Archive for: November 2017

Hypnotherapy, how does it work? Nene Local finds out

Nov. 30 Alex Lloyd Interviews, Local News, Thrapston & Oundle Comments Off

There’s always at least time in our lives where we feel the walls cave in on us, due to either stress, anger, anxiety or depression. It’s human nature, anyone who says otherwise are lying. The only difference between people is whether they can deal with these situations or not. Nene Local talked to Inspired to Change Thrapston to find out how hypnotherapy can really turn around someone’s life.

Experience in Hypnotherapy

Caroline Prout has been a registered hypnotherapist for over four years now. Having suffered from anxiety and viral chronic fatigue syndrome, she had been to see every therapist under the sun. However one of her friends was a hypnotherapist and offered to try and help, and she was surprised at how easily she began to recover. She told us that the treatment was the only one that made sense to her, and she has been inspired to try and help those in the same position that she once was.

Sleep is Key

The first thing Caroline gets her clients to do is get a healthy sleep pattern. As only around 1/7 clients she sees get a good night’s sleep this is one of the primary areas she focuses on. The brain needs two forms of sleep, rapid eye movement or REM (the brain’s way of processes our memories and restoring our mind) and non-rapid eye movement (the resting of the body). These types of sleep need to be in a ratio of 20%:80% to be fully rested.

When people are overly stressed, the REM exceeds the 20% limit. This may not seem too bad, but to put things in perspective the REM takes four times as much effort as taking a maths exam. So, when the brain has a lot of things to clear, it can leave you feeling both mentally and physically exhausted. A guided relaxation is the easiest way to get these sleep patterns properly balanced, so she offers CD’s to all her clients.

inspired to change sleep stages | nene local

The Sleep Stages

The Good Bit

The next thing Caroline does is put clients into a trance. Now, therapeutic hypnosis isn’t the kind you see on TV, with no swinging watch or people making chicken noises. Hypnotherapy is a form of indirect suggestion, allowing the brain to problem solve by itself, just with a friendly nudge in the right direction. The client is free to think whatever they want, Caroline is just there to provide an indication of what to do whilst in this trance.

Hypnotherapy can help reduce things from stress, anxiety and phobias to chronic pain and even fertility. It is a truly fascinating treatment, and effective as well. If you wish to find out more, see the contact details below.

Caroline Prout

Contact Details

Caroline Prout

61 Kettering Road, Islip

07729 801247

caroline@inspiredtochange.biz

Bundles and Oodles and Bundles of Joy!

Nov. 20 Local News, Thrapston & Oundle Comments Off

Last week I thought I’d left East Northamptonshire and gone to Lapland to meet the Father Christmas Elves…

Nestled in Lowick, there is a wonderful company who offer a magical service. Bundles of Joy. In a weird twist of fate, my path has crossed with this company a few times in the last ten or so years. I worked for PR company based in Daventry who held the Bundles of Joy account, then I worked for a wooden toy company based in Northampton that supplied their wooden blank toy chests and suchlike…

…So it’s been a great opportunity for me to catch up with Suzanne and to see how the last ten years have gone!

Suzanne explained that Bundles of Joy have stayed true to their core values. Although internet shopping has changed, new platforms such as Etsy have seen the rise in small artisan companies and larger multi nationals also now offer larger ranges but by staying true to what they’ve always supplied Bundles of Joy are still a growing success story.

Bundles of Joy offer a wide range of gifts and toys all with a personal touch. No matter how unusual (or familiar!) your baby’s name is, they will hand personalise any item you choose from their site www.bundlesofjoy-shopping.co.uk/

From an Arabella to a Zaccariah – all children are catered for! Their range suits from birth until four, with a few gifts for grown ups with chilrden or grandchildren too.

Customer Care

I was given the grand tour and watched Suzanne’s ‘Elves’ painting names with such a steady hand! The lovingly packaging the item to send.

Firstly the item is packed in bubble wrap

Bundles of Joy printed tissue paper is gently placed all around

More bubble wrap!

Next, a Bundles of Joy card is inserted

Into a poly postage bag!

