Whether a treat for yourself or a gift for someone else, a well considered subscription is a fail-safe Christmas present idea: it truly is the gift that keeps on giving!

But with so many options to choose from, which subscriptions will you choose to enhance and improve your life in 2020? We’ve narrowed down the extensive selection to our top six well-being subscriptions– we hope you enjoy them as much as we have!

1. Bloombox (https://bloomboxclub.com/)

Research has proven that having plants in your home can improve your mood, relieve stress and anxiety and prolong attention span. Add to this the documented boost to air quality[1] and it swiftly becomes clear that plants are not just for the garden. Established by Dr Katie Cooper in 2015 after witnessing the positive, life affirming effects of plants on her patients, Bloombox offer a plant subscription on a monthly or quarterly basis. Bloombox set themselves apart from other subscription services in that the plants they choose have been selected for “their rarity and quirkiness, as well as prettiness”, so you can be assured that the plants you receive will be ones to cherish, and certainly not a specimen you could have picked up at the local garden centre. We love Bloombox especially for their careful eye in picking stunning pots to compliment the plants they choose, and their dedication to using easily recyclable packing. And, with the NASA studies on indoor pollution[2] recommending one plant per 100 square feet of floor space to clean the air, what are you waiting for?

2. Rare Birds Book Club (https://rarebirdsbookclub.com/)

I love books. Reading genuinely enhances my wellbeing, giving me the mental space to absorb myself in another world, escaping any day to day drudgery. There are many book subscription offerings available, but the Rare Birds Book Club really fits my brief. I suppose you might say it is a kind of no-frills book service, but it truly works. You simply choose one book from an option of two (they send you the synopsis), and the book you choose is neatly wrapped and posted through your front door at the beginning of the month (letterbox size guaranteed, so no having to collect from the Post Office). There is also an online bookclub on which you can discuss the novel – you can simply dip into this when you have time – and you end up with a bookshelf happily full of interesting and varied literature. What more could you want? At just £10 a month it really is a bit of a steal. Great work, Rare Birds Book Club.

3. Authentic House (https://www.authentichouse.co.uk/)

Sustainable, eco-friendly subscription boxes have truly come into their own. This is absolutely their time, and I imagine, for many companies of this ilk, it will be their busiest Christmas to date. There are quite a few companies offering eco-boxes, but one of my favourites, and one that stands out from the crowd, is Authentic House. Theirs was the first eco-friendly subscription box to trade in the UK, and, as such, they have both the experience and customer base to source fabulous products for their boxes at the best prices. The majority of their products are sourced directly from UK makers – this could be anything from a single craftsperson to a sustainable brand. On top of this, their service is personalised – when you sign up you can share product like and dislikes – so you receive a box of goods tailored to your needs, and Authentic House benefit from minimising waste and not sending unwanted products. A win all round!  

Prices start from just £14 a month for a small box.

4. Abel and Cole (https://www.abelandcole.co.uk/)

Okay, so fruit and vegetables are maybe not the most indulgent or exciting present, but perhaps, for 2020, a resolution to buy less single use plastic could be fulfilled by a subscription for a weekly fresh food box from organic food delivery service Abel and Cole. Their commitment to sustainability is impressive – for example, none of their produce is air-freighted and they pledge that all their packaging will be completely recyclable or fully compostable by 2025. They have also introduced a totally packaging free fruit and vegetable box, arriving in just a cardboard box (which they will take away and recycle for you too, if you wish!). So, whilst other subscriptions may perhaps be more interesting, subscribing to Abel and Cole in 2020 would be a great way to tick the box on one of your sustainable New Year’s resolutions at least!

5. Yumbles Cake Club (https://www.yumbles.com/)

What is it that the healthy eating experts say – eat well 80% of the time?  Well then, this treat is for the remaining 20% of your day – Yumbles’ wonderful cake club. As a cake enthusiast, there are quite a few cake subscriptions that I have pondered on over the years, but Yumbles stood out because they didn’t just send a single, lonely slice of cake (that I worry may well be pretty dry by the time it reaches me) – oh no – Yumbles send an entire, feeds six, whole, fresh, delicious cake to your door. My father was the lucky recipient of four wonderful Yumbles cakes earlier this year – it was a well suited Father’s Day gift for a man who loves cake. I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve heard him more animated than explaining with delight which cake had arrived on his doorstep that month. He did save me a slice of one of the cakes (only one, mind) and I can confirm it was totally delicious. I think this subscription might become a regular gift purchase of mine: the ultimate self-care boost.

A four month & four cake subscription costs £58.50 at time of writing.  Worth every penny.

