Member News

Credit: Greater Anglia Greater Anglia is advising rail passengers, including football fans and people travelling to work and school or college, to avoid travelling by train on Thursday 15 and Saturday 17 September as national rail strikes are set to cause widespread disruption. Football matches affected by next week’s strikes include Arsenal v PSV Eindhoven on Thursday and Tottenham Hotspur v Leicester City on Saturday. East Anglian teams playing on Saturday include Norwich City, Peterborough United, Cambridge United, Ipswich Town and Colchester United. Fans are strongly advised to make alternative arrangements, as are students travelling to school or college and people commuting to work, because Greater Anglia is only able to run a heavily reduced service with last trains departing in the late afternoon – before the end of the working day and the final whistle in most cases. RMT trade union members, including Greater Anglia’s conductors, train cleaners and station staff and Network Rail’s signallers and maintenance teams are striking on Thursday 15 and Saturday 17 September. Members of ASLEF train drivers’ union are also striking on Thursday 15 September. Greater Anglia will run a very reduced service on routes into London Liverpool Street from Norwich, Colchester and Southend Victoria and the Stansted Express only, with first trains starting after 7.30am and completing their journeys by 6.30pm. There will be no services on branch or regional lines on both days and no services between Cambridge and London Liverpool Street on Thursday 15 September. Morning services on Friday 16 September and Sunday 18 September will also be affected by the strike, with most services starting later than usual at 7/7.30am. Services should be back to normal by early afternoon. Also on Saturday 17 September, due to  engineering work, there is a rail replacement bus service between Colchester and Ingatestone which will connect with the heavily reduced train service. There will be no rail replacement buses to replace trains not running due to the strike. Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director said: “We are very sorry that once again our customers will be disrupted by strikes, which this time will affect young people back at school or college after the summer break, commuters, business travellers, students travelling back to university, football fans and people hoping to enjoy a late summer day out by train. “We’re only able to run a fraction of our usual services, so our advice again is to avoid using our trains. “The rail industry is working hard to resolve these disputes and talks will continue with ASLEF and RMT in an effort to avert the strike.”

Above: The Friends of Thetford Station with their Wildlife Friendly Station accreditation Credit: Greater Anglia A community project to create a wildlife refuge on a rail station platform has won an award. The ‘Friends of Thetford Station’ won ‘Best Environmental Project’ at Thetford Town Council’s Thetford In Bloom competition for the wildlife garden they have created alongside the platform at Thetford station, rainwater collection and for their efforts to protect the town’s swifts and bats from habitat loss by installing nesting boxes on the old station building. The ‘Friends of Thetford Station’ are part of Greater Anglia’s volunteer Station Adoption initiative which sees local people getting involved at their local station for the benefit of the community. Over the years they have transformed the platform by developing an extensive and attractive wildlife friendly garden and a fernery in the old customer toilet facilities. Recently, they received a grant and planning permission from Breckland Council to fund six specially-designed swift boxes, and worked with Network Rail to install them at the top of the Victorian station building. Swift and bat populations have severely declined in numbers over the last 25 years, due to habitat loss and swifts are now considered highly vulnerable. The group installed six ‘day and night’ boxes which are designed to house swifts during the summer months and bats all year round. Each box has a nesting chamber for a pair of swifts and a recess in the rear panel where bats can roost. Alongside the boxes they also installed a solar-powered swift call emitting device to improve the chances of the boxes being found and used. As swifts are loyal to their nesting sites, the group’s long-term goal is to establish a swift colony. Lead volunteer, Fiona Rhind, said, “We recently became a Wildlife Friendly accredited station for the work we have done on the platforms, and we want to continually do more to show just what can be achieved in terms of greater biodiversity in an urban environment. “At Thetford station we’ve planted native hedges, established a wildflower area and installed 15 bird boxes – which we were delighted to see become home to blackbird and robin chicks this year. “It’s wonderful that we can now provide a refuge for swifts and bats as well – as our native species need all the help they can get. We’re really grateful to Breckland Council, Greater Anglia and Network Rail for supporting us in our aims to do everything we can to support our local wildlife and we’re delighted to have been recognised for this work with a Thetford In Bloom award.” Councillor Terry Jermy, Chairman, Thetford Town Council Amenities Committee, said, “We are delighted to see the return of the Thetford In Bloom awards and in particular, pleased to see the addition of two new categories – Environmental Project of the Year and Environmental Champion of the Year. “The judges were very pleased to award first place to the Friends of Thetford Station in the Environmental Project category in recognition for their brilliant work locally. “Judges noted the maintenance of the flower beds in the vicinity of the station that have been well looked after by the volunteers and provide an important food source for bees and other pollinators. The recently added swift boxes and facilities for rainwater collection were also appreciated by the judges.” Thetford station recently received a ‘Wildlife Friendly’ accreditation from Greater Anglia and Norfolk Wildlife Trust to formally recognise the achievements of its team of volunteer ‘station adopters’ to create a wildlife haven at the station. Greater Anglia’s Customer and Community Engagement Manager, Alan Neville, said, “I’d like to thank the volunteers at Thetford for the incredible work they are doing to support biodiversity locally and congratulate them on this well-deserved recognition. “The railway in increasingly recognised as an important corridor for wildlife and thanks to initiatives like this, stations are becoming a vital part of that corridor which helps wildlife to move around the landscape and become more resilient to the effects of climate change and habitat loss.” Rail stations across East Anglia are increasingly becoming havens for local wildlife thanks to the efforts of volunteers who last year transformed over 6,800 square metres of railway land into thriving wildlife gardens. In a recent survey, Greater Anglia station adopters reported a wide range of creatures visiting their stations including many different types of butterflies as well as bees, slow worms, bats, foxes, deer and many varieties of birds, recording more than 200 different species. Greater Anglia has pledged this land to WildEast, a nature recovery movement which aims to restore 20% of East Anglia back to nature by 2050 and has joined the rest of the rail industry in pledging to make stations across Britain more sustainable. Above: Flowers at Thetford station Credit: Greater Anglia Above: Swift boxes on the old station building at Thetford rail station. Credit: Greater Anglia

