Pam breathes fresh Ayres into animal rescue centre

                                               Pam with Oak and Furrows staff

She is often known  for her sharp wit and poetic genius but a side of one of Britain’s national treasures that is not often seen is her love for the animal kingdom.

Pam Ayers has passionately supported Oak and Furrows Wildlife Rescue Centre for several years, ever since it rescued a poorly badger she found near her home outside Cirencester.

So when  Pam was approached by the centre and asked if she would like to become its patron,  she happily accepted its offer without hesitation.

Popular poet Pam is lending her support to Oak and Furrows by taking on her role which she hopes will boost the profile of the charity and help raise cash for its desperately needed move to a new home.

It  was with great pleasure that I accepted an invitation to meet Pam at Oak and Furrow’s Somerford Keynes headquarters, where we sat and took in the spring sunshine whilst she explained her passion for the centre and animals.

“I like Oak and Furrows because it gives you somewhere to bring an injured wild animal. It is such a reassurance if you find something injured that you have somewhere to turn to,” Pam said with a beaming smile.

“We are very lucky to have it in the area. I just think this centre do a really great job and if I can help in any way I will.

“I would like to think that if someone finds an injured animal they would know about OAF and if they ring they would get a good response.

“The badger I found  was in a bad way and I didn’t know what to do with it and I rang the wildlife centre and Paul (one of the staff members) came out in his ambulance and took it away with such kindness and confidence and that is why I came to support them.”

“We are encroaching on other creatures habitats everywhere, you just have to have a look around the globe. This is just a small gesture from me. If everyone tries to do something then a lot gets done.”

As a Patron Pam plans to speak about the centre publicly and thinks that using social media is going to be a useful tool in getting the message out about what Oak and Furrows do.

“I will talk about it on Twitter – I have got 29 thousand followers – so there is 29 thousand people I can get the message across to.”

Through her role Pam will also be actively involved in the work the centre currently does with the community, starting by judging an upcoming animal themed picture poetry competition, which will be open to primary schools in the area.

                                      Pam with Oak and Furrows founder Serena Stevens

And not content with just representing the centre as its patron, she has converted parts of land she owns outside her home in the Cirencester area into release sites for poorly hedgehogs.

“I am looking forward to releasing them immensely, Pam said.

“I am making them a nice habitat. I have been putting together piles of wood chippings and tree prunings and anything they could make a home.”

Pam is best known for her witty poems and has become a household name in a career that has spanned nearly four decades.

But  she explained to me that outside of her work as an entertainer she  has always held a burning love for animals and has supported animal charities, Cheltenham Animal Shelter and the Battery Hen Welfare Trust by becoming their patrons.

Pam said: “I have 11 cows, eight sheep, 16 chickens and 15 guineafowls: “ I like animals a lot, they are a nice contrast for me because I spend a lot of time doing performances and driving on the M25."

Barry Branigan, OAF general manager, told me as I left Oak and Furrows after my delightful chat with Pam , that he  Pam to ask if she wanted to be a patron after spotting her name of the centre’s list of members and was overjoyed when she said yes.

“I have worked for charities for the last 20 years. I have found an essential part of raising awareness for what a charity does is having a well known person as patron,” he said.

Why the no-makeup selfie brigade miss the point

    Holly Willoughby, one of the many female celebrities who took off their makeup for the campaign




I am at a complete loss to the #nomakeuposelfie campaign that has absorbed my Twitter and fb new feed this week.  It saw women post pictures of themselves on Twitter and fb  with no makeup on who asked people to text Cancer Research UK and make a donation to the charity.
 Scores of women posted pictures of themselves with no makeup on as though it is a tough task? Like they have done something groundbreaking. I'm all for donating to good causes but why not do something challenging like jump out of a plane or run a marathon - perhaps I would donate then. I am not inclined to in response to an armchair reaction of somebody who has taken a selfie and posted it on social media. Is this a campaign about fighting cancer or women's vanity issues?! Is it not a lot more admirable to be a cancer survivor than to show your support by simply taking off makeup ? - an action which is met by cringey replies of "wow you still look amaze babes"... By tomorrow their charity badges will be back in the loft gathering dust. The selfie brigade are in no doubt just following the latest trend, ultimately, it is disappointing to see that charity fundraising can be picked up loosely by so many, and many of whom have never even considered the work of Cancer Research UK before. 
The women who culled their makeup for a selfie raised £2 million pounds in 48 hours, which is of course great for the charity and can help fund their work in research and for caring for the many who have been stricken by cancer. But the sad fact is these contributions will soon stop coming and many who stood up in support will forget the charity ever existed.  What is needed is people who will dedicate themselves to donating on a more permanent basis, not this knee-jerk effort from have-a-go charity fundraisers who are copying what their friends did on facebook.They are not brave or admirable - they are simply hanging on to what is for them the coattails of the latest fashion trend. It is so concerning that this campaign has overlooked cancer and has centred on body image. 

