Here is a link to a talk I gave to the Godfirst youth about wealth inequality within Cheltenham. Please have a look (and note all figures are up to date as per February 2024 for Cheltenham. uk_wealth_inequality_talk_godfirst_youth_cheltenham_feb_2024.pdf

The Fresh Hope community lunch is the highlight of the week. 
In partnership with Wiggly Charity and Good Food Cheltenham we ensure a hot healthy meal is available on a #payasyoufeelbasis. This means you can pay as little as nothing or more than the cost of the meal would take to make for your lunch. We want people to enjoy being community together and to eat together as well as providing nutritious food. We would love for you to give it a try. 
​gloucester.anglican.org/2023/community-hot-lunch-brings-fresh-hope-in-cheltenham/

Have a look at a short presentation I did for my university course I am studying. 

I’ve spent pretty much all of my summer with those in need. Whether this be for food or a friend, those who haven’t been able to afford a holiday, those who have no family support and those wondering how they are going to afford the back to school uniform.
I have spent days and days this summer with those who have been grateful for the organisations that have put on school holiday activities, those who have given their time to serve and care.
Families for whom in the words of this mum, a simple pizza and craft activity has, “made my summer.”
Children who without charities and churches giving up their time won’t have been able to eat 3 meals a day, or get out and be active or have new experiences they may never have had the opportunity to try.

I’ve had the privilege of being alongside these families, helping and supporting with the struggles. Giving of my time, my money, my own resources and using the resources of others to help as well. Being a Good Neighbour takes all forms. This summer we have paid for activities, time and food. It started with hiring a swimming pool (lido) for the children to celebrate the beginning of summer and ended with the making of a birthday cake for a 2 year old!
My particular highlights have been taking families swimming, watching families enjoying pizza making, a support group sleepover at a library, (a first I’m sure), messy church and hours in a park playing and talking as well as a few trips out to lunch to give advice and personal support.

Thank you to
www.facebook.com/GasGreenYCC/
www.freshhope.co/
stmarksmethodist.org.uk/
nclbcheltenham.org.uk/

and many many more for your input into school holidays who I haven't worked with. 
​
How have you spent yours. What can you be doing next school holidays to help those in need.
Start thinking and planning now and get in touch if I can help you make a difference to those who need.

Are we enjoying the summer holidays? The rain certainly is not helping us get out and about. I remember when my children were little I had to get the balance between being out of the house all of the time entertaining the children with their friends or being at home trying to keep them busy there. A sunny day definitely helps with being able to be in the park.
From my years of working with families, I know the summer holidays can be daunting. 6 weeks loom long, there is no routine, no structure and n certainly no routine of meals. Why is it that children need to eat 6 extra meals in the school holidays. I used to love a free activity with my children to the park or similar. I see these days that even parks sometimes have something extra for parents to pay money on such as a bouncy castle or similar. As  my children got older, I used to have to juggle, holiday clubs with working hours, and now as they are older still, not wanting them in the house all day on their screens so that I can finish a pile of emails or reports that need writing as well as the meeting that still need to take place.
What have I learnt in all of my experience of school summer holidays which counting them up now amounts to 22! I have put some down here for your benefit. 

• The free activities are just as good as those you have to pay for. Make the most of these and attend as many as you can. These very well meaning organisations who put them on, want you to attend. They give the children new experiences and a chance to spend time with others of their own age. Even better if you can drop them off and have some time for yourself. 
• Get out and about as often as you can. Children need to burn off their energy. An evening walk to the park is fun as it is out of routine and often the park is quieter at this time (and the ice cream kiosk is shut too)! Don't forget some parent's feel nervous being out, so maybe message someone you don't normally spend time with and see if they want to join you. They may be feeling lonely too. 
• Remember its only 6 weeks and even though this feels like a long time, before you know it, it will be back to school and the routine this brings back. If you are struggling, reach out to someone, a friend or an organisation you know. They also know how hard the holidays can be and can be a listening ear and offer support.
• Its very hard if you cannot afford a holiday or expensive days out such as what all of social media seems to be full of. Remember, life has seasons, sometimes we can afford to these things and sometimes we can't. This year I am not taking my children away and that's hard to  deal with. This year has meant I don't have the money to do that but it's ok, we will still have fun. We have fitted in a swimming session and a meal out. But we also enjoy playing board games at home and watching a film together. All of these give memories in the same way and children enjoy time together, not money being spent on them. 

