Sophie's Picks

25-year-old with a big mouth that should sometimes learn when to keep it shut! From reviews to everyday life these are my ramblings!

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Get organised this year!

NEW Bullet Journal/ Mood Trackers available on my Etsy!

Track your daily mood and see what trends arise! Included is 12 unique mood trackers, one for each month! This bundle includes so many great mood trackers so you can spend more time tracking what matters and less time drawing out your trackers! Create your own mood color code with each day.

The 12 designs included are:

♥ January- Camera & Photos

♥ February- Love Heart Sweets

♥ March- Moon & Stars

♥ April- April Showers Raindrops & Umbrella

♥ May- 90s Retro Shapes

♥ June- Coffee Cups

♥ July- Bees & Honeycomb

♥ August- Sandcastle Buckets & Beach Balls

♥ September- Gumball Machine

♥ October- Ghosts & Pumpkins

♥ November- Tree & Leaves

♥ December- Christmas Tree & Baubles

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SophieSpicksDesigns | Etsy

You searched for: SophieSpicksDesigns! Discover the unique items that SophieSpicksDesigns creates. At Etsy, we pride ourselves on our global

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Petition launched to end the stigma surrounding domestic violence

A student from Manchester has launched a campaign to help tackle the stigma surrounding domestic violence in the UK.

Lauren Noble, from Manchester Metropolitan University started the #DitchTheStigma campaign as part of a project organised by the journalism department at the university. The 20-year-old has created an online petition that hopes to target Prime Minister Theresa May and raise the issue with government.

“I want the government to recognise that they haven't been doing enough” said Miss Noble.

I hope that the government will realise, and that they’ll be willing to effect some change.”

Domestic violence in the UK affects a quarter of women and a sixth of men in their lifetime. On average this leads to two women per week being murdered, and 30 men per year.

Miss Noble hopes to help remove the stigma that surrounds domestic violence and get people talking about the issue. She believes that by doing this people will be more comfortable talking about it and reporting the abuse.

“By opening the dialogue, we can educate the next generation and can hopefully begin to properly tackle the problem on a wider scale.”

Tamanna Miah, an award winning activist from Kent also agrees with Miss Noble that not enough is being done by government to support the victims of domestic abuse. She believes that government needs to do more to provide help both during and after the abuse.

“More money, time, staff, refuges, and resources need to be invested for early intervention and prevention. The sooner you can intervene the sooner you can save someone's life.

Domestic violence has a huge impact on the victim's life and the wider network of family and friends, it can stop you from doing basic everyday things, from studying to working.”

Collette, a single mother from Manchester was affected by domestic abuse two years ago and relied on the support of work colleagues to help her get through the emotional trauma caused from her partner.

“I’d cut all contact with my family before it happened, so I ended up trying to take my own life because I thought I was alone” said Collette.

The government needs to provide more support for those in need, I had to ring courts to find out what was happened as nobody was telling me anything.”

Domestic violence has the highest number of repeat victims than any other crime. On average, there will have been 35 assaults before the police are called.

Miss Noble hopes that her petition will encourage the government to start a fund which will go directly to the families affected by domestic violence. This could aid them with relocation, counselling, and medical treatments.

You can sign the petition online at: https://www.change.org/p/uk-parliament-increased-support-for-domestic-violence-survivors

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Why does society accept pantomime dames but dismisses drag queens?

It’s the age-old argument that everyone has a firm opinion on. Why does society find it acceptable to take children to pantomimes but not to meet drag queens? This week has led to some heated debates on gender and identity with Phillip Schofield shutting down an ‘abhorrent’ guest who says being gay is 'not good' for children, and the tabloid papers reporting on the 'Drag Queen Story Time' sessions led by Queens such as Donna La Mode and Aida. However, the argument still arises every time, why can't society accept drag queens?

For centuries the art of impersonating a woman was seen live on stage by children and adults alike. Many parents take their children to pantomimes each year to see men dressed up as female characters. A study for 2015/16 found that 13% of adults in England had attended a pantomime, with many of these being families with young children.  

The term 'drag' was coined by one of the most famous English Language wordsmiths, William Shakespeare to describe the event of cross-dressing. During the 1870s to 1920s pantomimes started the rise of drag queens. But even after women were accepted in to the theatre world, men dressed as woman for comedic effect in entertainment. It's these events that helped bring about the beginning of the drag queen culture.

But it wasn't until the late 1920s and 1930s that the first LGBT bars and meeting places began to spring up. As a result of these new homosexual meeting spaces, drag performances became part of the accustomed entertainment for these venues. However, these new drag queens would often have to keep their identities hidden due to backlash and hate from the community. But now thanks to more acceptance in the 21st Century and the help of shows such as RuPaul's Drag Race, drag queens have become more popular in modern day culture.

