Latest news with #SWA
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Second shop will help domestic abuse charity expand
A domestic abuse charity is opening its second charity shop, which will help support the organisation to expand across the region. Society Without Abuse (SWA) is opening the store in Marlborough after success with its first one in Swindon, the town the charity started in 50 years ago. People are being encouraged to donate and volunteer at the 'Survivor Shop' in the town. The charity works through education, early intervention and prevention, including teaching about healthy relationships in schools. More news stories for Wiltshire Listen to the latest news for Wiltshire SWA has described it as a "boutique" charity shop, which is opening on 4 June in Marlborough's town centre at Hughenden Yard. "We're incredibly excited to become part of the Marlborough community," said Kate Rowland, CEO of SWA. "Our new shop offers not only a wide range of quality pre-loved women's clothing and accessories, as well as the chance for people to make a real difference with every purchase and donation." She added that the Swindon shop already sells "top quality brands". Money raised by the shop helps fund the charity's HOPE programme, which works with children and young people to help them recover from the trauma of abuse. It also has developed Open2Change, a behaviour change programme for those who show unhealthy behaviours towards partners and families, with the aim to stop reoffending. In addition, the charity offers training in awareness of domestic abuse to help employers meet the needs of their staff. Follow BBC Wiltshire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. Domestic abuse charity to lose refuge centre contract Domestic violence stays high after Covid - charity Abuse survivors' art is 'relief from a monster' Society without Abuse
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Second shop will help domestic abuse charity expand
A domestic abuse charity is opening its second charity shop, which will help support the organisation to expand across the region. Society Without Abuse (SWA) is opening the store in Marlborough after success with its first one in Swindon, the town the charity started in 50 years ago. People are being encouraged to donate and volunteer at the 'Survivor Shop' in the town. The charity works through education, early intervention and prevention, including teaching about healthy relationships in schools. More news stories for Wiltshire Listen to the latest news for Wiltshire SWA has described it as a "boutique" charity shop, which is opening on 4 June in Marlborough's town centre at Hughenden Yard. "We're incredibly excited to become part of the Marlborough community," said Kate Rowland, CEO of SWA. "Our new shop offers not only a wide range of quality pre-loved women's clothing and accessories, as well as the chance for people to make a real difference with every purchase and donation." She added that the Swindon shop already sells "top quality brands". Money raised by the shop helps fund the charity's HOPE programme, which works with children and young people to help them recover from the trauma of abuse. It also has developed Open2Change, a behaviour change programme for those who show unhealthy behaviours towards partners and families, with the aim to stop reoffending. In addition, the charity offers training in awareness of domestic abuse to help employers meet the needs of their staff. Follow BBC Wiltshire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. Domestic abuse charity to lose refuge centre contract Domestic violence stays high after Covid - charity Abuse survivors' art is 'relief from a monster' Society without Abuse
BBC News
6 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Domestic abuse charity opens second shop to help expand work
A domestic abuse charity is opening its second charity shop, which will help support the organisation to expand across the Without Abuse (SWA) is opening the store in Marlborough after success with its first one in Swindon, the town the charity started in 50 years are being encouraged to donate and volunteer at the 'Survivor Shop' in the charity works through education, early intervention and prevention, including teaching about healthy relationships in schools. SWA has described it as a "boutique" charity shop, which is opening on 4 June in Marlborough's town centre at Hughenden Yard."We're incredibly excited to become part of the Marlborough community," said Kate Rowland, CEO of SWA. "Our new shop offers not only a wide range of quality pre-loved women's clothing and accessories, as well as the chance for people to make a real difference with every purchase and donation."She added that the Swindon shop already sells "top quality brands". Money raised by the shop helps fund the charity's HOPE programme, which works with children and young people to help them recover from the trauma of abuse. It also has developed Open2Change, a behaviour change programme for those who show unhealthy behaviours towards partners and families, with the aim to stop reoffending. In addition, the charity offers training in awareness of domestic abuse to help employers meet the needs of their staff.
