Those with mobility issues often need and look for assistance to enjoy an active and independent life. Walking aids, such as a rollator, can help to increase one’s freedom and range of movement. Walking frames have long been the traditional go-to walking aid, but individuals often exert a great deal of time and energy in moving the frame. A rollator is a mobility aid possessing several features to help support a mobility-assisted lifestyle and is recommended for users requiring minimal support.

Typically modern, innovative, and easy to use, a rollator has numerous unique selling points. Tailored to the user a rollator is available in several sizes, and comes with wheels, instead of legs, allowing them to move along in front of a person with minimal fuss. Additionally, they are height adjustable, function very well outdoors, and are easily transportable.

A Rollz rollator is designed to help you to enjoy an active and independent life, and step out in confidence, comfort, and style. Designed by Dutch kinetics engineers, their modern rollators are built from the highest-quality materials, to last for as long as one needs to use them.

Rollz engineers are dedicated to crafting innovative, modern rollators to create the ultimate walking experience. Designed with the user in mind, the walking aids are geared towards making everyday tasks as straightforward as possible. Easy to push and manoeuvre, their rollators help users to enjoy their walk, holiday, or shopping trip.

Their rollators are a reliable shopping partner thanks to their large capacity bag. Even with a bag full of shopping, the modern rollator is easy to steer thanks to its smart gravity point. With the wheels set close to each other, it enables a tight turning circle which comes in handy in narrow spaces. Rollz have also placed an emphasis on stability, with their rollators designed to make walking feel safer by reducing the fear of falling. In doing so, it can provide physical stability and a boost of confidence you need to go out and move more.

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The brand, founded by two parents of young children and designed to offer health-conscious parents a no-compromise option, aims to encourage and inspire a love for the natural world and to boost kids’ overall health and happiness through its all-natural products and ethos.

Knowing that children can get bored with water and that they want to drink something delicious, Jamu Wild Water drinks provide a gentle fizz and flavour for an amazing taste that’s unlike any other kids’ drink on the market. The products contain natural plant fibre, which is a prebiotic to help maintain gut health, as it contains 5g of your 12g RDA of chicory inulin. The drinks also help support the immune system with added vitamins. Each product contains 38% of the RDA for Vitamin C and zinc, and 25% of the RDA for fibre.

The drinks come in three delicious varieties:

Sparkling Raspberry, Elderberry & Mallow

A refreshing burst of fizz mixed with a subtle infusion of raspberries. Elderberries have been used throughout the centuries to support health in many ways and are a rich source of vitamin C. Marshmallow Root is an important herb in Ayurvedic Medicine, traditionally used to soothe and reduce inflammation, and it’s also a prebiotic.

Sparkling Blood Orange & Echinacea

A zesty, bright and delicious taste. Echinacea has been used all over the world for years to support immunity and can help to relieve symptoms of cold and flu.

Sparkling Lemon, Dandelion & Nettle

A tangy and lively mouth-watering taste. Used traditionally to relieve inflammation, Nettle provides a variety of vitamins vital for immunity including vitamin C, D and K. Dandelion has been used for centuries by herbalists to support the immune system and the digestive system, and it’s rich in vitamin C and A, potassium, calcium and antioxidant compounds.

Tahi Grant-Sturgis founded Jamu Wild Water in 2020 with her husband, Patrick. They’ve witnessed first-hand as a family the many benefits of connecting with the land and getting closer to nature, and it inspired them to help children across the UK reap the same rewards. As well as creating all-natural products and encouraging kids to get out into nature, Jamu Wild Water will donate 10% of profit to UK charities that improve access to green spaces and increase opportunities for children’s outdoor learning and play.

To find out more and shop the range visit jamuwildwater.co.uk

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This is according to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Swimming and recognised national governing body Swim England.

