Wholesome food and a warm welcome await at Squire’s this January and there’s a comforting 15% off the bill
Healthy eating habits are often front of mind when looking to start the new year, with vegan and vegetarian preferences a considered choice, as well as wholesome, thoughtful eating options.
Squire’s Garden Centres has a great range of delicious, flavoursome food and healthy meal choices available to start the new year off – and all with a welcoming 15% discount off total food and drink* bills (promotion does not apply to alcoholic drinks) – from 1st-31st January* across all centres.
A visit to a Squire’s Café Bar makes the perfect spot this January to keep warm, meet up with friends, and enjoy saving money too.
Now is the time to try different flavours in the comfort of Squire’s Café Bars with a great range of dishes including Light Bite options of Mushroom & Sage Soup and Parsnip or Apple & Thyme Soup – served with sliced sourdough, Jacket Potato with Cheesy Beans as well as the delicious Smashed Avocado & Red Onion Sandwich.
More filling options available are the plant-based ‘Moving Mountain’ Burger in a vegan brioche bun with chargrilled tomato chutney, the delicious Butternut Squash, Cranberry & Red Onion Tagine – roasted butternut squash and red onion wedges in a sweetly spiced tagine style sauce served with basmati rice and garlic flatbread and Cauliflower & Spinach Balti Pie. Alternatively, and for a satisfying taste of tradition, try Squire’s Hand-Battered Fish & Chips – MSC certified cod with petit pois and fresh tartare sauce. Menus vary by centre.
Squires Garden Centres have advice about what to do with your tree after Christmas
A real Christmas tree is one of the most significant purchases for many families during the festive season, and this is perhaps even more of a reason to make a conscious effort to treat it in a sustainable way after Christmas.
‘Real’ Christmas trees are 100% recyclable; they can be shredded into chippings which are then often used locally in parks or woodland. Local authorities have drop-off points or special collection of ‘real’ trees in early January, so it is worth checking services available – just remember to remove all the decorations first!
In addition to local drop-off points for recycling trees, there is also the National Christmas Tree Collection, the flagship event of JustHelping, the service benefitting local hospices and charities, with service users paying a donation to have their ‘real’ Christmas tree collected – in relevant locations, Squire’s Garden Centres promote the service to customers. In 2022 the charity raised over £975,500 for over 108 charities, hospices and community organisations.
Other creative ways to consider recycling a ‘real’ tree include:
Mulch the needles – remove branches and shake off needles and they will decompose over time
Wood compost – if you can’t get the tree shredded locally with ease, branches can be removed and trunk dismantled into small chunks, quickening up decomposition
Use the tree as a stake – removing needles, the trunk can be used as a useful garden stake for flowers or vegetables
Wildlife habitat – remove tree branches and use to thoughtfully set up a shelter in the corner of the garden for wildlife
Creative coasters – the tree trunk can be cut into small circles for rustic coasters, sanded down and sealed (to avoid sap leaking) and decorated if desired
‘Pot Grown’ Trees (with roots) – are a great, sustainable investment as they can be planted in the garden afterwards for an outdoor tree next year, or nurtured in their pot or re-potted in a bigger one if necessary and brought in again for next Christmas
Sarah Squire, Chairman of Squire’s Garden Centres, said: “Real” Christmas trees are a sustainable crop – while growing they absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. After Christmas cut trees are totally recyclable and pot grown trees can be enjoyed again next year. Local tree collection services can also be a win-win with trees being sustainably recycled and community charities benefitting too.
“As Christmas draws to a close, we can all think about what we do with our tree, committing to a collection service or re-purposing in the garden to help nature and wildlife – and absolutely avoiding festive waste in landfill.”
Lelita Baldock is a web-developer by day, fiction author by night. Part-time nutritionist, full-time foodie. She says: “I love food. But I am also very busy. So for me, healthy, satisfying meals that are quick and easy to prepare, that also come in on a tight budget are essential” Follow her tips & recipes here
It’s the new year, a time of renewal, resolutions and looking forward to the future. And if you are anything like me, a time to focus on healthy choices. The festive season is delightful, but it can often come with over-indulgence. And that’s all part of the fun. But by January our bodies can be crying out for simpler, more nourishing meals.
Luckily for us in the UK, January is also a time of hearty, healthy seasonal produce: think root vegetables and leafy greens. Perfect food to nourish our bodies and come in on a budget too.
