Modern Woman Christmas issue

Modern

WOMAN ISSUE 003: NOVEMBER/DECEMBER £3.95

BE FEARLESS

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PACKAGE OF CARE

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ANGELS& DEMONS

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT

How Models of Diversity’s Angel Sinclair overcame her troubled past

Nosh Detox’s Geeta Sidhu-Robb

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P R I N T

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CONTENTS 9

12

Maude Hirst finds her voice – and her power

Nosh Detox founder, Geeta Sidhu-Robb

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24

Georgie Fuller on juggling it all at Christmas

43

Festive sparkle in red, green and gold

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Poppy Cross on how to keep moving in winter Angel Sinclair, founder of Models Of Diversity

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60

Menna Cule: investing in the best

Nicole Bremner takes stock of the market

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Anabel Fielding, CEO, Quintessentially Events

41

Beauty must-haves for your stocking

50

Three big hitting new openings in the capital

63

Luxury and history in Bahrain’s capital

PUBLISHER: MODERN WOMAN LTD 13-17 HIGH BEECH ROAD, LOUGHTON, ESSEX, IG10 4BN 020 3011 1194 HELLO@MODERNWOMAN.CO EDITOR: ROSIE COXSHAW

SUB-EDITOR: NANCY LARMAN PA TO EDITOR: EMILY CHAN

BEAUTY & FASHION EDITOR: JO SUGAR DESIGN & PRODUCTION: STEWART HYDE WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT: TOTALDESIGNWORKS.COM CONTRIBUTORS: MAUDE HIRST, JESS BAKER, SAMANTHA BAINES, ALEXANDER LARMAN, FIONA MINETT, GEORGINA FULLER, POPPY CROSS, MEGAN DAVIES, MABEL NUNEZ, RONNIE HEREL, ANNA WILLIAMSON, NICOLE BREMNER

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CONTRIBUTORS

MAUDE HIRST

ALEXANDER LARMAN

GEORGINA FULLER

Maude is a born-and-bred east Londoner. An actor, writer and yoga teacher, she is best-known for her role as Helga in the hit TV show, Vikings. In her work both on- and offscreen, she is dedicated to creating roles that showcase women’s talents and address gender inequalities in the industry. As a yoga teacher, she focuses her practice on reconnecting breath, body and balance to promote well-being in our busy modern world. @maudehirst

Alexander Larman is an author and journalist who writes food, travel and lifestyle features for titles including The Resident, The Arbuturian and many more. Additionally, he is the author of three non-fiction books, including Byron’s Women and Blazing Star. He contributes book reviews and arts features regularly to The Observer, Drugstore Culture and The Chap. He lives in East Sussex with his wife, Nancy, and daughter, Rose. @alexlarman

Georgina Fuller is an award-winning freelance journalist, editor and mother-of-three. She writes about parenting, women, work and travel for The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Daily Mail, Little London, Red and Smallish magazine. She also blogs for Selfish Mother and has written for The Mother Book, published in 2016.

Georgina has appeared on BBC Radio 2, BBC3 and various stations to talk about parenting and women at work. @georgie_writer

JO SUGAR

JESS BAKER

RONNIE HEREL

From fashion to the media, Jo has a client list that reads like a celebrity Who’s Who (Serena Williams, Vanessa Feltz and Lorna Luft). One of the most sought-after make-up artists in the country, she is also an educator, lecturing at events and seminars throughout the year. She is a regular at LFW, heading her own shows each season. Jo says, “Every job is different, so you never stop learning.” @jo_sugar

Jess is an independent business psychologist and women’s leadership coach (CPsychol, AFBPsS). She feels most fulfilled when running workshops that help women to own their space emotionally and physically. As well as her column in Modern Woman, Jess speaks on stage at wellbeing events, is quoted in magazines and interviewed on podcasts. Check out her body confident #elbowselfie campaign. @therealjessbaker

Ronnie Herel is a true ambassador for urban music after over a decade at the BBC, as one of Radio 1 Xtra’s first DJ signings. He is a champion of new talent and, indeed, was a talent scout for The Voice UK. Today he is Head of Music at Mi-Soul Radio, as well as presenting its drive time show and #TheBigRnBShow on Monday evenings. Check out ronnieherel.co.uk to find out all about his latest gigs. @ronnieherel

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November/December 2018

EDITOR’S letter “My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others” Bob Hope While the run-up to Christmas may find some of us rushing about, frantically crossing off jobs on our to-do lists and too busy to think let alone stop, it is also a time that brings a lot of emotions to the surface for many. Traditionally, Christmas is for the children, bursting with anticipation at what Santa will bring, whilst parents manically pull it all together, juggling work, buying presents and avoiding family disputes. When Christmas arrives, we need another week to get over it all.

But whilst some of us are wrapped up in the magic and festivities, it is a time to keep those who may be healing wounds in our thoughts too. Christmas can intensify feelings of loss; whether mourning a loved one or mending a broken heart, the jollity all around can feel isolating. And who needs another Christmas fending off Uncle Frank’s enquiries after whether there’s a fella on the scene?

When I set to work on this festive issue, I knew it had to be about compassion, just as much as about business. I called on some special people from the finance, fashion, food and fitness worlds to share their inspiring and heartfelt stories, alongside their key business tips to digest over the Christmas period, so that we can all emerge ready, stronger and equipped for 2019.

On Tuesday 4 December, we bring this all to life with Modern Woman’s second networking event and party. We’ll be hosting a speaker panel with four inspirational women, plus there will be plenty of opportunity to network, drink and dance to soulful sounds from DJ Ronnie Herel from Mi-Soul Radio.

Check out modernwoman.co/events to book your tickets.

This is also a time of year when it is natural to reflect. Remember, change can be good and stimulate growth and self-discovery – all crucial tools for any business or career. So if you’re feeling apprehensive about Christmas, it could be a time to try and channel your energy into the positives you can create for 2019. For those who are paralysed with stress at work or with family, do take a moment to breath (literally) and realise that this moment too shall pass. For all the emotions Christmas delivers, we must never forget that this is a time of year to give and receive love in whatever form it comes. It’s what makes this journey worthwhile.

Merry Christmas!

Rosie

We would love to hear from you! Do get in touch on... hello@modernwoman.co @moderwoman_int Modern Woman International

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WOMEN OF THE WORLD All the must-know news from women in work across the globe

NEW ZEALAND Safe spaces New Zealand academics, human rights workers and intellectuals have written an open letter to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern urging her to protect the safety of Anne-Marie Brady, an expert in Chinese politics at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch. Brady says she has become a target after the release of a paper on Chinese foreign influence last year. Since the report, her office has been burgled twice, her home has been broken into, and her car has been tampered with. The letter states, “We…urge Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to make a clear statement in defence of academic freedom in New Zealand in light of the Brady case, and to be very clear that any intimidation and threats aimed at silencing academic voices in this country will not be tolerated.” A spokeswoman commented that Ardern “supports and defends the legal right to academic freedom”, but that it was not appropriate to comment further before the police investigation had been completed.

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November/December 2018

NEWS: GLOBAL ROUND UP

ITALY The winner wears Prada The British Fashion Council is set to honour Miuccia Prada with the Outstanding Achievement Award at the Fashion Awards 2018. The gong is in recognition of her contribution to the global fashion industry; having taken over the family business in 1978, she transformed it from a small leather goods producer into one of fashion’s powerhouses.

Stephanie Phair, chairman of the British Fashion Council says: “Mrs. Prada’s intuition for the zeitgeist and her blending of multiple creative disciplines, including fashion design, art and architecture, since the beginning have made her a pioneering force in our industry.” Previous winners include Donatella Versace, Ralph Lauren, Karl Lagerfeld, Anna Wintour, Terry and Tricia Jones, and Manolo Blahnik.

ETHIOPIA Equality for Ethiopia In a momentous move, Ethiopia has joined Rwanda to become the only two African states to have equal gender representation in their cabinet, thanks to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s appointment of women to half of the government’s ministerial posts. The decision has been widely welcomed and shows rapid progress in the power women hold in the country (by contrast, his predecessor Hailemariam Dessalegn had only four women in his cabinet). Following the appointments, it is hoped the new government will unveil major initiatives in the coming months to improve the lives of Ethiopian women.

UNITED STATES Avon ladies Avon is set to launch a new campaign to highlight the psychological violence devastating women’s lives around the world. #EmbraceTheChange is a global awareness campaign that will shine a light on all forms of non-physical abuse towards women, launched following a global survey commissioned by the Avon Foundation for Women. “Avon has a long history of empowering women,” says Jan Zijderveld, CEO of Avon Products Inc. “The alarming findings show that there is still much to do.” #EmbraceTheChange challenges everyone to consider how we can all affect change. Says Zijderveld, “Reaching men and women is vital.

We’ll be sharing this campaign across our community of six million representatives, and their social networks globally.”

www.modernwoman.co

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ART: MAUDE HIRST

In good

VOICE

This was the year that women found their voice and the collective impetus to be heard, says actor MAUDE HIRST could have spoken out but didn’t.

Were there moments you could have taken a risk but stayed in your safety zone? Where did you apologise for something that wasn’t your fault? As women, too often we are taught to play it safe but now the net is lifting.

Decide to step into the unknown.

Speak up, speak truthfully, and speak together.

Let this past year teach us that collaboration and honesty is the best way to move forward. As the African proverb goes, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

I

f you’re a woman, this year has probably felt like a tipping point, a moment of pivotal sea-change. For the first time in a long time, it feels like times really are a-changing, and it’s exciting. The tidal wave of the #MeToo movement has opened up a long overdue dialogue about the way women are treated across all industries and it has given a voice to those who have felt silenced. Real change is happening because of it.

Christmas always feels like a time of reflection. This year has been one of great controversy, and the global political landscape continues to show the deepening cracks of division, with little evidence of unity.

And yet somehow, amongst all the chaos, the opportunity has arisen for women to truly step into their power.

