Mini First Aid Plymouth & West Devon

🎒 Be Bright, Be Seen ✨

With my eldest starting school in September, I am very much in the new school equipment mindset at the moment - uniform, shoes, bags, coats… the list seems endless! 😅

And with this glorious sunshine ☀️, darker mornings and evenings probably couldn’t feel further from our minds.

But this post from the Child Accident Prevention Trust really caught my attention because the right coat - or even a few simple reflective accessories - can make a big difference to visibility on the school run ✨

Our school uniforms are often pretty dark, and once autumn arrives the school run can mean dull, rainy mornings, low light and eventually journeys in the dark.

The Highway Code advises wearing or carrying something light-coloured, bright or fluorescent in poor daylight, and using reflective materials when it’s dark.

Reflective materials can be seen by drivers using headlights from up to three times as far away as non-reflective materials.

So when you’re buying those new school coats, bags and accessories over the next few weeks, it might be worth thinking about visibility too 💚

🟡 Bright/fluorescent = best for daylight and dusk
✨ Reflective = best once it’s dark
🎒 Reflective bag tags, stickers, clips or armbands are an easy addition if school uniform or coat colours are dark.

It’s certainly something I’ll be thinking about when choosing ours this year.

Be Bright, Be Seen 💚

Sources: The Highway Code; THINK! Road Safety; Plymouth City Council Child Accident Prevention Trust

Did you know a bright coat could make a difference to your child’s safety?

Autumn may feel like ages away but before we know it the clocks will change and our children will be heading to and from school in the dark. Wearing a brighter coloured coat can help them be seen more easily by drivers as the nights draw in.

If your child or their school insists on a darker colour you can add reflective strips to increase visibility.

📍 VENUE SPOTLIGHT | St Austell Arts Centre 🎭

Have you visited St Austell Arts Centre yet?

I LOVE 💚 an old building with plenty of character, and this one has it in abundance. Seriously… can we take a moment for that wallpaper 😍

It’s such an interesting local venue too. Take a look at their line-up and you’ll find everything from plays and live music to comedians and community events.

And, of course… Mini First Aid Plymouth & West Devon 💚

I’m here today for a rather bijou Baby & Child First Aid class (bijou sounds much better than small 😂), but I’m so pleased to be bringing my classes to this lovely St Austell venue.

If you’ve been thinking about learning Baby & Child First Aid, why not join me here for a future class? Come and learn some potentially lifesaving skills in a relaxed and friendly environment - and have a little nose around this gorgeous building while you’re here!

💚 Next St Austell classes available to book via the Mini First Aid Plymouth website.

And while you’re here, definitely have a look at what else is coming up at the Arts Centre 🎭

💚 If you’ve been thinking about booking a Baby & Child First Aid class, this is your sign! 💚

Spaces are available tomorrow at St Austell Arts Centre:

📅 Sunday 9th August
⏰ 2:30pm–4:30pm
💷 £30 per person
👶 Babies under one are very welcome

Come along and learn essential, practical first aid skills in a relaxed and friendly environment.

Book your space at plymouth.minifirstaid.co.uk 💚

I had such a lovely time delivering a private two-hour Baby & Child First Aid class for a family eagerly awaiting the arrival of a new baby next month 💚

The parents-to-be and both sets of grandparents now have the knowledge and practical skills to help in an emergency.

While I always hope you’ll never need to use the skills I teach, knowledge really is power - and the confidence it provides can make all the difference when it matters most.

And how beautiful is this setting? 😍

🩸31st blood donation today! 🩸

One step closer to 50 donations… and then hopefully many more after that.

One of my favourite parts (apart from the biscuits afterwards, of course! 🍪) is bringing these stickers home for my two. They absolutely love them.

It always makes me smile because I can vividly remember my mum bringing these same stickers home when I was little. I truly believe those small moments inspired me to become a blood donor myself as soon as I turned 17. It’s funny how something as simple as a sticker can leave such a lasting impression.

If you’ve been to one of my Baby & Child First Aid classes, you’ll also know that my children are completely sticker obsessed! 💚

Every blood donation has the potential to make an incredible difference. In England alone:

🩸 Around 4,300 blood donations are needed every single day.

🩸 Around 143,000 new donors are needed each year to make sure hospitals have the right blood available when it’s needed.

🩸 There is a particular need for 12,000 new Black heritage donors to help provide closely matched blood for people living with sickle cell disease.

🩸 More 17-35 year olds are also needed to help secure the future blood supply.

Around two-thirds of donated blood is used to treat people with medical conditions such as cancer, anaemia and blood disorders, while almost a third is used during surgery and emergencies, including childbirth.

One fact that really stayed with me is that blood transfusions don’t just save lives- they can also give people precious time. Community nurses provide blood transfusions to some terminally ill patients in their own homes, helping them feel well enough to spend meaningful time with the people they love. That really puts into perspective just how far one donation can go.

If you’ve ever thought about donating blood but haven’t quite got round to it, this is your little nudge. It takes less than an hour of your time, and it could make an extraordinary difference to someone else’s life.

Are you a blood donor? Or is it something you’ve been thinking about doing? 🩸💚

Source: NHS Blood and Transplant NHS Blood Donation

💚 Okehampton - spaces available this Thursday! 💚

I still have plenty of spaces available at my two-hour Baby & Child First Aid class this Thursday, 6th August, from 6pm–8pm.

If you’d like to join me and learn essential, practical first aid skills in a relaxed and friendly environment, please book via:

🌐 plymouth.minifirstaid.co.uk

I also have a huge favour to ask!

If you know of any pregnancy, baby or toddler groups, grandparent get-togethers or other groups for families in and around Okehampton, please share this post with them or tag them in the comments. It would really help me spread the word 💚

⚠️ Save this post as an important reminder: the main sign that your baby or child is choking rather than gagging is SILENCE.

If your child is gagging, you will usually hear them coughing or trying to clear their throat or the back of their mouth. As frightening as gagging can feel - especially during weaning - it is a protective mechanism and a normal part of learning to eat.

Choking is different. If there is a blockage in their airway, they may be unable to cough, cry or make any noise.

This is why it is so important to stay with your baby or child whenever they are eating. Choking can be silent - you may not hear that they are in trouble. 💚