Chris Birks

Students to transform Oxford Parkway with funding from Chiltern Railways | RailBusinessDaily Chiltern Railways is funding a project that will see students transform Oxford Parkway station's green space with benches and fruit trees. The operator Chiltern Railways is funding a project that will...

Great to see young people helping to transform the green space at Oxford Parkway railway station🚆💚

Building skills, confidence and a greener station for everyone. A brilliant example of community rail in action.

Welcome to a new game of #guessthestation 🚆

Let’s start with an easy one!

Leaving isn’t easy. But the new opportunity and the team that I’ve got waiting for me makes it easier. More on that next week. For now, I’m focused on finishing at UNISON well, even if I’d rather avoid the goodbye part.

In every role I’ve had, my aim has been to leave the organisation in a slightly better place than I found it. I hope I’ve done that.

When I joined in 2021, I didn’t know how much I’d grow, the incredible opportunities that would come my way, or the brilliant public servants I’d work alongside. It has been a genuine privilege to help tell their stories.

If I had my way, I’d slip out quietly at the end of the week and hope nobody noticed. But after four years at @unisonem.bsky.social, that wouldn’t feel right. So, here goes: I’m off.

In a job where you see plenty of bad bosses, it’s important to name the brilliant ones. Chris has backed me through thick and thin, pushing me further than I ever thought possible.

A great mentor and friend, this move is so deserved 👏🏻

🌊 Waving goodbye to 2025 from the seaside

Wishing you a happy new year from me and mine, to you and yours. May you be blessed with joy and peace.

Hundreds of youth centres planned to reach 'isolated' generation The government sets aside £500m it says is needed to revive services aimed at disconnected teens and young adults.

For years, young people have been the first to be blamed for anti-social behaviour and the last to be given any support.

This announcement is great news, but for the hundreds of boarded-up youth clubs all over the country, covered in graffiti, this must be only the beginning.

Happy #NottinghamshireDay from a sun-drenched Newark 🏰🌳

A real red-letter day at work, today. Over 900 healthcare workers went on strike for 28 days and won! A pay rise and back pay of up to £2500. Huge congratulations to those workers who braved the picket line and my colleagues who struck the deal 🙌🏻

☀️ 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗻𝘆 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵

Next week, I'm leading 52 teenagers at a Christian summer school. More signups than ever before. They're searching for something bigger than themselves, something that can provide stability in an unstable world.

📍Costa del Cleethorpes

Boys need better role models says Brighton & Hove Albion CEO A new taskforce to help young men is led by Brighton & Hove Albion FC chief executive Paul Barber.

The Lost Boys Taskforce is urgently needed. Too many young men feel isolated, angry and unheard.

But tackling this crisis means more than mentors. Let’s reopen youth centres, get more men into primary teaching and recognise the role women can play too.

The centre where I started my youth work career is now a long-forgotten prefab building covered in graffiti. The young people who valued a safe space to be themselves and ask difficult questions were turfed back onto the streets. Future generations deserve better.

That’s #undc2025 wrapped for me. My first @unison.org.uk conference and hopefully not my last. Getting to speak with so many dedicated members and spend time with colleagues who only usually exist on Teams, has been great. Also, Liverpool is still properly ace.

Votes cast = 2 ✅✅
Dogs seen = 0 🦮❌
#dogsatpollingstations

There’s a lovely episode where she goes back to Tobermory and can’t walk down the street without being stopped every 100 yards.

a stained glass window with the words hen 's risen above it ALT: a stained glass window with the words hen 's risen above it

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!” (Luke 24:5-6) ✝️

Easter is a reminder that love wins, hope lives, and new life is always possible.
Wishing you a joyful, hope-filled Easter!

🌳 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗪𝗼𝗼𝗱
A trek up to the highest point in Nottinghamshire on a gloriously sunny day. A beautiful spot with some great history too.

I wish BBC local editors felt the same. My last radio boss asked me to ditch a story I’d been working on and vox people about Daniel Craig’s pink tuxedo jacket. That wasn’t even the worst one. I resigned a few weeks later 😂

Eurovision has gone down hill

☀️ Lunch break with views for days

Putting this together is both a challenge and a privilege. I never get tired of telling the stories of our incredible activists and how they’re positively changing the lives of working people.

𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 🔔
A leg-stretch around @southwellminster.bsky.social, along Potwell Dyke, and through the park. May have also stopped at the sweet shop too!

𝗪𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘆 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗯𝘆 🌊

We’re on our annual half-term pilgrimage to North Yorkshire. Today, it was all about Whitby 🧛🏻

✅ 199 steps climbed
✅ Body weight in 2p coins spent
✅ Fish and chips for tea

…and with that, the 2024 season comes to an end. My time with Mayor Claire is up. My political bucket list has been well-ticked.

This role has pushed me beyond what I thought I was capable of whilst working alongside passionate and dedicated public servants. It’s been an absolute privilege ❤️

The warm glow of your sympathy thawed me right out 😂