Remembrance day- Today at 11am

Take two minutes to remember all those who have given their lives to helping keep our country safe today...

Today is remembrance day, and although it is celebrated largely on the Sunday, today marks the day back in 1918 when the First World War officially ended, on the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month. The act of a two minute silence began in 1919 on the first anniversary of the day, known as Armistice day, by those who recognised the importance of not forgetting the millions who were killed, injured and affected by the war.

Today, millions of people will stop what they are doing to observe a two minute silence at 11am, in memory of all those who have been affected in all conflicts that have passed, not just the First World War. Let's join in and show our respects to those who have fought for our country.

WW1 remembered

The campaign: 'lights out', featured in this month's Phonebox Magazine, took place this Monday. The idea was that people across the country would turn out their lights and leave one light or candle on, in order to commemorate 100 years since the outbreak of WW1. A National Grid estimate reckons that over 3 million households turned their lights out on Monday, between 10pm and 11pm, and over 143,000 tweets with the hashtag '#lightsout' were tweeted over the course of the day.

With the aim of the hour to be to create a shared moment of reflection, it seems this was achieved, with not only households but also famous landmarks taking part. Watch the video below to see the significant lights being turnout out across the country to remember this day.

Did you get involved and turn out your lights and light a candle? We'd love to hear from you and see your pictures!

 

International Nurses Day

Today is international nurses day, an opportunity to acknowledge the hard work and many hours which nurses put in to taking care of the health of people across the world.

Celebrated on the 12th may each year (the birth day of Florence Nightingale, the founder of professional nursing) the day is an opportunity not only for nurses to be recognised for their hard work, but for them to take a stand and share what nursing means to them, and allow them to be proud of what they do.

Florence Nightingale, also known as the lady with the lamp, became famous whilst serving as a nurse during the Crimean war. She later opened her own nursing school at St. Thomas' hospital, London, which was the first secular nursing school in the world. Her achievements helped to bring nursing to where it is today, and the significance of her role is why the day of her birth has been chosen as the day to remember and celebrate the work of nurses across the world.

Nurses are encouraged to share their experiences with their local communities, some going in to schools and doing talks, all to raise awareness of the job they do and to be able to share what they love about it. Equally, it gives those in the community the opportunity to understand a little better what it is nurses do on a daily basis, and to show their thanks and support.

Why not show your support by thanking a local nurse for all their hard work today?!