The cost of living has been rising, and many of us are feeling the pinch. So it is natural that we are looking for savings everywhere, including on our grocery bill.
But budget doesn’t mean meals can’t be delicious too!
To help us all incorporate healthy, nourishing meals into our routine, while also being budget conscious, I have put together a series of tips and recipes to guide your choices. And have fun with food!
Let’s start with the basics of nutrition. We all know we want to be eating a minimum of 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day. This baseline ensures our intake of fibre, vitamins and minerals. Also fruits and vegetables are some of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet. Low in calories, high in nutrition. The perfect bang for your buck!
So, the first focus is to increase your intake of fruits and vegetables. Add berries or chopped fruit to breakfast cereals or toast. Add spinach or kale to smoothies. Include vegetables with lunch and dinner.
And my biggest tip? Include a serve of beans/pulses everyday. Beans are a nutrition powerhouse. Packed with fibre and plant-based protein, they are filling and great for digestion. Including them is easy. Spread hummus on wraps or sandwiches, add lentils to soups and stews, mix white beans into salads.
Aim for 30 different plants a week. Time and time again, research is showing the importance of fibre and consuming a variety or different plants. The fibre and variety supports the development of a healthy microbiome. Don’t get hung up though, 30 is just a positive goal.
Other tips to round out your nutrition basics are:
Enjoy dairy twice a day. Top porridge with yogurt, snack on a slice of cheese, add milk to coffee and tea. If you are plant-based or doing veganuary, swap your animal products for plant alternatives, just be sure to choose calcium fortified options (see more veganuary tips below). Base each meal on whole grains or starches. Grains and starches are rich sources of soluble fibre, that type of fibre that adds bulk to our stool and helps waste move smoothly through our digestive tract. Full of nutrition and filling, these foods should form the base of each meal. Snack on fruit, dairy or nuts. An easy way to reach your five a day. Keep red meat to a maximum of two serves per week. Red meat is a great source of iron and protein, but we don’t need huge quantities. Enjoy up to twice a week. Enjoy fish. Fish is a lean, healthy protein that also boosts our intake of healthy omega 3 fats. Aim for two serves per week.
So how do we keep to a budget?
With the rising cost of living many of us are looking to save where we can. And our food budget is a great place to look for bargains.
Healthy eating does not have to be expensive. Here are some tips to fill your plate with nourishing food at a low price.
Buy in season Use what you have: stew, soup, roast veggies – don’t let anything go to waste, it can all be made into a meal Use fresh first so thing’s don’t go off Add bulk: cabbage, kale, spinach will add nutrition and satiety to meals for low cost Halve meat and add beans/ pulses to make it go further Cook in bulk Buy in bulk. Purchase large bags of staples like rice/pasta/potatoes. If you have time to prep them, choose dried beans/ pulses and soak, rinse and cook. With meat/poultry/fish buy large amounts when on special and portion and freeze Focus on starches. Cheap and filling Use herbs and spices for flavour, rather than buying packaged food Buy the fruit that is on sale. If apples are 6 for £1, buy apples, if oranges are on special, buy oranges Purchase essentials then add extras according to budget: fresh herbs, out of season veg (eg salad items for sandwiches/ wraps)
So what’s in season in January?
Think hearty roots and filling greens: Potato Swede Parsnip Carrot Beetroot (can cook and eat leaves too!) Cabbage Kale Onion Leek
Another budget tip is to include frozen fruits and vegetables. Frozen is great. Produce is snap-frozen as soon as possible after picking, which ensures that the nutrients are kept. You can buy frozen food at a lower cost and in bulk to save money. Great for fruit and meal bulking veggies.
Putting it all together
As an example, I have created a 2 week meal plan that will provide all your nutritional needs, with all meals coming in at under 30p per serve (most even less).
This menu is what I call a ‘base shop’. It is a plant-based menu that will cover all your nutritional needs, for around 30 pounds.
