Babel Babies French Fiesta

A few weeks ago I joined my friends at Babel Babies for their first Fri-yay Fiesta! They had teamed up with Babel Bar in the Brewery Quarter in Cheltenham, which hosted this wonderful event where families could relax, enjoy lunch with their friends, and practise a bit of French in a sociable setting.

The event began with a Babel Babies multilingual music family session at 11am, with songs and stories in languages from around the world aimed at parents with babies and children from birth to school age. 

At 11.45am everyone sat down and ate lunch together around a long table. It was just like a convivial family gathering, with sharing platters of French cheeses, charcuterie, bread and olives, and everyone chatting about languages. 

Cate Hamilton, founder of Babel Babies, invited me along to capture all the fun. I've worked with Cate on numerous occasions and her sessions are always vibrant and full of energy. That's what I try and capture in the photos. It was lovely to observe the little ones and see them engage so well with the music and the languages. It was even funnier watching them try some of the food that was served up afterwards!! Scroll down to see some of the highlights from the morning.

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CheltenhamMaman Launch

Last Friday morning I attended the CheltenhamMaman launch event at Pittville Pump Rooms, Cheltenham. 

CheltenhamMaman is a brand new website and events management site established in 2016 by Kate Starkey, local girl and Mum of three.

Kate spent the months following the birth of her new baby watching the social media accounts of London City mummies and grew increasingly frustrated by the lack of local networking, support and events for Mums who just want to hang out with and learn from other Mums but with a difference.

CheltenhamMaman is a parenting site and support network for Mums who are less interested in debating the merits of breast or bottle and more interested in surviving the day without getting baby sick on their brand new funky trainers that they bought with the last of their emergency savings. These Mums love their kids, but they won’t forget who they are. They are unique, true to themselves and just doing the stuff they got to do to get them through the day. Some of them are thriving; building brands and empires, others are just finding their feet and need a little support and that's where CheltenhamMaman comes in!

It was a great event with a fantastic turn out. Coffee and cake greeted people on their arrival and various stalls and fundraisers enticed the ladies to pamper themselves whilst raising money for good causes.

As people took to their seats, the 'Loose Women' style panel entered on stage. They debated a wide variety of mother and parenting topics, entering into discussions between other members of the panel and their audience. Advice was freely shared and given with time at the end for questions and answers. 

If you haven't already checked out CheltenhamMaman then visit their website at http://cheltenhammaman.co.uk/.

Village Show 2016!

Last Sunday saw the return of the very fabulous Cheltenham Connect Village Show! It takes place once every two years. This year it was held at The Exmouth on the Bath Road. This is always such a fun event that gets the whole community involved. If you're chuffed with your chutney or proud of your punch, then you should have got your entry in for a chance of winning top prize and Best in Show!

There was heaps to entertain young and old! Hook the fish, bobbing apples, story telling, face painting, wood fired pizzas, a human fruit machine, guess the weight of the pumpkin and of course the ever popular dog show!

I took my whole Mouse family down and we spent a lovely afternoon in the sunshine with friends. I was half on duty too as the organisers of the event had asked if I could come along and take some pictures. They also invited me to judge the 'Home brew and Horticulture' category! After all the entries were dropped off, (including my own mini mice paintings and selfies for which they won joint 3rd and 2nd and 3rd!) the judges began the difficult task of picking their favourites.

The dog show took place towards the end of the afternoon and as usual it was a riot of wagging tails and boisterous barks! I was particularly proud of our own dog, Remy, who won 1st prize for best 'Golden Oldie'!! She is 10 years old  and still going strong, despite the many children and animals that have joined her along the way!

The Big Saturday

Last Saturday I attended a very special music festival at my son's school, St James Primary, Cheltenham. 

This epic event was the first in St James' history. It was a massive fundraising effort, held to support Natalia Spencer, who is  currently walking the entire coastline of Great Britain to raise money for the Bristol Children's Hospital, and to remember her daughter, Elizabeth, who was a pupil at St James and who tragically died last year.

The festival was a huge success. The sun was shining and the air was filled with the wonderful sound of children's chatter and laughter. Happy faces beamed with rainbow smiles that dazzled in the sunshine. It was a vibrant and colourful carnival of fun that has created wonderful memories for all those who came along. Elizabeth would have been very proud and I think her smile was felt on each and every one of us.

Big thanks to all those who helped to organised the event and to the many local businesses who donated equipment and raffle prizes, (myself included). As you'll see from the photos below, there was a main stage with school productions going on all day followed by live music in the evening, (I sadly had to leave at 6pm to go onto another job) but I still captured lots of the action! School children ran their own stalls, there were ukulele workshops, reading work shops with the fabulous Tracey Courdroy , willow weaving, crafts and so much more!

If you would like to find out more about The Big Saturday, Natalia and her story or make a donation then follow the links below. Thanks!

The Big Saturday:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/951098191665676/

Elizabeth's Footprint:

http://elizabethsfootprint.com/

Donate:

https://www.justgiving.com/remember/257357/Elizabeth-Spencer

 

Lilliputs June Concert

On Monday I went along to photograph the always fabulous Lilliput Concert - a classical concert series especially for adults and babies.  

This is the third time that Kate Skeet, the brainchild behind Lilliputs, has asked me along to photograph her wonderfully relaxed and child friendly concerts. Previously I have photographed their Christmas concert, (click here to view the photos). It's always such fun. There is heaps going on, with little ones often clambering onto the stage and clapping along to the music.

Concerts take place on a monthly basis at St Andrew's Church in Cheltenham. The music is proper grown up classical, but in bite sized, toddler attention-span friendly chunks. Each concert lasts for around 40 minutes. For more information go to http://lilliputconcerts.blogspot.co.uk/

If you would like to book me for an event you have coming up please send me an email using my contact page or give me a call on 07983 465414. I'd love to hear from you. Thanks!

Lilliputs Christmas Concert 2014

This is the second time that Kate Skeet, founder of Lilliput Concerts, has asked me to come along to photograph her wonderful child friendly classical concert. 

Lilliput's Christmas concert was truly magical. 

Concerts take place on a monthly basis at St Andre's Church in Cheltenham. The music is proper grown up classical, but in bite sized, toddler attention-span friendly chunks. Each conert lasts for around 40 minutes. For more information go to http://lilliputconcerts.blogspot.co.uk/

“Gill is the regular photographer for Lilliput Concerts, taking great pictures for us. She is always friendly, discreet & efficient, getting great shots of performers & audience alike whilst respecting the wishes of those who don’t want to appear in photos for our publicity. Whenever I publish a selection of Gill’s photos, our concert page hit rate increases.”
— Kate Skeet, January 2015