Thank you for the nomination and the presentation

Accepted on behalf of all victims and workers in the sectors regarding domestic violence.

Queen Elizabeth B.e.m. Award

Unfortunately I was going through cancer treatments at the time , so was unable to go to the palace.

Currently exhibiting in the co-op cafe in Old Town Swindon
16 paintings in all

Mandy has been a keen photographer for most of her life. Having been able to travel globally for the last ten years, she has captured many different cultures and scenery.

She started out in Greece following the trail of white clad buildings with sapphire doors, blue seas and boat trips, capturing photos of the odd turtle, as it was season when they came ashore to lay eggs in protected zones during the night.

She found Spain to be a place not so different to England, just with more sun. So there were lots of sea waves and rocks to capture in pictures, with the odd orange or blue crab and a vast variety of marine life.

Mexico’s back streets were filled with vibrant life and colour, with their free roaming lizards, palm trees, unusual flowers, unique seaweed and sea life.
Off-road, there was a multitude of houses and buildings with interesting architecture, local marine life and churches, market streets and by chance catching the annual street parade of car buggies, dressed up in all manor of guises on the Isla Mujeres !

Barbados, the home of white sands, blue seas, stunning unusual flowers and their easy-going happy culture. There were turtles to swim with, ‘invisible’ noisy, transparent frogs and stunning greenery for miles with all kinds of floral creations.
Boat trips far and wide explored the underwater world and see dolphins .

Egypt was one of Mandys favourite places on earth, due to being an avid historian. She found this era particularly fascinating, from its pyramids to museums with royal mummys in transparent glass tombs. Stunning architecture , camels, poverty and prosperity live side by side with the vastness of the Sinai Desert. Their underwater world was full of amazing life from sharks to lion fish. With the help of a super powered telescope set up in the middle of the Sinai, Mandy got some real close-ups of the moon out on a night desert trip with the Bedouin people, where the stars are the most vivid ever seen. Breaking bread with the locals was an experience of a lifetime. Ancient Egypt was an era of such great powerful leaders, medicine, culture and art. There was a stark realisation of the sheer size of the pyramids and what it must’ve took to build; slavery, death, blood, sweat and tears. Emotions pour out of every tomb, corner and boulder.

Antigua had coves of heavenly calm blue sea and white sands. There was bird life of immense numbers of species, from white storks to tiny yellow bellied beauties. Greenery spread across acres of land. From barracudas to sting rays, the seas were full of exciting new underwater adventures. How important the coral is, to prevent the islands being flooded out. Their strict policies on Green Peace and saving the planet were clearly adhered to throughout the island.

The Dominican Republic was a mixture of Spanish and Caribbean cultures. Their unusual God idols were on every corner: The Sun God being the most friendly looking.
On adventures out to cotton plantations and local family-run cocoa bean factories culture was at its finest.

Banana trees to fig trees adorned most roadsides en route to the mountains. Lizards lived alongside man and bird life was much like Antigua.
There were Boat trips to see and swim with sting rays, sea lions, sharks and adorable dolphins.

Coming back to the UK

Having spent her youth by the black mountains in the valleys of South Wales, she has streams of photos of wild horses, roaming sheep and miles of land as far as the eye can see. Devon, Cornwall and Bournemouth are her favourites In England.

Mandy likes to live on the edge and catch that all important unusual shot from a very trying angle. She has completed a few wedding portfolios to add to her huge collection.

I have been working with Penguin / Random House over the past year on my book.
The book launch date will be 8th October 2015 on The Lorraine Show

YOU CAN’T RUN
This book is about my life from the age of eighteen.
Having had a contract for an 80,000 word book and actually having 500,000 words , there’s a lot left out !
The main purpose of this book is to highlight the flaws within the system: Where cut backs cause lost lives, where mistakes cause lost lives and also to show what needs to be done now.

There also needs to be an understanding of this ‘disease’ called Domestic Violence.
Its widths, depths and breadths that cause untold damage globally.
How it spider-webs itself out from the perpetrator through generations now and into the future.
The ripples are deadly poison to the minds of those affected in person and those who see and hear and bear witness to such horrors. There needs to be an overhaul in the system, one that dictates to the world that we will NOT accept violence.
There needs to be a change that represents and respects the deaths of those before us and gives their lives meaning and worth .A change that would deter this misunderstood human crime.
I would like to see the perpetrators sentenced with a fitting time served , with no early release. Commit the crime do the time !
There should be a set amount of years for rape, attempted murder, murder, false imprisonment and grievous bodily harm with intent. When a judge serves that sentence that should be the time served, not two thirds , not half , no early release. Do the set time ordered by the judge !
These crimes need to hold high sentencing , we need to publicise this continuously to deter crime.

Deterrence is the key, is it not ?  What is a life worth? You may well ask, especially if you have lost a loved one to this ‘disease’.
I call Domestic Violence a ‘disease’ because it is growing in numbers globally and there appears to be no cure. How is the worth of a life even worked out by the justice system ?

How these crimes affect the victims: It leaves them with a life sentence of physical and mental torture.

The mask to hide the  bruises and scars,

The adhesions growing within ,

The mind that’s plagued with tortures real,

Everything’s hidden beneath the skin.
For some though, they didn’t even get that choice having had their lives and their breath stolen by another human being’s  act of choice.

What would you do if this blue flame was coming towards your face and body ?
After being shown that it could burn through wood and metal?

There’s nothing you can do  !

One man’s choice  to destroy a whole family.

So……How do we stop them before they start ?
Educate, raise awareness , set high sentencing , imprison for repentance not for a pleasurable holiday with all mod cons included. The world is guilty of enticing and encouraging crime . The music industry, unsuitable lyrics , raunchy videos, destructive games of death and violence, I could go on. Prison to some has become a place of bragging and gaining knowledge to further crime. Having so many benefits on the inside, when good citizens on the outside struggle with the bare minimum to survive.
What message does this feed to the minds of the future generations ?
They are brainwashed from an early age by television and the media. If we are not the idols they need to look up to ……How can we expect to change anything ?

We are making headway very slowly with small changes, but as each day passes another life is marred, scarred or taken .

For some, tomorrow is too late .
For some, tomorrows are not promised.
Let sentence reflect repentence
Let sentence make sense
Let life be worthy

I have a gripe with the system in particularly where human rights come to be weighed in favour of a perpetrator. How on earth this is ever fair or just is beyond words. I use a phrase that to some would say does not exist , but it’s embedded in my brain .It’s my way of labelling, to explain a whole sentence in two words. ‘ Humanic Crime ‘ This is where one human being inflicts pain, injuries, torture to the mind, body and soul of another human being (beings) . This type of criminal should lose their human rights ! Which would stop them using the system to get what they want by playing the      ‘ Human rights card ‘ . I understand as I have been told on numerous occasions that what I want is not possible. So I beg a question….why not ? If we are to stop these people in their tracks ‘before’ they commit these crimes then we are going to need a strong enforced deterrent.

If you have the chance to read my book you will get why I feel so strongly about change.

I want to be able to look to the future and believe in hope that ,
Together …. Globally …. With a United Voice………

WE CAN CHANGE HISTORY