Julie Bailey was catapulted into campaigning after the death of her mother in Stafford Hospital. After her mother’s traumatic death in an NHS ward in Stafford Hospital in November 2007, Julie Bailey made a complaint to the Health Authority. She was not satisfied with the response. She was told it was “an isolated case”, that […]
Julie Bailey CBE is determined that we never forget what happened to her mother in Stafford Hospital. Part One of a series about the work of Julie Bailey, CBE. Julie Bailey is a quietly spoken, gentle woman who has been campaigning since late 2007 for patient safety in the NHS. She is No 2 on […]
In case you were wondering, should Boris Johnson happen to be out of action for any length of time then it is Victoria Borwick as his statutory deputy who would step in to take charge. Despite the baffling total of seven deputy mayors it is Victoria whom Boris has selected as his first among equals […]
Immediately I get through to Dr Leah on the telephone I am made to feel relaxed. She is very friendly and just herself, a young woman of 26, no airs and graces, nothing to hide and nothing to prove. She is sitting in a pub on her own having some lunch after a long morning […]
Liz Smith talks to Freedom Chevalier about life in the news. Liz Smith is 91 years old but still writes daily for several papers including the The Huffington Post. She describes herself as the “2000 year old columnist” and she’s been dishing on Hollywood’s famous and infamous for over sixty years writing for such papers […]
An interview with Heather Gorringe, CEO of Wiggly Wigglers. What is the secret of her success?! Sound business advice from a lady on a mission. I meet Heather looking relaxed and smiley in the bright airy atrium of the Courtyard Theatre, Hereford. My first impression is of a remarkably down-to-earth and unassuming lady, yet she […]
Kate reflects on her own year as writer in residence at the University’s Botanic Garden in Cambridge, and what others have experienced.
I am a little in awe as I pick up the phone to speak with Rose (she refers to herself just as Rose). This is a lady of the moment all right, after a recent joyous interview with Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs and then speculation in the Telegraph and elsewhere that she may […]
Here is a big admission – growing Snapdragon from a one-person, kitchen-table kind of business to a limited company with a studio workshop and a team of five has not been a walk in the park. Despite the sunny rural photographs of us in various glossy magazines over the years, there was no magic wand. […]
Freedom Chevalier brings alive the figure of Ann Richards, politician and feminist icon, whose warmth and words still inspire today. In 1991 Ann Richards became the governor of Texas, only the second female ever to take this position in 150 years. Ann Richards was born in Texas in 1933. She spent her childhood in the […]
An interview with leading fashion designer Zandra Rhodes. We meet Zandra Rhodes in her fabulous London penthouse, an oasis of colour nestled a stone’s throw from The Shard and atop of her self-founded London Fashion and Textile Museum. More than 50 years into her illustrious career, the fuchsia-haired veteran designer Zandra Rhodes is as busy […]
Behind every great man is a great women. We caught up with Claire de Giles, wife of racehorse trainer Ed de Giles. From a very early age it was clear that Ed de Giles had a passion for horses and dreamt of becoming a racehorse trainer. After a stint as an amateur jockey in point-to-points and […]
This weekend would have marked the 150th birthday of the British woman the Albanians call ‘the Queen of the Mountain People’. Edith Durham was born in London on 8 December to a respectable surgeon’s family, and for the first 37 years of her life she painted watercolours (some of which were published and exhibited at […]
Julie Noble spoke to Fay Weldon after her appearance at the Harrogate History Festival. It is a dream come true to talk face to face with Fay Weldon, and she is just as warm, wonderful and interesting as I always hoped she would be. The whole time we are talking, she is smiling radiantly, yet […]
Little-known novelist Marie Corelli and why she was eclipsed by the Bard Ask most people about Stratford-upon-Avon, and the name that immediately springs to mind is William Shakespeare. The well-known playwright is a source of inspiration to budding writers as well as being a tourist attraction. But Stratford boasts another writer, and one whose name […]