FASHION and music: a great combination, especially when you put Barry Douglas and Maureen Martin in the mix.
Clandeboye Festival runs until August 20 and Thursday night sees another spectacular fashion show master-minded by fashion expert Maureen Martin, who uses her own models to show the work of students from the University of Ulster and Belfast Metropolitan College.
On top of that, Barry will be there with his young musicians enhancing the show with their classical music.
Alongside profession creations from Geraldine Connon, Una Rodden and Gordon Donaldson, students will show off their designs and their needlework skills and one will be awarded the prestigious Denman student designer bursary.
And Maureen has secured a unique opportunity for next years' students: Tayto is throwing out a challenge during this coming academic year – to create a special Tayto-inspired garment using crisp bags, maybe even crisps themselves!
That will stretch the imagine! I've no doubt we'll see some imaginative designs on the catwalk next August and it will be well worthwhile, as a Tayto bursary will be awarded to the winning student.
Tickets available from the Grand Opera House via GOH.co.uk
Developing Potential
The Lighthouse Trust Summer School was in full swing when I called last Tuesday. It was their 20th birthday and the cake was cut by Thomas Bruton, who has been there from day one and whose mother Joan is the driving force behind this remarkable organisation.
Children and young people from all over Ireland come here to work with teacher therapists known as conductors (each has graduated from the Peto Institute in Budapest) and assistants, and the pupils all have one thing in common: they have special needs, they have cerebral palsy.
In their summer school held at the Parish Centre on the outskirts of Donaghadee, I saw such stimulation for the young pupils; with at least one assistant alongside, they followed the instruction of the conductor, singing, miming, throwing and laughing.
Last month, older children cooked and baked not just for pleasure but because they have to make a note of the ingredients, go shopping, use the money wisely – even the kneading of the dough is a therapy to use fingers that otherwise would stiffen up.
One of the assistants talked of the progress he sees year by year, how one of his young charges was able to take off his jumper by himself this year – an impossible task just 12 months ago.
I was lucky enough to sit beside Janice McKee whose 12-year-old son Nathan has been attending for six years.
Janice is a district nurse on duty overnight so she's with her son most of the day, working alongside her husband, the family and carers.
Funding is difficult and finding equipment expensive but, thanks to friends who held a fund-raising event, Nathan now has a beach wheelchair and can enjoy the sand and the sea.
"Although we live in Ballynahinch, we bring our caravan to Donaghadee so we will be near the school and can take full advantage of the therapies and we can enjoy a family holiday at the same time," Janice explained.
"The chair cost £3,000. You can add a nought to most things: a bike costing £80 would, for a disabled child, be more like £800."
She also spoke of what it's like having a child with special and severe needs.
"The majority of children with cerebral palsy are non-verbal and, although I can make contact with Nathan, it's only when he wants to cooperate.
"Here at the summer school he's reacting to the therapists all the time because they make it fun and keep going over and over certain movements in such a way that it's stimulating – and of course, being with other children, there's a level of competition and peer pressure!
"For four weeks, from 9.30am until 5.30pm, Nathan attends class and has a nourishing lunch between sessions.
This gives me some respite and peace of mind, which isn't normally the case. We parents learn too," she added.
"When I told Marianne that Nathan has a TV set in the corner of his bedroom, she advised me to move it round so he had to turn himself round to get a good view and so use his muscles. Advice like this is invaluable."
Janice admits she lives for today, because looking ahead is traumatic. Nathan has been at Fleming Fulton since he was two years old but once he reaches 19, life takes on an unknown quality.
"What happens next we just don't know. It's impossible to plan ahead so it's one day at a time."
:: Lighthouse-trust.org
Bishop Edward Daly
The death of Bishop Edward Daly saddened me. We first met in the Foyle Hospice where he was on one of his regular visits and I was researching for an article.
We talked for a while and he invited me to come and visit. I didn't need to be asked twice and it wasn't long before I was taking tea with him in his terracotta painted house, a promise of the warm glow within its walls.
Over the years, I often called in to say hello as I journeyed through and I gained much from our conversations.
I wish I'd kept his emails to me commenting on articles and theatre reviews. He loved theatre and his pantomime productions were booked out every year, yet he never wanted a stage for himself – his audience only saw him within the setting of the church he loved so much.
What he witnessed on Bloody Sunday and the distress it left took it's toll but, as he said himself, he wasn't one to look back, rather to look forward.
I will look back with gratitude for his friendship and look forward, knowing I met a very special man.
