Archives: Asking you

Following on from the previous post, I’ve just received this from Andrew Pakes, a councillor for Southwark where the Livesey is

Hello

Thank you for signing the online ‘Save the Livesey Children’s Museum’ petition, there has been a great response from all parts of the community and from supporters across the world.

Despite the overwhelming response and positive coverage in the South London Press and Southwark News, this morning the Council tabled its recommendation that the Museum should close at the end of March. The announcement was contained in just one sentence in a 14-page report.

Southwark Council is threatening its museums with total closure from April. These are the Cuming Museum and the Livesey Museum for Children. The Livesey is especially vulnerable as it does not house a collection.

It’s depressing news, but news that we can hopefully all do something about. As the Facebook Group involved Save Southwark’s Museums, says

“These museums are located in one of the most deprived areas of London. The museums and their staff are already operating with minimal resources but reach local disadvantaged communities, schools and families and provide value for money. Everyone involved in the museums, as friend or staff, has plenty of evidence of the impact of the rich collections and innovative displays on visitors.

Until now, to comment on any of the places people have listed on Little Legends, you had to log in. It’s a little later than expected [ahem, … I had reports to write], but I’ve changed things so that now anyone can comment on our main site, just as they can here on the blog.

As I said then

there are some obvious spam issues, but opening things up as much as possible is - we believe - good news for everyone. If it’s easier to share your views then it’s easier for others to benefit from reading them.

There has been a lot written in the press recently about the shortage of midwives up and down the UK. This must have a knock on effect on all the maternity hospitals and I just wondered if anyone had any good or bad experiences they want to share?

My three were all born in Chelsea & Westminster in London. The care you get during the actual birth is great, but the post-natal care was non-existent. This doesn’t really matter second and third time round but for your first child it is a bit of a shock. I have spoken to many other mothers who have had their children here and they all say similar things ie the aftercare for Mothers could definitely be improved.

Stumbled across the BabyAngels blog, and saw they had some more sensible ways of getting children to help around the house than I recently suggested.

They also have some good travel tips here. It reminded me of the first incarnation of LittleLegends (something called Mothershare) and an idea Vicky and I had. There (and it was a couple of years ago) we set up a wiki to try to get everyone to share things like travel tips on one page. So rather than having to trawl through forums, you could see a page of general consensus advice on the topic you were interested in. A Wikipedia for parents, really.

I’ve just been told that the proprietor of one of our listings has been prosecuted and sentenced. The owner

“falsely described two holiday rental properties near Ross on Wye namely Brynheulog as having a ‘Tourist Board 4*’ rating and the ‘Old Limekilns / Old Kiln’ as having an ‘AA 4* rating’, which she knew to be false. Numerous complaints were also made about her attitude and behaviour to guests.”

Rosa, who was kind enough to let us know the situation, said that

“I do not think it is in anybody’s interests to promote this person to the public.”

Ben Smith, an assistant producer at Outline Productions, has just been in touch to see if we could help spread the word about the new fourth series of The House of Tiny Tearaways.

If you’re interested in starring or know someone who might be, do give him a call on their hotline: 020 7428 6040

Here’s his message:

We are looking for all types of people and families who are experiencing all sorts of difficulties with their children, from temper tantrums and sleep problems, to fussy eaters, children with anxieties or phobias, but also parents who are feeling fed up generally, or just in need of a bit of reassurance. We would like to help single parents, step families, families with twins, etc.

If you are interested in winning £100 cash then all you need to do is to sign up to Little Legends and start adding comments about places for kids you have been to.

The person to have added the BEST COMMENT by 12pm on 31st July will be the winner.

The rules are as follows:

1) You must register at the site and enter the first section of your postcode.

2) Your opinions must appear in the comments section of the place listing, rather than the notes section.

As many parents will have already experienced, it can be hard to find the best local schools, playgroups, restaurants etc. This is especially true when you are new to an area or just passing through. The aim of Little Legends is to provide an easy way for parents to share their invaluable local knowledge.

As an incentive to get people sharing, we thought we’d offer a small prize. Share your experiences about a special place for kids near you, whatever it is, and whoever writes the best review (in our humble opinions) will win a £30 amazon gift voucher. (Closing Date 30th April 2007)

The main Littlelegends website is growing steadily. So far, there are just over 34,000 listings of places for kids in the UK! Users can search by postcode, keyword or tag and it is all FREE.

Every little helps, so if you can please:
* Add a comment; or
* Add a place; or
* Link to the site; or
* Spread the word.

There are still a few bugs that need ironing out so please bear with us! We will also be adding some useful new features soon.

Thanks