Captain Tom Challenge 100 with Corby & District Model Railway Society.

Corby & District Model Railway Society (CDMRS) will be supporting Cransley Hospice in aid of the Captain Tom Challenge 100 event. Their NHS liveried class 66 locomotive will be running around their track 100 times on Saturday 1^st May. The event will take place from 10am, at their headquarters site, which can be found at Quarry Close, (Off) Kelvin Grove, Corby, NN17 1AZ.

Last year, when Captain Tom completed 100 laps around his garden for the NHS, CDMRS were inspired to design their NHS and Captain Tom train, which has gained a lot of attention from the local community.

Members of the society will be on site from 8am, preparing the train for its 100 laps. From 10am, members of the community are welcome to visit from a safe distance, due to covid-19 restrictions. Barriers will be put in place to allow a one-way system, to ensure visitors have a good view of the train. The Cransley donation buckets will be available on site.

This railway has been reconstructed over the last 10 years and over the last 12 months has been re signalled. The railway would normally carry the public throughout the year, including Halloween and Santa Specials, being incredibly popular with 3,500+ visitors for the 2019 Christmas events.

CDMRS Chairman, Craig Tyler said “The Society understands the need that organisations like Cransley Hospice rely on, so whatever we can do to help is got to be a good thing and we intend to work with Cransley Hospice in the future on their fundraising activities.”

Louise Preedy, Community Fundraising Manager at Cransley Hospice said “Captain Tom gave inspiration and support to so many at a difficult time and touched the hearts of the nation. We are so thankful to the Corby and District Model Railway Society for choosing to support Cransley Hospice with their Captain Tom 100 challenge.

“It’s been a pleasure to meet the some of the team from Corby and District Model Railway Society, their site is such a wonderful local gem and we hope the community will support them with their challenge.”

Cransley Hospice needs to raise around £1.4M each year to provide the specialist palliative care for patients in North Northamptonshire with a life-limiting illness. The postponement or cancellation of events and community collections and the closure of the Cransley Hospice charity shops will leave the charity fundraising income down by almost £500,000 this year. Support from individuals is more important than ever and there are many ways that people can get involved to support Cransley from taking on a challenge, playing the weekly lottery or even shopping! You can get more ideas on how you can support Cransley Hospice from their website

https://www.cransleyhospice.org.uk/support-us/.

We spoke to Emma Ozburn at Norwex to find out about harsh cleaning chemicals and how to clean without them;

Did you know that very few of the world’s 85,000-plus chemicals have been tested for their impact on human health? Over 200 chemicals have been found in the core blood of newborns, and typical adults have more than 700 man-made chemicals in their bodies. Personally, I find that really shocking. Norwex’s Mission Statement is simple, ‘Improving the quality of life by radically reducing chemicals in our home’. So take a minute and think about what you currently clean your home with. Do the sprays make you cough, or do they cause skin irritants? Do you already suffer with asthma? You may be doing more harm to yourself than you think.

With Norwex you can clean 80% of your home with just our superior-quality microfibre cloths and water. These aren’t your typical store-bought cloths, I promise. A mere 1/200th the thickness of a human hair, our microfibre is a superior blend of extra-dense, super-fine fibres for superior absorption and effectiveness. Instead of relying on toxic chemicals to clean, Norwex harnesses the physical power of our microfibre and water to easily and thoroughly clean any surface. You get an immaculate clean while radically reducing use of harmful chemicals that can affect your family’s health.

Whilst our microfibre is amazing at cleaning, it’s also removing up to 99% of bacteria and germs at the same time leaving your surfaces germ free with only water. When wet, the antibacterial agent called BackLock will purify the cloth, keeping it fresher for longer. No need to machine wash everytime you clean, simply rinse, wring and hang to dry. We offer lots of cleaning cloth options, but our stand out products are the EnviroCloth and Window (polish cloth). These two cloths are like the Ant and Dec of Norwex, they belong together. Use the EnviroCloth to clean the surface (removes up to 99% of the germs and bacteria) and follow it up with the Window Cloth to remove the water residue for a streak free shine. Amazing results especially on windows, mirrors, hobs, taps, towel warmers, and more!

