Speaking at his leaving party in Medway last night (27 August), Alan revealed that he would be covering the 13.1 miles dressed as Mickey Mouse in aid of the Birmingham Children’s Hospital, which treats over 225,000 sick children from across the UK per year.

“This is going to be a huge challenge for me,” he said afterwards. “But I know that every penny I raise will be going to a hugely worthwhile cause, and I am determined to do my best for the charity.”

Alan will be joining up to 15,000 other runners on Sunday, 23rd October, and you can sponsor him online through his page on JustGiving.

In a ceremony at Rochester Cathedral, Alan was presented with his Lower Second Class Honours degree in law, alongside other Law and Social Sciences graduates.

Medway’s leading Conservative blogger will now be focusing on The Big Move, as he prepares to leave for Birmingham to study the Legal Practice Course at the College of Law.

Stage 1

Oblibations I
Coursework: 50 (20%)
Examination: 52 (80%)
Final Mark: 52 – Pass

A Critical Introduction to Law
Coursework: 57 (100%)
Final Mark: 57 – Pass

Criminal Law
Coursework: 61 (20%)
Examination: 64 (80%)
Final Mark: 63 – Pass

Public Law I
Coursework: 64 (50%)
Examination: 45 (50%)
Final Mark: 55 – Pass

Stage 2

Property Law
Coursework: 53 (40%)
Examination: 55 (60%)
Final Mark: 54 – Pass

Obligations II
Coursework: 38 (20%)
Examination: 49 (80%)
Final Mark: 47 – Pass

Labour Law
Coursework: 58 (20%)
Examination: 42 (80%)
Final Mark: 45 – Pass

Public Law II
Coursework: 60 (100%)
Final Mark: 60 – Pass

European Union Law
Coursework: 58 (20%)
Examination: 49 (80%)
Final Mark: 51 – Pass

Stage 3

The Family and the Law
Coursework: 63 (20%)
Examination: 56 (80%)
Final Mark: 57 – Pass

Equity and Trusts
Coursework: 48 (20%)
Examination: 36 (80%)
Final Mark: 38 – Pass on Compensation

The Law of Evidence
Coursework: 60 (50%)
Examination: 48 (50%)
Final Mark: 54 – Pass

The Law & the Media: Freedom of Expression asit relates to the Media
Coursework: 50 (15%)
Dissertation: 65 (35%)
Examination: 50 (50%)
Final Mark: 55 – Pass

Final Result: Lower Second Class Honours

Unusually, I will not be going in to a long-winded commentary piece, and am instead merely presenting the data before you as a matter of interest.

Note: figures in brackets demonstrate the weighting of the component in each module.

To my delight and pride, I will be graduating in July with a Lower Second Class Honours degree in Law.

The result means that, finance permitting, I will be progressing on to the Legal Practice Course at the College of Law in Birmingham in August.

The website, titled?Democracy in Practice, has been in development for over one year, and has been built from scratch by the blogger.

Visitors to the website can see key information such as contact details, electoral history and the allowances claimed by their local councillors since 2004.

Democracy in Practice boasts a simple design which focuses on the information contained. It also ensures that the information can be see quickly and simply on any Internet-enabled device: from a desktop PC to a smartphone.

Alan said: ?This has been a fantastic website to create. Scouring the public domain and submitting Freedom of Information requests was the easy part.

?Building the database and website and entering the information took most of that year. But using a self-coded system also means that there are limitless opportunities to expand the website in the future.

?My number one guiding principle since I started blogging in December 2006 has been supporting an open democracy.

?Democracy in Practice is, I believe, the most important website I have created to promote that principle.?

To visit the website, go to?www.democracyinpractice.co.uk.

Alan W Collins is today launching a new personal website – AlanWCollins.org.uk.

I took the decision a while ago to move my personal biography and campaigning activities away from this blog, in order to maintain its integrity and “third-party” nature, but have only recently been able to facilitate this move.

Most relevant information already on this blog has been transferred over – with the rest due to follow over the next few weeks. Posts on this website will not be removed, but the pages about me will be, much like the councillor and election pages were removed in preparation for the?impending?launch of Democracy in Practice.

AlanWCollins.org.uk is not a replacement for this blog, merely a place for my letters, press releases, biography and contact details. Nor is it a new blog – all my opinion pieces will continue to be posted here, alongside the latest news and views from across Medway.

There will be exclusive content over there, though, so why not take a look?

09:30

I got a lie in – at last. All the way to 08:30, so I suppose it doesn’t count. In mitigation, though, it is my first lie in for almost two weeks – and certainly did me some good at least.

I took the?fianc?e?to college before getting to university. I have a little time to finish my reading before the seminar starts at 11:00, so no time for McDonald’s this morning. After a quick sandwich from the uni shop, it will be down to work.

