WORSHIPPERS at Tewkesbury Abbey are hoping to tempt shopaholics into parting with their money by staging an autumn shopping event.

This half-term Cainscross Parish Council will be holding a fun youth consultation event in partnership with Stroud District Youth Council.

Black History Live will launch the start of Black History Month at the iconic Wembley Stadium on the 1st and 2nd of October 2011 An estimated 20,000 people are expected to attend including families enjoying a day of culture, history and heritage. Adding your support will help raise awareness for this event.

The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival 2011 threatens to be the biggest to date - with over 500 events and 600 speakers, not to mention the plethora guest directors and free activities for all the family.

Twitter is a social network and source of real time information used by millions of people. Did you know that Twitter can also be used to win business and to communicate with clients?

Art is an important part of children’s development. For children, it’s a fun way of expressing themselves and developing their imagination. For parents, it’s an expression of their children’s talents, something they can display and keep as a remembrance of their children’s milestones. For teachers, it’s a tool to teach children everything from Maths to Languages. Even Child Psychologists use art to understand the children’s mental state and as a form of therapy. To encourage children, parents and teachers to appreciate the benefits in engaging with visual arts, 6th of July 2011 is appointed as Children’s Art Day.

Our past contributes to what we are today. The past is so significant that collecting information of a person’s past is always part of medical admission processes, hiring processes and psychiatric treatments. By studying and understanding the past, we get a better understanding of the present. That is why Archaeology is very important. It gives us an idea of our ancestor’s way of life, the reasons their culture perished, and how we can prevent the tragedies that they faced. To encourage the public’s interests, especially that of the younger generation’s, on Archaeology, the Council of British Archaeology celebrates the Festival of British Archaeology during the last two weeks of July.

If you can do something worthwhile today, what will it be? Wouldn’t it be nice to know that if you die tomorrow, you’ll be giving not only one but a number of people another lease of life? 96% of us are happy and willing to accept someone’s organ if we needed one, yet only 28% of us are registered as organ donors. There are currently approximately 10,000 people in the UK needing organ transplant, but since there are not enough donors, there are three people dying every day while waiting. To educate people about the importance and benefits of tissue and organ donation, 7th to 14th of July is designated as National Transplant Week. Don’t leave it for later. Join the register of donors now. It only takes five minutes of your time.

“St. Swithun's day, if thou dost rain, For forty days it will remain; St. Swithun's day, if thou be fair, For forty days 'twill rain na mair.” As the nursery rhyme says, legend has it that if it rains on St. Swithun’s Day, celebrated on the 15th of July, 40 days of rain will follow. Of course this is just an old wife’s tale but just to disprove the legend, the Met office had put it to the test over 50 times, and 40 days of rain did not follow after a wet St Swithun’s Day. Still, it’s worth knowing that the British weather on the 15th of July to the 24th of August is on average 20 days rainy and 20 days sunny. St Swithun (or Swithin) was the bishop of Winchester. He was a famous church builder and restorer. He died in 862 and was buried on the church yard of the Old Minster at Winchester according to his wishes. On the 15th of July 971, his remains was moved inside the Old Minster, and story has it that a terrible storm broke out which lasted for 40 days, thus giving rise to the popular legend now.

As of May 2011, the world population is clocking just over 6.96 billion people and counting. Due to the significant improvement in health care in the developed world and continued research in the eradication of fatal diseases, mortality has significantly decreased. Life expectancy has improved from 30 in the 1800 to 67 in 2005. People are living longer in developed countries while there is very little population control in developing and least developed countries. This leads to many people fearing that there won’t be enough resources to feed everybody in the future. Counting the world’s population is vital in ensuring that everyone are fed, educated and cared for. To highlight the importance of population issues and finding the solutions to the issues, 11th of July is designated as a day to observe World Population Day.

The role of a Father now is more complicated than ever. He is not only expected to be a provider and someone who dishes out discipline, but he is also a source of strength, love and compassion. Many Dads help Mums change nappies, take over baby duties at night, get the children ready for school and take time off when the children are ill. Father’s Day is a day to honour, thank and recognise the role of fathers in the family and society. It was started in 1910 by Sonora Louise Smart Dodd to honour her father who brought her and her five siblings up on his own after his wife died giving birth. It is celebrated every third Sunday of June, the birth month of Sonora’s father.

Many insects are too small for us to even see and some are just too irritating that, unless we are keen gardeners or environmentalist, we don’t really give them any thought, except when we need to clean them off our wind screen. However, the insect world is fascinating and their existence or non-existence can give us an idea of the current situation of our wildlife, the fertility of the soil and the environment in general. To celebrate the importance of insects and to encourage people to take more interest, the last week of June is designated as National Insect Week.

Losing your pets can be stressful for both you and your pets. Unfortunately, thousands of pets go missing in Britain every year and many of them are never reunited with their owners. This can easily be prevented by putting microchip identification in your pets. Microchips identification makes it easy for vets and authorities to reunite lost pets and their owners. June is “National Microchipping Month”. The event aims to promote responsible pet ownership and encourage owners to use microchips as their pet’s permanent identification. The National Microchipping Month was started by Petlog, owned by the Kennel club and currently holds details of over 4 million pets and owners.