Summer holidays, I know are hard, remember it's only 6 weeks. Reach out for support. You can do it. Asking for help is often the hardest part. If we are kind to others, asking them to come and visit the park with us, then maybe they return the invitation and a new friendship could be made. 

Saturday 24th June saw the return of the nclbcheltenham.org.uk/ children's festival. An organisation I have been supporting for many years. I took #Beagoodneighbour along for the day to run an activity and to launch the 'Design a Summer Picnic Mat competition.'
It was great to be a part of Quiet hour, for those children with additional needs who would benefit from a quieter hour to enjoy the activities. One mum said, "My children wouldn't have coped with the noise of more people here so this is something she can access on a level she can enjoy." This year's theme was togetherness and it was a pleasure to be 'together' with other charities, organisations and groups from across Cheltenham providing a free day of activities for children to enjoy. As a mum I love a day where I don't have to spend money so my children would have definitely enjoyed this when they were younger. 
For those who love to stick, paint, glue. explore , be active and get messy, this was your perfect day out. It also gave parents a chance to connect with those agencies who can give support and safe people to talk with. It is extremely important to get help when you need help before a problem spirals and having a good relationships with the charities and organisations offering this support is extremely important. 
My job on the day was to interview the sponsors and the mayor who came along with his children to enjoy the day. I had the pleasure of meeting Dean Close www.deancloselittletrees.co.uk/ who were one of the sponsors of the day. 

My thanks to my volunteers who came along to help me from www.godfirst.org.uk/ to Be Good Neighbours and get stuck in with the people we made either to look like the children who made them or someone they knew. There were some very creative sticking and making of people. It reminds me of the reason I set this organisation up. Each of us are different and each of us is special. We are all made with unique talents and with a lot of love and kindness to give away to others. I am always wanting everyone I come across to be able to show kindness to someone else who needs it and we meet those in need of receiving love every day. Today I helped the team from NCLB Children's festival set up and tidy away all the banners and equipment. My feet hurt and I was tired but many hands make light work and if we all work together we can achieve a lot.
Who have you been kind to this week. My favourite quote is this. "In a world where you can be anything, be kind." If everyday we show kindness to someone, then surely we can make this world a better place for everyone. Challenge yourself and show kindness to someone this week.
Photo Below: Selfie with the mayor! #Mayorlife

 This week I have been out and about meeting people and networking. I have had the pleasure this week of working with www.schoolhousecafe.co.uk/. This low cost café is at the heart of St Paul's community. It is a safe place to come and meet a friend, catch up on some work or get some peace and quiet away from the hustle of life. The new menu is affordable an delicious with sumptuous cakes on offer. What more could you want? I was sitting there one lunch time when someone I hadn't see for a while walked through the door! What a good place for a catch up. Please come and meet me there for a cup of tea. I'll even buy you a cake!
Fresh Hope who run the School House Café, have extended their opening times for their food pantry at the Rock on Tewksbury Road. get in touch here for more information. 
I have taken part in the Feeding Gloucestershire Launch in Cheltenham which was key to bringing people together across Cheltenham to talk about food, growing and sustainability in Cheltenham  www.feedinggloucestershire.org.uk/ I so love being a part of this organisation as it not only celebrates the fabulous work we do across Cheltenham to get food to those who need it. The more we can do together the more we can achieve for the good of those in our communities. We can all provide food support to someone who needs it, either by helping them with food, helping people to grow their own or giving people tools to help people learn about sustainability and the journey of food and waste what  we eat goes on. A huge shout out to Faith from www.springbankcommunitygroup.org/ for providing the delicious lunch as we shared our knowledge and talked about how we can help each other in this partnership. 
I spent a lovely afternoon visiting and learning all about the fabulous work they do at www.gloscitymission.org.uk/ I was so impressed with the high levels and huge range of support they give to those that need it living on the street in Gloucester as well as providing food, clothes and a soon to be refuge place for those who need somewhere to sleep in the day. Kevin their manager is fabulous and so inspiring to drive this mission to those who need love and hope whose lives are in turmoil and can see no way forward. 

