Building a Den with Save The Children

Is there anything more exciting when you are three and two than building a den under the dining room table? With big blankets and beanbags, Finn and Cora hid away from everyone else with some Beano stickers that were sent to us from Save the Children to celebrate their Den Day. 

Save the children have partnered with Beano with the aim of raising money for Save the Children's vital work.  Their Beano Build book is available from Sainsbury's with  step by step instructions to build four different diy projects.

You can have a den day whenever you like and download a free fundraising pack at DenDay.org which includes educational activities to help understand more about some of the challenges other children face around the world and how fundraising can help.  

HOW DOES YOUR MONEY HELP?

The money raised by den-builders will make an enormous difference to Save the Children’s vital work.

* £33 could buy five sheets of tarpaulin to help provide shelter to families who have
* lost their homes in an emergency
* £75 could provide everything needed to run a reading club to help children learn literacy for a year
* £105 could buy a kit to help a family living as refugees to protect their shelters against the weather

Make sure you share photos of your dens by tagging #DenDay

Read more ⇨

The Color Run

I have always been a little impulsive, but two days ago I thought it would be a good idea to sign up for the Color Run, one day ago I booked my place and today I am here asking for your support.

The Color Run involves 5km of running, jogging or walking all whilst be covered in colour, specifically Dulux paint.  We will start in white and end up looking more like a rainbow (albeit a messy one), hopefully having raised lots of pennies for Save the Children.

Read more ⇨

Xmas Jumper Day

Christmas jumpers are no longer reserved just for the Colin Firth's of the world ( That jumper in Bridget Jones is now the height of fashion ) and everyone is sporting some glitter, snowmen and stars on their fronts this season.  Christmas jumpers are everywhere and I for one am delighted.  I am a bit of a Christmas geek and have been wearing festive socks every day since December 1st.

Last night I was at Woolly Wonderland at Westfield Stratford City designing my very own Christmas jumper.  I will sporting a one of a kind, custom, home-made jumper this year and I am actually a little proud of my efforts!  December 13th is Christmas Jumper Day and I will be donating £1 to Save The Children and wearing my knit with pride!

Woolly Wonderland is on from the 5th to the 13th of December with sessions for all the family from storytelling sessions of the Gruffalo and Elmer to knitting lessons to Christmas jumper customisation and these free sessions are bookable here.  The lovely ladies helped me out creating my look with stencils, materials and by showing me how to do the stitching.  It was a lovely evening and I have something fun to take away from it too.

So pop on over to Westfield, get creative and wear your Christmas jumper with pride! I am thinking this may be the perfect opportunity to take a cheesy Christmas photo of the whole family in our festive knitwear so look out on twitter with the hashtag #xmasjumperday to see if I can persuade them all!  Don't forget to tweet your own photos with this hashtag too as I can't wait to see all the fun jumpers.

Read more ⇨

Pampers and Unicef

This month I got to tick something else off of my bucket list.  I got to meet a real life spice girl!

Yep, that's right, I met Emma Bunton and she is quite possibly the most down to earth celebrity I have ever met!

Emma is an ambassador for Unicef and they have teemed up with pampers for their 1 pack, 1 vaccine campaign.  For every pack of pampers bought, they will donate one vaccine to protect against maternal and newborn tetanus to a country that desperately needs it.  Newborn tetanus should have been wiped out already, but poor access to healthcare means it is still a killer in far too many countries.

Although I am primarily a cloth nappy user, we do still use disposables on occasion and this is a campaign I fully believe in.  As a mother, my instinct is to protect my children, and I will do everything in my power to keep them safe and well.  Knowing that other mothers can't do this for their children and are helplessly watching them suffer is absolutely heartbreaking.

Since the campaign began 8 years ago, they have successfully eliminated maternal and newborn tetanus in 10 countries, helping to protect 100 million women from the deadly disease.  There is so much more that can still be done though.

Not only are pampers donating one vaccine for every pack sold, they are also donating a vaccine for every view of this video, so if you have a minute, then please take a look

Disclaimer:  I was invited along to an even with Pampers to learn more about this campaign

but I have chosen to write this post as it is a campaign I really believe in.

Read more ⇨