Children In Distress

High FIVE!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 18 May 2015 22:28:00 +0000

In FIVE weeks’ time I will be retiring from my employment as Funding Development Manager for Children in Distress. Today I was given the sad news that CID is in crisis; not quite the note on which I wished to retire L

Children in Distress is in its twenty fifth year (FIVE x FIVE) and, in that time, has given support to thousands, yes literally thousands, of children in Romania and the Balkans – the forgotten children of Eastern Europe. During the time that I have supported Children in Distress (the last eight years as a paid employee) I have grown to love the children in our care, grown to love the country, the people I have met and who I now count many as my friends. After retirement I will continue to support this wonderful small charity until my dying day; I have seen at firsthand what a difference FIVE pounds or FIVE RON (Romanian lei) can make to a child who literally has nothing.

Now I know that as you are reading this (thank you for reading!) you will probably be thinking “Oh here we go again; someone else wanting my money”. I have no shame where these kids are involved – yes I AM asking you for money, BUT I am asking for FIVE pounds that’s all (of course you can give more if you wish to!! J ) and humbly ask that for the next FIVE weeks that I have left as an employee you give as many FIVE pounds/euros/dollars/RON as you can, to enable CID to be able to continue to help these lovely children who so desperately need someone to show that they care what happens to them. If you are able to donate, on a monthly basis, FIVE pounds that would be simply wonderful. FIVE pounds to most of us is not a huge amount of money; a jar of coffee, a takeaway, tea and a cream cake, a couple of balls of knitting wool, packet of toilet rolls etc. But FIVE pounds to CID can mean so much more; giving FIVE children their only hot meal of the day, a flu or MMR inoculation for a child at risk, two school books; the list is endless. Could you forego a takeaway meal and feed FIVE children instead?

Without your immediate help, CID is in real danger of having to close down some or all of its projects and it is for this reason that I am appealing to you now from the bottom of my heart; we simply cannot let this happen, not for the sake of a FIVE pound note! If you are able to help, please go to our website www.childrenindistress.org and press the ‘Donate’ button NOW! Thank you J

In return I will give you a ‘High FIVE’. The definition of a High FIVE is a follows:

High FIVE

‘Symbol of celebration when something good is said/done. The causes for the call of "HIGH FIVE" can vary from anything as small as finding something cool on the floor to something as big as saving the world from almost certain destruction’

Jane x

Treasure your Mum

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 15 Mar 2015 09:58:00 +0000

If, like me, you are fortunate enough to have your Mum in your life you are indeed a lucky, lucky child.

My Mum is almost 97 years young and has been an inspiration to me all of my life. She is a strong, fiercely independent woman. A woman who went through WWII with her husband in the army who enlisted on Valentine’s Day and was injured on Christmas Eve 1942 making it necessary for her to travel to Oxford from our small market town on the edge of the North York Moors. This journey would be difficult enough these days on Christmas Eve…………………………can you begin to imagine what it was like in wartime over 70 years ago? Only a strong person could make that journey.

She brought my two brothers and I up to know the difference between right and wrong, to care for others less fortunate than ourselves and most of all to TRY; try with our school work, to try with everything we undertook. If we tried, it wasn’t important if we then failed at least we had tried.

Most things in our house were handmade. Mum made the clothes we wore, the rugs under our feet, the lampshades above us, the curtains covering the windows; if it was possible to be handmade then it was. The love she felt for her family was there for all to see.

Many of the children in the care of Children in Distress have been abandoned by their Mothers. BUT in many cases it wasn’t because their Mothers didn’t love them, it was because their Mothers DID love them that they abandoned them. The medication costs for a disabled or poorly child in Romania are beyond the reach of many families so rather than let that child remain untreated and ultimately die, their Mothers abandoned them into our care so they could receive the treatment they needed.

If your Mum is in heaven and you are unable to send her flowers on this Mothering Sunday, perhaps you would consider making a donation to Children in Distress in honour of your Mum and therefore give hope to other Mums who have entrusted us with the care of their children. Please go to our website www.childrenindistress.org and press the donate button in honour of your Mum. Thank you!

Treasure your Mum; she will love you like no other person.

Why Volunteer?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 12:46:00 +0000

Why indeed?! Do you want to feel good about yourself? Do something for someone less fortunate? Don’t have much money to donate but you do have some spare time?

Whatever the reason, WE NEED YOU!

1. Do you live near one of our shops? Kirkbymoorside, Guisborough or Shildon? Do you have at least one hour per week to spare? Our shop managers would love to hear from you! There is always something to do in one of our busy shops – sorting donations, ironing, dusting the shelves, keeping the floor clean, manning the till and much more. You would get to meet some of our lovely customers, have a bit of chat and even help them to choose an item.

2. Are you a nurse, teacher, social worker or similar? Perhaps you would like to use your skills in Romania at one of our hospices or other projects? Contact our Head Office in Glasgow for details of opportunities.

3. Do you like organising events? We are always looking for supporters to hold events to raise much needed funds. Coffee morning, stall at a car boot sale, craft event, tombola, car wash, wine & cheese evening, sponsored walk/run – the possibilities are endless!

4. Are you a ‘crafty’ person? Perhaps you like knitting, crochet or sewing? Thanks to our Handcrafters’ Guild members and other supporters, we now send in excess of 20,000 items of clothing, blankets and knitted toys to Romania for the children we support. Items are also made for sale in the UK to raise funds. If you would like to volunteer your skills in this way, contact me at janerussell@childrenindistress.org.uk to have a chat.

5. If you work in an office, factory or similar environment where there are a number of workers, why not start a collection of used postage stamps (£10 a kilo for unsorted stamps!), old postcards, ink cartridges or mobile phones? All of these items will earn money for CID and won’t cost you anything, only your time in collecting them.

These are just a few ideas on how you can volunteer to help us raise funds to care for the children we support. I’m sure you can come up with even more J

Please don’t leave the volunteering to someone else………………they might be leaving it up to you.

Jane x

Off with the Old and on with the New

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 00:12:00 +0000

Well it’s that time again, the end of one year and the start of another. Just where does the time go??!!

What did you do this last year? And what do you plan to do different in 2015? We always start the New Year with such gusto and nine times out of ten our new found plans go awry within the first week of the year!

