I was first attracted to Greenpeace because they actually did stuff. Strong beliefs and inactivity can make strange bedfellows, often resulting in apathy, cynicism or hopelessness, but last year I feel I made a difference. I was able to play a small part in making a small change. Making that change involved a lot of hard work, plenty of fun and the chance to celebrate some successes along the way. This is the brief story of Northants Greenpeace in 2010…….

The third and penultimate instalment of our intrepid gentleman’s entry into the world of slug juggling, top lip topiary and all things moustache-related as he seeks to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer. Could our hero avoid the infamous slasher Rick the Razor? Would environmental officers visit Mr. Moustache for a food safety check? Would he get stuck to any of his relatives as he gave them a goodbye peck on the lips? Read on and find out (or not)……..

Yes – it’s the second instalment of the exciting tale of one man and his moustache! How will our intrepid top lip slug juggler do this week as he continues to try to raise awareness and funds in his battle for all men everywhere against the evil foe prostate cancer? Week one ended with him sporting a pseudo-slug but somehow still having received generous support of £250. Yes, boys and girls, read on for more fantashtic adventures of new superhero Slugman in The Slug That Wouldn’t Die (but wouldn’t really grow very fast either)…….

Until a few weeks ago, Movember was just a badly spelt month of the year. Then I heard rumours about a few of the blokes at work growing moustaches for charity. I consider myself to be quite a charitable sort of guy but I was secretly hoping to get away with sponsoring someone else’s sartorial disaster rather than growing one myself. Then I heard about the link to prostate cancer, a nasty disease which killed my Dad eight years ago, and my hairy hell began. Here’s the story of the first eight days.

On a recent bus ride to Leicester, I passed through quaint English villages with cricket pitches, ancient taverns and church spires. Between the villages lay miles of green, unspoilt countryside. There were trees, hedges, cows, sheep and the occasional tractor chugging away in a distant field. A beautiful vision of old England, perhaps, so if a group of people were fighting to protect our green and pleasant land, surely, as a patriotic environmentalist, I’d be the first to get right behind them……

At last, the opportunity to combine some political activism with a decent lie-in. The very wise organisers of the Take Back Parliament rally on Saturday 15 May had the good sense to arrange the event for 2pm, giving me time to love my pillow and democracy. I’d just stood in the General Election and had seen the effects of our substandard electoral system: voter apathy; people unable to vote with their hearts; and grossly disproportionate results. I felt the need to be a part of a new movement which is mobilising for greater democracy, demanding fair votes now.

“Ash welcome here” is not a sign that’s been seen a lot around Europe recently, especially in the vicinity of travel agents and airports. While the volcanic output has frustrated business and holidays alike, there is a form of Ash that is very welcome round our way. On 5 May, a day when the nasty ash hit the front pages again, good Ash - the band - played the Roadmender in Northampton. I took one of my sons to enjoy a band that has lasted almost two decades, which is probably what most local candidates did to chill out the night before the General Election.

Way back in June last year, Gill and I ran a No2ID stall for a Mark Thomas gig at a theatre in Wellingborough. In return for being able to have a stall at each gig on the tour, No2ID volunteers agreed to help Mark out with one of his many cunning plans. Little did we know where it would all lead. Gigs based around crazy and radical ideas from the audience for a people’s manifesto? Less than a year later, the book is out and Danny Kushlick is standing as the People’s Manifesto candidate for Bristol West in the General Election. Game on…..

The shareholders of Cadbury, the iconic British-based company, recently accepted an improved takeover bid from US food giants Kraft, much to the disgust of British workers, customers and trade unions. Kraft promptly reneged on its promise to keep open the Cadbury’s factory in Bristol, resulting in 400 job losses. Did this confirm Cadbury’s Chief Executive Todd Stitzer’s response to the original bid when he launched a fierce critique of “unbridled capitalism”, comparing it to what he calls his firm’s “principled capitalism”?

In his debut novel, The Silver Linings Play Book, Matthew Quick shows courage in taking on the issue of mental health. The story is told in the first person by Pat, a twenty-something man who has spent some time in a mental institution for a reason we don’t discover until near the end of the book. One reviewer describes the novel as ‘a captivating, life-affirming read, guaranteed to be the feel good book of the year’. Considering the subject matter this seemed a bit unlikely but I was willing to be proved wrong so I decided to give it a try…..