Month: November 2022

A young south Warwickshire man who claims magic ‘saved his life,’ is now inspiring others across the nation as an advocate for autism and mental health.

Angus Baskerville wasn’t diagnosed with Asperger’s until he moved back from South Africa to Kenilworth aged 15, by which time he had failed to fit in at 13 schools and suffered chronic low self-esteem.

Now aged 26, he is a successful events magician who has vowed to ‘pay it forward’ by helping others overcome the challenges of neurodiversity through school workshops.

 

Angus addresses the audience at an autism conference

Warwick-born Angus, who also has ADHD, recalls: “School was a major challenge for me. Teachers didn’t understand me because I was behaving very differently to the other students, and I was always known by everyone as the ‘naughty one.’ I spent so much time sitting outside the headteacher’s office.

“Bullying was a major problem all through school, both physical and mental. There were times I would get kicked and punched and boys even tried to strangle me with a rope once. I was always excluded from everything and felt constantly isolated.

“I spent so much time in the naughty corner, at one school the teacher even named it after me!

“Lack of understanding of Asperger’s Syndrome, when everyone thinks you’re being odd or naughty when in actual fact it’s something you can’t help, can be a first-class ticket to serious mental health problems and it’s why I urge people to fight to get their diagnosis as soon as possible.”

It was while holidaying with family and friends aged 17 that Angus was shown a simple card trick and first became fascinated with magic.

“They also taught me how it was done, and I started going around showing everyone I knew. Because it wowed me, I wanted to wow other people. I became more and more interested, and I started learning tricks on YouTube and asking for magic sets for Christmas. I discovered it was massively helping my self-esteem.

“All of a sudden I found myself concentrating and focusing for hours on learning and perfecting a new trick. It wasn’t until I found magic that I was able to make friends for the very first time. My social skills improved a lot.”

As a Christmas gift in 2014 Angus’ parents Neil and Kate enrolled him on a magic course at the famous Davenport’s in London, bolstered by which he went on to compete in – and win – his sixth form talent contest. He earned money through his talent for the first time, performing tricks for tips in his local pub.

At 19, Angus joined Leamington and Warwick Magic Society and, in 2020 he was accepted as a member of the prestigious Magic Circle. He is now in demand on both the magic and public speaking circuits, performing for the likes of Richard E Grant, Linda Robson, Peter Jones CBE, Sir Mo Farah OBE, Roman Kemp, Melanie Sykes, Patsy Kensit and Frank Bruno MBE.

He also performs at major talent shows, alongside his idol Dynamo, including Autism’s Got Talent and Edinburgh Fringe and has recently been put forward for Britain’s Got Talent.

Angus, who recently moved to Stratford, is a regular keynote speaker at autism conferences and workshops around the country, and a neurodiversity ambassador for The Institute of Occupational Health.

But his journey has seen him battle some dark times, including a spell of self-harming and suicidal thoughts. Today he is hoping to bring his magic into schools which, he believes, could provide access to help sooner.

“I think if I had been diagnosed earlier things would have been different,” he said. “I just felt like I was a bad person and the whole world was against me. I just didn’t want to be here.

“I felt so much pain on the inside and I thought I’d rather feel it on the outside because sometimes emotional pain is worse than physical pain. I was also attacking myself because I believed I was such a loser. Over the course of the years, I came to realise that you have to find better ways of dealing with it.”

His mental health also suffered a huge setback in April this year when, while waiting for a train at Warwick Parkway Station, Angus was witness to a suicide right in front of him.

This harrowing incident made him even more determined to help others with mental health issues, by sharing some of the mindfulness tools he has developed over time to deal with anxiety and low mood. He also signed up to a course on self-harm and suicide awareness and prevention.

He said: “Anyone can have suicidal thoughts, but to actually witness a suicide in action when someone jumps in front of a train like that, is so awfully traumatic. It frightened the living daylights out of me. When I went to bed that night, I was role playing it repeatedly in my head, thinking, was it my fault? Could I have stopped it?

“People who take their own lives haven’t been able to open up and be honest about their feelings. They appear on the outside to be fine, even to their own family, and it’s completely second nature for them to say ‘yes, I’m fine’ even if they’re far from fine. You’ve always got to check up on those you care about regularly because you could be saving somebody’s life.”

As Angus continues to forge a successful career as a magician, he dreams of travelling the world with his show one day. Work is already under way on his first book which he hopes will help educate society on high-functioning autism and neurodiversity, the gifts and challenges and how mental health issues only arise through lack of understanding and not intervening early enough to work on the root of the challenges.

He said: “I’ve never been one to play the victim. It’s all good news in disguise because I would never be able to inspire people if I hadn’t gone through all that. But now I’ve got the ability and knowledge to start working with young people using magic as the medium to build confidence, avoiding years of unnecessary struggles like I had.”

“My story shows that anything is possible. One of my favourite lines is from Winnie the Pooh: ‘You are braver than you believe, you are stronger than you seem, and you are smarter than you think.’ We are not alone. You can achieve anything you set mind to.

“A lot of it is about never giving up. I want to bring it forward and help people by giving them access to something I didn’t have access to, sooner rather than later!

For further information visit Angus’ new website here

 

A Coventry-based charity committed to fighting international hunger, is stepping up its Ukrainian support ahead of the onset of freezing winter temperatures.

Volunteers at Feed The Hungry, which has its headquarters in Binley, are appealing for continued donations to keep pace with escalating demand as thousands more residents prepare to flee the capital Kyiv under the threat of total power loss.