Me? Well this last year I worked really hard trying to raise the profile of CID, raise more funds etc, so hard that I nearly lost my way. So in 2015 I plan to not work harder but to work smarter. Working smarter should give me more time to do the things I want to do, like spending quality time with my beautiful grandchildren, spend more time in my garden, read more, create things; all the things that seem to fall by the wayside when you make yourself too busy simply “doing”!

The New Year is also a time for reflection. I look back on the years I’ve been involved with CID; so many happy memories mixed with some very sad ones. This year we said goodbye to our beloved Mr Popa, driver and unofficial ‘Grandad’ to the children at St Margaret’s for many years; arriving at Henri Coanda airport in Bucharest simply isn’t the same any more when he isn’t there to greet you! I hope he has a very long and happy retirement.

Mr Popa's last Supporters' Tour

Then there are the happy memories; Marian from St Margaret’s being adopted – every child deserves a loving family and this gorgeous little boy has now got one.

Marian with his new parents

The joy on a child’s face when he receives his ‘Love in a Box’ and finds a toothbrush in it!! Never mind the toy cars, crayons etc, he just LOVES receiving a toothbrush that is just for him. J

The joy of a new toothbrush!

The happy memories far outweigh the sad ones; I would need to write a book to detail them all! YOU have been instrumental in making these happy moments and for that I thank you from the bottom of my heart and pray that you will continue to support our work through 2015 and beyond. HAPPY NEW YEAR AND THANK YOU!

Jane x

Want Something Doing? Ask A Busy Person!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 22:41:00 +0000

Almost eight years ago, I worked for a pharmaceutical consultancy as a PA, loved my job and was well paid but at the same time was heavily involved with Children in Distress. Then an opportunity arose for me to work for the charity part time (I’m contracted to work 21 hours per week) and, as I was nearing retirement age (I was almost 56 at the time) I thought it would be the perfect end to my working life to work from home “part time” and raise money to help look after the kids I had come to love so dearly.

Eight years on I am convinced I must have had a very “senior moment” to have thought it would be ideal to work from home – my house now resembles some kind of refugee warehouse, I get phone calls just as I’ve settled down to try and watch my favourite programme on TV (these supporters wouldn’t ring the office at this time of night because no-one would be there but they know that I will be!), I work much, much more than my allotted 21 hours per week, I haven’t had time to take any holiday leave for over two years, my “retired” husband has now become an unpaid “gopher” for the charity and we both LOVE IT!! There, you thought I was having a huge moan didn’t you??!! I guess I probably was in a way because here we are, two weeks before Christmas and this is what my lounge and kitchen looks like at present………………………………….

My "kitchen"

My "lounge"

but all these bags and boxes are full of beautifully knit blankets, jumpers, cardigans, hats, scarves, gloves and toys for the children in Romania so it is all worth it. However, I now have all these to pack so that I can regain my home in time for Christmas………………….oh and I haven’t finished my Christmas shopping, haven’t done the baking and when I finally get round to buying the rest of the presents, they will need wrapping and as useful as my husband Pete is, he is lousy at wrapping presents so I’m on my own for that one!! So if you want something done, ask a busy person (and I can guarantee that it WILL get done – might be last minute but it will be done!).

These are what makes it all worthwhile…………….

Some of our children at St Margaret's in Bucharest enjoying a visit from supporters

Maria, Nicoleta, Cristina and Rafi - four of our beautiful children from St Margaret's in Bucharest

Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year, thank you for reading this and for all of your support throughout 2014.

Jane x

Live Like Someone Left the Gate Open

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 30 Oct 2014 00:22:00 +0000

You know how it is……………..it’s almost time to turn in for the night and you think “I’ll just check Facebook and see what’s happening before I go to bed”. Well, that’s exactly what I did tonight and saw this on a friend’s timeline (thanks Kath!)

and it got me to thinking that that is exactly what some of the children in our care do on a daily basis; the likes of Rafi, Darius, Maria to mention but three of our lovely children. All three children have a myriad of illnesses and all three are happy smiling children. Rafi, as anyone who knows him will know, chases around like he is on fire yet he is, in fact, a poorly little boy. But he does indeed ‘Live like someone left the gate open’. Darius, now confined to a wheelchair because of his illness, smiles constantly, is interested in all that goes on around him, can speak a few words of English (he is only 4!) and in fact when I last saw him, I wanted to take a photo of him and he cheekily smiled at me and said ‘Cheese’! ..................his sense of humour certainly hasn’t left him even though the use of his legs has, indeed, left him. Maria, who came to us as a very poorly little baby and is now becoming a very confident little lady who attends school along with Rafi and older “brother” Florin.

These children are a lesson on how to ‘live like someone left the gate open’.

We all have times in our lives when things don’t happen just how we want them to happen or we don’t feel as well as we would like to feel and then we begin to feel sorry for ourselves. It is at these times that we should learn from the children and pick ourselves up and truly learn to ‘live like someone left the gate open’. Life is, sadly, too short to do otherwise.

You could start to change your life by sponsoring one of our children and keep up to date with how they are doing. Contact me at janerussell@childrenindistress.org.uk if you are interested in learning more about our children……………………..trust me, you will be making a huge step, not only in your own life but in the children’s as well. Once you ‘meet’ the children your life will take on a whole new meaning; that I can assure you from my own experience.

Jane x

Love in a Box

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 19 Oct 2014 08:45:00 +0000

What does a shoebox mean to you? Literally a box to keep your shoes in? A box that comes with your new pair of shoes and then you discard it?

To an impoverished Romanian child receiving a shoebox at Christmas can mean everything!

Each year, Children in Distress run their ‘Shoebox Appeal’ or, as it is commonly known, ‘Love in a Box Appeal’. The charity asks its supporters to wrap a shoebox in bright, colourful Christmas paper and fill it with a variety of items which can include small gifts, sweets (but not milk chocolate), soap/flannel, toothbrush/paste, brush/comb, toiletries, gloves/scarf/hat, socks/tights, hair slides, small toys, small teddy bear, notebook, pens/pencils, felt pens, colouring book/crayons, puzzle/ball/yoyo/toy cars, balloons and a Christmas card. We also ask that £2 accompanies each box to help transport the boxes to Romania.