Each year pantomimes across the UK become a key part of Christmas celebrations for many families. According to London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, pantomime dames started to appear in panto in the early 19th century, with the role evolving over the next 50 years, and not changing in the 100 or so years since then.  The dame has always been the character that interacts with the audience the most and wears the crazy brightly coloured costumes.  These larger than life characters are expected to get the audience involved with the pantomime and often involve children in their gags. A key difference raised between drag queens and pantomime dames is that in panto the key is not to look like a woman but to instead impersonate key feminine characteristics. But who said that drag queens want to be women?

The dictionary definition of a drag queen is "a person, usually male, who dresses in clothing of the opposite sex and often acts with exaggerated femininity and in feminine gender roles for the purpose of entertainment or fashion". The definition is almost similar to that of a pantomime dame with ultimately the same goal, to entertain. The main reason society doesn't accept drag queens, simply because they are often openly gay and 'promote gay culture'.

Speaking on ITV's 'This Morning' show on Monday (13/11/17), Andrea Williams, the chief executive of Christian Concern, said "...very often when we see children who are identifying as homosexual, it’s not good for them to live out in such a lifestyle. It’s not good for our children to be highly sexualised". In the 21st century, parts of society still fail to understand that children can identify as who and what they believe themselves to be. We are told that we are 'sexualising' children by letting them decide what gender or sexuality they choose to identify as. Yet it is perfectly acceptable to force our own beliefs and 'isms' on to them and to restrict their choices.

Drag Queens aren't always accepted despite their fight to create positive role models for young people. In Brooklyn, USA, events such as Drag Queen Story Hour (DQSH) offer “...imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models." The founders behind it believe that "in spaces like this, kids are able to see people who defy rigid gender restrictions and imagine a world where people can present as they wish, where dress-up is real.”  

Brooklyn Public Library’s Director of Youth and Family Services, Judy Zuckerman believes that these story times “encourage children to look beyond gender stereotypes and embrace unfettered exploration of self." However, members of society think otherwise with the comments section of a recent article by the Daily Mail (Transgender lessons for two-year-olds) littered with homophobic comments. Somehow bigoted members of society can't seem to understand that drag queens and pantomimes share similar traits of entertaining and are merely educating children rather than 'brain washing' them.

At the end of the day drag queens are simply modern-day clowns, dressing up in brightly coloured outfits and putting on often comical performances. In the eyes of a child they are no different to a pantomime dame. Drag Queens teach us valuable life lessons (see previous article), and with educational events such as Drag Queen Story Time happening across the UK its strange to understand why people can't accept drag.  

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10 things Drag Queens have taught me

I have a LOT of respect for Drag Queens, not only have they taught me a lot about myself but they have taught me a lot about the LGBTQ community and how we are all one big family.

Be confident in who you are

It can be difficult to say to someone “be confident” but sometimes that’s all it takes. Drag Queens perform nearly every day and that helps them to gain confidence. They have taught me that practice is key when it comes to being confident and the more you do something the easier it becomes.

 Be honest! No tea, no shade!

Like the age-old phrase, says “honesty is the best policy”. It can be hard to be honest all the time but sometimes it can help you out in the long run! At the same time, every drag queen will tell you there’s a difference between being shady and being honest so make sure you have an equal balance.

 Not everyone will be a fan of you

Every drag queen will tell you they have enemies and haters, but sometimes you have to embrace these people. Sometimes we learn the most about ourselves from those that don’t support us. You may possess all the charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent in the world, but it doesn’t mean everyone will like you.

  Don’t let other people’s words hurt you

Drag Queens often have to deal with a lot of criticism, from both themselves or other queens. They have made me realise that other people will try to put you down and try and attack you verbally. But Jinkx Monsoon has taught people everywhere that words can’t hurt you! It’s all just water off a duck’s back!

  Don’t be afraid to be different

All drag queens are unique and you will very rarely find two that look the same. That’s why they taught me that’s it’s okay to be different and unique and you should accept that about yourself. Don’t always try to blend in, stand out and be proud of who you are.

Take on board criticism

You can’t be perfect at everything so take on the criticism of others. For every drag queen that’s ever had to compete in a competition they will have put up with a tirade of criticism. But these queens have taught me to take on board criticism and make it work for you!

  Step out of your comfort zone

Don’t be afraid to try some different! Drag Queens step out of their comfort zone every day that they done their wigs and lashes. If you branch out a little from what you know you may achieve more than you expect! Drag Queens have taught me to try new things and always keep an open mind.

  Try your hardest, even at the things you aren’t good at

I’ve watched so many drag queens grow this year at skills and talents they weren’t the best at. Whether it be makeup or performing, they’ve practiced, taken on criticism and more importantly not given up! It takes a lot of guts to keep going, even if things aren’t going right at first. But drag queens have inspired me to never give up, even if it takes longer to achieve your goals.

