Sponsored Video: Domestos & UNICEF Tackling Global Sanitation Crisis

I got an email telling me about Domestos and Unilever Foundation who have joined forces with UNICEF to help improve access to basic sanitation that you and I never imagine life without to hundreds of thousands of people all over the globe. This is known as the CATS (Community Approaches to Total Sanitation) programme which promotes good hygiene practices, helps create demand for access to toilets and raises awareness of the sanitation crisis in order to reduce disease transmission. Want to know more about this partnership? Go to the website.

There are still an estimated 2.5 BILLION people around the world who do not have access to improved sanitation - that’s two fifths of the global population. How insane is that! Access to improved sanitation has been deemed a basic human right by the United Nations, would you live without a toilet or even a sink? I think we both know the answer to that.

Domestos are doing their bit by contributing 5% of its average proceeds received from the sale of specially marked bottles of Domestos in select countries (UK, Ireland, Poland, Vietnam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates) to UNICEF’s CATS programmes in South Sudan and Vietnam.

Check out this sponsored video...

So what can you do to help? Well why not spread the word by:
- Adding the Twibbon to your Twitter icon.
- Tweeting using the hashtag #domestos4unicef.
- Add a badge to Twitter or Facebook
- Donate!
- Buy a specially marked bottle of Domestos.

Thanks for reading and remember to check out the website for more information.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post where I was paid to write about the subject and post the video, however I fully back this cause fully and my views are my own.

Bigjigs Guinness World Record and Charity Event

If you don't know who Bigjigs are you are totally missing out. They make some lovely wooden toys for babies and young children, but also they make a fantastic wooden train set that isn't super expensive! Now some of you who follow my Twitter feed will know Petit Boy is a huge fan of trains (specially a certain blue tank engine) and for his 2nd birthday got the beginning of his own collection of wooden train track and trains. Some of the pieces are Bigjigs and I must say I'm impressed as they are just as well built as Biro track and connect to all types of other brand tracks too. I've found Biro tracks don't fit the Thomas wooden tracks very easily for some reason, however Bigjigs track fits both Biro and Thomas wooden tracks without me spending ages trying to hammer them together (or pry them apart!). So there you go that's a bit about Bigjigs - mostly about their rail products but that is mostly why I'm writing this blog post.

Bigjigs Toys are proud to announce their intentions to attempt to break The Guinness World Record™ attempt for the Longest Wooden Toy Train Track! Not only that but they are asking if you could sponsor a track for £1 and the money will go towards the charity Demelza Hospice Care for Children who care for life limited children and their families, offering respite breaks, end of life care and bereavement support. So not only will you be part of a Record Breaking event but also you will be helping a charity as well.

The monumental record attempt will be held at Chatham Dockyard on the 26th July 2012 and is FREE for the public to come and see. You will get to see them using over 10,000 pieces of track to reach the target of 2012 metres. Spectators are invited along to cheer on the Bigjigs Toys team from 10am onwards and hope to complete the track by 4pm. There will also be competitions, play area's and other bits and bobs throughout the day!

I think that's covered everything... oh did I mention that PEPPA PIG WILL ALSO BE THERE?! My son has only just found Peppa Pig on Channel 5's Milkshake show and he loves Peppa as much as he loves Thomas, I'm pretty sure every toddler enjoys Peppa Pig in some fashion so seriously you have no excuse not to go or even help by donating even just £1 by going on their JustGiving page.

Follow Bigjigs Ltd on Twitter and Like Bigjigs Rail on Facebook to keep up to date on the event and all things related to their products. If you are also on Pinterest then why not check Bigjigs' pinboards out.

Charity Best Beginnings and the Small Wonders DVD

The 19th June was the launch of a new national initiative to enable every family of a sick or premature baby to be at the cornerstone of their baby’s care in ways that can help to improve health outcomes.