Does your current laundry powder leave a residue in your washing machine? Think about what it’s leaving on your clothes. Did you know that most laundry detergent contains ingredients that can cause skin irritations and breathing issues? They are full of harmful chemicals like phosphates, sulfates, chlorine, dyes, bleach and ammonia just to name a few. Our Ultra Power Plus Laundry Detergent is free from all of those! It’s simply a soap concentrate and you only need 1-2 tsp to clean a normal load of laundry. Not only does it clean laundry without added harmful ingredients, but it is also a multi-purpose cleaner that works on things like oven racks, jewelry, microwaves, and carpet just to name a few.

If you would love to learn more about creating a safer haven, I would love to show you how.

 For More Information

Emma Ozburn – Norwex Sales Leader

Telephone:  07535723692

Email:  emmaozburn@yahoo.com

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/groups/NorVIP

When it comes to planning, so many of us know how important it can be in helping reach our goals, but we often stall when it comes to actually committing plans to paper.

Having a plan, any plan, means you are more likely to get things done. Here are my top tips to help you get planned and make the plans happen.

1. Plan your day, your week, your month and your year.

Spending time planning will save you time when it comes to implementing your actions. Each day spend a small amount of time planning your day, 10 minutes is often enough; each week set aside some time to plan the week ahead and so on.

Some tasks happen regularly so it is easy to know that they need to be added in. If you are using a digital planner you can set recurring tasks saving time even on the planning!

2. Look at your priorities.

Not everything you need to do is urgent, and not everything needs to be done by you. I love Covey’s Quadrant for assessing your tasks. It is a fairly simply concept where you look at how urgent and important your tasks are, and you put each task in the correct box. You can now prioritise your tasks, doing the highest priority first. Sounds obvious doesn’t it, but how often do we let ourselves get side-tracked or procrastinate?

3. Analyse how you spend your day.

You might feel busy all day but busy isn’t always productive. Why not track your time and see what you’re really doing. Use an app or pen and paper to note down your activities that you do throughout the day and look back on what you have been doing. Are you being productive and getting things done, or are you distracted by things that simply waste your time?

4. Allocate time blocks.

Time blocks are finite chunks of time, e.g. an hour or 90 minutes, where you focus on one task. This is perfect for the tasks that can run away with you or seem never-ending. Set a timer for an end time and be present in the one task that you are doing. Instead of a timer you could have another cue to represent when the time ends, for example work on one task for the length of a washing machine cycle.

I love planning, and I believe in its power. I have my time planned in advance, and when I can plan I do – I have a weekly menu planner for the family and shopping list; I write a list of packing items when I go away; I have a list of home improvements to work through and tick off.

Now is the perfect time to start your plans and reach your goals – What’s stopping you?

About Ann…

Ann Little is a Virtual Executive Assistant

She supports small business owners helping them make their business plans happen. She works with her clients to grow their businesses both on the planning side and the doing side. If you need help in your business but don’t know where to start contact Ann.

For more information

Email: ann@silverliningservices.co.uk

Website: www.silverliningservices.co.uk

Instagram: www.instagram.com/silverlingpa

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/annmlittle

DIY SOS star Nick Knowles is to appear on Channel 5 for the first time after landing a brand-new format.  

Knowles will utilise his home improvement knowledge in Nick Knowles: Your Life on Your Lawn (working title). The 6 x 60-minute format will see the presenter empty a cluttered home of its belongings, before guiding each family through a “cathartic and emotional” decluttering process.  

The house will then be made over, giving the families more space for features such as home offices or cinema rooms.  

The series is produced by Viacom International Studios, with head of factual and features Oliver Wright executive producing. It was commissioned by commissioning editor Guy Davies.  

Knowles said C5 has been “making such good shows currently” that it is “a no brainer to join in” .

To apply for the show you can contact the casting team on home@viacomstudiosuk.com