National Doughnut Week!

That's right in the UK it is National Doughnut Week this week! From the 12th to the 19th of May the UK is being encouraged to indulge in this delicious treat for a great reason: The Children's Trust.

Across the UK bakeries, cafes, offices - basically anywhere you can get doughnuts, are selling the treats and donating a percentage of the sale to charity.

You can find out more about what The Children's Trust do by clicking here, they focus on supporting children with brain injury and neurodisability. Providing education, therapy and care- a much needed service to those families in need.

If you are based in the UK you can find the places taking part by using this doughnut finder map here!

Seriously wishing I had a trip to Liverpool or Manchester planned this week- look at how much choice they have up there. For some sad reason Birmingham doesn't have any options so we had to pick our doughnuts up else where - we couldn't miss out on the opportunity after all.

And you know, I'm pregnant so it's not as if a few doughnuts will add to the waist line...or if they do I won't notice right now :D

If you are any near Reading Warings has a special menu tying in the other big occasion this week....

On that note did you ever see our post about UK and USA wedding differences (it's a side note but made me smile reading through it here)

Enjoy your doughnuts if you come across a place taking part.....it's all for a good cause after all!

Or eat and then burn them off.....

Or if you want to avoid the actual eating of doughnuts but want to enjoy picking doughnuts have a  go at this Buzzfeed quiz: the-hardest-game-of-which-doughnut-must-go-youll-ever-play?

Happy Doughnut Week

Do it for the dogs!

So I mentioned in a post the went up a few weeks ago (here) that while in Boise for a wedding Laura and I signed up to do See Spot Walk, a charity walk raising money for the Idaho Humane Society.

It's not an organisation that we had ever heard of or seen much about until Julia - Laura's school friend - donated a art work to them to promote the walk. We loved the t-shirt design so much that we were happy to sign up just for the t-shirt.

In signing up we got reading about the great work the Society does and wanted to find out if we could help on the day. It turned out that they needed dog walkers to accompany the dogs that were available for adoption so we signed up.

In all honesty I had no idea how the day would go, part of me feared that I would want to leave with the dogs and part of me feared I would spend the day in tears. In fact both those fears came true but I pushed through knowing that the money we donated and the time we were giving were benefiting the Society and therefore the dogs.

We picked up Rudy from the dog carrel. He was sweet, excitable and desperately wanted to be friends with every dog and human he could find. Compared to Bisbee, Rudy was a big dog. Where Bisbee struggles to reach my hip Rudy had no issue reaching my face. By the end of the 2 mile walk I was exhausted.

We walked with Laura's school friend Kelcie and her dog and even with 3000+ other dogs around Rudy stayed close and well behaved. He was clearly happy to be out and about and won us over quicker than we thought. He had two tricks that he insisted on performing - sit and lay down - for treats and when I had to walk him on stage for the adoption mutt strut he added 'smother me in kisses' to his repertoire.

When it was announced that any adoption made that day would have the fees covered both Laura and I burst into tears - unfortunately it happened just as I was about to go on stage. Sadly we don't know if Rudy found his forever home that day but we did see a few other adoptions agreed. We are planning to stay in contact with the Society to follow Rudy's story. If we were based in Idaho we know we would have taken him home in a heartbeat. I think Bisbee is secretly relieved there is an ocean separating us.

To anyone who has adopted a shelter dog - thank you. We had always planned to rescue a dog until Laura was bitten by a dog in Thailand, that changed things. Understandably Laura gets nervous around energetic, bigger dogs and we wanted to know exactly where our first dog had come from so we could be confident from the start. Who knows when it comes to our next dog we may be able to do things differently. Until then we will support and donate in any way we can.

While we appreciate that many of you reading this live no where near Idaho we wanted to highlight the cause of dog protection. We understand there are many situations that lead to a dog needing to be re-homed and are grateful to everyone who volunteers in some way - you are stronger that Laura and I.

By the end of the walk we sat in the car and cried for a full 5 minutes, feeling somewhat helpless that we could do no more and sad that Rudy would be heading back to the shelter. We are terribly emotional dog owners - poor Bisbee often has us crying on her declaring our undying love.

Even the MASSIVE cinnamon bun didn't make me feel that much better.

I mean even this advert made to make you smile brought a tear to me eye.... a happy tear but still. I need to get a grip!