It comes at a time when 40% of Ukraine’s energy system has been destroyed or damaged by the war which has been raging since February. Kyiv’s mayor Vitaliy Klitschko says the majority of people are now moving to rural towns and villages, such as Izmail in the South of the country.

Through its network of six international offices and warehouses, Feed The Hungry has so far delivered over 100 containers or lorries each containing 2,000 tons (2,600 pallets) of aid, into the heart of towns and villages with internally displaced refugees right across Ukraine and Moldova.

Gwyn Williams, International Operations Director for Feed The Hungry, said: “Winter is drawing in fast in Ukraine with temperatures about to drop to below freezing in the coming days as Russia keeps targeting electric and water utility infrastructure.

“Feed the Hungry had been assisting with community programs in the area and were in a good place to add them to our response program. It is a town very typical of the many places we have been delivering aid to in Ukraine throughout this atrocious war.

“With warehouses in Prague and Bucharest we are well equipped to keep a steady flow of aid into Ukraine for as long as it takes. With the help of partner organisations and community groups, we’re helping to put food on the table where it’s needed most, both in Ukraine and in Poland Slovakia, Moldova and Romania, who have been generous in opening their doors to millions of people who have fled the war.”

Feed The Hungry are running events to pack food parcels for Ukrainian Refugees in Eastern Europe. People can support this effort by sponsoring either a full pallet or a number of food parcels. Donations will help to provide resource and defray the cost of shipping in order to get the parcels to people who have lost everything.

It will be all hands on deck when members of The Rotary Club of Warwick, Southam, Leamington, Kenilworth and Henley-in-Arden and Coventry Jubilee, Coventry Phoenix and Coventry Breakfast Rotary Clubs join volunteers from Feed The Hungry charity and others, to pack nearly 30,000 meals to be sent to children in Africa.

It marks a welcome return for the initiative after two years and organisers are inviting as many people as possible to lend their support, at Feed The Hungry’s warehouse in Binley, on Saturday, November 19^th, filling roles including packers, admin staff and car park marshals.

Further information about how to support these events or donate, can be found here

CASE STUDY: ROSA

Rosa is an 18-year-old Ukrainian Muslim who, at the beginning of the war, fled to the Czech Republic with her mother and younger sister, before being separated from them because she was pregnant as the authorities felt she needed separate housing.

Roza’s mother and sister ended up in Ostrava, Roza in Brno where the local church helped her find a small apartment on the outskirts of the city. However, she was sadly to be driven out by anti-Muslim threats from within her local community.

Following the Russian army’s retreat from Kyiv, Roza reunited with her mother and they returned home, only to learn the tragic news that her husband had been killed in action and their home destroyed by enemy artillery.

Roza is now staying with her late husband’s father-in-law who is elderly and frail and unable to work.

Daniel Skokan, who heads Feed The Hungry’s Prague office, recalled: “When we heard Roza’s story, we made an effort to find her and make sure that every month, from the aid sent by FTH to Ukraine, she receives a package of food to feed both herself, her baby and its grandfather.

“At the moment the electricity is out and they just can’t afford it. Their water is not running and probably won’t be available soon either. She has no money. Even if she had, the shops near her are almost empty and what is available is very expensive. She lives on what the church which receives help from Feed The Hungry provides.”

Daniel added: “This is just typical of the sort of stories we deal with every day. Every life counts, every person has value, every person is worth fighting for and we are grateful for all the partner organisation, companies, communities and individuals who have donated towards fighting attrition with generosity of heart.

“From the drivers that can queue for five days or more at border crossings and then drive hundreds of miles across Ukraine, to distribution centres and feeding centres in churches and community centres, cooking and sorting food seven days a week. To people here at home ready to donate finances, volunteer to pack and deliver food to our warehouses in Coventry.”

Alex Ilash, Pastor of a Church in Izmail, has seen first hand the difference the food donations are making in his city, one of seven districts of Odesa Oblast, stretching along the Danube River.

“Everyone here is most grateful for the much-needed and timely support. People are happier and we are thankful to Feed the Hungry for reaching out to help us in these dark days.”

More information about Feed The Hungry

• Feed The Hungry is an international Christian humanitarian organisation committed to fighting hunger due to poverty, war, famine and natural disasters. The charity works to reduce world hunger by establishing feeding programs following disaster relief operations in 21 different countries worldwide. With its partner organisations, since 1987, Feed The Hungry have globally assisted in feeding over 420,000 children every day in 25 countries. Feed The Hungry also provides disaster relief recovery programs through its network of community programs around the globe.
• Partners include: It Works Netherland, Red Wings UAE and UK, Rise Against Hunger, Rotary UK and Ireland and various local businesses, churches and individuals.
• According to the United Nations, at least 7 million people in Ukraine need humanitarian aid and protection. In addition to the more than 7 million refugees outside the country, an estimated 7 million people have been displaced within Ukraine, meaning that nearly one of every three Ukrainians has been forced from their homes.
• Refugees have fled to countries across Europe including Poland, the Czech Republic, Moldova, Slovakia, Romania, and Hungary, where they have been widely welcomed by governments and local communities. However, experts warn that as the conflict drags on, host community resources are being stretched — requiring support for local services that benefit both host community members and refugees.
• With over 7 million fleeing Ukraine as of early September, this has become the largest human displacement crisis in the world today, according to the N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
• N. agencies have observed a dramatic increase in global hunger, which was already on the rise, as conflict has complicated the delivery of critical food exports from Ukraine.