Latest news with #Susie
Daily Record
5 days ago
- General
- Daily Record
Veterans commissioner pays a return visit to community hub in North Lanarkshire
Susie Hamilton helps raise the profile of veterans and promotes wider recognition of their skills Veterans of the Armed Forces and their family members gave a warm welcome to a special visitor to their hub in Wishaw. Scottish Veterans Commissioner, Susie Hamilton, paid a visit to the Veterans Community Lanarkshire Hub in Craigneuk on Thursday, July 24. The Commissioner's role is to engage with veterans and community organisations across Scotland and hear about any issues they are facing. An ambassador for all veterans, Susie helps to improve the lives and opportunities of those in the veterans' community living in Scotland by engaging with them and ensuring there is a focus on their experiences. She helps raise the profile of veterans, and promotes wider recognition of their skills, experience and potential, in Scotland. For example, a report Susie produced recently recommends that more staff working in welfare and financial and debt advisory services are trained to be 'veteran aware', to ensure they can provide appropriate support. Susie said: 'I've come along here today to the hub in Wishaw in my role as Veterans Commissioner to hear directly from veterans and people who support veterans. "I've been to the hub before, a couple of years ago, and it's great to come back and meet new people and others who are continuing to gain benefit from the community hub and get an update on what they are doing now. It's brilliant.' In addition to the hub, the Veterans Community Lanarkshire charity also operates a drop-in café on Fridays at Kings Church in Motherwell. Susie has first-hand experience of some of the issues that veterans can face in society, having served as a Marine Engineer in the Royal Navy herself. She was heartened to meet with people who are feeling the benefits of connecting with others at the hub. 'I heard from someone who's only just started coming along and he's getting really good support,' she continued. 'It's also about meeting friends and connecting with other members of the community. "He came for the first time a couple of weeks ago and didn't know anyone but they were all chatting away like friends, and that's kind of what these places are like - there's a common bond which can be a really powerful connection. 'Social isolation is literally a killer of people, people live shorter lives and live less well. So it's really important to make sure that people are connected. 'The ages of the veterans were from 40 upwards, but there are some families here too with young people. And it's not just men and women who are veterans, there are also widows of veterans as well, so that's really important, they are part of the veterans community too and can sometimes get left behind. There's also a bereaved parent, whose son was killed in action and he comes along. It's important that the whole community is included. 'Our Armed Forces are the last option for preserving our peace and security, particularly in times of peace that can be forgotten quite quickly, but times of peace can often change quite quickly. Public consciousness about what our veterans have done kind of goes up and down, depending on what is happening in the world. Having this kind of support that's always available is really important' The hub is situated at 59 Shieldmuir St, Wishaw. You can email info@ or phone 07840 479024 for more information.
Perth Now
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Nick Cave donates 2,000 books to charity
Nick Cave has donated around 2,000 books from his private collection to charity. The veteran rocker emptied out his library and passed on tomes on subjects including philosophy, art and history as well as fiction to the Oxfam Bookshop in Hove, East Sussex - the town where Cave lived for more than a decade with his wife Susie - and they went on sale last week (17.07.25) priced between £2.99 and £4.99. Ian Falkingham , who helped arrange the donation, told The Sunday Times newspaper: "Apart from the fact he's an extremely famous person, it's very similar to what happens all over the country all the time. You've got to make space in your house for the next set of books, don't you?" A bookshop employee - who was named only as Richard - told the Argus newspaper: "It's a very interesting donation. The types of books are very wide ranging – there's philosophy, art, religion, even old fiction paperbacks. "It's an incredibly varied donation. He clearly held on to his books, some of them are quite old." Richard went on to explain the books owned by Cave had previously been featured in a touring art exhibition before being put into storage. The books are not labelled as being from the star's private collection, but fans have delighted in finding handwritten notes and annotations from the singer in the copies they've published along with mementoes such as airline tickets, maps and cigarette packets. Cave's publicist told The Sunday Times: "He thinks the discoveries will remain intriguing mysteries for those who find them." The publication reports a copy of Martin McDonagh's play The Lieutenant of Inishmore was signed by the playwright himself, who wrote: "Nick, Hope you like it. It's kind of mental." Other books said to have gone on sale include novels by Salman Rushdie and Ian McEwan as well as a first edition copy of Johnny Cash's book Man In White. Nick and his wife Susie used to live in Hove - part of the city of Brighton - but they moved to Los Angeles several years ago following the death of their son Arthur, who died aged 15 in 2015 after falling from a cliff, and they now spend much of their time living in London. In his Red Hand Files blog, the musician previously revealed the lyrics of his song Heart That Kills You help explain why they decided to leave the town. He wrote: "The words of the song go someway toward articulating why Susie and I moved from Brighton to L.A. Brighton had just become too sad. We did, however, return once we realised that, regardless of where we lived, we just took our sadness with us. "These days, though, we spend much of our time in London, in a tiny, secret, pink house, where we are mostly happy."