Potatoes x6 Carrots x4 Parsnip Swede Pumpkin Cabbage Onion Leek x2 Avocado (if you enjoy them, buy the large bags much better value) Apples x3 Pears x3 Frozen mixed berries Frozen peas Frozen ratatouille mix Frozen spinach Peanut butter Bread mix Canned tomatoes x2 Canned chickpeas x2 Canned cannellini beans x2 Canned red kidney Canned lentils Basmati rice Porridge oats Pasta Almond milk (traditional milk is fine, this is just personal preference)
You can take this base menu and then add meat and dairy as per your taste, preference and budget. To keep the cost of these additional lower, go for bulk:
Dairy
Buy litre tubs of yogurt for breakfast topping and snacks Choose large cheese blocks for sandwiches and grated on meals
Meat/ fish/ poultry
Halve your meat portion and mix with beans/pulses to make it go further Look for bargains, choose cheaper options such as: beef chunk, chicken drumsticks, fish pie mix
All meals are quick and easy to make, simply peal, wash and chop the produce, put it in a pot, cover with water and cook. All can be cooked in a slow cooker or on a stove top. You can sauté or fry the onion first if desired. But I am a lazy cook, so I just put it all into a pot and cook!
All herbs are optional. Fresh or dried is fine. Add according to preference and availability
Breakfasts:
Oats, berries, linseed Toast peanut butter apple slices
Lunches:
Leftovers Sandwich topped with bean spread and lettuce/ grated carrot/ spinach/ tomato/ cucumber Soup – I have chosen pumpkin, leek and white bean soup
Dinners:
Pumpkin, pea, spinach, thyme risotto White bean, carrot, onion (sage optional) stew over baked spud Slow-cooker root stew (beef optional) Ratatouille and lentil pasta Shepards pie with lentils carrots, peas, onion (mince optional) Cabbage and red lentil dahl over rice (fish optional) Chickpea, spinach, tomato stew over rice or pasta (chicken optional)
Other budget meal ideas:
Muesli and milk/ yogurt Corn and potato chowder with peppers Goan fish curry Fish pie Beef stew Pea and ham soup Tuna and corn in baked spud Baked beans on toast with cheese Potato and spinach pie Sardines on toast with spinach and tomato slices Chicken drumsticks with rice and steamed veggies (great in air-fryer) Red lentil, chickpea, can tomatoes, onion, pepper and chipotle Red lentil, grated carrot, onion, gammon soup Peas, onion, bacon soup Salmon, pea, spinach risotto with fresh dill
Time-saving tips:
I like to bulk cook on the weekend, portion and freeze. Great time saver.
I will cook up the following on a Sunday to enjoy through the week:
Soup for lunches Bean spread (e.g. hummus) for sandwiches/ wraps Stew for dinner Pasta sauce to top pasta or baked potatoes Curry to top rice A bake/ pie
Some Veganuary swaps for healthy plant-based eating
Veganuary is a fun way to focus on getting more plants on your plate, and do something for the environment and animals. If you are vegan, or looking to eat more plant-based, here are some tips to ensure you are still getting all the nutrition you need:
Plant-based swaps:
Beef – lentils Chicken – chickpeas/ tofu Fish – white beans Milk – oat milk Iron – eat plant foods rich in iron with foods high in vitamin c, this helps iron absorption Calcium – fortified plant milks such as almond, oat, soy If you eat vegan long term, add in a high quality vitamin b12 supplement
Whole grain swaps
It is not essential to choose whole grain options. If you are getting a variety of fruits and veggies you will cover your fibre needs. But whole grains are more nutritious and higher in fibre than their more processed equivalents. Experiment and find some you like.
Bread – grainy/ whole grain bread White rice – brown rice Pasta – whole grain pasta/ bean based pasta White wraps – corn tortillas
Herbs and spices
Herbs and spices add flavour and variety to your meals. The initial cost to purchase them can be high, but a little goes a long way. They will last you for many meals. My tip would be to stock up your spices over time, purchasing something new each week as you build up your selection.
The essentials I swear by for versatility and taste are:
Dried thyme Paprika Cumin
From just these three options alone you can create all manner of Mexican, Indian and European dishes.
Condiments
Mustard – a little goes a long way Mayo – buy in bulk for dressings Ketchup – if you like Hot sauce – great for extra flavour and affordable
By focusing on eating a variety of in season fruits and vegetables, basing meals on grains and starches and adding small portions of meat/ fish/ poultry and dairy, you can build a tasty, health-promoting meal plan that is also affordable.
Experiment with different recipes, use what you have, and most of all, enjoy your food!
Toast bread. Spread with peanut butter. Top with chopped banana (Tip: experiment with different nut butters and fruit combinations. I love almond butter and blueberries)
Bean-spread open sandwich
Serves 2
· 4 slices whole grain bread · 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed · 1 avocado · 1 cup salad vegetables of choice, eg chopped tomato, cucumber, lettuce, spinach
Place beans and avocado in a bowl. Mash together until mixed like a chunky spread Toast bread. Top with bean spread and salad vegetables. enjoy.
