Greenbelt Festival Family holiday goes up in flames as caravan set alight

22 Aug 2013 07:46

A dad-of-three bravely tackled his burning caravan just hours after he'd packed it full ready to go on holiday the following day

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Mark Hearn, Wife Nicky and children, Melissa (10), Daniella (4) and Julia (11 mths), whose caravan was destroyed in a fire outside their home in Walker, Newcastle Upon Tyne

A quick-thinking dad-of-three braved a burning caravan to stop a gas cylinder from exploding outside his home.

With his hair singed and arm reddened from the flames, Mark Hearn should be on holiday with his wife Nicky and their daughters Melissa, 10, Daniella, four and 11-month-old Julia.

Instead he’s left bewildered and counting the family’s losses and charred possessions after seeing their caravan crammed with clothes, toys and camping equipment go up in flames.

Outside his home in Welbeck Road, Walker, trying to clear the burned debris from the roadside, Mark, 45, said: “We were meant to leave on Tuesday night but got delayed so loaded up the caravan and hitched it to the car ready to leave at 4am the following morning. It’s our annual family holiday to the Greenbelt Festival down south and the girls love it.

“No sooner do we get back when Melissa is asking when we can go again.”

The Hearns’ hopes of a family getaway were dashed just after 11pm on Tuesday. Having fed their youngest daughter, 35-year-old childminder Nicky had just got into bed ready for their 4am start yesterday.

She said: “I’d fed Julia and been in bed about 10 minutes when I heard a loud bang. I looked out of the window and saw flames in the caravan. By the time we got outside with the fire extinguisher it had already spread.

“Everything was in there. Mark is one of the festival volunteers and we are a central point for other YMCA and youth groups who use our full size gas cooker and tents we’ve collected over the past decade. It’s all been destroyed.”

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Walker family's destroyed caravan

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Seeing the flames Mark tried to put out the fire but it continued to burn and spread.

Mark said: “The fire extinguisher I had ran out and that was when there was a back draft. I knew there was a gas cylinder inside, I only carry enough so we can have a cup of tea when we get there but still didn’t want it to explode.

“I ran for the keys, unlocked the door and managed to drag it out. Nicky unhitched the car and drove it further down the road but the back seats and windows are damaged from the heat.”

Two fire crews from Fossway Station and police were called to the scene after neighbours reported hearing laughing and seeing two people running away from outside Mark’s house just after 11pm.

A fire service spokesman said: “The fire has been recorded as malicious ignition and the police were in attendance.

“It could have been a whole lot worse. There were gas cylinders inside. Had they heated up sufficiently there could have been an explosion in the street.”

A volunteer at Greenbelt Festival, Europe’s largest Christian festival, Mark and his family also provide supplies, tents and cooking facilities for other youth groups from across the country attending the five-day event.

Mark said: “The children don’t fully understand what has happened and that everything has gone but they are devastated we might not be going. We’ve had the caravan for 10 years and only ever had a bit of bother a few years ago when a window was broken but this sort of thing shouldn’t just be allowed to happen.”

CHRISTMAS / EASTER / GREENBELT.

  Well well. 

I am almost packed.

Never prepared.

Ready for final pack.

Shave shower.

Strong coffee then .....

off to Cheltenham.

Yes it is Greenbelt.

There are some great Festivals::

CHRISTMAS

EASTER

GREENBELT.

The year ends and begins at this Festival.

It is the coming together of a years work for so many BHP's.

Me included in a small way.

Smaller than ever.

Only Board meetings now a days.

For many years it was being involved with loads of groups.

Loads of responsibility

Loads of leadership.

This year is my last year as a Board member.

28 years I think.

I am doing/facilitating one workshop this year.

First one in last three misses.

Saturday 2.30pm

'Making Beautiful' is the title.

In a venue/tent called 'The Living Room'

Otherwise it is organisational support to the great small staff team.

AND - loads of Mint Tea meeting up with BHP's.

I love BHP 121's. They feed my soul.

They make beautiful for me.

