Win - a 'Smart Way to Potty Train' pack to get out of nappies and into proper pants'.

Dry Like Me, the award-winning potty training pads worn in children’s own pants, have just filmed their first ever TV advertisement – and it is hilarious.
The ad features a class of toddlers being taught about potty training by an older child and, during the shoot, the toddlers had lots of fun with the Dry Like Me potty training pads, playing with them like they were toys and sticking them all over their bodies.
Co-creator of Dry Like Me, Jude Hough says: “ We know they are a hit with parents as they can help children get out of nappies and into proper pants, but we were surprised at how much the children loved playing with them.

Watching the two year olds run around with pads stuck on the heads and faces was hilarious, and their antics were great to include in the advertisement, which is really funny.”
You can see the advertisement, called ‘Miss Smarty Pants’, on Disney Junior, Nick JR, Boomerang, Cartoonito and Tiny Pop.
Award-winning Dry Like Me potty training pads were created by mums, Jude and Di , when they couldn’t find anything that helped to move their potty training children away from nappies and into their own pants. They commissioned independent research, which showed the pads reduced accidents after only one week, and Dry Like Me are now sold by most supermarkets and online at amazon and www.drylikeme.com. One size fits all ages of children, and there are three types to choose from: ‘Early Days’ for the start of potty training, ‘Original’ for the middle to end stages and ‘Night-Time’ to help children get dry at night. They cost around £3.49 a box, are designed to be soft and comfortable and are recommended by health professionals.

To celebrate the launch of their first TV campaign, Dry Like Me are giving away packs to help get your little one out of nappies and into proper pants. Each ‘Smart Way to Potty Train’ pack contains four boxes of Dry Like Me pads, a ‘How to Potty Train’ book (written by Jude and Di) and a sticker reward chart, and is worth £24.

Click here to enter

Running festival fun for all the family

Families and runners of all abilities are encouraged to head to Poole Park for the 2015 Poole Festival of Running.

Organised by Borough of Poole and Poole Runners, the event is taking place on Sunday 7 June and welcomes everyone, from first time runners and children to elite athletes.

The races include a 5km and 10km for adults and over 15s and a series of races for 8-14s and an under 8s fun run. There will also be entertainment for all ages. There are medals, prizes and trophies to be won, with all races time chipped.

Kevin McErlane, Head of Culture and Community Learning, Borough of Poole, said: “Borough of Poole is pleased to be supporting this great event. Festival of Running is a great family day out. Even if you aren’t running you can still enjoy the many attractions, children’s activities and additional entertainment in the park.”

Poole Festival of Running supports Poole Hospital Charity with money going to the Dorset Cancer Centre.

Places are filling up fast and entry is limited. To enter online and for more information go to:  www.poolerunners.com . Visit facebook  http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Poole-Festival-of-Running/296500140462202?fref=ts

Twin Sails Bridge Closure Planned For Annual Maintenance

The Twin Sails Bridge will close for up to one week from Monday 23 March to enable annual maintenance works to be carried out.
 
The bridge will be closed to road traffic, including cyclists and pedestrians, from 7am. During the closure Poole Bridge will operate as normal with minimal disruption to marine traffic expected.

 The works to be undertaken include annual preventative maintenance, some minor repairs and some general cleaning tasks. These include:

• High voltage supply – inspection and safety checks.
• Hydraulics – annual service involving changing fluid and breather filters as well as checking numerous valves and controls for correct operation. 
• Electrical – replacing failed LEDs, road studs and lamps in the various lighting systems.
• Control systems – checks and adjustments.
• Cleaning the stainless steel finishes in order to maintain the high quality appearance of the structure.

John Rice, Engineering Manager, Borough of Poole, said: "It is important that we keep our lifting bridges operating efficiently and reliably in the long term and this means carrying out annual preventative maintenance in a planned way. By closing the Twin Sails Bridge outside of peak times in the year we will be able to minimise disruption to residents who will always have one bridge available."

