Tony Stockwell – a happy medium.

Tony Stockwell discovered his gift early. Even as a child he apparently knew he was different, often being aware of events about to occur. At just sixteen he started working with spiritualists to develop his abilities and, fascinated with the subject and the way he could link with a force that “tied everything together”, he decided there and then what he would do with his life – become a demonstrating psychic medium.

So what does he do? He’s a psychic medium which, says Tony, means that he can both communicate with the spirit world as well as know things that may be about to happen. “Psychic and medium are two different disciplines, a medium is about the afterlife and a psychic is about the here and now,” he says. “It’s often said that a psychic may not be a medium but every medium is also a psychic.”

But don’t worry; Tony won’t be able to instantly read your mind should you bump into him on the street. “It’s funny, every day I’m very ordinary,” says the very extraordinary chap. “For example, if I do a one-to-one reading, I need to sit for maybe ten minutes before hand and try to get into the zone, which sounds a bit rubbish, but it feels like I’m not so much blocking my own thoughts but quietening my mind, and I try to shift my awareness out further.” Getting to know someone’s mind is all about reading the aura, he says, which apparently looks a lot like the Ready Break glow.

Tony seems confident that his is not a skill everyone can master, despite setting up ‘Tony Stockwell’s Psychic Studio’, his own development centre in Essex where he runs workshops and lectures on mediumship and other spiritual subjects. “Some people are born with a natural ability to do it, sometimes that’s been inherited, but I do think that a lot of people are born with a natural knowingness, like an awareness, and then that can be developed into working as a psychic, but a lot more development is needed to see if they can work as a medium.”

Since some of Tony’s trainees have been with him for over seven years, developing a psychic ability clearly takes a lot of time and dedication. “It’s very much like Hogwarts for adults because you’re dealing with mad stuff,” says Tony, whose father has an uncanny knack for always guessing the correct boxes on Deal or No Deal.

While being able to see into the future sounds like great fun, the psychic medium admits that it can be a bittersweet skill. “The downside for me is that I’ve pretty much been able to know when my family are dying – nans, grannies, aunts uncles – you just have to be able to pull it from your mind.” Tony goes on to tell of his heartbreak while on holiday recently when his abilities made him aware that his much loved dog had passed on in his absence.

While the good outweighs the bad for Tony, from being able to help people talk to loved ones who have passed on, to being part of a series of cable television shows like Psychic Detective and featuring in magazines such as Spirit and Destiny where he writes his own column, and Marie Claire, he does note that helping out in police investigations can open the door some bad experiences. “They hand you an article and ask what can you see, and then you see what has happened, and that’s not always brilliant to be fair.”

Tony recalls one lady who came to him to contact her sister who had passed under ‘very violent circumstances’ bearing the cardigan which had been worn during the event. “When I touched it,” says Tony, “oh there was very strong imagery and feelings that came from it. But sometimes in this work, you’re dealing with all of life and all of death. It’s my equivalent of working as a doctor or an ambulance man – sometimes you have to see some stuff, but you get on with it and then you’re ready for your next client.”

In shows like the one he is preparing for now, due to start in less than an hour at Swansea Grand, Tony, who has a seven year waiting list for private readings, will channel his awareness to identify to the audience who from the spirit world he has with him, and will then conduct a one-to-one reading for whoever relates to the mystical subject. He will also work with any photographs people bring with them of deceased loved ones, in the hope of uniting separated friends or family.

Tony is currently touring the UK with his live shows so visit tonystockwell.com to see where he’ll be calling at next.

Sustainable dating…?

Organising a sustainable date can be a tricky business

“Can I just check: do you have any organic food on your menu?”
“Uh, no, sorry.”
“Oh, OK. Any local produce?”
“No, not that I can think of, madam.”
“Fairtrade?”
“Just our coffee.”
“Hmm, right. OK. Perhaps I’ll have to cancel that table then…”

Trying to organise an environmentally friendly date is not the simple task it first seems. Doing a bit of research on the net, ideas for a ‘green date’ range from visiting a flea market, to going on a hike or bike ride. They seem like great ideas in principle, but on a first date I don’t want my romancer to see me struck down by bargain fever like the maniacs you see pillaging Primark on a Saturday afternoon. Nor do I want to be seen red-faced, sweaty-pitted and gasping for breath while slumped over my handlebars.

Call me old-fashioned if you will, but for a first date I’d like a little convention – say, dinner and drinks perhaps? And at the same time, I’d like to do as little harm to the environment as possible. Considering how many dates people go on each year, changing things to help the planet could have quite an impact.

I considered joining Greensingles.com, the online dating site for those becoming increasingly known as ‘ecosexuals’: people who select their mates based on their shared environmental concerns (to quote trusty Wikipedia). But I’m not sure I’m ready to be labelled an ecosexual just yet, so I decided to just try and ‘green up’ a date with a fellow regular-sexual.
After many a phonecall and many a response along the lines of “Organic food? I’m running a restaurant here, not a hippy market,” I finally found a viable eatery. Well, I actually found two, but one had stopped serving food… six months ago.

To keep the journey carbon-neutral I had to keep my sights local and within walking distance, but unfortunately I have trouble estimating distance and “a short stroll” was actually two miles of praying it didn’t rain.

“Our emphasis is on good, healthy food with a conscience,” say Mandy and Paul who run the forward-thinking Monkey Café. “It’s important to us that we support fair trade and organic causes.” To my glee, the food was not just Fairtrade and organic, it was also free range, locally sourced and bloody lovely. Whether you’re a vegan, veggie or carnivore; ecosexual, regular-sexual or just kind of sexual, this place catered for all.

