I don’t know about all of you, but I’ve rarely been out of joggers for the last three weeks, which isn’t always good for the midsection and doesn’t bode well for getting my clothes fastened when the lockdown is eased.  My birthday passed recently, and since celebrations are all at home for the moment, there was no cake, which is not a bad thing when I think about my favourite jeans.  There was no flour in our shops, which also made making one a little bit on the tricky side, so I didn’t bother.  If truth be told, I was feeling a bit cheerless on the celebration front anyway.

My gift haul stuck firmly to chocolate and flowers.  ‘Hellooo, remember those jeans!!!!!!’

Seriously, every time one of my family goes out for essentials, they come back with chocolate…  For once, I’m almost at the point of never wanting to eat the stuff again.  Anyway, my cut price birthday flowers were beginning to wilt the day after I’d got them and soon ended up on the compost heap.  Disappointing to say the least, and I don’t want to fall out with the kids for the current chocolate bonanza, because at least they’re thinking about me for more than picking up dirty clothes and making endless pots of pasta..

Fast forward a day, and I had the opportunity to be gifted an item from Eternity Rose.   I was delighted, as it involved flowers and shiny things.  I don’t know why I didn’t realise at first, as I thought from the pictures, that I was looking at a flower mould which was dipped in silver, gold or platinum.  When I read further, I realised that it was far far more than I expected.

The lovely items include genuine roses, hand picked and dipped.  There are several options to choose from, including glazed roses with colourful petals, and several jewellery items, which is what I first went to look at.  From looking through the options, I realised I’d appreciate a silver item to match my lounge decor of pale grey walls, beige seats, wood floor and black units.  My lamp and clock are all silver in colour. I know, I know, I need to put some lovely photos on display.

I chose the eternity rose silver dipped real rose and silver dipped vase, and happy I did.  Delivery in the UK was swift and wrapped beautifully.

The Eternity Rose Silver Dipped Rose and Vase Set, with Window Box

• It’s gorgeous.  It really has a high shine finish, due to the rose and vase being dipped in fine silver.  My pictures really don’t do lovely rose the justice it deserves.
• This is a geniune, real rose, one that the Eternity Rose team has grown in their own nursery, then picked to begin a three month process of preserving, sealing, electroplating and finally the silver plating which consists of dozens of thin layers built up over the space of a few weeks.
• My rose came in a lovely display box with a glass lid, which gives me the option to store it securely for decades and definitely a lovely gift to pass onto future generations.
• Comes with a certificate of authenticity.
• Fabulous option for birthdays and anniversary gifts.

Eternity Rose say

Find Eternity Rose on Social Media below:

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Pinterest

YouTube

Hi all.  Both my mum and dad passed away recently.  I’m not looking for sympathy with this post, but I do want to highlight an awareness of issues that most people simply don’t know about.

Campaign for CCTV in Care

One man, who has a relative who suffered abuse in care, has taken it further, especially for nursing/care homes, has begun a campaign to call for CCTV in care, to ensure levels of care become consistent and monitored for progress and safety.   I’ve followed his progress over the last year or two, and it deserves some awareness.

Tony Stowell and his campaign started small and has grown in popularity with celebrity backing, to try and stop abuse in care.  He campaigns for care in care/nursing homes, but it’s all the same thing, as carers recycle, going from job to job, care home to care home, house to house.  The pool just rotates, it’s easy to get a job and standards of training/personnel are often poor.

https://youtu.be/x0vhgJcCwzs

Tony was nominated for a Pride of Britain Award for his work over the last few years, and has already won a Heroes award.

Keep up with his campaign on:

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/TonyStowell3

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/supportstowell/

Why Am I Sharing This?

Mum lived with me until she passed away, and my father was in a nursing home nearly 100 miles away.  It’s been interesting navigating social work, care agencies, the NHS and their care needs.  I wouldn’t say interesting in a good way, as there have been many battles during my mothers care, for us to protect her dignity and give her person centred care.  There are some amazing carers, there really are, but there are also, what seems to be, so many very much abusive and bad/lazy ones.  Tony’s campaign, and the sheer amount of stories and experiences shared with his campaign, show that abusive care takes many forms, both physical and mental.

My mum has had carers in my house as she’s lived with me for a fairly long time now.. Our experience of those has been mixed.  There are good and bad carers, but most are just desperate to get onto the next client.

