When one made a mistake, one must own up to it. As William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester's motto goes: "manners maketh man"
Just the other day I wrote on my blog about being followed by a security person into the loo at Clacton Pier. A representative from Clacton Pier stumbled on my blog and sent me a message on my website, asking me to rectify my blog headline , as the toilet in question is not in their premise. It actually belonged to Clacton Pavilion, a different entity than Clacton Pier. The representative also took the time to explain why Revd Shaun and I were stopped by the security at Clacton Pier due to concerns with our "specialised camera" , which you can read below.
With this, I humbly acknowledged my mistake and have amended my blog title and remove the word "Clacton Pier". I have replaced it with the word "Clacton-on-Sea" instead. Revd. Shaun Sanders would also like to extend his apology to Clacton Pier for taking photos of his church congregation there without prior permission from Clacton Pier management. In his defence, he has been a minister for over 25 years and had been to many church outings with his congregation, taken many photos of them many times without any issues . Until of course now, when we visited Clacton Pier. We did not realise things are done rather differently over there. We apologise for our ignorance.
But it also serves as a good reminder not just for photographers but for groups - churches, schools, universities, charities, clubs, or any organisation really that are planning an outing to Clacton-on-Sea, to be careful with photographing your day out there. I believe it is fair to say from the message above, they may consider it for commercial use, thus may confiscate your photographs. This is stated in article 12, page 5 of their 2023 Entry Terms and Conditions. This is why I did not post any photos of Clacton-on-Sea on my blog the other day. My advice is, make sure you ask Clacton Pier management's permission first, as reminded by the representative in the message they sent me.
May I also mention my appreciation to Clacton Pier for its commitment in campaigning for the best interests of children, and proactively seeks to safeguard them. If I may suggest, there is a way Clacton Pier can really make a difference in this regard. It involves body image and body positivity of children and young people.
Recent research by the Be Real campaign (https://www.berealcampaign.co.uk/research/in-your-face-a-report-investigating-young-peoples-experiences-of-appearance-based-bullying) found that:
More than half of young people (53%) who had experienced appearance-based bullying said they became anxious and a quarter (29%) said they became depressed as a result.
Three fifths of young people (60%) took action to change their appearance as a result of the bullying they received.
The most prominent focus being to change their size and body shape, with almost a quarter (24%) of young people dieting and nearly a fifth (19%) doing more exercise.
To begin with, Clacton Pier can perhaps remove the large mural showing young girls in suggestive poses and skimpy clothing. I mean the gigantic one near the rollercoaster where two people were injured in an accident a couple of months ago. I did find it rather inappropriate for a supposedly family -friendly place to be displaying these images. To go even further, Clacton Pier can perhaps even help sponsor campaigns by charities, such as the Be Real Campaign. It does not have to be this particular charity. There are many other charities that helps support children and young people with body image issues. Amongst others are:
I'm sure they will be delighted to receive some support from Clacton Pier. Let me know if you do reach out to any of them, I will be more than happy to write about it on my blog.