Archive for October, 2009

How will the Royal Mail strike affect my order?

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

Will the strikes effect my order?
From our experience items posted on strike days are being backlogged and when the strikes are over newly posted items are receiving priority, for this reason unless you specifically ask us to we will not despatch orders on strike days (if you would like us to post your order on a strike day please add a note to the comments box when you checkout)

Will my order be delayed?
In light of the strikes and despite our best efforts please be aware ALL orders are likely to suffer significant delays and options such as Special Delivery can not be guaranteed (although they may receive priority handling).

We have been advised by our local Post Office that it has been taking anything up to 20 working days and sometimes longer for standard 1st class items to arrive.

What if I need my order quickly?
Should you require an item urgently we will of course do our best to assist, Special Delivery Items are receiving priority handling between strikes, however the only way speedy delivery can be guaranteed is to use a courier service, costs for this will depend on the items ordered but if you would like a price please contact us detailing the items required and the delivery address.

Further Information on the strike can be found on both the Royal Mail and the CWU websites

We would like to thank our customers for their understanding and apologise that we are unable to offer our usual level of service and hope you will bear with us during this difficult time.

Sherilyn & Kim

Half Term On A Budget

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

This article was kindly provided by Gemma Johnson Co-founder of Babeecard Logo

Half Term on a Budget

Half term is here, and the kids are looking forward to lots of action packed and exciting days out. But how do you balance the budget when it is nearly the end of the month and Christmas is approaching too? In this article you can get some tips for low cost and no cost activities which will keep all the family happy.

Start by making a plan. Write down the days of the week, and make a list of things that the kids have asked to do, appointments you have to attend and ideas that you have.

Free activities include

  • Dressing up
  • A walk to the park
  • Exploring the local woods
  • Visiting local attractions with no entry fee. Look in the local paper, local parenting magazine and on the local council website for ideas
  • Visiting the library: ask in advance about free half term activities
  • Getting the children to put on a play. This could be based on their own ideas or a book from the library visit.

Low cost activities

  • Giving each child £1 and exploring the local charity shops to see who can get the best toy, book or game
  • Baking. Offer the kids the chance to make their own sandwiches, create an indoor picnic or even bake a cake. This need cost no more than your mealwould have cost anyway, or you can spend a little extra on some treats
  • You could look at special half term activities put on by local attractions as well as Hallowe’en and fireworks events

More activities

If your children have great ides about visiting theme parks, buying new DVDs and computer games and lots of meals out, work out in your head how much you have to spend on half term activities. Look for discounts of 10-45% on days out and theme parks offered by cards like BaBeeCard. This card also offers savings on the London Dungeon, paintball and activity camps.

Booking tickets in advance can save you money too: don’t forget to ask if there are good deals for family tickets. If your kids are old enough, givethem an idea of the budget for half term activities. This can help them weigh up what they really want to do. It might also cut down on requests for you to buy them things if they know that the ‘half term fun’ money is being saved for a great day out thatthe whole family can look forward to.

About the Author:
Gemma Johnson
Co-founder of Bebee Card
Winner of Mumpreneur of the year 2009 sponsored by WBMN
BaBeeCard Winner of Best Gift Card Award 2009 by Prepaid365.com

Royal Mail Strike Action – Affecting All Orders

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

**** UPDATE 22nd October : Postal Worker Strike Action ****

Please note that Royal Mail Workers will be striking in the UK over the next few days with further strikes planned for next week, we will continue to despatch orders as usual during this time but please be aware ALL orders are likely to suffer significant delays and options such as Special Delivery can not be guaranteed.

We have been advised by our local Post Office that it has been and will continue to take anything up to 20 working days for standard 1st class items to arrive due to the already large backlog of post following previous strikes.

Further Information on the strike can be found on the CWU website

We would like to thank our customers for their understanding and apologise that we are unable to offer our usual level of service and hope you will bear with us during this difficult time.

Sherilyn & Kim