Youngsters let their imagination run free during a day of fun and discovery at The Nook. Seventy people visited the East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) base in Framingham Earl, near Norwich. For some families, it was their first time back at the hospice for a day of fun, and for two recently referred families it was the first time they had stepped through the door. The event, which included arts, crafts, food and activities, was held in collaboration with Together for Short Lives, a national charity that supports the UK’s 54 children’s hospices, including EACH. During the day, families and carers were invited to sit down and answer questions about hospice care. The aim of the sessions was to find out more about people’s experience of hospice care and what could be better. EACH was one of ten children’s hospices chosen to take part across the UK. Families were introduced to all the hospice has to offer, all with the hope of exploring and collaborating with families in a fun and enjoyable way about how they felt when they were offered support from the hospice, and any barriers they faced in accepting support. Together for Short Lives is keen to use this information to understand why there is a gap between the total numbers of children with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition and those who are accessing their local hospice services. Among the highlights, children and parents enjoyed a craft activity where they made princess tiaras and there were also cream teas, cakes, bubbles, a treasure trail and garden games. They left with beautifully-designed stencil creations on their hands and arms. “The families were very relaxed and really enjoyed the day, despite the sweltering conditions,” said The Nook Care Manager Emma Chilvers. “Being able to welcome people back like this was wonderful and it felt like a pre-Covid event. “We opened the bi-fold doors and families enjoyed being able to make use of the space available to them, both inside and outdoors. “The Nook is such a beautiful place and an event of this nature gave us a chance to showcase just how special it is. “I was blown away and we’ve had some great feedback both from families and Together for Short Lives.” Thirty-seven children attended, along with 33 adults. They were able to explore The Nook’s sensory room and soft play area, as well as being treated to a session with Jeff Sharkey, from Musical Keys. Children’s hospices are often described as a “lifeline” for families that access their local hospice. They provide a range of services from symptom management, short breaks in the hospice or at home, therapy services, sibling support, hydrotherapy, emotional and spiritual support through to end of life and bereavement care. Together for Short Lives hope that through this fun, activity-filled discovery work they will be able to understand the reasons why families sometimes find it difficult to take up referrals to children’s hospice services, and that together they will be able to support families on this journey. Dr Helena Dunbar, from Together for Short Lives, said: “We are enormously grateful to all the children’s hospices for organising such a fun day for families, so we can better understand how families feel about being supported by their local children’s hospice. “We know first impressions are so important, which is why we hope these amazing activity days shine a light on all the incredible support the hospice has to offer.” EACH supports families and cares for children and young people across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire. Hobbycraft, Together for Short Lives’ longstanding partner, kindly donated materials for families to enjoy during the fun day, which took place on 13th August. Image credit – Karen Self/EACH
A Cromer shop manager proved the ‘bearer’ of good news after handing over a giant teddy to lucky four-year-old George Vanni. Little George won the paw-some toy after winning a ‘guess the name’ competition in the East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) shop, in Tucker Street. The contest was part of the store’s carnival week celebrations and his winning entry was the name Smudge. George, from Northampton, was on holiday in North Norfolk with seven-year-old brother Charlie and grandparents Steve and Trudi. Mark Buller, EACH relief and support manager for the north and east region, said: “It was my pleasure to present our giant bear to George. “He was delighted, as you can tell from the picture, and it was also lovely to meet his brother and grandparents. “Our staff and volunteers got in the spirit, joined in the fun and enjoyed the carnival celebrations. “As well as running our week-long teddy competition, we also had lots of special offers that proved a hit with customers.” George is pictured with Mark and Cromer shop volunteer Patricia Goodwin. The competition raised £125 and Cromer Carnival Week ran from Saturday, 13th August to Friday, 19th August. Image credit – EACH
Evander, the UK’s leading glazing and locksmith solutions provider, whose central operations are located in Norwich with a network of distribution centres across the UK, are celebrating after landing an internationally recognised award for demonstrating high standards in health and safety. Evander has received a RoSPA Silver Health and Safety Award for their commitment to ensure its colleagues return home safely to their families at the end of every working day and that they never put their customers at risk. Organisations receiving a RoSPA Award are recognised as being world leaders in health and safety practice. Every year nearly 2000 entrants seek to achieve the highest possible accolade in what is the UK’s longest-running H&S industry awards. Graham Pye – Safety and Compliance Director for Evander said “we are delighted to receive this recognition and it is testament to every colleague for understanding the importance of our policies and to implement them on a daily basis, that has contributed to us receiving this award. For many years we have been championing procedures that have placed safety at the forefront and we are committed to lifting safety off the page. We joined RoSPA as a member earlier this year, with the want to continually improve our health and safety practices and to help us on our journey to become market leaders in this area, not just in physical safety but mental wellbeing too”. Julia Small, RoSPA’s Achievement Director said, “This is a fantastic and well-deserved accomplishment. All of our award entrants demonstrate their unwavering commitment and passion for keeping people safe at work. By receiving this recognition, Evander join liked minded business and organisations worldwide, who represent the very best in their approach to Health & Safety”. For more information about Evander visit www.evander.com For more information about RoSPA visit www.rospa.com/awards Image – left Health and Safety manager, right Safety and Compliance director. Provided by Evander
This April to June 2022 report brings together key business, economic and labour market intelligence to provide a regular insight into the current state of the Norfolk economy. Data is correct to 30 June 2022. Find out more here.
