I was sent it a couple of years ago by my best friend, who in turn was emailed it, so I can’t give proper credit to the creator of this genius piece of culinary mastery. I’ve tried it a few times now and it seriously does work and it tastes delicious. Be warned, once you start, you might not be able to stop!

Give it a try!

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE!!

Thank you to whoever created this – it’s great.

It got me wondering what charities / causes other people have chosen and why. We all think our own are the most important and worthwhile and are amazed that there are people out there that don’t see it that way (every time it comes round, I’m amazed that not everyone in the UK donates to Comic Relief, even just a few pence!) But one of my other loves is finding out what makes people tick and that’s what this blog is about. I want to hear from you. What causes do you support and why? There are no right or wrong answers – it’s not a competition, I’m just genuinely interested.

Please watch these videos:

This month I had the dilemma of which cause to pick as ’cause of the month’. I just couldn’t decide, which is why the post is late. Then, thanks again to Twitter, I came across someone who made my decision for me. Let me introduce you to 23 year old Victoria Tremlett – an avid musical theatre lover (www.twitter.com/tor87).

Victoria suffers from the genetic condition Cystic Fibrosis, that effects lungs and the digestive system. An unusually sticky and thick mucus is produced that clogs the lungs which can lead to life threatening lung infections. It also obstructs the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down and absorb food. Victoria’s condition has now got to the stage where she needs a double lung transplant to save her life. She was placed on the organ transplant list and her doctors gave her 18months to live. That was 4 years ago. Somehow Victoria is surviving, but is she really living?

I will now hand over to Victoria to let her explain her situation in her own words:

Her blog, “Past the point of no return”

And this short video:

This week (4-10 July) is National Transplant Week. 10,000 people in the UK are on the transplant waiting list – 3 of whom die each day waiting for the transplant that never came.

Let your body do some good when you no longer need it; 1 person can save 9 lives. The maths is simple so please sign up

It’s not always about raising funds for a particular cause; sometimes it’s just raising awareness. This is what I want to achieve with this month’s ’cause of the month’. I am giving a big shout out for ‘Time to Change’.

Question: Why are we ashamed to admit we have an illness whose symptoms express themselves in our minds rather than in our physical and tangible body? If we have asthma or diabetes, a broken leg or are short sighted we don’t hide them away, we’re not reluctant to say we have a problem. When it comes to depression or anorexia, schizophrenia or an anxiety disorder, we shy away because of what other people might think of us; how they will value us. With so many mental illnesses having biological causes / contributing factors, then what’s the difference?

With 1 in 4 people in the UK being effected by mental illness, it’s well and truly time to change how we view these conditions. This is exactly what ‘Time to Change‘ is trying to do. This is what they say about themselves:

“Time to Change is England’s biggest ever attempt to end the stigma and discrimination that faces people with mental health problems. It is a campagin to change attitudes, and behaviour too. One in four of us will experience a mental health problem in our lifetime – and if we do, we are highly likely to face stigma and discrimination from others.”

It is an anti-stigma programme that is led by 2 large mental health charities – Mind & Rethink.

The campaign gets funds from the Big Lottery Fund and Comic Relief, but as I said it’s not just about raising money – it’s about raising awareness and this is a topic I firmly believe needs to be talked about a lot more.

Time to Change doesn’t just want to change attitudes, although I think that’s a challenge in itself, but it also wants to change behaviour.

All this starts with a simple step – a conversation whether you have a mental illness, or you know someone that has.

Being a huge football fan, one of the projects I’m most excited about is Time to Change’s link with football. They’ve already teamed up with The FA, The Premier League, The Professional Footballers’ Association and many more football based organisations to form a football and mental health action group. This group encourages clubs to run mental health activities as part of their community work, mental health training for coaches and campaign activity on match days and with football clubs, including showing advertising on big screens, holding match day events and including messages in programmes. So if you’re a football lover like me – keep an eye out for this. And be reassured that if it’s okay for your football heroes then it’s alright for you too.

