The food bank debate

    Yesterday I did something I have never done before – I tuned into the House of Commons on TV and watched a debate in action. Wasting a few idle moments on Twitter, while sipping on a coffee and munching on Danish butter cookies, I spotted a tweet concerning the food bank debate. Then I spotted a few more. I went to the ‘trending’ page and was faced with thousands of angry tweets discussing MPs laughing at poverty, MPs so brazen in their disdain that people in modern day Britain are starving. One tweet urged people to turn on the TV and watch it unfurl further. I was compelled to, and instantly felt disheartened.

Imagine facing this on Christmas day

    The House of Commons seems like a rowdy sixth form social room at the best of times, but now the atmosphere I was watching was simply unpleasant. The shouting, the jeering, the general contempt that seemed prevalent, it all made me feel sick. Anyone who can smirk while discussing men, women and children going hungry has a stronger stomach than I do, as the idea of children going to bed with empty bellies turns mine.

    I’m lucky, I have a well-stocked kitchen, and if we got snowed in it’d be a few weeks before we’d go hungry – but not everyone is so blessed. How many of those MPs have ever gone hungry so their child can eat instead, how many are in the terrible – but very real – situation of having no family and friends to call on when times get tight. None I assume, but it’s increasingly common. I daresay I would never starve as I have loving family and friends who’d feed me if I couldn’t feed myself, but what about those with nobody to help them. The elderly and isolated, young adults from the care system with no extended families, couples who moved away from family for job prospects that have since disappeared and they can’t afford to move ‘home’.

    I instantly thought of the MPs’ pay rise. At a generous 11% this is an additional £7,600 a year, but there is still discussion of whether this is enough or too much. I have no doubt that MPs require a fair salary, but the incredulity to suggest that an extra £7,600 is measly when it’s compared to the fulltime minimum wage salary of just over £12,000 just doesn’t add up. So the MPs, who’ll be earning over £70,000, believe that the fulltime workers struggling to feed their families on just over £12,000 are being lazy by approaching food banks? Or they’ve somehow failed at life? I doubt those hungry people need MPs to tell them that, I’m sure they feel that they’ve failed every time they open their empty fridge (that’s if they’re lucky enough to have a fridge, or even a kitchen to call their own).

    With just over a week to go until Christmas, TV is repeatedly showcasing the big four supermarkets’ festive feasts, reminding people to eat, drink and be merry. Well the MPs were certainly merry during the debate, and they’ll undoubtedly be eating and drinking on Christmas day too. Ultimately, it’s a travesty that the debate became a debacle, because this is what it boils down to: people are going hungry and it’s getting worse.

All blog content and photos are Copyright of Charisse Sayers Proofreader & Copywriter www.charisse-sayers.com I welcome all feedback and would love to know your thoughts so please get in touch, comment, share, like and generally get involved!

My top five books for boys and top five books for girls this Christmas

As Christmas approaches, plenty of parents are hoping that the joy of books can still compete with the draw of the newest – and most expensive – games console. As someone who grew up surrounded by Richard Scarry and Dr. Seuss tomes I wholeheartedly agree. So here are my top five books for boys and top five books for girls.

 

For boys

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. A little obvious perhaps but every child should be given the chance to read the J.K. Rowling masterpieces, if only so they can understand the references to the series so commonplace in a child’s (and adult’s) life. 
• The Twits. A magnificent handbook for creating mischief, Roald Dahl began a tradition for creating outlandish pranks that continued into future classics such as Matilda. There are also valuable lessons regarding cruelty and how it will consume you. And there are monkeys, did I mention the performing monkeys? 
• A Series of Unfortunate Events. Master of entanglement Lemony Snicket weaves 13 books into an elaborate and grandiose adventure, focusing on three very likeable (and unlucky) lead characters. Buy the complete box set and make sure you don’t give them to any child with too nervous a disposition. 
• The Secret Garden. Frances Hodgson Burnett taps into the loneliness and isolation children often feel, whether through grief, disability or social standing. The happy ending is a celebration of what can happen when hard work pays off. This should be on every little person’s bookcase. 
• The Borrowers. I loved these books when I was young. Recycling and waste are hidden themes, as is the persecution of a disadvantaged community. However, most children just enjoy the grand adventures the Borrowers embark upon. Don’t be surprised to find skirting boards closely inspected for tiny doorways once these have been read.

