Louise Burfitt-Dons Explained

Louise Burfitt-Dons
Birth Name:Louise Olivian Byres
Birth Date:1953 10, df=yes
Birth Place:Magwa, Great Burgan, Kuwait
Nationality:British
Known For:Kindness Day UK, Act Against Bullying
Occupation:Public speaker; author
Children:Brooke, Arabella

Louise Burfitt-Dons, (née Byres; born 22 October 1953) is a British novelist, humanitarian, and former Conservative candidate.

Burfitt-Dons is also known for her anti-bullying work as the founder of the charity Act Against Bullying and co-founder of Kindness Day UK.

Early years and family

Louise Olivian Byres was born to Olive and Ian Byres in a small desert hospital at Magwa, in the Burgan district just south of Kuwait City. Her father worked for Kuwait Oil Company and her mother ran a kindergarten. She had an elder brother, Laurence. She attended the Anglo-American School in Kuwait, and later The Hertfordshire and Essex High School and the Ashford School for Girls in Kent. Burfitt-Dons' father died of cancer when she was 26. During his illness she obtained a liquor licence and took over the running of The White Horse in East Bergholt so she could care for him.

Burfitt-Dons has two daughters, Brooke Burfitt[1] [2] [3] and Arabella (born 1992),[4] by her pilot husband Donald Burfitt-Dons, a New Zealander whom she met and married in London in 1982 while he was on an overseas basing with Qantas. The couple lived in Australia between 1982 and 1993 where Louise worked as an actress and wrote plays for the Sydney stage. She co-starred in a dinner theatre show with Andrew Harwood in 1988. She lives in Chiswick, London.[5] [6]

Social commentary

Louise has appeared on Sky News, Good Morning America, Channel Four News, ITV News London, ITN, BBC Breakfast and Talk Radio Europe, BBC Surrey and BBC Sussex, BBC Oxford, LBC, PM, Talkradio The World Tonight. She has written on social affairs and political issues for a range of blogs including Conservative Home and Conservative Way Forward.[7] She is a regular news reviewer on the Ian Collins show Roundtable on LBC.

Boosting Britain

In 2012, after visiting a range of different businesses,[8] she set up an online initiative named 'Boosting Britain' to encourage and promote new ideas and companies which were helping Britain. It covered infrastructure, defence industry, education, as well as motivational factors.[9] [10] She has suggested more honorary titles for engineers would help to bolster their image and help with the skills shortage[10] As of 2017, the website was unregistered and not connecting.

Campaigning

Since setting up Act Against Bullying, Burfitt-Dons has been outspoken on the ill-effects of tribalism in society as a speaker and writer. She has advocated that tribalism is on the increase and has been taking effect in all forms of modern society leading to social unrest. Feeling the need to express what the public was confiding in her she designed a range of campaigns to promote human dignity and individuality in modern society.

She designed the "Cool to Be Kind" Campaign in 2000; two years later she founded the National Decency Campaign in 2002.[11] and, in 2006, the "Grade Not Degrade" campaign. The Scotsman quoted her as suggesting Celebrity Big Brother was legitimising the growing trend of bullying behaviour in classrooms around the country.[12] She spoke at the Conservative Women's Organisation Forum [13] at the House of Commons on cyber bullying claiming that today "children have to be as savvy as celebrities but without the pr support". In response to the growing trend of internet abuse she designed the CyberKind Campaign, which was launched on Remembrance Day (11 November) 2009.

Burfitt-Dons founded the UK Kindness Movement and co-founder of Kindness Day UK.[14] [15] She appeared on BBC Breakfast on the first Kindness Day UK on 13 November 2010 alongside Kathy Lette who claimed that English people were condescending and unfriendly.[16] In 2007 she began campaigning on global warming and has said that "climate change may be the ultimate issue that unites us all".

Awards

In 2006 she was nominated as an Angel Hero for The My Hero Project. In May 2009 she was invited to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in recognition of her work with children as well as to acknowledge her efforts as a campaigner and speaker on humanitarian and environmental issues.

Global warming

Burfitt-Dons co-founded the Global Warming Alliance which was set up in January 2006 to find solutions to the crisis. On 2 December 2008, she launched the Global Warming Hotspot [17] channel on YouTube. She spearheaded the international Hot Women Campaign,[18] which encouraged women to become more active in climate change issues and reduce carbon emissions and significantly raised awareness of the differences between male and female thinking on the issues.[19] The Scotsman quoted Burfitt-Dons' claims that "the relentless rise in CO2 emissions is incrementally raising planetary temperatures, increasing water vapour in the atmosphere with a commensurate rise in rainfall, and ever stronger wind patterns randomly occurring across the globe."[20]

Feminism

Burfitt-Dons got involved with women's issues because of her charity work as a motivational speaker and mentor. In October 2009 she was part of the freshers feminist debate at Cambridge University[21] [22] with Cosmopolitan Magazine editor Louise Court and Edwina Currie. Burfitt-Dons set up the Royal Society of Arts' Women's Speakers' Network whose mission is to "raise women's profile in society by greater involvement in public speaking". She chaired the launch event at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on 9 November 2010 in a public debate entitled "The Great Female Debate: Do Women Speak Too much or too little?"[23] She believes that some feminist groups have hijacked and radicalised the equality movement and has catalysed a debate around feminism calling on more gender realism via her blog The Common Sense Feminist.[24] [25] Her work on feminism includes the book Moderating Feminism:The Past the Now and What Comes Next (2016).