As an actor, I was taught to take direction from other people, to be malleable. Sometimes I got that confused with losing parts of my identity and not owning my voice. But there is a revolution happening externally and internally for many of us.

Being able to speak out when circumstances don’t feel right has meant we can now live the life that we truly desire and create what we want to create.

What parts of your life are you playing small in? Look back at your year and think where you

MAUDE’S MUST SEES Theatre: Slava’s Snow Show I’ve seen this show multiple times since my childhood and it’s just as magical now. A mime art spectacular. Southbank Centre Royal Festival Hall; 18 Dec – 4 Jan; southbankcentre.co.uk Art: Elmgreen & Dragset: This Is How We Bite Our Tongue Danish-Norwegian duo Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset explore social and sexual politics and the power structures embedded in the everyday designs that surround us.

Whitechapel Gallery; until 13 Jan; whitechapelgallery.org

Event: Round To Rita’s for ‘Camp Karaoke’ at Little Nan’s Bar Drink, dance and sing your heart out at this night of show tunes and camp hits, karaoke and sing-a-long. Think New York’s Marie’s Crisis meets LA’s Tramp Stamp Granny’s Bar, just done south-east London style. Arch 14, 4 Deptford Market Yard; 13 Dec; littlenans.co.uk Class: Flower arranging with Worm London The best, most creative florist in east London. Its Christmas workshop is soon to be released, if you want to boss your wreath. weareworm.com

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Patinated Bowl: Adi Toch / Image: Val Toch

Creative Short Courses t: 00 44 (0)20 7320 1842 w: londonmet.ac.uk/thecassshortcourses e: thecass.shortcourses@londonmet.ac.uk

INSPIRATION: QUOTES

Quirky Christmas

QUOTES “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat.”

SHERYL SANDBERG

∑ “Whatever you do, throw yourself into it.

Throw your head, heart, and hands into it.”

INDRA NOOYI

∑

“Growth and comfort do not coexist.”

GINNI ROMETTY

∑ “What people say isn’t going to stop me.

I have to do things for myself ” KATE MOSS

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“Don’t confuse honours with achievement.”

ZADIE SMITH

∑ “We can’t plan life. All we can do is be available for it.”

LAURYN HILL

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“The most effective way to do it, is to do it.”

AMELIA EARHART

∑ “I am the sole author of the dictionary that defines me.”

ZADIE SMITH

www.modernwoman.co www.moderwoman.co

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BUSINESS: GEETA SIDHU-ROBB

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November/December 2018

BUSINESS: GEETA SIDHU-ROBB

HEALMe

GEETA SIDHU-ROBB is the founder of Nosh Detox, which arose from a very long and a very personal road. As a business, its journey is just beginning, says Nancy Larman

N Listen to the Po d c a st at mode rnwom an.co/ podca sts

ecessity, as the saying goes, is the mother of invention.

And in 2008, with three young children in her sole charge, circumstance dictated that Geeta Sidhu-Robb dig deep to give birth to a business idea that would change their lives and, in doing so, the lives of many more besides. Thankfully, she had at her disposal a holy trinity of sorts: considerable resourcefulness, fertile ingenuity and an unbreakable work ethic, which she channelled into getting herself and her children out of their temporary sofa surfing existence and back on the road to stability.

Originally from Malawi, Geeta came to the UK as a 15-year-old; her ‘traditional’ upbringing as the daughter of a successful farmer having instilled a deep-rooted discipline, she worked hard to become a lawyer. Having married young, she and her then-husband built a business dealing in tax, from which they made millions seemingly overnight. Life seemed rosy. But from inside the marriage, the tableau was altogether different.

“I was married to someone who drank a lot, who was always cheating on me and who was violent. I got tired of calling the police when he came home drunk. So I decided to leave. But it’s not as easy as that because it’s a painful decision. We’d made all this money and I thought we could take half each, but he cleaned out our bank accounts. I ended up with £200. I went to a friend and said, ‘Can we have somewhere to sleep? I have nothing.’’’

And so it was, with her back against the wall and the backdrop of her ex-husband attempting to win her back with promises of lavish Christmases and Louis Vuitton handbags (“which I wanted to kill him with”) that Geeta drew her line in the sand: from now on, she was going to do things to her standards. She must, on some level, have had faith that everything would be ok? “No, I don’t think I knew that. I just knew that I couldn’t have my children see their father getting drunk and hitting me. I thought my son would then grow up and hit his wife and my daughters would expect to get hit.”

As she navigated this new life, Geeta conceived of Nosh Detox, her bespoke holistic health business, which is first diagnostic and then delivers results. “What we do is we create solutions for senior professionals. It’s generally people who work very hard and have no time. So when they’re in a place where they need support to stay performing well, and they’re not actually sick, they’re just out of balance, then they come to us. We diagnose a problem and create a solution and deliver that solution. It could be coaching or food or juices or vitamin drips; we’ll do everything around a natural solution to restore wellness and balance again.” The typical profile of her clients is female, high-powered and time-poor. In short, the kind of people no one would think needed help.

“The truth is that no one supports them actually,” she explains. “Senior women do

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BUSINESS: GEETA SIDHU-ROBB everything for everyone. Some of that is our fault because we don’t know how to ask for help, and some of it is that we just have no choice, because we run the house, we make the babies, give birth to the babies, look after the babies and now we have to pay for the babies too. It’s a lot.”

As with everything that drives Geeta’s life and success, Nosh Detox – and her enquiry into and analysis of health and alternative and preventative approaches to health – was born of highly personal circumstances.

“I used to be a corporate lawyer and then my son fell very ill. He spent 230 days in hospital in his first year. It was brutal,” she says. “That kind of thing changes your life. It was like a reset button. He was apparently incurable; we managed to cure him. And I wanted to help other kids but I couldn’t get to the kids because the mothers didn’t believe in what we were offering.

So I made the conscious decision: I’ll work with the mothers and then they will change the kids’ diet and lifestyle.”

Her son had become rapidly and alarmingly unwell following routine vaccinations in months one, two and three of his life. He was, as it transpired, so allergic that he broke out in eczema so severe you could barely touch him, but few people were willing to listen. “We played with his diet. And then his eczema went into remission and he got asthma. Then about seven months in, when we introduced food, he got anaphylaxis, which is where everything swells up, your windpipe closes up, you can’t breathe and you die. He had cardio-respiratory arrest, he stopped breathing and they had to resuscitate him. He was in a coma in St Mary’s in Paddington for a week. He came out of the coma but we didn’t know if he was brain damaged. It was life-changing. We asked what we could do and they said there were no choices. We were in and out of hospital for the next year.

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November/December 2018

“What we eat affects everything. When people don’t believe that, I say: ‘Drink a bottle of vodka and tell me it doesn’t affect your mental health!’”

ABOVE Geeta’s powerful personal story of tenacity and survival makes her an inspirational public speaker

I got to the end of that year and I thought: “Sod it. We’re never going to hospital again, I’m going to fix this. So I spent the next seven years fixing it.”

The path to health was long and circuitous, but Geeta indefatigably explored every avenue. “I’m an Indian from Africa so we tried some funky stuff,” she laughs. “People would be like, ‘So if you take a chicken feather and then you burn that...’ I was like, ‘I’ll try that!’.Ginger? ‘I’ll try it!’.Turmeric? ‘Yup’. I’m a lawyer, so the one skill I have is that I can read huge amounts of super boring information and come up with join-the-dot solutions. We found it was diet, then we found it was leaky gut – and every time we’d find a solution and fix it.

We cured the eczema and the asthma. I don’t think he’s had an anaphylaxis since he was seven.”

Geeta is sage enough to know that health can’t be compartmentalised, physical or mental. “What we eat affects everything. When people don’t believe that, I say: ‘Drink a bottle of vodka and tell me it doesn’t

affect your mental health!’”

She is hopeful about the positive changes feminism is affecting, and believes in being powerful while never being asked to compromise on femininity (“Water takes the shape of the container. If you ever thought water was weak, you only have to look at the sea. But it’s nurturing, it’s soft and it changes shape”).

Moreover, she believes in trusting your instincts and knowing that even failure, responded to the right way, is useful.

“Setting up a business is all about failure, and I have failed in every possible capacity,” she laughs. “I make speeches about the fact that I have failed at everything and that it’s really good for you. Starting a business is the single biggest act of rebellion and of personal development and growth.” And that growth just keeps going, as Nosh Detox attests. “My business changed when I realised it would grow when I grew. It took me a really long time to work that out.” noshdetox.com

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PSYCHOLOGY: EMOTIONS IN BUSINESS

THE SHAPE of things to come The twists and turns that life throws out? Unexpected dramas? The pleasure of downtime with friends? How was your 2018, asks JESS BAKER, and what do you want 2019 to look like?

C

hristmas is naturally a time for reflection. But the flipside of taking stock is looking forward. At the end of the year, we find ourselves considering questions pertinent to the year ahead.

You might want to boost your confidence; make more time for yourself; or shake things up in your career or personal life. By having a specific plan you are much more likely to achieve your goals.

I love the days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. I tend to spend Betwixtmas walking off the home-made mince pies, catching up with friends in the local pub by an open fire, or lazing in my PJs watching The Muppets Christmas Carol for the hundredth time. It also supplies the perfect moment to review the past 12 months and decide what you want your 2019 to look like.

By detoxing the drama and letting go of any residual negative emotions you’ve been carrying with you, you’ll find it easier to move forward with the life you deserve. We tend to seek immediate gratification (download this Free Guide to a Better You Now!) and quick-fix solutions (Detox in 5 Days and lose 10lbs!), but face the facts: these are often unhealthy, unhelpful and unrealistic.

I propose you take the pressure off trying to be perfect and be more realistic about what you want and how you are going to make it happen. You’ll enjoy the journey a lot more this way too.

