YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN NURSING HELPED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE NEED FOR A LIFE CONCIERGE...

YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN NURSING HELPED TO

Janet Whitwell-Caisey was born in Blackburn and at the age of 6 moved to Garswood, near Wigan with her parents who were managing, then bought a newsagent and off-license.

Helping her parents gave her a great business grounding. Unfortunately, she decided she didn’t want to follow in the family business and moved to St Margaret’s School of Nursing in Essex, in 1985 she qualified as an Enrolled Nurse.

She moved to Bolton General as a Theatre Nurse, then in 1989 she went to Liverpool Women’s Hospital and during this time seconded to John Moore’s University, where she qualified as a Registered Nurse Level One.

In 1994 she moved to Cambridge, and during this time had the honour of working at the renowned Royal Papworth hospital. She gained valuable experience and knowledge of open heart, lung and Transplant surgery and the impact this can have on patients and their families.

At the age of 36, she felt completely burnt out with her nursing life and decided to take a break and enter the business world of Medical Sales and worked for Johnson & Johnson Vascular Access division, covering East Anglia Area. She was very successful in this, even though still working in hospitals she missed her passion for providing nursing care to patients.

She returned to nursing by working for an agency and went to work for one shift in the A & E at the Queens Medical Hospital, Nottingham and loved it so much carried on working there as an Agency nurse for over 2 years. She gained experience working in a very busy A & E department and even had one of the patients even tried to strangle her, but she lived to tell the tale.

Two years later, she moved to London, where she worked in Nursing and then returned to Medical Sales for a while, during this time in 2007 she had a bad car accident involving a lorry on the M11. She sustained bad whiplash and soft tissue and shoulder injuries resulting in many months of restricted movement, intensive therapy and living with chronic pain.

During this time, she began to reconnect with her faith and knew she had to get her life back on track personally and professionally and decided she wanted to go back into nursing full time. She happened to be browsing through Nursing Times magazine and saw an advert for a

Theatre Nurse in Bermuda. She successfully got the job for a 3-year contract and took a leap of faith to change her life again, it was a hard decision to leave her parents in the UK, because her only sibling, her brother was already living in the USA. In February 2008 she set off to her new chapter and challenge, back to Nursing. Working as a Theatre Nurse, she later transferred to the A and E.

In 2016 decided to go to the Hospice, which was still attached to the hospital. She now had spent 8 years in Bermuda and only gone for 3. Her plan was to gain experience in hospice and return to this field in England, due to recognising her parents’ ageing and health slowly deteriorating.

Very often we have plans, but life throws us a curveball, and Janet’s was she was set up on a blind date by a work colleague and had no idea she was about to meet the man of her dreams and future husband, Louis, known as Junior. They shared a lot in common, especially both known chatterboxes. In 2018 they got married in Bermuda, sadly her father was taken into hospital a few weeks before, and her mother was suddenly on her own, after 61 years of marriage, so Janet made an emergency visit to arrange carers for her mum to support her during this time. On return to Bermuda for her wedding, Janet’s mum was able to be part of the marriage ceremony via Facetime.

Janet started travelling back and forward but sadly lost her father in February 2019, at this time she was a director in a Nursing home in Bermuda and decided to leave this to enable her to support her mother. Following a visit at

ACKNOWLEDGE THE NEED FOR A LIFE CONCIERGE...

Christmas of that year, they decided to relocate back to the UK the following year. Janet made an emergency visit in March due to her mother being seriously ill in hospital, she sadly passed away, and lockdown happened when arranging the funeral which meant that her brother and Junior could not come over as planned. Janet had to attend the funeral of her mother in the first week of lockdown when restrictions were changing daily, and this was a traumatic experience, without the support of loved ones and family. She was grateful to her long-time friend and neighbours, her cousin, and her carers party of 10 that attended the funeral to say their goodbyes. Lockdown also meant Janet was unable to go back to her home in Bermuda and separated from her husband and two dogs, so she found herself relocated ahead of planned time with a suitcase and no personal possessions. She decided to add another addition to their family and adopted a Romanian rescue dog, who she felt had rescued her during her time of bereavement and isolation in the pandemic. Her dogs, possessions and Junior finally joined her 8 months later in November to start their new life together in the UK.

Soon after her husband joined her another lockdown happened and sadly in January 2021, they lost Junior’s sister with Covid in the US, and again unable to travel to America to be with her mother-in-law, they had to arrange everything at a distance, luckily her brother lived near, so he was able to help.