Pumpkin and white bean soup
Serves 4-6
· 1 whole pumpkin (technically out of season, but always a cheap staple at the supermarket) · 1 can cannellini beans – drained and well rinsed · 1 leek – green part discarded. Washed and chopped · 1 litre chicken stock or water and salt to taste · Dried thyme
Chop pumpkin and leek. Add all ingredients into a saucepan. Cover with chicken stock. Cook until pumpkin is soft. Allow to cool. Blend with stick blender. Sprinkle with dried thyme. Serve warm with thick slice of whole grain toast.
Pumpkin, pea, spinach, thyme risotto
Serves 4-6
· 1 cup basmati rice · 1 cup chopped pumpkin · 4 rounds of frozen spinach (or 2 cups fresh) · 1 brown onion, finely chopped · 1 cup frozen green peas · 2 cups chicken stock, or water and salt to taste
Place all ingredients in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until rice is cooked and vegetables are soft. Serve warm. Optional – top with grated cheese
Slow-cooker root stew
Serves 6-8
· 1 swede · 2 potatoes · 2 carrots · 2 celery stalks · 1 brown onion · 1 parsnip · 200 grams chunk beef (optional) · Chicken stock to cover · Black pepper to taste
Peal and chop all vegetables into large chunks. Place in a saucepan with beef if using. Cover with stock and cook on medium to low heat until cooked. Serve warm.
White bean, carrot, onion (sage optional) stew over baked spud
Serves 3-4
· 1 can white beans, drained and well-rinsed · 2 carrots · 2 stalks celery · 1 brown onion · 4 sage leaves, chopped finely · 1 potato per person
Peal and chop carrot, celery and onion. Place in a saucepan with white beans. Add chopped sage. Cover with water. Cook on medium heat until all vegetables are soft. While cooking, wrap potatoes in foil and bake in the oven until soft. Serve potatoes cut open with bean mix as filling. Optional – sprinkle with grated cheese.
Ratatouille and lentil pasta
Serves 4-6
· 1 packet of mixed Mediterranean vegetable: eg. courgettes, aubergines, peppers, tomatoes · 1 can lentils, drained and well rinsed · Chicken stock · Pasta for number of people you are feeding
Place vegetable mix and beans in a saucepan. Cover with chicken stock. Cook until soft and soupy. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Serve vegetable mix over pasta. Optional – add a sprinkle of grated cheese
Shepards pie with lentils carrots, peas, onion (mince optional)
Serves 6-8
· 1 can lentils, drained and well rinsed · 1 cup frozen pea · 2 carrots, pealed and chopped · 1 can chopped tomatoes · 4 rounds frozen spinach · 250 grams lean beef mince (optional) · 2 large potatoes · 1/2 cup grated cheese (optional)
Place all ingredients except potato into a pot. Cover with water and cook until vegetables are just soft. Add salt and pepper to taste. While cooking. Boil and then mash potatoes. Pour vegetable and beef mix into a baking dish. Cover with mashed potatoes. Sprinkle with grated cheese (optional). Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for around 20 minutes, or until top is golden brown. Serve hot.
Cabbage and red lentil dahl over rice (fish optional)
Serves 3-4
· 1/2 green cabbage, washed and chopped · 1 cup dried red lentils · 1 carrot grated · 250 grams fish pie mix · 1 can diced tomatoes · 1 cup water · 2 teaspoons curry powder (or, if you have them, a teaspoon each of: turmeric, cumin, chilli flakes) · Salt and pepper to taste · Rice for each person
Place all ingredients in a saucepan and cook until lentils are soft. Cook rice according to package instructions Serve over a portion of rice Top with fresh herbs like coriander (optional)
Chickpea, spinach, tomato stew over rice or pasta (chicken optional)
Serves 3-4
· 1 can chickpeas, drained and well rinsed · 4 rounds frozen spinach · 1 can diced tomatoes · Salt and pepper to taste · 250 grams chicken thighs, diced (optional)
Rice or pasta for number of people Place all ingredients in a saucepan and cook until soft. Cook rice or pasta according to package instructions Serve vegetables over rice or pasta
Over indulged at Christmas? Tucked into too much turkey and pudding? Why not walk it off with a refreshing stroll at a National Trust property in Sussex
By January and February we’ve had enough of hygge, log fires and long evenings in front of the telly. The hibernation of winter is starting to drag. Vitamin D levels are low, spirits are lower and the family is climbing the walls.
