Olly Benson
@ollybenson.uk
NHS Englander. Ex VCSE and BBC.
Mainly interested in public participation and engagement, so stuff around people, volunteering, building communities, health, power, digital, media etc.
Husband | 🚸 Dad x2 | 💔 #ACHD
🌍 Warwickshire, UK
ollybenson.uk
Mainly interested in public participation and engagement, so stuff around people, volunteering, building communities, health, power, digital, media etc.
Husband | 🚸 Dad x2 | 💔 #ACHD
🌍 Warwickshire, UK
ollybenson.uk
And so to Leeds. (Albeit not on the Pullman, which was waiting on the next platform)
November 19, 2025 at 8:15 AM
And so to Leeds. (Albeit not on the Pullman, which was waiting on the next platform)
This Christmas I will be buying all my loved ones eco-friendly clothes pegs...
November 16, 2025 at 3:22 PM
This Christmas I will be buying all my loved ones eco-friendly clothes pegs...
This is probably the least scandalous scandal since Blue Peter misnamed their cat...
November 4, 2025 at 8:21 PM
This is probably the least scandalous scandal since Blue Peter misnamed their cat...
Brilliant article. I was going to leave a comment, but then I saw the number and just couldn't bring myself to ruin it...
October 26, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Brilliant article. I was going to leave a comment, but then I saw the number and just couldn't bring myself to ruin it...
Crowds waiting for Sam Heughan after the production.
October 25, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Crowds waiting for Sam Heughan after the production.
Can we get Neil Pearson and Siobhan Redmond back to sort it all out...
September 26, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Can we get Neil Pearson and Siobhan Redmond back to sort it all out...
As modern art galleries go, the Baltic is up there on my list of favourites.
(And not just because I get to do the Dad joke about it not just being a bit cold, etc)
(And not just because I get to do the Dad joke about it not just being a bit cold, etc)
September 21, 2025 at 10:46 AM
As modern art galleries go, the Baltic is up there on my list of favourites.
(And not just because I get to do the Dad joke about it not just being a bit cold, etc)
(And not just because I get to do the Dad joke about it not just being a bit cold, etc)
I learned this from Meg and Mog...
September 14, 2025 at 8:25 PM
I learned this from Meg and Mog...
But sometimes it could be...
September 12, 2025 at 4:51 PM
But sometimes it could be...
Today has not been helped by getting this error message all day once I log in, making app/service unusable.
(And yes I have cleared cache / data / reinstalled and logged in successfully with same credentials on the website, but you need the app to actually hire a bike).
@london.gov.uk
(And yes I have cleared cache / data / reinstalled and logged in successfully with same credentials on the website, but you need the app to actually hire a bike).
@london.gov.uk
September 8, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Today has not been helped by getting this error message all day once I log in, making app/service unusable.
(And yes I have cleared cache / data / reinstalled and logged in successfully with same credentials on the website, but you need the app to actually hire a bike).
@london.gov.uk
(And yes I have cleared cache / data / reinstalled and logged in successfully with same credentials on the website, but you need the app to actually hire a bike).
@london.gov.uk
They've actually put pretend controls at the front of the trains now. We were on it a couple of weeks ago...
September 4, 2025 at 5:04 PM
They've actually put pretend controls at the front of the trains now. We were on it a couple of weeks ago...
Married 12 years ago today.
Gave my wife a small token to remember how it all began. Thanks to @samuelbailey.bsky.social for gifting us this little memento of some fun nights in the cellar of a pub just off Euston Road.
Gave my wife a small token to remember how it all began. Thanks to @samuelbailey.bsky.social for gifting us this little memento of some fun nights in the cellar of a pub just off Euston Road.
August 23, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Married 12 years ago today.
Gave my wife a small token to remember how it all began. Thanks to @samuelbailey.bsky.social for gifting us this little memento of some fun nights in the cellar of a pub just off Euston Road.
Gave my wife a small token to remember how it all began. Thanks to @samuelbailey.bsky.social for gifting us this little memento of some fun nights in the cellar of a pub just off Euston Road.
So glad they went to the bother of specifying separate Winter and Summer opening times.
(Also, while we're at it, what's with the vague upper age limit?)
(Also, while we're at it, what's with the vague upper age limit?)
August 11, 2025 at 9:08 PM
So glad they went to the bother of specifying separate Winter and Summer opening times.
(Also, while we're at it, what's with the vague upper age limit?)
(Also, while we're at it, what's with the vague upper age limit?)
Lovely week spent staying in a cottage at @nationaltrust.org.uk's Florence Court in County Fermanagh. Best bit was at 6pm each evening, when the site closed to the public, and we had the run of it to ourselves.
Definitely one we'd go back to.
Definitely one we'd go back to.
August 9, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Lovely week spent staying in a cottage at @nationaltrust.org.uk's Florence Court in County Fermanagh. Best bit was at 6pm each evening, when the site closed to the public, and we had the run of it to ourselves.
Definitely one we'd go back to.
Definitely one we'd go back to.
7yo daughter has left signs saying Father Forgive (or Father Fogive) around the house.
I'd be more worried if she hadn't been on a school trip to Coventry Cathedral yesterday.
I'd be more worried if she hadn't been on a school trip to Coventry Cathedral yesterday.
July 11, 2025 at 7:14 AM
7yo daughter has left signs saying Father Forgive (or Father Fogive) around the house.
I'd be more worried if she hadn't been on a school trip to Coventry Cathedral yesterday.
I'd be more worried if she hadn't been on a school trip to Coventry Cathedral yesterday.
We all know which penguin it was though...
July 9, 2025 at 2:44 PM
We all know which penguin it was though...
This is quite cool. How big is the #Glastonbury site? This is it compared to Coventry city centre where it dwarfs the ringroad boundary. Try your town or city here: gsp8181.co.uk/glasto/?loca...
June 27, 2025 at 2:59 PM
This is quite cool. How big is the #Glastonbury site? This is it compared to Coventry city centre where it dwarfs the ringroad boundary. Try your town or city here: gsp8181.co.uk/glasto/?loca...
A fine candidate for Betteridge's law.
June 21, 2025 at 11:10 AM
A fine candidate for Betteridge's law.
Gotta admit, the Kelly Cates photos in the Style section of the Sunday Times look more like some her mum still has from that time when a colleague brought a camera into the bar she was working in whilst at uni. And not really like an actual fashion shoot. Perhaps that's what they wanted.
June 15, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Gotta admit, the Kelly Cates photos in the Style section of the Sunday Times look more like some her mum still has from that time when a colleague brought a camera into the bar she was working in whilst at uni. And not really like an actual fashion shoot. Perhaps that's what they wanted.
"And 200 years later people are still creating Apple Stores for decoration rather than having any practical benefit.."
June 15, 2025 at 7:44 PM
"And 200 years later people are still creating Apple Stores for decoration rather than having any practical benefit.."
Just checked on Google Maps (haven't driven along it for a few years so couldn't remember). Yes, but not exactly prominent or necessarily clear what it means.
June 15, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Just checked on Google Maps (haven't driven along it for a few years so couldn't remember). Yes, but not exactly prominent or necessarily clear what it means.