A postage label is attached then the parcel awaits pick up

It would be a joy to open any of their parcels, they are so lovingly wrapped.

A Wide Range

Nene Local Magazine really enjoyed seeing all the great products Bundles of Joy Offer, and especially loved seeing the hand painted Christmas decorations and watching the embroidery machine sew a name on Mr Fox!

Buy now for Christmas!

Their website is www.bundlesofjoy-shopping.co.uk

And their Facebook is www.facebook.com/bundlesofjoyshop/

Call Suzanne on 01832 737989 or email her on: info@bundlesofjoy-shopping.co.uk

Pollution Incident at Werrington Brook affects Local Wildlife

Nov. 20 Peterborough & Elton Comments Off

Project partners for the Werrington Brook Improvements project in Peterborough were dismayed to learn of a recent pollution incident, which had devastating effects on the local wildlife, most notably a pair of well-known breeding swans.

The river improvement project partners – the charity PECT, Peterborough City Council, and the Environment Agency – want to highlight the significance of this incident, with the aim of engaging local residents in battling pollution issues and raising awareness about reporting incidents speedily, to reduce the impact and harm to wildlife and the environment.

“Healthy rivers provide excellent environments to help local people, organisations and wildlife in numerous ways,” explains PECT’s CEO Carly Leonard. “In addition to the physical works as part of the Werrington Brook Improvements project, we want to explore how the local community can work together to reduce pollution and report incidents as soon as they are spotted to maintain a cleaner, healthier river environment. We urgently need terrible incidents like this one to become a thing of the past.”

It is believed the oil incident on Werrington Brook, near Fulbridge Road, was reported to the Environment Agency several days after the incident and, during the same period, the RSPCA removed two oil covered swans from the spot. Immediate measures were put in place to clean up the site.

Whilst the swans were rescued by the RSPCA, the 19-year old male swan sadly died due to the incident. When it was fully recovered, the female swan was returned to the area at a later date.

Andy Sadler, Catchment Coordinator, Welland and Nene, at the Environment Agency, said: “Environment Agency officers were notified of an oil pollution on Werrington Brook last month and immediately attended the scene to deploy a boom and start the clean-up process by using absorbent pads to soak up the spillage.

“Unfortunately, as the incident happened several days before the Environment Agency received the report, we were unable to trace the source of the pollution to establish who was responsible and to bring them to justice. It is really important that anyone who witnesses any pollution of land or water immediately reports the incident to us via the Environment Agency 24-hour hotline on 0800 807060 to minimise the effects of the pollution on the environment and enable us to carry out a full investigation.

“Pollution incidents can seriously damage or kill wildlife and, due to oil being dumped in the brook, two swans, which were much-loved by local people, were sadly covered in oil. Whilst the swans were rescued by the RSPCA, one has sadly since died.

“We have been working on the Werrington Brook Improvement project since 2014 in partnership with Peterborough City Council, Anglian Water, RiverCare and PECT and are due to begin the next phase, starting in January 2018 and completing in March 2018.”

The Werrington Brook Improvements is a 5+ year programme looking at ways of holistically improving a sub-catchment of the River Welland. The project involves physical works, and aims to influence community and business behaviour in order to reduce pollution across five stretches of the brooks in the Dukesmead, Hastings Road, Arundel Road, Ullswater Avenue and Aubretia Avenue areas.
The works involve putting new features into the brooks to improve the way they naturally function, restoring them to how nature intended. From changing the way the brook flows, to increasing the amount of oxygen in the water, the features will help to clean the water, create new habitats, and provide a more pleasant space for all to enjoy.

If you spot a pollution incident, please call the Environment Agency 24-hour hotline: 0800 807060. For more information about the project in general, email werringtonbrook@pect.org.uk or visit www.pect.org.uk/WerringtonBrook.

Charity PECT set to Help Peterborough Residents Enjoy a Warmer Home this Winter

Nov. 20 Peterborough & Elton Comments Off

Are you a local Peterborough resident? Would you like to cut costs and keep your home warm this winter for less? The environmental charity PECT can provide support with its free energy advice service: Warm Homes.

