Vicki Barker
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
First, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds fired a salvo at a tradition long cherished by British gardeners.
It has urged them to put away their bird feeders between May and October to fight a deadly parasite which spreads wherever birds crowd together.
The bird feeders are a particular source of infection.
And now, another seasonal tradition violated.
The posh and venerable Chelsea Flower Show has relaxed its historic ban on garden gnomes.
After soccer star David Beckham personally decorated a gnome for the garden he designed with King Charles, the gnome will then be auctioned off for charity.
For NPR News, I'm Vicki Barker in London.
The program was started by a past conservative justice secretary who was eager to encourage abstinence over the methadone treatments he felt left drug-addicted prisoners virtual zombies.
Inmates pledged to give up drugs and to undergo frequent drug tests.
In return, they're moved to special drug-free wings where access to gardens, music lessons, and other perks are on offer.
The Ministry of Justice says re-offending rates are down by 44 percent and acts of violence and self-harm down 30 percent inside those prisons participating.
The program is now in place in 70 percent of English prisons.
For NPR News, I'm Vicki Barker in London.
First, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds fired a salvo at a tradition long cherished by British gardeners.
It has urged them to put away their bird feeders between May and October to fight a deadly parasite which spreads wherever birds crowd together.
The bird feeders are a particular source of infection.
And now, another seasonal tradition violated.
The posh and venerable Chelsea Flower Show has relaxed its historic ban on garden gnomes.