Talk about busy today! Thursday 6th of February, 2025.
First thing, I had the privilege of giving a presentation, to a wonderful group of around 100 students at the amazing Smestow Academy School in Wolverhampton, UK, about Acorns Children's Hospice.
Organised by a superbly dynamic teacher, Mr J. Patel, it is going to fascinating to hear what ideas the students have in fundraising for Acorns Children's Hospice.
One of the three Acorns Children's Hospices, Birmingham Hospice in Selly Oak; this was the first one built back in 1988, back when there were two other hospices dedicated to children in the world. Truly pioneering care for children with life limiting conditions and their families.
Oliver! One of the most amazing, effervescent children at Acorns Children's Hospice.
Acorns Children's Hospice website
Really impressive, brilliant school with polite, impeccably well-behaved students and happy staff. The Headteacher there has done an incredible job, as have all the staff and students.
Really looking forward to seeing how their charity week initiative develops, with students planning for a mass of different events to raise money for Acorns Children's Hospice.
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From there it was to Toys4Life, a business that recycles/reuses toys, be they wooden, plastic or cuddly, by sorting them and sending them to outlets across the UK and worldwide.
Please take a look at their website to see what amazing work they do!
Maybe you have toys that could have a new life with a child somewhere in the world. I love to think of where the toys I take might be in a few weeks time. Have a look on the interactive map to see where the nearest donation point in the UK is to you.
I had around 100 cuddly toys to give to them and they gave me a large cuddly toy, Bluey, to give to child when I am Olaf the Snowman at Saturday's Aston Villa women's game at Bescot Stadium, Walsall.
. . . in an Olaf costume. My hope is that fans, especially the children with their Mums and Dads/ Nans and Grandads, have a lot of fun!
Anyway Toys4Life receive the cuddly toys from me and I, not only got the weekly big cuddly to give to a child on Saturday, Up The Villa! but also six very large boxes of children's books.
From Toys4Life my poor little Nissan Note struggled to chug along the M6, being so heavily laden down, for me to get to the wonderful Sandwell Valley RSPB reserve, where I work as a meet & greet person, welcoming visitors, chatting with them all and serving them hot beverages, cakes, sandwiches and baguettes and the like.
It is a lovely place to volunteer and as always, the RSPB staff are fabulous SUNSHINE PEOPLE! It is a real privilege and a delight to work there.
What is truly wonderful about this amazing RSPB reserve is its urban environment. Sandwell Valley is surrounded by the huge urban sprawl of The Black Country, with Birmingham, Walsall and Wolverhampton all nearby. Yet when one looks out from the visitors centre's large windows, maybe with a cup of hot chocolate accompanied by the baguette or wrap, there is only one building on view and that is a very tall apartment - office structure currently being built in Birmingham City centre about ten miles away!
From the centre, all one can see is trees, fields and reedbed-fringed pools and lakes and bird feeders of course!
Goldfinches, titmice, especially Blue and Great Tits but also Long-tailed Tits (Lollipops!), Greenfinches and Reed Buntings visit the feeders, usually feeding on the proferred fat balls. Late in the afternoon some of the 700 or so Ring-necked Parakeets, definitely a marmite bird with birders and visitors to the reserve, attack the fat balls too.
There is always Sid the Robin around too, prepared to come and sit on your hand if your offer him some bird seed.
Mind you, he sometimes is too full to accept your humble offering . . .
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