Residents can book to receive a free home energy advice visit from an impartial advisor, gain advice in choosing the best energy tariff and supplier, access information on the national £140 Warm Home Discount and get a free goodie bag.

PECT aims to provide households with the information and resources needed to stay warm and healthy, whilst cutting costs and carbon.

This service is vital, because NHS advice* suggests that when the weather drops below 8C, some people are at increased risk of physical and mental health conditions; such as heart attack, stroke, pneumonia and depression.

“We want to enable all Peterborough residents to take advantage of this great, free service,” explains Project Officer Shani Lambert. “By working with you and offering impartial advice, we can help you to cut costs and enjoy a warm and healthy home this winter.”

Richard Taylor, Secretary of the ScottishPower Energy People Trust, said: “Inspirational organisations like PECT play a vital role in the local community, they champion local residents to improve their wellbeing throughout winter. The Energy People Trust is proud to support such a proactive charity.”

This project is funded by the ScottishPower Energy People Trust and is supported by Cross Keys Homes.

To book your FREE energy advice home visit, call 01733866440 or email warmhomes@pect.org.uk. For more information, visit www.pect.org.uk.

GDPR: What Businesses need to Know

Nov. 17 Alex Lloyd Interviews, Local News, Rushden & Raunds Comments Off

What is GDPR?

Don’t worry, no one else knows either…

The new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the new European legislation coming into place on the 25^th May 2018, set to replace the current Data Protection Act. It’s aims are to give control over personal data back to the citizens and residents of European countries and, despite the outcome of Brexit, still including Great Britain. It requires business owners to have written proof that clients or customers have given permission for their details to be stored. This should hopefully prevent those annoying PPI claim calls that you get at 11 o’clock at night on Saturday.

This seems to be a pretty big new law, especially when the fine for not complying is based on turnover and not profit, which could have a devastating effect on small businesses. So, it’s amazing to see next to no media coverage on it, with it only being 6 months away. On Thursday Nene Local went out and about in Thrapston asking business owners whether they were even aware of it, let alone starting to put measures in place.

An astounding 77% of business owners on the High Street had never even heard of the GDPR, which is shocking considering how close to the enforcement date is and how important it is for businesses altogether.

On the street

One owner told us that they were not worried about the upcoming changes, as them being a gift shop means they do not keep any client details at all. Another told us that they will be receiving their orders from the head office closer to the date. But most of the others we asked were quite shocked as they’d not even heard of GDPR, and told us that they would make sure to update their policies as soon as they could.

How to get help?

Here at Nene Local, we had already registered with the ICO (Information Commissioners Office) a number of months ago as If your business holds any kind of personal data on individuals or business owners it should be registered at the ICO anyway.

We soon realised that we seemed to be the only compliant local magazine!

We then attended a GDPR workshop with Admin and More.

The workshop description is “There are many myths and scare stories around the new Data Protection Regulations so in this workshop I will share with you 12 practical steps that you can take to ensure you are ready for the new regulations.

In the first part of the session I will get you to take an online assessment so you can see the areas that you may need to work on and to ensure you are ready for the new regulations coming into force on the 25th May 2018.

The second part of the session will give you an overview of the new regulations and the small changes you can make so you can be ready for the GDPR.

It will also be your chance to ask any questions you may have and we can dispel those myths and scare stories and you will be prepared for the 25th May 2018.”

The workshop was easy to understand and left us feeling quite confident about becoming fully compliant by May 2018.

The next workshop is at https://www.facebook.com/events/128681201179980/ and is just £50.

Admin and More also offer packages for them to do all the compliance work for you, this includes;

1.Register you with ICO

2.Prepare a Data Protection Policy

3.Prepare Privacy Policy

4.Undertake a Data Mapping Audit

5.Train Staff

6.Clean your Data

All for a package of £250.00

Help is at Hand

Admin and More

Tel: 01933 428151

Web: www.adminandmore.co.uk

Facebook: www.facebook.com/adminandmore

Free Drop-in Advice Sessions for Unemployed Entrepreneurs

Nov. 13 Local News, Northampton & Earls Barton Comments Off

A Northamptonshire-based business consultancy is helping those who are economically inactive or unemployed in the county to create their own jobs by starting their own businesses.

