News & views

News & Views The World’s biggest coffee morning

The World’s Biggest Coffee Morning is Macmillan Cancer Support biggest fundraising event for people facing cancer and is dedicated to bringing people together over a cuppa to raise vital funds.

Each year, people in the UK and across the world host their own coffee morning with the donations received going to Macmillan services. This year’s official event date is 30th September but Coffee Mornings can be held at any time.

It's easy to sign up. Just go to www.macmillan.org.uk/coffee and you’ll be sent a Coffee Morning Kit with everything you need to make your coffee morning a success.

More info: coffee.macmillan.org.uk

More music education in schools

Tens of thousands of children will be given the chance to learn a new instrument as part of a new national plan for music education in the UK.

The plan sets out the government's ambition to give 'every child the opportunity to develop a love of music'. Made in consultation with music teachers and young people in the music industry, it involves a raft of new investments and measures to support music education.

Twenty five million pounds will be made available for schools to purchase musical instruments and equipment, including adapted instruments for children with special educations needs and disabilities.

According to the updated guidance, schools will be asked to offer at least one hour of music curriculum a week. Every school will be expected to have a designated music lead or head of department.

OPPOSITION TO CHILDCARE CUTS

To help parents with the cost of living, the government may allow one adult to look after five two-year-olds in England, up from the current limit of four. The move would bring England in line with Scotland.

However, a petition has been started by the parents of a boy that died after a medical emergency at his nursery, warning that reducing ratios in early years’ settings could ‘endanger’ children. The petition has so far attracted more than sixty thousand signatures.

Nursery staff and employers have also expressed strong opposition, claiming the plan is short-sighted and would endanger children.

Healthy Snacks

These delicious, vegan, crunchy snacks are made from 100% whole fruit, and a great snack for back to school lunch boxes. The healthy and affordable range (from 60p per pack) contains no added sugar, salt, fat or oil and a pack counts as one of your, or your kids’, five a day.

Over 930m tonnes of edible food is wasted globally each year. Spare make use of both wonky raw and dried apples that are often rejected because they are misshapen, blemished, or deemed the wrong shape or size. The wonky apples are always fresh and delicious, they just happen to look a bit irregular. Spare transform them into beautifully healthy apple crisps that are good for people, producers, and the planet.

Find them at Morrisons, Ocado, Amazon, BA and Co-op from September in single packs and new multipacks.

Adventurous play boosts mental health

Excitement and exploration help kids avoid anxiety and depression, according to researchers from the University of Exeter.

The study found that children who spend more time playing outside – and taking part in activities out of sight of adults including exploring woods, camping out, swimming in a river or lake, trying new outdoor skills and creating obstacle courses – had fewer ‘internalising problems,’ characterised as anxiety and depression.

Helen Dodd, Professor of Child Psychology, who led the study, said: “We’re more concerned than ever about children’s mental health and our findings highlight that we might be able to help protect children’s mental health by ensuring they have plentiful opportunities for adventurous play.’

The study’s authors are calling on authorities to ensure that every child has free access to a safe space for adventurous outdoor play close to their home.

The study is published in the journal Child Psychiatry & Human Development.

Celebrate Roald Dahl Story Day

Every year, the life and works of one of the best children’s authors of all time is celebrated on his birthday, 13 September.

During his lifetime, Roald Dahl wrote twenty children’s books and published forty eight books altogether. He created over five hundren new words and character names and his books have sold more than two hundred and fifty million copies worldwide.

Join fans from all over the world to celebrate favourite Roald Dahl characters, stories and moments. Get dressed up as your favourite Roald Dahl character at a Dahlicious Dress Up Day event being held at school, by community groups and libraries,or host your own by downloading the Roald Dahl Story Day Party.

Visit the Roald Dahl Story Day hub at www.roalddahl.com/roald-dahl-story-day for resources to decorate your home or classroom.

CBBC star Gemma Hunt is publishing her first children’s book, a fun, mixed-race retelling of the stories of Jesus, which aims to teach children how to be good friends to one another.

The presenter decided to write the new stories after being unable to find any children’s books which featured a mixed-heritage family like her own.