6. Birchbox (https://www.birchbox.co.uk/)

I have a real love of beauty advent calendars: the miniature products you can pamper and indulge with, when you probably wouldn’t splash out on a full-size version of the product for yourself. Well the great news for me is that I don’t have to wait all year for this joy; for a very reasonable £10 a month (plus P&P), Birchbox will deliver their beauty box through my door twelve times a year. Each box contains five beauty items (normally a mix of sample size and full size), and you can personalise your box according to your needs and also taste – you can even change the delivery box design! Birchbox is a relatively inexpensive way to treat yourself throughout the year and indulge a little. In the words of L’Oréal, “because you’re worth it”, right?

Sarah Barnett – November 2019

www.sarah-barnett.com

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[1] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FB%3AWATE.0000038896.55713.5b

[2] https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19930073077.pdf

Dance workshops are at the forefront of my mind – primarily because I’m working on devising the structure and content of our Christmas workshops right now. As I tap away on my keyboard, noting down creative and innovative content for the two days, it occurred to me that, for the children who attend these workshops, there are so many developmental benefits in attending these fun filled sessions, over and above the simple singing and dancing element.

Sociability, confidence and independence

A drop off, full day workshop for any child can be quite daunting, and as teachers (and parents) we totally understand this. Fortunately, at most of our workshops, our students will generally know one or more other students from dance classes, and they will also know the teachers. We spend time at the beginning of the workshops encouraging the children to get to know each other, their names, things they might like to do (just fun things really, keeping everything happy and light-hearted). The whole act of participating in a group routine embeds the feeling of unity within the group, and children have to work together to produce the end performance. As a result of this, confidence grows, and friendships are quickly formed, assisted by the fact the children all have something in common.  By the end of the workshops it is always wonderful to see friendships having been made, goodbye hugs being given, and phone numbers exchanged.

Developing creativity

Whilst a lot of the workshop content is prepared well in advance, as teachers we view workshops as a collaborative session and are always keen for students to have their say into the routines and performance. We encourage the children to devise their own choreography, to decide how parts of their performance should look and, for the older students, determine how they spend their time – which areas they want to focus on more. For many, this will be their first foray into choreography, and children take this freedom and run with it! Without the confines of working to a syllabus there is a greater creative autonomy amongst the children which is brilliant in expanding their thought processes and giving them a sense of “owning” the production. It is no longer a dictated piece of work, but something they themselves have made, and we see a great sense of pride in their performance. The empowerment is brilliant and, as teachers, children often thrive in this environment.

Exposure to other dance forms

Many children start off learning ballet and then progress to learning tap, modern, and jazz. Workshops are a brilliant way of allowing children to try out all these dance forms, and others – we often include singing, musical theatre and dance-acro within our courses. Children who might not have otherwise thought to try a different dance style sometimes find their niche during a workshop, and it’s great to see a child just “click” with a different dance form.

Skills Development

Without the constraints of the dance syllabus, as teachers we frequently use workshop environments to stretch and develop the children we teach. We can try out more advanced steps that might be a few grades beyond where the children are at, and we are often amazed at how keen the children are to try steps that are, on paper, too complex for them. It is always so rewarding to witness children trying their hardest and practising complicated routines until they have perfected them. We never underestimate children’s abilities – they are always so much more capable than we can ever predict!

Our Christmas Workshops are on the 19^th and 20^th December and are festively themed around Frozen 2 and Nativity! the musical. We would love your child to come!

Sarah Barnett

November 2019

Breca Gower Swimrun, Sunday 14^th July 2019 (Ghostwritten for Andrew Barnett)

Having a relatively long history of triathlons, aqua-bikes, iron man, and a Channel swim to date, swimrun seemed the obvious evolution and was something I was keen to get stuck in to. However, whilst on paper the distances looked very achievable (38km of running and 5km swimming in total over 16 legs), I admit on the day it was more demanding than I’d anticipated. My swimrun partner, Andy, has a similar background to me with triathlon and county level swimming under his belt, and had the additional experience of having completed the Breca sprint swimrun in 2018. Our reckoning of “go big or go home” when deciding to take on the full length swimrun this year may, however, have been slightly bolder than we realised at the time…

My training for Breca Gower started at the beginning of the year with cross country runs added to my regular running schedule, along with pool swimming and then lake swimming with running laps around the lake once it opened in early May. Fitting swimrun training in around a young family was totally achievable with an early morning start, and it was great to take on a new sport where I didn’t need to buy a lot of new kit – most things I already owned and, apart from a swimrun wetsuit, there were no tremendously expensive outlays. It also felt good to be training and then competing as part of a team, with my training taking on greater importance as I didn’t want to let my swimrun partner down.