Leader Live
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
Countdown's Susie Dent is coming to Wrexham - here's when
She is bringing her new tour 'Word Perfect' to Wrexham's William Aston Hall on August 23. For someone whose life revolves around a true love of the English language and who is razor-sharp at deciphering the whimsies of our mother tongue, Susie Dent doesn't seem like the sort of person to be tripped up by the simple things. But she admits she has been stumped, albeit on the rare occasion. Countdown co-presenter and Queen of Dictionary Corner for more than 30 years, Susie – who will hit the road with her all-new second 26-date tour Word Perfect this summer – has many fond memories of her time on the show and recalls one particularly amusing moment. She said: 'I was doing some work on the tour the other day, and I was reminiscing about Richard Whiteley, when one of my most embarrassing moments came back to me. 'The letters had been selected, the clock had ticked down, and a contestant offered their five-letter word. I didn't quite catch what they said, so I asked them to spell it, which they duly did: D. O. I. N. G. In my head this translated to 'doi-ng' to rhyme with 'boing', so I proceeded to look it up. Until Richard saved my bacon by chipping in with 'It's do-ing Susie'.' Susie turned down the offer to join the team of Oxford University Press lexicographers who took turns in Dictionary Corner three times, but a persistent boss wouldn't let it lie. She said: 'It wasn't on my bucket list to be on TV; I'm happiest when I'm below the radar! But now I'm so grateful my audition was successful. As for my first appearance, I said as little as possible! There is a clip online of that first show, when I sat next to Rula Lenska and looked utterly frozen. 'I will be forever amazed, and grateful, that they kept me on. After about 10 years, Richard and Carol wanted a full-time lexicographer within the team, and happily I ended up alongside them as a permanent fixture.' But for someone who had no inclination to appear on TV, Susie has a very clear place in her heart for the Channel 4 tea-time words and numbers quiz and its Friday-night naughtier sibling 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown. She said: '8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown has reminded many of those people who grew up with the show of the joy of the game, and of course it's brought in the laughs to go with it. TOP STORIES TODAY 'The real beauty of Countdown is its format. Anybody who watches it can understand the rules of the game within minutes and then join in to play along – no matter what their age or ability. Even with the comedy version, people do still love to play the game. 'Many of our contestants watched the show with their parents and grandparents, and so it has that real connection with family, too. 'After 33 years I still feel the adrenaline as the clock starts to tick down. It really is one of the biggest joys of my life. My feet will stay under the table in Dictionary Corner for as long as viewers will have me!' In her new tour Word Perfect, she is looking forward to taking audiences on a 'romp through some of the joys of the English language', looking at specific words and their stories, as well as many of the quirks which make our mother tongue so brilliantly unpredictable as well as magical. Speaking about her new tour, Susie said: 'The English language will never stop surprising and delighting me: It is as wayward as it is majestic, while the dictionary is as full of magic, drama and adventure as you will find anywhere. 'I can't wait to walk down some more of its secret alleyways with the Word Perfect audiences, and to hear their own questions about our curious mother tongue! We're going to have a lot of fun. Susie's tour, which will run from August 19 through until January 24, will coincide with the launch of her next two books, Words For Life and her children's book Roots We Share: 100 Words That Bring Us Together.
RNZ News
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Face with Tears of Joy: A Natural History of Emoji
Photo: Supplied/ Emojis are the world's newest language - but where did they come from, where are they going, and what do they mean? We are surrounded by emoji. They appear in politics, movies, drug deals, and even our sex lives. In his new book Face with Tears of Joy: A Natural History of Emoji writer Keith Houston explores the history of the emoji from its birth in 1990s Japan, through to the Western explosion in the 2000s. Keith Houston is an author of several books about punctuation and the founder of the blog Shady Characters. He joins Susie to explain the ever-expanding emoji lexicon.
Scotsman
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Dictionary Corner queen Susie Dent to celebrate the joys of the English language on new tour
Ever wondered why a group of crows is called a murder… or why owls form a parliament? Does Gen-Z slang make you tear your hair out, and are our local dialects really dying out? Which orange came first, the colour or the fruit? Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Countdown co-presenter, best-selling author, and Britain's best-loved wordsmith, Susie Dent aims to unravel these and many more mysteries of the English language when she brings her all-new tour Word Perfect to The Queen's Hall in Edinburgh on Saturday September 6. After more than three decades in Dictionary Corner, Susie will be sharing a brand-new collection of facts and stories from the wonderful world of words – reminding us just how unpredictable and utterly magical our mother tongue can be. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Tickets are on sale NOW from or direct from venues. Susie Dent Speaking about her new tour, Susie said:'The English language will never stop surprising and delighting me: it is as wayward as it is majestic, while the dictionary is as full of magic, drama and adventure as you will find anywhere. 'I can't wait to walk down some more of its secret alleyways with the Word Perfect audiences, and to hear their own questions about our curious mother tongue!' Susie Dent: Word Perfectfollows Susie's 74-date tour The Secret Life Of Words which ran from 2018 to 2024. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Susie Dent is a writer and broadcaster, best known as co-presenter and the 'queen of Dictionary Corner' on C4's Countdown and its sister comedy show 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown. She was appointed an MBE in 2024, the same year her debut novel, Guilty by Definition, was published. Susie's new books, Words For Life, and The Roots We Share: 100 Words That Bring Us Together, will be released in the autumn. For more information about Susie Dent: Word Perfect visit