SO I now have my coffee half empty (or half full!!)

Listening to music as always

AND will then be on the 3/4 hour journey to Cheltenham.

Then it is putting the last few things in my case

Checking my list - is there something not on my list?

Then on my bike.

I will try to BLOG whilst away.

I will post some great Pipturesques.

Maybe words ............

But I will be doing late nights every night

mornings really .....................

See you on Twitter/Facebook if not here

STAY BEAUTIFUL

A SPIRITUAL MOMENT, George Duke Memorial Service: Stevie Wonder "If It's Magic"

George Duke Memorial Service: Stevie Wonder "If It's Magic"

A spiritual moment for me.
So powerful.
I have just wept.
So I share my tears with you and this 10 minute film.
The words are as powerful as the song
Love it with me.

George Duke

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

George Duke

George Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American musician,
 known as a keyboard pioneer, composer, singer and producer in both jazz
and popular mainstream musical genres.
He worked with numerous acclaimed artists as arranger,
music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a professor of music.
He first made a name for himself with the album
The Jean-Luc Ponty Experience with the George Duke Trio.
He was known primarily for thirty-odd solo albums as well as for his collaborations with other musicians,
particularly Frank Zappa.

Early life[edit source | editbeta]

Duke attended Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley before earning a bachelor's degree in trombone
and composition with a minor in contrabass, from the San Francisco Conservatory in 1967.^[2]
Playing initially with friends from garages to local clubs, Duke quickly eased his way into session work,
which refined his abilities and expanded his approach to music.
He later earned his Masters Degree in composition from
San Francisco State University.
He also taught a course on Jazz And American Culture atMerritt College in Oakland.^[2]

Career[edit source | editbeta]

Beginning in 1967 Duke experimented further with jazz fusion,
playing and recording with violinist Jean-Luc Ponty,
as well as performing with the Don Ellis Orchestra,
and Cannonball Adderley's band, while he acquainted himself with Frank Zappa.^[1]
Duke appeared on a number of Frank Zappa's albums through the 1970s.

Duke served as a record producer and composer on two instrumental tracks on Miles Davis albums:
"Backyard Ritual" (fromTutu, 1986) and "Cobra" (from Amandla, 1989).
He has also worked with a number of notable Brazilian musicians,
 including singerMilton Nascimento, percussionist Airto Moreira and singer
Flora Purim. Sheila E appeared on Duke's late-1970s solo albums
Don't Let Go and Master of the Game.

Duke was prominent in the R&B genre, releasing funk-based songs like
"Reach for It" and "Dukey Stick". In 1979 he traveled toRio de Janeiro,
where he recorded the album A Brazilian Love Affair,
on which he employed singers Flora Purim and Milton Nascimento
and percussionist Airto Moreira. The album contained music in a wide assortment of genres,
including some Latin jazz and jazz-influenced material.
From a jazz standpoint, the album's most noteworthy songs include Nascimento's "Cravo e Canela," "
Love Reborn," and "Up from the Sea It Arose and Ate Rio in One Swift Bite."
The track "Brazilian Sugar" was featured on the 2006 video game
Dead or Alive Xtreme 2. Meanwhile, Nascimento's vocal on the ballad
 "Ao Que Vai Nascer" is an example of Brazilian pop at its most sensuous.
The 1992 film Leap of Faith featured gospel songs and choir produced by
George Duke and choir master Edwin Hawkins.

Duke worked as musical director at numerous large-scale musical events,
 including the Nelson Mandela tribute concert atWembley Stadium,
London in 1988. In 1989, he temporarily replaced Marcus Miller
as musical director of NBC's acclaimed late-night music performance program
Sunday Night during its first season.^[3]
Duke was also a judge for the second annualIndependent Music Awards
to support independent artists' careers.^[4]

Duke worked with Jill Scott on her third studio album,
The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3; guesting on the track,
 "Whenever You're Around". In the summer of 2011,
 he put together a trio with David Sanborn and Marcus Miller
for a tour across the US of more than 20 sold out shows.