#Be a Good Neighbour seeks to connect people together, and help people to get help and help each other. We can make our community a better place by working together, sharing resources, time and ideas to offer hope and love to those we meet. 
Everyone can do something to play their part however small. What can you do to help where you are. 

Today 30 people gathered for the Feeding Gloucestershire district launch in Gloucester. Headed up by Feeding Gloucestershire people were invited from all over the district to meet, network and share ideas and look to collaborate more in the future. We were introduced to the Sustainable Food Places coordinator Jenny who spoke about the county going for its bronze award over the coming year. Jenny asked, are people able to access healthy food? Can hospitals, schools, prisons etc in our county have access to sustainable food. What about food waste and do we ask the question enough of what waste does the food we buy or grow produce and how can that be used.
Feeding Gloucestershire seeks to ensure that everyone in Gloucestershire has access to good food and that no one goes hungry. We asked the question, how do we have a more joined up approach, what are the opportunities and challenges for us all. It was fantastic to see a broad range of organisations in the room, meeting and chatting, learning from each other. It is important that we are all there, no one can solve the problems on their own and no one has all the solutions. If we all play our part and work together, we can move forward.
Deb Baker Feeding Gloucestershire Network coordinator gave a very inspiring speech referring to Pandora’s box saying, “When we unpack the issues, at the bottom of the box is hope. We need to keep moving forward and keep going.”
A day like today is important to meet and act. However, a day like today is wasted if nothing changes. Remember your connections, remember your learning, and keep moving forward, one step at a time. The ones and twos we help makes a huge difference to the lives of those individuals but together we can do more and make the numbers into the hundreds and thousands.
It was so lovely to be treated to lunch from the ‘Eat Well Wagon’ (link coming soon) who were awarded their 5 Star food hygiene rating today (#Congratulations). A delicious lunch of wraps, jacket potatoes and salad as well as fruit kebabs made as the children who get to eat from the van during the Holiday Activity Fund (HAF). We also got to taste some delicious samples from the Gloucester Service station in partnership with Gloucester Gateway Trust www.gloucestershiregatewaytrust.org.uk
With my thanks to Feeding Gloucestershire, Debs and Gloucester City Council's Leanne I was so pleased to be a part of you with my role on the board of Feeding Gloucestershire I learnt a lot about the work being done from another district to my own in Cheltenham. Building on the work I started with Feed Cheltenham I’m thrilled to be a small cog in the big wheel of ensuring everyone in Gloucestershire has access to good food and that no one goes hungry.
For more information on the work of Feeding Gloucestershire please visit www.feedinggloucestershire.org.uk
​ 

Who have you been born to be? 
Have you ever wondered how it must be easy for the rich and famous to do good to others. Or maybe the more money you have, does it become harder to give it away? 
​As I reflect on King Charles III coronation, I found this quote from him and thought, how right it is that we should all have this attitude. If we are all determined to leave the world or people that we interact with, better than when we first come across them, between us we can all do good to others and the world we live in.
Have a think? Who or what can you have a good impact on? In the words of Rudyard Kipling 
  "If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds of distance run,
Yours is the earth and everything that's in it,
And = which is more- you'll be a man my son!"
   
What can you do this coronation weekend to make a difference to somewhere you live or someone in your community. Let's not forget that we can make a difference to others at any time of the year. A small act of kindness can make a big difference.
To know more please get in touch with me.