In two years of being together, Janet and Junior had sadly suffered the passing of Janet’s parents and Junior’s sister. Separation from each other for 8 months, relocated to another country and unable to see loved ones in America, this has strengthened their marriage and brought them closer together.

On settling back in England, Janet decided to follow her dream and passion of starting her own business, so she formed WHITE STREAM LIFE SOLUTIONS, her maiden name WHITWELL means in ancient history WHITE STREAM, so it is in loving memory of her parents, to name her company after the family name. Janet realised through her own experiences of living abroad and away from loved ones that there was a need for a concierge business very popular across the pond and would have been useful for her mother at the beginning. Her mum like many parents was still independent and fought the idea of carers in her home, the concierge services would have been helpful to ease her into having assistance in jobs she could not do herself and for companionship when she was lonely. Janet remains grateful for the carers that looked after her mother and knows that the concierge services can work alongside, due to it being pay as you go or buying a bundle of hours for the times when extra help to carry out tasks are needed. The lifestyle concierge services are also intended for busy individuals, professionals, busy mums or families that want to outsource tasks that they are too busy to do, or just need a helping hand, or a house to be looked after whilst they are away, and a stocked fridge on return, White Stream Life solutions Lifestyle and Senior concierge is there to help and give you precious time back to spend on what you enjoy doing, and quality time with loved ones.

Janet’s other passion through having over 35 years of nursing experience, working in different areas of Theatre, A & E and palliative and end of life, realised she could incorporate her experience and knowledge and being a certified Wellbeing Life Coach, use her coaching skills to help individuals living and suffering from chronic diseases, undergoing surgery, or recently diagnosed or living with a life-changing or incapacitating illness. By coaching, learning disease-specific skills, empowerment, and emotional support, enabling them to build their own personal toolkit to navigate and take control of their personal Health and Wellbeing. This can be done in personalised 1 to 1 session, individuals, or group sessions for couples or families, all starting with a free one-hour discovery session to discuss how she can help with your Health and Wellbeing journey.

Following her working experience of palliative and end of life care whilst working in a hospice in Bermuda and her own personal loss of her parents, she realised that this for some at times was an emotional rollercoaster dealing with confusion, anger, sadness, stress and the unknown. Due to her experience and knowledge Janet understands the process, how precious this time means to those at the end of life, and their loved ones that have to say goodbye, and the importance of concerns and emotions that arise, the comfort of having someone by your side you can trust to give understanding, compassion, support, and guidance through this time. WHITE STREAM LIFE SOLUTIONS provides personal and professional empathetic care, personal support, concierge, and bereavement services to remove the stressful burdens that can occur at this difficult time, leaving you to concentrate on saying goodbye to your loved ones.

WHITE STREAM MARINE SOLUTIONS was founded by Janet’s Husband, Junior, to bring over 30 years of experience and knowledge in the Marine Detailing business from Bermuda to the Northwest of England. At the time he started his business in Bermuda it was a new concept in the marine industry, but he saw a need for it and started alongside at first his profession as a prison officer, but soon left to pursue his business full time when it started to become very popular. Over the years Junior built up many loyal customers and had good working relationships with local marinas and boatyards on the island of Bermuda that led to years of a very successful business.

Junior left his job as a manager of a boat stacking business, and his own Marine Detailing business, to relocate with Janet to the UK where he gained employment at a Marina

in Cheshire working on canal boats, a little bit different from the yachts and boats he had previously worked on, but his skills and knowledge of boats enabled him to adapt from the sea to the canals.

Now Junior is bringing his commitment, passion, expertise, and knowledge to boat owners in the Northwest by offering a mobile service on water or off land of boat and yacht cleaning and maintenance services with packages at competitive pricing. He also offers canal boats/barges painting and detailing personalised - all priced upon request.

Examples of some of the services offered are external wash, polish, wax and compounding, bright work, rust, mould and mildew removal, bottom work and much more. These can be done as a one-off service, monthly or bimonthly, and yearly services are available.

For further information contact Junior on:

N 07306 236226

E jrcaisey7@gmail.com

D www.whitestreamlifesolutions.co.uk

WHITE STREAM LIFE SOLUTIONS FOCUS IS INDEPENDENCE, HEALTH AND WELLBEING PROVIDING A VARIETY OF PERSONAL CONCIERGE SERVICES AND HEALTH COACHING SOLUTIONS TO GIVE YOU TIME, PEACE OF MIND AND QUALITY OF LIFE.

Janet’s dream is to have a team of professional and experienced people across the Northwest offering convenient hourly or by the bundle Personalised Concierge services obtainable by busy individuals, professionals, families and seniors in their own homes or workplace.

