That Ian Wright Programme

What an interesting series that was; it struck a lot of chords with me because of the after-school songwriting workshops I was doing with Dan- all about self-esteem. Those things really work, you know, although it's so difficult to get funding for them (mean old Sony, and even Microsoft who gave a paltry sum!)And of course it's in Barnet and I know Jerome Trim because I used to work in his old school in Barnet. It was a really affecting episode last night and I shed a quiet tear or two when nobody was looking. I was a miserably thin child, not a miserably fat one, and those feelings of being excluded because of physical appearance were very familiar. Shouts for Ian Wright, you are an example of kindness and patience that very obviously went beyond the showbiz fee.
It's Offline tonight, at Jamm in Brixton. Mike took some lovely photos of me yesterday (one of them is on www.myspace.com/helenmccookerybook)and Em, his girlfriend, is going to design the cover for Suburban Pastoral
Offline is free and is a great club just to go and have a laugh with what have got to be the friendliest group of people in the universe. There are always good bands on.