Legacy & influence[edit source | editbeta]

Duke died August 5, 2013 in Los Angeles from chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
He was 67 and is survived by his sons, Rashid and John.^[5]

Duke's songs have been used by a wide variety of contemporary musicians
in a wide array of genres.
These include: "I Love You More",
sampled by house music-act Daft Punkfor their hit "Digital Love";
"Guilty", sampled by electronica music artist Mylo in his song
 "Guilty of Love" on Destroy Rock & Roll.
 "For Love", sampled by underground hip hopartist MF Doom on his track
 "I Hear Voices"; "Someday", sampled by hip hop artist/producer Kanye West for Common in
 "Break My Heart" on his "Finding Forever" album;
 "You and Me", sampled and used by soul/rhythm and blues
 influenced hip hop-producer 9th Wonder for his collaboration album with Kaze
for the track "Spirit Of '94" on the albumSpirit Of '94: Version 9.0; and
"Reach for It", sampled by Ice Cube in "True to the Game"
on his Death Certificate album and Spice 1 in "In My Neighborhood"
on his self-titled debut album, and sampled by W.C. & The Maad Circle
(featuring Mack 10 & Ice Cube) in "West Up" on their "Curb Servin'" album.

Duke was nominated for a Grammy as Best Contemporary Jazz Performance
for After Hours in 1999.^[6] By popular vote, Duke was inducted into
The SoulMusic Hall Of Fame at SoulMusic.com in December 2012.^[7]

Pip Wilson BIOG and Greenbelt Festival input.

YOU ARE A BEAUTIFUL HUMAN PERSON::

Thought I would do a BLOG 

for those who fancy a little read and 

of course, 

if you are reading this 

you are the stylie type of human 

who will read my thoughts and journey. 

So here goes. 

The idea is for us, as many who can make it, to come to Greenbelt and hang out together in my workshop this Saturday. 

I think we benefit much when we talk together, 

especially when we listen as well as talk. 

It is right that God gave us two ears and one mouth and that tells us something about communication. 

So we will have an hour with each other 

just connecting and learning from each other. 

I have feelings, passions. 

I don't have views about everything 

so your view can influence mine.

I am a broken offering to life. 

My life I carry around experiences 

in which I have been damaged. 

At the same time they, the same hurts, 

are the things which have made me 

grow and develop. 

It is only when we talk together 

that we find out about 

what is going on inside.

Another person.

Also ourselves.

We have allsorts of thoughts 

slushing around in our heads 

like a cement mixer. 

When we pour out the concrete 

it sets and becomes more real. 

So, when we talk things, 

we make things more concrete and we learn. 

Life is 'life long learning'. 

I was born in St Helens Lancashire, 

the home of glass and Rugby League. 

At school and in the park 

we never played football, 

even as little kids, 

we played rugby. 

My Dad was a miner in the coal mines. 

He didn't go to war because of that 

and he also was an 'air raid warden' 

which meant helping people when the bombs dropped. 

I was born as the second world war broke out. 

See if you can work out the year?

I was the youngest of four boys 

and was a mistake. 

I fought my way through childhood 

and that was just with my brothers! 

Also my education was poor. 

Terrible. 

I had no interest in school - 

only messing about. 

But at 15 some thing happened 

(I will tell you if you ask). 

I then started work in a factory at 15 

and trained to be a fitter/engineer 

building winches for ships 

followed by another factory 

building engines for trains - 

and playing rugby all the time. 

Then at 21 some thing happened 

to change my whole purpose and direction?............

So that is a wee bit of me. 

What I wanna do is to find out about your journey, 

and 

I'll bet you could write a book about it! 

I did, it is called 'Gutter Feelings'. 

That's a bit about me.

My session will be NOT A TALK

it will have little inputs

little facilitations by me

little assists by me

to enable us to interact with each other.

Greenbelt Festival

Saturday this week

2.30pm

in a tent called

THE LIVING ROOM

TITLE:: Making Beautiful.

Pip Wilson

HEAR The great GREAT human Ben Okafor.