The only way to style your way through to spring is to tackle winter head on. Throw everyone outdoors at every opportunity. Face into the wind, relish the rain patterning on your hood, and delight in those moments when the air is crisp and the sunlight sparkles on the frosty landscape.
Whether you’d prefer a stroll through a wintery garden with coffee in hand. Splash bravely through the puddles with the kids in tow. Or stride out in the blustery countryside in search of big skies and inspiration. Here are the National Trust walks you need to get you through winter.
Nymans: Best for winter scents
The Winter Walks at Nymans is packed with fragrant hellebores, electric-blue pulmonaria, daphne and wintersweet. While the Heather Garden is brimming with honey-scented blooms in shades of red, white and pink. Nymans’ garden team have recently planted new fragrant daphnes all round the garden. Look out for little clumps of snowdrops too in the walled garden from mid January onwards. Their bobbing white heads are a precious hope of spring to come.
Grab a coffee and do some sauntering along the winding garden paths for a winter pick-me-up or stop at the plant shop for a hellebore or a pot of snowdrops to bring a little magic back home.
Sheffield Park’s beautiful lakes and trees have a sculptural beauty in winter – the perfect backdrop for a family walk. Buggy friendly paths make it easy to get around the garden even on wet and muddy days. Or pull on the wellies and head cross country across the parkland to Ringwood Toll, a natural play trail nestled in woodland. See what adventures unfurl as nature guides the imagination, little explorers run wild and bigger kids build dens, climb trees and let off steam. The café serves children’s lunch boxes, hot meals and sandwiches, cake and more. Not just for kids, from late January and to February half term, you can find out the story of Nellie’s Artic Adventure. Nellie Soames was a former owner of Sheffield Park and one of the first women to venture into the Artic. Look out for sculptures of an ice cave, polar bear and icebergs, plus new for 2023 is a mammoth skeleton, made from recycled milk bottles.
The wide open landscape of the Capability Brown deer park at Petworth is an uplifting and atmospheric place for a walk in winter. The herds of wild fallow deer and ancient trees make you feel transported to another age. Coupled with hazy mist and the grand mansion in the distance, this is a walk that’s worth leaving the house for.
In the Pleasure Garden, the winter berries, snowdrops and stone follies lend a more classic, intimate atmosphere, with plenty or plant life among the gently winding paths. After your walk warm up with a delicious soup in the café and cosy chats with friends.
If the main appeal of a winter walk is stopping at a café – the Barn café at Standen is the one to aim for – for lunch, coffee or cake. Get set by warming your bones by the woodburning stove before setting off to face the winter. Winter is a great time of year to discover the garden at Standen and venture into the woodlands. Take in the view over the Sussex Weald from Rock Top Walk and explore the wider estate. Walks leaflets are available from visitor reception or can be downloaded online. The January sales are great at the shop too, which is full of William Morris and arts and crafts inspired gifts.
Slindon Estate, South Downs: Best winter history walk
The downland village of Slindon has a rich and colourful historic past. During much of the medieval period it was the summer residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. This circular walk celebrates that medieval history as it passes through Slindon’s old deer park, following the route of the park pale. This is the best time of year to discover this landscape artefact, a raised bank once topped with a solid fence that was used to confine animals and speaks to Slindon’s past as a historic hunting estate. The early onset of dusk in winter may actually offer the lucky visitor glimpses of roe and fallow deer between the trees and in the fields of the estate. On your way round you can also try and spot the sheltered bench built into the remaining fragment of wall of the old Regency tea-room which sadly burned down in the early 1940s. While you’re in the Slindon, come and warm up in the Forge – a community café that stocks hot drinks, meals and treats.
This circular walk allows you to enjoy views over the downs and East Sussex coast. By following old drovers’ and smuggling routes to the sea from the downland village of East Dean you may feel a sense of the landscape’s long history. It also offers sweeping sea and downland views towards Belle Tout lighthouse. It is a really special time of year to visit as the low winter light reflects off the open sea and the bracing wind blows over the cliffs. The walk takes in the historic Tiger Inn at East Dean (not NT), but you can also take the opportunity to pop into a new cliff top café at Birling Gap which is opening in early January.