A week immersed in the paradise that is the Amazon jungle

THE Amazon rainforest is one of the most bio-diverse regions in the globe, sprawling across nine countries and rich with millions of species of tropical plants, animals and fauna.

In December, Brendan McFadden travelled 52 miles north of Iquitos, the capital of the Peruvian Amazon, to go on adventurous excursions with  tour company Otorongo Expeditions; in one of the hottest and most beautiful  regions on Earth. 

After flying into Iquitos, the largest city in the world not accessible by land and then spending two hours on a speed boat from Iquitos, me and my companion had arrived at Otorongo’s lodge.

 The lodge is located off a small Amazon tributary called Quebrada Oran and is the brainchild of husband and wife team, Anthony and  Ivonne Giadinelli,  who built it from the trees in the surrounding jungle in 2005, in an effort to develop the area through ecotourism.

Surrounded by a beautiful exotic garden and lush with palms, butterflies and songbirds, the rustic Otorongo lodge is located in a wonderfully tranquil setting. 

And so it began, for the next seven days and six nights our every moment would be filled with adventure, awe and astonishment.

After dropping our bags in our room we were shown to the dining area. Here we enjoyed a buffet lunch made up of the typical delicious Peruvian cuisine and exotic local fruit available at the lodge, whilst chatting to other guests about what lay ahead.

Each room at Otorongo comes with its own private bathroom and has either single or double beds, which are covered with mosquito netting to ensure guests’ sleep peacefully.

The facilities at the lodge are basic, but it soon becomes clear that the lodge is where you eat and sleep, as most of the time is spent enjoying daily excursions, which start early at 8am.

Some excursions saw us head out on walks, allowing us to see a wondrous amount of bugs, insects and tarantulas. Others allowed us to enjoy enchanting boat trips around the Amazon and its tributaries, where we fished for piranhas and spotted countless amounts of tropical animals, such as grey dolphins,  birds, monkeys and sloths. Such is Otorongo’s prime location deep in the jungle, we did not have to wander far from the lodge garden to see such wonders.

On other outings we were able to visit nearby villages, where we mingled with locals and bought charming hand-carved trinkets.

Excursions at Otorongo are completely customised for each guest, meaning we really had free reign to enjoy  the magnificent terrain, which is made up of beaches, lakes, rivers, palm swamps and much more.

Our guide Wilver Anhuanari Chota explained that by providing  customised tours, guest who stay at Otorongo  are able to take more from their experiences in the jungle.

He said: “There are many lodges around Iquitos but Otorongo is the only one that is completely customised for each guest.

“At other companies they take large groups out but that is no good as guests do not always get to do the activity they want to do. Otorongo gives each guest a choice to do whatever they want each day.”

Wilver was born in a small rural village on the banks of the Amazon not far from Iquitos and is part Cocama indian, an indigenous tribe which has populated Peru for thousands of years . He is highly skilled as a guide thanks to his extensive knowledge of the ecology of the area, acquired through his father and from several years in the Peruvian army. Above all he has a warm endearing personality and is always happy to help.

In one of our many activities we set out with Wilver and boat driver Mikey on a camping trip to search for caiman alligators.

After heading out on a long boat, we pitched our tents near the shore and as darkness fell we headed out to scour the area for caimans.