Breca hold a Sprint (20km) and a full distance Swimrun over a July weekend at the very beautiful Gower Peninsula in South Wales. The route takes in some absolutely astounding scenery along with some of the most stunning beaches the UK has to offer. This, along with the amazing weather (which was a bonus – historically it has always rained in Wales for me), meant that it was a really family friendly event, with my wife, children and dog enjoying beach-hopping along some of the fuel stations to support us en route from Rhossili to Port Eynon (great rockpools!), on to Oxwich Bay, Caswell Bay and finally the finish line at Mumbles.

The course included a little rock climbing, much fell running, swimming with jellyfish and seals, a lot of beach running and some decent hill climbs. I admit it was tough, and with the 25-degree full sunshine and wetsuit combination also causing overheating there were points at which each of us had to dig deep to keep going. At these times you really recognise the benefits of working as a team, and also having a partner who in those dark moments (and there were quite a few) will be the rock you need to persevere and not someone who will tell you to man the f*** up!

Along with planning a stunning course route at Gower, Breca deserve recognition for their dedication to making the event environmentally low impact, with competitors required to take their own reusable cup with them through the course and food stations having ready prepared, cut up food, rather than individually sealed snacks. That being said, my reusable cup unfortunately disappeared early in the event, but it turns out swimming hats work well as drinking vessels too, who knew?

We were happy/relieved to cross the finish line in 9^th place in just over 6 ½ hrs. Booking is now open for Breca Gower 2020; I might well see you there.

Charles Dickens Walking Tour for Kids – 23^rd October 2019

Kent is a wonderful county in which to live. It is bursting with historical features, beautiful landscapes, and interesting towns and villages. Despite living here for almost eight years, however, we had still not made it to the historic city of Rochester, so when a good friend suggested a Charles Dickens walking tour of the old town I jumped at the chance. I must admit a couple of things at this point. The first – that I have read Oliver Twist, once, about 30 years ago, and, despite a degree in English Literature, that is, embarrassingly, my complete knowledge to date of Charles Dickens. And two, my children were not particularly enamoured by the idea of a walking tour, even with the promise of a nice lunch afterwards. Nevertheless, I dragged them out of the house, wrapped them up warm, and we headed into Rochester for the 11am talk.

The Cathedral and old centre of Rochester is truly stunning. Bursting with old buildings and history, it is a wonderfully picturesque and interesting area to wander around. The tour started at the heart of this, just outside the castle, itself another imposing structure, directly opposite the generously proportioned Cathedral.

Our guide, Shane, was immediately welcoming and engaging – no mean feat when surrounded by almost twenty children all waiting with great expectation (see what I did there?!). It was a canny idea of Shane’s to introduce a quiz element to the tour – if my children are anything to go by – children love finding out answers, and are also more likely to remember some interesting facts if they are involved in the quest, so the quiz element was definitely a plus point from me. Along the talk Shane cleverly dispersed answers to the quiz questions without being too obvious about it, so the children were engaged and listening throughout as they tried to complete the questionnaire in full.

Shane’s commentary as he took us around certain spots of Rochester was fluid, thoroughly interesting and genuinely funny. Whilst we didn’t actually walk that far, we saw many interesting buildings and sights, often with direct links to Charles Dickens’s novels, or his upbringing and life. For me, seeing the gothic, almost spooky Restoration House (Dickens’s inspiration for Satis House in Great Expectations) was truly inspiring and Great Expectations has now been downloaded as my next read on my Kindle. Becoming immersed in Dickens’s surroundings in Rochester has made the novels seem so much more real and I am hoping that for my children especially, seeing the buildings and area will bring his literature to life for them that much more.

At the time of our tour (October 2019) Shane wasn’t charging a fee for his time (almost three hours on our tour) and astounding knowledge. He simply requested a donation of “…whatever you can afford; I don’t want to stop anyone learning because of lack of funds”. Unfortunately due to the large number of no-shows, Shane has informed me that he will have to charge a small fee from 2020 for weekend walks, but he will be keeping weekday walks running on a donation only basis as long as he can. Rochester Tour Guides (www.tourguiderochesteruk.co) is a super organisation with a truly good heart. I would wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone wanting to find out more about Dickens, and with the 150 year anniversary of Dickens death next year (another fact I learned on the tour), I expect interest in Rochester History Walking Tours in 2020 will, deservedly, be at an all time high.

Sarah Barnett Oct 2019