When you're raising a child it's daunting and frightening and lifechanging and you need the support of real humans around you who have done it for themselves, and to learn from them. What you do not need is conmen selling you their lying machines to do a job we have been doing since our beginnings.

The Wish Tower Friends are delighted to share that we welcomed an incredible 3,664 visitors and have been incredibly grateful to receive £2,130 in donations in 2025 - it's been a record-breaking year. Find out more: wishtower.org.uk/a-record-bre...

A very 2025 sentence follows. I've just had to plead with an AI customer service chatbot that pretends to be the platform's office dog, to be put through to a human, after the dog very confidently got the answer to a simple question entirely wrong.

✨Brilliant to welcome over 300 visitors to The Wish Tower over the past two weeks as part of #HeritageOpenDays 👉Read more on our new blog: wishtower.org.uk/until-next-y... 🩵Thank you to everyone who came along! #eastbourne #localhistory #localheritage #martello

Reform UK, which has a grand total of four MPs, was just given an uninterrupted platform for an hour and a half on the BBC and Sky News channels, in order to talk about its plans for mass deportations When was the last time the Greens (with four MPs) or the Lib Dems (with 72) were given the same?

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More videogames to include this, please

An incredibly effective marketing campaign for making me *not* want to go to Prezzo any time soon

Can we have more software like this, please?

What a hollow victory for the Government. This is no way to treat Parliament or the thousands who would have been affected by the original planned cuts. Hard to see how Kendall's position is tenable, given her major piece of legislation has been torn apart brick by brick as the day has gone on.

What a brilliant speech in the Commons today by Rachael Maskell on the devastating impact the UC/PIP bill will have

How truly bleak it is to see Labour’s miserable attempt at the UC+PIP changes. Data clearly shows the proposals will directly lead to immense hardship for those already among the poorest in society - on top of the already degrading PIP application process and stigma around claiming social security.

Well, that's a round of Would I Lie to You? sorted www.gov.uk/government/n...

Wow. Numbers signing the amendment opposing the governments welfare reforms growing - up to 119 now. Thank you to all the Labour MPs who have had the courage to step up and do the right thing 👏

We've had an incredible start to the year - with over 2,000 visitors so far! Read our new blog post to learn more about what we've been up to: wishtower.org.uk/june-2025-up...

Would modern democracy look different if the King hadn’t hidden in a tree? And, might pubs have different names? A bit of historical trivia today... seanfirth.uk/royal-oak-da...

Atwood, Palin, Olusoga, the economy, and a lettuce. Here's my March & April in books! seanfirth.uk/march-april-...

Come and visit us on Sunday 6th April! We're open from 1-4pm, and the Wish Tower Friends will be on hand to answer any questions you have about our lovely Martello Tower! #eastbourne #visiteastbourne #eastsussex #localheritage #localhistory

Southampton now have as many PL points this season as the city has Tescos

We're delighted to share that our first FREE open day of 2025 will be on Sunday, 16th March! The Wish Tower will be open from 12-4pm for you to have a look around and learn more about the role our Martello Tower has played in Eastbourne's history.

Satsuma, Chernobyl, and Donkeys 🍊☢️🎠 What's the link? All books I've read this month - my February reading round-up is here: seanfirth.uk/february-rea...

Post-work walks don't get much better! (and there's a pub at the end) #eastbourne

The Internet Archive has to date downloaded 500 terabytes of US government websites, which it crawls at the end of every presidential term. The whole archive is fully searchable. This effort's housed by a donation-funded nonprofit, not a branch of the US government. blog.archive.org/2024/05/08/e...