Her own personal passion is to coach her client and continue helping, caring, and emotionally supporting them to take and be in control of their health and wellbeing.

IF YOU THINK WHITE STREAM LIFE SOLUTIONS COULD BE OF HELP to you, your friends, family, seniors, or associates, with any of the personal concierge services, health coaching or end of life/bereavement support, for further information please contact Janet on:

N 07305987936 or 0161 5291003

E janet@whitestreamlifesolutions.co.uk

GARSTANG

By Sarah Ridgway

The historic market town of Garstang sits in the Lancashire borough of Wyre and is bursting with community spirit. Home to a vibrant and thriving high street that plays host to many events and festivals throughout the year.

Picturesque Garstang lies on the banks of the River Wyre and the stunning Forest of Bowland which was designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1964 is just a stone’s throw away. In 2008 the town was voted the best Town in Europe and was awarded a gold award in the prestigious Entente Floral competition. Community is very important and there are many local organisations in the town including Garstang Millennium Green Trust, Garstang Lions, Garstang Fairtrade, Garstang in Bloom, Garstang Heritage Society, Garstang Town Trust to name a few. Many of the local groups are represented by a member of the Garstang Town Council. Take a walk through the town and prepare to be impressed by the beautiful floral decorations. Every year teams of volunteers alongside Wyre Council join forces to bring Garstang alive with flowers. Garstang has won many gold awards at the annual North West in Bloom Competition and received gold in 2019 at the prestigious RHS Britain in Bloom awards.

The Garstang in Bloom group has been making the town look beautiful for over 30 years and began its floral journey with just a few hanging baskets which have evolved into a year-long commitment. The Garstang

Memory Cafe for people living with dementia has a community garden behind the library and works alongside the Garstang in Bloom team to bring it back to life. Located between Lancaster and Preston the town has excellent transport links with easy access to the M6, Garstang offers the best of both worlds, rural living with all the amenities close by and a perfect commuter spot to be based in the North West.

HISTORY OF GARSTANG

Garstang gets its first mention in the Domesday book as Cherestanc and by 1292 the name had evolved to Gayrestang. St Helens, the Parish Church of Garstang dates to 1160 and is one and a half miles to the west of the town in Churchtown. St Thomas church on Church Street dates to 1769, it was consecrated in the name of St Thomas in 1848 and was built to provide a closer place of worship. The town’s high street hosts a weekly outdoor market every Thursday which dates to the early 1300s when Edward II first granted the Market Charter to the town in 1310. The town’s most well-known landmark Market Cross stands in the centre of Market Cross. The cross has been in the centre since 1887 when it was erected to commemorate Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee.

In the late 1400s under a licence from Henry VII, Thomas Stanley, the 1st Earl of Derby built Greenhalgh Castle. The castle was constructed in a square layout with one tower and remained intact until the civil war. When the civil war came to an end the castle was dismantled under the orders of the Parliamentarians, it is said to have been destroyed by Cromwell’s cannon. Today, only the ruins of one of the four corners of the castle remain.

Garstang became a free borough again in 1677 after its charter was renewed and was governed by a bailiff and seven burgesses. In 1792 engineer John Rennie designed plans to construct the Lancaster Canal which officially opened in 1797. The canal opened an essential route to transport coal, timber, slate, limestone, and food easily to the surrounding towns. A passenger service became available

later between Kendal and Preston. The Lancaster Canal runs for 51 miles with 199 bridges and has one of the longest lock-free canals in the UK. During the 18th Century, Garstang was an important staging post for mail and passenger coaches due to its location on the Great North West Highway between London and Edinburgh. To accommodate the influx of passing there were thirteen public houses and taverns in the town. In 1870 train travel came to Garstang after a line was built from the town to Knotts End, the line was deemed unprofitable and was shut in the 1960s. Around the 1960’ s Garstang’s population began to grow and today the population stands at around 5,000. Garstang’s council offices were built on the high street in 1913, in 1946 the Garstang & Rural District Council moved in.