Captain Fawcett Ltd and Jordan Fitness have been limbering up to announce a brand new collaboration. Both companies are forged in King’s Lynn, West Norfolk, the launch pad for each to build global brands celebrating the finer things in life. Captain Fawcett is home to a simply delectable range of ‘First Class Gentlemen’s Grooming Requisites’ and Jordan Fitness provides premium gym equipment plus cutting edge training kit. The brand new partnership kicked off with a YouTube promo filmed on location at Jordan Fitness. It features Fawcett Ambassador Extraordinaire, model Ricki Hall, who is shown taking part in a tough free weights drill before using products from his top selling Captain Fawcett Signature Series ‘Booze & Baccy’ to freshen up post workout. Richie Finney, founder of Captain Fawcett says ‘As a West Norfolk Champion, Captain Fawcett loves nothing more than collaborating with fellow King’s Lynn chums and Jordan Fitness is a most excellent fit! As a supporter of male mental health initiatives, Captain Fawcett has long shared the belief of the Ancient Greeks, that a healthy body fosters a healthy mind. Furthermore, for millennia it has been known that physical well-being not only reduces the risk of depression, it also enhances one’s self esteem, which is very much the meeting point for quality gentleman’s grooming and a sophisticated gymnasium specialist! Indeed, on another note, a chap attempting to nurture his facial follicles should note that increasing blood circulation is essential for stimulating hair growth, so a quality exercise regime is a must for your beard growing hormones. Weightlifting & strength training can also boost testosterone temporarily, thereby enhancing hair health. Huzzah!’ Zak Pitt, Managing Director of Jordan’s Fitness says ‘We have always been a champion of local businesses and are delighted to be partnering with Captain Fawcett, combining first class grooming with premium fitness. We are excited to see how our partnership develops in the future as we both continue to expand.’ Meanwhile, we are delighted to offer Jordan Fitness and Captain Fawcett customers 10% off both websites: www.jordanfitness.com & www.captainfawcett.com using code: JFCF22
Hi and welcome to our weekly Web Insights newsletter, which aims to share our knowledge at Bigfork in creating successful websites. If you haven’t already subscribed to the Web Insights newsletter then please click the ‘Join the Conversation’ button at the end. What types of website are there? A website is not just a website! A website has a job to do, and that job depends on your objectives. You’ve may have ticked the “website done” box, but without clearly defined goals, it’s just a website drifting in the vast expanse of the internet. Whether you are a business, public sector organisation, or a charity having a website is a requisite. A clear understanding of what you want to achieve is essential so a web designer can build the required functions and create a stunning design to find, connect and engage with your target audience. What type of website do you actually need? There are different types of websites and the one you need will depend on what your goals are. Your website isn’t limited to one purpose and can wear many hats, for example an ecommerce site may also need information pages and a blog for SEO. Here are some of the most common types of websites: Information websites Informational websites are as a resource to communicate information. These sites are usually based around include long form content and provide in-depth information to their audience. Effective website navigation tools such as multi-level menus and search facilities are essential for information websites. It’s easy for users to get lost when your site has hundreds (or thousands) of pages, so a strong structure is essential. Information websites are widely used by local authorities, schools, colleges, and government departments. Information website case study: Windsor Academy Trust With twelve websites (and counting) Windsor Academy Trust is a family of schools covering education for children from 2 to 18 years old. They contain a vast amount of information about the schools, curriculum, policies, applications, latest news and job vacancies. Windsor Academy Trust Case Study > Lead generation websites As the name suggests, lead generation websites focus on generating leads for a service or product. These websites are used by companies providing services such as financial, legal, or design – anyone who wants to generate leads for their business. Lead generation also works for businesses who provide a “made to order” product that doesn’t have a fixed price. For example, bespoke kitchens, furniture, or large engineering / construction products. Because they can’t sell these direct, a lead generation website is needed to generate enquiries. A lead from your website can come in many forms; a phone call, email, enquiry form, online chat, booking an appointment or requesting a quote. You can also capture data through email newsletter signups and downloads to generate leads. Tracking conversions of your lead generation tools is essential to understand which methods work best on which pages. Lead generation case study: Vincent Burch Vincent Burch is a national mortgage broker who specialise in a range of products with expertise in buy to let mortgages. Positioning, straightforward