Inspiring
FEEL-GOOD FACTOR
GORGE YOURSELF
14. MENDIP HILLS
Cheddar Gorge, in the Mendip Hills, is a place of wild and rugged beauty. It’s a karst limestone and calcareous grassland nature reserve and home to many rare plants and animals, including endangered Greater Horseshoe bats. There are 274 steps to reach a lookout tower for stunning views of this limestone countryside, then a three-mile cliff-top walk right around Britain’s biggest gorge, climbing 400 ft above the road, through this internationally-important nature reserve. Cheddar Caves, inhabited by our ancestors up to 40,000 years ago, are world famous for their spectacular stalactite and stalagmite decorations, whose beautiful colours are mirrored in pools of water. These caves fired the imagination of JRR Tolkien, author of the Lord of the Rings trilogy on his honeymoon visit in 1916. Open all year, adults from £15 and children from £9.50. Or buy an Explorer Family Ticket from £39.50.
A DOG OF YOUR OWN
15. COUTRYWIDE
If you would love a dog but can’t keep one, the next best thing is to sponsor a dog through the Dogs Trust. For just £1 a week, you can help Dogs Trust keep their promise to never put down a healthy dog, and in return you’ll receive photos and news from your sponsored dog three times a year.
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
16. COUNTRYWIDE
Why not use your experience to help others less fortunate? You don’t have to be a supernanny to help parents with young children. If you’ve got through the early days, why not volunteer your experience to help someone else? Real people with parenting experience can make a big difference to families struggling to cope. Or how about Digitall, a mentoring scheme running in Greater Manchester and London, matching 18-25 year old internet savvy volunteers (mentors) with over-45s (mentees) who want to get to grips with online (or digital) technology. Mentors and mentees meet one-to-one for an hour a week for between 6-12 weeks to unlock the Internet. This might include accessing online services, emailing, exploring social networks and using technology to search for job opportunities. Then there’s Time Together, which matches UK citizens in one-on-one mentoring relationships with refugees. Mentors support, encourage, motivate and guide their mentees as they seek to achieve their goals in education, employment and integration. Timebank has details of these and a host of other volunteer opportunities.