Duke of Edinburgh Award Lunch

Today I was invited to lunch by Linda Bennett, of LK Bennett clothing store fame, at The Walbrook Club, a stylish City of London dining club run by the equally stylish Lady Hayat Palumbo. Linda and I met at a recent Harper's Bazaar magazine entrepreneur's breakfast and have since kept in touch - most recently with a series of joint in-store events (see www.lkbennett.com for more details). The lunch was hosted by HRH The Countess of Wessex, who was there in her capacity as Patron of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award charity. Linda introduced me to the Countess, and she went on to tell her that "the Liz Earle skincare range is completely fabulous!" and said how much she - and her mum! - love using it. A really nice personal endorsement.  I knew a little bit about the Duke of Edinburgh Award as my eldest has just completed her silver award, so I was aware of some of the rigours involved, which include orienteering, hiking, camping and survival skills as well as a significant amount of service within the community. What I hadn't appreciated is how fantastic this charity is at training and empowering disadvantaged young people all around Britain (and worldwide too). Two inspiring and brave young women spoke after the lunch about their own personal experiences. Both teenage single mothers, thrown out of school, developing serious drink and drug problems which led to spending much of their time on the streets. They talked about their life-changing experiences of completing their bronze and silver awards -accompanied by their offspring! Both girls did their first hike pushing their babies in buggies and struggling through ditches and over stiles, later completing their silver awards with their toddlers strapped to their backs. They spoke movingly about how the D of E, as its affectionately known, gave them a real sense of self-worth and achievement, as well as practical skills. Both girls are now off drink and drugs, lead other groups of single teenage mums on similar expeditions and have found it easier to re-integrate back into society as a result. I was very impressed by the work of this organisation and how it can transform the lives of so many young people in need. To find out more, log on to www.theaward.org.

On my way home I stopped in at our London store where our dynamic retail display duo Linda and Hayley were busy organising the first of our Christmas displays. Our stylish new boxes with their silk ribbons really do look spectacular - the quality is the best I've seen. I especially love the peachy bronze special boxed edition of our famous Cleanse & Polish, also tied with matching silk ribbon and tag. No Christmas stocking is going to be complete without one, but hurry, I have a feeling this is one special item that may well sell out early. I also love our brand new Vital Oils collections (UK), (USA) in chic white zip-up holders and will be stocking up on my personal favourite (Comfort) candles with matching bath oils - the perfect present to bring a little festive cheer for the season ahead.

Grassroots in Kenya

I am back in Kenya for a quick half-term break and to catch up with some friends involved in eco-tourism, organic faming and also to see one of the charity projects we support. Grassroots is a wonderful ‘umbrella’ organisation that has many small ground-level projects under its wings. Grassroots itself is a Christian humanitarian aid charity and that supports initiatives in many developing countries around the world, including Kenya. One of these is something called Watu Wa Maana, a street children’s shelter in Ruiru, about an hour’s drive East of Nairobi. This is a project we, as a company, have supported for a couple of years now – the first year we helped to fund a bathroom block and this year we’re providing funding to help enlarge their tin-shack kitchen. Watu Wa Maana means Very Important People in Swahili, and these words are written large above it’s makeshift building.  Like almost every African city, Nairobi is full of street children - kids who live and sleep on the streets, begging and scavenging for food and scraps. Sanitation and health issues are inevitably very poor and the children are easy prey for pimps, dealers and criminals. Not all the children are orphans (although many have lost one or both parents to HIV-AIDS), some are just kicked out of home as there is no room for them to live or food to eat. Fortunately for some of the childen in Ruiru, there is Watu Wa Maana.