messages, and clear calls to action were key to increasing lead generation and conversion rates. See Vincent Burch Case Study > Ecommerce websites In its simplest definition, ecommerce websites and online shops are sites that sell goods and services to customers online. Ecommerce sites are used by small and medium sized business, national and international brands to huge online marketplaces such as Etsy or Amazon. Ecommerce sites are usually either business to business (B2B) or business to consumer (B2C). Most businesses typically use an ecommerce platform such as Shopify or Woocommerce. These platforms are ideal for small businesses on a budget but are also used by big companies. Ecommerce isn’t limited to online shops though, it can apply to any online transactions. For example, you could use ecommerce to take subscription payments online, or set up your website to receive invoice payments. Ecommerce case study: My Fish Delivery My Fish Delivery is an online shop for wholesale fish merchants Brown & May, and is a perfect example of how a small business can sell online. Read My Fish Delivery Case Study > Blog website A personal or business blog should inform, entertain, educate, and engage your audience. When regularly updated, a blog with relevant articles, videos, and images not only is a great read, but can boost your website traffic and send quality leads to your website. Search engines love fresh content and blogging is the perfect opportunity to target your audience while demonstrating your expertise and knowledge. Blog posts are also great content for email marketing and social media, and the perfect backbone for a content marketing strategy. A great example of a blog website is The Hoot. It’s a niche blog aimed at School Governors, with regular posts help to inform and support their audience. Membership website A membership website is a site that includes members-only content. They are often used by non-profit organisations, clubs, associations, and businesses to “gate” content that only members have access to. This offers additional value to the members and encourages others to sign up or become a member to access information. The Association of Average Adjusters is a membership organisation and a good example of a membership site. It allows members to register and renew their subscription online, and book onto events and examinations. The members-only areas provide information around latest industry news and regulations, with different levels of access depending on the membership type. Take a look at the case study for The Association of Average Adjusters > What else? We’ve covered the main types of websites, however this list is just the start. The web is a powerful tool and can do so much, for example Gmail, Facebook, and your online banking portal are (among other things) websites. Don’t think your website is limited to a few pages of information, a contact form, and some awkward mugshots. It can do so much more. Need a new website? Then please get in touch. Mark Ellaway, Bigfork PS – You can find more great successful website insights on the Bigfork website. Images provided by BigFork
Welcome to a new series of content from Lotus Engineering, the consultancy division of performance car manufacturer Lotus. With regular updates over the coming months, the team will explain its portfolio of capabilities and its key priorities as the automotive world moves to an all-electric future. It will also share how yesterday’s successes – some you might not be aware of – are inspiring the projects of today and tomorrow. Lotus Engineering provides comprehensive consultancy services to many of the world’s OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. It is internationally recognised for its long-standing contribution to ground-breaking engineering and innovative vehicle development. The three core pillars of its expertise and its commercial offering are Platforms, Control Systems and Technical Services, which includes intelligent design, product concept development, attribute development, advanced engineering and even whole-vehicle manufacturing. The Platforms pillar is very simple to explain; it’s the commercialisation of Lotus’ vehicle architectures, so other businesses can develop their own cars through an accelerated timescale and with reduced investment. Lotus has four unique vehicle platforms, three of which are fully electric, plus the chassis on which the petrol-powered Emira is built. In addition, what Lotus Engineering calls ‘legacy architectures’ – on which the Elise, Exige and Evora were built until last year – are also available. Platforms is an area where Lotus Engineering has significant and high-profile experience, for example, the Opel Speedster / Vauxhall VX220 launched by General Motors’ European divisions in 2000. Working side by side with the client, Lotus Engineering commercialised the platform of the acclaimed Elise to create a two-seater sports car designed to source a new type of customer for the twin brands. While the styling was done by Opel and GM engines were used, the project centre and manufacturing were at the Lotus HQ in Hethel, Norfolk, In total, more than 7,000 Opel Speedster / Vauxhall VX220 sports cars were manufactured, in the same production facility as the Lotus Elise and Exige. Mark Stringer, Commercial Director, Lotus Engineering, commented: “We had our pioneering extruded and