If, like me, you are fortunate to have children and grandchildren, you are no doubt aghast at the amount of presents bestowed on children at Christmastime. To a child in the Balkans, the gaily wrapped shoebox with its contents is more than likely the only present that child will receive for Christmas. It is not that the parents don’t want to give their children lovely presents, it is, quite simply, that they cannot afford to do so and put food on the table so the food (quite naturally!) wins every time. Last year some 7,000 Christmas shoeboxes were taken to Romania by Children in Distress and personally handed out by our very own Mos Craicun (Father Christmas) in churches, community centres, hospitals and schools.

Our ‘Love in a Box Appeal’ is now in full swing and, with your help, we look forward to sharing our Christmas joy with babies, children and OAPs once more in December. If you would like to make up a Christmas shoebox for our appeal, please contact me either by email or phone to join in the fun – email janerussell@childrenindistress.org.uk or phone 01751 432089 / 07775 695611 for more details. J

The above photos show recipients of last year's appeal and also the lorry being loaded with the boxes

Jane x

One Child at a Time

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 05 Oct 2014 08:18:00 +0000

Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of daily life we need to be reminded of why we do what we do so I thought I would introduce you to our work “One child at a time" to remind you of why we continue in our quest to care for “Europe’s Forgotten Children”.

Everyone who visits St Margaret’s in Bucharest cannot help but to leave with one little boy having left a huge impression on them; Rafi! Rafael, age 4 is a human whirlwind, he bombs about the courtyard in St Margaret’s on his tricycle, is inquisitive about everything and everyone and is always hungry! For me, I know I have arrived in Romania when I open the gates to St Margaret’s and Rafi charges down the courtyard shouting “Mama” and launches himself at me. J

Rafi was born with a cleft palate (now repaired) and also suffers with Sticklers Syndrome and one of the indicators has been recurrent problems with both eyes. Whilst at St Margaret’s he has had operations to deal with the pressure building up as result of glaucoma, the removal of a fast growing cataract and operations to repair a detached retina in his left eye. Recently he was diagnosed with Hepatitis C (hepatitis means “inflammation of the liver”); just another “bump” in Rafi’s road.

Despite all his problems, Rafi is a very happy and loving little boy. He recently visited the Park with his friends from St Margaret’s and encountered a duck for the first time – you will see from the photo that he was a little unsure of it. He also loves to help Tante Voica, our much loved cook at St Margaret’s, to sort the fruit to go in the juicer; his favourite is oranges.

On a recent supporters’ tour visit to St Margaret’s, Rafi had to be held at bay by Laurentiu, one of our drivers, lest he cleared the table of food prepared for the visitors!

In this post I have introduced you to only one of the children in our care; in future posts I will introduce to you to more; Rafi is only one of twenty children living in the care of Children in Distress at St Margaret’s, Bucharest. They live a happy and safe life thanks to our wonderful supporters and love and care of our dedicated staff. If you would like to sponsor one of our children or make a regular monthly donation to our work, please contact me at janerussell@childrenindistress.org.uk to discuss.

Jane x

Rafi "helping" sort fruit for the juicer

Rafi being "held at bay" during a recent supporters' tour by Laurentiu

Riding his tricycle before going to school recently

Meeting a duck at the local park for the first time!

Vision

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 14 Sep 2014 10:27:00 +0000

Have you heard that old saying 'without vision the people perish'? Never has that saying become more true than it is in these times and I know it's true because I've seen it with my own eyes and I have seen how people come alive when they begin to take hold of their vision.

You see, there is more to life, and it lies in your vision. CID has a vision and 3-4 times a year we publish our magazine called Vision. Why is it called Vision? Because as a charity we have a vision of what we would like to see happen with our projects in Romania, what we would like to achieve and each Vision magazine tells the story of what we are achieving and, more importantly, how we are achieving it.

Your vision is what you create because of the things you do. So, in our appeals to you we tempt you with our vision of what we would like to achieve; it then becomes your vision and we then share the same goal. So, our vision of the world as it should be is created out of your efforts and your achievements. We couldn’t look after the number of children we do without you sharing our vision

In a moment of spontaneity, it may seem, and actually be, exciting to simply wade into something without giving due thought to your vision and set off to wherever the roads may take you - to go on an adventure into the unknown with no clue where you are headed. But, if you live your whole life that way, or, in our case, if we steer our organisation that way, the result will always be unfulfilled potential.

And that's why vision is so important - because it gives direction and purpose to your adventure into life; it gives you a point of focus that, whichever way that mystery and adventure towards your vision may lead you, keeps you on track.

There is more to life, and you were meant to live life in all its fullness and we believe that the children in our care were also meant to live life in all its fullness which is why, as we enter our 25^th anniversary, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for sharing our vision.

Next Sunday I will travel to Romania with a party of supporters who will see at firsthand what our joint vision has achieved.

Jane x

5 ways to give up your own time to help a charity

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 06 Sep 2014 11:41:00 +0000

There seems to be an assumption that the only way that people can help a charitable cause is by donating money. While charities (including CID) are almost always in need of extra cash, there are still ways that you can help without spending any money and still benefit a charity.

1. Volunteer your time at a charity shop. Charity shops are always looking for volunteers who can spare an hour or two each week to help with sorting donations, ironing clothes, dusting the shelves or manning the till. All we ask is that you are honest, trustworthy and above all, reliable (so we can count on you coming in at the agreed time each week).

2. Do you have a skill? Perhaps you like some kind of craft (e.g. knit, sew, crochet, baking, wood turning, gardening etc)? You could make some items to sell on behalf of your chosen charity. If you are “into” crafts I’m sure you will have spare materials that you could utilise for a charity and either sell them on yourself or pass them to a charity for one of their events to sell. If you are green fingered, you could pot up a few extra plants to sell. Into baking? Make some cakes, buns, scones or similar when your charity is holding a fundraiser. Got a glut of fruit or vegetables in your garden? Make them into jam and chutney to sell and raise much needed funds. The possibilities are endless!

