We are really rather excited here at Little Cherry’s little HQ… we’ve just received a lovely little envelope containing a posh certificate, which says we’ve been nominated in not just one, but TWO categories for the HSBC Start Up Stars!

So, Little Cherry… or Lucy Brindley specifically got the nomination for HSBC Start Up Star 2010 and HSBC Green Start Up Star. Yay!

Best get filling those forms in then… wish us luck!

 Here’s the posh certificate:

Simon Atkinson reports on the efforts Festival Organisors are actively trying in order to make Festivals more eco-friendly - read the full article here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/10145690.stm

TEA-TIME ENTERTAINMENT SHOW LOOKING FOR FUN LOVING KIDS BETWEEN 3-5 YRS OLD

‘My Little Soldier’ is a TV show where your children are the stars! So, if you want to have fun and appear with your son or daughter on TV then get in touch with us. Please don’t tell your child what you’re doing yet as we might need to surprise them on the show!

Parents set their children simple missions in order to see how they get on. This results in a great sense of achievement for the child and lots of pride for the parent, with a few laughs along the way.

Please call Susannah on 0207 502 5847 for more information or email Susannah.haley@northonetv.com

20% off subscription: Until the end of the month, use the code littlecherry

NannyShare.co.uk gets a makeover
by the Nanny Share team

Considered sharing a nanny?

Sharing a nanny with another family can be an ideal childcare solution.

Nanny Share’s postcode search lets you find families near you who want to share a nanny. Together you can find flexible, quality childcare at an affordable price.

The massive www.nannyshare.co.uk website change in 2009 is our biggest news right now. New colours, new kids artwork… but more importantly the site now gives parents more online options:

- Search for & contact local families
- Add families to your favourites
- Contact families online with our new messaging system
- Find your best matches, so you can start sharing childcare costs
- Increased flexibility - childcare, your way
- Childcare jobs - view and post jobs.

About NannyShare.co.uk

Nanny Share has been developed by several leading names in the UK childcare industry. Hopefully everything is self explanatory and you’ll be able to sign up and start looking for families with similar needs, find a nanny and/or post a nanny job with greater ease than before.

Nanny Share helps families across the UK find each other and reduce their childcare costs by sharing - we’re very proud of that. It’s almost obligatory at this point to say “in the current climate”. Sharing has always been a good flexible childcare option. It’s more so now in the days of the ‘credit crunch’.

It might seem like an odd comparison if you’re looking for childcare, or a family to share that childcare with, but Nanny Share works in a similar way to a dating site. You sign up, search family profiles, select families you like the sound of - then get in touch. It’s that simple. You and your children might even make some great friends.

Find a nanny sharer

NannyShare.co.uk has helped thousands of families over the years. Sharing your nanny with another family could be the solution for you.

Parents are going to knock on every door (or in this case website) to try and find what they need. Nanny Share won’t push you to use any of our partners or friends that operate within the realm of childcare. We might let you know they’re out there, and any benefits you might receive by using their services.

Create a family profile with Nanny Share: www.nannyshare.co.uk

20% off subscription: Until the end of the month, use the code littlecherry

Why Share a Nanny?
by Rachel Willits of NannyShare.co.uk

“A nanny has always been my preferred childcare choice - high quality and flexible home care, but oh so expensive!
For me, a nannyshare is the best of both worlds, the childcare I’m after at a much more manageable cost, and depending on how the share works, a really sociable solution too.
Nannyshares can work in all sorts of ways. I’ve now had 4 nannyshares, all different but equally effective. I consider myself a bit of an expert now!”

Sharing a nanny for the 1st time?

“My first experience of sharing a nanny came when I was expecting my second child. I couldn’t afford to keep my full time nanny whilst on maternity leave but didn’t want to lose my fabulous nanny. I found another family who needed a part time nanny and we shared Victoria between us. I kept her for 2 days a week, the other family for 3, until I was ready to go back to work.

I did another similar share when we moved to Northamptonshire and then when I became involved in Nanny Share I actually shared a nanny with my neighbour. Our daughters were the same age and the best of friends and the nanny looked after them both for 3 days a week in whichever of our houses was most convenient.