Sweet-toothed siblings baked delicious treats to show their support for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH). Freddie and Aurelia Scott made meringues and lemon crumble cake respectively before selling them to hungry customers at their local farmers’ market. The idea came from a school project, when Freddie was given £10 and told to see how much he could increase it by – using the ‘seed fund’ to create a small business and then donating proceeds to a charity of his choice. The 16-year-old, a student at Radley College, in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, decided to make meringues and sell them at Creake Abbey Farmers’ Market, in North Creake, near Fakenham. He made £89.50 and donated all proceeds to EACH, which supports families and cares for children and young people with life-threatening conditions across Norfolk and the rest of East Anglia. Aurelia, 13, also got involved and used the egg yolks to make lemon crumble cake, which made a further £36.50. The siblings had EACH collection pots on their stall, bringing in just over £54, which meant that in total they raised a fantastic £180. Freddie said: “I started this as a school challenge which was to create a business with a loan of £10. I chose to make and sell my favourite pudding – meringues – and am delighted my investment ended up raising so much. “I couldn’t be happier to share my experiences and earnings with EACH.” Aurelia, a student at Tudor Hall, near Banbury, in Oxfordshire, added: “I love baking and when I heard Freddie had a lot of spare egg yolks I thought I’d help by making something to boost his takings.” Mum Diana is a long-time supporter of EACH, having been donating money to the charity for more than a decade. Freddie and Aurelia, who live at Creake Abbey, sold their goods at the farmers’ market on Saturday, 6^th August. EACH has three hospices, including The Nook, at Framingham Earl, near Norwich. Photo credits – EACH

Yesterday, the 8th September, was a sad, sad day and one that our generation will never forget. Future generations will look back and recognise what a privilege it was to have Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II in office. Her Majesty was a champion and patron of many charities within the UK and globally and acknowledged the need and necessity for such organisations to support and improve the lives of many around the world. Through her offices, Big C was recognised by awarding MBEs to David Moar, the founder of Big C, and to Theresa Cossey a long standing trustee. She was a champion and patron of many charities within the UK and globally and acknowledged the need and necessity for such organisations to support and improve the lives of many around the world. Through her offices, Big C was recognised by awarding MBEs to David Moar, the founder of Big C, and to Theresa Cossey a long standing trustee.

“On the 17th July 2002, I was gifted the rare privilege of escorting her Majesty the Queen around a tented village on Angel Hill in Bury St Edmunds for the Queen’s 50th anniversary. The village comprised elements of Suffolk from Tourism, Commas, Farming and Food Production as well as the county’s heritage which included a native Suffolk Punch horse. On meeting the Queen, her presence and standing were immediately apparent, which is one of the many reasons she commanded respect and love across the world.”