Put the kettle on, grab your favourite journal and a pen, and allow yourself 30 minutes to answer these simple but effective lifestyle review questions below. They’ll get you thinking about what you want, what you need and, importantly, how you want to feel. Not just for 2019, but for the next three years.

Taking positive action towards achieving your goals, even just tiny steps every day, is the best way to boost your self-worth; keep your inner critic

THE LIFESTYLE REVIEW If you’re up for a lifestyle review before January, here are some questions that might help you to think ahead to 2021. Considering each of these will gently take you through a powerful reflection process. There are no right or wrong answers. You can think big, or be pragmatic: whatever works 1. What is going well in my life at the moment?

2. What things do I already have that make me feel good about myself?

3. What three positive feelings do I want to experience by 2021? E.g. joy, love, calm, energy, groundedness, confidence, etc...

4. What things do I need to have in my life to help me feel this way?

5. What changes do I have to make? Consider aspects of your life such as income, career, socialising, health, creativity and growth, etc...

at bay; help you make better decisions; and feel more in control of your life.

If your inner critic is telling you not to bother, that it’s rubbish and a waste of time, please remember three things. First, your inner critic always says this any time you try improve

6. What resources do I need to implement these changes?

E.g. to manage my time; find extra income; work with a coach to let go of selfsabotaging behaviours...

7. What small action can I take to move me closer to my goals?

E.g. make a to-do list and stick to it; create an additional income stream; make more time for my friends; find a coach I can work with, etc...

8. Who can support and encourage me to achieve my goals? Consider perhaps finding a friend, mastermind group or coach. It is easier to work towards your goals when someone else is holding you accountable.

yourself or your lifestyle. And, second, that almost everyone else reading this article is having exactly the same thought.

It’s unhelpful but it’s normal.

And finally, you can make the conscious decision not to listen to it. It’s time to claim the life you truly deserve.

www.modernwoman.co

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HUMOUR: SAMANTHA BAINES

To

ABSENT friends

Christmas was always SAM BAINES’ most wonderful time of the year – until she lost her dad two years ago. But, she says, even if the shine has dimmed, it is a time to remember and to keep loved ones’ spirits alive

C

hristmas is my absolute favourite time of year and always has been.

I love the festive films, the ridiculous decorations and the fact that it’s absolutely fine to neck pints of spiced mulled wine at any time of the day.

However, two years ago my dad utterly ruined Christmas for me when he decided to die the month before. Okay, so he didn’t really decide to die, his body was very ill and it gave up on life. But as of two years ago, my favourite time of year was plunged into a cloying black cloud of sadness. It’s very hard to hang glittery novelty avocado decorations when you are grieving for your favourite man in the whole world. My dad was a best friend; a joke writing collaborator; a taxi driver; a bank; a good hugger; and a caring father to me and my sister. His loss ripped a hole in everything. I remember asking a friend how I would ever enjoy Christmas again.

That first year was as hard as you might imagine it would be, or indeed you know it to be if you’ve experienced something similar yourself. The memories of past, happier Christmases linger for too long – a lot like

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November/December 2018

the smells after we’d all finished the Brussels sprouts. My dad had always been the life and soul of a party and I think my love of Christmas and a good shindig comes from him. He could never resist hosting a ‘do’ and he’d make the turkey with all the trimmings all by himself and get everyone lots of special Christmas treats. Three years on, all those things remain true, even though I no longer fit into the dress I wore at his funeral. I eat when I’m sad.

Now I am facing my third Christmas without my Dad and whilst time has washed away some of the intensity of my grief, it still waits behind the wrapping paper and half empty variety boxes. We try to be there for friends and family members who are grieving, but what is strange about time is that people forget, and the mentions and well wishers fade away. With this Christmas fast approaching, I can’t help but worry that everyone has forgotten my Dad and in some moments I worry that I’m forgetting him too.

Though he did used to buy very extravagant Christmas presents, so I definitely remember and miss those. Maybe Christmas will never quite have the same shine

for me again but I can make sure my dad isn’t forgotten; that he’s still with us in spirit.

So, this Christmas, let’s talk to one another about the ones we’ve lost and bring them into our celebrations. Let’s let others know that their loved ones will never be forgotten. Time may have passed but losses are still felt keenly at the festive season.

So whether it’s been three

“Time may have passed but losses are felt keenly at the festive season, so whether it’s been three years or twenty, make sure everyone is remembered this Christmas” years or twenty, make sure everyone is remembered this Christmas. Let’s be kind to each other – even to Auntie Linda who always takes all the good cracker presents, eats the green triangle Quality Streets, and snores through Home Alone.

So here I am raising a pint of spicy mulled wine to you Dad. Happy Christmas.

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November/December 2018

BUSINESS: QUINTESSENTIALLY EVENTS

The Main

EVENT ANABEL FIELDING is CEO and co-founder of Quintessentially Events, an offshoot of the world’s leading luxury lifestyle group. She tells her story to Rosie Coxshaw

LEFT The Quintessentially Events team has expanded somewhat since its beginnings in a basement

LEFT QE stages seamless events, from weddings to full on spectaculars

Tell us about what Quintessentially Events offers?

We are a multinational events company, established for 14 years. We work with corporate and private clients across industries spanning finance, tech and retail brands. Traditionally, we are known for producing seamless events globally.

How did you get into events?

I was working for a formidable woman at a major record label who gave me the momentum and the impetus to think, “Why can’t I run my own business?”

Then there was a real moment when dance music arrived and record companies were all still trying to sign second-rate boy bands, when we were all raving in fields. It was a cultural breakdown, but also there were massive trends happening. We were jumping on the bandwagon of that, which then positioned me to set up a DJ management company. Suddenly I was doing a whole raft of things in my twenties which I never thought I would be able to achieve. It was a wonderful sense of freedom, feeling this unity with people from all walks of life. But I got to the end of my twenties and I didn’t have an awful lot to show after working a decade in the music business. I had a great pair

of combat trousers and loads of Adidas but no car or house.

And that’s when I transitioned into the events market, having to start my career over again.

What was it like starting QE in a tiny basement?

I was in my mid-to-late thirties and I knew that if I was going to start something, it had to be then. My business partner Caroline and I both had the appetite to give it a go. Starting out, we divided all the roles of running a business between the two of us, and although some were not my primary skills, it’s amazing what you can turn your hand to if you’re the only person left to do it.

How did you fund the business?

Between five shareholders, we put in £30,000. At the time it was a large amount of money, but now we’re paying our first level event managers around that. And I smile, because at the time I couldn’t even imagine us surviving the year. But we thought that if we could get past six months, then we might be in business. We were very lucky that we got some good business straight away. Thankfully, since we started, we’ve never had to borrow money or have an overdraft facility.

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BUSINESS: QUINTESSENTIALLY EVENTS got brilliant people and it’s something the country should shout about. Also, how people treat each other. If I could change the world, it would be to give everyone a home and a purpose.

What made you take the appointment as COO at the Quintessentially brand, post setting up QE? The Quintessentially brand has been operating for 18 years as a mothership, and after 12 years the post become available.

Although I had already cofounded Quintessentially Events, I wanted to look at the world from a different view. I knew how to produce events and I wanted to learn the strategy of running a global business.

How did it feel to be the only senior woman working at Quintessentially at the time?

I felt quite lonely at times. I think women approach things differently and that’s why I feel it’s important to have men and women on boards or in management generally. Even today, the guys I tend to work with focus on the numbers instead of the people first. I believe in the people coming first, with the numbers to follow.

What’s been your most challenging time?

Sadly my mum died when I was very young, which was a big turning point in my life. My family tried to be close and look after us, but inevitably it’s one of those things that creates a moment. It affected my teens and I found it very difficult to

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November/December 2018

“If I could change the world, it would be to give everyone a home and a purpose” ABOVE QE has worked with many familiar faces, including royalty

focus on anything. The idea of my maths paper just really didn’t matter to me, so I didn’t perform particularly well at school. I would say that I spent my teens happy but lost and this continued into my twenties.

Since then I’ve had a degree of self-awareness and a sense of responsibility of myself and my actions. But I have always felt that life is very precious.

In business, is it a case of what you know or who you know?

In my sector, it’s definitely about what you know and who you are.

Of course connections will help you up the ladder and certainly they will get you into companies, but you do get judged by standing on your own two feet.

There’s a huge desire to fast track; it’s better to slow down and learn about life and people.

What are you passionate about?

Women’s rights. Also, the events business being held in the regard it should be. It’s one of our great exports. We’ve

What would you like to see change for women?

It’s important that we are pro women, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be pro men.

It’s an agenda that needs to be discussed transparently. It’s vital to lobby for women to receive equal opportunities, including pay and senior management.

Because it’s not changing quick enough, women feel they have to be less polite to demand a little bit more. I’d love to see a woman president of the USA. Who do you aspire to?

I am inspired by people who make difficult choices, who sacrifice their life for the good of the whole and put other people’s welfare before their own.

Do you have a golden rule in business?

To be authentic. If you’re not true to what you believe in, you get distracted by what others are doing. You need to have a clear mission and stay true to your set of values..

What drives you?

I really like making things happen and bringing them to life. I love achieving what people may think is the impossible. And also seeing our team growing and coming up the ranks.

If you could do it all again, what would you change?

Try to worry less. I’ve really worried about how things may turn out; now I’m a lot more sanguine. Certain things won’t turn out how they’re meant to and in the end you can’t control everything. It’s important to not beat yourself up. quintessentiallyevents.com

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PARENTING: GEORGIE FULLER

MOTHER Christmas St Nick’s to-do list looks like child’s play compared to that of most mums at Christmas. GEORGINA FULLER has some words of wisdom when it comes to coping with excited kids and juggling jobs at work and home 24

November/December 2018

T

he children are beside themselves with excitement and you, if you’re anything like me, have been using Father Christmas to bribe, threaten and cajole them into everything from tidying their rooms to brushing their teeth since October.

