Public service announcement - 7/7 meeting follow up
FROM THE LONDON ASSEMBLY 7 JULY REVIEW COMMITTEE
''To survivors of the 7 July attacks who gave their views in person to the London Assembly 7 July Review Committee [and to interested members of the public - RN]
I am writing to let you know that the 7 July Review Committee is about to hold its follow-up review to look at what progress has been made in implementing its recommendations.
The agenda for the 22 November meeting of the London Assembly's 7 July Review Committee has been published (and can be found here).
At the bottom of the page is a set of documents which are all the responses we received following publication of our report in June.
The follow-up meeting will take place here at City Hall at 2pm on 22 November, in the meeting Chamber. The meeting will be attended by senior representatives from the emergency services, Transport for London, and the National Health Service. The Committee will ask them questions about what progress they have made on key issues such as underground communications, digital radios / alternatives to mobile telephones, and putting in place plans to care for survivors of major incidents.
The meeting will be open to the public, so you are welcome to come and watch the meeting. It will also be webcast live and available to view afterwards.
If you have any questions or concerns, please give us a call. If you would like to comment on the responses to the report, please let us know and I will pass your comments on to the Committee. Also, if you would like to suggest questions for the Committee to ask the representatives of London's emergency, transport and health services, please let me know. I cannot guarantee that all the suggested questions will be asked, but I will ensure that they are passed on to the Assembly Members. I will need your suggestions by 9am on Monday 20th November in order to brief the Committee.
Following the meeting, I am expecting the Committee to produce a short follow-up report, and I will let you know as soon as I know when that is likely to be published. I will over the next 24 hours be sending out e-mails to everyone we have on our contact lists, but do please feel free to pass this information on to anyone you think may be interested. I am also forwarding the information to the 7 July Assistance Centre and Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Following the meeting, I am expecting the Committee to produce a short follow-up report, and I will let you know as soon as I know when that is likely to be published.''
London Assembly 7 July Review Committee page here
So there you go, if you want to find out which of the 7 July Review Committees recomendations have been acted upon, and get a general feel for your safety as a Londoner, you can look out for the report and attend the meeting.
I have just come back from another meeting about an inquiry into 7 July and I hope some good will come of it. I haven't stopped campaigning, just had a break from highly visible public campaigning as I am fed up of being heckled when I speak out and getting bonkers emails and comments from conspiraloons, (and it is not as if I want to be some kind of flipping 'bomb celebrity' with all the utter lunacy that that entails). So putting my head over the paraphet only happens when I think it is really necessary and will achieve something in terms of raising awareness of this huge public issue concerning managing our freedom and our fear, our safety and civil liberties, and our ability to integrate with each other. And what we know - and need to know, still - about how safe we are today - and how we got to this point where we all worry about ordinary people going to work and never coming home again.
''To survivors of the 7 July attacks who gave their views in person to the London Assembly 7 July Review Committee [and to interested members of the public - RN]
I am writing to let you know that the 7 July Review Committee is about to hold its follow-up review to look at what progress has been made in implementing its recommendations.
The agenda for the 22 November meeting of the London Assembly's 7 July Review Committee has been published (and can be found here).
At the bottom of the page is a set of documents which are all the responses we received following publication of our report in June.
The follow-up meeting will take place here at City Hall at 2pm on 22 November, in the meeting Chamber. The meeting will be attended by senior representatives from the emergency services, Transport for London, and the National Health Service. The Committee will ask them questions about what progress they have made on key issues such as underground communications, digital radios / alternatives to mobile telephones, and putting in place plans to care for survivors of major incidents.
The meeting will be open to the public, so you are welcome to come and watch the meeting. It will also be webcast live and available to view afterwards.
If you have any questions or concerns, please give us a call. If you would like to comment on the responses to the report, please let us know and I will pass your comments on to the Committee. Also, if you would like to suggest questions for the Committee to ask the representatives of London's emergency, transport and health services, please let me know. I cannot guarantee that all the suggested questions will be asked, but I will ensure that they are passed on to the Assembly Members. I will need your suggestions by 9am on Monday 20th November in order to brief the Committee.
Following the meeting, I am expecting the Committee to produce a short follow-up report, and I will let you know as soon as I know when that is likely to be published. I will over the next 24 hours be sending out e-mails to everyone we have on our contact lists, but do please feel free to pass this information on to anyone you think may be interested. I am also forwarding the information to the 7 July Assistance Centre and Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Following the meeting, I am expecting the Committee to produce a short follow-up report, and I will let you know as soon as I know when that is likely to be published.''
London Assembly 7 July Review Committee page here
So there you go, if you want to find out which of the 7 July Review Committees recomendations have been acted upon, and get a general feel for your safety as a Londoner, you can look out for the report and attend the meeting.
I have just come back from another meeting about an inquiry into 7 July and I hope some good will come of it. I haven't stopped campaigning, just had a break from highly visible public campaigning as I am fed up of being heckled when I speak out and getting bonkers emails and comments from conspiraloons, (and it is not as if I want to be some kind of flipping 'bomb celebrity' with all the utter lunacy that that entails). So putting my head over the paraphet only happens when I think it is really necessary and will achieve something in terms of raising awareness of this huge public issue concerning managing our freedom and our fear, our safety and civil liberties, and our ability to integrate with each other. And what we know - and need to know, still - about how safe we are today - and how we got to this point where we all worry about ordinary people going to work and never coming home again.
posted by Rachel at 1:58 pm
Thank you for this update, it's much appreciated.
