Advice, guides & articles

It can often feel anti-climatic and perhaps a little sad. All that planning, organising, shopping, cooking, wrapping - done. My daughter goes to her dad's house first thing so I am guilty of feeling sad on Boxing Day. The house was full of people and noise the day before so the silence of Boxing Day morning can feel quite deafening - just me and the dog. For anyone who feels like I do, or if you want to get more from your day this Boxing Day, keep reading for a few ideas.

With Christmas only days away I realise, now that my daughter is almost thirteen and my youngest niece is nine (going on thirteen), that I haven't had to visit a single toy shop in my quest to buy Christmas presents this year. It makes me a little sad that they're growing up. As a parent I miss seeing my daughter's face as we walked into Smyths, The Entertainer or Toys R Us; shops lined with endless possibilities and wonder - what would my daughter choose this year? As a child I remember being given a catalogue: Argos, Index or Kays. We would write our list from the glossy pages of the toy section and leave them expectantly on the hearth for the elves to take to Father Christmas. Then followed weeks of excitement as we wondered which gift he would choose as our main present that year. I remember the time I got the Silver Cross Dolls Pram and a new doll for it - I named her Nicky. It was perfect and just what I wanted - what a happy memory! To help write this blog, I asked a few of my colleagues a couple of questions: - What is your favourite toy you ever received for Christmas? - Was there something you always wanted for Christmas but never received? We will explore their answers below, as well as some of the most popular Christmas toys from the past.

Christmas can be a difficult time of year for those who have lost a loved one. Families tend to come together during the holidays, making the absence of lost loved ones far more noticeable than at any other time. It can be difficult to know how to face Christmas after losing a loved one, and how your grief is going to affect you.

The winter solstice takes place a few days before Christmas each year, and the traditions and celebrations that took place on the solstice in pagan times are very similar to what we now know as Christmas traditions.

Ah, Christmas. It’s a funny old time of mixed emotions isn’t it? It’s a time of celebration of course but there’s always a feeling of previous Christmases' that fill you with a tearful nostalgia of memories, moments and people. Different people have different ways of acknowledging and dealing with those emotions. In today’s blog I’ll talk about some of my own experiences and explore other ways people choose to honour their memories of Christmas past.

Many people’s main focus in December is on Christmas, but there are several other important holidays at this time of year, each with different traditions.

Towards the end of October we brought you the first part of our blog, talking to Funeral Director Gary Hetherington from Jayne Prior Funeral Directors in the North East of England. If you missed it, you can read that blog here. In today's blog we continue our conversation, in the hope it sheds some light on a profession little of us know a great deal about. We begin by talking about death and grief, something we are both committed to ending the taboo and stigma around and encourage open conversations. Gary goes on to talk about funeral services, providing some really helpful questions he wishes people to ask prior to instructing a Funeral Director.

World AIDS Day happens on 1st December every year. December 3rd sees us mark International Day of People with Disabilities. We like to raise awareness of as many of these types of days as we can, so our blog today will tell you a little about each of these important awareness days, as well as a quick look at other awareness campaigns this December.

Deciding which charity to shine a spotlight on each month is never a hard choice, I usually start by heading to our ‘Most Read This Month’ section and have a browse through the notices to see who people have chosen to have collections for. This month the notice for Denah Moody of Crowle, near Scunthorpe, grabbed my attention, simply because ‘Guts UK’ is a charity I had never heard of until now! Who are they? What do they do? Let’s find out the answers together.

Every now and then you hear from someone you’ve not spoken to in a while and their story makes you really stop and think. That’s what happened recently to Funeral Notices Director Darren Minns. Recently, Darren re-connected with a friend and former supplier to the funeral industry, Mark Edmondson. Mark has launched a new business to help people live positively, despite challenges. Interested in his story and change of career, Darren asked Mark to talk about his new vocation to help others, Positive Vibes Only. Positive Vibes Only - When your world comes crashing down, we give you hope for the future.