Great sunset at Priory Lane (shame I can't say the same about the referee's performance)

While "drinking in an industrial estate car park at 3 degrees celsius" would technically be true, it wouldn't come anywhere close to doing it justice. Lovely visit to Beak in #lewes, great venue and selection of pale ales and IPAs! (And a brill 0.5%!)

me, apparently a plant: at last, my nourishment returns, sweet joy

Tech moan of the day - Spotify mobile app has done away with the easy tickboxes on the queue page. I don't want to drag and drop! It might look prettier but I'd rather an easier and faster experience

Huge fan of Blossoms - Gary being the backing track for ITV Sport's intro. Waiting patiently for Roy Keane's view on the search for an 8ft gorilla #tamtot #facup

We're delighted that our original 1800s door has been repaired and is now back! Read more on our website: https://wishtower.org.uk/return-of-our-original-door Generous donations from visitors at open days, and support from Eastbourne Borough Council have made this vital repair possible.

One of the best communicators in the country - his words always seemed to come from both expertise and deep-held belief (both of which are rapidly becoming a scarcity) His contributions tirelessly explaining strike action to gotcha news anchors will be sorely missed on my morning TV viewing...

It seems the Tory party is now desperately following Reform's model - no policies, just creating and stoking right-wing culture wars based on disinformation. They weren't a credible government, they aren't a credible opposition.

This is an astonishingly ill-informed and amoral assessment for the political editor of the BBC to have reached, about someone spreading extremist conspiracy theories and using them to whip up hatred against elected politicians. I'd say I'm surprised, but sadly I'm not.

I've been using the excellent 'Luna' app to track my reading. The 'gamification' of reading does make me more likely to pick up a book! My 2024 in books: 📚31 books finished 📃10,161 pages read ⌛6,653 minutes spent reading - or 4.6 whole days!

It was brilliant to welcome a record 3,300+ visitors in 2024! A massive THANK YOU from the Wish Tower Friends to everyone who visited - we hope to see you again in the New Year! Check out our blog post to learn more about what we've done this year: https://buff.ly/4gDHWqh

The fab team at TechResort provide much needed #digitalinclusion support to people throughout #eastbourne, #hastings and #eastsussex Even in the face of not being able to provide their usual drop-ins, the resilient team have adapted and are thankfully now back to normal Please consider supporting!

Putting a coat on, braving the cold and catching the sunset really is an excellent pick-me-up, especially with this view! #eastbourne

Absolutely loved writing this blog post for the Wish Tower Friends - looking back on what we've done in 2024. It's been so much fun helping to look after, and show visitors, a bit of Eastbourne's history with a lovely group of volunteers!

Working from home and just pointed at my monitor screen to try and highlight something to the group while screen-sharing on Teams. I think I'm ready to log off for Christmas.

If you’re applying for PIP, the charity Turn2Us has launched The PIP Tool: a free guide to navigate the benefits process. Their goal “is to make sure you know your rights and can afford what you need to enjoy life fully.” Share widely! pip.turn2us.org.uk

Currently listening to and loving as background music: youtu.be/jfz5dnmQmxw?...

Trying to read a local news mobile webpage in 2024... Countless adverts, over half the actual content hidden by a sign-up form, and then trying to force enable notifications by having it take up half the screen. I know, money, etc...but really??? This experience actively deters me from visiting.

Bleak account of working in local papers for Newsquest, which continues to send millions of pounds a year to its US private equity owners, while producing "cheap, synthetic, low-quality fare" and using AI reporters to cover councils. westcountryvoices.co.uk/ultra-proces...

Massive away win for the little fella.

Is there a doctor on the flight? Specifically an English PhD? A passenger is attributing the views of the first-person narrator to the biographical author

Despite generally not enjoying shopping centres (reasons include exorbitant capitalism and people) - very hard not to be impressed by Battersea Power Station #battersea #london

A cool thing I found out today, for my fellow Bluesky newbies - your handle can be your own domain! (and it takes 30 seconds to do!) bsky.social/about/blog/4...

What a talented player Tyler Dibling is! Such a well-rounded winger

It would be great if the essentials here could also include a smartphone and connectivity, along with a little help to ensure people could use them effectively www.theguardian.com/society/2024...