I arranged to meet one of the main directors of the project, Wanjiru, at a local petrol station on the main highway out of Nairobi, so she could guide me into the maze of downtown Ruiru. I spotted her immediately – a smiling African lady sitting in her battered white Nissan car, and followed her off the main road and down a series of dusty tracks. Pulling in to what looked like a derelict building site, we were at once surrounded by hoards of laughing, shouting, noisy young children, most of whom were clutching plastic beakers of porridge. “We’ve arrived at tea time!” smiled Wanjiru, showing me the enormous cooking pot filled with grey gruel-like sludge. “Would you like a cup?” they asked? “you save it for the children” I tactfully declined. Five or six of the smaller boys and girls immediately latched onto me, tugging at my hands and pulling me into the centre, keen to show me around. Wanjiru explained that they currently care for 52 children, from the age of 4 to about 16. They sleep in the centre (two to a low single bed, two beds to a room) and have basic washing facilities (a cold shower or tap with a plastic bucket beneath). Meals are cooked in huge steel pots over an open fire and seemed to consist mostly of porridge and a Kenyan culinary classic called ugali and beans (a bit like spinach and pulses mixed into a stew). Many of the children were literally in rags, most had no shoes. It was like stepping back in time to a Victorian workhouse, or worse. I have to admit it was hard to fight back the tears as these cheerful, outgoing, bright and optimistic youngsters proudly showed us their home: You are not likely to have seen anything quite so basic being lived in by children. Wanjiru caught my watering eyes and squeezed my arm, saying “don’t worry, I used to cry all the time when I came here, but remember, these are the lucky ones”. And she’s right. The work done by this centre is extraordinary. From housing, clothing, medical care and food, these young children are getting basic humanitarian care. “All we do is love them” says Wanjiru. Actually, she does a lot more – including helping to raise sponsorship and funding for school placements (there is no such thing as a free education here). About a dozen of her children have funded school places, the rest are waiting.

Before I left, the children grouped together to sing for us – a very moving song all about happiness and hope. I was also taken to see the Grassroot’s goat (co-incidentally named Wanjiru!) who had just arrived as a donation, to provide goats milk for the kitchen. I have been involved with several ‘send a goat’ gift schemes over the years – for my fortieth birthday some years ago I asked my family and friends for forty goats for Africa – but this was the first time I’ve come nose to nose with a donated animal. It’s great to see the end result and visits like these are vital to get good information for us when deciding where to spend our annual charity budget. I then got a list of the things they are most in need of, which include a new cooker and pot for the extra mouths to feed, as well as on-going children’s education. Wanjiru also said she had just received a quote for replacing all their light fittings and bulbs with low energy ones (electricity is hugely expensive in Kenya). It just so happened that this amount was exactly what I had in my purse, so I was able to hand this over for an immediate result. Fantastic.

I drove away waving goodbyes out of the Land Cruiser window and promising to return, so I’ll write again after our next visit which will probably be just after Christmas. With a bit of luck I may even be able to take a few books and toys for some festive cheer next time.

For further information visit www.grassroots.org.uk. If our Christmas gift catalogue has inspired you to think about your present shopping, you may also like to visit the Great Alternative Gifts section on the Grassroots website, where you can buy a school desk (£10), a safe oil lamp (£3), two mosquito nets (£4) or, if you’re feeling really flush, a pregnant cow (£200). You might even find a goat called Wanjiru.

Women of the Year Luncheon

In an ideal world, I would have spent the day in bed recovering from the weekend, being brought endless cups of Earl Grey tea and tasty titbits to eat on a tray. However, life rarely works as we would have it does it? so I was up early and (after a generous application of Brightening Treatment to restore a healthy glow to my sleep-deprived skin) off to the Inter Continental Hotel in London to attend the annual Women of the Year Luncheon. This famous event has run for more than fifty years and I am very honoured to have been invited for the last couple of years. Inside the ornate ballroom, hundreds of women from all walks of life assembled for the event. I sat next to Joanne Davies, author of the book Chocolat, amongst others, and we found we had a love of Africa in common as she supports a great international charity called Medicin Sans Frontier, and in particular their work to combat sleeping sickness in The Congo. I told her all about my recent travels in Kenya and about the co-operative of Berber women we work with in Morocco who provide the argan oil for our Superskin Concentrate (UK) , (USA) . Other fascinating women present included Moira Cameron, the first lady Yeoman Warder at the Tower of London; Rachel Barrie, the first female Scotch Whisky Master Blender and Rose Hacker, at 100 years old the oldest columnist in the world! But the real stars were three inspirational award-winning campaigners, whose tireless work to improve the lives of others left me feeling very insignificant indeed by comparison.

