and some students at Prince Andrew’s School formed a Rock Band. They practice at lunch-times, have performed at all the school concerts and they have also appeared in public for the Tourist Office, in Jamestown and at the wharf welcoming arrivals on the RMS. Their own composition “The Beat of the Airport Drum” was even released on a CD. Harry joined the band recently as bassist and they performed at the New Horizons’ “The Sound Of The Saints” show on 3rd May 2013. Below is a photo from that performance:
Harry far left; Andrew far right
The Ecumenical Service
The Procession from St. James’ Church to The Court House
CPA Meeting (photo: Robyn Sim)
The free vote (photo: Robyn Sim)
Members of the CPA St Helena branch and the Youth Parliament, celebrating 100 years of the CPA
The St Helena Youth Parliament (photo: Robyn Sim)
Celebrating 100 Years of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association - A Double Celebration for St Helena
A historic occasion was celebrated on Monday with the birth of St Helena’s first ever Youth Parliament.
This momentous event honoured the 100th Anniversary celebrations of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), of which St Helena is a branch.
In commemoration of this special day, an Ecumenical Service was held at St. James’ Church for all members of the CPA, members of the Youth Parliament and the general public. After the Service, the congregation proceeded to the Court House for the main events of the day, which included the inaugural meeting of the St Helena Youth Parliament.
In her opening address, the President of the St Helena branch, Cathy Hopkins MBE, commented on how ‘honoured’ she was to chair the meeting which not only celebrated 100 years of the CPA but also ‘witnessed history in the making’ with the beginning of the Youth Parliament, which she described as “young people rising to meet the challenges of today’s world and taking their place as young Parliamentarians.”
The President added that ‘it is appropriate to recognise the importance of our young people who are taking an important step with the setting up of a Youth Parliament’. She said that it gave her ‘great pleasure to welcome our young people to acknowledge their commitment and to look forward to the development of the next generation of St Helena’s Parliamentarians.’ A recorded video message from the Secretary General of the CPA, Dr William F. Shija, was then played. Following this, Deputy Speaker, Eric Benjamin announced the CPA St Helena branch membership, much to the delight of many present.
The inaugural meeting of the Youth Parliament then followed.
The Youth Parliament consists of Chairman, Andrew Turner and members Gemma Yon, Zedella Young, Rebecca Lawrence and Neil Francis. They were joined by Councillors’, Stedson Francis and Tony Green to debate the issue that ‘This House would lower the voting age to 16.’
The inaugural meeting opened with a welcome from the Chairman who in his opening remarks, gave a brief history of the existence of Youth Parliaments in other parts of the world and their instrumental role in getting young people involved in their countries’ decision making.
The debate that followed was a thought provoking one with three members debating for and three against. Some reasons for lowering the voting age to 16 included, a person of 16 might be just as mature as someone older; at 16 young people are able to fight for their country and have a family yet have no input into the way they are governed; and that it is essential to lower the voting age to access young people’s opinions and to reflect a true democracy.
Some opposing reasons were that 16 year olds still live with their parents and as a result would be influenced in their thinking; that they are not ready to decide the Island’s future since as adolescents their judgements are less mature than adults; and young people at this age should be concentrating more on their educational needs and preparing themselves to make sound judgements when reaching the current voting age.
After both cases were heard a free vote took place where there was a small majority in favour of lowering the voting age to 16. The issue will now be considered by Legislative Council and will require public consultation.
The lively debate which Acting Governor, Ken Baddon described as ‘food for thought’ brought the morning’s activities to a close.
A photo shoot of the CPA St Helena branch and the Youth Parliament then took place on the Court House steps. This was followed by a lunch at Ann’s place for invited guests.
At lunch the Acting Governor remarked that he shall watch with interest the development of the Youth Parliament and ‘whether or not the voting age is reduced{1} the Youth Parliament will provide an important bridge between the political generations - a single body in which those too old for school politics and those too young for the Legislative Council processes can debate issues of common interest.’
St Helena Government Public Relations/Information Office
The Secretariat
27th October 2011
www.sainthelena.gov.sh
Andrew decided to photograph the moon by holding his camera to the eyepiece of his telescope. Keen astronomers and photographers will tell you that this technique doesn’t work and that to achieve a good result you need fancy equipment. Click on the thumbnail to look at the full definition photo and judge for yourself. |
One of our cats{2} made the international news. The following article appeared in the blog St Helena Online{3}:
A political animal at Blue Hill…
Posted on 27 April, 2012 by Simon Pipe{3}
Cats aren’t renowned for their political activity. Or any activity, in fact. And yet the evidence of a recent constituency meeting seems to suggest that in Blue Hill at least, they take an informed interest in public affairs.
At the back of the hall, nine members of the public were stretching themselves out… and in the row in front, facing the councillors, there was a cat.
The debate evidently wasn’t enthralling. The cat was having a good old lick.
Maybe it was there because of the current concerns about growing numbers of rats on the island. From the feline point of view, there probably aren’t enough.
We wait to see the furry one nominated to take Michael Benjamin’s seat on the legislative council. It’s not that silly an idea: in the UK town of Hartlepool, a man dressed as a monkey stood for election as mayor.
He won.
Anyone know whose cat it was?
John promptly posted the following reply:
It seems your reporter has met our cat. Her name is Tiger, she’s very friendly to anyone who wants to stroke her and she likes to visit the Blue Hill Community Centre and take an active interest in local events. I have no idea of her political ambitions but she was born and bred on St Helena so I guess she has the necessary status, though she isn’t yet eighteen so I don’t know if she can stand for council. Which is a shame because I’m sure she would be purr-fect.
Here are some photos of our family in the UK
NB:Dot Turner, pictured below, passed away in Bournemouth, UK on 13th December 2016, aged 89.
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We were married on Burgh Island, just off the coast of South Devon in the UK, in the fabulous art-deco Burgh Island Hotel. The picture below shows the island and the hotel.
St Helena is a British overseas territory, supported by aid from the UK. People born on St Helena are British citizens, and have full right to live and work in the UK and the EU. However, British citizens that wish to live here need to apply for permission under the local Immigration Control Ordinance 2011. To prove we’re allowed to be here, these are our certificates:
Ecology Statement
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Footnotes:
{1} Unsurprisingly, perhaps, the Council later decided against, though it was reduced to 17 in 2017.{2} From when we lived in Blue Hill. Tiger would not have adapted to living in Jamestown and has been re-homed elsewhere.{3} sthelenaonline.org or sthelenaonline.wordpress.com.
The Turner Family, Island of St Helena • Family Stuff |
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