Politics

In September 2014, she was selected to fight the 2015 General Election for the Conservative Party in Nottingham North.[26] [27] [28] [29] She clashed with the incumbent MP Graham Allen over his criticism of small businesses in Nottingham North.[30] She has challenged Nottingham City Council over its Workplace Parking Levy policy as "short-term thinking" at its worst, and suggested that it was a political decision rather than an economic one.[31] Nottingham was the first City Council to introduce a Workplace Parking Levy in the UK.[32]

Novelist and screenwriter

Her book Our Man in Kuwait which features Ian Fleming is based on her early life experiences in Kuwait in 1960 leading up to Operation Vantage.[33]

Burfitt-Dons has written TV movies for Lifetime, including Maternal Secrets,[34] Kidnapped to the Island, The Ex Next Door, and Christmas at the Castle.

Publications, novels, and plays

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Impact of extra tropic cyclones in Europe on Insurance Industry - Transcript of keynote speech by Donald Burfitt-Dons. The Global Warming Alliance. https://web.archive.org/web/20110711101642/http://www.globalwarmingalliance.com/insurance_implications.htm. dead. 11 July 2011. 1 June 2010.
  2. Web site: Brooke appeals for residents' votes to help get her to semi final. ChiswickW4.com. 14 October 2009. 1 June 2010.
  3. Web site: About Brooke Burfitt-Dons. brookeburfitt.com. 19 April 2011.
  4. Web site: Arabella Burfitt-Dons - University of Nottingham - Civil Engineering. Autodesk. 19 April 2011.
  5. Web site: RAF Air Squadron Trophy Competition. News. The Lady Eleanor Holles School. https://web.archive.org/web/20150119173244/http://www.lehs.org.uk/srnews/RAF_Air_Squadron_Trophy_Competition.php. dead. 19 January 2015. 1 June 2010.
  6. Web site: About Brooke Burfitt-Dons. Bio. Brooke Burfitt-Dons. PDF. 1 June 2010.
  7. Web site: Louise Burfitt-Dons: Why it's time for a moderate form of feminism to assert itself. conwayfor.org. 17 June 2016. 11 April 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190411035141/https://www.conwayfor.org/louise_burfitt_dons_why_it_s_time_for_a_moderate_form_of_feminism_to_assert_itself. dead.
  8. Web site: Campaigner visits Dunmow business. https://web.archive.org/web/20140227224837/http://www.hertsandessexobserver.co.uk/Business/Business-News/Campaigner-visits-Dunmow-business-30082012.htm. dead. 27 February 2014. 30 August 2012. hertsandessexobserver.co.uk. 17 June 2016.
  9. Web site: Boosting Britain - new ideas and proposals for a resurgent Britain . 19 February 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140225174020/http://boostingbritain.org/index.htm . 25 February 2014 .
  10. Web site: Louise Burfitt-Dons: To boost Britain's quota of engineers, why not take a page from Germany's book? - Conservative Home. conservativehome.com. 10 February 2014 . 17 June 2016.
  11. Web site: Anti-Bullying Charity urges support for National Decency Campaign . 13 October 2007 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20061010140128/http://www.eparenting.co.uk/parenting/nationaldecencycampaign.shtml . 10 October 2006 .
  12. Web site: Hello . Violent soap operas and bullying behaviour on television shows harm children - The Scotsman . https://web.archive.org/web/20070209012759/http://news.scotsman.com/entertainment.cfm?id=116102007 . dead . 9 February 2007 . News.scotsman.com . 2007-01-23 . 2016-06-17 .
  13. Web site: CWO News :: CWO Forum - Cyber Bullying . Conservativewomen.org.uk . 2007-06-28 . 2016-06-17 . 8 April 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160408093902/http://www.conservativewomen.org.uk/article.asp?art_id=63 . dead .
  14. Web site: Kindness Day UK Launches 13 November. 12 November 2010. huffingtonpost.co.uk. 17 June 2016.
  15. Web site: Tens of Thousands take up Kindness Across the UK. responsesource.com. 17 June 2016. 2 January 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110102213041/http://www.responsesource.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=60351. dead.
  16. Web site: Kindness in the UK - YouTube . . 12 November 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131101222157/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70ymutgb1k0 . 1 November 2013 .