But while the only thing they have to think about is the presents they’re going to get, you might feel as if your brain is going to explode with Christmas shopping, parties, meal planning, Secret Santa, work and writing what feels like a thousand Christmas cards.

And that’s not to mention the school fair, Christmas tombola,

PARENTING: GEORGINA FULLER

nativity plays and whether or not to invite the aunt you’ve never really liked over for drinks on Christmas Eve. So how can you try and avoid the inevitable stress that the festive season always seems to deliver for us mums?

Ruth Kudzi, business coach, advises thinking ahead and notes that getting organised is essential. “Make a list of everything that you need to do for home, business and kids.

Then allocate times to do it.

For example, you might want to order the Christmas food in advance and plan the menus.

Do book in extra childcare if you need it and make the necessary travel arrangements in advance.”

Crucially, she advises, delegate whatever you can. “Share your

schedule and what you are doing with your partner and be open about any support you need,” says Kudzi.

If you don’t have a partner, think about who you can ask for help, but always make sure they have plenty of prior notice.

“Friends and family are often happy to help if they have warning and know what they need to do,” she counsels.

Dr Caroline Udall, founder of Leadership of Mums coaching consultancy recommends carrying around an old-school Filofax. “As the dates start to flood in, get everything in the diary as soon as you can so that you can be sure you don’t double book, or overlook anything,” she recommends.

If you have to work, see what local Christmas holiday clubs are available, or look at other childcare options. “Christmas holiday clubs are a last resort for me as my children have never really liked this sort of childcare,” says Udall. “But sometimes needs must. I also rely on the Bubble babysitting app, which helps to connect local babysitters with local parents – a life-saver if and when something crops up unexpectedly.”

If you run your own business, there are a few simple things to can do to try and overcome feeling stretched and stressed.

“Automate as much as possible – schedule social media posts and emails to go out over the Christmas period,” Kudzi says. “If you have a team, delegate jobs that need to be done to them, such as checking Facebook ads, but make sure they also have some time off too.”

You should also manage your clients’/customers’ expectations by letting them know when you will and won’t be available. If you’re hoping to be off until New Year, make it clear by ensuring you switch your out of office on.

“If you really have to work, schedule some time in when you can focus on it, such as early morning, or ask your partner or

ABOVE Delegate everything you can to partners, friends and family – including getting the kids to decorate the tree

family to take the children out for a few hours,” Kudzi advises.

If you have people coming to stay for Christmas, don’t leave everything to the last minute, says Vicky Silverthorn, professional organiser, storage expert for John Lewis and author of the fantastic Start With Your Sock Drawer.

“Don’t leave decluttering the spare room until the last minute.

Bit by bit, evening by evening, chip away at what needs to be done to turn your dumping ground/store room into a little haven for your friends or relatives,” she suggests.

If the prospect of all that Christmas wrapping paper being strewn around the house is already stressing you out, try and focus more on buying meaningful ‘experiences’ in favour of physical presents.

“Christmas is changing and so are our views on clutter. Make

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PARENTING: GEORGINA FULLER

Take 5

FIVE WAYS TO FESTIVE DE-STRESS • Plan ahead: From shopping online or booking a Christmas dinner in a box to making travel arrangements, do as much as you can in advance to avoid the inevitable last-minute stress. this year the first you avoid buying unnecessarily and opt for the gift of experience over stuff,” says Silverthorn.

Afternoon tea, a massage, National Trust membership or a Red-Letter Day experience are all fabulous alternatives to the ubiquitous scented candle or socks. If you must buy objects, do wrap them in recyclable and cheaper brown paper, rather than non-recyclable wrapping.

Silverthorn also recommends getting the children involved in having a clear-out and even making a game out of it. “Whether it’s extra room in your cupboards or your kids’ toy boxes, start surveying what space you do and don’t have,” suggests Silverthorn.

If the prospect of cooking for ten fills you with fear, try and keep it simple and plan ahead. “Do some cooking in the days before, freeze it and save yourself unnecessary extra work on the day,” advises Silverthorn.

“Start using up the food in the freezer to make space and if you’re having supplies delivered, make sure you get your slot booked early. The demand for online deliveries is huge at this time of year so you need to

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November/December 2018

“It doesn’t get easier than a Christmas dinner box. It isn’t always the cheapest option as they tend to use luxury, organic providers, but with a price hike you do get a less stressful day” ABOVE Do take some time to yourself to relax, whether by the fire, in the pub or at a spa

make sure you plan ahead.”

Or, says Udall, consider the Christmas dinner in a box option.

“It doesn’t get easier than a Christmas dinner box. It isn’t always the cheapest option as they tend to use luxury, organic providers, but with a price hike you do get a less stressful day,” she notes. “Try Riverford, Marks & Spencer or Cook, where you can get everything from the turkey to Christmas pudding with their ‘build your own Christmas lunch.’’’

• Keep Christmas clutter to a minimum: Buy experiences (spa days, afternoon tea or National Trust membership) instead of physical presents.

• To business: Automate emails; schedule social media posts; let your clients know when you will and won’t be available; and put your out of office firmly on.

• Working holiday: Look at local childcare options, babysitting apps and consider teaming up with other working parents to share childcare.

• Delegate, delegate, delegate: Ask people to bring something for Christmas dinner (wine or pudding). Get your partner, friends or family involved and don’t be afraid to ask for help.

More than anything, do try and nurture yourself a bit if you can.

It is supposed to be a holiday for mums as well as everyone else.

“Planning some time for yourself before and after the holidays really helps,” says Kudzi. “We are booking our kids into the crèche for a couple of mornings before and after Christmas so we have some time in the spa to relax. I can’t wait.”

Happy holidays, supermums!

All I want for

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HEALTH & BEAUTY: PRODUCTS

Fill your

BOOTS Jo Sugar rounds up the best pintsized treats with which to stuff your stockings

DHC SKINCARE

Revitalising moisture strips Size: six applications £8.75; dhcuk.co.uk I love, love, love this product.

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Apply the gel moisture strips as instructed to alleviate dark circles and watch your fine lines melt away in 20 minutes. It works by plumping the skin and really does temporarily erase fine lines and reduce dark circles. Perfect for a night out, an important meeting or a date. I’ve tested this product extensively; for best results apply for 20-30 minutes under the eye, and then reapply to frown or laughter lines until the patch looses its moisture. Keep it in the fridge for extra cooling to combat puffiness. I find it lasts about four hours. A great and affordable stocking filler (hint, hint).

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Neon Lights Dry Oil Spray Size: 4oz /162ml £26.00; randco.com/uk

R & CO Sand Castle Dry Texture Crème Size: 2.2.oz £25.00; randco.com/uk For texture that leaves your hair feeling like you’ve had a day at the beach, try the ultra effective Sand Castle. This lightweight crème, rich with argan oil, vitamin E, Moroccan lava clay, coconut oil and shikakai extract, re-creates the look of sun, sand, ocean and wind and absorbs oil while nourishing hair. Rub between fingertips and apply. Non greasy and easy to rinse out.

Amp up the glow and glisten with Neon Lights Dry Oil Spray, the ultimate blend of rare oils that delivers shine, nourishment and softness to all hair types. Apply this sheer dry oil essence wherever added nourishment and shine is needed. Evening primrose oil strengthens and nourishes hair from the roots, while olive oil provides intense moisture and shine, nourishes the scalp and improves the elasticity of hair.

PRODUCT OF THE MONTH PURE PIGMENTS METALLIC Pure Silver Size: 3g £17.50; uk.kryolan.com These metallic pigments are a perfect for the Christmas season.

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FITNESS: POPPY CROSS

Perfect

TEN POPPY CROSS shares her ten top tips to optimise your health and happiness through the winter

Y

ou may find your motivation to move waining along with the daylight hours. It’s cold, it’s dark; why on earth would you leave your cosy nest? The key is to keep these survival tips in mind, because it’s actually a great time to be more active than ever – even if just to stay warm. Winter is hard, which makes it more important to keep energy and spirits high to get through the season in the happiest, healthiest way possible. Here’s how.

1. Set SMART goals SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time specific. These types of goals ensure you’re clear on what you want to achieve and how and when you’ll get there. Write them down and allocate time to complete them before your week starts. When you have a plan, you’re half way there.

2. Buddy up Find a friend, or even join a club, and make a commitment to show up and get sweaty. The more the merrier. You’ll meet new people and make deeper connections with friends at the same time.

away from your smart phone and into nature. Even a five-minute walk can be impactful. Download a mindfulness app, such as Calm, or a meditation app like Sam Harris’s Waking Up to help unlock your optimal mind and body potential. If you can escape the city to soak up some country air, so much the better.

4. Go sober sometimes While it’s fine to have a tipple or two, drinking too much is a festive hazard. Try going out and staying sober on some occasions to swerve hangovers and ensure you don’t undermine your hard work at the gym.

Seedlip’s mocktails combine teas, brines, salts and shrubs to create all-natural dry, sour and bitter savoury non-alcoholic infusions.

favourites are Ultracor, Carbon 38, Sweaty Betty and P.E. Nation.

7. Take supplements Most of us in the UK are deficient in vitamin D during winter so it’s worth taking a supplement.

To see what else you could be deficient in, book a blood test before splashing your cash on supplements you don’t need.

8. Consume consciously Letting your hair down is great – until your jeans don’t fit. Choose nutritious options and remember, it’s all about balance: there’s space for naughty and nice.

9. Get fresh 5. Get some sleep In Professor Matthew Walker’s book, Why We Sleep, he explores how our longevity is dependent on adequate sleep. Yet restorative rest is increasingly neglected, despite deficient sleep being associated with Alzheimer’s, cancer, obesity and diabetes. Why We Sleep explains how caffeine and alcohol affect sleep. Read it; it might help you steer clear of too much cheer.

