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Day: November 18, 2014

Thai restaurant re-opens after £150,000 refit

Posted on by Besi

The Giggling Squid in Hove has re-opened after it suffered £150,000 worth of storm damage in July following a summer storm which resulted in thousands of gallons of rainwater pouring in through the roof of the floor-story building.

Glggling Squid

THE 80-COVER, two-floor restaurant first opened in 2009, introducing the concept of ‘Thai Tapas’ to the UK dining market. The group now have restaurants in Crawley, Tunbridge Wells, Henley-on-Thames, Reigate, Stratford-upon-Avon, Marlow, Horsham and Sevenoaks, with three more sites planned for opening in early 2015 in Chichester, Bristol and Salisbury. Owners Pranee Laurillard, and her husband Andy hope to open 50 sites across the country by 2018.

Whilst the expansion has come against a back drop of one of the worst economic downturns in a generation, the pair have forged the concept in what remains the country’s most competitive dining scene outside, London – that of Brighton and Hove.

Hove will host Giggling Squid’s first Thai gourmet evening on Monday, January 26 with a six-course tasting menu, costing £35 per head.

There will also be an option to order the menu with different paired wines for each course at £49 per person. The gourmet menu will be served at other Giggling Squid restaurants throughout 2015, allowing customers to try smaller portions of new and favourite dishes at a single sitting.

The wines will be selected by Toby Peirce of Brighton and Hove based Quaff Wines, who supply all Giggling Squid restaurants nationally. Quaff has designed a wine list which shows a combination of the wines customers expect to see, such as Pinot Grigio and Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, with more aromatic and exotic styles

Following extensive taste trials, Quaff has introduced fruit-driven New World wines with an, “easy going” tempranillo from Spain and an Argentinian Malbec which is proving especially especially popular with regulars.

Giggling Squid has established a strong reputation for its authentic, rustic and fresh Thai cooking with the emphasis on street food and coastal specialities. The food is prepared by master Thai chefs using fresh ingredients, sourced locally where available with much of the fish being landed at Shoreham Harbour.

The lunch menu offers a choice of six Tapas-style ‘tasting sets’ that allow diners to sample several of different dishes in at a single sitting, costing between £9.25 and £11.50 with 16 individual dishes priced under £4.50.  “Big” dishes with rice cost £6.75 to £8.50. “Combi” meals with starters are priced between £6.75 and £7.95.

The evening menu is more extensive with over 50 dishes available. Signature dishes include: Thai Green Chicken Curry, prawn satay, spring rolls, tom yum soup, prawn ma kham, sea bass fillet, lamb shank mossaman curry and my own personal favourite, salt and pepper squid.

Giggling Squid is also running a competition to win a fabulous holiday to Thailand including return flights and accommodation.

For more information about the competition, click here:

 

Venue: Giggling Squid in Hove

Where: 129 Church Rd, Hove, East Sussex BN3 2AE

Open hours: Noon – 4pm and 6pm – 10.45pm daily

Contact: Telephone 01273 771991

THT says UK can reach ‘tipping point’ of fight against HIV within a generation

Posted on by Besi

As Public Health England releases its annual report on the UK’s HIV epidemic, HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) has released a response outlining how the UK can lead the world in reaching ‘the tipping point’ in the fight against the virus.

Terrence Higgins Trust

WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION modelling suggests that, if countries can meet a target of 90-90-90 by 2020 – 90% of people with HIV diagnosed, 90% of those diagnosed on treatment, and 90% of those on treatment having an undetectable viral load and therefore non-infectious – they can dramatically reduce the spread of infection by 2030.

Data released today by Public Health England has confirmed the UK is closer to this target than any other country in the world, with 76% diagnosed (rising to 84% among men who have sex with men), 90% of those diagnosed on treatment, and 90% of those on treatment non-infectious.

THT is now urging local and national government to accelerate efforts to reduce undiagnosed HIV and open up new avenues to get people tested.

