Make Life Worth Living Exhibition, Nick Hedges - Edinburgh 2015

​http://www.shelterscotland.org/lifeworthliving
This exhibition is a set of photographs of tenement life in Glasgow between 1969 and 1972, taken by Nick Hedges for Shelter. I would love to see the whole exhibition, as, from looking at the selection on Shelter's website it is an incredible body of work.

Mother living with her children in an overcrowded single end tenement flat Glasgow 1971

Mother takes her baby inside her condemned tenement block Gorbals 1970

Looking at them made me reflect, both on my own childhood and on current issues:

The children in these pictures are of my generation but what a different start in life to mine, how much harder to realise potential, to achieve health, education, even a secure roof over ones head.

This lead me to think of what the current government is doing, what divisions it is encouraging, nay even enforcing on society today - is this stratified society what we want to exist as the norm?

We need to WAKE UP and act, we need to STOP a generation of children being consinged to the scrap heap of life.

Each and every life in this country has value, has EQUAL value, with every other life. That is why I believe a taxation system in both it's giving and taking should be helping those that have less, those that are struggling, those that have ill health - to promote, increase and maintain the equality that we all have a right to. Equality of health, education, opportunity, safety and self determination. The basic Human Rights.

A different set of photographs from the same collection, when the collection visited Bradford a year ago:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/photography/11128331/Make-Life-Worth-Living-Nick-Hedges-photographs-for-Shelter.html

What price privatisation of our NHS?

Hinchingbrooke Hospital - Inadequate

To me this doesn't just say NHS 'privatisation doesn't work', it also says something very fundamental about our NHS. If our NHS is failing it is because it is UNDERFUNDED. If a private company, that chose to bid to run Hinchinbrook, can't pull it off it means we are not putting enough INTO our healthcare system. What do we have, if we don't have health?

Furthermore, do you, YES YOU, think that someone should be making a profit out of health care? Making a profit out of our taxes? Should my or your ill health line even more private companies pockets? Isn't it enough that our health is held ransom by 'Big Pharma'?

Read Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Pharma

To finish with a little food for thought...

If we all become healthier what future do the private healthcare companies have then? Ok, I know this is the silly extreme but think about it! There is no profit in private healthcare companies reducing our need/dependency on them whether it be reduction in a need for their drugs, their hospitals, their care homes or their anything else!

Unhappy bunny. . .

So, generally run down, anaemia has had a huge set back and now an incredibly sore throat and cough. . .

If I take my iron tablets my joints flare up, I get digestive problems and feel crap; if I don't take my iron tablets I feel erm crap too. . .

Coil was an utter, utter (and ongoing) failure - seems my body wasn't too keen on that intrusion. So roll on more anaemia.

And, to top it all, Oli's CFS has flared again so he's on the third day in a row off school and really upset as well as unwell.