Wilver stood at the front of the boat and scoured left and right with his head torch beaming into the darkness.  After 45 minutes of gently wading through swamps we had almost given up hope of seeing anything but then Wilver suddenly whispered with great enthusiasm “caiman!”. He had spotted a young caiman hundreds of yards away. We pulled onto shore – our guide leaped out and marched along the banks – before snatching the young reptile from the water and bringing it back to us. “This is a baby one, do you want to hold it,”  Wilver said with a beaming smile. Before passing me and my companion the two-foot caiman. Wilver explained:  “This one is only ten months, it will grow as big as four metres long – it would be very dangerous to hold it at that size”. It was humbling to be in such close contact with one of nature’s great predators. As we headed back to our tents I was hoping to see an adult caiman and my wish was granted when one glided past the boat and looked us straight in the eye! The experience was truly exhilarating and encapsulates how activities with Otorongo allowed us to engage and explore the buzzing ecosystem around us.

Seven days staying at Otorongo felt like seven years,  there was so much to be experienced but yet it was still far from enough.  It is a place where you can unleash your childish sense of adventure and be exposed to nature in all its rugged glory, whether that be kayaking through swamps or holding a terrifying tarantula.

So it is without a doubt that I will be returning to Otorongo  for another adventure. I leave with my mind enlightened but my thirst for adventure is far from quenched and there is no doubt I will be enjoying the vast expanse of the Amazon again soon.

To find out about trips with Otorongo Expiditions visit otorongoexpeditions.com

It started in a back garden but four years on Mates is toasting great sucess; I found out the secret of its success

                          

It may have started as a hobby in a friend’s back yard but only four years after formation a company from Wiltshire is now selling a variety of bottled and cask cider and perry to rugby clubs, pubs and music festivals all over the region.

Dave Harrison and Roger Heston, owners of Mates Cider and Perry Company, invited Brendan McFadden to meet them at their farm base near Minety, to find out how they make their successful products.

Roger, 67, explained: “There were four of us at the start. The first year we did it in my back garden and then we expanded it into more of a group activity. We did it for a year, we didn’t sell it but just drunk a lot. It was a bit of fun.”

But after coming fourth in the Hereford International Cider festival & Perry Competition at Hereford museum, the group made the decision to set up a professional business. 

“We decided to enter the festival and came fourth and that was just amazing. We then thought why not do it professionally if people like it,” said Roger, who is a food technologist.

The company produce a variety of cask ciders, such as  Ravens Roost, Jackdaw and Golden Eye as well as Red Leg perry , which comes from Wiltshire and Herefordshire.

Two of their most popular customers are award winning pubs The Red Lion in Cricklade and The Rummer hotel in Bristol, who both picked up accolades in the Great British pub awards recently.

To make the drinks, each summer thousands of apples are picked from orchards in Hereford and Somerset and pears are sourced from Wiltshire and Herefordshire.

They are then transported back to Minety, where they are checked and cleaned, before being put in a hydraulic press, which extracts juice from the fruits using 24-tonnes of pressure.

The juice is then put in large containers and goes through its first fermentation period which can take up to seven weeks, before fermenting for a second phase which can last up to six months.During the second phase lacto and malic acids in the juice combine to give flavour to the juice.

I was there to see the middle of these phases, where  the juice is transferred from one container to another using a pump, leaving a residue of starch and yeast behind. 

Dave,61, explained that this process is vital because the residue can destroy the taste of the cider if it is left for the second phase of fermentation.

He said: “If you left that in it would just taste very bad – you wouldn’t be able to drink it.

“The second of fermentation is the most important and the juice must be monitored carefully to ensure the best results.

David Harrison pumps cider from one vat to the next, watched by business partner Roger Hesten at Mates Cider

 “The softer lactic acid allows the fruit flavours to come out where as the malic masks them.When these two acids are combining we need to keep checking the cider to make sure it does not go off.”

Today 14,000 bottles are produced by the company, most of which are bottled  in Minety with the exception of  Ravens Roost variety, which is bottled in the Forest of Dean.

Although Mates Cider and Perry is already enjoying the taste of success, Dave and Roger vow to continue to make new and interesting ciders.

Roger, said: “We want to make new varieties and be ahead of the game and try and make something different."

 

 

Dave added: “We have to be realistic, we are both in our 60s,we do not have many years left to build an empire. My ambition is to continue what we are doing. We also want to make a single variety cider.”

To find out more and buy the cider and perry visit http://ciderandperry.org.uk/