3. Give as you Live is an online shopping portal, and their aim is to turn web shopping into cash for charities. When you buy something from a store by going through their portal, a percentage of the money you’ve spent goes to Give as you Live, who then pass on the money to the cause of your choice, less a percentage commission. This means that you can buy all your Christmas presents (yes, it's coming to that time of year) without leaving the house, and do your bit for charity at the same time.

4. Got goods you no longer need or use at home? Why not sell them on EBay and donate the money (or a percentage of it) to your favourite charity? Just about anything can be bought or sold on EBay (that old adage “your rubbish is someone else’s treasure” certainly becomes true on this website!). If your chosen charity trades on EBay you can specify that a percentage of your sale goes to the charity when listing your items so it is deducted automatically when the item sells and your charity benefits as well. CID trade on EBay and the user’s name is CIDJane (just in case you’re inspired by this blog and decide to upload some items for sale!) J

5. Do you like keeping fit? Run? Swim? Walk? Why not get some like minded friends together and organise a sponsored Marathon (or maybe 5K, 10K or half marathon!) / Swimathon / Sponsored walk? Organising an event like this keeps you in focus for your training schedule and making it a sponsored event helps us to look after the children in our care. Last year Rob Russell, a supporter of CID did FOUR marathons in a day to help raise funds and raised a magnificent £2,500!

These are just a few ideas to whet your appetite……………….I’m sure you can think of some more!

Jane x

Crafty Goings-on!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 27 Aug 2014 17:20:00 +0000

Anyone who knows me personally, knows that I just love crafts of all kinds; I knit, crochet, sew, embroider, decoupage, you name it I’ve usually had a go!

CID looks after and supports many, many children in Romania, not only in our hospices but in the wider community; children who, without our help, would be cold in the ferocious winters (typically -20C). I run a Handcrafters’ Guild for the charity and the ladies (and one man!) spend their time knitting/crocheting blankets, jumpers, cardigans, hats, scarves, gloves/mittens, socks and toys for the children. Can you begin to imagine the joy of receiving a beautifully crafted warm blanket or a brand new jumper or cardigan? “My” ladies (and Rod) don’t stop there though; they also make items to sell at events here in the UK to raise the money to keep our projects going in Romania and also the money to ship the handcrafted items over there.

Last year, on behalf of the Handcrafters’ Guild, I shipped over 19,000 items to help clothe the children and this year it is already looking as if we will exceed that amount! Add that to the financial donations and other donations in kind and it makes you realise that there are some wonderfully generous folk out there just willing to help others less fortunate than themselves.

Easter found us knitting chickens (stuffed with a Cadbury’s Crème Egg) to raise money (over £600) and now we are busy knitting Christmas Puddings (to be stuffed with a Ferrero Rocher chocolate), crocheting bunting (very “in” at the moment!), making rag wreaths to sell at Christmas events and much, much more. I thought I would treat you to a preview of some of these items……………hopefully it may inspire you to join in and make either something to be sent to Romania or something to sell at one of our events.

Pat with a blanket made to go to Romania

Blue & White Rag Wreath for sale

Mutlicoloured Rag Wreath for sale

For the last two years we have had a stall at Ely Cathedral Gift & Food Fair and raised over £4,000 each year – all thanks to our “crafty” supporters. When I took the position of Funding Development Manager with the charity, little did I realise that I could combine two of the loves of my life (the children and my crafts); it has become a real money spinner for the charity and also helps folk here too in that they can knit until their heart’s content knowing that they are helping others.

Jane x

Rules & Regulations

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 04 Aug 2014 12:41:00 +0000

Life these days is full of rules and regulations which the majority of us try to adhere to. Each year to keep the doors of our hospices in Romania open, the buildings must pass a series of rigorous fire prevention, health & safety, environmental health and hygiene inspections to gain the certification they need to operate.
St Margaret’s Hospice in Bucharest is a beacon of excellence in the delivery of end of life, palliative and respite care for infants and children living with incurable or terminal illness. With the normal wear and tear of sizzling summers and bitterly cold winters the building needs constant attention simply to ensure the children are safe and secure and the building is wind and watertight.. This year changes introducing new European health and safety regulations and fire safety standards means that we must immediately relocate the main and auxiliary gas central heating units, renew the electric wiring and sockets and to prevent the prospect of scalds injury change the existing hot water cylinders and systems for the hospice’s kitchen and children and infant’s wards bath and showers.

Some of this work would normally be carried out under the annual maintenance budget however most of the changes required as a result of our recent proactive inspections are urgent and immediate to ensure that work is complete before the official annual inspections are carried out. Paul Kubaszky CID’s in Country Director has asked for help and has offered a “shopping" list of urgent actions and their costs which total £18,000.

For that, we will get a zinc roof for the infants ward that should not leak, a more efficient central heating system with fumes vented to air, safe and compliant electrical wiring and sockets, constant scald risk free hot water in the kitchen and children’s bathroom and shower areas and a slip and trip accident free entrance, walkway and access between the wards, therapy units, and offices. By dipping into the hospice’s limited maintenance budget and by tapping local sponsors Paul can find approximately 45% of the costs from local funds, however he would welcome help and support to fund the remaining £10,000.

Any help that the readers of this blog can offer to secure the registration licences and the future of St Margaret’s Complex of Children Services as a home for the children in its care will more than gratefully appreciated. If you would like to make a donation, no matter how small, (remember every large ocean is made up of small drops of water) you can do so, online at www.childrenindistress.org or call +44 (0)141 5595690 to make a card donation. Every penny really will count to save this hospice which is the only home these children have known -

Jane x

Some of the children at St Margaret's celebrating Andreea's birthday

Recycling

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 05 Jul 2014 07:36:00 +0000

Recycling really isn’t anything new…………….when I was young it was called ‘waste not, want not’ J We ate the leftover meat from Sunday lunch on a Monday and if there was still some left, it was made into rissoles on a Tuesday………now the cookery programmes/books are full of ‘leftovers recipes’ – it’s not rocket science, guys, just eat the leftover cold beef/pork/lamb with nice fresh veg!!