The estate at Bateman’s, Burwash, is full of small fields, hedgerows, old trees, abandoned iron ore pits, hidden ponds and magical deserted trackways. Puck’s Walk in inspired by Kipling’s famous story, ‘Puck of Pook’s Hill’. Written for his children, this magical tale took its inspiration from the re-enactment of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by Kipling and his children one summer in the early 1900s.
The route from Visitor Reception takes you out to Park Mill, through woods and over hills towards Burwash Weald, before looping back to cross the river and return to the Mill Pond. The walk takes in some great views, and it is easy to see how to rolling hills, woods and Dudwell river inspired Kipling’s writing. Stop by the Mulberry tea-room afterwards for a warming winter treat.
Thanks to your help, the National Trust cares for hundreds of walking trails in beautiful locations all across the county. For more ideas of winter walks see: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sussex
Award-winning comedian takes to the stage with tales of his weird travel adventures
Despite being a highly successful, multi-award winning comedian, Dom Joly have never been a stand-up. His work always been on television or on the written page.
Under pressure to tour he finally gave it a go in 2011 and was given a severe kicking by the comedy elite and press. This put him off for years.
Then 10 years later, he had an idea for a show about his weird travel adventures.
He was immediately told by several promoters that such a show would never interest more than a handful of people. Dom decided to prove them wrong.
He put the show together and then set off on a mammoth tour around every tiny UK venue that would have him. Slowly he learned how to handle an audience, how to perform live.
After 199 shows he is finally ready. Dom wants to end the tour with a big one and sell out the New Theatre in Oxford and prove everybody wrong, but will he?
Dom has also never done radio before. He joined JACKfm as the main station voiceover in July 2022 and also hosts the weekly show Dom Joly’s Sunday Session every Sunday afternoon, where he gets to play his own songs and chats to some of the singers who performed them.
JACKfm have booked the New Theatre Oxford for 20th January for his Holiday Snaps show.
Dom and the show are finely honed. All he needs now is for everybody to come and enjoy the end results.
Dom Joly’s Sunday Session can be heard every Sunday from 12 to 2pm on JACKfm. Listen on 106 FM in Oxfordshire, smartspeakers (“play JACK fm”), online at https://www.jackfm.co.uk/ and on the JACK Radio App in mobile app stores.
Michelin-starred chef’s festive meal for the same price as the average school lunch in the UK
Michelin starred chef Tom Kerridge has created a festive Full Time Meals Christmas recipe for four with plenty of Boxing day leftovers for under £10.
Tom’s Turkey Meatloaf Tray Bake uses turkey mince, sausage meat and stuffing to create a tasty festive treat alongside roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips, sprouts and Savoy cabbage topped with a rich gravy and all for just £9.88.
Follow Tom’s step-by-step guide on how to create this dish on Full Time Meals.
Tom and The Food Foundation, supported by Bloomsbury Publishing, are highlighting the situation of more than 800,000 schoolchildren who slip through the eligibility net and go hungry at school. These children do not meet the Free School Meals criteria despite household income being so low they are classed as living in poverty.
He has produced the tasty meal for £2.47 – the average price of a hot meal.
He says: “No child should be hungry at school. I wanted to highlight this critical situation the best way I know how – with food, so I created a Full Time Christmas meal for the same price as an average school lunch in the UK. Christmas is a stark reminder to look after each other, and it shouldn’t be just over the festive period, it should be all the time.
“No child should be hungry at school”
“There are kids going to school with empty lunch boxes, hiding from the dining room because they are so embarrassed. It’s a national crisis and truly a heart-breaking one, that the Government can change. So, I am asking the Great British Public to write to your MP to ask for a change in policy, we need to make our voices heard, for our children, and make it clear that enough is enough.”
The Full Time Meals campaign supports FareShare, the UK’s largest charity fighting hunger and food waste. The average cost of a school meal is £2.47 – that’s less than the price of a high street coffee. Please help by making a donation – just £5 will cover the cost of two school meals. A donation of £12.34 could help buy a week’s worth of school meals for a hungry child.
To donate £5, simply text 5FULL to 70580. Texts will cost the donation amount plus one standard network message. To donate £12.34, or whatever you can afford, head over to fareshare.org.uk/fulltime
Sonning Common nursing home shares the gift of giving with donations for charity
Abbeycrest Nursing Home in Sonning Common has teamed up with the local community to collect more than 130 shoeboxes full of gifts for Operation Christmas Child.