The Time to Change website is full of events, ideas, resources about how to really make a difference. Please do check them out. Failing that, just please be aware of mental health conditions, make yourself more familiar with what they really are and most of all TALK (and if you’re on Facebook or Twitter etc, please share this post, we need to spread the word and get the conversation started).

On my other blog ‘It’s Okay To Talk’ I go into more detail about various mental illnesses, the common misconceptions about them, their causes and the treatments in an attempt to get people to see what lies behind mental illness and to dispel the fears that have surrounded them for years. I believe if people begin to see them for what they truly are, the stigma that they are engulfed in will disappear. So, if you have any questions about any mental illness do read the entries there.

It’s that time again – we’re gearing up for Red Nose Day 2011 (18th March if you don’t know).

“Famous, Rich And In The Slums”

I have just watched part 1 of their latest documentary ‘Famous, Rich And In The Slums’. This follows four British celebrities; Reggie Yates, Lenny Henry, Samantha Womack & Angela Rippon and their time in Kibera, a slum 4miles out of Narobi. Here 1million people live in 1.5 square miles. That’s a lot of people in not a lot of space. The Kenyan Government have deemed this settlement as illegal so they’ve shrugged off any responsibility they have to provide sanitation, water, electricity. They can pretty much ignore it.

Here people have to work long, hard often unpaletable jobs and suffer abuse, to earn tiny sums of money just to try and keep them alive. They’ll do anything for the money – from shovelling excrement to prostitution. If they don’t, they’ll starve. Sometimes they have to decide whether to feed their family or take one of them to a doctor.

It costs just £3 a month for a child to go to school, but this is still far too much for most families so often children don’t go to school very often. Despite the cost (which doesn’t sound much to us, but is a fortune for them) there seems to be a real desire amongst the parents to get their children to school, whatever the sacrifice. At the same time, the kids want to go to school and when they get there they make the most of it. This is a refreshing change compared to a lot (though by no means the majority) of children and even parents in the priviledge developed world. I’d love to see more of our children as keen and as determined as these kids are.

The people in Kibera are just like us. They want the best for their children, they want them to be safe and healthy, they want to be able to afford enough food and medicine, they want respect, they have pride in their appearance and they are house proud, they love football and they eat chips. They are human beings with the same drives, dreams, hopes and wishes as us. They also have the same fears and worries as us – except they have to live far more of them than we do.

Here in the UK we have a National Health Service providing free medical help for those who need it. We have nurseries, primary and secondary schools that our children can attend – free of charge. If we don’t find work, we don’t starve, we’re entitled to benefits. There are so many people complaining at the moment that the NHS isn’t that good, that the education isn’t brilliant and that they’re cutting the benefits. This may be true – things could be better, but they could be so much worse. Just seeing those people in Kibera, living the way they have to, it certainly put my issues into perspective. For them there’s no escape, they can’t go back to a gorgeous hotel at the end of the week there – it’s never ending. We should be more grateful for what we have, make the most of it, recognise ourselves as lucky. We waste so much of our money and time on unimportant things. Ask yourselves these questions:

• Is it the end of the world if my mobile phone isn’t the very latest model?

• Is it such a terrible thing if I don’t have the newest x-box or wii game?

• Is it a disaster if we can’t have a holiday in the sun?

• What impact will there be on my life if I don’t buy a take away coffee everyday this week?

For many of us, these are the kinds of issues we face. Now what about these:

• Is it a problem if my children don’t eat today?

• Should I feed my family or take one of my eight children to see a doctor and get medicine?

• Will I accept work & abuse just to earn £1.60 a day?

• Can we afford the £3/month to send one of our children to school?

The seriousness of the dilemmas are worlds apart. I know in this time of recession that things are getting tougher. There is poverty in this country and large numbers of families are having to make difficult decisions about what they can and can’t afford. But somehow, I don’t see them being in the same league and I don’t see our Government (whichever party it is and however much you like/dislike them) ever allowing a slum like Kibera to form in this country.