11:15

I am currently in Family Law, and have just received an email from my Evidence tutor. Not only is my Family Law tutor not in (this was pre-arranged, so we have cover), he is unwell and has had to cancel the seminar. That will give me some time to catch up on other work … I hope!

Family Law looks set to be interesting. We are going to have a role-playing scenario, in which groups will act out various different parts (one for each party to a divorce, on for each party’s negotiation lawyers, one for each party’s?conciliation?lawyers and one for the mediators). Each stage of the process is going to be portrayed by us – which could lead to some very interesting dialogue…

15:00

It is half an hour from when I would normally be going to Evidence. By now, I would usually have been in the library for two hours, but instead I went home to grab some lunch and print off about 50 pages of notes, lecture slides and reading materials. I am now picking up the?fianc?e?(and our new hamsters) from college.

I will get to spend some quality time with her (which is a nice rarity) before doing yet more reading to make up for my missed seminar. I am also on standby for work at RAFA tonight, so everything may yet grind to a halt.

20:30

Fortunately, no call was forthcoming, so I stuck to my original plans and attended the Gillingham Branch of the Royal British Legion’s Annual General Meeting. Though the meeting was at 19:30, and lasted less than half an hour, I have been here since 19:00 and am only just about to leave – I have instead spent time socialising, and, more importantly, with my Dad (another rarity).

I think I will allow myself the rest of the night off. No university work, no blogging, no Twitter, just me and my?fianc?e, how an ideal life would be. I do, however, have a couple of emails I need to respond to first, and possibly bounce something on to the council.

As long as no one says anything stupid after that, I’ll be all right…

Today will see an awful lot of nothing at all – scheduled in my diary is a lecture (may attend), a seminar (must attend) and work. Beyond that, tonight bodes for me still more reading for Family and Evidence tomorrow.

Insanity never sleeps.

07:30

Guess what? I’m sat in McDonald’s again. Except this time, I have been in here since 07:00. I have had the obligatory breakfast, I am sipping my hot chocolate and trying to find a piece of online reading for my Media seminar.

I think I have pretty much resolved not to go to the lecture this morning. The great thing about lectures at the Kent Law School is that each and every one of them are recorded and put online. This means I don’t have to go to Canterbury – and I don’t have to go to the Medway ones, either, if I need to do something more urgently and would rather listen to it later in the day.

However, I do have about 100 pages of reading before 12:00, so you’ll forgive me for saying no more, yet, won’t you…?

(01:10 Friday – wow, it is fair to say that I have not stopped pretty much since I wrote the above, everything below is from memory, and I apologise once again for not being able to continue this live.)

13:00

I have just finished my Media Law seminar, and am about to go off to work. Officially, my start time is 14:00, though this is just in case I get caught in too much traffic to arrive at 13:30. So far, though, this has not happened (though last week I just made it in time).

Media Law is one of the most interesting modules I have covered on my course, which is why I am doing an 8,000-word dissertation on the topic, and today’s seminar on public interest and confidentiality (and Douglas v Hello!) was no different. Also had a good discussion on the Prince of Wales’ “less than courteous” (to put it mildly) comments about the Chinese in his journal.

18:00

I have just arrived home. As I start work later on Wednesdays, I always end up working later to keep on top of things (yet, strangely, my in-tray never seems to get any emptier!).

Whilst it seems like I now have a free evening, I know that the truth could not be more different. I now have a short reprieve, before I start reading about family dispute resolution for tomorrow’s Family Law seminar. This could be interesting…

I will try my best to maintain this “live” today, so, for your delectation, I shall begin another journey through a day in my life.

07:45

Believe it or not, but I have actually been awake for nearly two hours (no, really!) – and, I have been up and about for well over an hour. The?fianc?e?started work at 06:30, and so, like the good little?fianc?, I took her, before making my way to my favourite haunt.

Don’t get me wrong, I cannot stand mornings, cold mornings, wet mornings, icy mornings, or, indeed, mornings that are too hot. However, I do enjoy being able to sit in McDonald’s from about 07:00/07:30, eat my breakfast at a leisurely pace, read The Times online and do other such online tasks, courtesy of Virgin Mobile Broadband.

Today, though, I was very much too cold to get out of my nice warm car, so I sat in there right until 07:30, listening to KMFM Breakfast – which, believe it or not, does the best job of waking me up.

The earliest I can start work today is 09:30, so I shall probably stay here until about 08:15, grab another hot chocolate for the road, then fight my way through the traffic in a leisurely, relaxed manner, before spending some more time on t’internet in the car outside.