Do you volunteer anywhere? Or have a rescue pup?

We donated our first fivers (the UK launched a new plastic £5 note and you donate your first one to charity) to Birmingham Dogs Home and the Dogs Trust. This is a short video from them full of feels.

Maybe make your Christmas present request a donation for somewhere or make a donation on behalf of someone - i'm sure every little bit helps.

and

Bisbee

Laura's Dad's Amazing Bike Ride for the National MS Society!

Today we want to bring attention to a good cause - the National MS Society. Multiple Sclerosis is a different subject than we usually cover, but that doesn't mean we think its any less important.

MS is a progressive disease that affects people in many different ways. Symptoms can be anything from dizziness and loss of sight to spasms and loss of memory, and these symptoms become worse over time. MS is so dangerous because, as of yet, it cannot be cured - only managed.

Around 100,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with MS - and another person is diagnosed with the disease every hour of every day. Multiple Sclerosis affects not only the victim of the disease, but their families and friends.

The National MS Society is working to rid the world of MS by finding a cause, and helping those with the disease cope and lead fulfilled and rich lives. They are hosting a charity bike race in which Laura's Dad is taking part.

The race itself, 5-6 May, is 150 miles (242 km) long, and Laura's amazing Dad (who is in his 60s) has been competing (and beating the rest of the participants in his team, all who are at least 10 years younger than him) every year for 4 years now. This year, he/we are asking you to join his team, donate to the National MS Society, and support my Dad as well as the hundreds of thousands of people around the world with Multiple Sclerosis. Every little bit helps, and we'd greatly appreciate it!

Here's the link to see Dad's profile and donate: http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?px=5963619&pg=personal&fr_id=18029&et=j47-J2kV3bYqGgph61Lq0g&s_tafId=260689

We're so proud of him!

If you do donate, please leave us a comment so we can thank you!!

Love,

Laura & Sarah xo

What We Love Wednesdays!! Stonewall, Baby!

Welcome to our WWLW, this week we are giving a shout out to Stonewall, a UK based charity that supports the LGB community. Stonewall was founded in 1989 by a small group of people who had been active in the struggle against Section 28 of the Local Government Act, an offensive piece of legislation designed to prevent the so-called 'promotion' of homosexuality in schools.

The legislation was:

Section 28: of the Local Government Act 1988 caused controversy with the addition of Section 2A stating that a local authority "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship"

Stonewalls aim from the outset was to create a professional lobbying group that would prevent attacks on lesbians, gay men and bisexuals from occurring in schools and work places. Stonewall has put the case for equality on the mainstream political agenda by winning support within all the main political parties and now has offices in England, Scotland and Wales. With a growing presence, they are certianly a charity making an impact. We first found out about Stonewall at our first gay pride event and have proudly displayed their signature t-shirts.

Stonewall is best known for its campaigning and lobbying.  Its current campaign for Equal Marriage is literally hitting the streets in the form of bus adverts all over London with 1000 big red buses adorned with their recognisible tag line ‘Some people are gay. Get over it!’. From our office in Victoria we can see them flying past - so far 10 in a hour is the most! What great publicity! And a great photo opportunity.

In May they are organising the ‘Brighton Stonewall Walk’ for the 9^th year, to help tackle homophobia in schools. During the last six years, they have worked with secondary schools to prevent homophobic bullying. Its Education for All campaign, launched in January 2005 to help tackle homophobia and homophobic bullying in schools, works with a wide coalition of groups. Stonewall has extended its Education for All campaign to all 21,000 primary schools across the Great Britain by producing a teacher training DVD, Celebrating Difference. The more money they raise the more DVD’s they send out!

Stonewall has formed partnerships with organisations outside Parliament to ensure the rights and needs of lesbians, gay men and bisexuals are addressed in the wider community. They has also raised public awareness in terms of civil partnership, through their Get Hitched guide (HERE), and on the changes to the employment regulations relating to sexual orientation through guides for both employers and employees.