Every year, the international relief and development charity Samaritan’s Purse collects shoebox gifts filled with toys, school supplies, and hygiene items for children around the world. Since 1990, more than 178 million children in more than 150 countries have received an Operation Christmas Child shoebox.
This year, Samaritan’s Purse are collecting a variety of Christmas gifts for children living in Africa and Ukraine.
George King, Customer Relations Manager for Abbeycrest Nursing Home said: “After a successful 2021 campaign, both residents and staff of our care home wanted to beat last year’s total of 54 boxes, so we mobilised families and friends along with the local community and businesses.”
After becoming a main shoebox collection point for the local area, Abbeycrest donated a staggering 138 gift-filled boxes along with cash donations totalling £690.
George added: “I want to send a huge thank you to our wonderful local community. The gift of giving provides so many benefits to our residents and staff at Abbeycrest, such as the feeling of social connection, promoting happiness and improving health. It is heart-warming to see the outcomes and benefits of the initiative to all involved.”
Businesses and community groups involved this year included the Christian Aid Charity Shop, Kingfisher Kindergarten, Little Birches Nursery and Preschool, FISH Volunteer Centre charity, Sonning Common Vauxhall, Co-op, Wood Lane Dentistry, Sonning Common Health Centre, Bishopswood School and Springwater Church.
Kingfisher Kindergarten manager La-Ryne van der Westhuizen said: “It was great to help support such a worthy cause and it aligns perfectly with our ethos of helping others.”
Abbeycrest Nursing Home provides residential, nursing and dementia care on a permanent or short stay basis. For more information or to arrange a tour of the home, search for Abbeycrest Nursing Home, or call the friendly team on 0808 223 5350.
Blue Collar Corner have prepared a huge variety of events and extra opening dates for the festive season
For their first New Year’s Eve since opening the venue, Blue Collar are hosting DISCORAMA, a special night to welcome in 2023 with the greatest disco music of all time. The venue will be decorated especially, have extra dancefloor space, NYE cocktails, special NYE menus from the street food traders and all ticketholders will get a glass of bubbly to celebrate at midnight.
On Sunday 12th December, local music festival Are You Listening? Celebrate their first line-up announcement with a Festive Matinée. With acoustic performances from Lilac, Matt Greener, Kito Riley & Buildings on Fire (solo) alongside DJs, this will be Blue Collar Corner’s first live music event and runs between midday and 5pm. Again, as with all December events except New Year’s Eve, entry is free. All England games in the World Cup 2022 will be screened across three screens at the venue as well as the World Cup final on Sunday 18th December. From 10am-3pm on 18th December, Reading’s Indie Christmas Market will take place, with a plethora of local crafts stalls providing last minute Christmas gifts and decorations.
“We’ve had an amazing couple of months since we winterfield Blue Collar Corner with extra covering and heaters and now mulled wine and a fantastic stage for live music, World Cup screenings and guest DJs.” explains Blue Collar’s Glen Dinning. “We love Christmas and have great party DJs lined for every Thursday, Friday and Saturday in December. We’re opening every day in the week before Christmas then from 27th December until New Year’s Eve when our DISCORAMA party will be a massive celebratory night before we close for the first two weeks in January!
Schedule for the rest of December at Blue Collar Corner:
Sat 10th Dec – Rum n’Donuts DJs + DJ Rachael Chrisp
Sun 11th Dec – Are You Listening? Festive Matinée w/ live acts & DJs + Sonning Flowers Wreath Making Workshops (sold out)
Thursday 15th Dec – Party Thursdays w/Twin Sun
Friday 16th Dec – DJ Alfresco
Sat 18th Dec – Reading’s Indie Christmas Market + World Cup Final
Mon 19th Dec – Bonus Christmas sessions 17:00-00:30
Tue 20th Dec – Bonus Christmas sessions 17:00-00:30
Wed 21st Dec – Bonus Christmas session 17:00-00:30
Thu 22nd Dec – Party Thursdays w/DJ Rich Sloman
Fri 23rd Dec – DJ Ryan MacGregor
Sat 24th Dec – Christmas Eve session 11:00-20:00
Tue 27th Dec – Bonus Christmas session 15:00-00:30
Wed 28th Dec – Bonus Christmas session 17:00-00:30
Thu 29th Dec – Party Thursdays w/DJ Rachael Chrisp
Fri 30th Dec – DJ Ben Narbutas
Sat 31st Dec – Discorama NYE party w/DJs + more
For tickets to DISCORAMA NYE, Christmas booking and info on all other events, see www.linktr.ee/blue.collar
Nature Discovery Centre reopens after £125,000 revamp just in time for Christmas
Berkshire’s beloved Nature Discovery Centre has reopened after a £125,000 refurbishment. The revamp has created an open-plan layout for the popular cafe and shop, new educational table displays and a wildlife-themed children’s play corner.
