Brighton Blogger Relay Leg for Team Honk, Sport Relief.

Many years ago, when I was still young and stupid naive, it seemed a great idea to go to a Fancy Dress party dressed as Noddy.  Heaven only knows why and I still cringe when anyone moots or mentions the F words, because, on my arrival, it came as a complete shock to see all the other girls / women as glamorous as could be, dressed and made up beautifully and in the most sophisticated manner, having come as princesses or the like.  I felt an utter fool, unattractive and ridiculous.  

So when Brighton Bloggers were forming plans for our leg of the non-motorised Team Honk Bloggers Relay in aid of Sport Relief  and said they intended to dress up, it gave me nothing short of the heebie jeebies.

My friend Superlucky Di said she was doing her bit as a Ninja unless I wanted to go as a pantomime horse with her? Er, that'll be a no, thank you very much.

Then Maddie from Gammon & Chips and Sarah from a field somewhere said they'd do their bit on scooters in animal onesies.  

That'll be a 'No,' too.  Ta anyway.  *remembers red pedal pushers and blue hat with a bell on and shivers* 

Then Jokers Masquerade offered me a free sort of super sexy Alice in Wonderland outfit which I must admit made me feel a bit old but less idiotic and, as it was for a good cause, I'm not so averse to making a fool of myself if it's an actual plan. 

So that's how I ended up looking like this picking up the relay baton from said Ninja - 

  - who'd picked it up from said loonies lovelies further along the coast.   

This is the relay route the baton is taking - all the way from Land's End to John O'Groat's. It started on 12th January and there are hundreds of bloggers involved pulling the community together like never before.  There are 38 regional teams aiming to raise double what Team Honk raised last year for Comic Relief to £20,000 for Sport Relief. And earlier this week Ellen Arnison kicked off the first official Sport Relief mile of 2014 with Prince Charles, Matt and Alex from the One Show and the X-Factor runner-up (who she says brought about the most excited squeals of all among the other runners) Nicholas McDonald.  All kinds of people are taking part in all kinds of sports in all kinds of outfits.  Which makes my efforts look extraordinarily tame because I couldn't walk / jog like I'd planned to because of a chest infection (hence the wrap around warm cardi I wouldn't discard altogether) and anything else more adventurous might well have jeopardised the brilliant results that my knee operation brought about.  But - Ta Dah(!)....

... I do have a friend of a friend who likes to do bike rides for charity, so handed the baton to him a full couple of metres from where it had been received and while I sauntered off to do the, let's say, awkward, school runs looking like a slapper, then grappled with the glares of the gas men working the entire length of our street so I had to park right at the end of it and endure a walk of shame home whilst putting on a grin more like the Cheshire Cat than Alice herself,  he was busy being EPIC, cycling 16 miles over the Sussex Downs all the way to Eastbourne on my behalf, which I think you'll agree is worthy of some sponsorship! 

You can please CLICK HERE to donate towards our Brighton team total or text HONK to 70005 to donate £5 to the central one.  We really don't mind which!   

Here's the hero of the hour, Matt (from Murcia Golf Properties - #justsaying)

Exceat - Cuckmere Valley

16 miles later - his destination - Eastbourne Pier

The relay is due to finish on 23rd March and you can follow all the latest excellent fundraising shenanigans on -
Team Honk's FB Page - https://www.facebook.com/teamhonk
Team Honk Twitter - @team_honk #teamhonkrelay 
Sport Relief Twitter & Hashtags: @sportrelief  #SR14

What's the betting, despite all the madness and fun, no-one will be dressed as Noddy?!

Here's the official blurb - The first ever Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Games take place from Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd March 2014. The public can join the fun and games by running, swimming or cycling their way to raising cash at over a thousand venues around the country, including the landmark events at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
  
As one of the biggest fundraising events, Sport Relief brings the entire nation together to get active raise cash and change lives. The money raised by the public is spent by Comic Relief to help transform the lives of some of the poorest and most disadvantaged people both at home in the UK and across the world.

Thank you!

More Gingerbread Please.

The famous charity Gingerbread is currently featuring me as one of their UK's favourite Single Parent Bloggers.  Yay!  *thrilled face*  They've recently been revamping the Community section of their site and have a new Single Parent Bloggers page. 

Having been founded nearly a hundred years ago, when the Bastardy Acts were in place and illegitimacy was terribly discriminated against,  they continue to be a force for good, campaigning and supporting and being a wonderful resource.  I thought it would be interesting to hear more about them, so asked if I could return the compliment and feature them too!  