Sadly, at the beginning of problems, I only had a baby monitor type camera, that allowed viewing only, which served no use for the first complaints I made, before we ditched one agency.  After a  catastrophic stroke, she had a package of new carers coming in to help.  The training of ‘professional carers in the community,’ is inadequate.  I know because I put two people on a carer course to find out for myself.   After a fraught couple of weeks, a new carer came, who was amazing.  Absolutely fabulous, and kept the other carers in check, so life tootled along until she moved on a year later, when the quality of care dropped.

I’m not going to go into everything, but I started watching the carers, and changed the camera to one that records due to not being believed previously.  What I watched on that camera will haunt me, to see what was happening to my mum, in my own home.  Social work backed up the carers and the agency, who told us we had to back off and let the carers get on with it, and eventually the agency pulled all care.  No help at all for months, and social work believed the agency and carers.

Finally, I let a visiting OT see them.  She immediately went back and said the care was unacceptable, and as a senior OT, they believed her.  The agency did come to view the videos and took action.

Several carers told me how much they loved looking after mum, said she was a delight, and strangely one even rubbed noses with mum, saying what great friends they were.  That’s the one a coffee shop complained about, saying she ignored mum for the whole time they were there.  In essence, carers can look/sound ok to us and their employers, but behind closed doors, alone with our loved ones, the treatment can be different, and I suspect many poor carers don’t even know they are poor carers.

And yet, sadly, I have to say, that what happened to my mum, is mild in comparison to what’s happening to very many people, especially those with dementia, up and down the length and breadth of our country.  Why?  Pretty much because few people really want to know in our society.  Busy people prefer to think care is good and all abuse is visible.  They accept bruises and cuts as ‘normal,’ in an ageing population, because the alternative will affect their lives, so think care is a lovely little perfect bubble, and that care is good because the carers say it is

Remember, that many carers and care homes will argue with cameras being in place, telling us it is illegal, and it really is not.  I never had a good carer complain about the cameras, and thought it would deter poor carers. If they argue with you, they will also say that cameras take away the dignity of the person being cared for, when the truth is that a camera helps protect the dignity.  If someone is advanced enough to need extensive care, and requires total strangers stripping and washing them daily, which feels like a violation to them, their personal dignity is already gone, and the camera is only there to ensure care is done with dignity.   I would now never put a relative into a home that doesn’t allow a camera.  Of course there will be families that use cameras to make silly accusations, but that same footage will also protect those carers.

Back cameras.  We are on CCTV everywhere we go, in shops, hospitals, schools, even just walking down the street, so why not in the care workplace too?

The one thing that’s hit home very much for me recently, is just how many unofficial carers there are out in the community, doing their bit, day by day, not really realising they are actually carers.  You know the ones, the people who pop in past an elderly or disabled neighbour and bring home some shopping, put out their bins, pick up medicines from the chemist, keep an eye on who rings the doorbell, makes tea and coffee, along with sharing snippets of their own news of the day.  It’s just something some people do..

They say that if we need anything done, we should always ask the busiest person we know.  Busy people tend to prioritise,  know what’s not important, and is the one who is most likely to make the time to help out in an emergency.

I have mum at end stage dementia at home full time, paralysed and doubly incontinent, and a special needs adopted teenager that needs 24/7 support too, as well as his struggling siblings.  I also work when I can, and run the blog/s when I have time.  When dad died a few weeks ago, it was me who had to run around, organise the funeral, celebrant, flowers, driving 5 hour round trips to and from where he lived to sort out the death certificate, pay the funeral director, pick up the ashes, and then home and work almost all night seeing to mum as she’s awake till 3-4am just now, the boys, and catching up with my own sadly reduced paying work too.  It was exhausting.

My running has had to stop as I’m often up so late with mum, and I have few carers as I just don’t trust them enough.  ‘Professional care,’ for dementia, is lacking in care in the industry for end of life.  Seriously, the things I’ve seen so called professionals do……is for sharing when mum has moved on.  I’ve put on weight because I’m not running and my hobbies have had to be sacrificed to find the time for everything else.  It’s a vicious cycle that carers fall into and I’ll have to build up my running again, from the beginning, when mum is gone.  I loved it, so it’s been a huge loss of something that was so hard for me to build up.  I’m not a natural runner, so it took months of effort to be able to run.   The added weight makes me feel rubbish, so on and on it goes, in a never ending cycle of needy people needing my time.

My health has suffered too.  Less exercise means my diabetes is harder to control, and the depressing issue of added weight doesn’t help.  I never have time to see a doctor for myself, as that’s another sacrifice I’ve made over the last few years.