3. Be mindful in nature Stress levels can soar at Christmas. It’s important to step

you look the part, you act the part. Invest in some activewear that’s going to inspire you to smash your workouts. My current

6. Dress the part It may sound trivial but when

Mix up your workouts. If you’re usually stuck on a treadmill, keep it fresh with a dance class, trampolining, a hike, HIIT class or hot yoga. Keep your mind and body engaged.

10. Set a challenge If you’ve ever dreamed of running a marathon, climbing a mountain or learning something new that scares you, set yourself the challenge and work up to it.

Once you’ve done it you’ll feel empowered to keep achieving.

And that’s what it’s all about.

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BUSINESS: ANGEL SINCLAIR

Still I

ANGEL SINCLAIR set up Models of Diversity, a charity that lobbies for representation of plus-size, disabled and ethnically diverse models on the runway, in 2008. This champion of the underrepresented is driven by the desire for equality and to help others, an urge that stems from her own, often troubled past. By Nancy Larman

RISE

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November/December 2018

BUSINESS: ANGEL SINCLAIR

W

hether he knows it or not, Gok Wan was the catalyst that rerouted Angel Sinclair’s life – already eventful – towards the philanthropic. It was 2008, and she had just appeared on the champion of real women’s purportedly shocking pre-watershed show, Miss Naked Beauty.

And although the experience did not ignite in Angel a newfound desire to disrobe publically on any regular sort of basis, it did place her somewhere she would otherwise not have been: in a position to observe the inner, often far from beautiful, machinations of the fashion world.

“It was around the time that the size zero thing was at it’s worst. From being on that show and around other women of all shapes and sizes, I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to talk about diversity, and I wanted my questions answered. So I decided to start up a campaign called Models of Diversity.” She has recently upgraded it to a fully-fledged charity, whose estimable mission is to give platforms – and crucially work – to models cut from a different mould to those who typically grace the pages of magazines. In a happy case of nominative determinism, she is both advocate and guardian angel to those with dreams of modelling who have disabilities; are older; or of underrepresented ethnicity on the catwalk. It is an initiative that not only helps fulfil ambitions, but which is also changing public perceptions by giving models who don’t fit the standard a public profile.

She explains, “I wanted to know, where were the black models? Back then, you hardly saw them at London Fashion Week or in magazines. The only person anyone knew was Naomi Campbell.

I was intrigued that there were no disabled or plus-size models on the runway. Why weren’t the consumers being represented? I needed answers.”

Dauntless and determined to get them, she tackled the British Fashion Council by staging a protest outside London Fashion Week. “It was productive, because the CEO, Caroline Rush, invited me in to have a discussion. Today we have a good relationship. She said it wouldn’t happen overnight, but she listened.”

In an industry set on marching forward with the seasons, why does she think change is so slow to come? “People like to blame the modelling agencies,” she says. “But they are briefed by designers. If designers want Caucasian models between a size 4 and 6, agencies follow that brief. They were signing black models, but there was no work for them. So I say let’s start with the designers. They’re the ones dressing these models.”

Despite industry reticence – a picture which, thankfully, Angel notes is shifting – Models of Diversity has had notable successes. “We wanted to push disabled models because they were not featured anywhere. There was a show called Britain’s Top Missing Model and the winner was Kelly Knox. She got signed but her agency went bust. She was the first disabled model we worked with. Then we got Jack Ayres and I started to approach New York Fashion Week and LFW. Kelly is now a model for Primark – she’s everywhere.

But it’s a slow process. The only big agencies I know who have signed disabled models are IMG in the States and Milk Model Management in the UK. That’s progress, because it opens the door for others. The other agencies are very polite, but it’s still not happening.”

Angel is a great believer in keeping doors open. She never turns people away; anyone who comes to her walks away with a spread sheet detailing everything they need to know. If they still want to model, they’re told how to have pictures taken: MoD even has a

“We live in a diverse society, we need to see it on the runway. These high street brands and designers need to remember that. They’re willing to take consumers’ money but they’re not willing to represent them. That needs to change”

Listen to the podca st at mode rnwom an.co/ podca sts

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BUSINESS: ANGEL SINCLAIR relationship with photographer, James Lyons, who donates his time to photographing anyone with potential. Models of Diversity then approaches agencies and magazines. “We live in a diverse society, we need to see it on the runway. These high street brands and designers need to remember that. They’re willing to take consumers’ money but they’re not willing to represent them.

That needs to change,” she says.

That anyone should have taken the idea for MoD and run with it in so focused a fashion would be impressive. But Angel’s trajectory has been so steeped in grief, hardship and rejection that it makes her determination to represent the unrepresented both more commendable – and somehow inevitable. One of her early memories, at seven years old, is of two police officers coming to the family’s door in Buckinghamshire to deliver the devastating news that her father had been killed in an accident.

“To hear that your dad is not coming back and seeing my mum heartbroken... she was only 26 and we’d recently moved into a new home when she became a widow with two small children. I always felt like after my dad died, my life ended. I carried that with me for years,” she says.

The aftermath was a difficult childhood; one in which she acted out her pain at school and got little affection at home. “I was always told about the things I didn’t do right, never the things I did. I always felt ugly and I grew up feeling unloved. It scarred me, because I internalised it. I desperately wanted my Mum’s approval but I realise now that’s just not how she was made.”

By 16, she was pregnant by a much older man, a decision she consciously took as she knew that she’d be thrown out and “to me that signalled freedom.”

But it also spelt homelessness and, later, domestic abuse.

“By the time I turned 18 I was in a women’s refuge with my child, because I suffered

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November/December 2018

ABOVE A group of Angel’s Models of Diversity

domestic violence. I started self-harming and I ended up seeking psychiatric treatment. I didn’t know what I was doing.”

She re-married quickly, but her new relationship was, she soon learned, no panacea. “We were very young and he was not faithful. He left and I had a breakdown. I remember going to Tooting Broadway station with my daughter in the buggy. I’d had a difficult conversation with my Mum, and I was scared about Christmas on my own with two kids. I was bawling my eyes out and, I’ll never forget, a woman put her hand on my arm and said, ‘Can I talk to you?’ I broke down. I told her about my mum; about my husband; my whole life story. I was 20. She contacted social services and I admitted to my wonderful social worker that I wasn’t coping. I went into a psychiatric unit and stayed there for two months. My two children went into foster care because I didn’t have family to take them. I got help and I was reunited with them as soon as I came out. But then I became actively bulimic.”

Her weight having rocketed up, she was soon taking up to 100 laxative a day (a tactic she’d heard about in group sessions at the psychiatric unit); the place she fortuitously got at the Promises Recovery Centre

would save her life. “I will be forever grateful. I learned there that it was about my emotions.

What I was doing was finding a way to numb myself. Putting the laxatives through my body, I purged those emotions. I had lived my life up to that point in a numb and unstable state. I’ve pinpointed, through therapy, that that traumatic experience of my father dying, that’s where it started. And those feelings of being unloved and isolated, that was where it was at for me.”

Having carried shame with her for so many years, she knew that something had to give – for her children’s sake. “When you have an addiction, you don’t think about others because you are consumed with self. The way I do my service is by telling my story.

I worked with Refuge for 12 years, volunteering as a counsellor on their helpline. I want to help people with eating disorders by telling my story. I’m not saying you’ll get better overnight. But there is help out there. That is all that I want to do.”

Her charity feeds into this burning raison d’etre. “I was always told, ‘no, you can’t.’ I had dreams and I was always laughed at. If anyone has a dream, I’ll feed it in any way possible.” modelsofdiversity.org

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MENTAL HEALTH: ANNA WILLIAMSON

Coping at

CHRISTMAS

Family tensions, financial burdens and bereavement: the pressures Christmas brings can take the shine off. ANNA WILLIAMSON shares some coping strategies to prevent overwhelm

C

hristmas: the most wonderful time of the year. And for many, it really is full of excitement, fun and anticipation.

But to others, the festive period represents a great deal of stress, overwhelm and anxiety. The key is to keep some perspective. It can feel all-consuming. You might feel weighed down with pressure to see family and friends, or the expectation to be the life and soul of the work party; and then there’s the credit card creaking from present-buying overuse.

Christmas can also highlight feelings of loss and bereavement. There’s nothing quite like being newly single, nursing a Snowball-for-one on your couch, or feeling the pain of a missing loved one to make you feel anything but full of festive cheer.

But don’t despair. If Christmas and New Year are tricky times, there are plenty of things you can do to help make it a little bit easier.

Remember it’s just one or two days Sure, it might feel like Christmas starts in August, and the incessant TV ads certainly don’t help. But if you’re feeling anxious or down about its arrival, try to comfort yourself that it’s really only a few days out of 365 in the year.

Do what makes YOU feel happy If drinking copious amounts of booze at parties doesn’t float your boat or is likely to exacerbate feelings of depression or anxiety, then be confident in saying ‘no’. Never feel like you have to keep up with the Joneses if what you’d rather be doing is nursing a hot chocolate at home in front this year’s latest Christmas movie.

Hang out with people who make you feel good You may feel like you have to see the relatives

over the festive holidays, but if for some reason that will make you feel even more rubbish, then remember you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Often compromise can be the most agreeable option if you’re juggling various groups of people, but don’t feel pushed into seeing or hanging out with anyone who makes you feel bad.

Only spend what you can Nobody wants to receive a gift from you knowing that it means you’re going to struggle to pay the rent for the next few months.

Make an agreement with family or friends about gifting and set some limits that work for you. Don’t be afraid to say what your position is and what you’re prepared to spend. Many people suffer with anxiety due to financial stress, especially at Christmas, so be kind to yourself and to your purse.

Talk it out

any time of day or night, there are experts at the end of the line to help. Though it can feel that way, you’re never really alone.

