Tag: Ely

Day 56: Window Wanderland Ely

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Ely has joined the Window Wanderland revolution! As the sun went down on 23rd October 2020, the lights in 140 Ely homes & businesses went on, illuminating their window artwork.

Window Wanderland began in 2015 when Lucy Reeves Khan used her experience of isolation as a force for good, inspiring communities to transform their streets into unique ‘galleries’ for neighbours to enjoy together. Such a fun idea and Lucy can’t have known how much this kind of togetherness would be so desperately needed in 2020.

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Day 55: Somewhere in Ely

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Back in July, I read about a collaborative community arts project in our home city, called All Together Now. An invitation was extended to artists & makers to propose some “fun and unexpected things to happen in the city”. Intriguing! The focus was on encouraging local people to get creative during lockdown and involved in activities to be shared & enjoyed by locals and visitors.

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Day 53: Family Rave

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Raves became big news when I was at school – legal and illegal raves swept up the nation’s youth  throughout the 90s. They were frowned upon by many grown-ups but to a youngster, they sounded pretty exciting! I loved the energy of the music and still do – The Prodigy will always be one of my favourite bands.

But, despite loving the music, I never made it to one of these dance nights. I was a bit too young and far too timid. Now as a grown-up myself, I had the chance to go to my first rave and this was one that no parent could complain about.

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Day 46: Ely Borrow Bag

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I think by now we all know that plastic pollution is a huge world problem and the effects on the environment and marine life are horrific.

It’s hard to know what you can do as an individual and it’s easy to feel powerless. The way I feel is that while my family is four people in 7.6 billion, we can’t sit by and do nothing at all. In the words of David Attenborough following Blue Planet II, “…if we start doing those small steps that are easily achievable, we can, before long, really have an effect.”

I live in Ely which is home to around 20,000 people, and the city is on a mission to reduce the number of single-use plastic bags used in our shops. It’s something everyone can get involved in and I’ve made my small contribution 🙂

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Day 38: Painted Pebbles

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As we head towards the end of 2017, it’s a time when many will reflect on the year gone by and look to the year ahead. It’s the busiest season of the year with so much going on every single day – we know that this time of year can be particularly daunting for people living with mental illness, in its many forms. Fortunately, there is help out there for anyone who needs support. 

On Day 38 of #100DaysNoTV we left some festive-themed painted pebbles around our little city of Ely. These are no ordinary pebbles; we hope they will help to spread the word about a wonderful community project, Talking FreELY.

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Day 29: Ely Christmas Cracker

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For a festive hit in mid-November, there are few places better than Ely Cathedral. Their annual two-day Christmas Gift & Food Fair is an event attended by people from all around the country. In contrast, the #ElyChristmasCracker was all about local people.

Since the Cambridge blogger community – CambMeetUp – began in March 2015, there have been a number of local meetups around Cambridgeshire, and when Lauren decided it was time that Ely held one, I was more than happy to help organise. On Day 29 of #100DaysNoTV I co-hosted a blogger event for the first time!

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Day 27: Talking Blogs

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For Day 27 of #100DaysNoTV I did something I never believed I would (or could) do: I gave a talk about my blog to a group of people I’d never met before. To say I was out of my comfort zone is a massive understatement! But, I survived and, for many reasons, I’m so glad I went through with it.

I was invited to give a talk at a Mummas & More event, and Emily – the brains behind it all –was so lovely that I felt I couldn’t say no. When I told Rob about it, the fear set in: I would be speaking aloud, publicly, about myself. That’s something I tend to steer well clear of!
In a heartbeat Rob said, “Do it. It’ll be good for you.” It was the little nudge that I needed.

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Day 23: Cocktail Masterclass

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Life has a way of taking over sometimes, doesn’t it? Where’s the Pause button when you need it? It feels like forever since I was able to write a blog post. However, I’m back now and excited to share my stories with you again. 🙂

Every once in a while it’s great to get some friends together and try something a little bit different. I had a special birthday this year, and that seemed to me like a perfect time to do this! Day 23 of #100DaysNoTV was an excuse to get dressed up, meet with a group of girlfriends and spend a lazy Sunday afternoon at a Cocktail Masterclass.

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