Do you recognise yourself with anything at all that I’ve said here?

If so, you are a carer.

This week is:

CARERS WEEK

There is a lot of information on carersweek.org

61% of carers surveyed said they had suffered ill health as a result of caring.  The sad truth is that carers often neglect themselves, because there is no other choice.

The focus this year is getting carers connected.

They recognise that caring can be hard, and affects every aspect of someones life.  Family, relationships, finances, work and health often all become difficult to negotiate.  It’s even harder that people who have never had significant caring duties, really do not understand, at all.  Even paid carers don’t understand.  They go home at nights, have days off, go on holidays, and don’t have the 24/7/365 commitment.

There are huge rewards to caring, like seeing a family member contented and emotionally supported during their difficulties, protecting them from harm, but finding the right information and help is really very difficult, and harder to access than it should be.

With up to 6.5 million estimated carers in the UK, they are not all with caring duties as extensive as mine, but they are carers none the less, and need someone to talk to.

Non carers tend not to understand, so the focus is often on connecting carers, by listening to the experiences of people who live the life.  There is also a huge difference between the carers in the community and the ones who visit care/nursing homes.  It’s not a one size fits all problem.

Being connected can mean:

• Directly with other carers as a support.
• Online forums and support groups.
• Help with benefits and covering the extra costs of looking after someone who needs care.
• Getting help with being recognised as a carer, especially for dementia, as the families looking out for elderly and infirm relatives or those with dementia, seem to be in a black hole compared to those with the more traditional medical disabilities.
• Breaks from caring.
• Technology to help, such as Telecare alarm systems for windows, doors, pendant alerts, fall alerts and much much more.

If you think you are a carer, even a young carer, look for any events in your area that help you become connected.  If, like me, you prefer online, find a reliable group that is responsibly run and we soon find ourselves within a larger network of people in the same situation as ourselves, to share experiences with, and often ask invaluable advice.

Sponsored by Pfizer

When my boys were little, and they started running a fever, one thing always popped to the front of my mind when they got to that unresponsive state that young children can go into while they’re ill.  With a glass, I’d stand there pressing it lightly on anything that resembled a spot, yet not really knowing what I was looking for.  All I knew was that meningitis was a very dangerous thing indeed for children, and something I needed to keep an eye out for.  In this post, I’m partnering with Pfizer to spread the word about meningococcal disease.

As a young adult, I didn’t ‘get it,’ that signs of meningitis are actually far more than a purple rash that doesn’t go away when lightly pressed to glass.  I think it was when I read about Victoria Beckham being diagnosed with viral meningitis in 2000, that I really took note and started to research more.  I’d been convinced that meningitis only really affected young children, with very rare instances of adults affected.  At that point, I learned about the difference between bacterial and viral meningitis, and how bacterial meningitis is the more serious of the two.

The difference:

• Viral Meningitis

Symptoms such as headache, feeling sick, being tired and sensitive to light.  Symptoms usually clear up within a few days.  I suspect most people with this form would think they had a very bad cold or a flu, and are unlikely to know they’ve had viral meningitis.

• Bacterial Meningitis (e.g meningococcal disease)

Meningococcal disease is an illness caused by the bacteria, Neisseria meningitis.   Even with treatment, death can occur as quickly as 24 hours after symptoms first show, or the disease can cause long-term disabilities.

The bacteria can be spread by kissing!!!!

Busy public areas, such as schools, theatres, cinemas, music festivals as well as being close to family and friends, can spread the disease, by actions as simple as sharing a cup or coughing.

Apparently, in the UK, up to around 1 in 5 adolescents carry the bacteria that can lead to meningitis.  They can carry the disease without showing symptoms themselves, but if the infection spreads to the brain through the bloodstream, the symptoms can become apparent.  That’s an incredible statistic when you think that at school, there might be up to around 30 kids in a class, and potentially, around 6 of those carry the bacteria.  Around 1 in 5 of my friends have blonde hair, which is incredible given that we’re all over forty…..but you know what I mean.

Adolescents

My boys are all at this age now.  Teenagers embarking on the first part of their lives without their parents around at all times, keeping an eye on everything and everyone they come across.  I watch them with their friends, laughing and capering, watching movies – 20 to a bedroom, while passing round the family packs of crisps and sharing bars of chocolate and bottles of juice.  What is that with teenagers these days, where they swig from the cola bottle and pass it along to their friends!!!  I’ve seen my boys sitting at the table with friends, where they’re all eating burgers, or pasta, or whatever I’ve put on to feed the hordes of growing boys, and there’s always one or two who polish off the leftovers from their friends’ plates.