Dr. Chris Bushby, CEO, Big C Cancer CharityPhoto credit: Big C

This is an opportunity for you to meet with delegates, top industry experts, peers, businesses and organisations who are travelling on, or have completed, the Net Zero journey.  If this resonates with you or your business, please apply for a free stand in order to share your knowledge, experiences and best practice from successful Net Zero strategies.    The expo is not a sales opportunity.  We are looking for an inspiring in-person celebration of the best of the green economy, accompanied by a series of seminars and workshops that demystify “Net Zero” and will explore how to develop and execute an effective net zero strategy.   Through thought-provoking keynotes, cutting-edge debates, and the exhibition, we will shine a light on the progress that is being made in Norwich and answer the question, “how can businesses start the journey or move even faster”.  We are looking for exhibitors that can educate and inform: 

• Able to examine the implications of upcoming policy / regulatory change 
• Apply economic sustainability to support business cases 
• Participate in peer shared learning of “successes and failures”  
• Educate and collaborate across businesses 
• Identify what innovations are coming that others can use 

For businesses, it’s not about doing one thing 100% better, it’s about doing 100 things 1% better.    The expo will take place on October 20, 10AM-4PM at the NUA building on Duke’s Street.  This event is supported by: Find out more here

• New online retail platform for current and legacy cars dating back to 1981
• Latest Lotus merchandise plus some heritage items also available via lotuscars.com
• Customers can either collect, or choose direct delivery, from retail agent
• Official parts manuals also available to help owners keep their Lotus performing to specification

Lotus estimates that up to 70% of its cars are still on the road worldwide, all cherished by their owners and many used regularly. To maintain this enviable record and to encourage more owners globally to keep their cars running, Lotus has unveiled a new online retail platform.   The e-commerce site has thousands of parts, accessories and consumables available to buy, from 1981 and the era of the Esprit and Excel, to the more recent Elise, Exige and Evora. All components are either original from period or manufactured to OEM specifications. To ensure that the right part is selected, a comprehensive search tool is located on the landing page, including the Lotus model, year, driveline and trim level. Further assistance can be found via the official Lotus parts manuals, also available for purchase on the platform. In addition, the site includes the full range of contemporary Lotus lifestyle merchandise, clothing and accessories. Legacy items, such as period keyrings and car covers for older Lotus cars, are also available. Customers can either collect from, or choose direct delivery from, their local retailer agent.   Chris Hinks, Director, Aftersales, Lotus, said: “A Lotus car is designed, developed and built to be driven in a spirited way, and so it’s vital that we support owners worldwide in keeping their cars performing as our engineers intended. Moving our entire parts and accessories business to this new and fully searchable online portal is improving our service to them.”   He continued: “Some Lotus owners have their own workshop facilities and take pleasure maintaining their cars themselves, others rely on authorised retailers and repairers. We always encourage our customers to keep their cars maintained to specification for the full ‘signed-off’ experience, and parts.lotuscars.com will significantly improve our already outstanding levels of service, making that easier than ever.” Images provided by Lotus