My current share is probably the most complicated. A friend and I employ our nanny full time between us, the nanny works for me 1 day a week, for my friend 2 days a week and the remaining 2 days she works for us both, looking after all of our children (5 in total!) together. It’s sometimes chaotic, always lots of fun and the children have a ball. We’re all as flexible as we can be which means we both get the benefit of a nanny being available 5 days a week, at a fraction of the usual cost.

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to sharing a nanny, you just need to find out what works for you. It’s important to be as open and flexible as you can be and regular communication is vital.

Good luck!”
Rachel x

Create your family profile today: www.nannyshare.co.uk
NannyShare.co.uk

I have had one question on my mind over the past few weeks… will the recession have a major affect on consumer desire for green products?

This question is especially pertinent as my eco-friendly party supplies business, Little Cherry is a relatively young business, trading in this sector. My concern really lies within the message that has been thrust on us recently about cutting back on our spending and choosing only products we ‘need’ rather than being frivolous with those we ‘want’. Having an eco-friendly party; is it something we ‘need’? Or ‘want’? Will saving the planet take a back seat as saving money becomes so important?

So as the housing market slows, and people have less access to equity, as more people are made redundant and therefore have less cash to play with, will they opt for less expensive non-green products, which have a detrimental effect on the environment?

Not so, according to findings from the 2007 ImagePower Green Brands Survey*, spending on green products is set to almost double this year. In addition to these finding, the survey found that peoples perception of ‘green’ has shifted somewhat to now symbolise a positive refection of their social status, and equate it with saving money and caring for self, and society.

My thoughts are that I hope the finding come to fruition so I can stay in this nice comfy bubble; I hope people will equate being green as a way to save money in the long term and will realise the major benefits with choosing sustainable products over planet clogging ones. I hope they will make a statement by sticking to their morals rather than converting back to less expensive (in the short term) products, which are more damaging in the long term.

I also hope that in this tide of recession, people won’t be talking about the economy so much that they forget about the environment, because the reality is that if we don’t all make an effort both in the short and long term, nothing will change.

* Conducted by WPP’s Landor Associates, Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates and Cohn & Wolfe

Ok, now I can take a breath and step down from my soap box!
xXx

At Little Cherry we like to support other small businesses like ourselves. Businesses who are making a diffrence with the products they sell, with the producers they use and with their ethos towards life. Here is one of our great friends, INCOGNITO.

What is incognito?

incognito is a powerful anti-mosquito protection spray.  It is a 100% natural, non-greasy formulation.  It also has a fresh pleasant smell.  Most of the ingredients have been used for centuries by indigenous peoples of Asia to protect themselves from insects and the diseases they carry.  It can be used by all the family including babies.

incognito contains the maximum amount of citronella that can be used safely by humans, along with eucalyptus and a secret ingredient.  All of these combined actually make you ‘invisible’ to all small things that biteä!  How come?  Basically, the insects that need to feed off us cannot sense our kairomones so they literally fly-by! 

What are kairomones? Just as humans are attracted to each other’s pheromones, insects are attracted to their hosts by kairomones – the kairomone mosquitoes are particularly attracted to is carbon dioxide. Others include lactic and carboxylic acids.  All these kairomones are eliminated by the body in proportion to the rate of metabolism. Therefore the more active you are, the more attractive (a meal) you are!  Kairomones can be detected by the female mosquito up to 1km away!

Mosquitoes sense these chemicals in a variety of ways, one way being the hairs on their antennae.  One recent research project shows another way that mosquitoes smell us is through a nose located in their mouth!

incognito works by masking most of these kairomones, thus cloaking or camouflaging and protecting us like an invisibility cloak!   

Although no product, not even the most toxic insecticides offer total protection, incognito will protect you as effectively as those chemicals with one important difference: safety. According to two recent studies on oil of lemon eucalyptus and citronella they are as effective as 30% Deet.

incognito also interferes with a mosquitoes’ inbuilt target-seeking process thus providing a further shield.  Mosquitoes have poor eyesight, but are highly light sensitive, so are able to differentiate easily between light and dark, which is also why they zero in on those with paler skin tones.

