A really interesting story about someone who gave up her £100 a month clothes shopping habit and wore only clothes from charity shops, setting herself some rules:

First, I set myself some rules. All the clothes I bought had to be thoughtful purchases (no more impulse buys) and from shops where the proceeds go to charity — vintage, or any other variety of second-hand, did not count. I made an exception for underwear. Weirdly enough, I’m not crazy about wearing  other people’s knickers.

The first challenge of my new shopping life was to find some “new” work clothes. I’m employed in a high-end hotel, so looking professional in the office is a necessity and attending a meeting looking like a rag-bag was not an option.

In a panic I started scouring the charity shops in my local area, Notting Hill. To my surprise I found most were stocked with a vast supply of smart cast-offs from locals a lot more affluent than me. I was quickly knee-deep in an array of great skirts, jackets and dresses — and even managed to acquire  a Gucci blazer for just £21.

Picking up more casual items for the weekend and nights out — including everything from suede and leather skirts to chiffon, floral print tops — was also not a problem. I soon found that other recent high-street styles, including a leather 1920s-style aviator jacket (just £15!), were easily found on the second-hand rails.

Read the full story.

A little parcel that turned up in the post this morning! Which also let me know about options for signing up for a fundraising page (I try and spread out my fundraising so I don’t ask for anything more than once a year, usually 2!):

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/drbexl

They’ve got some great social media going on on the page too, and v. impressed to get a response on Facebook within 20-30 minutes after posting a hello! So who’s going to help me keep going (it kept me going for the Moonwalk, when I’d raised £400!)

So, now, “all” there is to do is to get the trainers back on, and get back on the streets… well, aside from the fact that I’ve been working on building up the muscles in my legs – stretching, swimming, circuit training, some realignment of my muscles by Winchester Holistics!

Fundraising in schools has always been absolutely key to our success – and, one year, we came up with the cracking idea of writing a little play that every school in the country could perform on Red Nose Day. Fresh off the back of writing Four Weddings and a Funeral, I was pretty sure I was the man for the job.

I wrote a 15-minute epic, in which children had to dress as various vegetables – and there was a very good moral at the end about social justice and parsnips or something. Throbbing with expectation and the excitement of creating a dramatic phenomenon, we sent out 22,000 copies of the play to the UK’s schools.

Final research revealed that, in the end, eight schools performed it. We never found out the total money raised. But it wasn’t a lot. Something in the region of £50. Or a bit less.

Read full story.

Lent is the time when we are preparing for Easter, which some have described as ‘New Year for Christians’ – when we remember the 40 days of preparation that Jesus spent in the desert:

Taken up for 2012?

This year, I am again running ‘The Big Read 2012‘. We had the materials prepared a lot sooner, and have prepared social media layers, so there’s more conversation – but a lot of it is still going on offline – people keep saying how wonderful it is – would love people to demonstrate that by partaking more online

Given up for 2012?

For a couple of months I’ve been trying to sort out my cupboards by eating up what’s in them, and increasing my “local” shopping, but still ending up at the supermarket with £100 trolley loads… which then don’t seem to add much to the choices in the cupboard (and I’m not feeling particularly flush in the pocket so need to save some ££)! So, for Lent, I’ve formalised that – no shopping in the big out of town supermarkets (and avoiding the in-town ones if possible).

• Last Sunday I went to the Farmer’s Market & shot around – spending about £20 – not a huge amount of stuff, but very tasty!
• Yesterday I made it into town, picking up milk in £land, £13 worth of fruits & veg from the marketstall (towards end of day, when they are down-pricing everything).. not sure if even then I don’t have too much
• I seem to be whizzing around the country, so I have pre-cooked a load of meals yesterday to put in the freezer – as I don’t want to waste food either.

I’m thinking more about what I need, what I’m buying, and having a more interesting range of foods, as I had bought things meaning to try them, but it seemed easier to buy something else! Let’s see how we get on…

At this point, I’ve just signed up for the Great South Run, 28th October 2012.

In 2006, I was on a ski trip in January, and said that I would run the Manchester 10k (May) .. thinking it didn’t sound that far… but after 1 minute on the treadmill, I was slightly dying, so joined the running club. My aim was to get it done in 1 hour 30 minutes, but I did it in 1 hour 8 minutes 26 seconds…

Later that year, after sharing a bottle of wine with a friend, we signed up for the Winchester 10k, which was a WEEK later (and I was still running, but definitely not at the same level), but I completed that in 1 hour 6 minutes! I’m sure it’s more hilly also…

In the time since, I’ve been travelling around the world (where I got a chest infection), partaken in a number of computer based jobs, and I felt the need for something to inspire me to get my ‘get up and go back’ (I’ve been back at the gym for over a year, and love the classes there)… and know that running before, though I don’t particularly “enjoy” it, I really reap the benefits from it… and seeing @batty_towers talking about her runs, a friend running today in the Great South Run, and seeing the apps that show how far you’ve run (seen those Tweets about #runkeeper?). Also see:

I’ll be running on behalf of the NSPCC, so at some point there will be an appeal for sponsorship, but encouragement & support will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks to DJ Foz for this video.

But what we must not forget that the state has responsibilities too.

There is a reason we pay our taxes. Whilst it is easy to pretend that much of our hard earned cash goes to fund expense fiddling MPs, disreputable casino-style banks or mad politically-correct quangoes for do-gooders – actually we should expect the state to run and fund strong public services, with our money.

How to raise that money is another question. I am not an economist, and I am not a politician, but to cut investment to vital public services, and to withdraw investment from communities, is madness.

You do not escape an economic downturn by cutting investment and by squashing aspirations.

The Government has signalled for a long time that cuts must be put in place to tackle the economic deficit. The Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) is the swinging axe that follows the cuddly blanket and soothing words of “The Big Society”.

I know many people today will be afraid of what the Government cuts outlined in the CSR will mean for them and their families.

I think we would all accept that this is a difficult time for our country economically. There are difficult choices to be made, and real debates to be had about what is the best way forward. Debate, discussion and compromise can all be positive when those involved are conducting themselves in the right spirit. However we need to ensure that no-one is left behind.

The promotion of social justice should be a primary moral imperative for any government, and for every publicly funded institution. For when the government puts the promotion of social justice at its heart, we can stand together as one nation, as one people in solidarity with each other, recognizing the dignity of all, and affording all fair and equal opportunities for access and services. Freedom, fraternity and informed choice must characterise our social fabric.”

Read full story.

and check out the website.