Mayville High School report at Shaping Portsmouth Conference 2017

On 27th January, we (Daisy, Katelan, Tabitha, and Izzy) were asked by Love Southsea to go to the Shaping Portsmouth conference, to interview a few people about their work and jobs within Portsmouth. We were also lucky enough to stay for the presentations, which were very inspiring. We took notes, asked questions, and became journalists for the day.

The Shaping Portsmouth conference was held at the Pyramids Centre in Southsea, and the topic of 2017’s discussion was sustainability. When we arrived, we were originally quite intimidated! The small hall was full of people and promotional stalls, with eager entrepreneurs keen to showcase their businesses.

Some such businesses were:

• Village Hotels, who were giving away delightful goodie bags
• Gunwharf Quays, who were also giving away goodie bags, plus discounts
• University of Portsmouth, who were handing out leaflets and gave excellent advice about the courses they run

These were only a fraction of the businesses in attending — everyone showcasing their work at the conference played a hand in shaping Portsmouth into an ever-evolving and -bettering city.

We all sat down at our round table — complimentary cookies in hand! — and took notes while listening to the talks. Katelan and Tabitha took the lead on note-taking and interviewing.

Each speaker offered unique and innovative ideas, speaking about what they had been doing and what they wished to accomplish.

Walter Cha, the Chair of Shaping Portsmouth, opened the conference, and highlighted the importance of the day’s speakers and what they wished to accomplish, noting economic prosperity as a key goal.

This led to the first speaker of the day taking to the stage: Peter Gunn, the Chief Executive of BH Live. BH Live is a charitable trust founded in 2010, who aim to make people more active by going to gyms, swimming pool, and parks.

Peter said that by opening people up to the idea of having fun while exercising, he feels lifestyles in Portsmouth will improve, while strengthening tourism and, subsequently, the economy.

Other speakers on the day’s programme included Cheryl Buggy — former Chair of Shaping Portsmouth — and Portsmouth’s Poet Laureate Sam Cox.

At the end of the conference, Walter Cha and Portsmouth’s Lord Mayor, David Fuller, presented the Shaping Portsmouth Awards, congratulating local influencers for their hard work and contributions to the betterment of the city. The winners were:

• Chocablock Ltd.: Business & Enterprise Award
• Urban Vocal Group: Cultural Partnership Award
• Team Origin Events: Destination Marketing Partnership Award
• Deniz Beck of ERMC Architecture: Developers Group Award
• The Royal Navy: Education Award
• Marie Clarke School of Dance: Future Generations Award
• Recycled Assets Company: Social Enterprise Award

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This post was guest-written by four pupils from Mayville High School! Find out more about the school on their website »

Diet Diary with Changes Clinic: Days 4 and 5

Dear diary — the weekend brought diet days four and five, and it’s been 120 hours since my last coffee!

I’m on the Changes Clinic week-long diet challenge — they feed me five times per day for seven days to kickstart my new healthy eating lifestyle.

I’m not going to lie — I feel dreadful. I’ve got caffeine withdrawal, my head is pounding, and it’s the weekend. I’ve just moved home, so this Saturday was full of box-emptying and sorting out where to put stuff. Luckily, I didn’t have room in my brain to think about food!

The family had a takeaway tonight, and I had a delicious bowl of chicken soup. It’s a bit like space food in small portions, but it’s blooming tasty!

On Sunday, I cheated, as I went to Brighton for a date day with my husband to see Jack Whitehall. I had a sneaky French Martini 🍸 But I did keep to salads, and my Changes Clinic snacks.

So far, so good — only two days to go ’til the big weigh-in!