  17. Web site: Globalwarminghotspot : List of videos . . 2016-06-17.
  18. Web site: EcoEarth.Info Environment Links: Air/Climate/Policy Actors/Non-Governmental Organizations. 21 April 2012. bot: unknown. https://web.archive.org/web/20120421213159/http://www.ecoearth.info/links/Air/Climate/Policy_Actors/Non-Governmental_Organizations/welcome.asp. 21 April 2012. dmy-all.
  19. Web site: How the genders think about climate change: Women more likely than men to accept global warming - World leading higher education information and services . World.edu . 2010-09-26 . 2016-06-17.
  20. News: Craig Brown . Darling buds of May? April more like . . 2011-11-12 . 2016-06-17.
  21. http://cambridgetab.co.uk/featured/currie-tikkad-off-2
  22. Web site: Standing Up For Sisterhood | THE TAB - www.cambridgetab.co.uk - All the latest Cambridge University news online . 20 October 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091101003448/http://cambridgetab.co.uk/columnists/standing-up-for-sisterhood/ . 1 November 2009 .
  23. Web site: Do Women Speak Too Much Or Too Little? . https://archive.today/20131105231052/http://belsizeconservatives.yourcllr.com/2010/10/26/do-women-speak-too-much-or-too-little . dead . 2013-11-05 . Belsizeconservatives.yourcllr.com . 2010-10-26 . 2016-06-17.
  24. Web site: The Common Sense Feminist. wordpress.com. 17 June 2016.
  25. Web site: Louise Burfitt-Dons: The successes and failures of feminism - Conservative Home. conservativehome.com. 4 January 2014 . 17 June 2016.
  26. Web site: Louise Burfitt-Dons . 1 January 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150119183632/https://www.conservatives.com/OurTeam/Prospective_Parliamentary_Candidates/Burfitt-Dons.aspx . 19 January 2015 .
  27. Web site: Louise Burfitt-Dons: It's time for the Tories to target a new type of female voter . Conservativehome.blogs.com . 2013-05-30 . 2016-06-17.
  28. Web site: MP slams Govt fail on employment. hucknalldispatch.co.uk. 17 June 2016.
  29. Web site: Robinson. Dan. Nottingham MP calls for 'unfair' tax on sixth form colleges to be scrapped to help Bilborough youngsters . https://web.archive.org/web/20150221144018/http://www.nottinghampost.com/Nottingham-MP-calls-unfair-tax-sixth-form/story-26016610-detail/story.html. dead. 2015-02-21. Nottingham Post.
  30. Web site: Cunningham. Tim. Politicians Clash over Minimum Pay. Hucknall Today. 16 January 2015.
  31. Web site: Burfitt-Dons. Louise. Louise Burfitt-Dons: Is the WPL an economic or a political issue?. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402134421/http://www.nottinghampost.com/Louise-Burfitt-Dons-WPL-economic-political-issue/story-26122053-detail/story.html. dead. 2 April 2015. Nottingham Post. Nottingham Post Online. 6 March 2015.
  32. Web site: Burfitt-Dons. Louise. Online Voting Is Not Secure Enough. https://archive.today/20150428215207/http://www.nottinghampost.com/Louise-Burfitt-Dons-Online-voting-quick-easy/story-26290207-detail/story.html. dead. 28 April 2015. Nottingham Post. 15 April 2015.
  33. Web site: Historic spy novel highlights chilling parallels with Vladimir Putin's power grab . London Loves Business . 7 October 2022 . 28 November 2022.
  34. Web site: Hardy . Jessie . Familiar Faces in Lifetime Screening . RoyalGazette.com. 7 May 2020 .
  35. Book: Our Man In Kuwait . November 2022 . New Century . 9781916449183.
  36. Book: The Secret War . 12 July 2021 . New Century . 9781916449176 . 380.
  37. Book: Burfitt-Dons. Louise. The Killing of the Cherrywood MP. 23 February 2020. New Century Digibooks. 9781916449121.
  38. Book: Burfitt-Dons. Louise. The Missing Activist. 7 August 2018. New Century Digibooks. 9780953852291.
  39. Book: Burfitt-Dons. Louise. Moderating Feminism. 29 July 2016. New Century Digibooks. 9780953852277.
  40. Book: Burfitt-Dons, Louise. Act Against Bullying. 2002. New Century. 978-0953852253.
  41. Book: Byres, Louise. Painkillers. June 2001. New Century. 978-0953852239.
  42. Book: Byres, Louise. The Valentine Card. 2001. New Century. 978-0953852222.
  43. Book: Byres, Louise. The Counsellor. 2000. New Century. 9780953852215.
  44. Book: Byres, Louise. A Christmas Riddle. 2000. New Century. 978-0953852208.
  45. Book: Byres, Louise. How to Catch A Man. 1991. Ashley Books. 978-0879493479.

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