Learning to swim builds confidence in children, improves development of both fine and gross motor skills as well as their balance. Plus, it is both fun and an excellent way to build fitness. In addition to all of these benefits, it saves lives. According to The Impact of Coronavirus on School Swimming and Water Safety report, drowning remains one of the most common forms of accidental death in the UK.

According to the report, “With pupils not receiving face-to-face learning for a significant part of the 2020-21 academic year school swimming lessons were inevitably massively affected. Additionally, even when schools were ‘open’, public swimming pools across the country were shut, meaning that for schools without their own pool, it was not possible for lessons to take place.”

A staggering 247,000 children missed out on any participation in swimming during the summer term of the 2019/2020 academic year.

It may well be that your little fish has some catching up to do. If they have missed out on very early swim experience, it may be they lack confidence and the best way to address that is to make sure they catch up on lots of swimming experience.

Checklist spoke to Jacqui Tillman, head of sports and Aquatics at Everyone Active, to ask for her top tips when it comes to teaching your little fish to swim.

Have fun in the water

Learning to swim from a young age is important for many reasons; not only does it teach vital life skills but it also develops children in other ways, such as helping them to build confidence and social skills.

It’s important to make sure that however they learn that they always enjoy themselves when doing so.

Make it familiar

For babies, getting in the water is a new and sometimes daunting experience. It is important to make them feel safe and happy so you can build a relationship between you, your baby and the water. This way they will feel comfortable in their new surroundings, increasing their confidence and speeding up their progress.

Try singing songs, blowing bubbles and reassuring them through lots of smiles, splashing and laughter. They will soon be joining in with you.

Fun and games

Young children learn more effectively through play so as they start to move on to the next stage of their swim development make everything into a game to keep their interest. For example, see who can ‘scoop out the most ice cream’ from the water to develop their stroke or use pool toys to engage them.

The more fun they have the more they will enjoy their time in the water and the quicker they’ll start to develop their technique. You’ll also enjoy it more too.

Encourage competition

As children get older and more confident, they may develop a tendency to get bored in the pool but by introducing competition in a fun way you can keep them motivated and active.

Using Dive Sticks to play games is a great way to have fun whilst building confidence, and encouraging competent swimmers to dive under the water, either individually or with others. Ask them to try and beat their previous best time to collect all the Dive Sticks from the bottom of the pool or team up with their friends for a sink and retrieve relay race.

Many people see the ultimate goal of learning to swim as repetitive length swimming, keeping fit or just a survival technique but it can be so much more than this. Being in the pool can be social, stress relieving and most importantly a chance to enjoy yourself!

For many people lane swimming is fun but the water has so much more to offer whether it be playing water polo, diving or synchronised swimming. Teaching your little ones how to have fun from an early age and throughout their swim development will mean they get the most out of being in the water and will reap the rewards later on.

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More Harry Potter mash-up of a rabbit, a deer and Buckbeak, than any credible result of evolution, there’s no denying they’re weird. I’m not entirely sure how Nature looked at the alpaca and thought, ‘Yeah, that’s a good day’s work’, but somehow, they made the final cut. Saucer-eyed, buck toothed and slack-mouthed, with a perpetually dropped lower lip, they look in equal parts, astonished and astonishing.

It took me another 10 years to become an owner of four of the estimated 45,000 alpacas that now live in the UK. Indigenous to South America, they are most densely populated in the Peruvian Andes. Closely related to llamas, with which they are often confused, there are two different breeds of alpaca – the huacaya (pronounced wa-ky- a) and the suri.

The huacaya, which makes up 95% of the alpaca population and is the most commonly seen in the UK, has a dense, fluffy-looking fleece, growing straight out from the side of the animal. The suri by contrast, has a fleece that hangs down like shaggy dreadlocks, making it look like a cute version of a 1970’s lampshade.

Products made from alpaca fleece are niche, luxury items with a price tag to match, but they are sought after with good reason. Described by the Peruvian Incas as La fibra de los dioses, ‘The fibre of the gods’, alpaca fleece is as soft and luxurious as cashmere, lightweight and incredibly warm.