A Good Friend features a mixed-race family as the main characters and aims, according to Gemma ‘to give Jesus a face which isn’t the ‘stereotypical, blonde-haired and blue-eyed Jesus so many of us grew up with.’

She has also revealed that she feels ‘immense responsibility’ as a children’s TV presenter to be a good role model to the children who watch her.

A Good Friend can be purchased at www.spckpublishing.co.uk/a-good-friend

CHOOSE YOUR OWN HOURS TO SUIT YOUR FAMILY

Community Catalyst is supporting local people across East

Cambridgeshire to offer care and support in a new way. Community Catalysts can help you to work on a self-employed basis to set up and run your own small enterprise offering help at home or in your community. Lots of people in East Cambridgeshire need some extra help to live the way they want to, perhaps because they are older, disabled or have a long-term health condition.

Community Catalysts, has supported a growing community of people in East Cambridgeshire to set up a small enterprise – people with all sorts of backgrounds –but who all want to help their community and love what they do. Working for yourself means you can:

• Work locally • Choose your own hours • Set a fair rate of pay • Help others and provide support you can be proud of.

It also means you can choose what you offer and play to your strengths. You might offer help at home, such as cleaning, cooking help to dress and wash – or you might want to offer a support in your community for older or disabled people, like an inclusive yoga class, or painting sessions. The choice is yours.

Community Catalysts is a social enterprise working across the UK to help local people to use their talents to support other local people. The support is totally free to you in East Cambridgeshire because this project is funded by Cambridgeshire County Council. Community Catalysts has been running for over ten years, and have supported lots of people to start successful enterprises.

You don’t need any business or care experience to get started, just to know what good care looks like. We’ll help you with the rest!

If you want to make a change in your own life and help to change our community for the better, email or text: Anna Tuck, Cambridgeshire Community Catalyst anna.tuck@communitycatalysts.co.uk or phone/

text 07881 297 330 www.facebook.com/CommCatsEastCambs

Fun with Merlin

Give the autumn term a confidence boost with Perform. A common struggle shared by many children as they start school or return after the summer break is a lack of confidence, and this can stop them reaching their full potential. Whether you're looking for a confidence boost for your child or just a weekly dose of drama, dance and singing fun, Perform is back for the autumn term with two exciting productions for 4-7s and 7-12s.“Perform is not a stage school” stresses Perform Principal, Lucy Quick. “Our classes teach life skills using fun confidence-boosting drama games which results in a celebratory end of term production. The primary aim of our classes is to develop what we call the 4Cs: Confidence, Concentration,Coordination and Communication."This term,Perform 4-7s will venture into The Magician's Chamber for some confidence-building fun with Merlin the Wizard whilst 7-12s will work on a funky festive performance of Ebenezer, based on the Charles Dicken's classic, A Christmas Carol. The term runs from September to December and children are welcome to try a free class at any point. To book a free no-obligation trial class

visit www.perform.org.uk/try

FREE family fun at Heritage Open Days

Running from 9th to 18th September, Heritage Open Days is England's largest festival of history and culture and allows families the chance to visit hidden places and try new experiences for free, including places that usually charge for admission.

Many events will adopt this year’s theme,Astounding Inventions, offering a celebration of the cutting-edge creations that make our lives easier, as well as the imaginative inventors behind them.

There will be hundreds of free interactive activities for children, including dressing up, craft, woodland walks and railway rides.

Heritage Open Days is brought to you by the National Trust with the support of People’s Postcode Lottery.

New events will be added to the festival directory every day.

More info: www.heritageopendays.org.uk

NEW APP HELPS TURN CHORES INTO A GAME

Fighting over household chores (as well as the avoidance of them) can be a significant source of conflict between parents and children, not to mention spouses.

A new app has just been launched which promises to revamp how families divvy up life’s daily responsibilities, turning tedium into a fun and competitive game that both parents and kids can enjoy and benefit from.

The app is essentially a motivational tool that creates some healthy competition with a points and rewards system for the daily, weekly and monthly household contributions of each family member.

Parents are able to instil a sense of responsibility and accountability in their kids, track chores for weekly pocket money and use points accrued for certain privileges for their children and teens.