Lend A Helping Hand

So today I am completely lacking fashion inspiration, mainly because I am in a foul mood due to having my hair cut. One of the things I hate the most is a trip to the hairdressers, which is stupid right? Because you're meant to come out feeling and looking a lot better? Well this is never the case for me, and especially not today! They never do what I ask, always cut my hair a lot shorter than I want and make it super flat.

ANYWAY, I sat down for a few minutes and thought about it and realised how stupid I was for being so miserable just because of my hair! There's so much else going on in the world and so many people that have much bigger worries, A LOT bigger worries than me.

So anyway, I asked what people would like me to blog about today. One of the suggestions was Aston Villa, which isn't really one of my strong points I have to admit! I then recieved a tweet from food writer, author and founder of the 'Precious Hearts Foundation', Sally Bee, suggesting I wrote something about 'The Survivor Birds.' The Survivor Birds being Sally Bee herself, her friend Anna Westwood and 38 other women, who together have proved that life is for living and are encouraging other women to do the same and raise crucial funds for charity. They all gave their time, voices and inspiration to raise money for three charities: Breast Cancer Care, Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust and Star Support for Domestic Violence, by recording a single of the Helen Reddy song, I am Woman.

The video above says it all, these women are inspirational and the charities they are supporting totally deserve support. For more information on the charities visit Sally Bee's website, where you can also purchase the CD, 'Sisters Roar' for £2.99. You can also purchase it through iTunes. All profits go to the charities.

(Information taken from http://www.sally-bee.com/)

This blog post is going to become a real charity post now, as I have two other charities to share with you.

Birmingham Children’s Hospital has one of the busiest Children’s Heart Centres in the UK. Over the past few years the demand for their cardiac services has increased due to their excellent reputation and life transforming stories, such as Alison Hammond's niece. However, because of the demand they need to replace their existing facilities with new ones and add a second cardiac theatre, which will be the first of its kind at a UK children’s hospital. They will be able to perform surgical procedures and keyhole techniques simultaneously, and reduce the number of operations that children may need - generally making children's experiences at the hospital much better.

Please watch the following video: http://www.bch.org.uk/

Donating to 'The Children's Heart Appeal' couldn't be any easier. You can do this via Text, by texting 'HOSP33' followed by a space and then £3, to 70070. Also by post: By sending a cheque or a CAF voucher with a donation form. Find more information here.

(Information taken from http://www.bch.org.uk/)

The final charity I am sharing with you today is The Parkinson's Society. This is due to the fact that my grandad has the condition and has been suffering with it for as long as I can remember. For anyone that doesn't know what Parkinson's is, it is a progressive neurological condition. One person in every 500 has Parkinson's. That's about 120,000 people in the UK. Most people who get Parkinson's are aged 50 or over but younger people can get it too. One in 20 is under the age of 40, which was my grandad's case.
People with Parkinson's don't have enough of a chemical called dopamine because some nerve cells in their brain have died. Without dopamine people can find that their movements become slower so it takes longer to do things. The loss of nerve cells in the brain causes the symptoms of Parkinson's to appear. There's currently no cure for Parkinson's and no one knows why people get the condition. Parkinson's doesn't directly cause people to die, but symptoms do get worse over time.

This is why the society still needs support to continue research and help improve lives.

You can donate to the society on their Virgin Money Giving Page or by post or even by phone, on 020 7932 1303

And that is it, all I wanted to say. Please help these charities if you can - any donation is gratefully recieved and can help in such a big way. I know this isn't a 'fashion post' but there are much more important things to write about sometimes. I hope you will all read this and share it with other people.

Thank you,