Whatever your feelings surrounding Christmas, it’s always better to talk to someone about how you’re feeling and reach out for some support. A trusted friend or family member could be a good option but, if not, charity helplines such as the Samaritans are there to help. At

To talk about anything that is upsetting you, you can contact Samaritans 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Call 116 123 (free from any phone); email jo@samaritans.org or visit some branches in person; samaritans.org

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FOOD & DRINK: EATING OUT

All guns

BLAZING Three culinary colossi, three sparkling and star-bating new restaurants: London’s gastro scene is hotter than ever. Alex Larman tucks in

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KERRIDGE’S BAR & GRILL Corinthia Hotel London, Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2BD; corinthia.com It’s probably the most anticipated restaurant launch in London since Heston Blumenthal opened Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental in 2011. But Tom Kerridge has built his reputation on something quite different to Heston’s molecular gastronomy; honest, gutsy food that just happens to have won him multiple Michelin stars. And now he’s pitched up at the Corinthia hotel, with Kerridge’s Bar and Grill. So, how does it fare in a city that has recently seen its share of big-name chefs tumble and fall?

The answer, judged by the packed David Collins-designed room on a Tuesday evening, is very well indeed. Kerridge has adjusted his menu for a London crowd, but the highlights here are incendiary. The lobster omelette starter is an exceedingly steep £28, but it is very, very good, and the rotisserie-roasted rib of beef, complete with triple-cooked chips, is the sort of thing that those people who visit restaurants with smartphones aloft will be making a thousand Instagram posts of.

Crab vol-au-vent defies its slightly naff description to challenge and delight; my companion’s loin of venison is gloriously untamed and the stuff of a country gastropub – such as Kerridge’s twoMichelin starred Hand and Flowers – rather than a glossy London restaurant. Puddings are exemplary, in particular the raspberry and geranium trifle. It’s the kind of place one might pick for a last supper.

Wines are excellent, and priced accordingly.

We stick with English for the sparkling (Ridgeview Cavendish) and the white (Stopham Estate Pinot Blanc), but then go rogue and try the legendary Lebanese Château Musar. But then everything here is the choice of the sophisticate. London has a new destination restaurant, and one has no option but to embrace it.

FOOD & DRINK: EATING OUT

ROGANIC 5-7 Blandford Street, London, W1U 3DB; roganic.uk Simon Rogan has a reputation for being a chef’s chef. Not for him the easy trappings of the threecourse à la carte; instead Rogan offers a searching journey into what food can (perhaps should) taste like. If this sounds offputtingly intellectual, rest assured that his return to London with the resurrected Roganic (after a two-year stint as a pop-up) is truly something special.

Rogan (aided here by his excellent head chef Oliver Marlow and peerless GM James Foster, a veteran of L’Enclume) has constructed a regularly changing menu which can be had in three forms: an abbreviated lunchtime version, a six-course tasting version and finally the full behemoth. It’s worth saving one’s pennies (£115 per head before wine) for the extended version to savour the full symphonic grandeur of Rogan’s culinary art. Just as one might expect to hear recurring leitmotifs in a great opera, so concepts reappear throughout the meal. Special mention must go to smoked raw beef in kohlrabi, a remarkable salt baked celeriac and burnt milk with blackcurrant and yoghurt – but there is not a dull thing on the menu.

This is food as theatre. The chefs come out bearing the food, a touch that makes the whole experience more personal, and the duo of sommeliers offer fine pairings, including a memorable Austrian natural white wine and a beefy Barolo to accompany the duck. If you’re excited by exploring the possibilities of a great contemporary London restaurant, Roganic is unmissable.

HIDE 85 Piccadilly, London, W1J 7NB; hide.co.uk The most ambitious restaurant opening in London in years has graced Piccadilly in the shape of Ollie Dabbous’ Hide. It’s a three-storey behemoth that incorporates two restaurants, a bar, private dining rooms and all sorts of other Easter eggs that include, by repute, its own car lift, so the megacelebrities can segue neatly into their meals at the fine dining part of the establishment, Above. We visit, on foot alas, to see what the fuss is about; we are not disappointed.

Dabbous made his name at his eponymous Fitzrovia restaurant, but the feel here is more classical, in line with his great mentor Raymond Blanc. The three-course set lunch is already known as one of London’s best value offerings; at £42, this includes a comprehensive selection of canapés and extras (including the splendidly named ‘flesh and bone’) and some delicious petit-fours.

As for the dishes, there is inevitably the sense that one is sampling a taste of the menu, rather than the full extravaganza, but everything we eat is stunning. Beetroot tartare and pearl barley risotto titillate, and then crab served two ways and veal rillettes delight; wine pairings, including a fabulous Albarino and a silky Pinot Noir, show the excellence of the cellar (famously put together by Dabbous’ business partners, Hedonism Wines, up the road in Mayfair). Service is friendly although consistently correct; nobody would mistake this for a Dalston pop-up, not least because the epic scope of the restaurant make it feel weighty. And all at a reasonable price (for lunch, at least).

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MUSIC: LEADING LADIES

A No No MARIAH CAREY Caution is Mariah’s fifteenth studio album and her first in four years.

It’s been delivered with big Hip Hop features from Ty Dolla $ign and Slick Rick. And, for her 2018 return, the diva’s diva has called upon the legendary production hands of Timbaland, No I.D. and long-time Drake producer, Nineteen85, making this an instant essential 10-track set.

One of the standout tracks is A No No, on which the legendary singer lines up an all-female all-star remix, with two of Hip Hop’s leading ladies: Cardi B and Lil Kim. The latter’s Crush on You has been sampled heavily on this particular cut, making it a mouthwatering prospect for all Mimi fans. Watch this space.

MUSIC Box RONNIE HEREL looks ahead and gives us the heads up on music’s luminary ladies for 2019 That Magic INDIA ARIE This is such a welcome return for the multi-Grammy awardwinning Songversation singer.

This is the first single taken from her forthcoming album Worthy, due for a February 2019 release. Beautifully crafted with floating melodies throughout, India delivers the free flowing cutting edge certainty that she has delivered and exhibited so consistently since her debut, Acoustic Soul, back in 2001.

If this is a sign of things to come for the entire album, then we are in for a wonderful treat upon its release.

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MUSIC: LEADING LADIES

Honeymoon MAHALIA This 19-year-old UK singer/ songwriter and actress is putting the fun and sass back into pop R&B music right now. Her recently released Seasons EP showcases five original songs and there continues to be a lot of heat on this Leicester-born talent, who was signed to a major label (Atlantic Records) at the tender age of 13. The acoustically bouncy Honeymoon is a standout track, delivered with a British quirkiness that is refreshing in contemporary R&B.

Strawberry Kisses AMBER-SIMONE There is a constant stream of chart-bound UK female talent making waves in contemporary R&B music. Amber is one of those, without doubt. The 22-year-old Hertfordshire girl has spent the last two years developing her sound and on a recent radio interview, she disclosed that she will be releasing a couple of EPs next year before she goes with the big guns and drops an album.

Her song, Strawberry Kisses, tells the story of someone bumping into an ex in a supermarket in a fun and sassy way. Production is key, fusing electronic soul melodies with chugging beats.

This is a must for the nu-school pop-soul fan.

Love Me Up ETTA BOND Signed to the Oddchild Music record label after being discovered by pop star Labrinth, uber-talented singer/ songwriter Etta Bond is someone who should be a household name.

For whatever reason, she hasn’t yet received the recognition she deserves on a mainstream level, but by rights that should be set to change; Henrietta ‘Etta’ Bond has recently unleashed a barrage of absolute beauties, including her latest single, Love Me Up. A sultry and soulful cut that will have you drifting off into musical heaven. A must.

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Healthy

WEALTHY and wise

Holiday essentials: family gatherings, food, and spending money.

It’s the latter that’s likely to generate the most headaches and stress – but it doesn’t have to be that way, writes MABEL NUNEZ

B

esides setting a specific budget for holiday purchases so that you don’t spend money you cannot afford on material things, I want to encourage you to start some healthy money habits.

Changing the way you think about money will not only make you feel good and in control about your finances this season (and beyond) but will also create

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amazing momentum as you begin a new year. One way to do this is by using technological innovations to your advantage.

Here’s how.

Take a comprehensive view of your current spending and savings habits Before you set budgets and money goals, it is essential to know where you stand right

FINANCE: MABEL NUNEZ called The Automatic Millionaire and it changed my life. If you are someone who struggles with manually transferring money from your checking to your savings each month, or worse, find yourself with no money to save, an automatic approach might be just right for you.

One of the best apps for automatic savings is Chip, a platform that uses A.I. and technological algorithms to save on your behalf. The algorithm studies your spending habits and how much money you have in your linked account at any point in time. The technology then automatically saves for you at different intervals while being very careful and making sure your bank accounts retain a healthy cushion at all times.

You can use the app to save

now. One fantastic app that can help you track this is Money Dashboard, a read-only app which you can connect to your credit cards and checking accounts. It provides you with an overview of the money you are spending and where exactly it is going. It also shows you how much money you have coming in each month. That information provides some incredible data which you can use to organise your finances more efficiently, cut unnecessary expenses, and position yourself to healthier saving and spending habits.

Read-only means that you cannot move money around in the app – it is merely a ‘snapshot’ of the money you have coming and going. You can give it a try by checking out the app’s official website. The best part, besides all the awesome information you’ll be getting regarding your money? The app is free! moneydashboard.com

Start savings for specific expenses – automatically Ever heard the phrase ‘pay yourself first’? I first read it when I was 21-years-old in a book

money automatically for pretty much any goal you have in mind. If future expenses in your life include gifts, a vacation, an event, emergencies or even a ‘rainy day’ – you name it – there is an easy way you can do this by allowing the app to save for you automatically. If you are worried about credibility, it might give you peace of mind to know the money you are saving within the app is hosted by Barclays bank, and you can withdraw the funds at any time. This app is also free. I encourage you to take a look at the FAQ page (frequently asked questions) on the company’s website to read relevant information about security features, how to enroll, and other details. getchip.uk

“Ever heard the phrase ‘pay yourself first’? I first read it when I was 21-yearsold in a book called The Automatic Millionaire and it changed my life.”