For girls

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. A little obvious perhaps but every child should be given the chance to read the J.K. Rowling masterpieces, if only so they can understand the references to the series so commonplace in a child’s (and adult’s) life. 
• The Twits. A magnificent handbook for creating mischief, Roald Dahl began a tradition for creating outlandish pranks that continued into future classics such as Matilda. There are also valuable lessons regarding cruelty and how it will consume you. And there are monkeys, did I mention the performing monkeys? 
• A Series of Unfortunate Events. Master of entanglement Lemony Snicket weaves 13 books into an elaborate and grandiose adventure, focusing on three very likeable (and unlucky) lead characters. Buy the complete box set and make sure you don’t give them to any child with too nervous a disposition. 
• The Secret Garden. Frances Hodgson Burnett taps into the loneliness and isolation children often feel, whether through grief, disability or social standing. The happy ending is a celebration of what can happen when hard work pays off. This should be on every little person’s bookcase. 
• The Borrowers. I loved these books when I was young. Recycling and waste are hidden themes, as is the persecution of a disadvantaged community. However, most children just enjoy the grand adventures the Borrowers embark upon. Don’t be surprised to find skirting boards closely inspected for tiny doorways once these have been read.

So there you have it, my top five books for boys and my top five books for girls. Or my top five books for children as I should have perhaps called it, because let’s not segregate children by gender by default, despite the continuing efforts of retailers to make it the norm.

Happy reading!

Resist the epidemic of book gendering!

All blog content and photos are Copyright of Charisse Sayers Proofreader & Copywriter www.charisse-sayers.com I welcome all feedback and would love to know your thoughts so please get in touch, comment, share, like and generally get involved!

How to make an easy Christmas stocking

Greaseproof paper pattern

Recently, I made a beautiful Rob Ryan stocking using a very simple tea towel specifically designed for festive transformation. The leftover fabric had sweet little birds and stars on, so there wasn’t a chance I’d throw it away. However, it was only after a little thought that I decided to try and make a few more stockings using offcuts of red pillowcases I already had. So here’s my step by step guide to making a simple stocking!

• Choose an easy to stitch fabric. A plain weave cotton, not too loose, is best. If you’re using scraps, like I did, make sure you’ve got enough for the front and back panels, even if they aren’t the same fabric, and also make sure you’ve got the right thread. I quite like contrasting thread but if you don’t head to your local haberdashery for the correct colour.
  

• Make a template pattern. Greaseproof or tracing paper will do. Remember you just need to make one boot shape so keep it simple and remember to make it slightly larger than you want the finished stocking to be, as there needs to be an allowance for the seams.

• Pin your template onto the fabric and draw round it in tailor’s chalk. If you don’t have tailor’s chalk use pencil very lightly (I won’t tell anyone you’ve cheated). Make sure you’ve pinned the template on correctly for the ‘front’ and ‘back’ if your fabric has a right and wrong side. Cut out very carefully using very sharp scissors, preferably fabric scissors.

• Now this is where you need to do any applique if that’s in the plan. Position the item and pin into place, I usually just use a straight stitch to go round the edge of the shape and then go over with a zigzag stitch, trimming off any excess fabric once the fabric is secure. This is a very basic form of applique, but since this is labelled an ‘easy’ stocking guide I thought I should keep it as simple as possible. Heck, you can even use fabric glue to stick on embellishments afterwards if you want to make it super easy!
  

• Next to sew it together. Pin the two halves of fabric together face-to-face, check very carefully it’s been pinned properly with no folds or kinks. Whether machine or hand sewing, a simple running stitch all around the edge, with a minimum 5mm seam allowance, should be enough, although I recommend doing two rows of stitching, one a few millimetres parallel from the other, for extra strength. Remember to backstitch a little every time you begin or end sewing, to reduce the chance of unravelling, and use a needle to thread any loose ends through to the inside so they don’t show.
  
  

• Hopefully, now if you turn it inside out you’ll have something resembling a stocking! Check it over and if everything’s ok turn it back again and fold down the neck and pin. This will be harder to sew as it’s a loop so be sure that none of the rest of the stocking gets caught in the stitching, especially if feeding it through a machine. If you want to add a loop to hang the stocking up this is when to stitch it to the inside of the stocking’s neck.
  
  

And there you have it, a very basic way to make a stocking. For kids why not try making stockings with felt, stitched together with wool and a plastic children’s needle to minimise risk of injury. Mini stockings make great tree decorations too, or strung together as bunting, so get sewing and get creative! 

 

           All blog content and photos are Copyright of Charisse Sayers Proofreader & Copywriter www.charisse-sayers.com I welcome all feedback and would love to know your thoughts so please get in touch, comment, share, like and generally get involved!