iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 29/09/2026

Like the buses, you wait around for ages and then two turn up simultaneously. In this case, conferences. Both over the next two days at opposite ends of London. So, whistlestop visit to HETT at Excel, before going to the NAVSM event at Chelsea FC. See you there, possibly?

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 27/09/2026

Don't really know much about Olivia Rodriguez, although I really loved her duets with Robert Smith at Glasto. However, this Song Exploder podcast about her song The Cure is really interesting. The obvious connection between these two facts is unintentional.

play.prx.org

Song Exploder

Olivia Rodrigo is a Grammy-winning singer and songwriter. In June 2026, she released her third album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love. The day it came out, it broke streaming records on Spot...

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 26/09/2026

Only three people on a double decker rail replacement bus. Got to the station and they had held the connecting train for us. #nirailways

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 26/09/2026

This R4 programme on kinship carers has sat in my downloads for a few months. Finally listened to it last night. Powerful stories about kinship care and how hidden it is in society, despite over 140,000 kids being cared by other family members.

bbc.co.uk

Illuminated - My Sister’s Daughter - BBC Sounds

Love by other means. A kinship care story.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 21/09/2026

Such joy. Headed back to the office as have been evacuated off the trains and platforms. #ukrail #bhm #birmingham #newstreet

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 19/09/2026

I mean it's definitely better than it was*, but I think "award winning" probably says more about the low barriers needed to win than it being a destination that you really should visit.

bbc.co.uk

Award-winning Coventry railway station leaves users divided

Coventry station has won a top award, but passengers remain divided on whether it deserves it.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 19/09/2026

Interflora sending me a survey to rate the quality of their flowers somewhat misses their whole business model, which is that I pay for flowers that are delivered elsewhere!

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 17/09/2026

I know "worth the licence fee alone" is a bit of a cliché, but I think this definitely qualifies. It's utterly nuts. And brilliant. Because why wouldn't you get the band of the Royal Marines to perform Insomnia and other Ibiza classics? Plus some audience members clearly booked the wrong tickets.

youtube.com

Ibiza Prom Classics | Royal Albert Hall | The Bands of HM Royal Marines

YouTube video by The Bands of HM Royal Marines

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 15/09/2026

Enjoyed this great series on the Hitler Diaries Scandal presented by @andrewhunterm.bsky.social and produced by my old colleague Ruth

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 15/09/2026

Good afternoon spent with @clentonf.bsky.social encouraging us all to create good trouble.

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Reposted by Olly Benson

Hassinator @hassinator.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

a great letter in the times today. perhaps worth sharing in these troubled times. #RNLI #heroes

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 12/09/2026

Not really into Last Night of the Proms but tune in at the end to check whether they are still using our friend Paul's arrangement of Auld Lang Syne. Glad to report that they are.

Photo of TV showing wide scene of inside Royal Albert Hall with crowd and orchestra. Overlaid text says Auld Lang Syne TRAD arr. PAUL CAMPBELL.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 09/09/2026

The NHS App / PKB integration is not really working. I've got appointments and docs in PKB that aren't showing in the app, but others that are. So have to log into PKB to check regardless.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 07/09/2026

Just finished watching this. Think this review is fair, it is fascinating for the MTV footage and some of the police procedural moments, but ultimately this is an unsatisfactory documentary because it doesn't really tell us anything new. Lyra McKee still deserves justice.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 07/09/2026

Good interview with James Nesbitt on his involvement with WAVE, a charity working to deal with the ongoing trauma of the Northern Ireland Troubles. But it is accompanied by a photo shoot that looks like it was intended for the fashion pages. It's rather odd.

thetimes.com

James Nesbitt: ‘I get emotional when I talk about the Troubles’

The Northern Irish actor has been a TV star for decades — but now it’s his work with the families bereaved by sectarian violence that really drives him

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 04/09/2026

Putting this here, so when the thing I think is going to happen, happens, then I can point to this and say I realised it was going to happen back then.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 03/09/2026

Was there. Participated in the booing.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 02/09/2026

Come for Mark's interview, stay for the epic image captions. Eg "The wall art provides some acoustic dampening. The fridge provides milk for cups of tea."

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 02/09/2026

They now need to do one that shows which days need PE kit.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 02/09/2026

Early-doors train into London, a hire-bike across the capital to Barts and now I'm sitting in the cardiac clinic waiting for my 9am appointment.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 01/09/2026

This is so sad. Reach is a wonderful charity and desperately needed in the sector.

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Reposted by Olly Benson

Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 26/08/2026

Drive an electric vehicle? The EV Association is running its annual driver survey and looking to hear what the barriers and priorities are for EV drivers (or those looking to get one) to inform their policy work: www.surveymonkey.com/r/HV3TCS5

surveymonkey.com

STEER THE CONVERSATION

Drive an EV? Thinking about it? We want to hear from you

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 25/08/2026

This is super interesting from @mattdeegan.com. Not sure I'd split national/int news and regional news into separate orgs; the knowledge/reputation etc of one feeds the other.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 23/08/2026

Another year chalked up. In sickness and in health and all that...

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 15/08/2026

Completely missed that Coventry's Mile Lane is being dug up for a new test tram line. Occasionally walk across it and assumed it was for utilities and the rail contractors I spotted were there as crosses over a mainline railway. It's only now the tracks are down I've realised what the work is for.

bbc.co.uk

Coventry tram network has new route confirmed

New track is set to be installed with plans for a fully operational commercial route by 2027.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 14/08/2026

Not the evening I was planning ... #achd

Shows hospital wristband on my wrist with my name and gender on it.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 13/08/2026

Tickets to the NAVSM conference on 29-30 September in London are now available to non-members. If you work in NHS Voluntary Services you can request tickets by emailing treasurer@navsm.co.uk Please get your requests in as soon as possible. #nhsvolunteering

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 11/08/2026

This is great from Jeni Tennison about the need for a public participation approach to consultation. I'd add the engagement should be ongoing rather than episodic (although can be dialled up and down), and two-way: not just what gov wants to learn but space for communities to bring their own ideas.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 09/08/2026

I really don't like that I am flying between NI and GB, but there is no realistic alternative. The upside is that this is my view at 4pm the day before I'm back at work.

Image of large beach and sea with green grasses in foreground. The sky is blue with clouds.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 03/08/2026

Stuff like this is exactly why public services get such a bad rep. Southwark Council is literally paying someone to watch an overflowing bin and fine anyone who tries to deposit their rubbish there, rather than pay someone to empty the bin.

theguardian.com

I was fined £500 after putting a coffee cup in a rubbish bag next to a full bin

Reader expresses consternation after enforcement officer issues penalty notice outside station in London

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 29/07/2026

That thing where it's difficult to work out where Scotland ends and Northern Ireland begins.

View looking over the Firth of Clyde from Culzean Castle. In the foreground are trees, bushes and grass; and a row of small cannons. Beyond is the sea with the sub setting on the horizon. Zoom in and your can see land on the horizons; namely (from r-l) Arran, Mull of Kintyre and the Antrim coast in the far distance.

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