XUNICEF News and Views

David takes us on a privileged London tour through his beautifully framed pictures. First, we go to Palm House, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Built between 1844 and 1848, the Palm House provides a hot and humid environment - an indoor rainforest that houses tropical plants from some of the most threatened environments in the world. You can climb up to a balcony that runs round under the roof, from where this picture was taken.   On the way to the Great Pagoda in Kew Gardens, we admire a cherry blossoming to then reach the Great Pagoda, that was completed in 1762 as a gift for Princess Augusta, the founder of the Gardens. It was one of several Chinese buildings designed for Kew by Sir William Chambers, who had spent time travelling and studying the architecture of East Asia. It offered one of the earliest and finest bird’s eye views of London. Part of the Barbican Estate, a residential complex of around 2,000 flats, maisonettes, and houses in the City of London. It is in an area once ...

David Bull takes us on a stunning photo tour of a region  he likes and where he goes often, Wales and Borders.  Let us follow him and his words ...  We start with a Black Mountain View. The peak to the right is Pen Y Fan, the highest point in the southern United Kingdom at 886 metres (2,907 ft). The range in the foreground is part of the Black Mountains. These are both part of the Brecon Beacons National Park, see map. Sunset reflections on wet sand in Dunraven Bay, where I went as part of a group course on long exposure photography – this image is a 221 second exposure. Llyn Clywedog – a lake in mid Wales. It is actually a reservoir built in 1967 on the upper waters of the River Severn (Britain’s longest river) to control flooding and provide drinking water for the cities of the West Midlands. The Black Mountains in autumn. Despite their name they frequently turn white with snow. The valley in between is that of the River Wye, often rightly considered one of the most bea...

Each week we present the works of one of the XUNICEF photographers or artists represented in our galleries.  Below is a slideshow of David's photo album in our gallery. It includes his photo series on Iceland and on the England / Wales border. Click on the image to start the slideshow. Be patient - each slide takes about 10 seconds to load. The first slide may take longer. Be sure to visit  our Instagram page  and  our photographers' galleries .

The UK NatCom has requested our help in promoting their campaign on the impact of the lockdown on children. This is an example of the kind of thing we can all get involved in.   Here is my letter to the volunteers. David Hi everyone, Thank you again for joining me in offering support to the national committee here in the UK. I have been in touch with the new ED, Sacha Deshmukh and he has asked for our help with their advocacy campaign for Children in Lockdown.  You can find the information about the campaign here: https://www.unicef.org.uk/coronavirus-children-in-lockdown/ . I am attaching the report that Unicef UK has produced highlighting the impacts on children in the UK. The campaign website asks supporters to sign a petition in support of young people's request for a voice at a time when their lives are being so greatly affected. Please sign at https://act.unicef.org.uk/page/59179/petition/1?ea.tracking.id=web-lp and share across your networks to encourage as many p...