Updated 9:53pm 8 November 2009:

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Diane Parkes

Diane Parkes

Marc’s recipe for slimmer living

BEING a chef can make cutting the calories difficult but when Marc Pearmain tipped the scales at more than 20 stone he knew he had to learn to resist temptation.Read

Overcoming a food nightmare

WHEN Chloe Howard is invited to a party, goes out for a meal or is simply offered a piece of birthday cake she has to think twice about what she is eating as the 11-year-old has coeliac disease.Read

Planting the seed for exam success

PREPARING for SATs exams may put schools under pressure but one class from Great Barr ensured it found a fun way to do its revision.Read

Music man's Birmingham date with Suzanne Vega

WHEN Stourbridge musician Eddy Morton wrote the song City of Angels in the early nineties he had no idea that nearly 20 years later it would lead to him performing with Suzanne Vega.Read

Birmingham Hippodrome getting ready for hip hop festival

TWO years ago Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre stuck its neck out with a hip hop dance and music festival.Read

Now Alice can tell of abuse torment

ALICE Jamieson* appeared to have the perfect family. A glamorous mother, a studious brother, a successful solicitor father and a four-bedroom house in a posh part of Birmingham.Read

Blind can learn from bats, expert tells Birmingham students

IT is well known that bats and dolphins use sonar for navigation – but this method of using sound to identify objects is also the latest area for research and teaching for people who are blind and partially sighted.Read

Selly Oak teacher tells of moment he knew he had to get in trim

WHEN primary school teacher Doug Morgan saw his weight disappear off the scales he knew it was time to deal with his waistline.Read

Review: As You Like It, courtyard Theatre

THIS wry look at Shakespeare’s comedy of cross-dressing youngsters and mistaken identities has plenty to recommend it.Read

Simple steps to a new you

MODEL and fitness enthusiast Nell McAndrew is fronting a new campaign to get us out walking. And with spring firmly in the air, she says now is the perfect time to get out and about.Read

Birmingham aid worker discovers value of education in South America

SEX education in British schools has long been a cause for discussion but when Birmingham-based volunteer development officer Anna Burden visited South America she discovered it is a message being hammered home to pupils.Read

You don't have to put up with pregnancy pains, mums-to-be told

MUM Liza Wilson was about 20 weeks into her pregnancy when she developed pain in her pelvis and lower back – but rather than live with it she decided to seek help.Read

Birmingham's Thomas Martin enjoying a world of dance

WHEN Thomas Martin’s mum began taking him to dancing classes as a youngster, he was initially less than keen - so much so that he actually gave it up.Read

Strictly Come Dancing stars to give Brum a dose of Latin Fever

STRICTLY Come Dancing favourites Lilia Kopylova and Darren Bennett will be turning up the heat this summer at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall with their Latin Fever show.Read

Birmingham Royal Ballet celebrates 20 years in the second city

BIRMINGHAM Royal Ballet celebrates the 20th anniversary of its move to Birmingham with a series of special performances.Read

Just the ticket for kids to cook

SHANE Higgs is a dab hand in the kitchen. The 15-year-old can rustle up a mean curry, a colourful stir fry or a choice of soups.Read

Dickens Heath teenager's weight-loss battle featured on TV

THE words kept ringing round teenager Holly Young’s mind her mum, who was seriously ill in hospital, would have died had she been overweight.Read

Cook bus visits Bartley Green School

SHANE Higgs is a dab hand in the kitchen. The 15-year-old can rustle up a mean curry, a colourful stir fry or a choice of soups.Read

Brummie Ged hits the big city stage

DESPITE more than 20 years working as an actor, when Ged Simmons comes to the Birmingham Hippodrome with West Side Story next week, it will be only his second time on stage in the city.Read

MP to join Sutton Coldfield debate on human rights

POLITICIANS will come under the spotlight in a Question Time organised by the Sutton Coldfield Amnesty International group.Read

Author Profile

Diane Parkes has worked in journalism for 14 years and has been with the Birmingham Mail for ten. She is Women's Editor covering health, fitness, education, fashion and beauty features. As Dance and Theatre Editor she is also responsible for professional arts coverage across the region.

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