Get cash back or great deals on everyday purchases Wish you could get money back from regular purchases? Great news – there is an app for that.

One of the best cashback apps is Top Cash Back (topcashback. co.uk). You can download it on your Android or iOS and it is easy to use. Once you’ve enrolled, you can check for the

ABOVE Saving safely online is a key way to ensure that you always have a comfortable cushion – whatever the time of year

items you want to buy and the store you are purchasing from and scan your receipt. You’ll get a percentage of your purchase back into the account which you can eventually cash out or use for other purchases. Additional bonuses include the ability to download vouchers and/or qualify for additional discounts or extra bonuses.

Another is Voucher Codes (vouchercodes.co.uk). This app has an ongoing list of national and local discounts on various products and services and you can use it to find the best deals.

There are many similar apps on the market, so do a bit of research and find the one best tailored to your needs.

Wishing you and your loved ones a healthy and prosperous holiday season.

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FINANCE: BREWIN DOLPHIN

INVESTin the best MENNA CULE tells Rosie Coxshaw how she fell into finance in a highly scientific way, and what drives her in her career Tell us what does Brewin Dolphin offer?

We offer an integrated wealth management service for our clients, which could be anything from setting up a junior ISA account for a small child to managing a portfolio for a client and their family running into the tens of millions.

What do you do on daily basis?

In my role I am client facing and manage the client experience.

I ensure that everyone in our client facing teams is providing a service we are proud of. This can include coaching new people in the business to national training programmes that help with behavioural changes.

How did you get into finance?

I fell into it! After studying chemistry at University, I needed to find something in which I could use my analytic skills. At the time, all the big banks were supporting younger people to get into the work place and offering career trajectories for them. I took one of those paths and started working with Midland Bank, which is HSBC today. I did everything from working on the counter and working in the back office to writing up standing orders. I later moved into financial advice.

Did you think you would end up in finance?

No, because at the time I was really conflicted. When I decided that chemistry wasn’t for me anymore and I looked at two different apprenticeship packages, one was banking and the other was at the BBC as a journalist. Very scientifically, I decided that Midland Bank were paying £3,000 more than the BBC so I went the banking route.

I had no idea I’d end up here.

set sum of money to save every month to individuals managing family wealth.

We offer bespoke packages as well as those options which allow the client to self-select.

Has the industry changed in that time?

Yes, so much! It used to be very hierarchal, almost an extension of school when I joined. It was antiquated in the way it treated its clients and I think the fundamental difference between then and now is the client didn’t feature in what we were trying to achieve years ago. It was about the business and the client had to fall in line with this, whereas now the client is at the centre of what we do. The business wraps itself around the clients’ needs today.

What wealth management solutions do Brewin Dolphin offer?

Brewin Dolphin offers a range of wealth managment solutions, sometimes I think there is a mis-conception that we only offer solutions for very wealthy individuals and that is not the case. We offer solutions from entry level, where you’ve got a

What age do you think we should start looking at investing?

It depends on what you want to achieve. I think we should encourage our children from a very young age to save money.

Even if it’s only 10p a week, because ultimately it’s powerful for children to get into the mind-set of putting money away today to benefit tomorrow. This enables life choices later in life.

OPPOSITE Menna Cule at Brewin Dolphin’s head office in London

Do you think there is a mindset for saving money?

People’s psychology affects them differently in terms of saving money. I like to buy shoes and also to save money, whereas others are more cautious, it’s about finding balance. Life is a marathon not a sprint, so you really need to look at saving money for the future.

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FINANCE: BREWIN DOLPHIN cornerstone of what we do, but it’s the relationships built that are important and women are awesome at that.

What are you passionate about?

My children. I have two daughters, Charlotte 14 and Francesca, 10. I love running, which gives me time for myself.

I’ve completed many marathons and I’m set to do a triathlon next year.

Who is your ideal client?

Our core client is a professional individual who may have – or maybe hasn’t yet – accumulated a certain level of wealth. We can then help them to find the ideal level of wealth they want in the future, or once they get to that level, ensure it offers the returns they want in the future for their family.

What are your costs?

We have different fees for different services. We will sit down and work out which is the best way forward with you once we understand your current circumstance and where you need to be in the future.

How far do you think things have changed in terms of women’s rights?

We hear a lot about female empowerment, which is valid but one of the biggest changes I would like to see is the way women treat each other. I feel this can sometimes be the biggest drawback to success.

We don’t tend to celebrate each others’ successes as much as we should and that saddens me.

Finance is a male-dominated world. How has that affected you?

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“Life is a marathon not a sprint, so you really do need to look at saving money for the future.”

ABOVE Menna with her two daughters Charlotte (Left) and Francesca (Right)

I haven’t been affected by it personally, but I have seen other women struggle. It does take a strong and resilient character to deal with the knocks. I’ve seen women get valued on what they look like rather than what they bring to the table.

Does it still go on?

Sometimes, but I also think women doubt themselves too much and that can hold them back as then their opinion doesn’t get heard. Instead we should have the confidence to stand up for what we believe in and not shy away from this.

What’s the best thing about being a woman in finance?

As an industry we are all about clients and relationships.

Obviously money is the

What drives you?

I don’t like rules, in so much as, just because something has always been so, we should accept it. So if I’m told no, then I will question and always have to find a way to make it happen.

Because no is not a good enough answer for me.

How is life being a single mum?

It’s harder now the children are older as they have their own mind and opinions. When they are younger they fit in with your life patterns. I think, as a working mum, it’s about giving yourself a break. It’s difficult to have everything and if you can’t make the brownies on Sunday night for the kids to have during the week, then go and buy some! We need to stop beating ourselves up all the time. I realised that if they’ve got a clean uniform on, then I’m winning at life!

How do you define success?

I’m not there so I don’t know what it looks like yet. But I guess contentment, looking back and thinking, “I did alright”. I do remember hearing the phrase, “The day you stop learning is the day they screw the lid on your box.”

Do you have a life mantra?

“To have never failed, is to have never tried anything new”.

That one is courtesy of Albert Einstein. And, “You can’t make an omelette without cracking eggs.”

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What goes

AROUND There’s no disguising the downturn in property values. But, argues NICOLE BREMNER, the cyclic nature of the market could just make this the perfect moment for aspirant property developers to build a portfolio

I

t’s undeniable that the capital’s property market has lost its fizz. So flat is it that some parts of central London have dropped by a whopping 25 per cent, according to the Land Registry UK. That kind of figure is quite unsettling for a nation obsessed with home ownership.

But if you’ve been considering starting a portfolio, it could now be the perfect opportunity to get started in property.

Property markets are, by their nature, cyclical and uncertainty of any kind can often be overblown, fuelling negative sentiment and further exacerbating declines. Over the last couple of years, a few factors have worked together to create the perfect storm for what we’re seeing now in the property market.

First was the change to Stamp Duty Land Tax. Introduced by the government to cool an overheating property market, it

PROPERTY: NICOLE BREMNER worked a little too well. Higher taxes on most transactions, especially in the south-east, meant that many home owners considering up- or down-sizing have stayed put. More tinkering with the tarriff system led to increases in the way landlords were taxed. Faced with increased charges, many smaller landlords were forced to sell down their portfolios.

Of course, Brexit was the final blow. It’s no secret that UK property, especially in London, was viewed as a safe haven for many foreign investors.

Following the referendum, even the sharp drop in the value of the British pound against major currencies couldn’t offset international investors’ jitters.

While this might all seem doom and gloom, it isn’t the case across the country. House prices in some regions outside the larger southern cities are finally returning to pre-2008 levels, with overall housing prices continuing to grow.

According to the Land Registry UK, as of September 2018 the average house price in the UK is £232,554, and the index stands at 121.97. Property prices have remained the same compared to the previous month and risen by 3.5 per cent compared to the previous year. In fact, now could be the best time to invest.

Seasoned property investor Avi Dodi agrees. “I’ve been investing in London property

for the last 35 years. Some of my best investments were made when no one else was buying.”

The reason for this comes down to supply and demand.

When there’s concern about the housing market, people aren’t buying, which means that demand is low. Those who’d like to sell can’t achieve the price they need, so they hold off on selling, therefore decreasing supply. But there are always sellers who need to sell regardless of market conditions.

If you’ve been watching on the sidelines, now could be the time to nab a bargain.

So how do you assess if a property is a cheap? While no two properties are identical, there is one simple way to calculate the relative value of all properties – price per square foot (sqft), (or metre if you’re metrically inclined). Divide the

“I’ve been investing in London property for the last 35 years.

Some of my best investments were made when no one else was buying.”

ABOVE Nicole Bremner, pictured, advises striking while supply is short

BELOW A prime example of Nicole’s enviable portfolio

price of a property by its total area or square feet. Select an area and analyse a sample size of at least a dozen properties with full details about the condition, bedrooms and any improvements that have been made by prior owners.

Let’s say that you’ve calculated that the average house in your chosen area is selling for £730 per sqft and you’ve found a property that’s £650 per sqft, investigate why it’s cheaper.

If you have been considering a new career in property investment or development, this could just be the opportunity to take the plunge and purchase while no one else is buying. After all, prices are bound to turn around at some point. When asked if he’s ever lost money on a property investment, Dodi replies with a smile, “Not if I’ve held it long enough.”

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TRAVEL: BAHRAIN – THE TRAVEL: RITZ CARLTON BAHRAIN

A tale of

TWO SEAS

Bahrain is an overlooked jewel in the Middle East.

Rosie Coxshaw travels to the country’s capital, Manama, and checks into the sublime RITZ CARLTON resort

Day 1 Travelling by night is always gruelling. The red-eyed slog is, however, sweetened considerably, when your end destination is infantilising in its luxury, as happily is the case at Bahrain’s Ritz Carlton resort. I am met with breakfast by smiling and attentive staff as I perk myself up with coffee and my guide book. Sleep can wait; I am excited to discover the city on my first visit, not only to Bahrain but to the Middle East.

