We are a group of mothers not in paid employment. We have managed to get this far on our own resources and the fantastic support and encouragement of:
Pete Francomb, Richard Reed and John Ellender & the Café of Ideas team (www.cafeofideas.com)
Douglas Walker of www.Touchspace.com
Dr Diego Miranda – who battled ants and temporary blindness for us in Papua New Guinea
Mike Zeidler (www.modoto.co.uk) and members of the Bristol Hub (www.the-hub.net) who have been unwittingly inspirational and so helpful in responding to requests for advice and information
and all the other family, friends, friends of friends and passing strangers with whom we've talked over the past few months and who have offered ideas and help: thank you - and keep those ideas coming!
As to us:
Karen loves the whole concept of Present Sense: a childhood in Kenya left her with a different view of necessity and waste. With three children under 12 it's somewhat ironic that she's so involved in this since she is the first to forget birthdays and is only reminded of Christmas by the school fair. (Desperately waiting for the Present Sense Birthday Book reminder service to get up and running!) Karen is nevertheless a whizz at finding highly sought after boys toys on E-bay!
Janet is the 'environmentalist'; a veterinary surgeon by trade, she cares passionately about doing her bit for the future of this planet and wears a number of different community hats, including operating the school walking bus and teaching music. She also loves coming up with obscure yet perfectly matched presents for her friends and family. Janet has two children under 13, one under 50, dogs, cats, horses and chickens.
Kirstie, resigned from a career in broadcasting, now has three children aged 7 and under, loves gardening and growing vegetables – veg boxes make really good presents – and has unashamedly been giving and receiving second hand presents for years! [She was once a “celeb” guest in a pantomime – anyone got a video for the rest of us? Only because it would make a great present of course… (innocent smiles)]
Victoria hates waste and has managed for some years to 'secretly' recycle unwanted gifts or make her own. Claims presentation is all and is happy to while away her time fiddling with recycled tissue, newspaper, old map books, paper carrier bags and anything that can be tied in a bow. She's now ready to 'come clean' and add Present Sense labels! Favourites: hand-tied flowers from the garden and - courtesy of her 13 and 10 year old daughters – personalised decorated boxes filled with penny sweets or small goodies for children's birthdays.
Ali, who has spent many years travelling, working and living overseas in the developing world, finds commercialism in the UK very hard to cope with, especially when it comes to present giving for large or small occasions! Her real bug bear is the 'party bag' and 'party theming' that seems to be so necessary these days. She has four children 9, 8, 6 and almost a year - so has planned many parties and has many more to plan! Her experience is that children are willing recipients of sustainable gifts and we should encourage them to encourage us!