Well I do wonder how it’s got to December so quickly and now so close to Christmas! I hope you are all a lot more prepared than I am this year. I must actually get to the shops before Santa has nothing left. December has proved to be an exciting month for Confident Ladies not least because of my invite and subsequent visit to No.10 Downing Street ( if you haven’t read about this please see my blog where I have waxed lyrical for sometime about the amazing time I had- apologises for anyone who is sick of hearing about it!) It has also been a fabulous month in relation to how Confident Ladies has developed and grown; more about that later…

 

This time of year does tend to be all about looking forward, which is never a bad thing particularly if the year you, have had, hasn’t been exactly as you would have planned. However it is a good time to also think of the things you have achieved in the year, large or small, it’s always good to focus on something positive to push us forward in life. So am I going to ask everyone to put their thinking caps on and answer this question in the comments section(hopefully seen at the bottom of this page) the question is this; “What are you most proud of having achieved this year?”

Much as it pains me, as I will be another year older after New Year Eve, 2010 is on our doorstep and I have been searchingthe web for the top 10 resolutions; here’s what I found:

1. Spend more time with friends and family
2. Fit in fitness
3. Tame the bulge
4. Quit smoking
5. Enjoy life more
6. Quit drinking
7. Get out of debt
8. Learn something new
9. Help others
10. Get organized.

 

Many of these are resolutions that I will be trying my best to attend to next year but I believe at Confident Ladies we have lots of workshops and events in our Calendar that will help with many of the above resolutions. So make sure you keep checking the calendar in order that you are up to date with what is going on; I would hate anyone to miss out.

 

I would particularly like everyone to note in their own diary the 8th March 2010, on this date Confident Ladies are joining in with a Global ‘Dinner Party’ the aim is to get women all over the globe to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of Independence for women’s day and support The Million Mums campaign at the same time. We will be encouraging our friends and network to host a Dinner Party. Confident Ladies are looking to host one in York, Leeds and Harrogate(so please get in touch if you feel you can help) Everyone will pay to attend; £10 of which, from each person will go to the million mum’s campaign. It is known that £10 could save a Mum’s life in a developingcountry by providing a cesarean. This can not only save her life but enable her to support her children in the years to come. The Million Mums Campaign’s aim is simple: Sign up a million people to speak out against the needless deaths of women in pregnancy and childbirth around the world. A woman loses her life every minute of every day and her baby often dies too. 99% of these deaths occur in developing countries, almost all can be prevented.

In order to raise awareness and support for The Millions Mums Campaign run by the White Ribbon Alliance this Christmas there is:

Sprout Aid

This Christmas, Dave Buonaguidi, from the amazing creative team at Karmarama is SproutAid.
The concept is simple: for every £1 donated, Dave has to eat a sprout over the festive period, with all donations going to the White Ribbon Alliance.

So far, Dave has eaten a total 387 sprouts with many more to go. You can check out his progress, the latest sprout recipes and donate more sprouts here - http://www.karmarama.com/sproutaid/

 

 

Confident Ladies On -Line

Over the past couple of months or so I have been getting requests from people around the country wanting to know if they can join Confident Ladies. As you know, currently, we are only holding events, workshops and networking meetings in York, so I have ended up turning people away which has made me sad because there is clearly a need for support and friendship from other women and for the business women I do think such a lot of business is done via on line or over the phone that a ‘postcode’ shouldn’t really be an issue. So I have spent some time and asked for advice on this and I am pleased to announce we now have On- Line memberships available. Confident Ladies now has a forum/ discussion group (if you haven’t joined it yet please do -there is a link via the blog page )

Here are just some of the benefits of joining us as an On-Line member; please make sure your friends and contacts are aware of them.

See the membership details here

 

 Confident Ladies ‘Champions’ your Business

  

Our Business members and their success is really important to us we don’t want to hide you away, we want to Champion you in every way possible. The economic climate has proved tough for many small businesses but due to our values of  Trust, Respect and Honour, we can support one another to succeed. I know our Confident Ladies enjoy their member discounts and can be excellent supporters of your business through referrals to their friends, as can other Business members. We encourage this wholeheartedly and as you can now see our website does it’s best to show you off to the best of it’s ability. Our Business members can all benefit from the following; please make sure you are, by forwarding the relevant information.

• ‘Who am I?’  - Business members shown on the top right hand (turning ) display box on the website.
•  We have their websites listed – see here
•  Ask the Experts section; which aims to introduce and for you to get to know why they went into business-see here
•   ‘Fabulous members tips’ section-see here
•  ’Business opportunities section’  - see here

There were a couple of questions raised at our last Business Network and I would love to collate your answers ( please email me them); the questions were: 

1. What could other members do, give, support or help YOU with  next year?
2. What would YOU like to get out of or see at the Networking meetings we hold?