Many people are fed up using chemicals on their skin, which is not surprising as DEET melts plastic and can cause scarring of the tissue and worse. incognito is 100% natural with most of the ingredients certified organic.

incognito is a small ethically minded company which trades fairly with everyone.  We also do our bit for the environment as you can see if you visit the ‘kind to our planet’ page on our website: http://www.lessmosquito.com

which has a wealth of tips on avoiding bites from insects on the “Avoiding Bites” Page.

incognito is the mosquito deterrent of choice for several high profile people and expeditions with an interest in the environment.

As you can see on their website incognito was recommended by The Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph and The Observer. It is will be used by the England Cricket Team on their forthcoming tour.

Our global obsession with the water we drink is not surprising given that water makes up over 60% of our body’s composition, it is vital to our life and health.

The marketing genius that led to the explosion of the bottled water market is now happily past its peak as we have become a bit more discerning and savvy about this bizarre ritual of buying our water. 

We know that bottled water accounts for a huge carbon footprint, landfill problems and marine debris. And that plastic bottles contain BPA, linked to cancers, autism and genetic damage. The photo on the front of your bottled water may show glaciers and mountains but the reality of the source of the water and the actual purity of the water may be deceptive according to the Natural resources Defence Council (ref 1) In fact Pepsi’s Aquafina water, the No1 seller in the US, now must clearly show on their labels that their source is………tap water.

Canada has led the World in the total Ban on BPA from baby bottles/beverages, with Walmart and Toys R Us following suit. The National Childbirth Trust in the UK is demanding that all products containing BPA be clearly labelled. Are we finally reversing our love affair with buying plastic bottles?

There is some good news however as the task of ridding our world of plastic has just been made easier thanks to One Green Bottle (www.onegreenbottle.com), a brilliant new alternative to the endless use of harmful plastic bottles. Developed and marketed by a forward thinking eco-friendly company in East Sussex this stylish range of ‘Mudpuppy’ branded stainless steel bottles provide a real opportunity  to change the way we consume water and drinks.

One Green Bottle has developed the BPA Free Mudpuppy range using ‘304’ grade stainless steel, which is recognised by the beverage and food industry for its hygienic benefits and non-toxic properties. Switching to a stainless steel drinks bottle which does not leach chemicals into the water eliminates the risks associated with BPA’s and you will immediately taste the difference. Stainless steel can also be used with just about any beverage, is durable and easy to clean. The payback for buying a Mudpuppy bottle is very short (less than a month), you are assured of being toxin free and can feel satisfied that you are doing your bit in reducing the devastating effect of plastic refuse on this planet.

In the US over 250,000 stainless steel bottles are sold every month. BPA Free drinking bottles by One Green bottle have now launched in the UK for the first time. A great selection of stylish bottles ideal for use in the school, nursery, office, gym or on a picnic.
Heather Nicholson, director of One Green Bottle, explains the ethos behind the company. She says: “I was looking for a clean, odourless sports bottle for my son to take to school each day and I couldn’t get one in the UK. When I investigated plastics and the alternatives, I became determined to do something positive. Plastic is an overwhelming threat to our environment. As a reformed plastic bottle drinker, I’ve never felt better since I switched to stainless steel. It saves money, time and effort, tastes purer and I know it isn’t manufactured using harmful chemicals.”

Ms Nicholson says: “It’s a simple step to reduce plastic bottle usage and experience the benefits. Bisphenol A readily ‘leaches’ into the fluids contained in plastic bottles, and many parents will naturally want to ensure their kids are using safe drinking vessels. Furthermore, by using our bottles, children will understand the causal relationship between responsibility and the future of the planet. If each generation takes more care of the environment than its predecessors, our children and grandchildren will be the beneficiaries.”

Just One Green Bottle can keep heaps of plastic debris off our planet.
It takes just one green bottle to make a positive difference to your health, the planet and your bank balance. I’ll drink to that.
Ends/…

Media Contact
Heather Nicholson, director, One Green Bottle Ltd
Telephone: 0845 293 8355 / 07921 866473
Email: heather@onegreenbottle.com

Ref 1 http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/chap5.asp

The online magazine TheGINLady.com launches today and is under the influence of Green, Independent and Natural news, people and lifestyle brands. The magazine is a fun, edgy and uplifting website, with GIN as its refreshing antidote to the often scary environmental headlines.