bonded aluminium small-vehicle platform which, with its great flexibility, efficiency and versatility, could be successfully re-engineered to form the basis of another car, in this case the Opel Speedster. The result was a unique and award winning sports car for GM which carried the Opel and Vauxhall DNA and which was manufactured efficiently and to globally recognised quality standards. It’s an excellent illustration of how our clients can benefit from the all the work Lotus has already carried out, reducing costs and time-to-market.” Although platform-sharing is a common practice within global OEMs with multiple brands, Lotus Engineering provides solutions to third parties with both low and higher volume requirements. An added benefit is access to Lotus’ full suite of product development services, including manufacturing. Mark added: “Today, one of our key selling points with clients is that Lotus has transitioned quickly to electrification in its own range of vehicles, from the Eletre SUV to the Evija hypercar and the Type 135, our future EV sports car. It means we can make those segments accessible to clients who are looking to ramp-up to electrification quickly with reduced investment, while also supporting with our technical services.” The three fully electric architectures available means Lotus Engineering can support development of vehicles across a range of segments. There is also technical flexibility in the architectures themselves, and how they, and the integrated components, can be adapted to suit clients’ needs. “Our commitment to lightweighting provides a great basis for adaptation, and there are high levels of flexibility in each platform so we can work with the client to develop unique attributes to embody its own DNA,” explained Mark. “Like everything Lotus Engineering offers, manufacturing is also scalable because our all-new production facilities have been created with additional capacity to enable third party work.” Images owned by Lotus
Hi and welcome to our weekly newsletter, which aims to share our knowledge at Bigfork in creating successful websites. If you haven’t already subscribed to the Web Insights newsletter then please click the ‘Join the Conversation’ button at the end. How to choose the right Content Management System (CMS) for your website. What is a content management system (CMS)? What does a CMS do? How do you evaluate one? What is a content management system? A content management system (CMS) is software that makes it easy for non-technical people to update and manage a website. A CMS is what makes it possible to create new pages, edit existing ones, and add new content without having to ask a developer. How do I choose the right CMS? When it comes to choosing the right content management system (CMS), there are a lot of things to consider. You can pick from hundreds of CMSs all with their own strengths, and it’s not always as simple as choosing the most popular one. Content management systems vary in complexity, so it’s important to know what you need before deciding on one. What do you want your website to do, who is it aimed at? For example, the requirements for a personal travel blog are vastly different to a high-traffic ecommerce store. Who will build the website? Are you going DIY, and if so what’s your skill level? You can get a long way without code, and even CMSs that do need programming knowledge have varying levels of skill required to make the most of them. What other considerations are there, are you holding a lot of personal data and therefore need to be extra security conscious? Do you need to integrate with any third-party services, or will you be taking payments? Start off with a website brief, even if you’re only briefing yourself. This is an effective way to think through what you may need. Is WordPress still the best CMS? If you’ve done any research into content management systems, you’ll have come across WordPress. Originally launched as a blogging platform in 2003, it’s grown into the most popular CMS on the market. It has many strong points – it’s well supported, there are a wealth of plugins, themes, and page builders, it’s free, and easy to use. You can do a huge amount without any coding knowledge whatsoever, and if you know code then you can achieve even more. On the flip side the interface can be a bit clunky, the quality and level of support for themes and plugins varies wildly, and it’s a massive target for hacking – so if your website is mission critical you need to know your stuff when it comes to security. In short, WordPress is sometimes the right choice, but there are a lot of other great CMS options. Let’s talk specifics We can’t possibly evaluate every CMS on the market; however, we do have first-hand experience with a lot of different ones that might help you on your journey. Non-technical CMSs If you don’t know your HTML from your elbow there are plenty of options that don’t involve programming. However, you will still need to invest time into getting the most out of whatever option you choose. WordPress we already mentioned. You use wordpress.com to create a hosted website, or self-host if you want more control – many hosting providers offer a one-click install. If you do self-install, remember you’ll need someone to take care of security and updates. Or you might want to consider an alternative hosted CMS like Webflow, Wix or Squarespace. These all