Raising Money This Christmas : Bloggers Christmas Online Charity Fundraiser

Hello my dear friends,

This isn't your usual beauty, fashion or rambly type post (well I could ramble on a bit...) - today I want to talk to you about something a little different.......

Whilst at work the other I was in a daydream (not the first time I might add) - I was thinking about how this year instead of the usual ritual of writing and posting out Christmas cards to everyone, I would just scrap it. Totally get rid of the idea and instead donate that money to a charity instead.
I mean these days I can contact 90% of my family online and the other 10% I can/will see over the Christmas period - with the amount of money cards and stamps cost for them to just be chucked away come Janaury 1st I feel like a charity would benefit so much more from that extra £10 or £20!

So...... this got me thinking.....

How many bloggers are there in the UK? Thousands? And with all those Starbucks and new lipsticks I spot on Instagram and Twitter - I know you can all spare £1.
If we all just gave £1, imagine how much we could raise for a charity on the lead up to Christmas!

I think sometimes we can all take Christmas for granted, we all sit here and create these gift guides and wishlists on our blogs knowing that we will be receiving and giving gifts, having a lovely dinner and being sat at home or even out in a restaurant enjoying ourselves with loved ones. This isn't the case for everyone.
This is why I have decided to create the Bloggers Christmas Charity Fund - an easy way for all of us to give a little to those in need this winter. 

After a bit of research and speaking to a few people on Twitter I have chosen the charity - Crisis.
'Crisis is the national charity for single homeless people. We are dedicated to ending homelessness by delivering life-changing services and campaigning for change.'

Crisis have a program called Crisis At Christmas. This provides are number of things for a small price of just £22.29 per person, this includes :

Welcoming support from people who really care

Three nutritious hot meals including Christmas dinner

The chance to shower and change clothes, have a haircut and get a health check

Expert advice on life-changing issues like housing and employment

An introduction to Crisis year-round services for training and support for the future

ALL I am asking for is each of you to donate £1. Just one British pound - something I know you can all spare (That's literally half the price of a coffee!)
Just think.... just over 100 of us bloggers and we could be changing Christmas for 5 people.

Obviously if you would like to donate more than £1 that is more than okay - anything is welcome for such a great cause!

It only takes a minute and is all done through JustGiving so you can see where your money is and where it is going :)

DONATE HERE

With the amazing community we have I honestly believe we can change a few Christmas' out there, please share on your social medias - lets make this amazing!

Thank you,

Kirstie xxxx

A New Look : London Retro - Piccadilly Glasses

Why yes that is me - and yes I am wearing glasses, you like?

When I was asked if I'd like to try out a new pair of glasses from Glasses Direct - I jumped at the chance. It's been a loooong time since I picked out new frames and the ones I did have were so dated and made me look like a 46 year old librarian ..... they really weren't great.

So being able to try something completely new and giving myself a new look had me really excited!
I knew I wanted to go for something a bit bigger than my previous frames, I have a big face (yes I can except it.) so small glasses just don't really do me any favours!

I ended up going with the London Retro Piccadilly frames which you can see below in all their glory :)

London Retro - Piccadilly*

Glasses Direct are a fantastic website for both men and woman and have a huge range of designers to choose from.
It's also great for someone like me who is a little bit fussy and wants things just right - so to help you pick your favourite pair they offer a fab Free 7 day trial. (genius!)

Just pick 4 frames you like the look of and GD will send them out to you within 2 days. You can then try them out for real, pick your favourite and the order them! Easy peasy and no awkward ordering and regretting!

I am absolutely loving these from London Retro and definitely think I made the right choice with Piccadilly! They are plain black which I love as they go with everything (unlike my previous red things!) and I love the slight cat eye style.

I was also really intruiged to see that London Retro have teamed up with designer Nicholas King to create a limited edition range! This range of statement eyewear is to support the worldwide eye care charity Orbis - who you can find out more about right here.
Anything that helps a charity out is all good in my books, especially when you're getting something awesome for yourself at the same time, the range is available exclusively at Glassesdirect.co.uk and all profits will be donated to the wonderful people at Orbis.

So... what do you think of my new look?

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Making Memories \\ #ALittleMemory

Hello my lovelies and welcome back (or hiiii for the first time) to A Yellow Brick Blog!

