Behind The Business Card

22 BEHIND THE BUSINESS CARD TO ADVERTISE CALL 020 3906 8488 24 DECEMBER 2020

Love Teach Play

BY MICAELA BLITZ

Teachers Lindsey Eivan and Chloe Alexander are keeping their business very much in the family. The sisters, who are both Primary School teachers from Essex, are using their teaching knowledge to create products to help children develop their reading and writing skills.

The business, Love Teach Play, was launched around a year ago when older sister, Lindsey began teaching part-time to allow her to look after her two young daughters. During this time, she started an Instagram page, @love_teach_play to share ideas with other parents and create a supportive community. Using her teaching experience,

Chloe Alexander and Lindsey Eivan

Lindsey offered some creative ways to enhance children’s learning to develop key skills through different play-based activities. It was whilst she was researching and gathering ideas that she came across resin resources and thought that they were a great way to support learning. As she explains: “I felt so inspired and began to research tutorials on YouTube to create some for my own children”.

Lindsey then bought some moulds and resin and created her own alphabet set. When she posted her children’s alphabet on Instagram, she received a lot of positive responses and many started asking her to produce similar sets for their children. Realising that this could be a potential business idea, she enlisted the help of her sister, Chloe and between them they started coming up with various ideas and designs, all of which they posted on Instagram.

The business is run mainly via Instagram and @love_teach_play now has around 40,000 followers. People are able to contact them via private message to find out more about the products and discuss their specific needs. The sisters pride themselves on offering excellent customer service and discuss in detail with each client what they would like for their design to enable them to

“We chat to customers about their children and what they are interested in, so that we can personalise them as much as possible.

create something unique. As Chloe explains: “We chat to customers about their children and what they are interested in, so that we can personalise them as much as possible. We are able to add various fillings including coloured glitter, shimmer powder, flowers, beads, loose parts, whatever they want really!” Each unique set is packaged in a pretty organza bag and can also be personalised with a hand-written note if they are to be given as gifts.

All of the resin products that they offer are non-toxic and fume-free and are extremely hard wearing. Lindsey and Chloe make all of the products in-house themselves first by melting the resin, and then pouring into the moulds, left to set for 48 hrs and then are sanded and polished to avoid sharp edges for safety. Each set can be produced and sent out within 2-3 weeks. Their range consists of numbers (0 – 10) and alphabet letters (A-Z) which can help with numeracy and literacy as well as star, heart and circle counters which aid mathematical skills.

The sets are suitable for children from 3 years old and can be used in a variety of ways depending on the age of the child. As Chloe explains: “Whilst older children can use them to develop their reading and writing skills, younger children can be exposed to the shapes of letters and numbers through play. They can be used in play dough, in paint for printing, as part of sensory play and water play, and because they are made from non-toxic resin they are easy to clean off and re-use”.

Both Lindsey and Chloe have been pleasantly surprised by the response they have received and the number of orders. During lockdown Chloe even moved in with her sister and her family partly so that they could work on their business and fulfil their orders. To date they have sold over 1000 sets and are working on new ideas which they will be launching in the new year including a range of cursive and pre-cursive handwriting fonts which are perfect for children learning to write. They also have a set of basic 2D shape including circles, triangles and squares.

To find out more, check out Lindsey’s Instagram account @love_teach_play or email on loveteachplay123@gmail.com

24 DECEMBER 2020 TO ADVERTISE CALL 020 3906 8488

Epilepsy

Sharon Ross is a writer for Business Travel News (www.btnews.co.uk) the journal of Malcolm Ginsberg our travel expert. The Borehamwood mother of three suffers from epilepsy. Here are her thoughts and experience of this debilitating condition.

BY ARYEH SAMPSON

I am always heartened when I look through the posts and comments on the various epilepsy Facebook groups. There are, without exception, always signs of courage and hope. There are, of course, people who are depressed, angry and frustrated – it is quite easy to feel that way if you have epilepsy, or indeed any chronic condition, but hope, strength and often, faith, always shines through.