very capable platforms that perform well, offer easy to use visual page builders, and have add-ons for all sorts of functionality. There are also more niche options depending on what your website needs to achieve. If you want to launch a simple online store, then Shopify makes this straightforward with off-the-shelf themes and a wealth of available add-ons. Or if you’re specifically creating a content platform – like an online magazine, Ghost is an excellent choice with a lot of features tailored to content marketing. Technical CMSs If you’re a dab hand with code, there are even more options available. Bear in mind these are aimed at developers, some requiring more experience than others, but the trade-off is more flexibility and power. These are the sort of tools you’d consider if you wanted features that don’t come out of the box, or if you want to create something truly bespoke. We’re a huge fan of Silverstripe for its superb user interface, enterprise level security, and underlying framework. It’s a powerful open-source product akin to slightly more well-known CMSs Drupal and Joomla. But with great power comes a great learning curve, and these may well be overkill for your needs. Slightly easier to learn (but still developer focused), is Craft CMS. When we mentioned WordPress being a bit clunky, Craft CMS feels like what it could be if someone rebuilt it for 2022. And much like WordPress, you can do a lot from the admin area (as opposed to working with the underlying files), plus there’s an extensive marketplace for plugins. Unlike WordPress, you will need to get your hands dirty with code to get anywhere worthwhile. Statamic is along similar lines to Craft CMS, however It’s unique in that it doesn’t use a database (unless you want it to) which makes it super-fast, and it has one of the slickest user interfaces of any CMS we’ve ever used. Then there’s a whole other world of headless CMSs like Sanity, which are designed to give massive flexibility in terms of how your content is edited and displayed. Most of the CMSs above can also operate headlessly like the horseman from Sleepy Hollow. However, if you’re reading this article and haven’t come across headless before, it’s safe to assume they offer more power than you’re looking for. Ecommerce CMSs We’ve already mentioned Shopify as a non-technical CMS. However, in the hands of a skilled developer, it can become as complex as you desire with custom themes, functionality, and integrations. And if you really want the grand-Daddy of ecommerce CMSs, Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento) has you covered with both SAAS and open-source flavours, but be warned, it’s not for the faint of heart. Though as with everything else, the lines are blurry, and most of the CMSs above have the option of adding ecommerce functionality too. So, it comes back to thinking about exactly what you want to accomplish now and in future. So, which CMS do I choose? Thirteen CMSs in and we haven’t even scratched the surface of all the possible choices. For a start, all the above options are either hosted SAAS (software as a service) products or PHP based. There are also CMSs built on .NET (Umbraco being the most notable) and Python (likely Django) that you might want to look at if you’re not PHP based. The point is, as we mentioned earlier, it really depends. It depends on what you want to achieve. It depends on what your capabilities are, or if you’re using a developer / agency, what their capabilities are. It also depends on your budget. Some CMSs are free, some have licenses, and plugins / add-ons may or may not come with costs, and there may be development costs involved too. None of the above answers the question of how to choose the right content management system, and much like a politician on daytime TV, we can’t give a straight answer. However, we don’t want to squirm around the point until our segment is up either, so… If you’re a hobbyist looking to build a personal site or interested in learning more about CMSs, then WordPress is a solid starting point. It has a low learning curve, is well documented, and there’s loads of guides available – this one from wpbeginner for example. If you’re looking to develop a website for your business, then we recommend speaking to a web design agency. A properly created business website is an investment that should be planned, designed, and developed by professionals. And there are much better things for you to think about than what CMS your website sits on (but we absolutely recommend it does sit on a CMS). For example, how will you plan your website content, or how will you know if your website is a success? If you do have any questions about content management systems, or anything else digital, feel free to ask us anything. Mark Ellaway, Bigfork PS – You can find more great successful website insights on the Bigfork website. All images provided by BigFork
Last year we asked for initial public views on the development of a masterplan for Gorleston seafront – around 1200 people responded, and we would like to thank everyone that took part. Now the council is consulting on a draft document based on those responses and discussions with stakeholders like you. We would particularly like your views on a series of proposed actions, covering topics including conservation, accessibility, wayfinding, and events. You can read the draft masterplan and take part in the online survey by visiting great-yarmouth.gov.uk/gorleston-seafront-masterplan by Sunday, 18 September. Please do take this opportunity to help us shape Gorleston’s future for the next 10 to 15 years. We would also encourage you to pass this invitation on to anyone you think may be interested in feeding back their views. Image provided by Great Yarmouth Borough Council