The icing on the cake is a brand new ‘hide in the sky’ on the first floor of the centre in Thatcham. A viewing station overlooking the wildlife lake where visitors can use a telescope and binoculars to spy on all the wild goings-on below.
The café is also serving a new warming winter menu and new products in the shop. Including locally produced honey, Fairtrade chocolate, local art and jewellery and a host of Christmas cards, decorations and gifts. The renovations were commissioned by Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT). Which manages the site and funded by a grant of £125,000 from site owner West Berkshire Council.
Steve Johnson, NDC’s manager, said: “We’re so excited to show everyone all our new features. This is the biggest refurbishment we’ve had in years. It makes the whole centre a more welcoming, easy-to-use space for all our visitors.
“The NDC is now the perfect place to go for a family day out this winter. Take a bracing walk around our wildlife lake, come and have a hot pastry or panini, take a hot chocolate up to the hide in the sky, then pick up a few Christmas gifts while you’re here! Huge thanks to West Berkshire Council for the funding.”
Councillor Steve Ardagh-Walter, Executive Member for Environment and Transformation at West Berkshire Council, said: “We’re delighted to help BBOWT deliver this important improvement to the Discovery Centre with a grant.
“Ensuring our residents can be closer to nature is an objective of the council’s Environment Strategy, which this investment achieves. The Nature Discovery Centre is a key educational and wellbeing asset. I would encourage all our residents to visit and enjoy.”
As well as improvements indoors, the centre team have also put up several new interpretation boards in the grounds, telling visitors about things to do around the site and upcoming events.
A host of new welcome signs also include an innovative three-dimensional wooden ‘Nature’ sign on an exterior wall which is filled with bits of wood and other natural materials, which solitary bees and other insects can nest in.
Inside, a new wall-mounted screen is showing specially commissioned drone footage and other videos of animals and plants around the site. So visitors can admire the diverse wildlife even on the rainiest days. The Wildlife Trust is confident that all the new features will encourage more people to visit the NDC and help teach all visitors young and old, about wonderful local wildlife.
‘Pay what you can’ tickets to help more families enjoy the magic of panto at Godalming Borough Hall, December 10th to 26th
The enchanting family Pantomime Sleeping Beauty, which plays Godalming Borough Hall from December 10th – 26th, will be open to all thanks to the return of the ‘Pay what you can’ scheme this year.
Wysch Productions hope it will help those who would not otherwise be able to attend a pantomime due to financial restraints. Producers Charlotte and Nick Wyschna said: “We are delighted to bring back our Pay What You Can tickets. Sleeping beauty promises to be a magical, laughter-filled show which is a much-needed tonic in the current climate. We’re keen to reach those in the local area who could not otherwise manage to attend. Just send us a message via our website (GodalmingPanto.com), or telephone the Box Office on 01483 361101, and we’ll happily sort your tickets out.”
Terms and conditions apply, and the offer is subject to availability. No refunds or exchanges are available on Pay What You Can tickets.
The festive favourite promises spectacular song and dance, colourful costumes and lots of fun and laughs for the whole family.
There is a relaxed and BSL signed performance on December 17th at 6:30pm. This show will be specifically adapted for those on the autism spectrum, individuals with sensory and communication disorders, those with learning disabilities, people who are deaf or hard of hearing and anyone who would benefit from a more relaxed environment. Tickets for this performance have been reduced to £18 and can be purchased by calling the Box Office. There is disabled access throughout the whole venue.
Book tickets for Sleeping Beauty, the pantomime of your dreams, by calling 01483 361101 or by visiting GodalmingPanto.com.
Tickets: £18-£23.50.
Concessions: Senior Citizens, under 16’s, unemployed.
Children aged 2 and under go free but they must sit on a lap.
