Unwind and Relax

I have just returned from a weeks holiday in Lanzarote, the weather was hot and sunny and I relaxed on the beach every day and read three very inspiring books. I came back to work feeling refreshed, motivated and full of new ideas. We all work so hard juggling family with our careers that it is really important to give ourselves quality time to enable us to unwind and relax to be-able to function well and stay healthy. I am very lucky to have a great team supporting me in my business. Having such a committed team allows me to go away knowing that the Cloud Hotel will carry on without me. The flight home was delayed by three hours due to the French air traffic control being on strike so I didn't arrive home until 3-30am on Friday. I had to be up bright and early on Friday to prepare for the World's Biggest Coffee Morning to be held at The Cloud Hotel in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. Many friends and colleagues came, some of whom I hadn't seen for some time and I had a lovely time catching up with old friends. As well as having fun we raised £620-00 for Macmillan Cancer Support. Thank you to everyone who came and generously supported the event.

I am still enjoying my Nordic Walking with Karen Guttridge of Slimfocus. Karen is going to be the speaker at the next meeting of the Wessex Women's Network on Oct 12th. The title 'Change Your Thinking Change Your Weight' is bound to be a popular subject as we are all very conscious of our weight so please book early to secure your place.

The evenings are drawing in and the clocks will be going back at the end of October. The dark cosy evenings are a good time to catch up on your reading and one of the great books I read while I was on holiday was 'Winning' by Clive Woodward. Sir Clive Woodward was the coach for the England Rugby team that won the World Cup in 2003. Although rugby isn't probably one of your favourite sports you can learn alot about team work and leadership from his book. I found it inspirational.

The nice thing about team work is you have others on your side.

Avril

Tell The World About It

September is one of my favourite months, it seems to bring a calmness to the New Forest. The Cloud Hotel continues to be very busy as the more mature customers wait for the children to go back to school before enjoying a break in our tranquil setting. However life for me is anything but tranquil and I continue to do talks, attend events both locally and in London and enjoy life.
On September 3rd I was invited to attend the official opening of Pavilion Dance in Bournemouth. Having performed at the Pavilion Theatre Bournemouth in two Summer Shows and a Pantomime in the early sixties I was interested to see this new project. I was so impressed with the new facilities, wonderfully spacious studios and an intimate theatre for performance. We were entertained by some energetic and very talented young Street Dancers.It is so rewarding for someone like myself who is so passionate about dance to see such talented and enthusiasic young dancers. Dancing gives you discipline, stamina and drive that you can take into any proffession. For more information go to http://www.paviliondancesouthwest.org.uk/
Earlier that day I had been invited to join 90 Retired Partners [staff] of Tyrell and Green for lunch at the Masonic Hall in Southampton. Following a delicious lunch I had the pleasure of presenting my talk 'The Show Goes On' to them and what a great audience they were. I always dread talks after lunch because it is a time when people often drift off to sleep but I managed to keep them all awake, including the 95 year old who was an amazing lady.
One of the best pieces of advice I received when I first took over the running of The Cloud Hotel was from the late American Restauranteur Bob Paton. He said 'Always tell the World About Yourself' because you can very quickly be forgotten. Getting good publicity for your business is invaluable and as I told you in a previous Blog I was lucky enough to be approached by Emmett & Smith, a PRcompany in London to be interviewed by Good Housekeeping Magazine. I'm delighted to tell you that the article is out now in the October issue. I'd like to pass Bob Paton's advice on to you.  Never turn down a PR opportunity if you want to survive in business particularly in these difficult economic times. Another way of promoting your business is by giving talks and presentations to local clubs and organisations. I know most people dread having to speak in public but once you've overcome the fear it's not only fun but great free marketing. There are organisations like Toastmasters where you can learn public speaking and I can recommend Brian Tracey's book Speak To Win, How to present with Power in any situation. He has given me lots of new ideas.
On Saturday I went to Jennifer Nutburn's Ball in Brockenhurst. Jennifer attends our Wessex Women's meetings regularly and she and her husband Phil have been organising this annual Ball for the past 9 years. The proceeds go to Naomi House Children's Hospice and they have raised thousands of pounds for Naomi House and raised £9990-00 at this year's Ball.. Sadly Jennifer announced that this would be their final Ball but many congratulations are due to both of them for all their hard work. I had a wonderful time and haven't danced so much for years.
Finally a reminder about the World's Biggest Coffee Morning to be held at The Cloud Hotel on September 24th from 10-30am-11-45am. All proceeds go to Macmillan Cancer Support. Please come along and bring your friends.

'The future belongs to those who follow their dreams' Eleanor Roosevelt. So don't just dream it do it!

Avril

Business should be fun!

I'm a great believer that as well as hard work business should be fun and members of the Wessex Women's Network have certainly had some fun this month.On August 21st I managed to get a table of 12 together [including three husbands] to attend the Festival Ball at The Pavilion Ballroom Bournemouth. The event raised around 45k which will go towards the Variety Club, the children's charity and Help for Heroes. It's good to get together socially and be-able to chat and find out more about each other and I discovered that Valerie and I both went to Blackheath High School and at the same time! I have known Valerie for some time but we never realised we had been to the same school until then.

Last night we enjoyed the Wessex Women's Summer Dinner. Although it felt more like Autumn we all had a great time. The plan was to enjoy a glass of champagne in the garden before dinner but the heavens opened and we had to stay inside but that did not stop us enjoying ourselves. We were entertained by Nell Montague-Rendell who started the evening with some of her favourite songs including Fields of Gold, Turn Me On and No One But You. We were all spellbound  not only with her singing but her whole performance. She is a very talented young singer and I am sure she has a successful career ahead of her. We were lucky enough to be-able to enjoy a second performance from her after we had finished our main course and before I brought in Jan Hoy's birthday cake to celebrate her 70th birthday. Needless to say we all sang Happy Birthday but our voices were not as tuneful as Nell's! We were able to buy Nell's CD for £10-00 from which she gave £5-00 of each sale to the Country Education Trust. Not only do we enjoy ourselves at The Wessex Women's meetings but we try and raise money for our favourite charities.

Speaking of which can I remind you all of the World's Biggest Coffee Morning to be held at The Cloud Hotel Brockenhurst on Friday September 24th from 10-30am - 11-45am. Please do come along to enjoy a cup of coffee, bring your friends with you and sample our delicious homemade chocolate brownies. All proceeds  go to Macmillan Cancer Support.

Avril