Christmas Craft Fair

After a lot of work my Christmas cards are finished! Saturday morning I was up and out for 8.30am ready to help set up the Christmas stall for the Alzheimer's Group. All the hard work and crafts made throughout the year by the group filled the stall, my cards included.

It had to be the coldest day of the year, with a dusting of snow to complete the Christmas theme, but me and the other 15 groups members didn't let it stop our fun. It was a great day filled with manning the stall with regular breaks back at the branch to warm up with coffees and mince pies.

It was truly a really fun day, with a great atmosphere amongst the group and in Stony Stratford. The day was completed at 5pm with a lantern parade and the turning on of the Christmas lights! And we raise over £1000 for the Alzheimer's Society.

Was such a great day and a wonderful organisation that I am very lucky to be part of!

First Day Back!

It was back to work this morning, which was much better than I expected. I spent most my morning catching up with people and telling my stories of how I've spent last last ten weeks.

The day flew by and by 5.15 I was out the door, back home for a quick bite to eat before heading out on the soup run. It was freezing tonight, my fingers are still numb and it was very quiet, about ten people all in all. But still worthwhile, especially for the ones who were out and waiting for us to arrive! So glad I can continue helping especially as it's only going to get colder!

Crafty

Friday was my last arts & craft session with the Alzheimer's club.

It was a lovely Friday with a birthday and 50th wedding anniversary to celebrate. I also had a lovely chat with a lady in her 90s who had sadly lost her husband 10 years ago to Alzheimer's, but was so interesting to chat to.

All in all was a lovely last day with all the lovely ladies and gents. I will however see them all again on Saturday 27th Nov for the Christmas craft fair which is on all day in Stony Stratford and ends around 5pm with the switching on of the Christmas lights so I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone at that. Still need to get my Christmas cards made and ready to sell on the day!!

Last Day At Hula :-(

Oh a sad day for me!!! My last day at Hula! The last time cleaning out; the duck, the two rats, the two hamsters, the two guinea pigs, the seven rabbits and two tortoises!!

After all my cleaning and feeding, I said my goodbyes and thanked Hula for letting me be so involved in helping at the rescue center. It really has been lovely working there, they are such a small charity and everyone who works there, full time staff and volunteers work really hard and are totally devoted to the animals.

I will be keeping in touch with them and hope to help out at their monthly open days and events.

http://www.hularescue.org/

Making Big Impressions

Well, exciting news, when I got in today there was a message waiting on my answer phone for me. It was Carol the organiser of Get On Your Bike MK, the Cancer Research event that I was part of in September. I met Carol very briefly on the day, but I turns out i seem to have made quite an impression on her and she really want me to be a much bigger part of the team and asked me if I will assist her in raising the bar for next years event. Of course I said yes I was so flattered that she even remembered me. So we are meeting the first weekend in December to put our heads together to come up with some ideas to get local businesses to sign up a team to compete. I am so excited and already have lots of ideas, like focusing on competitive businesses, a good example for Milton Keynes would be all the Gyms, staff teams and members teams all competing against other local gym, could work.

So I'm really pleased that I will be so involved in helping to organise a great Cancer Research event in 2011.

The Cat Whisperer

Today was my last afternoon looking after the rescue cats at Hula. I spent a lot of one to one time with each of the cats and kittens, giving lots of fuss and treats. The kittens have really grown and Clive is like a new cat! At the end of the day, when I came to say goodbye to them, I felt quite sad if I'm honest. Although during my time helping at Hula I have seen many of the animals re homed, which is really great, you do grow attached due to the amount of time spent handling them and learn so much about each character.

I am so pleased I have been able to help many of the cats build their confidence in humans and in themselves and glad they have all had a second chance of happiness in their new homes.

My Last Week...

It's finally here, my last week before I have to return to my real life!!

It's going to be a sad week as I will be saying goodbye to many of the people whom I have met and worked with during this amazing 10 week adventure!

