New year, new Diary, this columnist cries as they put down the Christmas chocolate and write down new years resolutions that will undoubtedly be forgotten in a week’s time. Diary’s include eating less cheese, regularly posting columns and making fewer snarky comments about charity goings-on…
This week started with a communal moan about returning to work after a luxurious Christmas break. But there were some chirpier calls from people who had been “missing the routine of work” and “couldn’t wait to get back!” Diary was firmly in the former camp.
Any who, charity folk have returned to the office in full force, armed with strange secret Santa gifts and novelty stationery to tackle 2023.
Meet the Guide Dogs
In Somerset this month, members of the public are able to meet Guide Dogs puppies and pooches.
People will be given the opportunity to meet the charity’s volunteers and stroke the dogs (not the volunteers – that would be weird).
Stroking guide dogs is usually forbidden as they are hard-working professionals, but luckily, they are off-duty for this meet and greet. Hopefully they still wear their little vests, though.
In another happy tail, three daschunds have found their forever home after their owner sadly passed away.
Before the owner’s passing, she signed the dogs into the care of the Blue Cross in her will, with the request that they could find a new home together.
The charity said that it can be difficult for them to home dogs together and the pooches differing ages proposed another challenge. Hattie, Sophie and Phoebe are aged four, 10 and 14.
But that didn’t matter for one couple. After just 20 days in the charity’s care, the doggies were scooped up just in time for Santa Paws.
Stolen cat ashes
In sadder animal news, a KentOnline article reported that Wisteria Cat Rescue were targeted by thieves this week.
The burglar’s left no stone (or cat) unturned as they stole medical equipment, iPads and sentimental pet ashes. Needless to say, many were heartbroken (not to mention the burglars).
When an incident like this occurs, donations are always welcome, the charity has stated. You can donate to the charity here.
April no longer the cruellest month
The post-festive period is a difficult one to navigate. Perhaps you are cautiously easing yourself back into the swing of things or maybe you are tackling it head-on and setting big targets for the new year.
One increasingly popular challenge people are kicking the year off with is Dry January. Over 130,000 people took part in Alcohol Change UK’s 31-day sobriety programme last year, up from just 4,000 in its inaugural 2013 programme. More impressive than the numbers though, is the ire the charity’s programme has caused in right-leaning newspaper columnists.
The Telegraph has published two anti-sobriety op-eds so far this month. The first of which warns: ‘We must cancel Dry January for the sake of our struggling pubs’. Diary wonders how would this ban on something people voluntarily sign up for would work. Is the free-thinking newspaper suggesting we force Brits to sink pints down their local for the sake of the Pound?
Its second piece is actually quite witty. This blog is called – get this – ‘Why I’m doing Damp January’, in which the author drinks some alcohol every day of the month in protest at something they are not being forced to do. Diary can only dream of living such a rock’n’roll lifestyle. Then again, Grandma Diary once drank a few glasses of ginger wine each evening while she was doing Sober October as she didn’t realise it was 14% booze.
The Spectator channels T.S. Eliot in an elegantly-written piece titled ‘Dry January is cruel’. It begins: “Allow me to set the scene for you. It is the coldest month of the year and also the darkest.” Except, December is obviously the darkest month as it includes the winter solstice and February is actually the coldest. It goes on from there.
In other liquid courage-related charity news, cast your mind back to last year’s World Cup, dear reader. You may remember that woke bros beer brand Brewdog controversially announced its “anti-sponsorship” of the men’s football tournament. It encouraged fans to show “two fingers to anyone who thinks a World Cup in Qatar makes sense” by buying a refreshing pint of Lost Lager, with profits going to human rights charities.
The right-on brewers have now announced that the campaign raised £111,000 for human rights causes. However, their CEO has refused to say which charities the money will go to “as to fully respect their policies when it comes to public association with alcohol brands”. So, we’ll just have to trust them.
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