Julia's House receives £5,000 in donations following tree light theft

 

Julia’s House received an astonishing £5,000 in donations following the theft of Christmas lights from outside its children’s hospice in Corfe Mullen.

Thieves stole ground lights from the entrance and took an electrical connection box after slashing through cable, wrecking a display of tree lights.

As the news of the theft spread, donations started coming by hand, over the phone, via the Julia’s House website and through a JustGiving page set up by supporter Steve Mullins on the charity’s Facebook page.

The largest single amount was an anonymous donation of £1,000. Another £100 came in from AFC Bournemouth midfielder Harry Arter who said:  “I know how much Christmas means to kids, so to see someone do such a horrible thing and me being in a position where I felt I could make a difference I thought it would be nice, especially at Christmas.”

 Hospice staff were especially touched by the kindness of passers-by. One man came to the door and handed over £100 in cash – money that had been intended for repairs to his car. He told nurses: “The children need this more than I need to use my car. The car can wait.”

There were many individual donations of household Christmas lights as well as a bulk delivery from B&Q in Weymouth. One lady even pitched up with cakes for the care team.

More lights and equipment were donated by local companies AEC Electrical and Kew Electrical. A team from AEC Electrics replaced the cabling and junction box and put up the new lights in time for a special weekend care session.

Hospice lead nurse Louise McKenna said: “The response has been truly fantastic. The overwhelming kindness of people with all the donations and messages of support has really lifted the spirits of everyone at the hospice. We can’t thank people enough for supporting us in this special way. The new lights look wonderful.”

 

www.juliashouse.org

Review - Robin Hood. Poole, Lighthouse

CBBC’s Ed Petrie takes on the role of Robin, Ed is joined by Tom Bright as Friar Tuck, who also writes and directs the Lighthouse panto for the third year running. Tom is one of the country’s top pantomime directors and is responsible for writing and performing the song for popular 1970s children’s television series Tiswas.  He has appeared on TV in a number of comedy series alongside the likes of Mike Reid and Russ Abbot. The role of the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham is played by Patrick O’Kane (Game of Thrones, The Borgias, Jamaica Inn) .Back by popular demand are Lighthouse favourites Neil Smye and Dan Looney, whose comic timing and ability to get audiences crying with laughter has become synonymous with the Poole panto.  Local actresses Stephanie Walker and Alicia Woodhouse take on the parts of the Woodland Fairy and Maid Marion respectively. 

Non-stop thrills and spills are the order of the day as Robin takes on his arch-rival the Sheriff of Nottingham and still finds time to catch the eye of the beautiful Maid Marion in this classic tale.

We went to see this panto last night and really enjoyed it, Tom Bright was very funny as Friar Tuck and he got the most giggles from the children but also provided lots of jokes and comedy for the adults. Lots of hissing and booing at the grumpy Sherriff and we loved the fun pairing of Bill and Ben. The show keep us entertained from start to finish with lots of slapstick comedy, audience participation and brilliant dancing, the dancers were exceptional and we found it hard to take our eyes off the little girl who played Jill, such a little star!  Fabulous fun show for all the family.    

This is one panto you won’t want to miss, and we have a competition to win a family ticket!
 http://local.mumsnet.com/Talk/local_dorset/2240685-WIN-Family-ticket-to-Robin-Hood-Panto-Lighthouse-Poole

Review - el RHEY ColourMe Wellies

ColourMe Wellies

 

ColourMe Wellies are fun, fresh and functional customisable wellington boots for kids that are set to redefine rainy days forever!
Made with high quality natural rubber, the designer wellies are available in sizes 11 to 1. The Gift Pack includes a pair of Moth or Zebra ColourMe Wellies, 3 vibrant art markers for your little one to create their original pair of wellington boots and an educational colouring book on African animals and bugs.

We were very excited to receive this lovely colourful gift set through the post. There are two sets to choose from each with a different design, moth and zebra.

 

The set contains the wellies, 3 marker pens and a colouring book, all packaged in a lovely box.

 

 

This set was reviewed by an 8yr old girl, she is very creative and loves to colour and draw and really liked the idea of the colouring book in the box. The pictures on the wellies and the book have lots of detail and although she had hoped there would be more colours to choose from she soon got to work and began to colour in. I think the 3 colours look quite effective.

 

The 5yr old decided to colour in some of the pictures in the book with the pens but the marker pens went through the card so these may be best kept just for the wellies. Both girls were keen to colour in some of the animal pictures.

 

 

 



When both wellies were completed the 8yr old was very proud of her creation and put on the wellies to show everyone. She said she really liked the set and loved the idea that there wouldn't be anyone else with wellies just like these.

 

A lovely and unique gift idea for a creative child.

 

el RHEY is a specialist rainwear designer and wholesaler based in Bournemouth, UK. The el RHEY Kids label represents an original and creative children’s rainwear collection that is available for purchase here.

 

http://www.elrhey.com/