Ok, I’ll be serious now; every charity can put recycling to good use and turn other people’s “rubbish” into food for deprived children or whatever their cause supports. Children in Distress has, at present, three thrift shops……………..all stocked with other folks’ “rubbish”; now that’s recycling at its best! When I’m on duty in the shop I sit behind the counter and marvel at just what some folk discard (although I’m thrilled that they do discard their unwanted items at our shops!). I mean, why would someone buy a designer silk dress then never wear it and then donate it to us? That beautiful dress, complete with a price tag of £212.99 (yes, seriously that was the price!!) found its way into one of our shops and of course was snapped up by one very happy customer.

Of course, charity shops are a haven for the ‘waste not, want not’ brigade – tee shirts, tweed skirts (the sort your Gran used to wear!), woollen cloth all make grand rag rugs, cotton skirts find a new life as patchwork quilts, vinyl LPs warmed up make beautiful bowls, that boring little table looks lovely sanded down and painted or decoupaged and so on; the possibilities are endless for the hardened recycler (or is the current phrase ‘upcycler’??!). If you don’t have any clothes/shoes/belts/handbags that are good enough to sell, our shops will still take them off your hands and sell them on as ‘rags’ (50p per kilo; soon adds up with a few pair of shoes in the bag!).

As a fundraiser I like to take full advantage of other folks’ rubbish; I squirrel away used postage stamps (they raise £10 per kilo), old mobile phones (various prices), used ink cartridges (just received £101 for a box full), old postcards (pre-1970s ones, transport and social history ones are the most lucrative - £65 for my last lot); in fact I can usually find a use for most things that are donated to me for our charity. One of my supporters has recently suggested to me that I collect (on behalf of the charity) the tops off milk cartons - current price for 500 kgs is £30; the only problem being that a bin liner full only weighs around 5kgs – now where would I keep 100 bin liners full of milk carton tops??!! I’m still thinking on that one……….don’t like to miss an opportunity but I have to put my practical head on I think in this case. J

If you would like to recycle and help us to look after ‘Europe’s forgotten children’ please get in touch with me at janerussell@childrenindistress.org.uk Remember; ‘waste not, want not’ should be everyone’s mantra J

Jane x

Father's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 15 Jun 2014 06:02:00 +0000

Today Sunday, 15 June is Father’ Day. My own Dad, who passed away 35 years ago and who I miss every single day, had lots of great sayings; “Neither a borrower nor a lender be”, “You can always find time to do the things you want to do”, “If you’re honest and straight, you have nothing to fear” and so on.

Being his only daughter (I have two older brothers) and the youngest in his beloved family I possibly remember him differently to my brothers. He expected them to be “men” whilst I was allowed to be his “little girl”. To them he was probably stern and whilst I also saw that side to him, I also saw more of his softer side…………the man who stood at the end of our street waiting for me to come out of the dance hall on a Saturday night (the hall was literally at the end of our street, no more than a hundred paces from our home, and, at the time, I didn‘t really appreciate this; I mean, who wants their Dad waiting for them??!!) so he could see me safely home, the man who had tears quietly falling down his cheeks when I came out of the shop changing room wearing my wedding dress, the man who came to see me in hospital after I had given birth to my first child and who demanded that the nurse take off the baby’s blanket so he could make sure my newborn son had all his fingers, toes and everything else that he should have!

My Dad looked after me in life and, as I found out for sure only 18 months ago, continues to look after me long after his death. Eighteen months ago I was seriously ill and teetering between life and death, but who was there to turn me back when I was going to join him………….my Dad! Thankfully it wasn’t my time and he knew that and that was the only occasion he turned me away from him.

If you are lucky enough to still have your Dad in life with you, treasure him every day and celebrate this Father’s Day with him, remembering the saying;

“Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad”

I write this in honour of my Dad and remember him with love and thankfulness.

Jane x

　

Love

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 12 May 2014 20:55:00 +0000

Love is defined in a dictionary as “a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person”

The King James Bible defines it as “Greater love hath no man than this; that a man lay down his life for his friends”

Throughout our lives, if we are fortunate, we will know many kinds of love; the love of a parent, the love of our friends, teenage love, the all-consuming love when you meet the person who you want to share the rest of your life with, the love you feel for your child and the love that child gives back to you……….there are so many different kinds of love.

Not everyone is as fortunate as you and I, but last week I was shown just what it is like to “Love your brother”. Whilst visiting a Children in Distress community project in Curtea d’Arges, Romania, we gave biscuits to the children as a treat. These children were from the surrounding villages, very poor communities; one boy had a pair of shoes on that were 3-4 sizes too big (probably shared by the family). Another boy on receiving his biscuit, carefully ate half of it and then asked if he could take the other half home for his brother. That really shook me! I have eight grandchildren who all have biscuits “on tap” and I’m sure would not have been restrained enough to leave half of a much coveted biscuit for their brother back home. How lucky that little boy at home was, to have a brother who loved him so much. Needless to say, he was told to finish the biscuit himself and was given some to take home for his family.

Throughout my visit I saw love freely given to all of our children by their carers. You might argue that they are paid to love the children and I would say straight back to you……….”No, they are paid to look after our children”; the love they give the children is of their own free will and it is obvious to everyone that they DO love the children in their care and the children know it too. To see their happy little faces despite their many disabilities is a sight to behold.

Here is one of our supporters, Glynis, enjoying a cuddle with one of our new little boys, Marian – as you can clearly see, both are enjoying the experience!

It is a humbling experience to visit our many projects in Romania; why don’t you join us on one of our supporters’ trips? I promise you that you will never forget the experience and you will certainly feel the love that is given and received by all.

Jane x

Hope Help & Hospice Care

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 05 May 2014 06:14:00 +0000

I find that the season of Spring fills me with hope, don’t you? After the dreary months of Winter, the snowdrops start the season off by appearing in our gardens, pristine white and crisp against everything else which is still quite dull after Winter, followed by shoots appearing all over the garden; daffodils, grape hyacinths, bluebells, crocuses, tulips, the beautiful Lenten rose. Soon everything is bursting; the birds into song, blossom on the trees, the daffodils finally bloom and it fills my heart with hope.

We each have different hopes for the year ahead and all kinds of hopes and dreams flit through my mind.

John Addison (1672-1719) once said “Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for”. Well I’ve found something to do in that I work for Children in Distress; something to love (in my case it is someone - actually lots of little ‘someones’! - the children we care for) and something to hope for – a better life for the children we care for. Hope, Help & Hospice Care is what we give to our children in Romania.

