As it was announced that PUDSEY the dancing dog had beaten two amazing teenage opera singers to win Britain's Got Talent this week I must admit to bemoaning a country where a dog trained to walk on its hind legs is seemingly regarded as more of a talent than a rousing rendition of 'The Prayer' . So what is the difference between 'talent' and 'skills' and how do they relate, especially in the context of what we are trying to achieve in South Essex through the Skills Academy?

Had a creative coffee last week at the Thameside Theatre with Neresa Maye - a local singer from Grays.  Neresa regularly tours the world and sings in various capacities as a solo artist and with the famous London Gospel Choir. I was introduced to her by Adetokunbo "T" Oyelola who manages double MOBO award winner Yolanda Brown - another local musician whom I met with recently. But are we recognising and supporting our local artists?

"It's in Purfleet, in the county of Essex. On a by-road. It's an ancient structure surrounded by a high wall of heavy stones. The estate is called Carfax."

It's National Apprenticeship Week, and our A Team network of local apprentices have been out and about promoting Apprenticeships as a cost-effective way to meet the skills gaps of industry. It was a cold and frosty Tuesday morning when local companies gathered at the Park Inn, Thurrock this week to gain an insight into the Apprenticeship programme and to appreciate how it can benefit their companies. A text message comes in..'Am at Grays Station. Have you got Will's number? ' Maybe I shouldn't have left it to the apprentices to sort out their own travel arrangements!

A quick search on our website (www.nsa-ccskills.co.uk) will show you the great progress being made on our new Backstage training centre. However to the unenlightened it may look little more than a large grey rectangle box at the moment , so we've been working with local people in Thurrock to get their thoughts on what might be going on inside once the building is open.

In 1972 a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune... However - if it's not heroes for hire, working as good-guy vigilantes around the US or the world that you're after perhaps we can interest you in our own Apprentices A Team!

Whether you plan to quit smoking, eat healthier, lose weight, or like me just simply keen to get going again on the next exciting part of the Moving East journey — the trick to resolutions, they say, is making a list, and checking it twice. So here's the Moving East Guide to making successful New Year Resolutions.

Start by writing down your goals for the year ahead - whether it's on a post-it note, making an electronic note on your mobile phone or an entry in that moleskin journal you got for Christmas, writing things down is one of the best ways to begin to get on down the road to improvement.

As this time of year we seem to be more aware of the image. Be it a photographic image or some artwork on a Christmas card that we send or receive. There have been quite a few images taken around our Moving East activities recently, and I got to thinking of the line said by Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), the material-free jet-setter in the movie Up in the Air: “Photo albums are for people without memories”. So what are we trying to do when we take a photo or draw a picture?

It’s Chriiiiiiist-maaaaaaaaaaas! Well it's starting to feel like it anyway. We may not have the snow yet,  but Lakeside Shopping Centre is heaving whilst Chocolate Snowman and Santas are battling it out to be fastest off the shelves of shops throughout Thurrock and beyond. Not to be left out we're working with High House Production Park - the site of our National Backstage Training Centre in hosting the site's first Christmas Festival.  

That was what I was asked recently when I reported about the Carol Parade and Concert that we are co-producing on Saturday December 10th at High House Production Park in Purfleet.

Hmmm...good question.  Our friends at the on-line newspaper Your Thurrock have asked to be kept informed, and hopefully they will cover the event (6pm - 7:30pm) which includes local brass bands and the Thurrock youth orchestra. Then a link to a You Tube clip popped into my inbox, and I got to wondering what films can you find on You Tube about Purfleet?