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With Praise They Came.
By Uncle Monty.
Story Photos By Alex Albion.
Caption Photo By Gary Day.
***
From the moment he arrived to the moment he left
as the head of the National Children's Bureau (NCB),
Paul Martin Ennals has been showered with much praise
from his close friends and his good working colleagues
during his 13-year tenure at NCB. And, so with praise
they came to his farewell ceremony held at the UK
Department of Education just across from the
Church of England's Archbishops' Council
right in the heart of Anglicanland!
***
The Rt. Hon. Sir Paul Martin Ennals, CBE., who is the
son of the late Labourite cabinet minister and politician
Lord David Ennals, was serenaded as one of the best
of his kind in harnassing national programs for the
betterment and innovative education of unprivileged
children in the British Isles.
***
Rt. Hon. Sir Paul Martin Ennals (l) and Tory Member of
Parliament Tim Houghton Joking at Farewell Ceremony.
***
Among those who came with praise for Sir Paul was
Dame Gillian Pugh, DBE., (shown below) who is a well-
known English expert on children's issues and a noted
panel member of the Family Law Review. She spoke
warmly and almost rhythmically of her friend and former
colleague to the point that she gave no doubt about his
achievements as executive director of NCB. She poured
worthy accolades on the gentlemen and she couldn't find
enough words of open praise for him. Elsewhere, Dame
Gillian headed The Cobham Family Charity that is
known as the oldest charity in England.
***
Dame Gillian Pugh, DBE.
***
Next came Tim Loughton, Tory MP and Parliamentary
Undersecretary for Children & Families (shown below)
in the present Coalition Government of David Cameron
and who knows Sir Paul Ennals quite well both as a
governmental counterpart and as a personal friend of his.
The MP peppered his speech of Ennals praise with wise-
cracks and puns that almost brought the house down in
good laughter. Sir Paul undoubtedly relished Loughton's
delightful and provocative speech like many
of those others present.
***
Tim Loughton, Tory MP and Parliamentary
Undersecretary for Children & Families.
***
Then Sir Paul himself (shown below) spoke with a
disarming presence and did nothing to elevate himself
above his friends and colleagues. Indeed, he seemed
only to want to be humble and to offer himself in the
plainest of light to those present. There was no
artifice in what he said and everything he said was
without conceit or arrogance. I marvelled at his
lack of self-importance which is so refreshing into
today's world of self-promotion by tasteless celebs
and mediocre nobodies. So, kudos to Sir Paul ...
***
Rt. Hon. Sir Paul Martin Ennals, CBE.
***
Serving refreshments, yes even with glasses of
smooth champagne, to all those present - around
perhaps 200 invited folkz that included your's truly -
along with such notables as Baroness Virginia Bottomley
of Nettlestone and Julie Jones and Caroline Hazell, who
was PA to Sir Paul until her own retirement from NCB.
Caroline, it should be noted, was wearing a lovely
leaf-styled jewellery set of earrings, necklace, and
bracelet of vintage Norwegian white cloisonneé de-
signed in pure sterling silver with gold trim. And,
while I remember let me mention just another
couple of other folkz I also saw at the farewell
do - Andy Simpson and Lynne Stackhouse.
***
Friends & Colleagues of Sir Paul Ennals.
***
Attending such an event gave me a rather unusual oppor-
tunity to see and meet some of the shakers and movers
behind a major UK national charity like NCB. It also
provided me with a rare insight into the "elite" structure
of those holding such power and such knighted titles.
Not every day does an outsider get the chance to view
the inside like I did. The Big Issue, by comparsion along
with its calculated secretive mechanism, looks very much
like a common Socialist Workers' Club that is of little
real value as a so-called "charity," compared to
NCB's fine pedigree and national standing with
its proven results. Bravo!
***
Interior View of the UK Department of Education.
***
My own impression and observation of Paul Ennals,
a father of two sons, was most favourable and his
persona was disarming and openly friendly toward
those he encounters here and there. His dedication to
improving the educational life of children is a lasting
mark of his NCB tenure that will go on for many more
years beyond his present retirement. He holds academic
degrees from Oxford and elsewhere. He is a man of
much accomplishment much like his own late father
Lord Ennals was. Although he has now stepped down
from his top role at NCB, Sir Paul told me he would
continue to do other work regarding the education of
children and then he will decide what else he may wish
to do beyond that at a later date of his full retirement.
I suspect he will be in demand on governmental and
charity boards for sure. While with praise they came,
I for one left the farewell do with even more praise
for the Ennals gentleman after seeing and hearing
what other good folkz had to say about him.
...
So after the kind speeches and friendly hugs and warm
handshakes and bubbly glasses of champagne, it was
surely very clear to the Rt. Hon. Sir Paul Martin Ennals,
CBE, the man himself, that it was with praise they came
to honour him without a doubt for his fine work and
good results at the National Children's Bureau that will
find it no easy task to replace such a good and
noteworthy man. And for once in a cynical while,
I was actually impressed by what I heard and saw!!
***
Truly, Uncle Monty.
+Fifth Sunday after Trinity, 2011.
...
Norway's Anders Behring Breivik.
After the Norwegian-style massacre, I have now
linked my own story of my Oslo visit there from
some 2½ years ago to share with my blog readers.
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Headline Photo is that of Baroness Virginia Bottomley
of Nettlestone and Dame Gillian Pugh, DBE.
Photo By Alex Albion.
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Feedback & Comments
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Having A Jolly Good Laugh! This, By The Way,
Is One of My Favourite Pictures of Her Majesty
& HRH Prince Charles of Wales.
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When Anglicanism Is Superb.
Image From The European Anglican - No. 50.
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Home From Home.
By Caughey Gauntlett.
A Look At Historic Homelessness.
Part 2 of 2.
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"Ugly multiculturalism and multiracialism is a socialist
virus and political menace that has now turned England
into a Third World pigsty of which the country will never
again fully recover from without stepping-up massive
opposition to all future immigration to the UK."
Alex Albion.
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