Did you know that today, 6th December, is Christmas socks day? The kids and I have marked the occasion and are getting our feet into the festive spirit today to mark the occasion, with our new Christmassy socks from TK Maxx.
TK Maxx have launched the Christmas Sock Day to help support Cancer Research Kids and Teens, as they’ll be giving proceeds from their Christmas socks sales to this charity – so you can get into the Christmas spirit and do some good at the same time!
As we head out of the dank, dark days of winter and into the altogether friendlier season of spring, you may be starting to think about heading outside with your family for the purposes of exercise and fun. Whatever you and your family enjoy, why not combine a little outdoors time with fundraising this summer? It’s time to put the ‘fun’ into fundraising, and to bring your whole family along for the ride….
Today I’m welcoming the charity Bloodwise, to share their message with you and let us know a little on the work they are doing to beat Leukaemia
As a young child, our experiences define us in more ways than we know. Learning and living is all about taking the good with the bad, and even the mistakes we make form a vital component of who we are. In this regard, illness is a unique learning experience for a child, especially when it is a loved one such as a sibling or parent afflicted. At Bloodwise, we come into contact with many children who are either growing up with leukaemia, have a parent or sibling with leukaemia, or have even already lost someone. Whilst we are primarily a research fundraising organisation working to beat blood cancers, our support network is just as important and we work hard to reach people of all different backgrounds to share what we believe is important.
Recently Halfords got in touch to let me know about their campaign to abolish VAT on children’s car seats. I had not realised that VAT would be charged on car seats, as an essential item but currently it is (due to EU laws)
Since children’s clothes have a 0% VAT rate, as essential products, Halfords are campaigning for the same to apply to car seats which are also an essential item for any family with a car. Since it’s not recommended to buy second hand with car seats for safety reasons, even this 5% difference in price could make a difference to families with tight budgets and some may feel tempted to buy the second hand seats to save money.
Since the world cup over the summer, Mr Z’s interest in football has really been growing. He loves to play football at home with his brothers and at school with his friends, so he was really happy to try out the new One World Futbol.
Unlike other footballs the One World Futbol is virtually indestructible – never goes flat even when punctured. Solving the problem faced by many parents of constantly replacing deflated footballs in the garden that last five minutes.
As well as being indestructible the One World Futbol also has a ‘buy one give one’ model; for each football sold in the UK a ball will be sent directly to children in disadvantaged communities globally. This is a great idea! The aim of One World Futbol is to spread the healing power of play to children worldwide with these footballs that can survive even the harshest environments. I’m totally behind this mission. Play is so vital for children and the simplest toys like balls are the ones which can often bring the most fun, and allow many children to play together in a team.
Guest Post from Asthma UK – Please help us campaign for emergency inhalers in schools
Did you know that right now it’s illegal for schools to hold an emergency spare inhaler to use in the event of a potentially life-threatening asthma attack? This is despite the fact that there are over 1 million children with asthma in the UK and every single day 84 of these children are admitted to hospital for emergency treatment. Tragically the equivalent of a classroom of children die every year because of the condition which is why Asthma UK is campaigning to change the law to allow schools to keep a spare emergency inhaler.
Earlier this month the Government announced a public consultation on spare emergency inhalers in schools which is open until Friday 30 May. This is where we really need your help. We need you to come to www.asthma.org.uk/schoolinhalers1 and complete the consultation response so we can highlight how important this issue is. It is vital that the law is changed this summer so children with asthma do not have to go through another school year without access to a spare emergency inhaler.
Our supporters told us that more than two thirds (68%) of children with asthma across the UK have had an asthma attack whilst at school and 86% of children say they have been without their own inhaler because they have forgotten, lost, broken or run out of it (see footnote) and the high pollution levels in April showed how children with asthma can suddenly be at increased risk of an attack. It will soon be required by law through the Children’s and Families Act that all schools in England must make appropriate arrangements for supporting pupils with long-term health conditions like asthma. This highlights just how crucial it is that schools have access to all the resources necessary to be able to do this, such as a spare emergency inhaler in their first aid kits.
“Now is the crucial time for people with asthma to lend their support by visiting www.asthma.org.uk/schoolinhalers1. We simply cannot miss this opportunity or it could still be many years before we see emergency, life-saving spare inhalers in schools,” adds Kay Boycott, Chief Executive of Asthma UK.
