Decided to jump on telextholidays and was hit with hundreds of holidays within my budget and departure date, came across some good prices for tenerife, fortaventura, eygpt, gran ganeries but decided to go for Cyprus as we found a hotel that had brilliant reviews.

Phoned up the holiday company on the Friday (holiday experts 0161 736 4198) and spoke to Trevor Dixon and he was fantastic, booked the holiday over the phone with no fuss and he made sure everything was sorted.

Obviously once you have booked your holiday over the phone you worry things may go wrong, like the flight not booked, the hotel is bad, the flight is delayed etc, but everything went like clockwork. Received email document from Trevor confirming holiday, he also phoned me back to make sure all was okay, if I had any questions etc.

Due to fly out on Sun from manchester airport for 11.05am we got to check in for around 8.00am and there was the tickets and vouchers. Checked in 20kg cases and even got to pick our seating (That maybe because we checked in 3 hours before)

Flight was 4 and a half hours, landed in Cyprus 3.40 (GMT) on time, only down fall it was raining and cold, was not bothered though as the break was well needed and anything to get away for a few days.

Got to the hotel, checked in nice and easy, staff were polite, hotel was clean, room was fresh and warm and that suits me, weather still rough at this stage, in fact the 1st 2 days the weather was the worst part of the holiday, locals explained it was freak weather and should clear up after the storm comes, guess what…. it did! and boy did we have a great time, hired a car and went to places such as pisourri, The port, Limmasol, Coral Bay, The Habour and other places and was very theraputic.

Went to a nigth club in Paphos called FLAIRS played some banging tunes from RnB to Soulful house and met alot of people from england now living there and they were wonderful, we were treated like royality by Beckie and her friends, met some soliders based in afganistan and got drunk.

One thing I will say about Paphos at this time of year… You get a lot of old folks out there, whatever you do don’t let it put you off, they are great a barrel of laughs and I tell you what some of the old folks would give us a run for our money,

In a nutshell, if you are looking for a quick get away with some sun but very relaxing, I certainly recommend Pahos, Cyprus - Aloe Hotel, food is resonable, it’s got indoor and outdoor swimming pool, suana, gym, internet access (although expensive) and the rooms simple and clean.

Dont go at this time of year if you are looking for a crazy break. Paphos comes alive in June!!!

South London, 07 February 2008 - A recent report from the National Consumer Council states that only 12% of people from black and ethnic minority groups have made a Will. Many people claim that this is because they simply haven’t thought about what would happen to their assets after they pass away and also culturally, death is a topic that many black people don’t like to discuss or plan for. Not making a will can lead to further heartache and financial uncertainty for those left behind, so taking care of this is something that everyone should consider.

Business owner, Dionne Shand is tackling this situation. Assurance Wills is a new will writing company based in Brixton which Dionne runs from home alongside her husband. Dionne is challenging the stereotype of will writers as she is a young, black woman working in this typically white industry. She is able to greater understand the reasons why black people may be reluctant to make a will and help to overcome any barriers they may have associated with planning for death.

Assurance Wills offer expert advice in all areas of preparing and writing a will and as Dionne is a member of the Society of Will writers her wills are therefore insured through the organisation. She hopes that her free home and phone consultations will encourage people in her area to think about making a Will before it’s too late. Assurance Wills are currently offering an introductory 10% off their normal fees throughout February which Dionne hopes will help to encourage members of the community to take responsibility for their future.

For additional information on Assurance Wills contact Dionne Wilkes 02086781352 or visit www.assurancewills.co.uk

The main goals for Blacknet UK, is to have and to meet a clear and concise target, there will be a slight shift in the operations of the website, leaving more scope for user input and decision making. This will improve communication level and pave wave for some fantastic features.

I’ll keep you posted as events unfold.

The initial stages for the upgrade is preparation, we will be sending out some emails to members encouraging involvement with the upgrade from design ideas to application intergration to submitting great content to providing ideas and suggestions.

So feel free to contact me

Was going to video the whole weekend so you could have a laugh at my expense, but the camcorder would not focus so gave it a miss.

The charities have joined forces to recruit mentors for challenging children aged five to 11 for their mentoring projects across the UK. They are keen to encourage people from BME communities to come forward and volunteer as they have so much to offer these youngsters.

Hugh Thornbery, Director of Children’s Services at NCH, says: “All volunteers that work with both Chance UK and NCH are subject to a CRB check to protect the children and young people they work with. The procedure is not intrusive. It is simply filling in a form and waiting a couple of weeks for completion. The last thing we want is for them to put anyone off volunteering with young people.”

Jo Hobbs, Development Manager at Chance UK, says: “We work with children from a range of BME communities and we desperately need to recruit BME volunteers to help make a huge difference to their lives. We urge anyone out there interested to get in touch to find out more.”

The NCH and Chance UK Volunteer Survey 2007 also found that of those surveyed from BME communities nearly two thirds (65 per cent) said they do not volunteer with children and young people. Two thirds said it was because they did not have enough time (67 per cent) and over half said they were prevented due to work commitments (57 per cent).

NCH and Chance UK are particularly looking for people from BME communities to come forward. Anyone interested should call NCH’s Supporter Helpline (Monday to Friday) on 08457 626579 or visit www.nch.org.uk.