A steely runner is striding out of his comfort zone and embarking on a monster 200-mile challenge in aid of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH). Super-fit Alan Carter is taking on the mission in memory of Callum Doe, the son of a friend who died in August 2020. He plans to run 50 miles a day for four days, getting underway on 15^th September. His epic journey starts from his home in Mellis, before heading to Wortham Ling and then, via the Angles Way, to Knettishall Heath. He then plans to swap to the Peddars Way and run to Hunstanton, where he will pick up the North Norfolk Coastal Path. He will follow this around the coast to Great Yarmouth and return to Mellis along the Angles Way. “After that I’ll fall into bed and remain in the recovery position for about 12 hours, probably more,” joked Alan. “This challenge is a fair bit beyond my comfort zone and I’m not going to be too strict in terms of rules. “It’s about raising money for charity and it doesn’t really matter how I do it. “Getting round will be hard enough and it’ll be particularly tough at the start of each day. It’ll be a case of pigeon steps, walking and then breaking into a run. “It makes me nervous to think about it but I know I’ll be pleased with myself if I complete it. “It takes courage to attempt something like this and by asking for sponsorship, it will give me extra pressure and determination to keep moving when the going gets tough. “It would be embarrassing to have sponsors and not finish the whole run. “Because the run is too much to complete in a day, I’ll be carrying the things I need and have bought some of the lightest camping gear available.” Alan, 46, has a personal reason for supporting EACH and is good friends with Callum’s dad, Ian Doe. Thirteen-year-old Callum was diagnosed with an aggressive grade four brain tumour on Christmas Eve 2018. He had an operation to remove as much of it as safely possible, in addition to two rounds of radiotherapy, but died at The Nook, EACH’s hospice in Framingham Earl, in August 2020. Alan, a joiner by trade who has a fiancée, Ruth, and ten-year-old daughter, Scarlett, said: “I’ve become a big fan of EACH. “Other than its high street presence, I didn’t know anything about the charity until Callum and his family needed help and received care at The Nook. “It had such an impact and goodness knows how anyone copes without that support. “I used to cycle with Ian and, over the course of a year, we followed Callum’s story. “When he passed away, the feeling of uselessness and sadness inspired me to do some fundraising for EACH. “Ian always said what a great support the charity was to him, wife Michelle and daughter Abi. “They said the staff were so invested in them. It didn’t feel like they were at work – they just wanted to help.” Alan is no stranger to raising funds for EACH and completed another eye-watering run in October 2020. His Angles Way Challenge saw him complete the full length of the 77-mile footpath, starting in Great Yarmouth and heading south towards Lowestoft, ending at Knetishall Heath and taking in Bungay, Beccles and Diss. It was effectively three marathons in a row over mostly rough ground and he raised £2,645. Ian cycled alongside him, carrying water and energy gels. “It was a real team effort and definitely a day to remember,” said Alan. “Poor Ian. Not only did he have to keep me company all day and night, he also had to cycle 80 miles very slowly. It must have been torture for a fast cyclist like him, although he didn’t show it.” Alan plans to meet Ruth and Scarlett, both of whom recently completed EACH’s Norwich Bubble Rush, at the halfway point and has already received offers of support from his running clubs, Rickinghall Runners, Diss Athletics Club and Suffolk Trail Runners. He said: “Friends have offered to come and run alongside me for some sections, which will be a huge morale-boost. “I know from experience that time stretches out on these long runs. “A mile can seem like five at times, but having someone alongside you reverses that. It’s brilliant. “To prepare for this challenge, I’ve run 1,150 miles this year and follow a monthly training cycle which starts at 30 miles per week and builds to 60. Then the following month I start again with 30. “I also ran the Five Rivers Ultra run in May, which was 103 miles along the Essex and Suffolk coast. “I came eighth in 26 hours, which I was very happy with.” To sponsor Alan, head here. Image credits – EACH

A Greater Anglia train. Credit: Greater Anglia Greater Anglia is advising rail passengers to avoid using its trains on Thursday 15 September as 90 per cent of services will not be running due to a train drivers’ strike. The 24-hour strike – if it goes ahead – will leave Greater Anglia unable to run any services between Cambridge and London Liverpool Street and there will be no services on any branch or regional lines either. The only services running – all heavily reduced – will be the Norwich-London intercity service, a stopping service between Colchester and London Liverpool Street, the Southend Victoria-London Liverpool Street service and the Stansted Express between Stansted Airport and London. There will be no rail replacement buses to replace trains not running due to the strike. Other train companies affected by ASLEF strikes on Thursday 15 September are Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, Great Western Railway, Hull Trains, LNER, London Overground, Northern Trains, Southeastern, TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains. Morning services on Friday 16 September will also be affected by the strike, with most services starting later than usual at 7/7.30am. Services should be back to normal by early afternoon. Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director said: “We are very sorry that once again our customers will be disrupted by strike action, which this time will affect young people back at school or college after the summer break, commuters, business travellers, students travelling back to university and people hoping to enjoy a late summer day out by train. “With our drivers on strike, we’re only able to run about ten per cent of our usual weekday services, so our advice again is to avoid using our trains. “The rail industry is working hard to resolve these disputes and talks will continue with ASLEF in an effort to avert the strike.” Anyone who has booked a ticket to travel on Thursday 15 September can travel on Wednesday 14, Friday 16 or Saturday 17 September instead, swap to another date or get a free refund. Greater Anglia is currently finalising details of the timetable to operate on Thursday 15 September. Further information is available from greateranglia.co.uk/strikes which will be updated as details are finalised.