So, I urge you to look into your hearts. If you have a child then look into their eyes. What would you do for them? There are parents in Kibera who feel exactly how you do about your child about their own. They are doing all they can do help their families but life just isn’t letting them. If your child was in need and someone in the world had the power to help them, wouldn’t you want them to? What would you say to them? The residents of Kibera can’t talk directly to you, but I can. Please, please, please, donate something to Red Nose Day this year. 50p, £5, £10, anything will make a difference. Comic Relief is working right now in Kibera helping these people. You have the power to change a life, to save a life. Will you take it? I promise you won’t notice the difference in your wallet or your lives. But the person you help will.

Thank you.

About Comic Relief / Red Nose Day

Every 2 years we’re all encouraged to raise money for fabulous causes in Africa and the UK whilst having a giggle. Two things, in my opinion, that are great for the soul.

The 1980s news covered the disasterous famine that struck Ethopia and many charities rose to the cause – including the likes of Band Aid. Another response was the creation of Richard Curtis and Alexander Mendis – Comic Relief, or ‘Red Nose Day’ – and it is still with us today.

Today the funds raised go to schemes that help the poorest of Africa and the disadvantaged in the UK. It doesn’t matter how you choose to raise your money, or whether you just donate (without doing anything silly), it just matters that one story touches your heart enough to make you reach into your pocket and help. You have the power to change lives – all it takes is a few taps on a keyboard or a couple of minutes on the phone together with a little bit of generosity.

I love what Comic Relief is all about, particularly the causes it supports. After all, we’re all human – we’re all practically and genetically the same afterall, and it was just by luck that we were born in a country with no war, no famine, freedomn of speech, a free health service, free education… it goes on. I know we all complain about the food prices going up, taxes we pay, that we don’t like our Government, there are long waiting lists for hospitals etc – and it’s true, it could be so much better – but it could also be so much worse.  My primary support of Comic Relief goes straight out to Africa, so many out there have so little and that’s just not fair. Most of us have somewhere warm, safe and dry to live, to have food to eat, clothes to wear and no doubt countless ipods, computers, wiis, televisions, dvd players, cds, dvds, x-boxs, Nintendo DSs, whereas some kids in Africa don’t have shoes to play football in – some don’t even have the football. And for the price of a cd or a dvd, or a packet of cigarettes, a bar of chocolate, a bottle of wine, a pint of beer or even a coffee – we could change someone’s life. We could save someone’s life.

If you feel you could go without something this week – no matter how big or how small, then please visit www.rednoseday.com/donate and what you can. I promise you, you won’t notice the money’s gone, you won’t miss whatever you’ve gone without – but the person who benefits from your gift will.

Thank you

Where does the money raised for Comic Relief go?

Africa

Malaria

Over 3/4million people die each year from Malaria. 90% of these deaths occur in Africa, 85% of them are children under 5years old. Malaria is preventable and it is treatable – and it doesn’t cost the earth.

The mosquito that causes Malaria usually strikes at night, when everyone is tucked up asleep. It costs just £5 to provide a simple net that goes over the bed which the mosquito can’t get through. This means that a mother and baby or young children can sleep soundly, and without worry.

Not only this, but your money provides education to the families and training to village health workers about malaria as well as emergency drugs and rapid, life-saving treatment for anyone unlucky enough to become infected.

Restoring children’s eyesight

Throughout the world, 300million people have some form of visual impairment. 45millions of these are completely blind. Visual impairment is linked to poverty. 80% of these cases are preventable and treatable. The most common cause of blindness is cataracts. This is something we’re used to in the country, we know it exists and that treatment is available. Many in Africa do not and therefore don’t even try and get the help that could transform their lives.

Chep is a 16 year old girl who had only ever seen the world in blurry indistinctness. With the money raised for Comic Relief she was able to receive the necessary treatment to remove the cataracts from both eyes and she could see the world and her family for the first time. Before this Chep had only ever been able to dream of good sight.

You have the power to make this dream come true for others like Chep.