Today I'm going to talking about memories.

 Memories, memories, memories and my total love for them, especially when it comes to photos. 

My home is surrounded in photos of my friends, family and events from throughout my life and it really is true when people say a picture holds a thousand words.

I have been very lucky over the last few years to have made some of the most incredible memories - from travelling the states with my best friend and seeing things I never dreamed I would be able to, to moving out for the first time and having the holiday of a lifetime with my boyfriend and I am so, so grateful to have had these experiences. 

Solopress have recently partnered up with Little Havens Care for a really lovely campaign in which I am so happy and proud to be a part of.

 LHC is a children's hospice based in Essex who specialise in making special memories for children with life threatening conditions, something I think we would all love to get behind, help and support with.

Solopress were kind enough to create a gorgeous photobook full of photos of some of my favourite memories for me along with an amazing new diary and a selfie stick! (Yay I finally have one now!!)

I was overwhelmed when this little box of goodies arrived and looking through the book put a smile on my face from ear to ear, so many happy and fun times all in one pretty place.

The diary is such an amazing idea aswell - each page has a day of the year and there are 5 sections, so you can write in it for 5 years! I can't wait to start it now and see what I get upto and what memories I can make!

Now onto how YOU can help raise money for the amazing Little Havens Care...

All you have to do is upload a special photo of yours to Twitter using the hashtag #alittlememory  and nominate a friend to do the same!

Example : CLICK HERE TO SEE MINE :)

For every person that tweets a photo using the hashtag the awesome people at Solopress will donate £1 to the children at the hospice to help them create their very own special memories.

Get that chain flowing by tagging a friend and watch the money build and build! It is literally THAT simple!

Please, please, please get involved guys - it is so easy and you really will be helping the children of the hospice in making amazing memories with their loved ones.

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The Perfume Shop Memories Matter Campaign

You may remember a few weeks ago it was National Perfume Day and I was chatting all about perfumes and how what I love most about them is the memories that different scents can hold. 

Memory is something we probably all take for granted... thoughts of our childhood, high school silliness, our first loves, the amazing holidays we've been on but what if one day all that is gone and the memories we once had are no longer there.

Did you know dementia is the leading cause of death for women in the UK? No? Nor did I! 
And did you know that one of the earliest signs can be the loss of smell?
Out of the 850,000 people with dementia in this country 500,000 of them are women and after the age of 65 the risk of getting dementia doubles ever 5 years. So it's very likely that in some shape or form this debilitating condition will affect your life at some stage.

Last year The Perfume Shop partnered up with Alzheimer's Research UK and created 'Memories Matter' , a campaign to help raise awareness of the strong link between scent and memory and since then they have managed to raise a whopping £17,000.
From that money raised TPS have managed to help support pioneering female researchers in finding preventions, treatments and ultimately a cure for those affected by dementia.

Dementia is a syndrome which has many, many symptoms including memory loss, mental agility, language, thinking speed, judgement and understanding. Whilst not all sufferers are elderly, age is the most significant contributing factor to dementia.

So.... how can you help? There are a number of ways...

Firstly, The Perfume Shop are running fundraising initiatives in store through £1 gift wrapping. Yup that's right, just donate £1 and you'll get your purchase beautifully gift wrapped - perfect if you are buying a present, and even if you aren't.... £1 onto your bill is nothing!

Plus from Saturday 16th May to Sunday 25th May, you guys can simply tweet your favourite scent memory to @ThePerfumeShop using #MemoriesMatter and The Perfume Shop will donate £1 for every post. Amazing right?

I have so many different scents that remind me of different people, occasions, places, events....

CK Escape - Travelling round the USA with my best friend

Vera Wang Princess - Orlando 2014

Hugo Boss Deep Red - High School

Ghost Sweetheart - Turning 18

Britney Spears Midnight Fantasy - Christmas

D&G Light Blue - Meeting My Boyfriend

So this next week, make sure you check out Memories Matter and maybe just imagine what it would be like to loose them.

(I am not being compensated in any way for this post, I just really wanted to share this with you guys, it's a lovely campaign and a fab way to help raise money for a seriously well-deserving charity..... you never know when you or someone you love may need them.)

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