The first award went to Jasvinder Sanghera, a British woman who fled an arranged marriage when she was just 16 and was ostracised by her family who live here in England. Although Jasvinder escaped, her sister Robina was not so lucky and died after setting herself on fire rather than continue living with her arranged ‘husband’. Jasvinder highlighted the plight of the many hundreds of young muslim and hindu girls, some as young as 11, who are taken out of their British school and put on a plane to marry a man they have never met. Many are subsequent victims of domestic violence and those who refuse to marry may be killed by their own brothers of fathers in so-called ‘honour killings.’ The number of girls and young women affected each year in our very own country is quite shocking – and Jasvinder’s brave and pioneering work in setting up the charity Karma Nirvana in Derby has made a significant difference to hundreds of women. Her belief and courage opens a window of opportunity to many in need and I look forward to reading her book on the subject, Shame, published by Hodder.

The second annual award went to Sister Frances Dominica, a wonderful Anglican nun with the most naturally smiling face I think I have ever seen! She is a pioneer in the hospice movement and founded the first children’s hospice in the world, Helen’s House, in 1982. Since then, she has gone on to inspire many others in hospice care for life-limited children and she continues to dedicate her life to fundraising as well as lecturing on the care of children and young-people with terminal illness. She is an exceptional woman, who has helped and influenced people all over the world both personally and professionally.

The third award was presented to a truly global pioneer, Rose Molokoane from South Africa. Her story began in Oukasie, one of the most infamous slums in South Africa, where she was born and raised. She is now the national Chairman for the 80,000 member South African Homeless People’s Federation and a board member of Slum and Shack Dwellers International (not a club any of us aspire to belong to). The vast majority of members are women and she encourages them to pool their tiny savings and negotiate with the government for new homes and sanitation. She’s already helped procure 15,000 new homes in South Africa and has inspired and helped many other impoverished communities around the world, including throughout Africa, South America and Asia. I was struck by her courage and determination to become one of the most internationally recognised grassroots activists involved in housing issues. She also has a feisty sense of humour. When asked what the word ‘woman’ means, she replied “Well Organised MAN”, which, given the assembled audience, went down very well! You can read more about Rose’s work and her landmark award on www.homeless-international.org.

Uplifted, in awe and inspired I left the lunch and went up to John Lewis in Oxford Street to witness a landmark moment in our own brand’s history. We’ve just started a two-week promotion in the store and have been given a special central area in the middle of the John Lewis beauty hall just inside the Oxford Street entrance. Excitingly, we also have a huge window right by the main doorway, which looks totally fantastic and heralds our arrival in London’s West End. It really does look terrific – do come and see us if you can and meet some of our team face-to-face in the store. The only problem the John Lewis team face with us now being on their shelves is the frequency with which they need to keep re-stacking the fast-emptying shelves…

Down to the Island for the start of Skandia Cowes week. Although we’ve supported this great sailing calendar-fixture for many years, this is the first year that we’ve been the official Skincare Sponsor for the event. This year, more than 1000 boats are taking part and we’ve supplied each competitor with a free full-size Sun Shade SPF25 Face Protector (to protect skin on the water) and also a full size Sun Shade Botanical Aftersun Gel (in case they overdo it in the sun!). The kits have gone down very well indeed and many of the sailors have been extremely grateful to have a high quality, non-chemical sunscreen to help protect their skin. I did several radio interviews today on the subject – and highlighted the fact that sailors need extra sun-protection as not only are they out in the full glare of the sun all day, but they also get the sun’s rays reflected off their white-hulled boats and also from the sea, so they actually receive two or even three times the amount of UV-rays that we land-lubbers do. Our Sun Shade range is especially good as we only use broad-spectrum mineral sunfilters (never the chemical kind that can cause skin sensitivity), so you get a very effective reflectant filter that stops the sun’s rays from being absorbed into the skin. This is going to be an even more important skincare story in the future, as it’s just been announced that skin cancer rates have soared this year by a staggering 43%.