Forbes
03-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Top Scotch Whisky Winners From The 2025 SF World Spirits Competition
The 2025 SFWSC Finalists in the Single Malt Scotch Whisky 20 Years & Older category Photo, courtesy Tasting Alliance/San Francisco World Spirits Competition The San Francisco World Spirits Competition, a cornerstone in the world of Scotch Whisky, is one of the most extensive and prestigious judging events. Whisky enthusiasts and the beverage industry closely follow its results, as they often set the standard for excellence in the industry. The Top Shelf 2025 Awards Gala, a highly anticipated event in the whiskey industry, will announce the winners on November 9 at Hotel Nikko in San Francisco. Here are the finalists! From a diverse pool of several hundred entries, the distinguished panel of judges, comprising some 60 in total, has selected a range of finalists. These include five blended, four blended malts, and 20 single malt Scotch whiskies, each with its unique character and flavor profile. From these finalists will emerge the coveted title of World's Best Blended Scotch Whisky, Best Blended Malt Scotch Whisky, and Best Single Malt Scotch Whisky, and ultimately the highest prize of all: World's Best Scotch Whisky. The variety and quality of these finalists are sure to pique your interest. The 2025 SFWSC Blended Scotch Whisky Finalists in the No Age Statement category. Photo, courtesy Tasting Alliance/San Francisco World Spirits Competition Blended Scotch is a mix of grain whisky and single malt whisky. The Scotch Whisky Association, the industry's regulatory body, does not specify the proportions in the blend. Generally speaking, the higher the proportion of single malt in the blend, the more flavorful the whisky tends to be. The single malt portion of a blended whisky can range from as little as 10% to as much as 50% of the final blend. Under SWA rules, a no-age-statement whisky does not disclose the age of the youngest component of the blend. However, under SWA regulations, a whisky must be aged for a minimum of three years before it can carry the designation Scotch Whisky. Hence, a NAS whisky is guaranteed to be at least 3 years old. Most NAS whiskies are considerably older than the minimum three-year aging requirement. For a brief background and detailed tasting notes of the Blended Scotch Whisky finalists from the 2025 SFWSC, see SF World Spirits Competition Reveals Top Blended Scotch Whisky. The Finalists in the Blended Malt Scotch Whisky category at the 2025 SFWSC Photo, courtesy Tasting Alliance/San Francisco World Spirits Competition Blended malt is a mix of single malt Scotch whiskies. Unlike a single malt, which is a malt whisky from a single distillery, blended malts are a mix of malt whiskies from more than one distillery. The practice harkens back to the early days of the Scotch whisky industry when independent blenders created their whiskies by mixing single malt whisky from several distilleries. For background and detailed tasting notes on each of the Blended Malt Scotch Whisky finalists, see SF World Spirits Competition Reveals Top Blended Scotch Whisky. SFWSC 2025 Single Malt Scotch 13 to 19 Years Finalists Photo, courtesy Tasting Alliance/San Francisco World Spirits Competition Single malt Scotch whisky is a single malt from a single distillery. Each expression is typically a blend of different single malts from that distillery. The age statement listed on the bottle is the youngest component of that particular blend of single malts. Hence, 18-year-old Scotch whisky is not the 12-year-old expression aged for an additional six years, but rather a blend of single malt whiskies from that distillery, the youngest component of which is at least 18 years old. For a background and detailed tasting noteson these single malt Scotch whiskies, see SF World Spirits Competition Names Top Single Malt Scotch Whisky For a background and detailed tasting notes on these ultra-aged, single malt Scotch whiskies, see Best Ultra-Aged Scotch Whisky, According To The SF World Spirits Competition. These Scotch whiskies are among the very best, the crème de la crème of Scottish whisky. They are all outstanding, each reflective of the region and terroir that produced them. Some are historical names, while others are new distilleries, specialty bottlers, or once-silent distilleries that have been reborn. All are worth tasting, and if you like them, add a bottle or two to your Scotch whisky collection.
