Although there are plenty of serious stories around you can’t deny that the summer months are notorious for slow news days. MPs are on their summer recess; schools have broken up; the rush hour suddenly seems a whole lot quieter. And out of the wood work come the silly season stories.

Yesterday we were all glued to our screens as lawnmower racing got underway in Sussex. Yes, that’s right, lawnmower racing. In fact it was a lawnmower racing endurance race that latest over 12 hours and was only fit for the most fearsome drivers.

Today we have more fantastic ‘sporting’ feats. Ever fancied being blown out of a cannon? Well a performer from the Moscow State Circus likes doing just that. He’s developed a high speed shooter that blows him into the air at 40mph - and after past fatal accidents with the stunt he’s the only person in Europe doing it.

I’ll keep you posted on any other silly stories popping up over the next few months. But in the meantime do you have any silly season stories? Share them with us here.

We’ve all come back from holiday with pockets full of that funny foreign money and since most banks and travel agents won’t exchange the ‘loose change’, you’re invariably left with the shrapnel that ends up in the draw in the kitchen along with the pieces of string, odd screws and that old deck of playing cards.

Which is why over the past fifteen years the hundreds of passengers who’ve left their unspent currency in envelopes provided on British Airways flights has amounted to a “staggering” £25 million, which thanks to UNICEF has gone to help children in less fortunate parts of the world.

And it’s not just passengers aboard BA flights who can donate their unwanted currency to a good cause. Help The Aged, the RNIB, Barnados and Marie Curie - to name but a few - are all charities which will accept your unspent holiday money and make sure it’s put to good use.

So whether it’s left-over Peruvian centimos and nuevos soles you’ve got or Nigerian kobos and naira get in touch with your local branch of Help The Aged, RNIB, Barnardo’s or Marie Curie and they’ll make sure it goes to a good home. As the saying goes ‘every little helps’.

Picture courtesy of bradipo

Journalist Joanna Martin blogs from Tanzania  

As a freelance video journalist I made an ‘off the media beaten track’ decision to spend three months filming a number of news reports in Tanzania. Kenya has featured in the news with reported conflict over the recent election, but little is known about its relatively laid-back and peaceful neighbour Tanzania.

Tanzania is jam-packed full of superlatives: It has Africa’s largest concentration of animals in the Serengeti safari park, and the continent’s highest mountain, Kilimanjaro. The country also boasts the world’s largest intact crater, Ngorongoro which teems with wildlife. Tanzanians are a friendly bunch and incredibly hospitable. My aim was to put this gem of a country on the map.

On arrival I had a meeting with a local journalist in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam. I wanted good stories with links to Britain. He told me where the Masaai who ran the Flora London Marathon live. I got in contact with London based adventure specialists, Greenforce who work closely with the Masaai, and they helped coordinate a filming day.

Armed with five kilos of sugar and six boxes of tea bags I travelled eight hundred kilometres by road to the northern town of Arusha and then a further forty five kilometres to the remote village of Elaui. My point of contact was Greenforce expedition leader, Jonathan Lloyd who has been working in a nearby Masaai village for three months. His hot tip of the day was, ‘If you are offered blood to drink, swallow it quickly as it can clot in your throat and be hard to wash down.’ I didn’t get the chance to partake in the Masaai ritual, and was secretly glad.

Access to clean drinking water is something we take for granted in the UK. However, in some rural areas in Tanzania it can be thin on the ground. Tribes like the Masaai are forced to walk up to three days in the dry season to locate it. In the long rainy season, which runs from February to April, the Masaai in Elaui have enough water to drink, drawn from a nearby lake. However, when this runs dry they are forced to search further afield.

Contaminated water is linked to extremely high child mortality rates among Masaai tribes; two thirds of children die before the age of five. With the help of Greenforce, six Masaai warriors from the village of Elaui in northern Tanzania ran the Flora London Marathon this year and raised over sixty thousand pounds. This means they will have a water pump installed, bringing clean drinking water directly to their village for the very first time. A location has been earmarked and the plan is to have a European company drill a single bore hole and install a water pump within the next couple of months.

The first thing that struck me about Elaui village was how harsh the environment is. Elaui is named after the indigenous tree grown in the area which is known for its medicinal qualities. I had the pleasure of interviewing Isaya, the group leader who spoke really good English along with his brother Nguvu. They showed me around their part of the village which consisted of two mud huts known as bomas and a cattle pen. Then it was off to meet the village chief. As I greeted him outside his boma I glanced up and saw a rather large church with a cross dominating the skyline.  On further questioning I found out that this formal place of worship, funded by a Christian charity is practically derelict. I remember thinking how indifferent but tolerant the Masaai are to western influences. Despite a modern world, fast developing around them, the tribe prefer a simplistic way of life, living in their bomas surrounded by a close- knit family and prized cattle.

I found the villagers to be really friendly and welcoming. My camera equipment was a source of amusement. The biggest challenge was keeping the villagers quiet in order to conduct interviews. Semi-naked children clung to my legs, laughing and poking fun at this strange foreign woman asking lots of questions in their village.  Adults touched the camera and messed with the mic out of curiosity. They chattered away endlessly about me with mild amusement.