Let’s make no bones about it – epilepsy is an awful condition to live with: it has a history of thousands of years and still not enough is known about it; it’s unpredictable – seizures can take place at any time day or night and leave you with scars for life as well as anxiety that can cripple. In my case, it leaves me with a cognitive function that is so impaired that mostly I feel detached from the world – unable to process the events that are happening around me. On a visit to a specialist, I often feel like an experiment – ‘Try this medication, it might help,’ the neurologist says (but I know that it might not). The doctors don’t offer me the Hope that I crave. So why, I think, does a Facebook group full of people (and their carers) with epilepsy show signs of positivity and resilience? Why is there the will to fight on when many of these people have been given such a difficult hand. It puzzled me but I think I have found the answer.

Recently, the Jewish people lost one of its greatest leaders of our generation - Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. He died of cancer at the age of 72. As an observant Jew, I like hundreds of thousands of people around the world, felt a profound sense of loss at his passing. Here was a man who had made the truths of Judaism not only relevant to

Sharon Ross

today’s modern Jews but to non-Jews as well. Here was a man who not only wrote about these truths, but lived them with humility, integrity and honesty. ‘Now that he has gone’, I thought, ‘how am I to understand how his teachings are relevant to me?’. But the fact was, that even though I have read some of his works and even though I had actually been to hear him talk, I didn’t know. I knew he was great but I didn’t know why. Because that’s what epilepsy does to me. It’s screwed up my frontal lobe – the circuits inside it constantly misfire - and however much I want it to, the stuff that I read or hear, doesn’t always go in.

But then I came across one short idea of his that really resonated with me and helps me understand how I live with my epilepsy. In an interview on Youtube Rabbi Sacks was asked that timeless question which never seems to have a sensible response, ‘Why do bad things happen to good people?’ and he gave a very sound answer: ‘G-d does not want us to understand why bad things happen to good people because if we ever understood we would be forced to accept that bad things happen to good people and G-d does not want us to accept those bad things. He wants us not to understand so that we will fight against the bad and the injustices of this world and that is why there is no answer to that question because G-d has arranged that we shall never have an answer’.

Thus, Rabbi Sacks was able to articulate something that I strongly feel, and maybe other people with epilepsy feel it too – that although this bad thing has happened to me, it doesn’t mean that I should sit back and accept it. The world, indeed G-d, is ultimately good, and I have to find the courage and strength to seek the justice that I desire. If one doctor doesn’t know the answer, maybe another one will. If one treatment doesn’t help – maybe there’s another one. If one way of thinking about my illness isn’t helping, maybe there is another way that could help. But there is another way. Doctors don’t tell you that. They don’t encourage you to fight. It’s difficult for them to give you a sense of Hope when they don’t have all the answers. So, you have to find that sense of Hope yourself. And that is ultimately why I think that people with epilepsy have so much courage (notwithstanding histories of depression and distress) – it is because we cannot sit back and accept our situation – we have to fight on and battling in that way makes us strong. sharonrossblog.com

our freedom is their legacy Make Supporting them Yours

Every year, without fanfare, AJEX JMA helps veterans whose service and sacrifice represents the very best of the Jewish community. As winter draws on, the cost of food, heating and warm clothing is a worrying burden for them and their families. It is our duty and privilege to support them. Please join us in this vital work. Call 020 8202 2323 to discuss leaving a legacy to AJEX JMA. If you’d like to donate now, or find out more ways you can support our Education and Remembrance work, email headoffice@ajex.org.uk or visit www.ajex.org.uk

youtube.com/AJEX_JMA facebook.com/ajexheadoffice twitter.com/AJEX_UK instagram.com/ajex_jma

AJEX exists to ensure that the immense contribution of veterans from the Jewish Community who served in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces is never forgotten. It also supports the Armed Forces Jewish Community which represents the interests of those who continue to serve. The Charity is organised across three pillars: Welfare, Remembrance and Education.