The great GREAT human Ben Okafor.
He once came on tour with the famous
ROLLING MAGAZINE WORLD TOUR.

I was Knackered after doing five x two hour wild wacky unique Greenbelt 'Rolling MagazineS', 2000 young humans in a big BIG TOP ......

I WAS KNACKERED ....................

Knackered  after doing five x  two hour wild wacky unique 

Greenbelt 'Rolling Magazines Programmes' 

with 2000 young humans in a big BIG TOP

during the Festival week-end ...... 

I stumbled into the late night big top 

where Bruce Cockburn was 

quietly strumming his guitar and talking to us ..... 

He was talking about the time he was visiting a refugee camp 

carrying with him life sustaining suitcases of drugs. 

He had brought the only drugs they had 

into the camp to meet their massive need ...... 

Then - as he was there, 

bringing aid and support to humans living on the edge of survival ....

... the helicopter gun-ships came and attacked the camp.

Then he then he sung his song -  

'If I had a rocket launcher" ......

...... and I wept.

Find it if you have't got it

Just listen to it.

 I was leading a youth work project in East London at  this time  

- working with street gangs.

 I felt the same oppression there 

doing that work as Bruce Cockburn was describing so powerfully ......

 There in that big top, in a safe environment, 

I felt the oppression which I was living under in a different context.

 It cut me to the soul.

 It inspired me to kick - raise up out of my tiredness - 

be refreshed and renewed and 

determined to work with people on the underside 

of the Thatcher led society we were in at that time.

Greenbelt saved my life.

Greenbelt was the instrument, the meeting place, 

where God placed his finger print on my soul.

Thanx to you both.

pip wilson bhp

www.pipwilson.com 

David Cameron PM struggles to imagine the lives of vulnerable children.

Camila Batmanghelidjh: this much I know

Camila Batmanghelidjh: 'I have seen so much kindness.' Photograph: Suki Dhanda for the Observer

David Cameron struggles to imagine the lives of vulnerable children. And I think, because he can't feel their circumstances he's unable to acquire the motivation to change their situation.

My Workshop at Greenbelt 13

MAKING BEAUTIFUL. 

Beyond the  behaviour of others we are Peace Makers, Love Makers. 

This is a workshop not for spectators but participants -

experiencing growing our spiritual emotional social together. 

Understanding behaviour, emotions, communication and our own. 

Seeking Shalom. 

Making Beautiful. 

My Workshop at Greenbelt 13 

'Making Beautiful'

SATURDAY 2.30

in the Living Room Tent

YOU are welcome.

THE UNDERWOLVES - I have loved this for a long time

Have a listen.
Hope you like it.
Wondrous.

@GREENBELT ............

@ Greenbelt .......

Help us remember that the idiot who cut us up in traffic

is a single Mother who has worked nine hours that day

and is rushing to Greenbelt to cook a meal and settle the kids down

so they can have a good first day at the festival

and spend a few precious moments with her friends

who have saved hard to get to Greenbelt.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man

who can't handle his change correctly

is a worried YMCA Hostel resident who is behind in his rent

and cannot afford the cheapest hotdog on site.

At the same time balancing his apprehension over his fear

of not getting on well with the group he came with.

Remind us Lord, that the scary looking young woman

rolling her eyes and cannot stop moving her body,

is a recovering slave to addictions

that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Remind us that the scars of the self harming woman,

scarred for life,

is just like me with my scars

that and hinder and equip at the same time.

And remember that we, maybe,

can just hide ours better.

Help us to remember that the old couple

walking annoyingly slow through the festival site

and blocking our process

are savouring this moment,

knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week,

this will be the last year that they will be at Greenbelt together.

Creator God, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us,

the greatest gift is love.

That it is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear.

But those for who,

on first impressions,

make us shudder, or sigh or grunt with irritability.

Open our soul and press your finger tip right on that part,

the part to raise your love to the surface.

So it touches the practical.

The proactive.

The love department.

www.pipwilson.com