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Cobham Literary Festival Celebrates Successful Inaugural Weekend



Cobham came alive with the sound of stories, ideas and conversation this weekend as the inaugural Cobham Literary Festival took place from 11–13 September, bringing leading authors, broadcasters, illustrators, poets and readers together for three days of literary events across the town.


Organised by The Cobham Bookshop, the first festival offered an ambitious programme designed to appeal to readers of all ages and interests, with events ranging from crime and espionage to politics, poetry, children’s literature, art, horticulture and new fiction.


The weekend opened with an impressive line-up of speakers and events, including conversations with leading authors and broadcasters, sessions for children and young readers, poetry, crime writing and discussions exploring everything from politics and history to gardens and the natural world. Among the highlights were Clare Balding and Callie Coles in Conversation with Rishi Persad, an evening with historian and author Sir Anthony Seldon, and the ever popular Alex Brycha MBE thrilling children and adults alike with his live illustrations.


With events taking place in venues across Cobham, the festival was designed not simply as a series of author talks, but as a celebration of reading, ideas and creativity at the heart of the local community. The programme brought together established names with emerging writers and offered audiences the chance to meet authors, hear their stories and discover their next favourite book. Phillip Wells, The Fire Poet brought another dimension to the festival with his wonderful interactive ‘pop up’ poetry at a variety of events across the weekend.


Community partnership at the heart of successful first festival


The organisers are particularly grateful to Downs Solicitors, the headline sponsor of the Cobham Literary Festival, whose support was instrumental in helping bring the inaugural event to life. As a new literary festival for Cobham, securing the support of a headline sponsor was an important milestone. Downs’ Solicitors commitment enabled the festival to establish an ambitious programme from its very first year, helping create a new cultural occasion for Cobham and contributing to the town’s growing reputation as a destination for books, conversation and creativity.


The partnership reflects the importance of businesses and organisations investing in the communities in which they operate and supporting initiatives that bring people together.

Amber O’Connor, Joint Managing Partner, Downs Solicitors commented:

“We were delighted to support the first Cobham Literary Festival as headline sponsor. The response from the community has been fantastic, and it has been wonderful to see so many people coming together to enjoy books, meet authors and share their enthusiasm for reading. We are proud to have played a part in helping establish what we hope will become a much-loved annual event in Cobham.”

The organisers would also like to thank the festival’s venues, partners, volunteers and everyone who attended for helping make the inaugural weekend such a success.


The strong response from audiences has provided an encouraging foundation for the festival’s future, with the organisers already looking ahead to building on the first year and bringing an even broader programme of authors and events to Cobham.


The inaugural Cobham Literary Festival marks an exciting new chapter for Cobham’s literary life, creating a new annual opportunity for readers to meet authors, discover new books and celebrate the power of stories to bring communities together.

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easyJet is bringing its Fearless Flyer course back for winter 2024, to help nervous flyers take control and overcome their fears. With courses starting from 27th January and taking place in Manchester, London Luton, Bristol, Belfast and London Gatwick, customers have a choice of five airports across the UK to book their experience flight.


Since 2012 nearly 12,000 phobics have taken to the skies after successfully completing the Fearless Flyer course, with the programme achieving over 95% success rate and in March 2023, easyJet celebrated its 150th course milestone.


Fearless Flyer continues to be one of the best-priced aerophobia courses in the UK, starting at just £89 per person and the winter 2024 schedule provides options across the UK from the end of January until beginning of March.


easyJet’s Fearless Flyer course is divided into three main parts:

  1. A virtual ground course, where top phobia expert Lawrence Leyton and a senior easyJet captain will explain the unfamiliar sounds and sensations customers feel onboard an aircraft and teach them a unique set of mind techniques to manage their nerves. This session lasts approximately two and a half hours.

  2. A pre-flight one-hour ‘Meet the Team’ online Zoom session, where participants will be walked through the airport experience and what to expect. There will also be a participant Q&A session where phobia expert Lawrence Leyton and an easyJet pilot will answer any last-minute questions.

  3. And lastly, a special one-hour experience flight from the course airport, where customers put their new skills to the test whilst listening to a live commentary of the flight from the Fearless Flyer team.


In addition to the standard course, a VIP course is also on offer at London Gatwick on 2nd March which features extra exclusive benefits including a dedicated Captain who will guide you through the experience flight day, a pre-flight private video call with a pilot and the Fearless Flyer team, VIP check-in process, security and boarding for the experience flight, guaranteed upfront seats, and lifetime access to additional course materials.


A limited number of spaces on the courses are now available at fearlessflyer.easyjet.com


Captain Chris Foster, Fearless Flyer Lead Pilot at easyJet, said: “We’re delighted to be relaunching our renowned Fearless Flyer course for 2024 with winter courses now available to book across the UK.

The course is suitable for anyone who is a nervous flyer, whether they experience slight anxiety or whether they have never flown before and with a success rate of more than 95%, we would encourage anyone wishing to overcome their fear to take part.”


Mark Wein, easyJet’s Fearless Flyer Course Director, commented: “Around one in six people have a fear of flying, stopping many from travelling abroad on holiday, visiting friends and family or even flying for work, so why wait to join so many who have already overcome their fears through our renowned Fearless Flyer course? We’re excited to help many more people get flying fearlessly on our courses over the coming months – the results are truly life-changing.”


Ruth Shortt, who took the course in Belfast in 2023, said: “Before taking the Fearless Flyer course. I hadn’t been on a plane in 11 years. I tried hypnotherapy, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and medication. None of these worked. The Fearless Flyer course was both amazing and life changing. Thank you so much to all the Fearless Flyer team. You are truly wonderful people and I will be forever grateful to you all. I would highly recommend the Fearless Flyer course to anyone battling with a fear of flying. It really works!”

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