Daisy Ellis, Acting Policy Director at Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “With the highest uptake of HIV treatment in the world, it really is within the UK’s grasp to halt the spread of the virus. We believe that tipping point can be reached within a generation, but only if we sustain HIV prevention efforts, drive down undiagnosed HIV, and explore every avenue we can to get more people testing more regularly. We all have a part to play in this, from GPs and hospital doctors to local and national politicians, businesses, community leaders, and every one of us. If ever there was a time to accelerate our HIV prevention efforts, it’s now.”

To view Recommendations in HIV in the UK – Reaching the tipping point, click here:

Recommendations include:

* Increasing opportunities to test in GP surgeries and A&E departments, especially in areas with a high prevalence of HIV. This includes supporting healthcare workers in these ‘non-traditional’ settings to increase the uptake of HIV testing.

• Introducing opt-out HIV testing in hospital GUM clinics and sexual health services. In 2013, only 79% of people attending a GUM clinic were offered an HIV test and only 80% of that group took an HIV test.

• Rolling out postal HIV testing programmes across the country, targeted at groups at increased risk of infection. In Terrence Higgins Trust’s 2013 pilot postal HIV testing scheme, 32% of those who returned a test had never tested for HIV before, and 25% had not tested in the last 12 months.

• Making sex and relationships education a statutory part of the curriculum in all schools. Currently this is not a statutory requirement and therefore many young people leave school without the knowledge and skills needed to negotiate healthy sexual relationships.

• Tackling HIV-related stigma among the general public, and in the media, so that people living with HIV feel more confident in disclosing their status. A 2013 survey by Terrence Higgins Trust found that 80% of people living with HIV did not feel able to disclose their HIV status because they were worried about negative reactions.

For more information about THT, click here: 

Simpons co-creator saves Bengi the ‘gay bull’ from slaughter

Posted on by Besi

Sam Simon, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN) partner together to send Benjy to sanctuary.

Bengi Gay Bull

The Irish bull facing slaughter for being gay has had his freedom bought by a Hollywood producer.

When he learned from PETA that the bull in County Mayo was being fattened for slaughter after a veterinarian declared his sexual orientation the reason he wouldn’t breed, Simpsons co-creator and philanthropist Sam Simon put up the £5,000 to buy Benjy and transport him to a sanctuary where he’ll be able to live out his natural life with peace and dignity.

Benjy’s transfer is expected to take place in time for Christmas.

In addition to the money fronted by Simon, more than 250 other individuals have donated to fund the bull’s transfer via a crowd-funding initiative set up by Irish animal-protection group ARAN and TheGayUK.com.

PETA hopes that those moved by Benjy’s plight will extend their empathy to the billions of other animals on farms who, like Benjy, are denied their most basic freedoms. People can do that every time they sit down to eat simply by leaving animals off their plates.

Sam Simon
Sam Simon

Simon, a long-time vegan, said: “PETA told me about Benjy, and I felt compelled to help. All animals have a dire destiny in the meat trade, but to kill this bull because he’s gay would’ve been a double tragedy.”

“It thrills me to help PETA and ARAN make Benjy’s fate a sanctuary rather than a sandwich.”

Simon is facing a life-threatening battle himself. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2012 and has chosen to use his resources and the time that he has left to help a number of animals in need, including getting 17 bears transferred from virtually barren concrete pits to a lush new home, helping retire a lame horse used for racing, securing the transfer of a chimpanzee who had spent more than 18 years in solitary confinement at a zoo to a reputable sanctuary and running The Sam Simon Foundation, an organisation dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating homeless dogs.

For more information about animals raised and killed for food, click here: or  here:

 

PREVIEW: ‘The Institute of Sexology’

Posted on by Besi

Young people from around the country have begun work on a Sexology Songwriting project that will see them exploring the study of sex through music and lyrics.

GCU_chosen id

THE WELLCOME TRUST is launching ‘The Institute of Sexology’ (November 2014 to September 2015), the first UK exhibition to bring together the pioneers of the study of sex.

Researchers from Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) and the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit at the University of Glasgow are leading research in the Glasgow hub of a UK-wide Wellcome Trust collaboration promoting the scientific study of sex.