I look at that behaviour differently now, knowing that kissing, socialising in groups and sharing eating and drinking utensils can spread the disease.  I also know that telling a bunch of teenagers that they’re potentially putting themselves at risk, is as likely to change their behaviour as my chances of winning a lottery that’s rolled over for a year…

What Can We Do?

#24youhavethepower is a social media programme designed to educate us.  If you would like to find out more information about meningitis and vaccination, please visit www.24youhavethepower.co.uk

As parents, adults and adolescents, we do have the power, to learn more, to know what to look for, and how to take the best precautions we can.

Vaccinations

I believe vaccination is one of the biggest advances in medicine for our species.  It’s incredible that we can protect ourselves and our kids from some devastating diseases by little injections.  The research involved is life changing for us, and has even eradicated diseases in the UK, like smallpox and polio.  There are Meningitis vaccinations available for babies, teenagers and students too.  My boys did receive the MenACWY vaccine at school in S3, although it took a little persuasion for my middle boy to go through with it.

For me, it was worth persuading my boys to receive protection from a devastating disease, however it’s up to you, as readers to source the information, read the facts, and make your own mind up for your families.  As parents, all we can do, is make an informed judgment call.  Use this post as a means to research for yourself, talk to your GP, and make your own conclusions.

Know the Symptoms

Don’t wait until someone you know has the condition to find out more.

• Early symptoms can be mistaken for colds or flu, such as fevers, aches and pains, feeling nauseous and vomiting, headaches and confusion.
• More rare symptoms show up as a rash, stiff neck, aversion to bright light, and being confused.  Not everyone will have these symptoms.

If you suspect someone has meningitis, get immediate medical help, as it is vital for survival.

Yes, really.  All I want to do is sleep.  This has been me for the last few weeks.  As soon as it gets dark, my brain seems to think it’s time to climb that wooden hill.  It’s not something I’ve been terribly bothered by for a long time, but one of my boys has.

From what I hear, it affects all of us at some point in our lives.  My husband is one of those who is up with the lark every morning, and while I’ve never understood how that is even remotely possible for anyone, I learned to live with my fuzzy head and setting three alarms every day to get up, and always having one at the opposite side of the room, so that I have to get up to switch it off.  If the alarm is beside my head, I have a tendency to switch it off while I’m still in snoozeland.

I wouldn’t exactly call it excessive sleep as such, as if I fall asleep during the day, I end up awake during the night, which is never good, but I am struggling with the dark o’clock heavy eyes syndrome.

What I’ve learned so far:

Potential Causes

Meds and Medical Conditions

I have an underactive thyroid and fibromyalgia, and those tablets do sometimes interact.  Taking the fibro meds at bedtime might be much more beneficial for me.  Perhaps my thyroid has gone out of sync again, but since my review isn’t due for another few months, I’ll just have to suck this one up for a while.

Not Sleeping Enough

Hmmm.  I’m not convinced by this one, but then again, my sleeping pattern is often all over the place.  I have to get up for my mum during the night, and for middler on occasion, as well as chasing down the elder teens and constant lifts home in the wee hours.  Perhaps it’s not surprising that I want to snooze in the afternoon.  I often get three hours, then up for an hour, and back to sleep again.

Hypersomnia

Related to the above, and caused by broken and irregular sleep patterns, it’s possible that it is affecting me more than I realise.   I could on many days, easily sleep for 12 hours if I were able to…..

Shifts

Well, I’m seeing a pattern here.  Not enough sleep at once, hypersomnia caused by irregular sleeping patterns, that exist for shiftworkers, and people with my patterns of sleeping.  It’s almost as if the body is trying to bank sleeping hours with the disruption in my circadian rhythm.

Food

This is a definite no brainer.  Heavy stodge, stews and large meals definitely make me want to sleep.  I’ve never understood those who can eat heavy meals and don’t feel wiped out in the afternoons because of it.

Mental Health

This isn’t me.  Not unless you count stress with a disabled adult and a teen with mental health issues in the house.   Perhaps I need a holiday….  It is a 24/7 job caring for someone who has dementia and is doubly incontinent with full body disability, as well as working on top of it, which often sees me pounding the computer keys at 2am.  I am definitely not depressed, so that rules one condition out.