UK-based child health charity Best Beginnings, working with six medical Royal College, UNICEF and more than 15 other organisations, is rolling out a national Small Wonders Change Programme implemented by over 400 nurse, doctor and midwife ‘Champions’ within hospitals throughout the UK to help families of premature and sick babies in the UK irrespective of their socio-economic group, receive the same high quality family-centered care.

At the centre of the programme is the Small Wonders DVD, which is the culmination of two years of intensive work for Best Beginnings and follows fourteen families, charting the real-life experiences the parents faced as they met, cared for, and returned home with their premature or sick baby.  With 80,000 babies in the UK each year born either premature or sick it is designed as a tool to enable neonatal staff to support and advise parents through their baby’s stay, and encourage parents to play a pivotal role in the care their baby receives in ways that have been proven to positively impact health outcomes, interventions and activities such expressing breast milk, responding to their baby’s non-verbal cues and having skin-to-skin contact.

Using the expertise of over 200 experts in neonatal care including consultant neonatologists, representatives of Royal Colleges, specialist dieticians and infant feeding specialists and created in conjunction with 10 hospitals across the UK, the Small Wonders DVD is designed to ensure that parents have the insight, guidance, confidence and support they need, from when they are first told they may be having a premature baby, through those first crucial hours after birth to their baby’s first birthday.  The DVD is split into 12 films each covering a different topic, which parents can select individually
depending on the support they need.  Films include “First hours”, “Expressing breast milk”, “Holding your baby”. An information booklet is also included with the DVD in which parents can record their thoughts and feelings as well as their own baby’s progress.

As part of this work, Best Beginnings has created a unique network of over 400 neo-natal nurses, midwives, doctors and allied healthcare professionals who have become “Small Wonders Champions, across the UK. The Small Wonders Champions are working, often in multi-disciplinary teams, to ensure that the Small Wonders DVD is used effectively and is available to all parents in their hospital faced with the prospect – or unexpected arrival – of a premature or sick baby.  In the last six weeks, Best Beginnings has sent out more 65,000 free DVDs to hospitals across the UK. Many of these hospitals have begun giving the DVD to parents from today, with other hospitals planning to begin distribution to parents in the next few weeks, once all staff has seen the DVD and a clear distribution plan is in place. Over the last year, Best Beginnings has been actively supporting its Small Wonders Champions to become “catalysts for change” in their hospitals and help them ensure that the DVD will be effectively implemented and available to all parents. In addition to being available for free in neonatal units across the UK the Small Wonders DVD is available to purchase for £5 from Best Beginnings' Online Store.

The DVD itself was made with the support of over 100 families who provided feedback at key stages in the production process, as well as the expert opinion and advice from over 100 health professionals from across the UK including consultant neonatologists and representatives from six medical Royal Colleges.

There are 12 films on the DVD divided into chapters,  each covering a different topic which parents can select individually depending on the support they need.  There is also an information booklet included in which parents can record their baby’s progress along with their thoughts and emotions.

Best Beginnings is a small charity committed to having a big impact on child health across the UK.  You can find out more about their work and support them at http://www.bestbeginnings.org.uk/appeal/donate-for-child-health.

You can also follow them on Twitter: @bestbeginnings.

Sponsor a Child Together & Make a Difference #ShareNiger

You can find more information over at Patch of Puddles.

Images taken by Sian To.

Cuddledry Raising Money for CLIC Sergent Children With Cancer Charity

Being a fan of Cuddledry and spoken to the lovely ladies several times at many Baby Shows in the past year when I got sent this information I was more than happy to blog about it, specially as it's for a good cause.

Throughout February, March and April, Cuddledry will be donating £5 from every sale of their lilac sun protection ponchos. Customers can simply shop as normal through the Cuddledry website, and donations will be made automatically to CLIC Sargent. The first of their kind in the UK, Cuddledry’s sun protection ponchos are an essential addition to holidays and trips to the beach for parents who want to protect their little ones from the sun. The towels use patented Rayosan™ technology, which dyes the fabric with a high quality sun block and acts like a mirror, deflecting the harmful UVA and UVB rays off the towel, instead of letting them pass through the fabric and harm delicate skin.

