We’ve made it halfway through the three-week lockdown and in the words of nineties indie popsters James, “How was it for you?” With many of us now on furlough, we’d love to hear how you’re dealing with lockdown and keeping yourself occupied. For those of still working from home, do you have any home-working hacks you want to share? We’re all ears! Let us know via our Facebook post and we’ll share some of the best tips on our next newsletter.
One thing we’ve been making sure we have to help our heads is continuity. The alarm is still set each morning and working week bedtimes are being observed. We’re having two webcam work catchups a day – one to start and one to end the day – and the focus of the call isn’t always about work, it’s just about keeping in touch.
Another thing that’s really helping us is our dogs. Used to coming into the office each day, I think they’re struggling more than us with self-isolation, but they’re loving their daily walk and getting in plenty of sniffs and chasing of sticks. How are your pets coping? Share pictures of your pet here and the funniest one will get a £25 Pets at Home voucher.
Thanks for the messages of support after our last newsletter, too – it really does mean a lot. As we all find out way through these strange, strange times we need to focus on the little victories in life, so let’s celebrate them and show that we’re all still winning. Share your successes with us, tremendous and tiny here.
Once again, if you’ve got a story that you’d like to share, get in touch by email: [email protected] or [email protected] or call us on 07713 740 272
TODAY’S OBLIGATORY BAD JOKE…
I stayed up all night wondering where the sun went.
Then it dawned on me.
CELEBRITIES LINE UP FOR STAR-STUDDED (VIRTUAL) BRUM EXTRAVAGANZA
Next Sunday, a host of celebrities and performers will come together to put on Birmingham’s biggest virtual show. Offering an evening of unforgettable entertainment with a star-studded line-up, Brum’s Big Black Tie Bash will feature an evening of show-stopping performances, appearances from some of the city’s leading chefs, and familiar faces a-plenty; all while raising money for the NHS and talented local musicians and performers.
On Sunday 12 April, celebrities including Christopher Biggins, Jaki Graham, Shazia Mirza and Doreen Tipton will be streamed live into people’s living rooms as part of a three-hour show. Hosted by Phil Oldershaw, the digital black-tie bash will bring a little light relief to lockdown, encouraging friends and families to enjoy the streamed spectacular together… albeit whilst in their own homes.
Cook-a-longs with Michelin star chefs Glynn Purnell and Aktar Islam, as well as Great British Menu star Alex Claridge, will serve up the perfect remedy for a fortnight indoors. Teamed with cocktail master classes from some of Brum’s finest mixologists and a communal ‘cork pop’ to kick things off, this is a house party not to be missed.
Find out more here: https://dluxe-magazine.co.uk/birmingham/its-showtime-celebrities-line-up-for-star-studded-virtual-extravaganza/
7 TIPS FOR A STRESS-FREE HOME WORKING ENVIRONMENT
I’m sure for most of us the novelty of working in our PJs has already worn off. Time at home juggling work, children, pets and partners can leave us craving for our calm office environment that we used to enjoy and can bring added tension to an already stressful period.
As someone who has worked from home for a number of years, Rachel Irons of Complete Health and Protection shares some of the ways she looks after her mental health whilst working in an isolated environment.
Read them at https://dluxe-magazine.co.uk/business/7-tips-for-a-stress-free-home-working-environment/
TV HAIRDRESSER PROMOTES THANK YOU TO THE NHS
To say a huge thank you to our amazing frontline NHS staff for all their dedication and incredible work during the COVID-19 pandemic, award winning salon Hazel & Haydn in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, is offering the opportunity to purchase a Pamper Package for them to use once the salon is re-open – and here’s the cool bit: they’re donating 20% of each voucher’s value to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. www.hospitalcharity.org
Owner, Dale Hollinshead, who’s resident hairdresser on the new series of How To Look Good Naked, says; “We really want to show our support and thanks to our fantastic NHS staff but can’t do anything whilst we are closed. However, we can show our appreciation once we are open again, and all the clients who have asked how they can help can do so by purchasing a voucher.”
Vouchers are available via the salon website or by calling Hazel & Haydn on Tel: 0121 604 8886 and are available from just £5.00
SIMKISSGUY RECRUITMENT LAUNCHES NEW DIVISION TO SUPPORT THE FIGHT AGAINST COVID-19
Birmingham based firm SimkissGuy Recruitment, have expanded their offering with the creation of a new specialist division to provide much needed non-clinical frontline healthcare professionals across the Midlands and help support the nation’s fight against Covid-19.
The new specialist healthcare division has been established after approaches by new potential clients drawn to the Edmund Street based business by their established reputation as recruitment experts. These requests, combined with Co-Founder Richard Guy’s industry expertise having worked “in-house” recruiting within the healthcare sector for 8 years and the firm’s commitment to helping the local community, made creating the division an easy decision.
