We did the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

My nephew Thomas nominated his step-mum Katey to take part in the ice bucket challenge for charity. Being the amazing woman that she is, she took on the challenge brilliantly and then nominated me to take part!  Not one to ever shirk on a challenge myself, I, with the help of my three littlies added myself to the list of people taking part to raise both awareness and money for charity.  We donated to the Motor Neurone Disease Association, as we have been really moved by the ALS videos we have watched, and the story behind the campaign.  Knowing that families affected by this disease are behind this social media campaign, and that so much money has been raised for this worthy cause, made us absolutely certain that taking part was the right thing to do.

When the A list celebrities take part in the Ice Bucket Challenge, they tend to be somewhere warm and sunny.  Shropshire is unfortunately neither of those things.  It's downright chilly at the moment. Nevertheless, the kids armed themselves with buckets of cold water in readiness to give me a good soaking.  Freddy took a bit too much pleasure in squirting me in the face to add to my experience.  But it was all good fun.

            


In an act of motherly revenge, I nominated them to take part...plus I nominated Helen from The Crazy Kitchen (she is totally game for a laugh).  My kids thoroughly enjoyed doing their bit and passing the baton on to their friends.  We look forward to seeing what they do in the name of charity and for this social media phenomena!

           


I love that people are getting behind this challenge and are doing it for charities that they support as well as for the MND/ALS charities.  Anything that gets money and raises awareness for good causes has got to be a positive thing, how ever silly it is.  Plus seeing celebrities getting behind it has provided some brilliant entertainment. Russell Brand, Kermit the Frog, Ben Affleck & Jennifer Garner and Bill Gates are my favourite Ice Bucket Challengers so far!

Claire's Support UNICEF

There is no greater gift than the gift of life.

Claire's is one of the shops in town that we cannot walk past without Kizzy and Ella wanting to go in.  They love the colourful ranges of jewellery and accessories on sale.

Claire's have launched a new partnership with UNICEF- "Little Things Make A Big Difference" - which aims to give children the best start in life.  Everyday, thousands of children die from deadly but largely preventable causes such as malnutrition, diarrhoea and malaria.  UNICEF send lifesaving supplies such as clean water, vaccines and food for those who need it the most. This Christmas, Claire's will be selling six bespoke jewellery items in their Claire's For Unicef Range to raise money for UNICEF's vital work saving children's lives.  £1 from every purchase will be donated to UNICEF.  This is enough to give eight life saving vaccinations or feed a malnourished child for one day.

The range is very pretty with a pink and silver colour theme and featuring hearts and stars.  Each item features the life affirming message "A Gift For You...The Gift of Life For a Child"  so the recipient knows that this gift has helped raise money to save a child's life.

Claire's Unicef Range 

Claire's customers can also add a donation at the till whenever they make a purchase or buy gift cards with an added on donation to UNICEF.

I think that this partnership is a lovely way to give a little back at Christmas time to help those in need.  I always try to include gifts that help others when I buy presents for my children, and I know my girls will love this range and the fact that they are giving the gift of life to others.  I can't always donate cash sums to every charity I support, but it is easy to incorporate a donation when making a specific purchase.  It's an easy way to give, especially when money is tight.  The jewellery costs £4.50 - £5.00 and would make a lovely stocking filler.

Helping Children In Need

Children in Need will be taking over BBC 1 tonight, raising much needed cash to ensure that every child in the UK has a childhood that is safe, secure, happy and allows them to reach their full potential.  

Today, schools and nurseries got into the Children in Need spirit as schoolkids helped raise money by holding bake sales, sponsored events and non-uniform days.

Kizzy looked great in her Pudsey top and ears and her bright yellow shorts.  We'd baked some yellow polka dot cupcakes for the bake sale and she went to school with a handful of change to buy herself some goodies at break time.  Her school raised over £400.

Freddy decorated a plain white t-shirt with dots to wear to nursery and he helped eat the spare cakes we had made.  He returned home from nursery with a Pudsey sticker for popping his pound in the spotty collection box which he was very impressed with!

The wonderful Liska is reminding us to show our support for Pudsey and the Beeb by hosting a cute acrostic meme to make sentences using the letters of Pudsey.  Here is my poem about today.

People coming together for the greater good.

Unselfishly donating time and money for the children.