The sun block, which has a sun protection factor of 50+, stays with the towel permanently, regardless of washing and use, plus the fabric stays super-soft too. The sun protection poncho is a big hit with parents, and has already won the much coveted Mother & Baby safety product award. Well done, Cuddledry!

Yummy Mummy Week 2012, which runs from Saturday 10th March to Mother’s Day on Sunday 18th March, was launched by the charity’s patron, Patsy Palmer, in January. Patsy commented: “As a Patron of CLIC Sargent I’ve seen first hand the charity’s wonderful work supporting young cancer patients, and their families, at a very difficult time in their lives. I'm lending my support to Yummy Mummy Week as it’s a great way for mums to get  together, do something yummy and have a great time in aid of a great cause!”

You can follow @Cuddledry on Twitter and stay up-to-date via their Facebook Page. CLIC Sargent can also can be found on Facebook.

Children In Need - We're Doing Our Bit!

When I say "we" I guess what I really mean is my fiancé is doing his bit, I'm just pimping him out to help get to his target of £200.

No helmet can hold back the hair!

For the last 12 years my fiancé has had long hair, longer than mine has ever been. He has had a few trims to tidy it up once every blue moon (read: very rarely) but lately he has been saying to me that he's fed up of his long hair. He also wanted to do something for Children In Need this year and his Twitter fan-base and friends seemed to all agree on the idea of shaving all his hair off... so that's what he's going to do!

Bestest Daddy Ever...est!

Please help him raise £200 on his JustGiving Page for Children in Need, every little helps so even if you just donate £1 it's still £1 closer to his target. He also has a blog too called Geneseed.

Getting Fit for Charity

I am a lucky lady who got away from stretch marks, the baby weight and even before giving birth I was lucky enough to get myself into size eight clothes. I bet a bunch of you now are thinking how much you hate me, right? I don't blame you if you are! And what I actually hate the most is when other women ask me for advice on how I lost my baby weight and what I used to rid my body of stretch marks because I haven't got a clue, it just... happened!

However a few days ago I was out of trousers to wear (Baby Al had been sick on one pair and the other was peed on!) and found my size eight jeans were clean and dry. I pulled them up and... oh dear. It would appear a spaceship landed on my bum and has formed a new world on it. Okay that's a lie it's just my butt is bigger then it use to be and it hit my rather hard. I'm getting older and my body isn't all what it use to be. My waist has started to go from firm to jelly-like blob that now hangs out. It's time to get sorted before it gets out of hand.

I had a great birth experience at my local Hospital's Maternity Ward and I want to help other women enjoy a good birth like I did. So I brainstormed and even had nights where I could not sleep as my brain was constantly coming up with ideas. I met up with the Ward Manager and she was very happy hearing my ideas and how I want to help out. Their main issue that gets brought up most of all is the ward looks outdated. My room was filled with rosey walls that I can only imagine being in an old people's home. I can understand why simple things like keeping a department looking nice can affect how you feel, specially when you have to spend days in one room that looks stuck in a time warp. So I'm going to be making New Mummy Hampers as a prize which will raise some money for the ward and also help parents start off life with their new baby. My other idea is I want to run a sponsored Buggy Walk. I haven't done a sponsored walk since I was a little girl and walked over and Humber Bridge twice for Comic Relief (we were all dressed up as a member of the Spice Girls). I think I need to get some exercise done as it's been... a while!

Currently I have been donated comforters from Little Lilypad, a FlexiBath and some organic baby wipes from  So Organic. If you would like to help donate towards our hampers to raise money for Walsall Manor Hospital's Maternity Ward then check out The Walsall Mum or contact me.

I'll keep you all up-to-date with how things are going. My mind is still full of ideas and being super creative, it just won't stop! Really hope I can help make a difference.