VE Day 75th Anniversary celebrations at home

VE Day 75th Anniversary celebrations at home

Sadly, most of the planned activities for this year’s VE Day 75th Anniversary have had to be postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19, but we’re not going to let that stop us celebrating this special bank holiday weekend at home.

We’ve pulled together a few ideas for local families to remember, learn and reflect on the incredible sacrifice, courage, and determination of people from all walks of life who saw us through this dark and terrifying period.

Discover the history

Watch this short BBC Teach Class Clip film to find out all about VE Day and VJ Day, and the events that led to the end of the war.

Download a special VE Day poem, Unmentioned in Despatches, by Peter Wyton.

Or read up on more of the history with a selection of books from WHSmith.

Host a ‘Street Party’ at home

Of course, we can’t go out into the street this year, but we can still create a smaller scale party at home.  The English Heritage have created a useful Party Pack, complete with recipes for tasty 1940s dishes, a VE Day poster to display, invitations to send your family, lyrics to popular 1940s songs and tips for dancing the Lindy hop swing.

Wilko have a range of party plates in red, white and blue.

Card Factory are still taking orders online for Union Jack balloons.

The Works have Union Jack flags.

as well as red, white and blue bunting on their website.

And you can buy official VE Day merchandise from the following websites:  https://www.poppyshop.org.uk/catalogsearch/result?q=VE%20Day and https://www.veday75.org/merchandise/  

Interview a neighbour or grandparent on the phone

Local radios will be sharing memories and interviews in the run up to VE day, but you can set up your very own phone interview. Make someone’s day with a friendly chat about their own memories – we’ve put together a list of questions to help.

How about writing up your interview as a school project, or sharing the answers on our Facebook post.

Question 1: Were you born before the 8th May 1945?

Question 2: Do you remember where you were on this special day 75years ago?

Question 3: How did you feel when you heard the war had ended?

Question 4: How did you and your family and friends celebrate in 1945?

Question 5: What do you remember about the war?

Question 6: How will you be celebrating VE Day today?

Raise a toast at 3pm on Friday 8th May 2020

In place of public gatherings, the Pageantmaster is encouraging us all to join in a ‘Nation’s Toast to the Heroes of WW2’ at 3pm on the 8th May. Easy to join in from the safety of our own homes, we are asked to stand up and raise a glass of refreshment of their choice and undertake the following ‘Toast’: “To those who gave so much, we thank you.”

You can download a copy of the toast here.

This will be a unique opportunity for the nation to pay tribute to the many millions at home and abroad that gave so much to ensure we all enjoy and share the freedom.

Happy VE Day, everyone!

Stay Healthy at Home

Stay Healthy at Home

[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][/cs_element_column][/cs_element_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content][cs_content_seo]Upstairs at Baytree Shopping Centre, Better Gym is definitely missing its members. But never fear, online workouts are here!

Plenty of online workouts – no excuses
#StayInWorkOut Download the Better Gym app and you’ll have free access to virtual workouts – direct to your own home. It’s your very own sports facility in your pocket. Available for Apple and Android here.
Not a fan of of the gym? Never fear! For running, football or general training inspiration, check out the Sports Direct  youtube channels.

Your wellbeing comes first
Holland& Barrett are still open during this time, but if you’re not up for venturing out, you can get 15% off everything on their app.
As well as access to vitamins, health supplements and natural beauty products, you’ll find advice on reducing risk of infection, what to do if you think you have Coronovirus symptoms, and how to keep mentally well if self-isolating on your own.  For the latest advice see here.

Time to get into mindfulness
There has never been a better time to get your head around mindfulness. Different activities work for different people. Some might find yoga relaxing, others painting or colouring in. There is no hard and fast rule, just so long as you take some time out to distract your mind from any day to day worries and anxiety that might create stress.
Here are just a few suggestions – have a go and share the results with is on our social media pages!
Knitting and stitching kits from The Works.
Screen-free activities for kids from Holland & Barrett.
All you need to know about comfy slippers from Clarks.
April gardening tips from Wilko.
Indulgent beauty essentials from The Fragrance Shop.
We hope to see you back at Baytree Shopping Centre again soon, but in the meantime, please stay safe, keep healthy and stay in touch!yoga at home[/cs_content_seo]

Stores are closed but we’re still here for you online

Stores are closed but we’re still here for you online

We’re sad to see so many closed doors right now at Baytree Shopping Centre. But many of our amazing retailers are still working hard behind the scenes to make sure their products are still available for you during lockdown.

Here is a little summary and perhaps some inspiration while we’re all staying safe indoors.

Let us entertain your kids

Who better to make parents’ lives easier than The Works with a  whole range of Boredom Busting Bundles, guaranteed to create in-house entertainment. From colouring in and paints, to money-off deals on Playdoh, educational book sets or arts and crafts kits. High demand means slightly longer timeframes for delivery, so in the meantime, check out their blog for some handy tutorials.

Loving our leisure wear 

If you’re not working right now (and massive thanks to those who are delivering essential roles in and around Brentwood) then you might be sitting at home in your comfy gear. Need some new items if you’re wearing it all day, every day?  Have a look at Sports Direct for their up to 70% off flash sale, full of discounted hoodies, sweatpants and tees.

De-clutter your home

What better use of lockdown time than to de-clutter your space and sell on some of your unwanted items? CEX is trading busily online and looking to buy and sell unwanted mobiles, DVDs, electronics and a whole host of stuff that’s just sitting around your home. Time to make some cash.

We hope to see you at Baytree Shopping Centre again soon, but in the meantime, please stay safe, keep healthy and stay in touch!

Unique Mother’s Day gift ideas

Unique Mother’s Day gift ideas

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International Women’s Day – just a few of our inspirational women

International Women’s Day – just a few of our inspirational women

Woman wearing a T-shirt stating: Mothers, Daughters, Visionaries, Queens, Rulers, Women.

Who runs the world? On March 12th it’s, yep, you guessed it, girls! To celebrate International Women’s Day, we thought we’d take this article a little bit left field and give you a run down of some of our female inspirations. Of course, there’s thousands, but we’ve had to whittle it down! Ready? Here we go!

Stella McCartney

Considering we’re a shopping centre that loves style, we couldn’t not mention a fashion designer! And who better than Miss McCartney. Daughter of one of the fab four Beatles, this woman has made a name for herself by creating a brand that is all about sustainability and acts against animal cruelty, and we all know how designer feeds down to the highstreet… so those Vegan bags, recycled trainers – well we have her influence to thank for that!

Greta Thunberg

This young girl has gained international recognition thanks to her campaigning against climate change. We’ve watched her, we’ve heard her, and we’ve read about all the things she’s been doing. Frankly, we think she deserves a mention for her influence on the younger generation too! It’s all about a joint effort, right?

Marylin Monroe

If you’ve got a ‘quote’ print in your home, we can guarantee that it may have been inspired by a certain blonde… ‘What do I wear in bed? Why, Chanel No. 5, of course,’ or ‘A girl doesn’t need anyone that doesn’t need her’, yep they’re all from our fave inspirational American actress, model, and singer. And it’s somewhat down to her that we’ve changed the way we think about sexuality.

The Spice Girls

Ok, hear us out before you groan, because we think this bunch of girls really deserve a mention. After all, they were one of the first girl groups to break the charts and pave the way for hundreds of female artists afterwards. With us? Yep, we thought you may change your mind.

And on that note, we think it’s time to say ‘goodbye.’ But before we do, we wanted to give a huge shout out to all of you guys. Each and every one of you are amazing examples of great woman. Over and out!

All the fashion and hair trends from the BRITS

All the fashion and hair trends from the BRITS

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