I think most of us know someone, somewhere who could benefit from something here.  Please pass on anything you feel might be helpful to them.  It's written (with mutual thanks) by Anna Pietrowski:   

Single parents, be part of it!

Being a single parent means you’re probably an expert at doing it yourself – getting on, dealing with it and working it out.  But can all do with a bit of support from time to time.

Gingerbread is the national charity for single parent families. We provide expert advice, practical support and campaign for single parents. At the heart of what we do are our members, over 40,000 single parents from all walks of life who joined to be part of an organisation that speaks out for you and helps make your voices heard.

Here are just a few of the reasons why single parents join Gingerbread.

Make new friends

Ever wondered how you’ll fill the evening ahead after the kids have gone to bed? Or wanted to know how another single parent would tackle a particular issue you’re facing? Maybe you just want to rant about the way single parents are portrayed in the media with someone else who gets it.  Whatever your concern, it’s good to know that there are many thousands of single parents out there raising children on their own who you can turn to.

Gingerbread’s supportive and welcoming online forums help single parents link up with each other, chat and share experiences. The forums are a great place to let off some steam and spend some time chatting to other parents in the same boat as you – without ever having to leave your sofa!

Get together

Gingerbread groups have been going since the 1970s. They’re run by single parents, for single parents and are a great way to find local support and create a new social life for you and your children. Gingerbread groups are for all single parent families, whether you’re a mum, dad, carer or even a grandparent bringing up children on your own, and kids are always welcome!

Have your say

65 per cent of Gingerbread’s current members told us they joined Gingerbread because they wanted to be part of an organisation that stands up for single parent families. By becoming a member of Gingerbread you can help shape our work, drive forward our campaigns and help us challenge stigma by showing the true picture of single parent life in the UK.

Stay in the loop

Every month, Gingerbread members receive an e-newsletter packed full of the latest advice and information, campaign updates, stories, articles and family-friendly special offers. Sign up to start receiving the newsletter

Join today!

Bringing up children on your own can be an incredibly rewarding experience, but there can be times when it’s difficult, daunting and, let’s face it, downright lonely.  But when you join Gingerbread, it means there’s always someone on your side. To be part of Gingerbread, just head over to our website and sign up for free. 

How Proud am I?

How proud can a parent be?

The boys received four large Easter Eggs each this week-end, plus contents.  They were over the moon.

It's not many compared to some, but to others it would constitute a feast and I mentioned this in passing.

Almost immediately they handed over nearly half of their little stashes - all of that in the picture above - especially for children who wouldn't have received anything at all.

Fortunately, they didn't challenge me with serious questions about how the Easter Bunny could have omitted any kids, they just accepted it, without any shred of begrudgement.

It meant half of my Lindt stuff had to go the same way, but never mind, because how proud am I?

Lattes vs. Latter and Bottoms.

[Lattes / Latter - do you see what a big difference a small change can make?!] 

 

 

 

 

 

There's nothing like 'Time's up' to make you move your bottom. 

And I've been raiding mine!

Bottoms of handbags, bottoms of swimming bags, bottoms of coat pockets, bottoms of little pots in the kitchen, even my Other Half's bottoms of stuff.

It's amazing just how much cash is lying around the place.

It would buy a lotta Lattes.

Or, instead, we could do something sensible and wonderful with it and donate it all to Piggy Bank Kids, the charity set up by Sarah Brown and Ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in honour of their daughter, Jennifer, who died at just ten days old. 

So, rather than the lattes, we have gone for the latter and my kids are raiding their very own piggy banks in order to help towards the pioneering and groundbreaking scientific studies being conducted in the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory.

There has been a campaign over the last six weeks which will have passed many of us by, even those of us who were supposedly involved,  (ahem, blushes acccordingly and thinks wistfully of the school Summer Holidays ), about collecting our loose pennies, seeing them mount up and donating what we wouldn't miss, effectively.

It's not too late, even though 'Time's up' on the original campaign, there is another called the Small Steps Appeal.   So if you can find any 'Small Change' for it - and it's amazing just how much fun can be had raiding various bottoms, as well as just how much loot you'll surface, please consider the coffee option vs. the more charitable one and, should you manage it soon, do advise Ruth at dorkymum@yahoo.co.uk so she can include it in her grand Bloggers' total to be announced on Monday 17th September. 

You can donate HERE any time though.


Bottoms up, indeed.