Lucette Davies - journalist

So this is the bit where I have to write about me – not something I would usually be all that keen on  doing!  But here goes –

I am a NCTJ qualified journalist based in Eastbourne.  I have had work published in:  The Eastbourne Herald; Hastings Independent Press; Brighton Argus; Culture 24 website; BrightonLite website; ourNHS/opendemocracy website; Socialist Health Association blog; Eastbourne People’s Assembly blog; Latest 7 CitySpeak, Guide to Brighton website, News Hub and my own blogs.

My background is really one of science as I studied Physics at Bath University and Radiation Physics at St. Bartholomew’s Medical College.  But years of illness have taken me too far away from the scientific world and I have become interested in the political and social issues of the world today.  I don’t see the switch between physics and politics as being that astonishing as both these disciplines involve gaining an understanding of the world we live in.

I studied journalism at City College Brighton and since leaving college I have taught myself to a reasonable standard in HTML and CSS.  I set up my own self-hosted WordPress site for which I was able to attract a number of other contributors.  I had aimed to produce a website that presented an honest analysis of political and social issues from a progressive, left wing angle.  Those blog posts from my self-hosted site can be seen on the blog page of this site.  Unfortunately I found the cost of hosting, alongside the cost of advertising for writers became prohibitive for me and Red Hot Chilli News had to come to an end.

I am however still very pleased that I did attempt this project.  I learnt a lot about webdesign, coding, WordPress and search engine optimisation at the same time as improving on my writing skills.  But however proud I felt of this site it was never going to pay the bills so it is now time to look for something that will.

I am an activist with the Eastbourne People’s Assembly and also their secretary.  I have in the past stood as a candidate for the Labour Party here in Eastbourne.  I am also involved with the United Nations Association of Eastbourne and have been appointed as the PR officer for them.

I believe in social justice and will fight the corner for any person or group of people who are being discriminated against.  My own recovery from long term illness has demonstrated the importance of the survival of our NHS and Social Services.  I believe people matter and so does the world in which we live.

I dislike the neo-liberal politics of our capitalist society and the way in which it seems anything is acceptable if it leads to the accumulation of wealth.  I so often see and meet people who are paying a heavy price for this blinkered approach to life.

I enjoy reading, both fiction and non-fiction.  Living in Eastbourne gives me access to some glorious surroundings on the seafront and over the South Downs and this is something that will always fill me with joy.  I played a part in the recent battle the people of Eastbourne had to stop the Council selling of parts of the Downs that are currently held in public ownership.  I found it heartwarming to see the passion that the people of Eastbourne displayed as they campaigned to save the Downs.  It was a fantastic result when the Council announced that the Downs would be kept in public ownership.

I am involved in a huge range of activities with the Eastbourne People’s Assembly, from NHS campaigns, to supporting the RMT in their strike action, getting an argument against our local paper’s attitude towards the homeless published and helping arrange for many varied speakers to talk to the group on a number of different issues.  We have undertaken so many different actions over the last year, most of which I have been involved with alongside my general duties as Secretary.

I do also spend time on activities for the Eastbourne United Nations Association as their press officer. I am currently designing a new website hosted by WordPress to help save us the cost of our current website’s hosting package.  The group has been involved with a carbon capture scheme where trees are planted in rural schools in Uganda.  Local people and organisations can donate or pay subscriptions as members of the group to help fund this tree planting programme. If we can save money on the hosting of our website more trees can be planted offsetting the carbon footprint of more people.