There is also a small change to the website which I would like to make you aware of. We now have a section tabbed ‘The whole woman’and under that are the following sub sections: Financial, Property, Style, Well being and Courses. The idea is intended to create pages on the website which are current, useful and imformative; a  magazine style section that is visited regularly, so it’s important that it is kept fresh. ‘The whole woman’ is intended for that purpose.

Business members can ‘hire’ these pages on a Monthly basis for £50 per calender month. ( No Minimum time period -meaning you can of course just try it for one month) I feel this provides another opportunity to showcase you and your business by providing up to the minute information and exclusive articles or blogs  for our readers all of which can navigate back to your own website.

So, we are looking for businesses to provide articles and news relating to Finance topics, Well-Being topics, Style topics, Property topics, and courses; these may take the form of a particular topic that readers participate in, I’ve seen many that a hugely popular in magazines where you answer a, b or c to find out what your personality type if, for example.(These are only ideas and I would love to hear yours) These are broad subjects so as to fit in most businesses.  Anyone wanting a page for January please mail info@confidentladies.co.uk

 

Members Promotions 

This weekend is an opportunity to come to complete rest, reflect and be your-self in a peaceful and nurturing environment. It will help you cleanse your mind and body through yoga practice and wholesome food. It includes:

• Accommodation in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales National Park
• Twice daily yoga practice (beginners and advanced catered for)
• A complementary aromatherapy massage
• Free time to reflect, relax with a book or join a guided walk
• Wholesome vegetarian meals to detox your body and cleanse your mind

There are only 14 places available, so book early to avoid disappointment.

www.lululime.co.uk

 

 

20% OFF at TopMatch York

TopMatch York offers a personal and confidential introduction service.  FREE consultation and 20% OFF membership fees for Confident Ladies.  I work with busy professionals looking to meet genuine like-minded singles 

 

(You can advertise here for only £5)

 

A VERY SPECIAL MEMBERS STORY

This year, I am getting ready for a very special Christmas. It is the first year my 5 year old son has been well enough for us all to relax and celebrate. We have spent 3 of the last 5 years in hospital for Christmas and the other two were spent on tenterhooks, wondering if we would get through the day without an emergency trip to the hospital. William had intestinal failure and was kept alive by a drip that delivered all his nutrients straight to his heart through a Hickman Line in his chest. He was attached to this drip 22 hours a day. 

William’s bowel had no peristalsis so fluid that collected in the loops of bowel, forming a breeding ground for bugs. These bugs would translocateinto his blood stream causing instant septacemia. Because of the increasing frequency of life threatening infections, William was referred for an emergency assessment for a bowel transplant in the Summer 2008 and was placed on the waiting list for an urgent small bowel transplant at the end of August. He was then too unstable to go home and every day I wondered if today would be the day he gotthat call for transplant or the day he died. When it gets to that stage it really is that black or white, there is nothing in between. There is a shortage of organ donors in the UK so it is a sad fact that, for those waiting on the transplant waiting list you get the call and live or you don’t and you die. Thankfully, William was one of the lucky ones and received his gift of life on 20thNovember 2008. Because he was so unwell before transplant, his recovery was a rocky one and we spent last Christmas in Birmingham Children’s Hospital. Despite being in isolation, it was the most magical Christmas I have ever had. William’s sisters, Hope andEllie, came to stay with us and I had the best present of all, a son who was recovering and the hope of a healthy future together.

This Christmas, I am leading an campaign to encourage people to consider giving the gift of life at Christmas. There are 10 000 people in the UK waiting for transplants. Each year, 1000 people die waiting. This means that every day 3 people will die in the UK because there are not enough organs for transplant. Although 96% of the UK population would accept an organ transplant if they needed it, only 27% have expressed their intent to donate their organs after their death by signing the organ donor register. by thinking and talking about organ donation and by signing the organ donor register, we have the power to change these dreadful statistics. You can sign the organ donor register right now by clicking this link http://www.uktransplant.org.uk or by calling 0300 123 23 23. Don’t put it off for another day. Do it now and help those waiting on transplant lists have a Happy New Year to look forward to.

 

 THIS MONTH’S MEMBERS PROFILE IS 

 CLAIRE STREETON WEDDING DESIGN

My name is Claire and I love weddings. I have been running my wedding design company for the last 5 years and have loved every minute of it; and still do. I am based in York my Wedding Consultancy business offers a friendly and professional service to couples marrying in North Yorkshire. I am certified by the International Institute of Weddings which means I work to and follow a code of ethics and practice at a high standard.

You can be assured of my total dedication to your wedding plans. The quality of my service to you is my main concern and I will never take on more than one wedding per date and only projects I can comfortably mange. Nothing is ever too much trouble and I am there to support you every step of the way. 