Dancing to Gangnam Style in a Flash Mob at Ella's college.

Selling cakes at Kizzy's school.

Everyone happy to help, restoring faith in humanity.

You only need to give a little to help a lot!

If you can spare a couple of minutes join Liska's meme and remind everyone to tune in and donate tonight.

Children In Need Pudsey and Blush Teddy Bears

Build-A-Bear Workshop have partnered with Children in Need for the fifth year running and they have their own Pudsey and Blush bears available, with £5 from the sale of every bear going to the Children in Need charity.  Kids will love having their own furry friend and knowing that they are helping other children less fortunate than themselves.

The BBC's Children in Need appeal is held each year on a Friday in November. The focus of the appeal is the Children in Need telethon, a whole evening of entertainment featuring various celebrities, but many other events and fundraising activities take place around the country.

Since 1980, Children in Need has supported children's projects in the UK by raising over £500 million.

This year's Children In Need is on November 16th.  

Blogging For One Mums

ONE are not a charity, all they want is your voice. 

ONE is a non-partisan advocacy organization dedicated to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. Backed by more than 3 million members, they work with government leaders to support proven, cost-effective solutions to save lives and help build sustainable futures.

Michelle from Mummy From The Heart has made the trip to Ethiopia with 11 other bloggers to highlight the success of recent projects and remind us all why it's so important that the support is continued.  Pop along to her blog to find out more about her incredible journey. 

To help spread the word in the blogging community, Clare, from Seasider In The City, has devised a meme. Taking the first letters from ONEMums create an acrostic poem to explain what being a mum means to you.


One thing in my life that makes me feel like I have achieved something amazing
Nothing will ever be as important, as fulfilling or as validating
Everything that defines me
My gift to the world, my blessing, my joy
Undeniably challenging but totally fulfilling
More wonderful than I could have ever imagined
Seeing my children become the best version of themselves that they can be


The follow the work of ONE using the hashtags #ONEMums #ONEMoms on Twitter.

If you only do one thing today then make sure you add your voice to the ONE Campaign by signing up below.

Do Something Amazing Today for #ShareNiger

I am proud to be part of a group of bloggers, co-ordinated by Merry from Patch of Puddles, who have come together to help sponsor a number of children whose lives are being adversely affected by the food crisis in Niger.  World Vision run a sponsorship programme where £22.80 a month can help transform the lives of these children and their families bringing food, education, healthcare and hope to the poorest communities.
In this economic climate, many of us are feeling the pinch, but by joining together we can help out by donating whatever we can afford.  By giving just £1 you can make a difference, bringing the total donated  closer to the sum required to sponsor ten children in the village Sian To visited, where she witnessed firsthand the devastation caused by this crisis.  Together we can bring hope.
If you want to be a part of something amazing you can donate here.  Doing it together means that whatever you can afford to give at this time will make a huge difference.  So whether you wish to contribute a monthly donation or just give a one off payment to the cause, every single penny counts!
It feels good knowing that you can help make a positive change to someone's life!

Do One Good Thing...

  

Can you believe that 1.1 billion people don't have access to clean water?  Or that 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation?  It is difficult for us to comprehend that in the 21st century, people are living without these things that we take for granted.  These statistics are shocking and I'm sure each and every one of us would like to do our bit to help relieve the suffering.

One has come up with a way that makes it easy for us all to do something good that can help make a difference to the challenges facing the world today.  The idea is so simple.  They create brilliant, quality products and 100% of the profits go towards funding life-changing projects in developing countries.   So by switching from your regular branded products to One's products you will be doing something good, for someone else, somewhere else. Brilliant!

I was sent a selection of One products to try out.  All everyday household products that we buy regularly.  Just by changing the contents of your shopping basket, you are directly helping change someone's life for the better.

The beauty of buying One products is that they fund like for like projects so you can easily understand where your money goes.  For example, buying One Water helps provide safe drinking water in some of the poorest parts of Africa.  This will save lives...helping quench Africa's thirst as well as your own.