UK

Mental Health

Here in the UK 1 in 4 people suffers from a mental health issue at some point of their life, yet it is still a relatively unspoken subject. There are many different kinds of mental illness. For details on some of them go to my blog itsokaytotalk.wordpress.com

Here’s the list of topics Comic Relief is involved in:

There are so many great causes out there that sometimes it’s difficult to pick which ones to support. Obviously there’s no reason why we have to pick 1 or 2.

Through the world of social media many causes have become brought to my attention. A couple of these have touched a nerve more than others as they are similar to ones that are already close to my heart.

I recently read a post on a fabulous blog I follow (www.catherinebolt.com) that she’s had criticism for aligning herself to more than 1 cause. I discovered Cate through my love of orangutans – her Project 18 is raising money to buy land in Indonesia to set up an orphanage and wildlife refuge. Circumstances became difficult for Cate and her family and they were made homeless. Understandably, she’s taken up the cause of homeless people in Australia (Cate’s Cause). Now she’s been persuaded to shave her hair off to raise money for the Leukemia Foundation’s Worlds Greatest Shave For some reason people criticise Cate for supporting more than one cause.

I’m not as proactive as Cate – I’m not shaving my head, or running a marathon, but I also won’t shut up and be quiet over matters that I’m passionante about. So, here are some pages dedicated to the causes I love.

Orangutans

Water

Oxfam

Project 18

It’s been ages since my last blog, mainly because when I get home my brain refuses to function well enough to construct anything that remotely makes sense. I’m not even sure this will, but thought it was high time I gave it a go.

Well, last week saw the arrival of our 3rd new member of the FOH management team, so now everyone is in place. This is certainly a good thing because the workload is continuing to go up quicker and quicker each day. Having new team mates means that some of my workload, namely by FOH duties have been transferred away, only to be replaced with a hell of a lot more other things! Most of them are to do with the new Theatre Tours and this is really exciting. My current project of note (other than the tour routes and script) is a new guide book and though it’s a bit of a blank canvas at the moment, it’s potential is huge.

We’ve now announced our opening date to be Wednesday 24th November with a range of events taking us through to April next year that will help us test the buillding, facilities and ourselves. We’ve also got more exhibitions, a shop, a lovely Riverside Cafe and Rooftop Restaurant as well as a Tower to go up (the view is amazing, I highly recommend going up there) and  Theatre Tours (of which there will be a lot more of).

Currently I’m sifting through application forms for my new team of Theatre Guides – closing date is Monday 20th September (www.rsc.org.uk/jobs). We’re also recruiting for our enlarged Front of House team, so there are lots of new opportunities for people to join us.

It’s going to be a long few weeks to that golden date of 24th November, but I bet they’re going to go by in a flash. We’ve got so much to do. After we’ve recruited our new teams we’ve got to train them all up to standard and before that we have to become familiar with the buidling ourselves, write the training schedules, finish guidebooks, tour scripts, plan rotas, and open Matilda, A Musical.

Despite all this hard work, really hard work, there hasn’t been a more exciting time to be a part of the company for years. I know I’m very lucky to be one of the small cogs in the massive machine that is the RSC. I must try and remember each stage because we’re forming memories and friendships that are going to last a very long time.

As we’ll be involved in the Cultural Olympiad in 2012 we’re also taking part in this event. It’s a busy time for the Courtyard as there are 2 shows on Saturday and then the tech teams move back in on Sunday to bring back Julius Caesar for next week. This means that access is limited. So, to be versatile we’re putting on a different type of tour. These are our Heritage Tours which we first ran last September for the Heritage Open Day.

The history and heritage of the RSC and its sites dates back to the 19th Century. These tours are the perfect opportunity to delve into some of this. Visitors can learn about the Tercentenary Pavilion, the Flower family who have been so important to the Company and the great fire of 1926, amongst other fascinating snipits of history. The guides walk you round the site and across to the gardens showing old photos of what the place used to look like – and it’s changed quite a bit.

More information can be found at www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/heritage

Meanwhile the transformation is still going well. Slowly the boardings are coming down so more of the theatre can be seen from the road:

The Swan end of the Transformation

The new front entrance of the RST.