Winnie started by giving a child a bowl of soup. Soon she was feeding over 500 starving children. She lived in Finetown in the south of Johannesburg, South Africa. She cared almost singlehandedly for orphans and vulnerable children. In 2004 Lisa Ashton travelled to South Africa to make a TV programme to mark 10 years of the end of apartheid. She interviewed a number of people including Winnie. Winnie greatest desire was to own a property that the children could call home. Lisa made a promise to Winnie that she would do all she could to keep her legacy alive. Just a few months later Winnie died. Lisa realised her calling - she had to continue Winnie’s work. The foundation has grown considerably over the years. In 2013 she awarded an MBE for her services to South Africa particularly to those living with HIV Dan Walker visited Ilamula House in Zenzele, when the Football World Cup was in South Africa in 2010. In his book Remarkable People ch 1I started with a bowl of soup**(pages 19-29) gives us a lot of detail about Lisa’s determination to fulfill Winnie’s dream and the foundation first hand. Sources Wikipedia Remarkable People by Dan Walker

Vnes Enriquetta Juliette Mexia in 1909, approaching 40 years of age, suffered a mental and physical breakdown. While recovering in Northern California she became interested in botany. She enrolled at University California Berkeley in 1925. and went on a collecting trip in Mexico. In middle age Mexia had found her purpose in life writing, I have a job (where) I produce something real and lasting. Over the next 13 years she travelled from the northern regions of Alaska to the southern modest tip of South America - Tierra del Fuego. Her ‘habits’ surprised people -she travelled alone, rode on horse back, wore trousers and she preferred to sleep outside even if beds or indoor accommodation was available. Her challenges included poisonous berries, dangerous terrain, bogs and earthquakes for the sake of her research. In 1938, while on an expedition to Mexico, she became ill and was forced to abort her trip. On returning to the USA she was diagnosed with cancer and died a month later at the age of 68. 'All who knew Ynes Mexis could not fail to be impressed by her friendly unassuming spirit, and by that rare courage which enabled her travel, much of the time alone, in lands where few would dare to. William E. Colby secretary of the Sierra Club. Sources Wikipedia Standing on her Shoulders by Monica Clark-Robinson

Sojourner, born Isabella Baumfree, was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. In 1828, after going to court, was able to rescue her son. She was the first black woman to win such a case against a white man. In 1843 she gave herself the name Sojourner Truth after she became convinced God had called her to leave the city and go into the countryside. In 1851 she delivered her best known speech extemporaneously ( without preparation) in 1863 at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron . It became known as ‘Ain’t I a Woman’- published in 1863. During the American civil war she recruited black troops for the Union Army. She continued to fight on behalf of women and African Americans until her death. In 2009 a memorial bust of Sojourner was unveiled. She was the first African American to have a statue in the Capitol building In 2014 she was included in Smithsonian magazine list of 100 Most Significant Americans of all time. Sources Wikipedia Standing on her Shoulders by Monica Clark-Robinson

Debra on March 16th 2021 became the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary and the second to serve in the Cabinet after Republican former vice president and Kaw Nation citizen Charles Curtis. Source Wikipedia Standing on her Shoulders by Monica Clark-Robinson

Jourdan, aged 15, was scouted by an agent from Storm Management, while accompanying a friend in a London Primark. She is of Jamaican, Syrian and Grenadian descent. She began appearing on international runways in early 2007. In February 2008 she was the first black model to walk a Prada runway in over a decade. April 2014 she became the new face for Maybelline New York July 2014 she was declared an icon by models.com. Jourdan is considered one of her generation’s supermodels. Unfortunately she has had to defend her colour, culture and hair in an industry of vultures time and time again who only see white skin as perfect. Sources Wikipedia Superheroes by Sophia Thakur

Reni’s primary focus is on feminism and exposing structural racism. As a freelance journalist she has written for a number of publications including The New York Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, The Voice, Buzzfeed, Vice. ID, & Dazed and Confused. In 2017 she completed her debut book Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race. In 2020 her book rose 155 places in the official Bookseller chart. This happened in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. This meant that she became the first back British woman to top the non-fiction book-selling charts at number 1.She stated that she was dismayed by the tragic circumstances in which this achievement came about. On 16 June 2020 she became the first British black woman to be No1 overall in the British book charts. In 2020 and 2021 editions of the Powerlist Reni was listed in the top 100 of the most influential people in the UK of African/African-Caribbean descent. See list of Awards and Recognitions