As part of Global Entrepreneurship Week from Monday 13^th November to Sunday 19^th November, Building Business – which specialises in supporting entrepreneurs and start-ups through advice, mentoring and training – is holding two free drop-in advice sessions in Corby and Northampton.

Organised by Annie Hawkins, Project Coordinator at Building Business, the sessions will run for four hours each and allow those who are out of work but considering setting up their own business, a chance to access some expert advice one-to-one and receive guidance on how to proceed with their ideas and plans.

Details of the drop-in sessions are as follows:

Corby Job Centre
Wednesday 15th November
11am – 3pm

Northamptonshire Central Library, Northampton
Friday 17th November
10am – 2pm

Annie said: “Global Entrepreneurship Week is now in its 10^th year and will see 35,000 different events take place simultaneously across 125 countries. The whole idea behind the week is to bring together the start-up community, encourage mentoring and drive those who may be on the cusp of becoming an entrepreneur to take action and make it happen. All of these things are exactly what Building Business is all about and we wanted to do something and take part.”

The free-to-access sessions will be provided as part of the Building Better Opportunities project, an initiative that is European Social Fund (ESF) and lottery-funded and sees several expert partners, including Building Business, work with individuals to get them back to work, into self-employment or on their way to establishing their own business.

For further information contact Annie Hawkins on 07410 377017 or email annie@buildingbusiness.org.uk.

Personality Profiling: The Wright Approach to Find Out Who You Really Are!

Nov. 13 Local News, Rushden & Raunds Comments Off

Personality Profiling: Nene Local has been to find out more about The Wright Approach.

Owner, Hazel Wright, practices Clarity 4D – a personality profiling tool. It was a very interesting afternoon!

I was sent a questionnaire via email to fill in, which you do fairly rapidly, without taking too much time to ponder and procrastinate. In return I got my profile emailed to me to begin reading through.

The Profile

The profile gives you colours, just to make it easier to understand, and it’s fair to say my profile showed I was a definite ‘green’. This means concerned, empathetic, supportive and patient. I would say with my work on Nene Local and general community minded things I do I agreed so far. It also says easy-going an informal and I hope those who know me would agree.

I think I am mainly one type of person!

Of course, being so ‘green’ meant my other colours were not so well covered – such as I can lack focus and am not very assertive. The reason it’s good to have this sort of profile done is, we all know we’re not perfect and certain things challenge us. It’s good to know where we may be a little weaker, so we can work on those skills, either to improve or even delegate certain tasks if possible.

The Experience

Once I’d read my Personality Profile I then made an appointment to see Hazel Wright. Based in Higham Ferrers, her studio is in her garden. My experience began with Hazel making coffee and getting us both a large slice of Coffee and Walnut Cake (delicious!!) then we made our way to her den. I’m calling it a Personality Profiling Den rather than a studio or clinic as it really was a comfy den, in her garden. It almost felt quite magical as the daylight faded. We were warm and cosy as she talked me through the profile.

There was obviously much more involved than I’ve reported on above, but I’d like to keep most of it to myself, as it’s a personal experience.

Why use this Tool?

Personality Profiling is an amazing tool if you are about to decide what career you want to do, maybe you’re about to start university? It would help if someone is about to have a career change, or begin work for themselves. It would help someone about to retire and wanting to know how best to spend their time.

Hazel also works with small groups of people, she is often asked in by team leaders and managers to help them get the best out of their team.

Get in Touch

If you would like a personality profile or know a team that may benefit from finding out how they could all work together better, then call The Wright Approach. My (really comprehensive) taster session was just £80.

The Wright Approach

Hazel Wright

Tel: 07788 558964

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hazelwrightapproach/

Destination Nene Valley Management Plan 2017 – 2022

Nov. 13 Local News, Thrapston & Oundle Comments Off

On Tuesday 28 November 2017 from 2pm-4pm

at East Northamptonshire Council, Cedar Drive, Thrapston, NN14 4LZ

We are currently preparing a Destination Management Plan that will set out key

objectives for tourism development and marketing over the next 5 years.