If you fancy getting up close and personal with alpacas, an alpaca show is a good way to find out more. Breeders bring their pride and joy to showcase to a fascinated public. Or if you’re looking for something a bit more hands-on, then perhaps alpaca trekking is for you. Basically, it involves taking an alpaca for a walk in the countryside and I’m told it’s very relaxing. For more details about alpaca showing or trekking, you can visit the British Alpaca Society website.

If you’re considering keeping these unusual animals, you can also find plenty of information about their care and welfare on this site. Bear in mind it’s a long-term commitment, alpacas live into their 20s and they are herd animals and shouldn’t be kept alone but ideally in groups of three or more. However, be warned – the fact that you love alpacas is no guarantee that they’ll have the same opinion of you.

Alpacas, it turns out, are naturals at social distancing. Guarding their personal space is really not a stretch. They’re pre-disposed not to like you. Or each other. Or anyone really. They don’t want to be close to you and although they live in groups, they keep each other at legs’ length. Strong legs it turns out. Strong legs, with hard hooves at the end, that pack a really painful kick. Just in case you weren’t sufficiently deterred by the radioactive, projectile spit…

One minute they’re humming companionably at each other, swapping opinions in Les Dawson impressions of gossipy old ladies disapproving of everything around them. The next, they taking outraged offense at one of their compadré’s hummy opinions.

Swinging their neck round in a melodramatic huff, they’ll launch an enormous glob of foul-smelling slime at the surprised recipient. And sometimes it’s not at another alpaca. Sometimes it’s at you! God alone knows what internal alchemy percolates this slime to such heights of stomach-churning pungency, but by all that is unnatural in the natural world, this gunk is biological warfare.

Still love them? Yes, me too.

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Research is now confirming what she was telling us – the area of the brain controlling social behaviour and rational decision-making keeps on developing until we are well into our twenties.

But Dr Helen Stevens, a clinical psychologist who runs early attachment services across Greater Manchester, would argue it begins even before birth.

“Through pregnancy and during the first two years of life a baby’s brain is very sensitive to the context in which it is growing and the care they receive – it has a physical impact on their developing brain,” she said.

“An infant whose parent or carer can meet their emotional needs is able to develop skills in emotional regulation, attentional control and empathy. They will also develop a sense of themselves as worthy and the world and other people as trustworthy.”

Georgina Hood, the founder of Paint Pots Montessori Schools, believes encouraging independence from an early age is key.

“You can make the child’s environment more accessible by creating a home and classroom that encourages independence. For example, by installing low hooks so they can hang their own coats up and low shelves so they can reach and choose books and toys and put them away.”

But time to do things in their own way is also important for children, she said.

“To develop in a happy and healthy way children need time to develop skills and they also need time that is not rushed and is sometimes unscheduled for wonder and to develop curiosity,” Georgina said.

“Children need the freedom and time to be curious about the world around them.”

Sarah Sutherland, head of pre-prep at Windlesham House School in West Sussex echoed the value in allowing to children to find their own way.

“The independence to make decisions, self-select activities and negotiate social situations is fundamental to positive wellbeing,” she said.

“Supporting wellbeing in the early years ensures our children grow up happy, healthy individuals who understand the importance of looking after themselves, those around them and the world in which they live. It is all too easy to want to push children on to the next phase of their lives but we need to allow them to be children.

“Covid has shown us how we can change the way we work and still be successful. The most creative solutions being the most successful, our children are witnessing that first hand from us.

“By shifting away from teaching children what to learn and in contrast supporting them in understanding how to learn, we are shaping the future. They will be risk takers and confident problem solvers. We have the ability to do that and there is no better time than right now.”

As The Foundation gets to work promoting and commissioning high-quality research to increase knowledge and share best practice – working with people from across the private, public and voluntary sectors to collaborate on new solutions and develop creative campaigns to raise awareness and inspire action. It is hoped that with real, practical solutions the social problems of today and tomorrow can be reached.