The planned maintenance arrangements for Poole's two lifting bridges are being implemented as: 

• Both bridges require regular essential maintenance to reduce the risk of breakdowns, minimise the risk of expensive repairs and maintain public safety
• It is becoming increasingly expensive to undertake work overnight 
• External suppliers who carry out maintenance of the control systems, hydraulics and high voltage electrical equipment maintenance specialists can be booked in advance 
• Working in March or April and September avoids winter weather conditions which can delay the progress of works as well as avoiding disruption during the busy summer period
• One bridge will still be available for road users 

The annual closure of Poole Bridge will take place in September for up to one week.



 In addition, Borough of Poole is working with Dorset Fire and Rescue Service on a rescue exercise from one of the main piers which will involve a number of fire appliances and the release of smoke in a plant room.  



John Rice, Engineering Manager, Borough of Poole, said: “Please do not be alarmed if you witness lots of blue flashing lights on the bridge and smoke drifting from one of the piers. The purpose of the exercise is to test our procedures and help the Fire and Rescue Service test their ability to react to a real emergency situation.”

NRAS launches new website for children and families affected by juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)

The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) today announced the launch of a new website targeted at parents and families of children and young people with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA), as well as health professionals involved in the care of young people with JIA.

www.jia.org.uk

NRAS, who are Information Standard accredited, have been working for months on the preparation of information for this new site to support the JIA@NRAS service. They anticipate that families will warmly welcome the detailed information about JIA, getting to a diagnosis and understanding how to negotiate the NHS in order to get the right care for their child/young person.

Ailsa Bosworth, CEO of NRAS said “Our aim is to provide parents, families, young people and health professionals with the best and most up to date resource in the UK on all aspects of JIA from a family/patient perspective. Getting to a diagnosis is often a difficult and sometimes traumatic process for parents and we hope that this website will help parents who are concerned about their child, to get the right help more rapidly.  We will link to other organisations and charities who provide relevant sources of help and support so that everything a parent could want to know is in one place.”

Dr Clarissa Pilkington, President of the British Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Rheumatology (BSPAR) said of the work, “We are very pleased NRAS is launching its new website for families in the UK who are living with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA).  This new service is very much wanted and needed by families and health professionals alike.  The reputation of NRAS is well established in the adult rheumatoid arthritis community and is synonymous with empowering, educating and improving peoples’ lives as well as campaigning on behalf of those affected by rheumatoid arthritis.  We believe they have the knowledge and expertise to successfully support families, children and young people affected by JIA and look forward to working with them on the service”

The website is in large part a response to requests for such a resource from parents, families, young people, health professionals and NHS Managers who were interviewed for the ‘A Focus on JIA’ Report which was published by NRAS at the end of 2013.

Clare Jacklin, NRAS Director of External Affairs said, “we will continue to build this resource, providing important articles, case studies and information about ‘living with JIA’, during the course of 2015 and invite families and young people who wish to get involved, to support this work”.

About JIA

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) is an inflammatory disease which causes chronic arthritis in children and young people and affects approximately 12,000 children (1 in 1000) under the age of 16. The severity of arthritis can vary from mild to extremely disabling and symptoms include stiff, painful and swollen joints.  JIA is also associated with other complications such as blindness which results from uncontrolled inflammation around the lens of the eye and can also significantly delay physical development in the very young, cause permanent joint damage and deformity and delay puberty. 

The aim of JIA treatment is to achieve complete absence of disease by controlling inflammation and joint pain, reducing the number of affected joints, preventing long term damage and improving quality of life. Approximately 50% of children will continue into adulthood with active disease which remains JIA. Point of clarification:  JIA does not ‘become RA’ after the age of 16, it remains JIA into adulthood.

 

About NRAS

The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society is ‘the voice’ of people affected by Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) across the whole of the UK and in due course, with the addition of our new JIA@NRAS service, we hope to be so for Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA). Founded in 2001, we are the only UK charity devoted specifically to RA and JIA. We provide help, support, information, education and advocacy and in respect of RA, supported self-management programmes.

About the Information Standard

The Information Standard is a certification programme for all organisations producing evidence-based health and care information for the public. Any organisation achieving The Information Standard has undergone a rigorous assessment to check that the information they produce is clear, accurate, balanced, evidence-based and up-to-date.

For more information about NRAS and JIA@NRAS please contact:

Ailsa Bosworth

Chief Executive

NRAS

Email: ailsa@nras.org.uk

Phone: 0845 458 3969 

 

  

  

 

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/