The Masaai who ran the marathon told me they had felt very cold during their stay in the UK but drinking copious cups of tea at a B&B in Kent had kept them warm. Traditionally they use snuff but were not allowed to take it to England. They consequently gave snuff a try in the UK only to find it had a chemical taste that they disliked.

In the future the Masaai want to run more marathons to raise even more funds to build a hospital. Currently they have to travel long distances to get medical aid.

If you would like to find out more about my news reports in Tanzania you can contact me at joanna@pobox.com

Watch Joanna’s Masaai warrior Meridian report here.Watch more of Joanna’s Tales from Tanzania below. Click on the link to view the report:

Trade Aid helps Tanzanian locals set up small businesses through micro finance

Water Aid maps contaminated water vital for survival

It was all go in the peaceful market town of Abingdon on Saturday! While a number of local indie-fans were sunning themselves at Truck Festival over in nearby Steventon, the local town Amateur Boxing Club took to the streets in an attempt to raise money with a fete in the market place.

An absolute success by all accounts, ‘Backstreeter’ from This Abingdon blog was in attendance and sent us a photo from the event, showing Conservative Councillor Melinda Tilley throwing a wet sponge at Councillor Duncan Brown of the Liberal Democrats. A light-hearted moment in local politics indeed, and one we imagine would be widely enjoyed by a number of residents across the UK.

For more photographs of face-painting, tombolas and the local boxing club in action, pop over to This Abingdon blog, and have a look. Anyone with pictures of the event, or anything else of local interest that they would like to share, should pop over to upload them onto our ‘Your News’ section – and share them with the whole region.

A few days ago we reported on the post offices of Dorset being closed in droves, and with the sad impact this is liable to have on the local community, like the lovely chaps over at Village Counter Talk- we’ve been racking our collective grey matter to come up with a plan to save them. And the answer, we believe, lies in celebrity!

Ideal for pulling back in the punters, and encouraging people back to the hustle and bustle of your old village post office, we suggest that all well-meaning celebrities should give up a morning, or afternoon, and pop by their local PO to pitch in with a few hours work.

Do you think the gents of Dorset would spend a little more time posting letters if Paris Hilton was ‘living the simple life’ behind the counter with sexy Cameron Diaz on a Tuesday afternoon, or imagine how many envelopes were sold if one was to buy them from Christian Bale and Ronnie Wood while Justin Timberlake was helping you with your car insurance?

My personal favourite however, would have to be being served by Meatloaf – and I think the charismatic American putting in a few hours behind the counter would save the Post Offices singlehandedly. Come on Marvin – where are you? Do tell us who you would most like to see behind the counter of your village Post office?

Anglican bishops from around the world are gathering in Canterbury today for the start of the 10-yearly Lambeth Conference.

The 650 bishops will discuss subjects including evangelisation, social justice and the environment. But a crucial issue threatens to overshadow the controversial conference. Christianity VS homosexuality.

Recently the first openly gay Anglican bishop was officially consecrated by members of the church. The Rt Rev Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire in the US was not invited to the Lambeth conference because of the controversy over his appointment.

However, the decision to bar him has failed to prevent a boycott of up to a quarter of the bishops invited, who object to the presence of US bishops responsible for his blessing.

Those boycotting the conference include Anglican leaders from Africa, South America and Australia. A number of British bishops are also expected to stay away including the Bishop of Rochester.  

With the recent discussions and similar controversy about the prospect of British woman bishops is this another nail in the cross for an archaic Anglican church? Is Christianity too fearful of modern ways of thinking?

Or maybe these bishops are rightfully taking a stand to save the core values of their religion? Could this overshadowing damage a respectable conference which is set to solve global issues?  

Get the debate going and tell us what you think here on our blog.

It’s everybody’s worst nightmare – and for 200 excited brides-to-be in Hampshire, picking the wrong bridal shop is not only threatening to leave their wedding preparation in tatters, but their dress well - invisible completely. For after painstakingly choosing the outfit for the biggest day of their collective lives, they have been completely let down by Arvella Bridal Wear in Lyndhurst – which has recently closed its doors owing approximately £400,000 in missing dresses.

“I’m gutted. It’s my wedding dress and I want it back” speaks one heartbroken woman on the ITV Local video, and in a recent hearing things are looking bleak. According to administrators it looks likely that those who paid by cash won’t get their money back at all - ever.

Unsurprisingly tensions are running high, and shop owner Lisa Clarkson had to attend a recent meeting with a bodyguard. As our reporter states, they didn’t just give their money to the shop – they gave the hopes and dreams for the most special day of their lives. Hopes and dreams that have literally been torn from them.

Has this closure affected you – if so we would love to hear about it…

What do you want to see done? Is this the sad risk you take whenever you buy anything of high value, or a gross injustice on the women of Hampshire?

Photo courtesy of Jacob and Kiki Hantla