Norwich-based jewellery and accessories retailer, Lisa Angel, is relocating its current store at Chantry Place this autumn to a larger unit. The relocation follows on from the ongoing success of Lisa Angel at Chantry Place, including The Norfolk Flower Room pop-up, featuring Lisa Angel’s gorgeous dried flowers and bouquets, and to allow for more products and personalisation opportunities in its store. Lisa Angel plans to relocate this autumn, remaining on the lower ground floor of the shopping centre but taking over a larger unit next to Oliver Bonas and opposite H&M HOME. Lisa Angel, founder of the gifting and lifestyle brand which shares her name, said: “Our journey within the centre started with selling on the dining terrace in 2006 and evolved to the opening of our current store – so I’m thrilled to be continuing the Lisa Angel story there with our new location. We remain committed to supporting the high street and encouraging people to shop independent, and are grateful to our wonderful customers for their support, without which this wouldn’t have been possible.” The company’s Retail Operations and Visual Merchandising Manager, Jenna Crush, added: “We are really excited to be able to offer a selection of new curated lifestyle products, ranging from gardening gifts to soft furnishings. Sitting alongside our signature handstamped jewellery and beautifully crafted dried flower bouquets, our new store will hold thoughtful gifts for every occasion.” After having a stand at Chantry Place for over 10 years’, Lisa Angel opened a permanent shop at the Centre in 2018. The Lisa Angel brand has continued to go from strength-to-strength and is sold across the world. Paul McCarthy, general manager at Chantry Place, comments: “Lisa Angel is a local home-grown success story and is such a hit with our customers who love the quality of the on-trend products and personalisation options, so we know they will be delighted to hear that this relocation will offer them even more choice when shopping with us. We would like to thank Lisa Angel for their continued support and investment in the Centre.” The official opening date of the Lisa Angel store at Chantry Place will be announced soon. For more information on Chantry Place, please visit www.ChantryPlace.co.uk or follow chantryplacenorwich on social media. For more information on Lisa Angel, visit www.lisaangel.co.uk or follow @lisaangeluk on social media. Image credits Lisa Angel

How Passkeys could be about to improve our way of working! In May we told you about Passkeys, the the soon to be replacement for Passwords. We didn’t know when they would arrive, but we have heard that Apple are looking to start rolling Passkeys out in with IOS16 and across the coming few months. There has been some confusion around this though. Apple are marketing this feature hard, and people are thinking it is exclusive to them. That is not true. Passkeys are the brain child of a joint effort to increase cyber security from Apple, Microsoft and Google. The only reason Apple are pushing it so hard, is to make people aware and to use it. Microsoft and Google want to get the word out there just as much, so people understand how passkeys will function. The more people use it, the safer they will be and so will your business. Passkeys, which will also be known as FIDO authentication (Passkeys is much easier to say), let you log into an application, piece of software or website with your username and an authorised device, which is likely to be your phone. The device will produce a ‘cryptographic token’, which is the other half of the cryptographic key pair. As long as they match you will be allowed in. In real world terms, when you login you are going to use your phone to prove it is you. On your phone you can use you fingerprint, face or code to unlock it. As long as your phone is within range of the Bluetooth, and Bluetooth is turned on, it will work. No password needed. It is going to be far more secure for accessing you software, apps and websites. It will keep you data safe from cyber criminals. the Cryptographic will never be seen, so you can not record it and takes away the issue of having it stolen. A cyber criminal will need your physical devices, making it much harder to hack or steal data. If you are using Windows Hello, passkeys are already supported. It is not going to be long before the big three tech giants are rolling out support across their entire ranges. Before this all happens, if you would like advice or help in securing your devices or date, please get in touch with us today. Image provided by Uptech

Whether you are working from home or in the office, here are some tips to help keep common aches and pains at bay.

• If you are working from home, curled up on the bed or the sofa with the laptop balanced on your knee – stop it now! Your back will not thank you for it.

A chair with good lumbar support and at the correct height for you will make all the difference. If you have an office chair, this will be easier to achieve but even if you are at home sitting on a dining room chair, there are things you can do to improve your seated position. You do not need to sit bolt upright, in fact, that will probably cause you more aches and pains. Your spine has a natural curve, support your lower back with a rolled up towel if you do not have the support built into your chair.