Osteoporosis literally means “porous bones”, which make bones fragile and easily broken. One in two women and one in five men age over 50 are affected by it. Although more common in older people, osteoporosis can also affect younger individuals. Individuals with low body mass index (BMI) are also prone to developing fragile bones. People are generally unaware that they have osteoporosis until they’ve broken their bones. June is Osteoporosis month. Organised by the National Osteoporosis Society, the object of the event is to raise awareness of the disease, osteoporosis prevention and treatment.

Every day, many of our soldiers are in the frontline, risking their lives to protect ours and that of others. They fight for us to be free of fear. They promote peace; deliver aids to those affected by natural disasters and fight drug smugglers to protect our children and society from the danger of illegal drugs. Being a soldier is not easy. Many of them leave home without knowing whether they’ll ever come back again. Soldiers have given up their freedom to live a normal life for the benefits of many. 25th of June 2011 is Armed Forces Day. It is a day dedicated to our soldiers who fought and died and those who are still fighting. It is a day to show them our thanks.

16th of June 1976, Soweto, South Africa: thousands of black African children marched for over half a mile in protest of the low quality of education they were receiving. They were also demanding to use their own language as a medium of teaching. They were shot at. Hundreds of young lives perished that day and the two weeks of protests that followed. Thousands were injured. In memory of those who died that day and to honour the courage they showed, 16th of June is named the Day of the African Child. The event was founded by the Organization of African Unity. The event also aimed to raise awareness of the condition of the African children today.

Losing your sight or your hearing is challenging but losing both of them can make life difficult, especially if there is no support available and if the public aren’t fully aware of your needs and how they can help. Impairment of both sight and hearing is referred to as Deafblindness or also sometimes called “dual sensory loss”. It is common among older people and can result to loss of their independence, isolation and difficulty with communication. To increase people’s awareness of Deafblindness, the third week of June is designated as Deafblind Awareness Week. The event culminates on the 27th of June, the birth date of Helen Keller, a famous author who was deafblind.

Diabetes is a common problem in the UK. Almost 2.8 million people are identified positive with diabetes and around 850,000 people know they have the condition but have no idea what type of diabetes they have. Diabetes UK is a charity organization that helps campaign for better standard of care for people with diabetes. The charity also provides practical support including a diabetes careline. 12th to 18th of June 2011 is Diabetes Week. The main goal of the event is to raise awareness of healthy lifestyle by providing people with correct information. The event also raises funds towards the work of Diabetes UK.

Volunteering is rewarding, especially if you are helping to make the life of other people better. 96% of volunteers interviewed said that they genuinely enjoy being a volunteer. Additionally, 87% of employers believe that volunteering can improve your career prospects. With 71% of England’s adult population having volunteered at some point in their lives, it is estimated that volunteers have contributed £18 billion to the UK economy in 2010 alone. To acknowledge the importance and celebrate the contributions of volunteers in the community, the first week of June is appointed as Volunteers’ Week.

Time and time again, it has been proven that learning through experience is more enjoyable and therefore more effective for children. According to OFSTED, taking children outside of the classroom and incorporating outdoor activities in lesson planning, creates a dramatic improvement in the pupils’ social, personal and emotional growth. To support children’s growth and encourage schools and teachers to incorporate outdoor teaching in children’s lessons, Lessons Through Landscape (LTL) launched National School Grounds Week. The event runs from the 13th to 17th of June. Its objective is to show how simple and meaningful it is to learn and teach outdoor.

Donate blood and save lives. UK hospitals need 8,000 units of blood per day to meet demands. It may sound daunting, but donating blood is easy and it does not affect your health. The amount of blood taken from you when you donate is only 470 ml, which is less than a pint and this gets easily replaced by the body. Yet, only 4% of the UK population donates blood. That means 96% of the population depends on this 4% for emergency blood transfusion. To express gratitude to all blood donors and to encourage more people to consider blood donation, 14th of June, birth date of the late Karl Landsteiner is designated as World Blood Donor Day. Landsteiner was a Nobel Prize winner for his discovery of the ABO blood group system. This year’s event is hosted by Argentina and the theme is “More Blood. More Life.”

5th of June is World Environment Day. Started in 1972, World Environment Day (WED) is UN’s main instrument in raising awareness about the environment and encouraging the world’s government to take action to protect it. 2011 World Environment Day will highlight the importance of forest and has the theme “Forest: Nature at Your Service” and will be hosted by India. Forest Facts: It covers 31% of Earth’s land mass 1.6 billion people rely on it for their income It supplies water to nearly 50% of very large cities It is home to 300 million people globally It contributes over $379 billion to the world’s economy

Cardiac arrhythmia is an irregular heartbeat that are mostly harmless but can be life threatening and can cause sudden cardiac arrest in some cases. Knowing your normal average pulse rate and checking your pulse regularly is the easiest way to detect arrhythmia early. However, this simple life saving check is not a routine practice in GP surgeries. 6th to 12th of June is World Heart Rhythm Week (previously called Arrhythmia Awareness Week). This year’s UK theme is “Putting Pulse into Practice” and it aims to make pulse check a routine practice in GP surgeries.

Water is a basic human need. It is necessary for living, it’s meant to be available to everyone. Yet, although 70% of the Earth is made of water, many people in poor countries are still struggling to have clean water. For some, it’s not even easily available. 11th to 17th of June 2011 is Oxfam Water Week. Oxfam is a charity dedicated to helping fight poverty in least developed countries. The events objectives are to raise pupils’ awareness of global issues and encourage them to choose to take action and be a part of Oxfam water project.