Stonewall hosted the London Gay Mayoral Hustings on 14 April - it allowed the capital’s lesbian, gay and bisexual voters to ask candidates from the four main parties in London about their policies before the mayoral election on 3 May. The Hustings were attended by Boris Johnson, Jenny Jones, Ken Livingstone and Brian Paddick. Stonewall Chief Executive Ben Summerskill made this comment following the Stonewall London Gay Hustings:

‘It’s really impressive that all of the main mayoral candidates wanted to engage lesbian, gay and bisexual Londoners – something that would have been unthinkable 15 or 20 years ago. What was particularly interesting was that many of the people in the audience were completely undecided about how they were going to vote, so clearly no-one should take London’s 350,000 gay voters for granted.’

London Mayoral Hustings 2012

Stonewall is officially a Charity but receives no public funding and raises all its money itself in a range of ways including donations, sponsorship, and fundraising events. You will see them rattling buckets at every Pride running UK wide.



London Pride 2011 - Stonewall group!



Click here to find out how you can help Stonewall:
http://www.stonewall.org.uk/what_you_can_do/

Stonewall is a great charity that we actively support and look forward to taking part in their future initiatives!

We hope you've enjoyed this weeks WWLW! If you want to check out more about Stonewall there website is: http://www.stonewall.org.uk/

Love

Sarah and Laura

xoxo

What We Love Wednesdays!! Making Kony Famous

Welcome to a very special edition of WWLW. Today, a phenomenon has come to our attention (and, indeed, the attention of the world), and we feel it's something everyone needs to watch and be aware of. And that's KONY 2012.

Who is Kony, you ask, and why do we want to make him famous? Please take a few minutes (just under 30) out of your day to watch this video. It's incredibly moving, angering and inspiring, all at once, and well worth it - you'll be hearing a LOT about him this year, trust us. We'll wait.

So now you see. It doesn't matter where you are from, what religion you are, whether you are straight, gay or something in between - one thing we can all come together against is this horrible man and his unspeakable crimes against children, against the entire human race.

One of the most amazing things about living in the 'Facebook/Twitter Age' is that we, the bloggers, Twitterers, Facebookers, young, old and anonymous people of the world have the power to make a difference. We've done it before (with SOPA not too long ago) and we can, and will, do it with something much more important, even than freedom of speech - the lives of children around the world. Lets help arrest Kony in 2012! We are spreading the word and we will be there on April 20th to cover the night with thousands of others, and hopefully YOU!

We're not saying necessarily that you should donate your hard earned cash without fully researching the charity, and nor are we saying this is the only way to go about making a difference in the lives of others around the world. This is about awareness - and as we all know, if an issue is front and centre on a global scale, people stand up and take notice. 

Hope you've been inspired today - please MAKE KONY FAMOUS & SPREAD THE WORD!

Love, Laura & Sarah xo

What We Love Wednesday!! FCKH8!

We hope you are ready for another WWLW!!

We thought we'd spend this Wednesday bringing awareness to one of our favourite causes - FCKH8!! DISCLAIMER: We just want to warn you that there is a whole heap of swearing in this post - but we don't mind some bad language for a good cause! :)

Now, don't get FCKH8 confused with NOH8 - while NOH8 focuses on marriage equality and gay rights (first in California, then in the USA, and now the world!), the FCKH8 campaign aims to (among other things) stop the bullying of gay kids and teenagers in light of the recent tragic teen suicides.

The FCKH8 campaign is bringing attention to the fact that over 60% of Americans still think people choose to be gay. This means that children are being blamed for having 'queer' feelings and being made to feel like there is something wrong with them. FCKH8 has a whole range of awesome fashion accessories including t-shirts that are emblazoned with phrases such as:
FCKH8
OK4U2BGAY
H8SUX
NO2HOMOH8
THATS SO GAY
DON'T BE H8N ON THE HOMOS
and other such simple, catchy and confronting phrases!

Us in our SWAG!!

They give away thousands of t-shirts for free to help teens fight bullies, suicide & homophobia in schools. And if you buy some of their product, they donate part of the proceeds to charities fighting for equal rights, and other LGBT causes (so far they have raised over $250,000!).

One of our favourite parts of this campaign is the STR8 AGAINST H8 slogan - so you can involve your straight friends and get them kitted out too to show their support!

They have even had celebs join their campaign and do frequent Youtube videos to highlight their message.
Like 'OMG Shoes' Kelly!

One of their most popular campaigns is 'Born This Way' - a campaign for queer kids, where for every Facebook 'like' or Tweet they get they donate 10 cents to the cause.