To find out more visit www.simkissguy.com.
FREE EXPERT PROPERTY AND MORTGAGE WEBINAR
Are you worried about how to afford your home; are your moving plans on hold; or do you wonder how you might benefit from changes in the property market? Or do you and your family differ on what to do next? Hosted by Gemma Godfrey, executive editor of Times Money Mentor, join this free Crowdcast webinar https://www.crowdcast.io/e/a-roof-over-your-head about how the Corona virus crisis is affecting mortgages and the housing market, on Friday, April 3 at 12pm.
With expert advice from Carol Lewis, deputy editor of Home, The Times and The Sunday Times and Paul Matthews, partner of PMK Mortgage Solutions, the webinar will cover key questions and guidance including:
- What does the freezing of the housing market mean & what financial support’s available?
- How to renegotiate your mortgage (when you can)
- Should you stay or should you go? (how property prices, completion timelines & the market are changing)
- Tips for landlords and those renting office space
The impact on your relationships and mental health.
WHY BUSINESS HIBERNATION MAKES YOU A SLEEPING TARGET
The devastating impact of the Covid-19 on UK tech start-ups will be massive with Boards urging us to make cutbacks and investors not taking risks, particularly High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI).
The bad news is these early stage businesses have seen a very quick reaction from the market and severe decline of investor interest. Some have even had previously agreed term sheets pulled and investment deals collapse.
However, I am not taking this approach, as to survive we must continue. I believe if we hibernate, we will wake up too slowly and our competitors will overtake us, warns Leanne Bonner-Cooke MBE of Evolve-IT Consulting Ltd.
Find out how she’s approaching the challenge of Corona: https://dluxe-magazine.co.uk/business/why-business-hibernation-makes-you-a-sleeping-target/
TIME TO FINALLY WRITE THAT NOVEL?
With the country in lockdown, and people isolated in their own homes, many have taken to social media to suggest that now might be the right time to write that novel or screenplay that’s been on your bucket list for years, but… where to start? We asked Fran Poletti, published author, screenwriter and lecturer at MetFilm School to give us her top tips.
Read them here: https://dluxe-magazine.co.uk/lifestyle/top-tips-from-award-winning-screenwriter-and-author-on-how-to-write-a-novel-or-screen-play/
MENTAL HEALTH SELF-HELP APP OFFERED FOR FREE DURING COVID CRISIS
Pumpkin is an App available for iPhone and Android that can help you improve your mental health, lower stress, reduce anxiety and sleep better with guided meditation sessions, inspiring speeches, hypnotherapy and calming meditation music. During the Covid crisis, Pumpkin is cancelling its monthly subscription fee, allowing those who are suffering due to the effects of the pandemic to access their resources for free.
The App contains hundreds of different self-care and mental health resources. Download now at:
iPhone and iPad: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pumpkin-self help/id353137729?ls=1
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onbeat.PumpkinSelfHelp
SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND
OZARK
OZARKSeason 3 of the ultra-dark Netflix thriller sees Jason Bateman and Laura Linney take their Missouri based money laundering operation up a level with the opening of a floating casino. Named after the isolated, rural waterside region in which it is set, this series sees the whole family get in deeper than the lake upon which their new venture floats. There’s no going back now, not for any of them. It really is sink or swim. If you’re a first-time watcher, it’s worth watching this from the very start. Dark and shocking, this is Jason Bateman as you’ve never seen him before.
HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER
The legal thriller about a group of aspiring law students and their talented criminal defence attorney and professor, Annalise Keating (played by Viola Davis) returns for a seventh season. HTGAWM is the perfect lockdown blockbuster to get you through the days ahead. With 15 episodes per season, that’s 105 dark and twisted tales of mystery and murder that are sure to keep you on the edge of your sofa. Literally, this is the best thing on the telly-box right now.
A SINGULARITY – BY DAMIAN JONES: FREE DOWNLOAD UNTIL MONDAY
How far would you go to save the world you love? Who would you really be prepared to sacrifice? A Singularity is a thriller set in the near-future, as the ramifications of the climate emergency take hold. The novel’s two protagonists, Selene and Mark, embark on a fraught journey to make a stand against the planet’s accelerating decline and the lack of urgency to combat it.
The young lovers also experiment with Dreamers, a pioneering new recreational drug which gives users incredible adventures whilst sleeping. Gradually, as the real world and their dreams merge dangerously together, they become lost in a surreal and uncertain land faced with an atrocity they may have committed as the authorities close in from all sides.
FREE Download here (until Monday): https://amzn.to/2nhNGR0?fbclid=IwAR2m9ufO3WO19ALrt6kpOTs36t-sMiDjuWVq4lpEuUz32bJwh0wz-A8z8SM
