Selma Montford – a true servant to Brighton, its architecture and its people

(This is the text of a letter I had published in the Brighton Argus, 30th November 2016)

I am sure that I will not be the only one who wishes to pay tribute to Selma Montford as she steps down from the Brighton Society (Argus, 26 November 2016).

Selma has been an outstanding servant to Brighton and its architectural heritage for almost half a century. Whether you have agreed with her or not (and we have had our disagreements over the years), one cannot but admire her and have total respect for the integrity with which she has fought to preserve the values she holds so dear.

I hope that Brighton and Hove will find a suitable way of recognising her contribution, perhaps by giving her the Freedom of the City although, given what the City has become, it might not be something that Selma would want.

On a more personal note, Selma has long been a supporter of Brighton Housing Trust showing that she cares not just for Brighton’s buildings but also its people, not least the ones with nowhere to live.

Thank you, Selma.

14 people and organisations, local and national, who are worth following on Twitter

Today I ran a workshop at BHT Sussex on effective use on Twitter. One of the exercises we did was to reflect on who the participants felt tweeted best. The first person mentioned was Emma Daniel of the Brighton and Hove Community and Voluntary Sector Forum, and there was a general consensus that Emma (@Huxley06 on Twitter) had interesting things to say, her tweets were lively, and she gets into some interesting conversations.

The others commended (in no particular order) were:

National
@Shelter: does what others try to do, but Shelter does it well. It gets a balance between being informative and offering practical help;
@SocietyGuardian: a reliable source of information, interesting conversations and comments;
@ThirdSector: stories, news and views relevant to our sector;
@RSPCA_official: provides a really good learning tool on how to use social media;
@WstonesOxfordSt: tweets that make up a story, very original (particularly how staff now have to spend an hour each day practicing penalties);
@big_ben_clock: predictable, repetitive, makes me laugh;
@campbellclaret: Alistair Campbell has an understanding of traditional and new media like few others, and is generous in his promotion of others;
@JeremySwain: the CEO of ThamesReach is one of the original thinkers in the homelessness sector, a true leader.

Local to Brighton & Hove and East Sussex
@brightonargus: comprehensive news from Brighton and Hove;
@BHcitynews: independent news and views for Brighton and Hove;
@BrightonHoveBus: useful real time information on road works, delays, etc.
@demsoc: the Democratic Society tweets on local, national and international politics in an interesting and sometimes quirky fashion;
@davemarthur: radical, makes me laugh out loud (also into cricket…!).

Tomorrow I will write about a 15th, how @SallyBercow made my day!