Attended the Ellen McArthur Trust charity ball this evening, held at the Cowes Yacht Haven. The last time I was here was the night of our team Christmas party, when our Managing Director John Buckland had the whole place transformed into the winter wonderland of Narnia. That was a magical night, and this evening was a fun event too, even if the scenery wasn’t quite as dramatic. One of the reasons we were there was to support Ellen’s charity, which sponsors children with cancer to go sailing. We’ve donated thousands of mini-sized tubes of our Sun Shade SPF25 Facial Protector, clipped to the end of a sailing lanyard that you wear around your neck. The perfect Cowes week accessory and one which is practical too as it means your Sun Shade is always within easy reach.

Thrilling news this weekend – Liz and Kim were awarded MBE for their contribution to the beauty industry in the Queen’s Honours list! Amazing news – we are all so proud and delighted for them. It is very rewarding to see their hard work, dedication and all their behind-the-scenes charitable work is recognised in such a public way. Both are being very modest, attributing the award to the hard work of the team and our customers’ loyalty – but we are all very proud of their achievements. It will be interesting to see how this goes down in the US too, when we share this news with our customers – our colleagues in our US Customer Centre tell us that Americans love titles! We do too – well done, Liz & Kim from all of us in the company!

Another enjoyable customer talk today, hosted by the Priory Bay Hotel Supper Club – on the Isle of Wight. In aid of a local charity – the Island Women’s Refuge, which works hard to support women and children seeking refuge from abusive partners – the lunch talk was a chance to get together with like-minded ladies to discuss mature skin. We brought the hour-long talk to life with a mini facial, led by Carly (our product trainer and beauty therapist) with the main talk hosted by Dee, our UK Sales Manager, who looks after our QVC shows, amongst many projects.

I led a brief introduction to what’s been happening in the past year (many customers first met us in autumn 2005, when we held a general skincare workshop) – and shared our international developments, plans for our new ‘Green House’ head office on the island, and also about our recent IOW Chamber of Commerce awards, including one for our green, environmental initiatives. Everyone was amazed at what a busy year we’ve had!

Dee hosted the main talk - she is an experienced colleague, and she recently turned 50 herself (though you’d never know, her skin is fabulous) – so she had many tips to share with our guests. It was very motivating to hear her talk, even to someone like me in my early 30s – she has so much passion, gusto and energy which rubbed off on all our guests too. Hitting key topics such as HRT, how to wake up your skin in the mornings, including little product tricks for days when we need a bit of help – she made the talk fun, interactive and accessible to everyone.

We’ve also persuaded Dee to swap from behind the camera at QVC to front of camera, and she’s also been our mature skin model for recent QVC shows! A few of our guests at the talk commented on how they enjoy watching her demonstrate on QVC – Dee really appeals to more mature ladies with her personal routine and tips. We are now busy planning more talks, across the UK, to reach customers and hear their stories… It’s a great way to come with a friend and enjoy a fun day out.

Tonight is the annual QVC Breast Cancer Care gala, a live televisual extravaganza which we contribute to every year. This time, we’ve donated £45,000 worth of skincare treatment kits to the fundraising. I was due to join the QVC presenters live on-air at around 9pm for a 20 minute slot where our donated products are sold, all in aid of the breast cancer care charity. All proceeds (minus a considerable amount of VAT, which the Chancellor of the Exchequer meanly insists on keeping) go directly to the charity funds. The theme for this evening’s event is pink (to match the pink ribbon lapel badges) so I got dressed up in a lovely pink satin evening dress (a purchase from a previous Sydney-trip and much cheaper to buy over there), sparkly pink evening shoes and spent a while in the hairdressers. However, so sooner had my bottom touched the sofa beside presenter Julia Roberts and model Clair, when I was told that our gift set had immediately sold out and I could now leave!! A case of all dressed up and no-where to go. Never mind, at least I got an early night and lots of cash was raised for such a worthwhile cause. Given the evening’s event, and the importance of self breast-exam, I was struck by how useful a daily application of a bust treatment could be – not only to help firm and improve skintone, but also in terms of early detection of breast lumps. We have an NPD meeting on the Island tomorrow, so will raise the issue then.