Dog theft
My dog was stolen and found, but cancer took him
My dog was stolen, recovered miraculously after 18 months, but he went on his final journey last week. Dog owners beware of theft.
Author: Magdalena Williams
Magdalena Williams came to the U.K. from Vienna in 1970 to attend her mother’s wedding and chose to make the U.K. her home. She undertook several career changes until her retirement in 2016 from the then Foreign and Commonwealth Office. She started as a teacher of Hungarian and German to diplomats and finished in the Nigeria Team which was inter alia looking at how to defeat Boko Haram. Before joining the FCO, she worked as a psychologist in hospitals and ran creative therapy workshops in prisons and clinics. Her interest in writing was first raised when she decided to research her family history and leave a record of how her mother, the daughter of a landed gentry family in Hungary fleeing Communism, first to Vienna then Germany, ended up in rural Kent. Magdalena is an ardent Remain campaigner, a Green Party member and she will proudly be forever European.
Covid survivor owes his life to wife’s stubbornness
The first Covid survivor I met left me in a shock. The horrible illness left lots of marks Peter will carry for the rest of his life.
Shortage of HGV drivers – a trucker’s view
Shortage of HGV drivers affects Kent particularly due the historic volume of trade that passes between the EU and UK via the port of Dover.
Orbán’s Hungary: a family visit shows divisions
Set off to Orbán’s Hungary to visit parents, siblings and friends. What do people think of government policies. Families are divided.
German health system versus the NHS: a comparison
The German Health System is 77% government-and 23% privately funded by statutory health insurance based on payments into “Krankenkassen”
Hungarian refugees: our family visits Sevenoaks in 1961
As Hungarian refugees my family visited Sevenoaks in 1961 straight from a refugee camp in Austria. It was a culture shock.
Flight to safety
Refugee family in Germany in 1957
Our refugee family arrived in a tiny village in Germany where our aunts lived. The country was recovering from the war.
Protests, Marches, and the PCSC Bill
The new PCSC Bill clause 4 amends Part 2 of the Public Order Act 1986, which provided various powers to manage processions and assemblies. The Bill broadens out the range of circumstances in which conditions can be imposed on public assembly including noise generated by persons taking part.
Settled status in question, after in the UK legally for 29 years
Last year T received his settled status. But to his shock his employer thinks it’s not valid and he might face suspension
On the morning after 23 June 2016 I cried
I spent the greatest part of these past five years after my retirement campaigning against Brexit. I was also trying to understand why it happened. After we left the EU, I have been fighting with groups who try to avoid as much Brexit harm as possible.