When the 'Tales and Teapots' fundraising event was put in front of me - courtesy of Boots Opticians - I knew it was something that I had to be a part of.
For a start, this event is to raise money for the National Literacy Trust, which is something of interest when I work within education. Literacy has always been a huge part of education, with reading, writing, speaking, spelling, grammar, and so on.
When I first read the information on the Tales and Teapots event, seeing that the focus was on reading, I was immediately excited to share my own love of reading with others. I've been like that since I was little, constantly with a book in my hand. In fact, the first thing I wanted in our new house was a Sherlock-esque armchair to read in and a bookcase.
This fundraiser is encouraging people to share their love of reading and raise money for disadvantaged children in the UK to give them the literacy skills they need to be successful. The National Literacy Trust website stated that this money would 'give children and young people books to keep, help them improve their employability and empower them with literacy skills they need to reach their potential'.
So, I started planning my party and had held it this past Saturday at my house, inviting a few colleagues from work using the invitations provided by the fundraising team. I chose to hold this party with my work friends because they know the importance of literacy skills as we all work with children between the ages of five and seven. I also asked them to bring their favourite book with them.
The next step was to get baking! I whipped up a batch of my white chocolate chunk cookies - now famous amongst my colleagues - and I tried out a recipe from Tanya Burr's new baking book Tanya Bakes. My mum also volunteered her baking skills and make me an incredible lemon sandwich cake and some pink, glittery vanilla cupcakes.
Then it was time to set up and decorate the living room a little bit, first using the balloons provided on the door. I also put up some bunting and found some of my favourite book quotes to put onto posters.
Then my guests arrived and we spent the evening chatting, laughing and eating treats. We also went round the group and shared our favourite books, telling each other why we liked them. There was a lovely range of books, from children's books, to classics, to modern novels.
My favourite was Cecelia Ahern's How To Fall In Love, because I love that it is set in Dublin and having been there a few times I recognised the places mentioned. I also loved the storyline. In fact, I loved the storyline so much that I read this whole book in less than twenty-four hours. I can't recommend it enough if you're into modern-day romance. It's a beautiful story.
I also had other activities, such as a book quiz and a design your own bookmark competition.
I was also happy to promote the book Zooekeeper Zoe, which has been created with Boots Opticians to check children's eyesight. I was lucky enough to be sent the actual book by the fundraising team but you can download a digital copy for free from the Boots website. It contains a few simple activities to complete with a child to see if they need any support with their eyesight.
I also put out a selection of the books from the WHSmith Zoella Book Club 2016 just to show some of the books I'm currently reading or going to be reading through the summer. I don't have all eight books here because three are on my Kindle already and I haven't ordered one of the others yet as I don't need it until the end of August. I will be doing a blog post at the halfway point after the first four books and then one at the end of the last four, so if you're interested in that then keep an eye out for the first post of the two very soon. I'm already on the fourth book, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell.
We raised a great amount of money and had a lovely evening just relaxing, talking and having a laugh with some lovely friends over drinks and cakes.
To hold your own Tales and Teapots party, click here. Don't forget to tag them on social media with #TalesAndTeapots
Thanks again to everyone who came and who supported the cause.
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