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A deadly cocktail of toxic chemicals and plastics, in the form of ingredients and packaging, lurks in countless cleaning and lifestyle products to unleash innumerable ills inside and outside our homes.

Everything in our homes and lifestyles impacts on the environment. Furniture can be the seat of many ethical and sustainability issues, from sourcing to chemicals, resources to labour and emissions impacts, from timber to cotton, leather and toxic flame retardants.

There’s a long list of toxic nasties in the most mundane of products, substances that have been linked to a host of health problems, including allergies, hormone disruption, organ damage, cancer and birth defects. Add other eco-evils like plastic pollution, palm oil and animal testing into the mix and you have a perfect, calamitous, environmental storm.

Chemicals are present in so many household and personal care products. They can destroy the delicately-balanced ecosystems where they end up, poisoning and sapping nutrients and oxygen in rivers and streams, suffocating and starving aquatic life and marine vegetation.

Then there’s plastic – in micro and macro forms – from the particles clogging up air and water to vast waves of discarded packaging floating in oceans across the globe. Plastic particles, hidden in everything from sun cream to hair products, are inhaled and ingested by animals and humans alike.

It is estimated that one in three fi sh eaten by humans contains plastic. Researchers are also seeing the impact of plastics on UK seabirds, many of which are declining at an alarming rate.

They ingest it, get fatally entangled in it and use it, equally lethally, in their nests.

A post-plastic planet is easier to imagine when you know how, though, as sustainable swaps abound. There’s a green and ethical, plant-based, chemical-free, zero-waste, cruelty-free alternative now available for every aspect of our lifestyles.

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TIPS FOR PARENTS

It’s all-too-easy to overlook your own stress levels because you’re too concerned with the rest of your family’s needs. From new mums caring for a newborn to families with kids of all ages, it’s important to take time out and ask for help when needed. Men, too, suffer in the family unit, with 38% of first-time fathers concerned about their mental health.

OK, so you might not be able to rely on your parents for babysitting right now, but there’s bound to be someone in your support bubble that can lend a hand with your brood. Take advantage of help when offered, giving you space to take a walk, enjoy a nap or grab a hot bath.

TIPS FOR KIDS

Just like adults, kids can suffer from stress – and COVID-19 certainly hasn’t helped the situation. Classic signs of stress in children include being irritable or clingy, having difficulty sleeping and finding it hard to concentrate, so now’s the time to lavish your kids with the attention they deserve. Routines are important, as tempting as it is to let them go to bed late. Try to limit any news or social media that could have an impact on their emotions – and encourage them to keep in touch with friends or family members, if you’re unable to currently meet in person.

TIPS FOR WORK & SCHOOL

One minute the kids are back at school; the next it’s live lessons, continuous snacks and worksheet-related bribery. Bound to increase stress levels around the home, parents are suddenly transformed in to teachers while your kids push every boundary going.

Here, routine is again key, producing a clear and achievable timetable for children to follow if their school doesn’t supply one. Don’t be surprised if one day it works wonderfully and the next your child struggles – 52% of parents have found themselves in the same situation. Adults working from home should also make sure they work to set hours, with just 30 minutes extra work a day equating to 10 hours unpaid per month – that’s £174.80 for Brits on the average salary.

TIPS FOR THE FUTURE

These days it’s stressful enough for someone in their elder years just stepping out the front door – not to mention worrying about their retirement. With a recent survey revealing one in eight are considering delaying retirement due to the downturn in financial markets caused by COVID-19, plans for the future are up in the air.

Now more than ever is the importance of keeping in touch with your friends and loved ones. A phone call or email is a mood-booster for both sender and recipient, while popping a note through a neighbour’s door continues contact while showing you care. Again, keep to routine, and spend time on a new or existing hobby to pass the time, be it a puzzle, out in the garden or catching up on your favourite TV show.

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