But first things first. I check in to my suite, which is on the Club Lounge level. It’s sumptuous and well-equipped for work and relaxation. Firmly in the latter camp is the bathroom, which features a Jacuzzi-style bath with lots of seductive ESPA cosmetics, while in the former, is the handy mini office area. A perk of staying on the club level is that guests have unlimited access to the club lounge. For families and those who prize space to spread out, the resort also offers private villas in the grounds, each of which is tucked away from the bustle of the main hotel and comes with a private pool and barbecue. Were the city not such a fascinating and historic place, there would be

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TRAVEL: TOWN & COUNTRY were not alone; for many, pearls constituted the local business until they found an even more lucrative natural resource: oil.

Onto the souk, which is rich with colour and life, as well as being stiflingly hot. A far cry from the rarefied world of the Ritz Carlton, it is here, in old Bahrain, that locals come to buy their necessities. But, as with the world over, gentrification is creeping inexorably in; only a stone’s throw from the souks, I drop in at a trendy café called Saffron selling traditional cakes, coffee and Middle Eastern breakfast: bread with humous, beans, salsa, omelette and sausage all in one go. Delicious! absolutely no reason to leave the Ritz Carlton, replete as it is with endless restaurants, many of which are garlanded with Michelin stars.

NIGHT: My first evening packs a culinary punch with local Bahrain ingredients and flavours via Mexico, courtesy of onsite restaurant, Cantina Kahlo. It’s a perfectly convivial way to commence the holiday, with sharing small plates of streetinspired food that span salads, tacos and tamales alongside exceptionally good grilled meats and seafood so fresh it might have leapt straight from the two surrounding pearl-rich seas.

Tasty but light, it’s the perfect end to a long but wonderful day.

Day 2 No rest for the wicked. By 9am I am breakfasted and ready for my city tour. The first stop is the Al Fateh Grand Mosque, the country’s largest place of worship. I don an abaya (cloak) and join the crowds (it can hold up to 7,000 worshippers and visitors alike) to marvel at its scale and beauty. Featuring the world’s heaviest fibreglass dome, its arches and symmetry

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ABOVE The Ritz Carlton’s sprawling pool and the sea beyond

BELOW One of beautiful villas within the hotel grounds, each of which has its own pool

are something to behold, as are its lavish marble floors and vast teak doors. But perhaps best of all are the people I meet, who are welcoming and forthcoming. I chat to a lady who discusses the history and culture of the abaya and I leave feeling both uplifted and better educated. But soon it is time to press on: Bahrain’s rich history is calling, and duly we stop in at the Bahrain National Museum.

There, I learn that the country has always attracted a glittering crowd: the Cartier brothers were Bahrain regulars, having fished its seas for the pearls they used in their legendary jewellery. They

NIGHT: After my explorations, I unwind with a relaxing massage, followed by another gastroexcursion across the continents, this time to Italy. Primavera, styled as a ‘trattoria moderna’, offers thrilling new twists on traditional classics. At the pass is Oliver Glowig, who has two Michelin stars under his belt, alongside his brilliant chef de cusine, Vincenzo Nigro.

Ingredients are local; service is completely Italian. So much so that, given its veranda and glistening sea views, it’s easy to slip into thinking you’re waterside in Capri.

TRAVEL: BAHRAIN – THE RITZ CARLTON

Day 3 It’s time to take a break from eating – and what better way than with a high-octane, adrenaline-fuelled tour of Bahrain’s Formula 1 race track?

I plump for the Land Rover experience; I clamber into my ride and am driven right into the heart of the Sakhir desert, where I am met with some 3.5 km of varying terrains. There are sand, rock, hill and water landscapes, with 32 natural and man-made obstacles, such as slide slopes, humps, rocks and gravel roads. Next, it’s onto the racetrack where the Grand Prix takes place. Sadly there are no sightings of Lewis Hamilton, but it is fascinating to see the drivers’ pit-stops and their chill-out lounges. There are a multitude of experiences you can book into via the Bahrain International Circuit. I’m saving that one for the Grand Prix 2019!

NIGHT: A dip in the pool sees me work up enough of an appetite for another of the cornucopia of restaurants at the resort. Tonight we travel to India courtesy Nirvana. The sultry, red décor is pleasingly atmospheric, while the open kitchen is spot-lit to

provide both the drama and the extraordinary dishes. It’s as good as theatre, but equally nobody could level charges of style over substance here; I tuck into the best Biryani I have ever tasted. It’s a popular option for executive types too, as Nirvana offers a special business lunch menu (you simply choose between vegetarian and meat options and the whole things arrives on a beautiful traditional thali). I chose the à la carte; as well as the Biryani, special mention must go to the Ehra Kari (Gulf prawns in a coconut sauce). Puddings are a revelation too; rose petal ice cream is a delicate delight, while traditional Indian sweets feature the right balance of sweet and spice.

Day 4 My visit to Bahrain serendipitously coincides with Breast Cancer Awareness month for which, every year, the Ritz Carlton throws one of its biggest parties on its own private island. It is a wonderful chance to sample the buffet, which features food from every restaurant in the resort (how else would one take the full culinary tour without having to go up several dress sizes?) The

ABOVE The spa uses minerals from the Dead Sea, and features thalassotherapy and plunge pools

RIGHT The Royal Suite is extraordinary and lavish

RIGHT Poolside lounging is sublime at the Ritz Carlton

WORTH KNOWING • The Ritz Carlton is one of the only 5-star hotels in the country. If you can, do book in; Bahrain really knows how to do all-out luxury.

• Gulf Air is one of the main airlines flying to Bahrain. Flights tend to depart late at night or early in the morning.

• Bahrain is hot! To avoid the sweltering heat, visit around March or October and avoid July and August when temperatures soar to over 100 degrees and humidity is at 100 per cent.

• Bahrain is liberal, but outside of your hotel, women should always have something to cover their arms out of respect.

DID YOU KNOW? • Bahrain translates as ‘two seas’.

• Bahrain is one of the most liberal countries in the Middle East.

• Bahrain was the first place in the region to strike oil.

• The white in the Bahrain flag represents its fresh sea pearls.

RIGHT A sumptuous Executive Suite

jaw-dropping array of desserts, all of which are hand-made at the Gourmet Lounge, the hotel’s very own patisserie, proves irresistible. Finally sated, it’s time to shimmy across to the stage, where a DJ plays music until the early hours against the backdrop of the beach. It is unforgettable – as are the friends I’ve made here.

• Bahrain is the place fish for fresh sea pearls. ritzcarlton.com

www.modernwoman.co

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LAST WORD: HISTORICAL HEROINES

The

T

BRIDEof science

hat brain of mine is something more than merely mortal; as time will show.”

Ada Lovelace’s conviction in her own genius is both striking and wholly justified. In this, she follows closely within the mould of her father, the licentious Romantic poet, Lord Byron, whose name itself today has become a byword for dashing, if often morally dubious, heroism.

His daughter’s turn of phrase, though not inelegant, may not quite measure up to She Walks in Beauty, but her legacy is, arguably, greater, more enduring and even seismic for mankind.

For while Byron was wrecking hearts all over Europe and abandoning his various children, Ada Lovelace, born Ada Gordon in 1815, was brought up under the care of her mother. Annabella Milbanke, whose union with Byron had been unhappy, had a love for mathematics that was both abiding and inspiring for her only daughter. She was determined that Ada should inherit her more scholarly ambitions in preference to her father’s appetites. Despite her ambitions, she could little have imagined how formative that strict childhood schedule of science, mathematics and logic would be, or that it might, in fact, change the world. For while Ada’s intellectual capacity was in no doubt (she spent her childhood designing steam flying machines and studying the inventions of the Industrial Revolution) that she would go on to invent the prototype computer, arguably the device that has altered the way we live more than any other, was unprecedented.

Married at 19 to William King,

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November/December 2018

ADA LOVELACE, brilliant daughter of Lord Byron, pioneered the computer, writes Nancy Alsop

who would later become Earl of Lovelace, and mother to three children, Ada did not allow Victorian convention to stand in the way of her intellect. Her love for mathematics was fostered under the tutelage of scientist, Mary Somerville, the woman responsible for introducing her to Charles Babbage, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, acclaimed for his work in creating gigantic clockwork calculating machines. The pair became fast friends, a cerebral infatuation that saw Babbage describe his friend as ‘The Enchantress of Numbers.’

Ada’s friendship with Babbage proved one of the most productive in history.

Commissioned to translate an article on her friend’s Analytical

ABOVE Watercolor portrait of Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, circa 1840, possibly by Alfred Edward Chalon. Ada was a visionary and the world’s first computer scientist

Engine from Italian to English, Babbage was so impressed that he asked her to expand on it.

Ada’s extended writing not only explained the uses of Babbage’s machine – “The Analytical Engine has no pretensions whatever to originate anything. It can do whatever we know how to order it to perform” – but devised complete programmes and even, presciently, wrote of how it may be used in the future to create music and manipulate symbols. These are, today, widely accepted as the first computer programmes written; for his part, Babbage professed to have never met a mathematician of greater ability. He was not the only one to appreciate her genius; it was to Ada’s notes that Alan Turing referred when he created the computer that cracked the Enigma code in the 1940s, saving the Allied war effort.

Ada once said, “If you can’t give me poetry, can’t you give me poetical science?” Posterity certainly grants her that, as well as a certain tragic poetry in the fact that both she and her father died at the young age of 36, he of suspected sepsis while fighting in Greece, she of cancer.

Since 2009, there has been a dedicated Ada Lovelace Day, her visionary work making her a powerful symbol for modern women in technology; it is only left to ask what more she might have achieved had she lived. Like all brilliant people, she knew how little she knew: “Understand well as I may, my comprehension can only be an infinitesimal fraction of all I want to understand.”

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