We love the bright colours!!

And here's what they think about gay marriage (remember, watch out for F-bombs!):

Check them out on Facebook HERE!

Or on Twitter HERE!

Make sure to become members of our blog, follow us on Twitter and also Tumblr!!  

Love always, Laura & Sarah xo

Sarah's Fun Fact Friday!!! NOH8

This Fun Fact Friday I thought I would dedicate to NOH8, as they celebrated their 3rd Birthday this week and were started to protest the ban on gay marriage in California. At some point Laura & I would love to move to America - in particular Idaho, which is on the California side, so the more states allowing gay marriage the more likelihood of us being able to marry and get Laura home. (Fun fact? haha)

On November 4, 2008 Proposition 8 passed in California, amending the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. The defeat provoked outrage and a groundswell of initiative within the GLBT community at a grassroots level, with many new political and protest organisations being formed in response and ready to fight against the ban.

If you haven't seen the The NOH8 Campaign it is a photographic silent protest created by celebrity photographer Adam Bouska (http://www.bouska.net/) and partner Jeff Parshley in direct response to the passage of Proposition 8. Photos feature subjects with duct tape over their mouths, symbolising their voices being silenced by Prop 8 and similar legislation around the world, with "NOH8" painted on one cheek in protest.

We had our photo taken in the first ever London photo shoot in the heart of SOHO! Adam could not have been nicer and we were excited to be a part of such an amazing cause!

It has been three years since its inception, the NOH8 Campaign has grown to over 18,000 faces and continues to grow at an exponential rate. The campaign began with portraits of everyday Californians from all walks of life and soon rose to include politicians, military personnel, newlyweds, law enforcement, artists, celebrities, and many more. If you have time flicking through their website you will spot SO many faces you recognise.

The NOH8 Campaign has received overwhelming support from around the world, and has appeared in various local and national news programs and publications. The images are widely used on various social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to spread the message of equality. Eventually the images will be compiled for a large-scale media campaign.

The latest publicity came through a photo of gay rights icon Harvey Milk, compiled of 10,000 NOH8 photos (see if you can find us.....i'm kidding that would be silly :))

By the end of 2010 more than 13,000 faces were included in the campaign after 22 open shoots that were held in 17 different US cities.

The proceeds from the November 2011 music video Attention Please by Darryl McDaniels of Run–D.M.C. and actress Pauley Perrette of NCIS are donated to the NOH8 campaign. She has also supported NOH8 by providing memorabilia for auction and with awareness-raising efforts such as wearing a NOH8 dress to the People's Choice Awards in 2011 and adding a silent protest photo as the background and profile pic on her official Twitter account. (Did we mention we slightly LOVE Pauley Perrette!)

So this week's SFFF wasn't the usual, but we hope you learned something new and look out for a NOH8 photoshoot near you to show your support!

Until next time, Sarah & Laura xo

What's Happening Hot Stuff?? 6/12/2011

Hello and welcome to this week's (slightly delayed) WHHS!

First of all, welcome to December - Laura's favourite time of the year- my girlfriend is not short of festive cheer and it certainly rubs off on everyone we know. Secret Santa prezzies are bought, party dresses are chosen - bring on the Office christmas Party!!!

In real news have you seen the publicity around WeTopia?
WeTopia, is a new Facebook game that allows users to turn points into monetary donations for charities that help families and kids worldwide. Players build a virtual WeTopia village and receive points for acts such as building a school or planting a tree. The virtual app, launched Tuesday, it is a free-to-play social game available in 20 countries around the world!!! Players collect points, or "joy," for charities, including Save the Children, Action for Healthy Kids and Alliance for a Healthier Generation!

The game, is created by Sojo Studios- they make social games in which players can directly support social improvement projects around the world. One of our favourite TV personalities is a backer for the project and we saw the segment she did to highligt the launch! The CEO of the game has this to say "The inspiration in what we're doing is allowing people to give back in a giving way and an uplifting way, and not as a one time gift," Sojo Studios will also give 50 percent of its profit to its nonprofit partners -- no less than 20 percent of its revenue -with money streaming in through advertisers on Facebook and through players that choose to purchase Facebook credits to play WeTopia.
Now we aren't personally Facebook game fans - but this has changed our mind! We are all for giving as long as we know it makes the impact we intended!