Sleeping Conditions

My youngest has been told he has insomnia.  I’m not convinced.  Like me, he struggles to get to sleep, but then struggles to wake up.  I think screen time is a problem for most teenagers and if he actually went to bed and switched off his phone, I think he would be fine.  Perhaps I should listen to that as well.

Youngest did have sleep apnea where he would choke when sleeping, stop breathing a little and wake up gasping.  After many tests and different doctors, he finally got diagnosed with kissing tonsils, ie with no space either side of the throat for tonsils to slip into, his would close up and block air getting through.  With a removal of the tonsils, hey presto, his sleep apnea and constant vomiting stopped.

I definitely don’t have narcolepsy, where sufferers fall asleep at all times of the day, it’s more a heavy feeling of wanting to close my eyes and drift off pleasantly.

What Can I Do?

I can’t change some things in my life, such as looking after my mum at all hours of the day and night, and not working isn’t an option, but I do need to be more disciplined with some other things around bedtime, that are just sensible, and would perhaps help others too.

• I don’t smoke, but if others do, they could try to reduce nicotine before bedtime.
• Try to chill out before finishing my bedtime routine, ie switching off the TV, laying down my phone and not reading a book.
• Try and get to bed for a set time.  I know this is almost impossible with my family and work, but it doesn’t mean I can’t at least try.
• Avoid caffeine for the last hour before bedtime.  I am really going to struggle with this, but given that I struggle to set a regular bedtime, it’s not a surprise.
• Get back to eating more healthily.  I’ve not been great recently, which sort of goes with the sleep issue.
• Pinch youngests daylight lamp for evenings.  It’s got to be worth a try to stop me wanting to zzzzz.
• Try and persuade my GP to test my thyroid levels early.  Not holding out much hope for this one, but you never know.
• Get outside more in the winter.  I’ve been hibernating recently.  Perhaps this is bad for me…

I suspect anyone reading this is having their own sleep issue, so good luck to all, and it’s time to bring on the longer days.  I’ve had enough of winter..

In collaboration with SACO

Would you believe that one in four of Scottish people given a choice, said their favourite happy place is a white sandy Hebridean beach?  It’s a thought provoking finding, and I suspect it has absolutely everything to do with those white sandy beaches.  I don’t think anyone could say no to a sandy beach.

The further research from SACO, found that visiting Loch Ness and walking in the Lake District were joint second place, while visiting the Roman Baths of Bath and enjoying fish and chips in Padstow harbour completed the top five happy spots for Scots.

It’s no surprise to me, that two thirds of the adults said some of their fondest memories of being a child were spent holidaying in Britain.  When I grew up, going abroad was just not an option for us.  Most of my kids holidays have been at home too, in caravans or latterly the motorhome before we sold it.  We still take holidays here in the UK, as the cost is what does it for us everytime.  I know that camping would be cheaper still, but something to do with the open air, hard ground and no en suite facilities tends to put me off…  As a tin tenter for years, we’ve taken our fair share of holidays at home, and we’ve all loved them.

We’ve stayed in Dornoch, Nairn, Cambridge, Devon, Montrose, Perth and many  more, always being part of the outdoor caravan site life.  At times it’s been luxury holiday site and at others, it’s just been us and a couple of other vans….  It was always different.  One of our favourite places to go, as a Scot, was up in Aviemore.  You can’t beat it for scenery and things to do if you’re an outdoorsey type.

In Aviemore, we’ve also stayed in their chalets, as there’s an enormous amount of good quality serviced apartments in Scotland.  One of the best we’ve had, was a one night to Edinburgh, where we got a last minute apartment on Princes Street itself, with all the mod cons and falling out onto the street.

I think I really do agree that if we could guarantee the weather, it’s unlikely we’d go abroad much.  We don’t go often as it is, but if we had great weather, it would be even less.  It’s the little things that stay in our memories.  I’m glad we managed to pass those along to our kids, and I hope they pass great experiences along to theirs.

←

You just never know what you might see on your travels.  We got stuck behind this little posse one year….

I must admit, that having our dog, was influenced our UK based holidays for many years, as we didn’t want to put her into kennels, and it was nice to take her to new places, and create great family experiences for the kids and the animals in our lives.

How I miss this girl being in our lives…..

We don’t have to spend a fortune for kids to have a great time.  We’ve rolled down hill, skimmed stones, dug holes in sand during a cold winter day and more….  It’s all about doing……

Have a look at the infographic from SACO, for more information on their research.  Where’s YOUR happy place?