• Make sure the chair is at a height where your feet comfortably reach the floor or if that isn’t possible, invest in a footrest or even a box under the table and no crossing your legs!
• Your computer monitor should be at a height where you do not have to tilt your head down or up to read what is on the screen. A good tip is for the header bar at the top of the screen to be at roughly the same level as your eye line. Also, if you stretch out your arm, you should just be able to touch the screen with your middle fingertip.

Eye strain is a common problem. Check the brightness of your screen and make sure you take regular breaks away from looking at the screen.

• Good lighting will also help alleviate eye strain or headaches.
• Eat well, if you’re really organised, prepare food to take with you to work and of course, make sure you stay well hydrated with plenty of fluids (ideally more water than coffee)
• The biggest killer is being sat down all day. Set the alarm on your phone to ping say 10 minutes every hour to make sure you get up and move around, even if it’s only to go to the kitchen or have a walk around the office, have a conversation with a colleague, but stretch those legs.
• Talking of stretching, here are some easy exercises you can do at your desk in addition to getting up:
  • Raise your arms in the air and stretch as far as you can reach. Then take your arms over to one side, pause, come back to the centre and then do the same the other way.
  • Slowly roll your shoulders back and forwards, either together or individually really squeezing your shoulder blades as you go.
  • Don’t forget your legs and feet. March in your chair, get the blood flowing, and circle your ankles or if you can find something like a tennis ball, roll that under your foot.
• If your job involves driving there are simple things you can do if you are stuck in stationary traffic (please don’t do these when the car is moving!)
  • Shoulder rolls mentioned above can easily be done in the car.
  • Gripping the steering wheel move your upper body forward tensing your pec muscles as if you are doing press ups
  • Roll your muscles by moving from one bum cheek to the other (sorry, no other way to describe that one)
  • This one you can do if you are on the move or not – sing your heart out! You choose if you have the windows down or not but really exercise those vocal chords, it feels great.

The important things are to get up and move when you can, make sure your desk is set up as ergonomically as possible, and keep well fed and hydrated. Oh, and have a good sing song! Image credit: Chambers Canva Pro 2022

Did you wake up this morning and immediately check your Apple Watch or Fitbit to see how many hours you slept and whether it was good quality sleep? Have you managed a minimum of 250 steps in the past hour? Is your phone or computer ‘pinging’ your schedule and deadlines for the day, reminders of what you need to do to achieve your daily tasks? Technology is great, isn’t it? Keeping us on track in every area of our daily lives both at work and play, there seems to be an App for everything. But are we ruled by technology, has it taken over our lives for the good or to the detriment of our wellbeing? It certainly has its advantages professionally, keeping teams in touch with online scheduling and online meetings, streamlining administrative tasks, and completing projects. But it doesn’t stop in the workplace, it has spilled over into our leisure time too so we are constantly relying on a screen to tell us what we should be doing and how we should be doing it. Ways to embrace technology but not let it rule our lives:

• We all need downtime from our screens, too much staring at the screen creates eye strain which in turn may cause headaches. Use technology to set a time say, 10 minutes each hour to just stop, get up and walk away. Take a breather. Even this short amount of time helps to clear your head and gives your eyes a rest.
• Emails are a great way to communicate but could a phone call also work? There are times when it is just so much easier to pick up the phone and speak to the person instead, discuss what needs to be done, form an action plan and then just confirm details by email. It can save time rather than trying to type it all out, wait for a response etc. We have forgotten the art of talking whether that is on the phone or face to face, let’s start a revival!
• Downtime during the working day is important not only for taking a breather to clear your head but also to encourage you to get up and move. Use technology to find an App or use an online workshop to do some simple stretching exercises for 5-10 minutes on a regular basis throughout the day or schedule 15 minutes at the end of the day as a way of winding down.
• Get outside and walk/run/cycle and make the most of the fresh air and natural environment. Use an App such as Couch to 5k, or a cycling challenge, anything that will benefit your physical and mental health, but not obsessively. Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t reach a certain goal or number of steps in a day. It is easy to feel you have ‘failed’ if you don’t reach a target, do not let it rule you. The fact that you have done some activity or exercise is an achievement. Be proud of yourself.

Technology is great if we use it to our advantage but going back to basics is also essential to achieve a balance. Don’t be ruled by that screen, the number of steps, do what is best for you and celebrate your achievements no matter how big or small. Image credit – Pexels