The Supersofty Quilted Toilet Tissue is strong, soft and cushioned.  The nourishing Handwash keeps hands smooth, soft and hygienically clean.  They also help fund hygiene and sanitation projects in Africa.  These projects are life changing and often life saving for the 2.6 million without access to a simple toilet or running water to wash their hands with.  Everytime we buy One products we know that 100% of the profits are going directly to help those who don't have the things that we take for granted.  It is easy to explain to children how buying One will help others.  The direct link between the product and the project is clear.  My 8 year old daughter was very excited to think that by having a bottle of One Water she would help a child in Africa have access to fresh water.

Other projects include providing chickens for community egg farming in Malawi, sponsored by One Eggs.  One Condoms fund HIV projects.  70% of worldwide AIDS deaths occur in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

In this economic climate, many of us can't afford to set up direct debits for charities.  One believe it shouldn't be difficult to make a difference. They are giving us an easy way to do our part.  We can all do this one good thing to help change the lives of others...simply by purchasing with principles.  

One is in the top 2% of UK charities by donation and are affecting real change in developing countries.  We can all play our part!  You can buy the products in the One online shop.  The Co-Op currently have a 25% off promotion on toilet tissue!

The Green Chain: a Blog for Charity

PriceMinister have launched a fab campaign - The Green Chain- for bloggers to raise money for charity. If you take part in their eco interview, they will donate £10 to one of three great environmental charities - Surfers Against Sewage, Trees for Cities and the Young People's Trust for the Environment. 


If you tweet or join the Green Chain Facebook page as well as blogging, PriceMinister will donate an extra £1 for each. 


You can read all about The Green Chain and how to take part here. 


And now for my interview... read to the end to see if I've tagged you!

Turning the heating down by just one degree in your house saves 240kg of CO2 a year. It would take eight trees to soak up this amount of CO2! Are you currently doing anything to make your home eco-friendly?


Our house is a new build so it is already quite eco-friendly.  However after visiting the Ideal Home Show and interviewing George Clarke, we are looking into the possibility of having solar panels installed.  We buy appliances that are more energy efficient.  We have double glazing, good insulation and we only use our heating very minimally...that's what Slankets are for!!


Rainforests once covered 14% of the earth's land surface, now they only cover 2%. How are you reducing your use of paper?


Non-paper billing makes so much sense in the internet enabled virtual world!  As does reading magazine and newspaper articles online.  I am notorious for re-using gift bags for birthdays and Christmas presents...it's a bit of a standing joke amongst my friends and family.  I've opted out of postal junk mail where possible and we recycle any paper waste that is created.


At PriceMinister we believe that trading second hand items online is a great way to extend the life span of products. Have you ever thought of buying or selling second hand items on or off line?


I have dallied with Ebay and car boot sales as both a buyer and seller.  I wholeheartedly agree with trading in second hand items.  One man's rubbish is another man's treasure.  This reminds me...I have a garage full of Freddy's outgrown baby things...I must get onto selling them soon!


One of the biggest environmental challenges we face is Freshwater Shortages. Are you taking measures to reduce your water consumption?


With a new house we have the toilets with the half flush option.  The two little ones share a bath together which they love.  I have been known to go for the dry shampoo or over sink fringe wash instead of the full works!  We have reduced our laundry usage by simply wearing clothing twice if it's still fresh and clean.  We never use a hose pipe in our garden.  Ian washes the car when it rains so it gets rinsed off by nature for free!


How do you choose the produce that goes into your shopping basket? 


Being a family of vegetarians we already have a diet that is generally more environmentally friendly.  We try to buy local, if not British, produce where possible.  We recycle all our waste cans, glass jars and cardboard packaging, and try to avoid the excessively plastic packed products.  I only ever buy Free Range Eggs.  This year I'm trying to do a bit of "growing my own" in pots in the garden...you can't get more local than that!


What is your favourite green space near home? 


Ellesmere is a beautiful area of North Shropshire where we love to go walking.  There is a central lake or mere surrounded by woodland.  Hundreds of birds flock to the mere and it is a fabulous haven for wildlife.

Which charity will you support and why?


I would like to support the Young People's Trust for the Environment. Educating young people about environmental issues will hopefully raise awareness in the next generation to take steps towards protecting our planet.

Please give us the url of a fellow blogger (or bloggers) you would like us to contact to raise an extra £10.




Bloggomy
SAHM Loving it
Mummy From the Heart
Little Green Blog

*When your post is online contact oliver.moss@priceminister.com to confirm your participation and we will donate £10 to the charity of your choice!*