We got the chance to give this a try.  It was a bit of a no brainer, as it involved gadgets and movies, which are the two biggest hobbies of almost all the Scottish Mum family.  I think most of us have heard of EE these days, and they launched a new Community Cinema Club for 2017.

This year, EE brought a series of 4G powered film screenings to rural communities across the UK, in partnership with BAFTA.

The first event was on the side of Gimmer Crag, a sheer cliff face in the Lake District, which has only recently become connected by EE and the 4G network.

I’ve obviously got no head for heights, as just looking at this picture makes me feel dizzy.

As a Scot, whose relationship with 4G was very patchy until very recently, when even the possibility of 3G working, seemed to be a distant memory.  EE is continuing it’s 4G roll out, with each newly connected community being given a 4GEE Community Cinema Kit to keep, which includes a 4G WiFi device, a state-of-the-art connected projector, wireless speakers, and a movie streaming voucher to host al fresco movie nights with BAFTA-winning films during the year.

Many rural communities which have just come online with EE, are pretty remote, and miles away from a cinema, although EE intend to connect 95% of the UK landmass by 2020,.  It’s also a lovely idea, to help communities make their own cinema club, with a kit that can be used outside and indoors too.

While the bigger competition for a full kit like mine is over, there is still the option of winning a smaller on the go kit to watch movies on the move.  On the 25th August, 10 lucky winners will be in with the chance to win one of these, so keep an eye out on their Twitter for the news, and details of how to enter.

We’ve been doing some renovations inside, and rainy weather convinced us to give our kit a try on a dark damp night, by stitching the canvas screen onto the supports of the new wall that’s going up.  It made a perfect place to hang the screen.

We used our box as the stand for the movie, which worked a treat.  As it’s the first time we used it, it took a fair few minutes to get it up and running, but how fabulous was that when we had half a whole wall to watch a movie with……..

I realise just how fortunate we are to have the opportunity to test this kit out.   With the canvas screen, the speaker and the projector, it’s a pretty good full blown cinema experience.  Outside, I think we’d have to try and find some trees to tie the screen to, but it’s worth a try to give it a go.

We hadn’t charged up the gadgets before use, so we had to plug in, but everything operates by battery.  I think we’re going to enjoy this very much over the next few weeks, while we learn to get to know it a bit.  In the end, it was fairly simple, with the EE 4G being used to provide the data, which allowed us to watch the movie by streaming it through the projector box.

Even the cat was interested in the box………

EE, is part of the BT Group, which means it’s the the largest mobile communications company in the UK, delivering mobile and fixed communications services to consumers.

EE pioneered the UK’s first superfast 4G mobile service in October 2012.

I have to admit, watching a film was the longest I’ve had our youngest in the room with us for about a year.  It must have been something about the size of the canvas screen, as we certainly did have the cinema experience.

Remember, make sure to keep in touch with EE on Twitter, to find out how to enter for the smaller on the move kit on the 25th.

We’re taking our kit outdoors next.  This will be interesting….

Thanks to EE for the opportunity to try the cinema kit.

Every so often, as bloggers, we’re asked to share initiatives that are actually beneficial for all of us.  This is one of those initiatives, that I think we all need reminding of from time to time.

The #binit4beaches campaign team contacted me, and asked me to do a post, which I’m delighted to do.  They are a group of environmental campaigns and businesses, working together to reduce the pollution in the UK’s rivers and seas.

They say.

Did you know that there are approximately 200,000 sewer blockages throughout the UK every year, of which up to 75% are caused by fat, oil and grease poured down the sink? These blockages can cause sewage to overflow into local rivers and to the sea, places we all want to be able to enjoy safely with our friends and family.

What They Asked Bloggers

We were asked to become WATER AMBASSADORS, by informing all of you who read us, about the simple things we can do to help at home.

Remember that when you’re washing up, after making any of my recipes, DON’T pour oils and grease down the sink.

Instead wait for the oil or grease to cool and either wipe with kitchen roll into the bin or create a fat trap in an old jar to throw away later, either way; make sure these products go in the BIN, not the SINK!  I’m actually really good for doing this now, but a few years back, I’d have just turned on the hot tap, and let it swish down the plughole, never thinking where it would all end up.  Clean pipes, mean a higher chance of clean beaches.

Oils and grease can cause sewer blockages, which can overflow into homes, rivers and finally to the sea.  And we all want our beaches to be places we enjoy safely, especially if we have children and dogs with us.

This Easter make the change and #binit4beaches.”