Reggie (Reginald) Yates has had a career in television and radio lasting 3 decades. (See 2 pages of notes) He made his first television appearance in Desmond aged just 8. He has worked for the BBC in radio and television presenting various shows for BBC Radio 1 as well as hosting BBC1 singing show* The Voice UK*, hosting the first 2 series with Holly Willoughby. He has been a lead voice actor for CBeebies animated cartoon series Rastamouse. In 2021 he released his first feature film Pirates.

Temi’s heart was broken when her good friend Marvin was murdered. The need for justice erupted inside her. She developed her strongest weapon - knowledge. She studied law, the streets, the system, pollticians, and the culture of youth. In 2012 she founded The 4Front Project. Between 2014 -2018 she won 6 awards for her efforts. Sources Wikipedia Superheroes* by Sophia Thakur (pages 92-3)

William is a British-Ghanaian entrepreneur. In 2016 selected by Richard Branson to be a Virgin StartUp ambassador. His watch company has been sold in over 30 countries and he has distributed over 2,000 items of school uniform to children across Ghana, South Africa and Uganda. In 2017 nominated for 2 awards GUBA Business StartUp of the year Black British Entertainment Award - Best Fashion Designer Sources Wikipedia *Superheroes *by Sophia Thakur

Jumpoke and Kym joined forces and created a platform to increase the visibility and highlight the narratives of the ‘invisible population within an invisible population’ -Tripple Cripples For breakfast they eat skin colour on a plate of racism, for lunch they eat gender and for dinner they eat a plate of disability. They don’t swallow and wallow in the face of difficulty, they smile and wave. *Tripple Cripples was created by two disabled black women, for women, femmes and Non-Binary POC living with disablities, each and every day, where stories remain hidden from view. Jumpoke, contracted polio before her first birthday. She is a travel addict and her travel blog Jayonlife highlights both the accessible and inaccessible of her chosen destinations. She is a writer, speaker, lecturer and consultant. Kym has Multtiple Sclerosis. She is dedicated to illuminating her ’ lived experience’ with this long tern condition. She is a writer, speaker and a lecturer at Oxford University. Sources used Wikipedia Superheroes by Sophia Thakur

Liam fist came to public attention as a contestant on The Great British Bake-off in 2017. He came fifth. Since then he has written 2 books Cheeky Treats: 70 Brilliant Bakes and Cakes and Second Helpings. He also writes a column for* The Guardian* He was a judge on the Platinum Pudding Competition in 2022 to discover a new pudding recipe dedicated to Queen Elizabeth ll on her 70th anniversary accession to the throne. Sources Wikipedia Superheroes by Sophia Thakur

Dr Mark Richards research centred around the spectroscopic study of nitric acid vapour for atmospheric remote sensing retrieval. He has since co-founded Duvas Technologies which specialises in wireless air sensing networks for real-time pollution mapping. Sources Wikipedia Superheroes by Sophia Thakur

David Woodroffe, a professional illustrator, has created some very good clip art for my Easter resource. The Holy week sheet looks briefly at Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. I have created a page listing the personalities and the order of events from the Last Supper to Christ’s appearance, following his resurrection to two disciples on the road to Emmaus. The Poetry Aid can be used to create a poem or even a hymn to celebrate Easter. The fourteen stages of the cross has been deal with clip art. The main personalities have been included in a word search. The Easter diary can be written up on the ‘blank’ sheet. Children are often asked to see how many words they can find in a topical word - eg. Easter. I have enclosed four sheets, a lesson outline, a pupil sheet and two answer sheets. (I have included Pancake Day because I did not want to set up a resource of just two pages. )

I start with St. Nicholas - history and legends, letter to Father Christmas ideas, clip art for best copy and word search and one page on Advent. Christmas has a list of nativity characters, poetry aid, three journeys, 'How many words can you find in Christmas' and Diary Aid. Epiphany has one page. There are several clip art pictures to use.