(07:15 Wednesday – well, live lasted long, didn’t it? All entries appearing below are after-the-event entries. I will try live again today.)

11:00

Having a very productive day at work. The boss is in Canterbury, the other legal administrator is in Medway (both are Kent students, of different levels), so it is just me and the cleaner. And the cats.

I have already drafted a pair of mirror wills, a letter to a client and scanned in several pages of documents. Sadly, my in-tray has not got any smaller, so I must press on until 15:00. I don’t mind the work I’m doing, in fact I?positively?enjoy it, but for a small firm, there is an awful lot of it to do.

15:00

Well, I have just finished work and am about to leave for university. Today’s seminar is on Equity – as my tweeters will have noticed over the past couple of days, specifically fiduciary relationships (don’t ask, I don’t understand either).

It is not uncommon for me to listen to a lecture, read the textbook and still not understand the concept in issue. Today is going to be harder, though, as we have not got any questions to guide us, but, instead, we have to come to the seminar with our own questions prepared.

I will have a think in the car, but, suffice to say, the omen is not good.

17:30

I have now finished my Equity seminar, and, as thought, it did not go well. I think I now understand fiduciary relationships, and I do understand the types of fiduciary relationships. It’s the court regulation that I need to brush up on.

Still, now I’ve finished for the day, it is off home – to do more reading on a similar (and in some aspects the same) topic.

I made a promise to myself (so I’m forgiven, right?) that I would redo the “Day in the Life” series I published back in March 2008, as my life has changed so much and my daily routine has altered greatly. Originally this was going to be a live blog, but events transpired against me, so I am writing from memory. I will do my best to go “live” tomorrow.

09:00

It doesn’t take me long to get stuck in traffic. My first alarm went off at 07:45, but I am notoriously impossible to wake in the morning, so I finally surface after my last alarm rings at 08:30. My intended plan of being at work by 09:30 fails, and I resign myself to a 10:00 start. Fortunately, my boss is reasonable. Unfortunately, traffic is reasonable. My route along Pier Road stalls me not five minutes after I leave.

Pier Road traffic I expect. Traffic along Station Road, Strood, and the A2 I expect. The police cordoning off the approach road to the Medway Tunnel (eastbound) I do not. So, once I park outside McDonald’s, a quick phone call to KMFM is in order, as I doubt even they have psychic powers – the police were only installing the cordon when I drove in the opposite direction; traffic was still emerging when I entered the tunnel.

Ordinarily, I’d run to The Co-operative and buy The Times, the Medway Messenger and two bottles of Ribena for work. I say “buy” – my issues of The Times are pre-paid through my subscription, so it is just a case of collecting them. However, I lost my vouchers a couple of weeks ago, so it is just the Medway Messenger on my reading list this morning – The Times I access on my phone instead.

Leaving The Co-operative, I notice that the police are re-opening one lane, so try to get through to KMFM again – and fail. So I email the presenter as I order my healthy breakfast: a double bacon and egg McMuffin meal, with hot chocolate, and sausage, egg and cheese bagel. I pass on a second hash brown, as I am not that hungry, though this full breakfast will last me until I get back home.

12:00

Not only is my boss reasonable, he is also out this morning, so I have had plenty of time to catch up on work and time recording. The advantage of being a paralegal for a Wills and Probate specialist is that I can gain plenty of useful experience without needing to learn too much to distract from my legal studies, and can mostly focus on client work without much supervision. So far, I have drafted two wills, letters to clients and, well, actually, I probably shouldn’t say any more.

17:00

I am just leaving work. So far, I have completed most of the work I intended to, and most of my plans have gone to plan. Usually now I would go to spend some time with my?fianc?e?before heading off out. But then “usually” usually means “occasionally”, if circumstances permit.

She is off with her friend, who is in need of a friendly face and helping hand. So I leave them to it and resolve to go straight home.

18:30

Well, traffic on the way home was its usual painful self – roadworks on New Road that weren’t there last week added ten minutes to a journey which is already lengthened by other roadworks. After a few minutes at home, it was back out again, this time to RAFA. I was asked to stay until the end tonight, even though it is only a club night, as the bar manager is not feeling too well. Naturally, I do not object.

22:30

I’ve just started writing this post. I should still be at RAFA for another half an hour. In fact, I left almost two hours ago. When I said nothing goes to plan, I meant it. I have been from Chatham, to Gillingham, to Twydall, to Gillingham, to Grange.?Fianc?e’s friend is suffering from a small amount of mixed emotions, and it falls to me to play taxi, which I am more than happy to do.

I am now in the fiancee’s bedroom alone, while she is downstairs with her mate. I have only just realised that Channel 4′s Coppers is in Medway again, so must remember to watch it on 4oD.

After finishing my Equity reading, that is…