A Destination Management Plan is a shared statement of intent to manage a destination over a stated period of time, articulating the roles of the different stakeholders and identifying clear actions that they will take and the apportionment of resources.

Come along to a consultation event to find out more

about our priorities over the next five years.

Book your place online by Friday, 24 November 2017

‘Paw-some’ Opportunity for Wellingborough Pooches

Nov. 13 Wellingborough & Great Doddington Comments Off

Canine companions in Wellingborough have been given the chance to strut their stuff in this year’s Christmas parade, the first time dogs have featured in the town’s festive showpiece.

The event, part of the Christmas Lights Switch-on, will be led by the Wizard of Oz cast who will be performing at Castle Theatre throughout the festive period.

In the children’s book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz written by L.Frank Baum the lead character Dorothy ends up in Oz with her dog Toto after a cyclone sweeps up her farmhouse in Kansas. Organisers have appealed for dog owners to come along with their four-legged friends and accompany Wellingborough’s very own Dorothy.

The 10-minute parade will start at 3.45pm at Gloucester Place, on the corner of Market Street and Church Street, on Saturday, November 25.

John Cable, manager of the Wellingborough Business Improvement District (BID), which organises the event, said: “Christmas in Wellingborough is a big deal and we firmly believe it’s a great way to bring local business owners, families, communities and dog owners together. If you have a dog, we think you’d be barking mad not to bring them along.

“Father Christmas himself is lined up to take part in the parade with his sleigh and reindeer. We’re looking forward to watching our glorious town centre come to life, reminding everyone what a great place Wellingborough is to live and work. We’re proud of Wellingborough and in the words of Dorothy herself, ‘there’s no place like home’.”

The parade is part of an action-packed programme of events organised to mark the start of Christmas in the town centre. From 1pm there will be street entertainers, a Victorian Market, mulled wine and an interactive snow globe.

DJs Liz and Mark from Connect FM, will begin the on-stage countdown at 4pm and will be followed by local performers and tribute acts to Whitney Houston and Tina Turner.

Free tickets to The Wizard of Oz will be up for grabs as well as two tickets for any Northampton Saints home game (T&Cs apply) donated by local charity Niamh’s Next Step. The winner of this year’s Pride of Wellingborough award will be announced – the crowning the most popular shop in the town centre as voted for by members of the public.

A fireworks display will fill the sky at 6:15pm when the lights are officially switched-on.

There are limited spaces on the day so those who wish to bring their dog along must email the BID office by Wednesday, November 15, at info@discoverwellingborough.co.uk.

All dogs must be on a short lead and well-behaved. All children under 16 to be accompanied by an adult.

South Holland Residents can Access New Energy Advice Service

Nov. 13 Peterborough & Elton Comments Off

Do you live in the South Holland area? Would you like to cut costs and keep your home warm this winter for less?

The environmental charity PECT has launched a new energy advice service for people in South Holland. ‘Warm Homes’ aims to help households by providing free information to enable local residents to stay warm and healthy, while saving money.

Residents can receive a FREE home energy advice visit from an impartial advisor, gain advice in choosing the best energy tariff and supplier, access information on the national £140 Warm Home Discount and get a FREE energy pack.

There are over 40,000 households in South Holland, of which more than 3,000 are estimated to be fuel poor. In addition to this, 37.5% of households are off-grid, which is more than double the national average. PECT aims to provide households with the information and resources needed to stay warm and healthy.

The funding for this project has been granted to PECT by the Fenland Green Power Co-operative, which until recently owned two turbines at Vine House Farm in Deeping St Nicholas, funded by a members’ subscription of over 1,000 share holders.

Those two turbines produce an annual output of 9.5million kWh, sufficient for powering over 2,000 homes and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 5,000 tonnes a year. Fenland Green Power Co-operative distributes profits to co-operative members and to community funds, such as sustainable energy educational activities.