Viewing all items in Resource Category: Looking at You

Spring is coming.   If you feel you simply HAVE to do something about your body shape, here are some ideas.  They will improve your fitness, energy levels and quality of life: Aim to work out two to five times a week.  Exercise for at least 20 minutes, lasting up to an hour.  Some days you...

A popular way to ‘show off’ these days seems to be telling people on Facebook that you are too busy to accept their invitation to whatever.  This lets everyone know that you are in more demand than they are, and that they would be lucky to get five minutes with you.  You are a busy...

The young are rebelling again – this time, it seems, against the digital age. A recent study of 18-to-21-year-olds found that 83 per cent prefer to read a printed book rather than a tablet.  They are also discovering the joys of knitting, fishing, and fruit picking, doing crosswords, and gardening. Privilege Insurance, which conducted the...

Older generations may seek job security, but millennials are putting work-life balance as their first priority when it comes to choosing work. A recent survey by YouGov found that one third said work-life balance was the most important factor, followed by pay, the work culture, and the length of the commute. Long-term job security came...

The Spring fashions are out in all the shops.  Are you tempted?  Probably – we spend more than £47 billion* on clothing in Britain each year. Well, here is some refreshingly good news: cheap clothes can last as long as designer clothes, and in many cases reasonably priced gear even offers you better quality. Textile...

With Mothering Sunday this month, we praise our mothers for all the good that they do for us.  And it is good to remember what a precious thing a good family can be. Here is one tip to strengthen your family:  give your children TIME.  Turn off your smart-phone for a couple of hours and...

One of Britain’s best-loved authors, Julia Donaldson (The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom) has said how much she detests seeing parents looking at their phones and ignoring their children. “You often see a parent with the child trying to get the parent’s attention, with the parent scrolling down and looking at Facebook.”

A number of primary schools have recently contacted parents about the effects that the game Fortnite is having on their children. Fortnite is rated 12-plus, but it is played by many younger children. It has become ‘all consuming’ for some, who risk becoming ‘addicted’.  The schools warn that some children are even becoming aggressive and...

If you think that showing off our holiday snaps and flaunting other details of our lives is the stuff of Facebook and Instagram, you would be wrong.  The craze predates the internet by at least 400 years. Now the British Library has opened its collection of alba amicorum, or ‘friendship books’ – in which wealthy...

Plan your way out of personal debt How to get the best out of life in a village Technoference Why you should not keep your curtains closed What is happening to our pets? Eat your way out of depression Is the internet increasing your secret addictions? Self-harming A new kind of diet All the lonely...

‘… making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.’ (Isaiah 43:19) The bills left over from Christmas are still coming through your letterbox with a thud. You can recognise which are bills before you open them, and your heart sinks. Many people have debts which they struggle with and which they cannot...

Have you recently moved, or are planning to move, to our village?  Villages can be beautiful, with pretty cottages and roses at their doors. But villages can also be lonely places.  So – here are some tips for how to survive – and enjoy village life! Make the most of your children. Children provide parents...