“We wanted to create an online magazine that brings a smile to our readers’ faces, while offering a rich eco chic resource for people wanting a more sustainable lifestyle” says Dr Nicola Thomas, the site’s publisher. Nicola adds: “While there are some fabulous green websites, we wanted to avoid the doom and gloom as much as possible, and provide an online destination with gorgeous lifestyle solutions.”

Updated frequently, TheGINLady.com covers: Beauty & Style; Family Life; Food & Drink; Home Turf; Out & About; and Sex & Wellbeing. The magazine launches with a magazine bazaar, newsroom and a blog, which started a few months prior to the magazine launch. In the coming months, the site will also have a social networking platform, as well as a bustling marketplace to showcase online and local green, independent and natural businesses.

Lucy Shea, Director of sustainability communications agency Futerra and co-founder of the RE:Fashion Awards commented “It’s great to see The GIN Lady enter the green media landscape. It offers a wide variety of stylish choices to live a greener lifestyle. I particularly like the fashion element as it covers everything from ethical manufacturing to vintage, handmade, revamped and fair trade”.

Nicola who started blogging on The GIN Lady a few months ago enthuses “The GIN Lady name immediately caught people’s imagination. It’s memorable and is a refreshing take on the green message. We’ve probably exhausted most of the green and eco slogans now.”

The online magazine wants to attract young, nesting or youthful aging ladies (as well as some discerning gents of course!). Due to its lifestyle orientation, it’s likely to attract an organic gardener as much as it appeals to an edgy fashionista. Visitors are encouraged to subscribe to get the GIN insider scoop, as well as some fabulous prizes and special discounted offers to tempt a greener lifestyle.

Little Cherry was also recently recommended by the GINlady, you can read the article about eco-friendly party supplies here:  http://www.theginlady.com/family-life/eco-party-bags.html

WE ARE WHAT WE DO ANNOUNCES SEQUEL TO BEST SELLING

CHANGE THE WORLD FOR A FIVER

We Are What We Do, the social change movement behind the best selling Change the World for a Fiver and last year’s now iconic, “I’m not a plastic bag” project with Anya Hindmarch, has announced plans to publish a children’s book titled, Teach Your Granny to Text and Other Ways to Change the World.

The book, which is aimed at children between the ages of 8-12, will be published on October 2 in a joint venture by two of the UK’s most dynamic independent publishers, Short Books and Walker Books.

Teach Your Granny to Text and Other Ways to Change the World  features 30 simple everyday actions by children and for children. In addition to “teach your granny to text”, the actions include “walk your dad”, find out how happy your meal was”, “talk rubbish to your parents”, “Ask ‘Why?’”, “read with a pal”, “stand up for something”, “speak football”  and “cook a meal from scratch”.

Like Change the World for a Fiver, Teach Your Granny to Text will provide children with a simple way “in” to some of the biggest issues we are all facing – from climate change to gang culture - and provide a means for them to make an immediate and positive contribution to these problems.  It will also – like its predecessor – include a number of “surprises” including seeds to plant, pages to complete, badges to design and maps to draw as well as contributions from Anthony Horowitz, celebrity chef Sam Stern and even an “appearance” by Wally.

The development of Teach Your Granny to Text was funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and involved a national competition – smallactionsbigchange – which ran throughout 2007 and gave every child in the country the opportunity to answer the question; “What would you ask one million people to do to change the world?” More than 1,500 responses were received and more than 1,000 schools took part.  Eleven year old Erica Ritchie’s suggestion of teaching your granny to text proved so popular that it became the title of the book.

Eugenie Harvey, co founder of We Are What We Do, said: “Our work with schools through the competition has demonstrated that children want to take the initiative and indeed are extremely clued up on the problems that need addressing.  They don’t need a lot of encouragement – they just need the means to take action and a fun and engaging way of doing so.  This book does both these things.”

As part of the DCSF partnership, every primary school in England will receive one complimentary copy of the book when it goes in sale this October (i.e. 24,000 copies in total).

Jane Winterbotham, Publishing Director at Walker Books, said: Walker Books is thrilled to be collaborating with Short Books and We Are What We Do on this important project.  This will be a ground breaking book, and it’s exciting to be involving some of our best authors and illustrators in the creative process to reach out directly to children.”