Just remember that wedding consultants are not just for the rich and famous and they can be called upon at any point in the couples plans -beginning, middle and end.  I have worked with different kinds of venues from village halls, to marquees.  Each wedding is always an adventure and my aim is to ensure that every couple achieve their dream day and that I exceed their expectations. Claire is happy to offer a 10% discount on her services if you mention you have seen the offer in this newsletter.

These are a few of the services Claire can offer:

• Full Planning
• Consultation
• Six month countdown
• Wedding day management
• Wedding design
• Venue search

To find out more visit Claire’s website www.cs-weddingdesign.co.uk email claire@cs-weddingdesign.co.uk telephone: 07969947869 

(You can advertise here for only £15) 

 

A CONFIDENT LADIES MEMBER NEEDS??

 Are there any Confident Ladies who live close to York city centre, and would be prepared to offer another member the occasional stay over, for an agreed sum. The requirements are simple; own room for the night, rather than a sofa, but  warm and dry are there only other requirements. Please contact  lizziedunphy@yahoo.co.uk if you can help.

 JUST FOR FUN

Perhaps I should apologise for my ‘Just for Fun’ offering this month. I have been told many times that my sense of humour will get me into trouble one day; so if you are offended in any way, I am genuinely sorry but this has been the funniest winter story I have, to date read, and I wanted to share it with you. If there was sound attached to the email you may hear a few bleeps

THE DIARY OF AN ENGLISHMAN LIVING IN THE HIGHLANDS 
 
“Our First Winter” 
 
DEC 20th 
It’s starting to snow. The first of the season and the first we’ve seen for years. The wife and I took out our hot toddies and sat on the porch watching the fluffy soft flakes drift gently down clinging to the trees and covering the ground. It’s so beautiful and peaceful. 
 
DEC 24th
We awoke to a lovely blanket of crystal white glistening snow covering as  far as the eye could see. What a fantastic sight, every tree and bush covered with a beautiful white mantle. I shovelled snow for the first time ever and loved it. I did both our driveway and the pavement. Later that day  a snowplough came along and accidentally covered up our driveway with compacted snow from the street. The driver smiled and waved. I waved back and shovelled it away again. The children next door built a snowman with coal for eyes and a carrot for a nose, and had a snowball fight, a couple just missed me and hit the car so I threw a couple back and joined in their fun.  

 DEC 26th 
It snowed an additional 5 inches last night and the temperature dropped to around minus 8 degrees. Several branches on our trees and bushes snapped due to the weight of the snow. I shovelled the driveway again.  Shortly afterwards the snowplough came by and did his trick again. Much of the snow is now a brownish – grey. 
 
JAN 1st 
Warmed up enough during the day to create some slush which soon became  ice when the temperature dropped again. Bought snow tyres for both our cars.  Fell on my arse in the driveway. Went to a physio but nothing was broken. 
 
JAN 5th 
Still cold. Sold the wife’s car and bought her a 4×4 to get her to work. She slid into a wall and did considerable damage to the right wing. Had another 8 inches of white shite last night. Both vehicles are covered in salt and iced up slush That bastard snowplough came by twice today………… Where’s that bloody shovel. 
 
JAN 9th 
More f****g snow. Not a tree or bush on our property that hasn’t been damaged. Power was off most of the night. Tried to keep from freezing to death with candles and a paraffin heater which tipped over and nearly torched the house. I managed to put the flames out but suffered 2nd degree burns on my hands. Lost all my eyebrows and eyelashes. Car hit a f****g  deer on the way to casualty and car was written off. 
 
JAN 13th 
F****g  b****d white shite just keeps on coming down. Have to put on every article of clothing just to go to the post box. The little beggers  next door ambushed me with snowballs on the way back – I’ll shove that  carrot so far up the little b****d’s arse it’ll take a good surgeon hours  to find it. If I ever catch the b*****d that drives the snowplough I’ll chew open his chest and rip out his heart with my teeth. I think the b*****d  hides around the corner and waits for me to finish shovelling and then he  accelerates down the street like Michael Schuf***ngmacher and buries the f***ing driveway again. 

JAN 17th 

 Sixteen more f***ing inches of f***ing snow and f***ing ice and f***ing sleet and god knows what other white shite fell last night. I am in court in  3 months time for assaultingthe snowplough driver with an  ice-pick. Can’ t move my f***ing toes. Haven’t seen the sun for 5 weeks. Minus 20 and more f***ing snow forecast. 

 JAN 18th
> F**K THIS, I’M MOVING BACK TO LONDON

Have a wonderful Christmas and here’s to a happy and healthy 2010, thank you for all your support xx