Garstang’s Townhall has an unfortunate history relating to fire damage, the original Town Hall opened in 1680 and burnt down in 1750. In 1755 the Town Hall was rebuilt only to be damaged again by the fire of 1939. which began after a Mrs Towers who lived on the High Street was woken by the smell of smoke in the early hours of Sunday 29th January. She reported seeing a red glow coming from the ground floor of the town hall and soon smoke was seen escaping from the top floor. Mrs Towers woke her husband and raised their neighbour from his sleep, who happened to be John Greenhow, the Superintendent of Garstang Fire Brigade. Greenhow and his men were said to be on the scene

in minutes and the British Legion was also in attendance to offer assistance. It was said to be a very powerful fire and the flames spread into many parts of the halls which housed historic documents and artefacts. The efficient and brave efforts of the fire service prevented the blaze from reaching the market hall next door and many documents were saved including the charter granted by Charles II in 1680, the original charter granted by Edward II in 1314, along with many more important and historic documents. Sadly, many items could not be saved including the town’s stocks that were situated in Market Cross, two billiard tables and a piano were destroyed along with equipment and books owned by the British Legion. The fire originated under the hearth in a small committee room, the total damage is believed to be around £1,000 which today equates to around £66,000. The old market bell fell to the ground in the fire but was thankfully undamaged, on 11th April 1940 it rang again from its newly rebuilt town hall.

On Thursday 27th April 2000 Garstang made history as the world’s first Fairtrade Town, this was decided at a public town meeting by a vote from the local people. George Foulkes, then the Under Secretary of State for the Department of International Development praised Garstang as being a place where a beacon had started that would inspire and spread like wildfire across the rest of the country. This proved to be correct and there are many more Fairtrade towns throughout the country and across the world following in the steps of this small Lancashire town.

The Garstang Oxfam Group started campaigning for Fairtrade in 1992 after local people took part in Oxfam’s National Survey asking if they would buy products that gave a better deal to Third World producers, of those asked 82% said they would. In 1994 The Fairtrade Mark was launched, and the Garstang Oxfam Group entered the annual Children’s Festival Whit procession dressed as Fairtrade products to raise awareness of the event. In 1997 the group campaigned to get local cafes and restaurants to use Fairtrade products which proved unsuccessful.

By late 1997 a Garstang Fairtrade guide revealed only five places in the town were selling Fairtrade items. The group continued to campaign and in March 2000 to appeal to the remaining churches, schools and traders in the town, the Oxfam Group hosted a Fairtrade meal during Fairtrade Fortnight. The mayor, headteachers, clergy and local traders were invited to the meal in the hope their taste buds would crack them. The mayor was won over and backed the campaign for the town to become the world’s first Fairtrade town. The Oxfam Group produced 300 window stickers in support of Fairtrade and local produce. To display the sticker in a window the individual or business needed to sign a pledge stating they would buy Fairtrade and local produce, over 90% of premises signed up. Actor and presenter Tony Robinson unveiled a plaque on the high street in November 2001 that recognised Garstang as the world’s first Fairtrade Town.

Photo Credit: Joyce Nelson - Shutterstock.com

“The Vision of the movement is to enable all producers in the world to enjoy secure and sustainable livelihood.”

“The Mission is to connect with disadvantaged producers and consumers to remote fairer trading conditions, empower producers to combat poverty, strengthen their position to take control of their lives.”

They also go to the local schools to educate further on Fairtrade practices by inviting speakers and running activities.

LANCASHIRE CHEESE-DEWLAY

Garstang has had a history of cheese making since the 19th Century when it was known for its cattle and cheese fairs. Lancashire is perfect for cheesemakers due to its green and lush green pasture lands. Dewlay cheese is one of the town’s success stories and is stocked in supermarkets nationally. The award-winning Dewlay cheesemakers was founded by George Kenyon and is a third-generation family business his son Neil joined the business after leaving school and today is run by Neil’s sons Nick and Richard Kenyon. Today the business has grown to its dairy site on eight acres of lush Lancashire land with a reputation for producing some of the finest cheese in the county. The name Dewlay derives from the French word for milk Du Lait, owing to George’s thick Wigan accent he pronounced and spelt it DEW-LAY and it stuck. The family produces their cheese five days a week using milk sourced from local farmers. The factory is powered by a 2mW wind turbine which stands at 126 metres, installed in 2010 it has helped to reduce carbon emissions by 2992 tonnes which equates to the yearly usage of over 1,1000 homes, committed to sustainability, working with local farmers, to prepare for generations to come. You can visit the Dewlay shop and watch from a purpose-built gallery to see how the cheese is produced from Creamy Lancashire, Tasty Lancashire and Garstang Blue.

Lace-up your hiking boots between 20 April to March and take your pick from various guided walks across the gorgeous surrounding countryside. The walks range in ability so there will be something for everybody.

Garstang Children’s Festival

Back after a year of absence on 3rd June, the activity-packed day is believed to date back to 1871. The festival takes its inspiration from the Whitsun walks and hosts a procession with activity and entertainment for all ages, fancy dress is a must!