Hindustan Times
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Plagiarism, missing credits, stolen scripts: How Bollywood writers are fighting back against exploitation, malpractice
For Rajat (name changed), a 29-year-old writer looking to get his big break in Hindi cinema, getting a call from a known production house about his story was a big deal. This was right after the pandemic, when the OTT boom had begun. The producers assured his story was ripe for a web series with a major player. Rajat worked for months on the concept, fleshing out a cohesive story, but it did not pan out. "It was disappointing, but not the end of the road," I told myself. Rajat got paid for his work and was told that the story was not working, and hence, the makers had decided to go in a different direction. Imagine his surprise when he came across the trailer for a series on a big platform, some two years later, with the concept of his story, just with the setting and a few characters changed. "I questioned the producers, and they told me that they took the idea and fleshed it out with another writer. I told them it was wrong, and they said I signed off on it," the writer says. He won't go into the illegality of the contract he entered, but Rajat says he didn't fight the producers. "I had gotten more work since then, and did not want to be seen as problematic. What hurt me was that nobody would know that the show was mine. As a writer, the credit being missing hurt." To think this is a stray incident would be trivialising just how rampant missing credits, stolen scripts, and plagiarism are in the Hindi entertainment industry. The emergence of web shows and films on streaming may have democratised stories in the Indian entertainment landscape, but it has also resulted in a corporate-driven boom of malpractice and exploitation. And at the receiving end are the writers. But the fightback has begun, and quite spectacularly so. Two incidents in the month of May raised eyebrows about plagiarism, or rather stealing of scripts, in the Indian entertainment scene. One was the widely reported incident of the Prime Video series Gram Chikitsalay being accused of using a plagiarised script for the show. The matter is sub-judice. Another involved a writer posting their experience of being wronged by an unnamed OTT giant, which used their story without credit. The post has since been deleted. Figures from the Screenwriters Association (SWA) say that during a two-month period last year, the body received 98 such complaints. Encouragingly, more than 60 of these have since been closed. Charudutt Acharya is a veteran screenwriter who has written films like Vaastu Shastra and Dum Maaro Dum, as well as shows such as Crime Patrol and Duranga. Talking about this proliferation of 'stolen' stories, he says, "Old school narration has gone away. There used to be a method where you wouldn't give away the entire plot until you were signed, and narrations took place sitting at a table across from each other. Now, there are so many production houses, and everyone wants the full script with outline and pitch note. Then, there are so many people in the intermediary. Scripts go through too many hands now. The chain of command is too long now. It's easy for some misguided person to 'borrow' a script and make it their own, or give it to someone else." Zama Habib, who has written for TV shows and films for over 30 years, serves as the General Secretary of the SWA. He says the problem of stolen ideas and plagiarism does not always arise from producers. "There are times when some other writer develops an idea originally conceived by some other idea, and the producer omits the credit of the original writer. This can be because the other writer is a bigger name, who may look better on the poster." But writers say that in these rewrites, the other writers are also complicit. "The veterans need to take a stand," says a writer on the condition of anonymity, "I once requested a veteran writer who was hired to 'change' my script, to request the producers to keep my credit. But they said I hadn't done enough work to make that demand. That sort of attitude does not help." In the West, the Writers Guild of America famously went on strike in 2023, bringing Hollywood to its knees. The strike was joined by top Hollywood stars, and the studios, facing losses in the millions, buckled. One may ask why that wouldn't work in India. For one, there is no similar union for writers in India. The closest a body comes to the WGA is the Screenwriters Association of India (SWA), a writers' body that has been attempting to solve these issues. Preeti Mamgain, a writer who has worked on TV shows like Everest and Aasman Se Aage and the film Mohen Jo Daro, is also the President of the SWA's Dispute Settlement Committee. She explains what has changed, 'There were times when writers entered into contracts, shouldn't even call them contracts, actually, but writers sold their stories and scripts for as low as Re 1. People used to believe the producers were doing me a favour by making a film on my stories. In the last two decades, the avenues for writers have opened up. Now, writers have a choice.' The SWA has negotiated several cases wherein producers have been forced to acknowledge the writers' work and even pay them damages. "There have been several cases, some that came to the limelight and others that were settled out of court. But in those cases, producers and corporates paid writers big amounts of money. Due to that, producers have become more aware. Even writers are more aware of signing contracts and MoUs. The contracts may still be a little one-sided, but that can still be contested later," Preeti adds. Through its Dispute Settlement Committee, the SWA has established a procedure to analyse these allegations, wherein scripts are studied by impartial experts, and a report is made comparing the two drafts. This report analyses the story, the plot points, the tone, the characters, and even subtle things like the highs and the lows. It is an attempt to make a subjective art of storytelling as scientific as possible. The involvement of a body like the SWA largely works in getting the producers to toe the line, writers say. A writer informs about a film script they wrote for a small production house. After they were told to rewrite, the writer asked for money based on the work done so far, and was told to take a hike, albeit in not-so-polite terms. They approached the SWA and were assigned a lawyer by the body. Within a week of that, the money came into their accounts, and their credits were restored. But bigger production houses don't spook easily, writers agree. Zama Habib says, "In such cases, where courts are the only recourse, we even provide the writers with legal help, up to a certain amount. But the onus is on the writers to fight that battle. Many choose to, and such cases have come in the news as well. But even today, many writers don't choose to go ahead. In a country like India, where copyright is constitutionally protected, the legal fight will always favour you if you are right. But, the fear of a long legal battle deters many." Habib notes that often, courts have taken into cognisance SWA's analyses of scripts, which gives not just credibility to the organisation as an arbiter, but also confidence to the writers. Yet, it's a long road ahead!
