Morning!

It's the new school year in the U.K., meaning a mixture of relief, sadness and trepidation for parents.  If you're a parent, this week's HFM includes an article for you. Plus, an amusing photo opportunity that you can recreate with just: cotton wool balls, a pair of glasses and a child (preferably your own).

Also, read on for an easy way to earn yourself £25 and more seriously, an important campaign about nut allergies.

As always, let me know if there's something you'd like me to include in a future edition.  The key criterion is that it needs to have a positive angle/outcome.

Julie

Julie Smith

Director

Pressurevalve™ Ltd

julie@pressurevalve.co.uk

www.pressurevalvecoaching.com

www.pressurevalveprojects.com

For inspiration:

Working parents: using strengths to boost effectiveness and gain some life back!

This article by Lea Waters is written to encourage you to buy her book but nevertheless, it contains an important idea for all of us, (not just parents).  If we increase the use of our strengths, we'll achieve more and with greater ease.

Sounds obvious but are you doing it?  

For others:

Banning nuts and nut products on airlines

Some of you may have seen recent coverage of a campaign to ban nuts and nut products on airlines.  Nut allergies can be fatal, so surely those of us lucky enough not to have them, can cope with a few hours on a plane without snacking on a bag of peanuts.

The organisation running the campaign is the Amy May Trust, a legal protective trust set up for Amy May Shead.  Amy is a friend of an ex-colleague of mine.  In 2014, when only 26 years old, Amy suffered a catastrophic allergic reaction after consuming a single bite of food in a restaurant.  This was after she was reassured it contained no nut products.

Amy sustained severe brain damage due to the lack of oxygen as she suffered a cardiac arrest, brought on by anaphylactic shock. No medical insurance can be claimed as her allergy is lifelong and therefore excluded from her policy. The restaurant responsible held no public liability insurance, therefore no compensation can be claimed. Due to this, The Amy May Trust has been established to aid her ongoing rehabilitation and to maximise her future.

If you can donate a few pounds, that would be fantastic.

For a smile:

Maud and Mavis

Look at these two, how can you not smile?  It's just the perfect photo - the wigs, the glasses and the expressions.  I'm imagining these two when they actually are grannies, still friends and giggling away at this photo. 

For your future:

Boost your career and/or, an easy way to get £25!

I haven’t turned into a goldfish, I know I mentioned the bootcamp last week.  I’ll be including a reminder most weeks, in the run up to the programme starting.  (I’ll aim to put them at the bottom of the email so that you don’t have to read them if you don’t want to!).

This said, it’s worth reading, as even if you don’t feel you need the bootcamp right now, it could earn you £25.  All it takes is a few taps on your keyboard or a call to a friend.

When people book onto the Bootcamp, I have a call with them to answer questions and assess their suitability for the programme.  During the call, I ask how they learnt about the programme.  If they give your name as the answer, then £25 is yours (assuming they are selected for the bootcamp).

The £25 can be a direct PayPal payment, or a gift card for Amazon or Kiva.org (The latter enables you to give a micro-loan, helping someone’s business or even for their education).  N.B. Payments will be made in December 2017.

So, who are you going to tell about the bootcamp and what will you spend your £25 on???