Victorian Christmas Festival

This popular event is a popular event in the festive calendar and usually takes place over the evenings of the second Monday and Tuesday in December. The historic town is the perfect backdrop to enjoy live music, stilt walkers, a Punch and Judy show and a glimpse of Father Christmas, many shops stay open late to accommodate Christmas shopping.

Scarecrow Festival

Between 1-3 July up to 200 scarecrows will descend on Garstang setting up a scarecrow trail to follow throughout the town. There are also prizes up for grabs for the scarecrows taking part, there will be a funfair, food stalls, face painting, live music, and lots more to enjoy.

Ice Cream Festival

A festival dedicated to ice cream sounds too good to be true, but Sunday, July 17 the festival returns bringing together local ice cream makers and artisan specialists to tantalise the taste buds with a variety of delicious flavours suitable for all dietary requirements. It is centred around the high street and is completely free to enter leaving more to spend on ice cream.

Photo Credit: Joyce Nelson - Shutterstock.com

Why is Self Connection

Laura Pearson is an Intentional Life Coach, Meditation Teacher and Professional Declutterer & Organiser, based in Lancashire.

Her mission is to help people to consciously create, live and love their own version of an intentional life and clutter-free, organised space.

Ihave recently finished delivering my signature Group Coaching Programme 6 Days of Self Connection and I’ve been reflecting on how powerful and transformative it was. Seeing the testimonials roll in from clients has been truly heartwarming and from the moment that I shared the last session, I knew that it was something that I wanted to deliver again and empower more people with.

You might be thinking “well what is self connection”? Perhaps you haven’t considered what self connection is or means to you before.

I recently wrote on my Instagram page that “Self Connection isn’t just a nice feeling (although it does

So Important?

feel good!)” and I think this sums it up nicely. When we feel self connected, we feel good in ourselves. There’s a sense of lightness, clarity and inner peace that you can cultivate and keep coming back to.

To me, Self Connection is all about be guided from within, being connected to your intuition, feeling confident within yourself, and clear about what you want.

I truly believe that everything starts with Self Connection and the relationship that you have with yourself.

Your level of Self Connection impacts every other area of your life, from your confidence and how you feel about yourself, to your relationships, work, hobbies, physical, mental and emotional health, and even your home.

A big part of Self Connection is carving out some time for yourself. In the busyness of day-to-day life, juggling multiple roles and responsibilities, jobs, families, and feeling like there aren’t enough hours in a day, most people tend to neglect themselves – or make time for themselves.

Self Connection and my programme 6 Days of Self Connection is all about coming back to yourself, reconnecting with yourself and connecting with your inner compass, and ultimately taking the first step to gaining clarity, feeling inner peace and living more intentionally.

It equips you with powerful, transformative tools, techniques and practices that you can and will use over and over again, because Self Connection isn’t something we do once and forget about. Self Connection is a lifelong practice. It is something that we come back to over and over again. Ideally it is something that we make space for on a daily basis – even if it is just carving out 10 minutes to honour yourself and give yourself what you need each day. HERE ARE THREE QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF TO HELP YOU REFLECT ON YOUR SELF CONNECTION:

1How Self Connected do you feel right now on a

scale of 1 to 10? (1 being entirely disconnected and 10 being entirely connected)

2When was the last time you did something just

for you?

3Describe the relationship you have with yourself

in 3 words

One thing that I think is really important to share is that you don’t need to feel disconnected in order for Self Connection to be a priority. We can all benefit from setting aside some time to connect within and explore this concept.

Self Connection is something that I believe everybody in the world should give some thought to – and ideally practice daily. HERE’S SOME WORDS OF REFLECTION FROM ONE OF MY CLIENTS WHO DID 6 DAYS OF SELF CONNECTION:

“Six days of Self Connection with Laura was a wonderful way to reconnect with me. The sessions were so well structured. Everything Laura shared was valuable and simple to follow and implement. In sharing this space with others, I felt so calm and collected. I would highly recommend Laura’s coaching.”

If you’re curious to explore Self Connection and want to up-level the relationship that you have with yourself, come and join the next round of 6 Days of Self Connection, visit www.intentionalwithlaura. com/6-days-of-self-connection to find out more or email laura@intentionalwithlaura.com to be added to the waitlist.

CONNECT WITH LAURA D www.intentionalwithlaura.com I @intentionalwithlaura F @intentionalwithlaura E laura@intentionalwithlaura.com Download Laura’s free guide – 5 Steps to Start Decluttering your Life at: www.intentionalwithlaura.com/5-steps-to-start-decluttering-freebie