Would you like something to do? Contact Children in Distress; we always need people like you to help fundraise so that we can continue the invaluable care of our children. If you’d rather not fundraise you can do it indirectly by donating goods that we can sell to raise funds or knit, sew, crochet blankets, items of clothing and toys for our children (we send shipments of such items to Romania every 10-12 weeks or so, dependent on how many goods we have to send and available funds to pay for the shipment), if you are good at woodwork, you could make toys; we have one lovely male supporter who makes wooden trains for the children (which they love!) – there are endless ways in which we can find you something to do! In return, we can give you something to love because I guarantee that once you take the step to do something for our children you will love them just as we do and following on from that, you will have something to hope for; a better life for them.

This week I am taking a party of supporters out to Romania to show them the work we do and to meet some of the children we care for. It is a small party of supporters; seven, but out of those seven people are five who have never been to Romania before and have never met our children and staff before. Those five people have already found something to do in that they have been supporting Children in Distress and now it is our turn to give them something to love and when they return from Romania next weekend they will also have something to hope for.

“At the end of the day, we must go forward with hope and not backward by fear and division” - Jesse Jackson

Your Legacy

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 05 Apr 2014 08:28:00 +0000

What do you think I mean by “Your Legacy”? Am I after your money (I am after all, a fundraiser!)? Or do I mean your legacy to mankind? Perhaps, on this occasion, a little of both of these things.

My legacy to mankind is my three children, two sons and a daughter; all of whom my husband and I are extremely proud (yes I do know that pride is a sin, but on this occasion I’m allowing myself that sin!); they have all done well in their chosen professions, they have not caused us a lot of trouble (only an occasional little blip or two over the years but nothing serious J). We brought them up to be tolerant of all people, no matter what religion, race or beliefs their friends had, to be kind to everyone they met and, quite simply, to care about their fellow men. In return, their legacy to us is eight beautiful children; two of whom are of Jamaican descent, two of Nigerian descent, one of Ghanaian descent and three of “pure” British descent (I hope that doesn’t offend anyone, especially my family but I didn’t know how else to phrase it!!). I watch these eight children playing with each other at family occasions, totally oblivious that any are “different” from their cousins and oh, how I wish all the people in the world could get along with each other like these children do.

My work with Children in Distress involves visiting Romania, usually at least once each year and I see a legacy of another kind; Ceaucescu’s legacy. Without exception, where there is trouble in any country in the world, it is always the children who suffer the most. Ceaucescu’s legacy was having imported contaminated blood, he left thousands of children (and adults) with HIV and AIDS. Unable to afford medication for their children, parents abandoned them, often to the perils of terrible institutions where they were bound inside filthy cots, left unattended for hours at a time, kept short of food and most of all, deprived of love. This is where Children in Distress stepped in to cure, sometimes; to help, often; to comfort, always. This is their legacy.

Your legacy could be, simply, to leave a bequest in your Will to Children in Distress to help them continue this valuable work. The month of May is ‘Make a Will’ month, so why not make yours and leave a legacy to Children in Distress? No matter how large or small your legacy is, it would make a difference to the children in our care. Children are our future; we must always care for them.

About Time!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 23:31:00 +0000

I thought it was about time that I found the time to write again. TIME; a commodity which we all seem so short of these days, don't you agree? My Dad used to say that we all find time to do the things we want to do and you know, he was right!

In my busy life of working, looking after grandchildren, elderly Mum, housework (now there's something to waste time on.................who cares if there is a little dust around??!!), I can still find the time to work on my love of crafts. After all, that great man, Martin Luther King Jr did say that "We must use time creatively!" Perhaps he didn't exactly mean that I must use my time knitting, crocheting etc but I do strive to use my time creatively in one way or another.

I spend time thinking up creative ways of raising money to look after our children in Romania; at present my creative juices are flowing by producing things to sell at our "Coffee, Cakes & Crafts" morning to be held on Saturday 12 April. In a previous post I told you all about the chickens I and my friends are producing for sale - at this present time we have produced 150 and demand would appear to be great this year so we are still using up every spare minute knitting more; here are a few of them (I promised you a picture of them!):

Today I met up with two supporters, Ann & Elsie from Consett, Co Durham who filled my van with lovingly knitted items for the children in Romania; a great deal of time had been spent on the blankets, jumpers, cardigans, hats, toys etc by a number of ladies who had lovingly given up their time to help clothe needy children in another country. Nelson Mandela said "We must use time wisely and forever realise that the time is always ripe to do right" - I reckon that the ladies of Consett had used their time wisely and found the time ripe to do right. Thank you ladies!

Incidentally, whilst my husband Pete drove the van today I used the time travelling to knit six flower brooches and three chickens; all for sale on 12 April!

Time is precious, don't waste it!

Jane x

Friendship

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 21:09:00 +0000

A few nights ago, a friend who I hadn't seen for almost three years (we had kept in touch via email mainly during this time) phoned me to ask if I would be in the next day as she would like to call and see me. I was and she did and we had a great time catching up on our respective news.

This set me thinking about friendships in general. What makes a good friendship? There are different kinds of friendship; the friends you don't actually see very often but when you do see them it is just like you saw them the day before (like my recent visitor), there are childhood friends who you met perhaps at primary school / secondary school / college and have remained friends throughout all the different changes to your lives since then, there are new friends who you may have met through your work / church / at the pub / evening class or some such environment, there are friends who will stick by you through the good times and the bad, then of course there are the "fair weather" friends who are there for you when everything is going swimmingly but are nowhere to be seen in times of difficulty.

I think our friends are made up of a mixture of all of these different kinds of friends. I know that I have friends from all of these quarters.

It is much the same with our charity; we have supporters (friends) who have been with us from the start and have stuck by us, supporting us through thick and thin, we have made new friends as the charity has grown who we have met whilst giving talks at different organisations, friends who have joined us when donating a shoebox to our 'Love in a Box' appeal or friends who have heard about our work and befriended us. Sadly, we also have some "fair weather friends" too!

The children in our care need lots of friends, friends who will take the time to send them a card just to say hello or a card on their birthdays and at Christmas, friends who will help to raise the funds to look after them They have, in their short lives, already met up with too many "fair weather friends" - they need the kind that will stick with them through thick and thin. Why not introduce your friends to our children so that they can make new friends?