Asthma UK is the UK’s leading asthma charity. We’re here to support people with asthma when they need us the most and fund world-leading research to find better treatments and ultimately a cure. The Asthma UK Helpline offers independent advice about asthma for anyone worried or who would like to talk confidentially to a specialist asthma nurse. It is open weekdays from 9am to 5pm on 0800 121 62 44. For more information about asthma please visit www.asthma.org.uk
Footnote: We spoke to 1815 people (153 children (aged between 5 and 18 years of age) and 1662 adults) from across the UK, online between 13 and 22 January 2014).
George at Asda is launching the first supermarket range of premature baby clothing in partnership with the baby charity Tommy’s. The new range of Premature Baby Clothes by George at Asda will be the most affordable on the high street and 10% from the sale of each garment will be donated to Tommy’s to fund research and support families with premature babies. This is a great idea, with the stress of having a premature baby you would want to be able to find suitable clothes as conveniently as possible.
The range was launched today and will be stocked in 70 Asda stores nationwide, specifically pin-pointed in stores that are within a short distance of the nation’s specialist neonatal hospitals. The range will also be available for next day delivery and click and collect on George.com so parents can spend minimum time worrying about clothing and maximum time with their new baby.
Former Spice Girl Mel C has joined up with P&G and Asda to help provide clean water to the children who need it most around the world. Mel recently flew to Ghana to see some of the clean water programmes in action taking place in a rural community in Ghana.
On Sunday morning we went along to Hamley’s for a special Thomas day! The Fat Controller and some of his friends had come along to celebrate the launch of Tracks4Thomas, marking their epic journey to deliver presents and some Thomas & Friends magic to children in hospitals across UK and Ireland. You can see details of the journey schedule on the Tracks4Thomas website, alongside a gallery from the previous Hamley’s and Hospital visits.
My boys love Thomas, especially Mr T and Mr R at the moment. So for them to be able to wander around Hamley’s surrounded by Thomas activities was ideal for them!
They loved the wooden train track and the new Take n Play King of the Railway set which was out. We don’t have that one at home (I’m sure I will have to buy it for them at some point!) so they all loved trying it out.
Mr R also had a go at some of the Thomas colouring
They enjoyed story time with the Fat Controller: (Mr R seemed very keen on making friends with the Fat Controller!)
They loved the Thomas balloons,
And had some special Thomas pictures taken with the green screen:
If you go on to the Tracks4Thomas website and show your support for Thomas’ Christmas Journey via Facebook or Twitter you will be entered into a prize draw to win a family ticket to Thomas land and a sack of Thomas & Friends goodies! And if you are in Cardiff, Glasgow or Dublin then keep an eye on your local Hamley’s store as the Fat Controller will be arriving in your area very soon too!
I’m proud to be a blogger ambassador for Action Medical Research, a charity doing brilliant medical research for children.
Action Medical Research have recently got involved with a great new app, T Shirt Booth by Digital Giving, which combines personalised t shirts with giving to charity! There are many characters to choose from on the T Shirt Booth app and of course I chose Paddington, the mascot for Action Medical Research. It’s really easy to design the t-shirt, choosing the colour you would like and adding name and photo personalisation for the child all via your phone.
To try out the service, I was given a code to make a t-shirt for Mr T which you can see him modelling below. It’s a lovely t-shirt with good quality fabric and printing, and he was so pleased to see his face on the front! The best part is that for every t-shirt £2.00 goes directly to the charity that you have chosen.
I have been given two more codes for two readers to have the chance to design a t-shirt too! The App is very easy to use but if any winner does not have a smart phone then don’t worry, I can order it for you!
T Shirt booth works not only with Action Medical Research but with a full range of characters and charities:
For your chance to win a personalised charity T-Shirt from T-Shirt Booth, enter via the Rafflecopter below:
The prize codes don’t cover the P&P so there would be a £2.00 donation which goes to the charity. I’m happy to pay that for the winners myself if you prefer.
Also if you are looking to buy your Christmas cards for this year, do have a look at Action Medical Research charity cards. Every single penny from these cards goes directly to the charity – which is certainly not the case for all charity cards. There are plenty of designs to choose from, so definitely worth having a look.
Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com
OfferOasis.co.uk – Competitions and Freebies in the UK