#igivehope... What's it all about?

If you're a keen Twitter follower or tweeter, you may have noticed the hashtag 'igivehope' flying about a fair bit yesterday. What's it all about? Well yesterday was the World Day against Trafficking in Persons, organised by the United Nations in order to try and combat trafficking in persons across the world. This is the first ever of these days, and people across the world have been encouraged to show their support to victims of trafficking by 'giving back hope.' By tweeting using the hashtag, particularly sharing pictures of hands making the shape of hearts, the United Nations hope to be able to raise awareness of trafficking in persons around the world.

Human trafficking is something which can too often be thought of as extinct, thinking of slavery in old terms which in most places appears to be off the radar. This is sadly not the case however, UNICEF estimate that over 1.2 million children are trafficked each year, being taken against their will, brought sold and exploited. This doesn't just happen in places like Africa and India as we are sometimes led to believe, human trafficking takes place all over the world and can be found in our own cities.

While tweeting a picture or saying 'igivehope' may not seem to be making much of a difference, it's a step in the right direction in terms of raising awareness about the problem. Show your support with a picture of your hands making a heart and #igivehope, and show solidarity to those who are and have been victims of human trafficking. On a more practical level, the United Nations ask people to be aware and involved in their local communities to both raise awareness and repot anything which may be related to trafficking.

World Juggling Day

Just when you think you've heard all of the bizarre national and international days there are to try and remember, 'world juggling day' comes along! Apparently the aim of the day is to help spread the fun of juggling and to bring jugglers together all over the world, so if you're a juggler, this is for you! I'm not sure how many of you out there are pro-jugglers (if you are we'd love to heard from you!) Of the 37 events taking place around the world on world juggling day, the UK one is being held in Oxford, not too far away for us based in the Milton Keynes area! The event will run between 10 and 10pm, at the Oxford Brookes sports centre, Cheney Lane, OX3 0BT. The event costs £8 for the day and the show.

Whether you're a pro-juggler, a novice, wanting to try juggling for the first time, or whether when you think of 'juggling', you think of trying to balance kids, work, and family life, today is the day to get involved!

Apparently one of the easiest ways to learn to juggle is to start with tennis balls (they're bigger and easier to navigate, supposedly!) or beanbags, as they're less likely to bounce if (and when!) dropped. Follow the link here to find a step-by-step guide to juggling, good luck!

What's the history of the Rotary club?

Rotary clubs have been around for years, and there are a number of them in the Milton Keynes area alone. The Newport Pagnell Rotary club, for example, has been running since 1963. But how, why and when did they begin? Well, the first ever Rotary club meeting took place over a hundred years ago in 1905, when Paul P. Harris decided he wanted to meet with some like-minded people, and met with three other men at an office in downtown Chicago. They decided to call the club 'Rotary' because of the number of different places they met at- (rotating locations). By 1910 there were 16 clubs, and in 1922 the name was changed to Rotary International to reflect the addition of clubs now in different countries. 

By July 1925, Rotary had grown to more than 2,000 clubs and an estimated 108,000 members on six continents. The reputation of the Rotary clubs attracted a number of prominent figures; including presidents and prime ministers, as well as other key figures, including author Thomas Mann and American astronaut Frank Borman. Today, there are over 34,000 clubs, and over 1.2 million members worldwide.

World asthma day

World asthma day is an initiative organised by the global initiative for asthma (GINA) in order to raise awareness and improve the treatment of asthma around the world.

It began in 1998, and has been held on the first Tuesday of May ever since. A condition which affects around 235 million people worldwide, and over five million in the UK, it seems only right that a day be dedicated to raising awareness of asthma and how to deal with it. The day has a specific theme each year, and this year the theme is: "You can control your asthma", and the sub theme "It's time to control asthma".

Through days such as today, it is hoped that by raising awareness, the number of people affected by asthma will decrease significantly, and the effects of the condition will be less. For those with asthma, it can be potentially fatal, and so learning how to deal better with the condition can clearly save lives- awareness and preparation are key!

World Water Day

World Water Day has been a National day since 1993, when it was initiated by the UN. The day is set apart to focus on water issues across the world. This year, the key aims are to raise awareness of the links between energy and water through a variety of ways. The day focusses on water, sanitation and improving water and electricity efficiencies, to name a few. The focus on energy and water has been especially outlined by the findings from the World Water Development Report, which found that it is often the same people who lack access to improved water sources and sanitation who also lack access to electricity.

Events will be happening all over the world today, all with the aim of coming together to think about and work on ways of improving peoples' health and lifestyle through their ability to get clean and safe water. Around 780 million people lack access to clean water, that's one in nine of the whole population, and more than 3.4 million die each year from issues linked to water, sanitation and hygiene. This proves the need for action, and this is what World Water Day aims to do, in raising awareness and coming up with action plans to help people have access to the most basic of human needs.

World Compliment day

This is a nice one!  World compliment day seems to be pretty much just the reminder to be nice and share the love a bit! Imagine if everyone shared a compliment today, a genuine one that isn't just any old comment for the sake of it, people would undoubtedly be so much happier.

Strangers passing each other could say something nice for a change, or even just smile, when on any other day they might feel like they can't… which is kind of sad if that is the case. It's all too true that if someone were to randomly come up to you in the street and compliment your hair you may be a little weirded out, probably depending on the person, place etc., but still, we wouldn't find it normal would we? It just doesn't happen often enough. So here's your challenge- give a stranger a compliment today! You don't have to be weird about it, just act like it's the most normal thing in the world, and then maybe it will become so… what harm could it do?! You could even be really subtle about it, like try leaving a post-it note with a compliment on it on someone's desk, or tweet something positive to your followers, let's get involved!