Gratitude

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 16 Feb 2014 14:01:00 +0000

This morning I opened my emails to find an email from Andy White http://www.58twelve.com/ and felt compelled to share what he said with you. We all, no matter how well off, financially or emotionally, have a tendency to moan about what we don't have instead of being grateful for what we do have. Andy's words have a great relevance to my work with Children in Distress and to your support of CID. Here is what he wrote:-

Do you own a car? Only 8% of the world do, so that means 92% don't. And that means that whatever type of car you have, if you have one, you are privileged. Do you enjoy clean, disease-free, running water from your kitchen tap? More than one billion people don't have access to clean drinking water, never mind a kitchen tap. That figure includes an estimated 400 million children - more than the entire population of the USA. And, because unclean water is full of nasty stuff, it causes illness resulting in somewhere around 443 million school days being missed every year.

If you're like me, you don't like feeling hungry. But you probably don't have to put up with that feeling for longer than it takes you to find a snack, right? But around 800 million people won't eat anything at all today. Nothing at all. And about 300 million of those people will be children. So is it any wonder that, every couple of seconds, someone dies from hunger?

Do you complain when the power gets cut or the internet goes down? I know I do.

But I have no right to complain. Approximately 1.6 billion people - that's about a quarter of the world's population - live without any electricity at all. Can you imagine life without electricity? I can't.

When you get passed over for a raise, or miss out on that bonus, it sucks. But what sucks more is that nearly half the world's population — that's more than 3 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. That's 3 billion people living on less than you and I may spend on a coffee. And what about the 1.3 billion people who live in extreme poverty - less than $1.25 a day?

The contrasts between the 'haves' and the 'have nots' are stark.

Here's an example of that contrast: Americans spend $20 billion per year on ice-cream - yes, ice-cream - while around 800 million people worldwide don't have anything to eat at all, never mind a desert. And I'm not beating on Americans - I am quite sure other countries could provide equally horrifying statistics - I just don't have them to hand. And that $20 billion spent on ice-cream would go half way to raising the approximately $40 billion it would take to offer basic education, clean water and sanitation, reproductive health for women, and basic health and nutrition to every person in every developing country.

Look, I didn't mean to wreck your Sunday morning, but these things are worth thinking about.

And I've been thinking about them a lot recently. Not specifically the situations I just shared with you, but the way I view my own life in a world where, as I type these words, someone is starving to death, or drinking water that will kill them. You see, we gauge our lives based on what we see around us - among our peer groups and in our neighbourhoods. And, we get sucked into an 'I need more than I have to be OK' mind-set.

But the problem with that mindset is that you lose sight of just how 'rich' you are.

You see, when you focus on what you don't have, you cast aside the blessing you already hold in your hand. And without an attitude of gratitude, you will never enjoy all that life wants to give you. If your starting point is not gratitude, you will always be discontent. You will always be looking for more, striving, reaching, wanting. I know how this works. Over the years, I have missed the fullness of so many blessings because I never paused to hold the gift that had been placed in my hand so that I could celebrate and enjoy it.

I still fall into that trap, but I'm working on cultivating an attitude of gratitude. And all those stark statistics I gave you remind me just how lucky I am to have what I do have, and how ungrateful I am to lament what I do not.

So what do you think about gratitude? Does it come easily to you or, like me, do you need to work on it? What do you do to make sure it's a part of your make up?

Powerful words huh? They certainly set me thinking! I know that many of you are grateful for what you have; otherwise you wouldn't be helping CID to look after the children we care for and for that support I, and my colleagues both here in the UK and Romania are extremely GRATEFUL. Please encourage more of your family and friends to be grateful for what they have and to show that gratitude by supporting those who are not so well off. Thank you :)

Jane x

The hardest job I ever had...............................

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 23:51:00 +0000

My Mum (now age 95!) was chatting to her friend and I overheard her say “The hardest job I ever had was teaching our Jane to cast on”. Of course she was referring to teaching me to knit. She quickly followed this statement with a little bit of a boast; “Before you knew where she was, she was casting on for the whole class!” Phew, it must have clicked with me eventually!!

Now, anybody who knows me, knows that I just love knitting and any other kind of crafts I can get my hands on! But……………..I can still remember being age 5 in Miss Palmer’s reception class knitting dishcloths and proudly holding up my very first finished one, only to realise with dismay that it had a huge hole in the middle where I had dropped lots of stitches! Perhaps at that point I COULD cast on but hadn’t quite learnt that if I dropped a stitch I was required to pick it up again! I’m delighted to say that I have improved since then J

I bring my love of crafts into my work for CID by leading the Handcrafters’ Guild; we have over 140 members who knit, crochet, sew, make greetings cards and other items to send to Romania to help clothe the children we care for and also to sell some to raise funds for the charity. I also try to encourage other friends of the charity to make blankets, clothes and toys for the children. One of the girls (Ionela) at St Laurence’s, Cernavoda now makes herself some money embroidering exquisite table mats and runners and selling them; a craft she learnt from me during my visits to St Laurence’s.
My latest foray into the world of crafts is to set up the Children in Distress Yarn Shop http://childrenindistress.yarnshopping.com/ to not only bring our Guild members and other supporters some very affordable yarns but also to (hopefully) raise some much needed funds for the charity.

Ever since learning that ‘pride comes before a fall’ (the dishcloth episode!) I have tried to do my best at whatever I was doing at that precise moment. A J Leon, who I had the privilege of meeting some years back, says in his blog ‘The Pursuit of Everything’ - Produce your best work every single time. Or produce nothing. Anything in the middle is a waste of your time and our attention. Well, when I was 5 years old, there was nothing in the middle of my dishcloth and it WAS a waste of my time! However at that time I was producing the best work I could.

What was the hardest job you ever had?
Jane x

PS If you'd like to join our Handcrafters' Guild, drop me a line at janerussell @childrenindistress.org.uk

Let me introduce you.............................................