This is the story of how Gladys Aylward, a missionary in China during the second World War, helped Chinese orphans safely across a mountain. When she returned to England she realised a film had been written showing her life and a book called The Small Woman had been published. On Google, and Youtube there is a great deal of information about how from her humble beginnings as a housemaid/domestic help became a successful missionary.

Just put this material together to help children write /discuss what happened in Thailand in the last fortnight. Lets hope the rescue is a complete success.

I have created four sheets about cricket. One is a phrase sheet to encourage children to write about their experiences about playing or watching cricket The second is a Poetry Aid sheet in case they would like to put their thoughts in poetry form. The third sheet is a cricket word search with answer sheet. There is a sheet of cricket equipment and field positions List of basic vocabulary There are 4 sheets showing a simple sentence with their meaning of many of the words used in cricket

The race to get to be first to the North Pole and then the South Pole. The American Charles Francis Hall (1821-71) made 3 expeditions and sailed further north than anyone else - he was the first person to visit the north shore of Greenland. Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930) was a Norwegian explorer, inventor, scientist, diplomat and humanitarian. In 1888 led the first crossing of the Greenland interior traversing the island on cross-country skis… They reached 86 degrees 14 in his Fram expedition (1893-6). The Fram was specially built using wood reinforced with metal. He sailed his ship into the pack ice and hoped the Arctic currents would ‘float’ him to the North Pole. It remained frozen for 2 years. With a companion he tried unsuccessfully to walk the rest of the way. ( read Death and legacy) Sir James Clark Ross (1800-1862) was a British Royal Navy Officer and polar explorer was known for his 6 polar explorations of the Arctic. 2 with his uncle Sir John Ross, 4 with Sir William Parry and his own of the Antarctic (1839-1843). On June 1st 1831 a small party located the North magnetic Pole. Robert Edwin Peary Sr. (1856-1920) made 3 expeditions to the Arctic 1898-1902, 1905-6 and 1908/9. During the last one he claimed he had reached the North Pole. He paid for his trips by writing about his adventures in books and magazines. Matthew Alexander Henson (1866-1955), an African American, accompanied Robert Perry on 7 voyages to the Arctic spread over 23 years- 18 on expeditions. In the 1908/9 expedition he claimed that on April 6th 1909 he was the first of party of 6 to reach the North Pole. (Wally Herbert in 1989 published research that suggested they could have fallen 48-97 kms short due to navigational errors.) Carsten Borechgrevink (1964-1934) was an Anglo-Norwegian polar explorer and pioneer of modern Antarctica travel. The race to be first to the South Pole between Captain Robert Falcon Scott (1868-1912) and Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen 91864-1934) is in most history books. Amundsen was more organized and reached the South Pole on 14 December 1911 and went on in 12 May 1926 to be one of 16 men to reach the North Pole by the airship Norge ! Scott had already led 1 expedition to the Antarctic. Scott with his 5 friends arrived on 17 January 1912, less then 5 weeks later. They all died on the return journey. Scott kept a Diary. The diary revealed that on 17 March the sick Captain Oates walked out of the camp to die in the snow. Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (1874-1922)was an Anglo-Irish explorer who led 3 British expeditions to the Antarctica. The Imperial Trans-Antarctica Expedition (1914-17) to cross the Antarctica from sea to sea struck disaster when the Endurance became trapped by packed ice and crushed. Lifeboats were launched to reach Elephant Island and ultimately South Georgia Island - a voyage of 720 nautical miles - his most famous exploit. In 1921 he returned to Antarctica but died of a heart attack.

Climate change has resulted in AQUACULTURE being seriously considered. Man is seeking to grow crops under water especially SEAWEED This means the plants are grown without soil, in a nutrient-rich solution to deliver water and minerals to their roots, in a controlled environment. No pesticides are needed. The start up that believes seaweed can change the world. Source World Economic Forum

Vertical farming is where crops are grown on top of each other than in traditional horizontal rows. This is happening both on the land ( indoors) and in the sea. Using less space the yield is higher. Read description and look at the two pictures. Greenwave have developed a sustainable agriculture technique called vertical underwater farming or regenerative ocean farming.The company is growing a range of seaweed types like kelp and shellfish, plus mussels and scallops on a rope scaffolding system under the sea. Kelp is one of the fastest growing organisms on the planet and can be repeatedly harvested for at least seven years. Source World Economic Forum