Last night I went on the soup run, we had a really good night, it was bitterly cold, so cold that we ran out of soup after the first two drop offs, but we had plenty of coffee, tea and sandwiches!

I am hoping that when I do go back to work next week the soup run will be something I can continue to be part of as it is outside of work hours. Sadly this is not the case with Hula or the Alzheimer's club, I hope to continue to support them at weekends, Hula has a monthly open day which I have volunteered to help out at and the Alzheimer's Group are having their charity stall in Stony Stratford on the 27th Nov as part of the turning on of the Christmas lights event, which I also will be assisting with. Which means I really need to stop blogging today and hurry up and finish my cross stitch Christmas cards as they need to be finished by Friday!!

The Cats Whiskers

I spent the afternoon, helping out in the cattery at Hula. An afternoon grooming, fussing, cleaning and feeding.

Quite a few cats have been re homed since I was last there and Honey is heading off soon as is Boris and Tinkerbell. The kittens have continued to grow in size and confidence and spent most the afternoon playing and chasing each other in the outside run. The most amazing thing was the improvement in Clive, (the semi feral cat who no-one could touch as he was so aggressive) he was out of his pen and socialising with the other cats. Then he came up to me and nudged me for some fuss and let me stroke and groom him, it was like a totally different cat!

Lots of new beautiful cats too; a lovely Siamese, an old tatty black cat, a pair who look just like Boris and Tink, a beautiful blue tinted cat with a tabby friend. Most of which I am sure will be re homed in a heart beat as they are all really lovely and friendly.

Honey Bunnies...

I went back to Hula this morning and it's all change in the small animal house. Still have the two hamsters, Clare and Hammy, the duck is still there, as is Tommy the tortoise and the two scared guinea pig, who seem to have grown in confidence since I last saw them. The new arrivals include; two rats, SEVEN new rabbits and a new Tortoise called Zoe who was very active for this time of year! Managed to get a just get a snap of her before she tried to make a tortoise run for it.

It was great being back and the new rabbits were all so adorable and so friendly, it really was a lovely morning.

Souper

First day back at the soup run.

After the last soup run I did, where one of the homeless guys got abusive, I honestly didn't feel like going back. But I did and I'm really glad I did. Not only because it was a really good night, we had two new helpers and everyone we gave soup and sandwiches to were really chatty and grateful this evening, but also because I found out that the abusive guy, turned up the following week, clean shaved and sober and apologised to John for his rudeness the previous week! That really made me feel better about the situation.

So it was a good run, with a good turn out and it wasn't too cold, really please to be back out there!

This Week...

...is National Adoption Week and it runs from 1st-7th November. Check out their website for events taking place, how to get involved and to see the profile of children awaiting adoption.

www.nationaladoptionweek.org.uk

Walk The Walk

With October being Breast Cancer Awareness month, I am thrilled to have my place on the London Moonwalk 2011 confirmed!

The Moonwalk began 13 years ago when a group of 13 women decided to power walk the New York City Marathon in their bras to raise money and awareness for Breast Cancer. What started as a one-off fundraising event has now blossomed into a thriving multi million pound charity, raising to date over 55 million for vital Breast Cancer causes, with walks now being held in many cities across the world.

So on 14th May 2011, starting at midnight in Hyde Park, I will be taking part and Walking the Walk in my decorated bra. I'll be joining my local gym later this week, as I am shockingly unfit, to start my training.

Wish me luck!

www.walkthewalk.org

An Experience

Back from Marrakesh and what an experience that was. To be honest not the experience I was expecting. But it certainly was an experience!

I feel I have learnt a lot about myself and will be taking both the positive and negative parts of this experience and using them as I go forward in my charity work from now on.

Since being back I have reflected on what I have done so far and what I plan to do going forward to get the most out of this time I have taken off to help others and give as much as I can to the charities that want help, before heading back into the real world in two weeks time.