An award-winning comedy and music extravaganza that last year raised a staggering £92,000 for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) is heading back to Suffolk. Tickets are now on general sale for Happy Christmas Ipswich 3, spearheaded by celebrity champion Griff Rhys Jones, which is taking place at the town’s Regent Theatre on Monday, 5th December. Back by popular demand, it promises to be another sell-out and hopes are high as it follows in the footsteps of last year’s spectacular, which featured Johnny Vegas, Clive Anderson, Eddie Izzard and Stephen Fry, as well as music from West End star Ruthie Henshall. Griff is promising “another knock-out, jingly-belled line-up” and said: “After the success of the last two outings, we’re going for a third Happy Christmas Ipswich. “Yes, the ‘Happiest Christmas Yet Ipswich’ hits the borough on December 5th, at the Regent. “Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without it and it’s going to be bigger, bouncier and more fun than ever before. It’ll be quite a present for a really important service. “I always think of the Happy Christmas event as part show and part shout-out for EACH, and the brilliant work it does across East Anglia. “I love doing it, the stars love doing it and we’re so lucky to have such incredible line-ups. It gets noise going.” In addition to its star-studded cast, clips of celebrities reading their favourite cracker jokes was shown on the big screen before and during last year’s show. Ant and Dec, speaking from the set of I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!, Graham Norton and David Walliams were among those to get in the spirit and respond to Griff’s request. Star names for this year’s line-up are yet to be announced but tickets are available now by clicking here. You can also watch a special video message from Griff where he promises a “cornucopia of comedy” at the Regent. Last year’s Happy Christmas Ipswich event scooped a coveted prize in the Event/Campaign of the Year category at the Chartered Institute of Fundraising East Anglia Awards, in June. EACH Events Manager Becky Redbond is looking forward to this year’s edition and said: “Happy Christmas Ipswich 2 was such a resounding success last December. “This year’s version promises to be even bigger and better and, as always, we’re extremely thankful to Griff. He continues to do us proud. “He’s such a tireless supporter and, thanks to him, this event has become a major highlight of our fundraising year. “We’re never content to rest on our laurels and the planning process is already well underway. It promises to be another unforgettable night.” The first Happy Christmas event was held in 2019 and featured the likes of Al Murray and Lee Mack. EACH supports families and cares for children and young people with life-threatening conditions. In addition to The Treehouse, in Ipswich, EACH has two other hospices – The Nook, just outside Norwich, and at Milton, near Cambridge. Image credits – EACH
A children’s book about the adventures of a loveable hedgehog is set to raise vital funds for charity. The Cathedral Hedgehogs is aimed at youngsters between the ages of four and eight and has been written and illustrated by Philippa Bonomally. It costs £5 and proceeds will be split between East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) and the Hedgehog Haven rescue centre, in North Walsham. “I really enjoyed the creative process of writing this book,” said Philippa, 70. “It kept me going throughout lockdown and the idea came when my cousin found a poorly baby hedgehog in her garden. She lives in Cathedral Close. “We took it to the vets and, thankfully, it made a full recovery. That’s what inspired me to write a children’s story. “The main character is a naughty hedgehog called Benedict, born in a compost heap belonging to the Bishop of Norwich. “The book is in two parts and I left him at the top of the cathedral spire at the end of the first story. I then wrote a sequel to get him down! “In the second part, he has to be rescued by a steeplejack and goes on a big adventure, getting into all sorts of mischief and meeting other animals, including more hedgehogs, an owl and a group of singing bats. He also has a scrape with a hungry badger.” The Cathedral Hedgehogs has a Christmassy theme. Two hundred copies of the book have been printed and signed ‘With love from Benedict and Phillipa’. They are available to buy in EACH’s shops in Unthank Road, Norwich, and Cromer. “I’m very proud of it and the black and white illustrations have come out well,” added Philippa, who lives in Costessey, near Norwich. “I’m delighted to be supporting two very special charities. “I love hedgehogs so was keen to support Hedgehog Haven. “As for EACH, it’s hard to think of a better or more worthy charity right here in the heart of our community.” EACH supports families and cares for children and young people with life-threatening conditions. It has three hospices, including The Nook, in Framingham Earl. Image credits EACH