The Activist Academy is a new programme from the TUC and unionlearn aimed at union reps and activists. By linking training to activity and action, the Activist Academy will help reps develop their skills and provide additional support and resources so that they can build a stronger union in their branch or workplace.

The course provides specialist training in organising and campaigning for those interested in running community events and communicating important messages through media. It is a gateway of knowledge and support for activists of any kind.

To Learn more Download the Activist Academy Leaflet

Food Network’s Robert Irvine is ready for any challenge!

On the hit TV series Dinner Impossible, Robert is challenged to overcome culinary obstacles and deliver a delicious meal before his time runs out. Armed with chefs skills and a military mind this creative cook devours dish dilemmas with ease. Robert proves there is always a way to make dinner possible and this month we want to challenge you to utilize his creative cooking tactics to your advantage.

Mission: To turn cooking into an adventure and discover a new passion and excitement for food.

The Brief: Choose a different challenge each night that tests both skill and creativity to broaden your knowledge of food and put the excitement back  into eating!

Resources: To follow are a few ideas to get you started and from there you can choose more elaborate and adventurous challenges from Robert’s hit TV series Dinner Impossible (series one now available on DVD) or pickup a copy of his new book Mission Cook.

Top Secrets Revealed: Want to know how to make any Dinner Possible? Then don’t miss our exclusive interview with Chef Robert in the Sept/Oct 2009 Issue of Bare Essentials Magazine.

Cooking Without Challenge- Forego the utensils and conventional cooking appliances as you figure out a way to make dinner possible without modern technology.  Try googling tribal cooking methods or hit the library and scan the cultural section for some ideas.

Dinner Deadline Challenge- Professional Chef’s in a 5 Star restaurant must find a way to plate up on time or hungry patrons will be demanding their money back.  Now is your chance to see if you can maintain skill and speed to serve dinner on time.  For a truly ambitious cook a countdown of 20 minutes ( as on the TV series Ready Steady Cook) will offer the ultimate challenge!

Come Dine with Me Challenge- Hosting a dinner party requires a cook to be skilled in menu design, presentation, taste and timing.  Are you ready to have your food judged?

Taste Tradition Challenge- Whether you choose a recipe from Grandmas Cookbook or lookup a heritage dish from another culture the challenge is to embrace new flavors, learn different techniques and discover a new taste for tradition.

Robert Irvine has led a one–of–a–kind life. He joined the merchant marine as a teenager, and would go on to become a cook in the Royal Navy where he happened to befriend a man named Prince Charles.

Since then, Chef Robert has gone on to cook for presidents, prime ministers, royalty and celebrities. It’s been a remarkable life and career, ranging from cooking on the beaches of Yemen for thousands of refugees to making a seven–course meal for First Lady Laura Bush and her friends on an aircraft carrier.

Trained by the best European chefs, Robert shares his cooking philosophy, his best recipes and tips on how to add that special twist to any dish in this cookbook for action addicts- Mission: Cook! (Harper Collins, 2007).

Whoever you are, whatever your schedule, reducing the time you spend in a supermarket is always an advantage!

Use this guide to avoid the distractions that keep you from motoring through that shopping list in record time.

Speed Shopping 101: your guide to fast getaway’s at the grocery store….

Clone Packaging- beware sneaky imitators who hope you mistake their brand and buy.

Tags- eye candy to a savvy shopper but make sure its a sale tag and not an everyday low price tag!

Use By- this is not the perishable date but a best before indicator.

Tricky Ticks- a Heart Foundation approved item will bare a tick to help health conscious consumers make good choices but others have found a tick to be a great marketing trick so it’s best to be on your ‘game’.

Mood Lighting- fruit and veg look best under daylight, meat and fish under white lights and shelf items will always be illuminated with yellow lights as this has been shown to relax shoppers, spending longer loading up.

Music- supermarkets report better produce turnover with slow tempo music so take your ipod and hit the heavy metal track!

Eye Level Brands- scan right to left, up and down to save money.

Big Packaging- studies show people pour more from a bigger box making the economy buy irrelevant.

Fat Facts- Low Fat refers to products that have less than 3% fat but may still be high in sugar content, 25% less fat means the product has a reduced fat content but the regular product may still be high in fat and Lite is the least descriptive since it could be referring to a products color or taste with no reference to fat content.

Tricky Grouping- this goes with that! Hardly, be on guard for grouped items you will often find this marketing tactic being used in conjunction with sale items.

No Kids Allowed- we all no the rule don’t shop when you are hungry but another corruptive force is the pint sized protestors who will pester a parent until they get what they want.

Corner Store- good option to big chain groceries as they are smaller to navigate have less shelf matter more fresh and no big trolleys only baskets or green bags preventing unnecessary spending!

After Hours- if you can make time late at night or in the early morning to sneak to the supermarket, you will find empty isles much like the lanes in an autobarn making it easy to ‘rev up’ your trolley and go!