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 22:25:00 +0000

When my boss Alisdair rang me and asked me to lead the forthcoming May Supporters' Tour to Romania, I was thrilled to once again be going to see our children, staff and projects over there and to be able to introduce sponsors to their sponsor child and the staff who care for them. It also got me thinking about some of the people I have met over the years through the charity. So, let me introduce you to some of them..................

In the town of Cernavoda where our first hospice St Laurence's was built, the townsfolk gave CID a plot in the local cemetery for us to bury our deceased children (of which there were a large number in the early days) so imagine my surprise when, on our very first Supporters' Tour, one of the ladies on the trip startled everyone by running with gay abandon, arms outstretched, down through the children's graves exclaiming that "it was the best part of the tour!"

On another tour one of the supporters was a very elderly lady, well in her eighties, very plainly and soberly dressed, straight hair, in fact a very 'ordinary' lady (no disrespect to the lady in question, just trying to let you imagine her!). Well!! Imagine my surprise when some weeks after the tour a large brown envelope arrived for me and on opening the envelope I found some exquisite bookmarks and paintings done by the same lady using encaustic wax. She had sent me them to sell to raise funds for our children. I was totally blown away, not only by her work, but by the fact that this quiet unassuming lady could produce something so beautiful and full of colour and imagination! Definitely a case of "you shouldn't judge a book by its cover!"

On another tour, our CEO Alisdair found himself sat between two ladies on the minibus who spent the entire two hour journey trying to 'outdo' each other! The two ladies in question were actually childhood friends and one of the ladies was a much loved long term supporter of the charity. This is how some of the conversation went....................."During the war, we could only have one sausage between me and my brothers" - "What? You had SAUSAGES? We didn't have any at all!" "On a Sunday, I had to wear my best coat and shoes to church" - "You had a BEST coat and shoes? I was lucky if I had a coat and shoes of any kind". "It was raining on my wedding day, do you remember?" - "Oh the sun was shining on mine". .........................and so it went on, and on, and on!! Poor Alisdair closed his eyes at one point to pretend he was asleep but oh no, the ladies weren't having that - they elbowed him "awake" to take part in the conversation. Fortunately I was sat in the seat in front of them; I hope they didn't see my shoulders shaking with trying to suppress my laughter!

We have had all kinds of people, from all walks of life, accompany us on our Supporters' Tours but they all, no matter how 'quirky' they are, share one thing in common; a love of our children and, after a trip to meet the children and staff and view our projects, they all end up inspired to do more to help us and start and plan their next visit.

Then of course there are the children.......................Florin who, the minute you sit down anywhere near him, brings his book and proceeds to tell you all about it (in Romanian of course so there is a lot of gesturing); Rafi who is a human whirlwind and 'eats for England' (or should that be Romania?!) - he is a real imp, a lovable rogue who, the last time I visited, started wearing his glasses (complete with eye patch!) on top of his head just because that is where my reading glasses were on me! Then when he had had enough of chasing round, climbed on my knee, carefully folded up his glasses, put them into his shirt pocket and cuddled into me calling me 'Mama'! Maria, Nicoleta and Darius, always smiling, little Andrei so severely disabled with hydrocephalus, yet he also has a big beaming smile when he is spoken to..........................there are so many like them and they all have one thing in common; they all respond to the love they receive from their carers.

In a future post I will introduce you to some of our staff and friends in Romania.

Jane x

Hearts, chickens and rabbits

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 18 Jan 2014 13:41:00 +0000

Well we're all tidied up from Christmas now, had a breather and what's ahead of us? Valentine's Day with Easter looming up not far behind.

My new craft group and I have optimistically booked our local hall for a Coffee Morning and Craft event on Saturday 12th April with the intention of having a stall filled with Easter goodies. In my role as fundraiser for Children in Distress I am always trying to think up ways of earning "a few bob" for our children so try not to let events like Valentine's Day and Easter pass me by without having some money making scheme or another! Monday afternoons see us around my kitchen table feverishly knitting, crocheting, sewing and decoupaging hearts, knitting chickens (which will be stuffed with Cadbury's Crème Eggs!), checking out patterns for rabbits (just how did rabbits become a part of Easter.................does anyone know?!) and searching the internet for some different Valentine's/Easter ideas. We have also, so far, made some fashionable headbands adorned with hearts, bows and flowers, some baby/toddler's boots (an updated version of bootees) as well as the aforesaid hearts and chickens.

In view of the vast array of goods we are going to make (now there's optimism for you!!) I have purchased a large (very large!) plastic lidded box and as items are finished they are placed in the box - one corner is filled at this moment in time! When we have a decent and varied amount of things made I will treat you all to a preview on here.

We are open to suggestions/ideas of more items we can make.................would love you to comment below!

One more thing before I go and continue with my chicken-knitting, please ignore the time on this blog; it's set to Pacific time not GMT and I can't change it! (Just thought I'd say so that you're not wondering a) why I said Goodnight on my previous post but the time was shown at 3.47 when actually it was 23.47 and b) why I'm supposedly up at 5.41am writing this when its actually after 2pm in the afternoon!)

Jane x

New Year's Resolutions

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 23:27:00 +0000

We all usually start the New Year with resolutions to give something up, be it smoking, junk food or other seemingly bad habits so I thought I'd be different and start the New Year 2014 by starting something..............a blog!

I'm new to this so you will have to bear with my ramblings until I find my feet and actually manage to say something that you will enjoy reading..................please!

I should start off by introducing myself; I'm Jane Russell and I'm a Funding Development Manager for Children in Distress. I work for the charity from home (most times a blessing but sometimes not especially when I can't leave my work alone and just have to finish something - if I worked in the main office I would just leave at the end of the day like everyone else!). I love my work; I love taking supporters' tours out to Romania to visit our projects; seeing supporters finally meeting children they have sponsored for a number of years, I love giving talks to various groups, meeting lots of different people stirring up their interest with tales of the children, of what we are achieving in Romania and what we hope to achieve.

On a personal level, I love my family first and foremost - my husband, three kids (plus kids in-law!) and eight grandchildren, secondly I love all types of crafts and carry this over to my work life by running a Handcrafters' Guild for CID. I knit, crochet, sew, decoupage and over the years have tried my hand at all sorts of crafting.

That's enough for a first post - don't want to bore you to death at my first attempt!

Goodnight (noapte buna if you're in Romania)

Jane x