Do you think maybe it's time to drop all the bomb references from the top of your blog? It seems weird to keep it up there; I mean.. it shouldn't define you or your blogging.
Of course, July 7th still means a great deal to you but, I dunno, when you first started your blog it was truly compelling and inspiring - 'wow, this lady lived through that and is here to tell us about it and the aftermath'. But now it's over a year later; and whilst nobody will ever belittle what you went through or the profound effect it had on you, I don't think it needs to be at the forefront of your blog. Move on.
I hope you understand where I'm coming from.
Misery etc, I have been trying to do that for the last 4 months.
I don't know how t make blogspot template changes to the home page.
I am fed up with it too,
but I don't know how to work html. I only learned how to use a PC when I was 26.
PS> I'll say this though.
I do want to change the blog header, because I can see it means little now to others, and it probably puts casual readers off, but for me, 15 months on, I am afraid, (boring as it undoubtedly is for you all), there is not a single day when I don't think of the bomb.
More so now that ever, in fact, I am only just starting to deal with it now: I couldn't before.
I know it bores you all.
Sorry. All I can say is.
Don't read the blog then.
You have a lot of places to read things.
I have one place, and one place only, to write my life. And this is it. For half an hour a day.
Hi Rachel,
It, healing, takes as long as it takes. I feel like issuing a slightly protective growl to anyone who presumes to know how and when you 'should' move on. I get a lot out of reading your blog and still find your thoughts just as relevant and interesting - not stale or boring in the slightest.
Thanks for update.
If you do want to change the blog header, you can change it on the text via the dashboard under the menu "Settings" and then "basics" and then you will get the option to change title and description.
BUT, let it also be said that I don't think you should change the heading purely because of how other people see it: people are bound to react differently to it and depending on where they were that day it will take longer for some to deal with the situation. Some people appeared to get over it over the course of two days, and I don't get it. Seeing that you say you are dealing with it now, I think the heading is an accurate description. I used to write a LOT about the bombings, and in a way I suppose I still do as I still get that feeling of shock sometimes. (I just haven't used my blog for it as I as chose my mother tongue which is not English)
Anyway, forgive me for rambling. I'll stop now.
I am not suggesting that you should be 'over it'. Not at all. I'm merely suggesting you change the box at the top and - likewise, you've had thoughts of doing the same.
My point was - your blog doesn't need it. And in some ways it could hold you back, always having that thing up there. It can schew people's opinions of what you're saying. You don't need it.
Dear Rachel,
I can see what M&S is saying - but personally I dont think you should change the header of your blog. This is why you started the blog - it is your blog - you will never forget that day and I dont think that any of us should. I think you should be proud of your survival and your achievements since (and before). This is an inspiring and empowering blog and I think the header reflects that.
If you do change the header, please keep some reference to 7/7 there because it shouldnt define you but we shouldnt be allowed to forget.
Best wishes
Hx
Rachel,
Just wanted to say that I found your blog interesting. I came across it by chance. I was in London that day too, though fortunately not near any of the explosions, so I only suffered the inconvenience of the travel disruption.
It's your blog, so leave the box at the top or change it as you see fit (I'm similiarly computer illiterate - I can't even put html links in there in the clever way everyone else does, ie disguising it in the relevant word; if anyone could help I'd be grateful). I think if you go into your profile, then settings, you could do it.
I can well understand you thinking about something like that every day. Only piece of advice I can pass on is that my father and his friends gave to me (all were survivers of the London Blitz, though they were children at the time): Never let the bastards get you down.
I am not so sure about changing the header - whilst I agree that no one should be defined by an event - and we all know Rachel has experienced many things, not just 7/7 - but as a fellow survivor I think it is important that it is referenced - it is the reason for the blog and to me does slant the contents of the writing. Any one who wasnt there is very lucky indeed, but, for us who were, we will never ever forget that day or the effect it has had on our lives since. I think it is important knowledge for anyone reading the blog - why campaign for an inquiry, why care about politics, the world? the header gives it all a deeper meaning.....to me anyway! I vote keep the header! xxx
However bad you may be feeling. Don't give up thew excellent work your doing. Your Blog ought to stay.
Okay - I agree with you guys. It was worth bringing up, if only to cement the importance of this blog - but now you've won me over and I agree, everything should stay as it is.
Thank you everyone for the comments. I am still a bit torn about all the bomb refs but at least I know how to change it now.
I think, as I am still very much occupied with thinking about it all - now I am no longer in an office for 9 hours a day and having to use the tube or get taxis and ghoing thorugh all that panic every morning - it should stay for now - as I seem to be doing a lot of thinking on the subject. When I feel that I have got through this patch, I'll change it.
At the end of the day it's your blog and you can write what you want to write and say what you want to say. If people don't like it then they don't have to read it. Isn't that the whole point of a blog?
Hi Rachel, I know how to change it but i'm not going to tell you. ! You should not change it. It does not define you, as Misery suggested, it is just part of your history now, in the same way as we have parts of us listed in our profiles. It is interesting, anyway, to get a first hand account for many of those who visit your blog for the first time.
Carry on doing the good work you are doing, in finding information so that we can all hope to live safer and more aware lives.