Kids in America – 30.04.20

Kids in America

Our aim is to provide a distraction from the doom and gloom news, by sharing our ideas and those of our clients mixed with good news where possible. We make an exception by bringing your attention to avoiding scams. Please take the time to view the Which? video and our notes below.

And now for the positivity!

Last week, we announced the launch of our Wellbeing HUB which includes a Community section – assisting others whether that be volunteering, donating to your favourite charities or by ordering deliveries from local businesses.

With Captain Tom’s (now Colonel Tom) amazing accomplishment of raising £31 million for NHS Charities Together, BBC’s Big Night In for Comic Relief and Children in Need, and many taking part in their own 2.6 challenge this week, it has been a great week for charitable efforts in the news.

Whilst it is excellent that the National charity events are raising significant sums, we are keen to also promote events and initiatives from smaller local charities as they come to our attention. Havens Hospices has organised a charity weekly quiz, with full details here

Ideas and Assistance

Our welcome distraction suggestions for this week are:

Viewing – Online and TV

Gardens by Monet – The Royal Academy are screening the EXHIBITION ON SCREEN. Guided by expert curators, artists and garden enthusiasts, the film takes you on an immersive journey through the exhibition to discover how Monet and his contemporaries built and cultivated modern gardens.

Frankenstein – The National Theatre presents Frankenstein with Benedict Cumberland and Johnny Lee Miller.

Classic Football – ITV are revisiting FA Cup Finals and England games with a Saturday highlights programme starting on 2 May. The first two are Coventry v Tottenham from 1987 and Arsenal v Manchester United from 1979. We will avoid spoiling the results for those that cannot remember, but Arsenal supporters may enjoy both!

Listening – Podcasts

Continuing our series of suggested podcasts:

Ricky Wilde’s Unsung Heroes – Ricky is a songwriter, musician and producer, having co-written many hit songs alongside sister, Kim and Father, Marty (including Kids in America and You Came). This podcast provides a very interesting insight into the music process by shining a light on the vital, but possibly less recognised contributors.

Desert Island Discs – Radio 4’s iconic programme is also available as a podcast with a history of past shows going back to 2013. We would love to hear of your 8 song choices, a book and a luxury item.

Running Commentary– For the runners amongst us, this podcast has comedians Paul Tonkinson and Rob Deering talking about life, comedy and running, whilst running. It shouldn’t work, but it does!

All podcasts are available by clicking on the titles above.

As always, please share your ideas.

Scam Avoidance

Sadly, we are hearing of elaborate scams which include:

• visitors purporting to be from the NHS with Coronavirus testing kits or offering to go shopping for individuals who are self-isolating.
• cold calls requesting donations to charities linked to those affected by the pandemic.
• callers/emails claiming to be arranging payment of HMRC tax rebates and needing bank details.

Please view this Which? video and we have additional notes linked via our Wellbeing Hub.

If in any doubt, stall the caller by asking for their contact information so you can get back to them. If genuine, they will have no issue. If a scam they will make excuses.

We will be happy to check them out for you.

Contacts and Advice

Thank you to everyone who have already shared our newsletters and the Wellbeing HUB to others. We greatly appreciate and welcome the sharing whether personally or via Social Media so that our research can be distributed to those who may need help or information.

Please feel free to contact us for any assistance whether advice-related or simply for a general catch up.

Stay safe and we look forward to catching up soon.