As I am half Scottish I always have an eye on the news up there, and in between announcements for yet more snow, I see that The Equality Network is calling for equal marriage supporters to have their say in the government’s public consultation on extending marriage rights to gay couples before Friday’s deadline.
Respondents do not have to be Scottish to express their opinion on the issue, and the group has also called for views from other countries in the UK and the world. They say the decision taken by the government will have a important effect on how Scotland is perceived abroad, and overseas views should be taken into account. So far, the group has received around 15,000 messages through their website, but they are keen to boost the volume and diversity of responses in support of equal marriage rights. To have your say, head to their website HERE!!!

Now, anyone related to a Scottish person, or who has ever been to Scotland knows they aren't exactly the tallest of people - rather like Tom Cruise! I saw an article that made me smile- it seems like it doesn't matter how famous you are sometimes there will be places in the world who are clueless as to who you are! When  Tom Cruise arrived in India over the weekend to a throng of screaming fans, it was assumed that his superstar power drew the crowd.  It turns out a large chunk of those “fans” were actually paid actors with no clue who Tom Cruise was! 

In fact, the 200-and-odd people gathered there didn’t even know who he was and they couldn’t care less. They had been hired at the rate of Rs 150, or $3 per person approximately, by a model coordinator to do the same!
“Tom kaun? I don’t know who he is or what he does. We were told to come here by 1pm today and wait for a foreign VIP to come out of the airport gate and scream and shout when he came. None of us know who Tom is. There was a buffet lunch also for us and we were paid Rs 150 for this job today. We do this for television shows and other such events where crowds are required,” said one of the junior artistes at the airport, who was hired as an excited Tom fan.'' 

Hahahahahaha :)

I'm a Tom fan - wait I should hold on to be paid for that ;)

Monica & Cristina - Congrats!

We also saw some DOMA news that made us smile - we know that we won't be able to marry and move to the States any time soon but when it comes to marriage rights the more headlines DOMA makes the better. That's why when we saw the news about Monica & Cristina's victory to stay in the US together we wanted to share it. For the first time since the Department of Homeland Security’s  (DHS) November 17 announcement that a national “working group” had begun reviewing all cases currently pending in immigration courts, Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) has closed a deportation case involving a married same-sex couple. See similar stories HERE!

In news from around the world Hillary Clinton has delivered a groundbreaking speech to a United Nations summit in Geneva following the US’ declaration that its agencies will challenge the criminalisation of gay acts and LGBT identity overseas. The Secretary of State said gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people were “human beings born free and bestowed equality and dignity, who have a right to claim that, which is now one of the remaining human rights challenges of our time”. Hillary contiuned: “Some seem to believe it is a western phenomenon and therefore people outside the west have grounds to reject it. Well, in reality gay people are born into and belong to every society in the world! They are all ages, all races, all faiths, they are doctors and teachers, farmers and bankers, soldiers and athletes. Whether we know it, whether we acknowledge it, they are our family, our friends and our neighbours." Always knew that lady spoke sense!
Britain Prime Minister also had his say he wants "Britain to be a global beacon for reform of gay and lesbian rights." We strongly agree with that. Now is the time for him to demonstrate that commitment in practise by strengthening the government’s response in line with that of the United Sates.”
The Kaleidoscope Trust has called on the government to establish a Foreign Office unit to coordinate the defence of gay rights as a foreign policy priority, contribute financially to the international effort, and ensure Britain’s embassies and overseas commissions play a part in combating the criminalisation of homosexuality.

And talking about having your say - what about UK XFactor - where's your vote going? Marcus, Little Mix or Amelia? We're torn but I guess that way we can't be too disappointed! I can't believe it's the final already - that means Christmas really is nearly here!

To finish I thought I would share a photo taken a year ago - we arrived from our year in Australia to a snow covered Idaho and had an AMAZING 3 weeks together skiing and being very festive, we even stayed in a wood cabin! This photo was taken the day before I left Idaho (without Laura :(- who was staying to have Christmas with her family) and returned to the UK. It's crazy how much can change in a year!

The Boise family- and yes it was THAT cold- and yes THAT is snow you see by the stairs!

Bye for now, Sarah (& Laura) xoxo