Trying to find an environmentally conscious restaurant was hard work, but finding a pub or bar for some post-date drinks seemed to be impossible, and I had to resign myself to sampling from Monkey’s Fairtrade wine list before going to a very regular-sexual pub.

But, little did I know that, if you ask the right person behind the bar, you’ll find most pubs do stock some locally brewed alcohol. I say ask the right person because the first chap I tried to ask thought I was asking for a cocktail: “No love, sorry we don’t do orgasmic ale, sex on the beach instead?”

Do try to remain slightly calm, mind, when the bartender (eventually) produces said local ale. Excitement over its low-carbon status, if unexplained, can apparently come across as alcoholic behaviour – especially when coupled with an eagerness to get it down the hatch. In my defence, I was just really thirsty.

Unless you’re a budding lager lout, content with considerably strong cider or lucky enough to find local wine, it is slim pickings. But the fact that the option is there should be celebrated. Responsibly, of course.

And for those among us who, on first dates, tend to dive straight into the sexual relations side of things – it happens – I have one word for you: Mates. Made of natural rubber and just as safe as regular-sexual favourites.

Did I succeed in the quest for a sustainable date? Yes, in so far as I managed to hit all the green date targets: food, drink and travel. But in terms of convenience, I must concede, it was tricky!

Troed Y Ton: A care home at risk

When the youngster of the group is 78 years old, ‘handle with care’ should be an automatic reaction. Not so, however, in the current case of Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC) versus Troed Y Ton Resource Centre. Or perhaps I should say; Troed Y Ton and Co.

Rough deal

Residents in and around Kenfig-Hill, near Bridgend, have rallied ’round to fight the council’s decision to close Troed Y Ton Resource Centre, and replace it with a block of flats.

The home’s 22 residents, aged 78 to 99, will be uprooted and relocated in homes elsewhere, away from the area many have lived their entire lives.

The proposal has caused outcry in Kenfig Hill and surrounding areas, spurring a recent protest before a cabinet meeting, and the formation of an action group backed by two unions: Unison and GMB

Extra care

BCBC’s proposal comes as a solution to the apparent increase of an older population.

They claim that since people are now living longer compared with past generations, care provision for a larger aged population needs to be developed.

Research included in BCBC reports forecasts that the number of older people (65 yrs+) will increase by 25 percent over the next fifteen years

“Extra care” say BCBC, “is a housing scheme alternative to residential care and enables people to live independently for longer.”

The council, in partnership with Valleys To Coast housing (V2C), plan to build a block of warden managed Extra care flats accommodating 70 people.

David Sage, leader of the BCBC, said “what we’ve done now is, instead of having 24 people in a home, is have a facility that is going to look after 70 people. I see that as an advance to 21st century care.”

Skulduggery afoot?

Yet it seems that there may be a degree of skulduggery afoot, regarding the choice of Troed Y Ton as the location for the Extra care development, and also the conduct of the council.

Current legislation states that plans such as the closure of Troed Y Ton should ensure that public concerned are aware of proposals and time is given for discussion, comment and suggestion.

Megan Butcher, councillor of a nearby ward said: “the feeling is that the steps to go through, or to try and go through this, never followed protocol.”

In terms of publicity of its plans to close the home, BCBC first notified staff and residents 14 October 2008, despite claims that work on the project has been ongoing for four years.

Letters informing the relatives of a meeting to discuss the closure of Troed Y Ton were mailed-out just the evening before, leaving them no time to re-arrange their commitments and attend. Many didn’t even receive their letter until after the meeting had taken place.

“We didn’t even have a day” said Helen Walker, whose father has been at Troed Y Ton for over a year. “The letter arrived Thursday morning; some people had gone to work so didn’t get them, when I phoned the home they were telling staff then and were going to tell the residents.”

Mrs Walker added that even though staff begged Sue Cooper, Head of Adult Social Care at BCBC, not to inform residents of the closure until relatives could arrive to provide comfort – she refused.

Listen to  Helen Walker explain the current state of events

Another point of concern, that has left locals outraged, is the rushed manner in which the council appear to be dealing with the project.

A church 15 years deconsecrated and an empty, boarded up NHS dental practise were listed in a council report as community services that make Troed Y Ton a better site for Extra care housing than any other in the borough.

Ian Jacka, of Kenfig Hill, said: “we don’t think the council have looked at the issue closely enough.”

Many suspect the council are hasty to spend the £2.3 million Welsh Assembly Grant within the specified 2010 time limit, and have selected Troed Y Ton without giving due consideration to alternatives.

Mr Jacka, whose wife works at the home, has created the Troed Y Ton Action Group (TTAG) to lead the spirited fight against the closure of a well-loved community home.

Action

The group have collected thousands of signatures on petitions, and organised a protest outside the BCBC offices on Tuesday.

Cabinet members have agreed to meet representatives of TTAG to discuss concerns; however, a date for such has yet to be confirmed.

In the meantime Mr Jacka and TTAG are collating evidence for legal action. “Solicitor’s have taken on three residents as clients and we hope for a judicial review to force the council to relocate.”

“It’s very wicked. I haven’t been eating and can’t sleep over it. I don’t want to go” said Alice Barwick, 99, of Troed Y Ton. “I just really hope they can save our home.”

Save Troed Y Ton protest