From Alfred Kinsey’s complex coded questionnaires to Samoan jewellery to sex machines, the show investigates how the diverse research, methods and collections of sexologists have shaped our ever-evolving attitudes towards sexual behaviour and identity.

To coincide with the exhibition, young people from around the country have begun work on a Sexology Songwriting project that will see them exploring the study of sex through music and lyrics.

Five groups, or Hubs, from Manchester, Brighton, Glasgow, Havant and London are forming collaborations with sexologists and songwriters to create musical responses to contemporary sexology research. This will incorporate various topics and issues, including gender and sexuality, female pleasure and how sex is represented in popular lyrics.

Projects are being led by The Roundhouse, in collaboration with Wellcome Collection (London); Contact Theatre and the University of Manchester (Manchester); Rhythmix, in collaboration with Safety Net, Brighton Dome and Brighton Youth Centre (Brighton); Music Fusion, in collaboration with the Spring Arts and Heritage Centre and the University of Southampton (Havant); Glasgow Life/ Tramway, in collaboration with New Rhythms for Glasgow, Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of Glasgow (Glasgow).

Each regional hub will explore different themes and aspects of sexology research, such as body image, sex and everyday life, sex education, LGBTQ youth, mental health and consent.

In Glasgow, GCU’s Dr Karen Lorimer has teamed up with LGBT Youth Scotland, a voluntary organisation dedicated to the inclusion of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) young people, community music charity New Rhythms For Glasgow, and art-space Tramway, to encourage young people to explore sexual attitudes and behaviours through song-writing.

The Glasgow hub partners are working with young people from minority sexualities, and are gathering in workshops over a ten-week period to talk about research techniques and for the young people to conduct research in the area of representations of sexual stigmas and attitudes.

Working with professional researchers, songwriters and community partners, the young people will conduct a small research project then compile and perform their own song at The Tramway in Glasgow.

The project will culminate in live performances at a series of events, as well as a selection of the songs being made available online and at listening posts at the Institute of Sexology exhibition in February 2015.

Leah Holmes, Project lead at the Wellcome Trust, said: “The Sexology Songwriting project is a wonderful opportunity for young people from all walks of life to be involved in exploring and creating exciting musical work that will really get under the skin of the most progressive research in a field most relevant to them.”

Grassroots Suicide Prevention rewarded in the Lloyds Bank Community Fund

Posted on by Besi

Grassroots Suicide Prevention has been awarded £3,000 in the Lloyds Bank Community Fund 2014 in Brighton and Hove.

Grassroot suicide preventionFOLLOWING VOTES from over 1.5 million members of the public, Grassroots Suicide Prevention has been awarded a grant from Lloyds Bank to enable it to continue doing their good work in the community.

Grassroots Suicide Prevention are a Brighton based charity with a simple but powerful goal: no one should have to contemplate suicide alone.

They work with locally and nationally with communities, organisations, services and individuals, helping them to become ready, willing and able to effectively support someone at risk of suicide.

Their work is centred upon two internationally recognised training packages: ASIST (suicide intervention) and SafeTALK (suicide alertness).

They will use the funds to train local people in a practical model of suicide intervention skills teaching local community members how to effectively intervene with friends, family members or others experiencing thoughts of suicide.  Their skills will help others avoid suicide and have a lasting impact.

Chris Brown, Director of Grassroots, says: “The Lloyds Bank Community Fund will make a huge difference to Grassroots Suicide Prevention by enabling us to train local people in suicide prevention skills, leading to a suicide safer city and making a difference to the lives of hundreds of people in Brighton & Hove.”

The Lloyds Bank Community Fund was set up to help local people across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and Isle of Man to have a positive impact at the heart of their community by giving grants to 1,400 local good causes in 350 communities.

Nearly 1.5 million votes were cast for good causes across the country during the voting that took place between September 2 and October 10.

Over 700,000 people will be benefit either directly or indirectly from the good work the 1,400 good causes across the country will be able to deliver as a result of receiving a Community Fund 2014 award.

Lunch Positive the HIV lunch club came a close second in the local vote and will receive a grant of £2,000 from Lloyds Bank.

Lunch Positive 26 Nov copy

 

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