Story

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. I'm collecting donations for the Charity SANDS, and also funds I've raised from selling a Handfasting Recipe Book. The Story So Far... In October 2010, my partner and myself were handfasted by a wonderful druid; <a title="Cat Treadwell's Site" href="http://www.druidcat.co.uk" target="_blank">Cat Treadwell</a>. We have a 2 and a 3 yr old (Noah and Jacob) and live in a small 2 bed terrace in Burslem, Stoke on Trent, and needed a marriage on a budget. We tried to handmake as much as possible, and asked all of our guests to bring a dish with them to the ceremony in Meerbrook. It was fantastic, everyone ate well and the feeling of sharing was better than any gift. A friend made mead, another 40 bottles of beer, another made the handfasting scarf, cheese was bought and many wonderfully dishes cooked. Consequently, everyone wanted each others recipes! So I decided to write them all down, to send out for Christmas. Whilst doing so, I had the idea of incorporating tried and tested recipes from other members of the <a title="Little Lost Lushies forum" href="http://www.littlelostlushies.co.uk" target="_blank">LLL</a> (little lost lushies a LUSH customer run forum) and selling it for charity. Each year LLL choose a charity to support with a Christmas Market, where sellers donate a percentage of their sales. This year we chose <a title="Sands Website" href="http://www.uk-sands.org" target="_blank">SANDS</a> - The Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity. I lost a baby inbetween my two boys, and it felt right to support this charity. 17 babies are stillborn or die shortly after birth everyday in the UK. <a title="Sands Website" href="http://www.uk-sands.org" target="_blank">SANDS</a> supports those affected by the death of a baby and promotes research to reduce the loss of babies' lives. Local artist Christopher Bell from <a title="Otherworld Illustrations Site" href="http://www.otherworldillustrations.co.uk" target="_blank">Otherworld Illustrations</a>, kindly allowed the use of his handfasting painting for free, as artwork for the front cover, which was amazing. Each title inside has been hand generated using a font I created whilst at college. You can learn more about the recipe book here: <a title="Recipe Book Information Page" href="http://www.freewebs.com/sarahholdcroft/recipebook.htm" target="_blank">http://www.freewebs.com/sarahholdcroft/recipebook.htm</a> The Handfasting Recipe Book has been featured in the Local Paper - <a title="Pagan Bride Article" href="http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/Pagan-bride-raises-charity-funds-wedding-cookbook/article-3055402-detail/article.html" target="_blank">The Sentinel</a> and on various Pagan sites and blogs. I have also been inteviewed on Moorlands Radio, you can listen to the interview <a title="Handfasting Recipe Book Interview" href="http://www.freewebs.com/sarahholdcroft/apps/podcast/" target="_blank">here</a>. Thank you everyone for your support