To compliment the book’s launch, We Are What We Do has also worked in partnership with the Aldridge Foundation and volunteering agency, v to develop the Young Speakers’ Programme which is providing 200 young people between the ages of 16-25 with the opportunity to develop their public speaking skills so that they can deliver We Are What We Do presentations in primary schools around the country.  The Young Speakers have received training throughout July this year and will start going into schools in September this year and will use visual materials and animations based on the new book.  The delivery of this project is supported by TimeBank. (Further information can be found at www.wearewhatwedo.org/youngspeakers)

Eugenie Harvey said: “We are really excited about the Young Speakers’ Programme.  It has been both humbling and awe inspiring to help these young people find their voices and to give them an opportunity to talk about issues that matter to them – knife crime, the security of their families and homes, the state of the environment and the harmony in their communities – and then to see them encouraging younger children to find simple, everyday ways in which they can make a difference to these problems.

“There has never been a more important time to provide young people with the confidence to speak out and a platform upon which to do it,  We are passionately committed to all our work with young people and look forward to developing it further in the coming years.”

In  the first 6 months of the Young Speakers’ Programme, We Are What We Do believes that as many as 200,000 school children will hear the presentations and plans to roll the programme out nationally as well as making the resources available through open source .

For further information about the launch of Teach Your Granny to Text or the Young Speakers’ Programme, please contact Sandra Deeble at We Are What We Do on 02073967463, 07787578186 or Sandra.deeble@wearewhatwedo.org

Win an eco-friendly picnic kit courtesy of Arniston Bay

Environmentally friendly: enjoy a guilt-free picnic

Summer is finally here! It’s time to pack a picnic basket and head outdoors to enjoy all that the British countryside has to offer.

Arniston Bay is offering five lucky readers the chance to win an eco-friendly picnic kit. Make the most of the sunshine with friends and family, knowing that you’re doing your bit for the environment.

Each eco-picnic pack contains a selection of unique products that will help you become a bit more environmentally friendly this summer including:

* Arniston Bay pouch: a convenient and more environmentally friendly solution to wine packaging. Easy to transport, the pouch is perfect for picnics, parties and more www.arniston-bay.com
* Eco-friendly picnic packs containing bio-degradable organic bamboo cutlery and plates, sustainable napkins, natural fairly traded palm leaf serving plates and dip bowls from Little Cherry; your one-stop shop for stylish eco-friendly party supplies www.littlecherry.co.uk or call 01753 857003
* Organic cotton napkins from Greenfibres, purveyors of eco goods and garments www.greenfibres.com
* Organic and natural sun lotion for sensitive and tender skin from Green People, organic and natural skin and hair care for the whole family www.greenpeople.co.uk
* 100% natural mosquito protection spray from Incognitome www.incognitome.co.uk
* A reusable, eco-friendly picnic bag from Let’s Bee Greener www.letsbeegreener.co.uk
* A set of recyclable wine glasses

Inspired by the sunny skies and pristine beaches of Arniston – the Arniston Bay pouch is perfect for those carefree, alfresco dining or easy drinking wine occasions. The Arniston Bay pouch has an 80% lower carbon footprint than the same wine in glass bottles and has been developed to lower the environmental impact of the entire product, rather than just its disposal at the end of its lifecycle. An Arniston Bay pouch will stay chilled and fresh in the fridge for up to one month once opened and when empty flattens down for quick and easy disposal; making it perfect for BBQs, summer picnics, parties and more.

The Arniston Bay pouch is available from branches of Tesco, Waitrose, Morrison’s and Asda priced £9.79 for 1.5 litres. 250ml pouches will be available in retailers soon priced £1.79.

To enter this competition simply CLICK HERE!

Terms and Conditions:
* The prize is a range of the following products: two pouches of Arniston Bay wine – 1 x Pinotage Rose, 1 x Chenin Chardonnay, an eco friendly picnic bag, palm leaf serving plates and dip bowls, organic bamboo cutlery and plates, recycled napkins, an organic cotton napkin, a natural sun lotion, a 100% natural mosquito cream, a set of recyclable wine glasses.
* The prize is non-transferable and cannot be exchanged in whole or part for cash.
* The prize will be dispatched within 28 days of the winner being informed.
* Competition only open to people over the age of 18.
* Competition closes 11 August, 2008.