 You can be anyone you want to be

Drags Queens spend their days dressing up as somebody else and are able to have different personas. However, they have taught me that I too can be whoever I want. Don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t be someone or something that you’ve dreamed of. Like drag queens you have the ability to do whatever you want with your life.

  If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else!

And finally, if you can’t accept who you are how do you expect other people to accept you as well. RuPaul puts it best when he talks about self-love and acceptance. In order to be happy in life you need to accept who you truly are and embrace that part of you!

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Gays are NOT an accessory

It’s the age-old argument and its back once again this week thanks to ITV’s Loose Women. The daytime show posted to their Facebook fans today asking “Should every woman have a gay best friend” and were quickly met with backlash from the community.

Gay men are almost idolised amongst straight women as they long for the “GBF” (Gay Best Friend) they’ve seen in the media. The term GBF gained popularity around 2013/14 and is the term used to describe the friendship between a male companion to a female that is not romantic due to their sexuality. In other words, it is literally a gay guy who is best friends with a female.

The term has become more popular as females deem it acceptable to have a male friend who helps them to go shopping and compliments their appearance. But gay men are not the latest Prada handbag or the newest Tiffany ring, they are people regardless of their sexuality. With films, such as ‘Sex in the City’ promoting GBF’s like Stanford to help them when they are shopping it’s no wonder they have become this years most wanted ‘accessory’.

From a young age girls are brought up longing for a gay best friend. With films like “GBF” released in 2013 promoting this image it’s clear how this trend has evolved. For those that have not seen GBF, it follows the story of a gay boy who comes out to his school in order to gain popularity with the ‘cool girls’ running for prom queen. But with lines in the film such as “My future GBF is just waiting to come out of the closet and tell me how fierce I am!” the film could be seen as a step backwards rather than forwards for the LGBT community.

However, GBF helps to promote inclusiveness and equality rather than portraying the image that gays are accessory to an outfit or clique and are merely there for fashion support and advice. The film helps to break down these stereotypes about gay men especially between the main characters. The film shows how these stereotypes can affect gay men with one of the key lines in the film being “It seems many of you girls are treating Tanner as a prize to be won rather than an actual person”.

This new study that ITV talks about is basically suggesting using a gay man to become friends with other women. They suggest that being friends with a gay man makes them more appealing to straight men and that being friends with them can help their ‘mating strategies’. So, no matter how hard they argue back, they are enforcing the view that gay men are disposable or interchangeable accessories used to gain popularity.

Regardless of sexuality friendship should be special to those individuals who are a part of it. In today’s society, its comments like these from large corporations that make it harder from everyone to gain equality. Friendship should be based on interests and behaviour not sexuality and gender and we should respect every individual regardless of their preference.

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Gays are NOT a tourist attraction!

Over the last few years, gay scenes across the country have started to become overrun with straight girls. We’ve all seen them, dressed in short dresses and heels higher than my career prospects, they parade around the dances floor in packs squealing when each song is played. This epidemic has slowly crept up on us but its unfortunately far from disappearing.

This may sound like a “heterophobia” attack on them, but as we all know that doesn’t exist. How can I be offensive to a group that remains to have privilege within society and can freely walk around without fear of abuse or discrimination. In fact, what this actually is, is a reminder that you are in our safe place and you need to learn to respect it.

People fail to realise that for us gay clubs and venues are our safe haven within society. I have had friends removed from “straight” venues due to their sexuality. They have been embarrassed and angry and more importantly discriminated as they are escorted out by bouncers because of their sexuality. It’s situations like these that show that straight white people do have a privilege within society. These clubs are the only place we can truly feel safe, surrounded by those just like us, celebrating who we are. The whole of society, and even more so the world, caters to the wants and needs of straight people, and to hear them say that they need a safe space too is ludicrous.

I hear time and time again the argument from straight girls that “it makes for a fun night out, and it’s all an experience!” I’d like to break this down for you and explain to you what I hear when you make these remarks. To hear you say these words suggests to me that you see us as a novelty, a quirk, or even more so something unusual that you wouldn’t normally see. We are not your entertainers for the night, we are not zoo animals or dancing monkeys and we are most certainly not a “tourist attraction” for you to visit.

It seems as though Saturday nights have become “novelty night” in gay villages across the country as straight people, mainly hen parties and birthday girls, flock to marvel at this new found land. They may seem harmless at first, but the constant DJ requests, whistles and inflatables they bring with them become increasingly annoying as the night goes on. But the most important factor is that they often attract groups of straight males that follow them around for the night. Now this may not seem like a problem to any heterosexual reading this article, but for the gay community this IS a problem.

The groups of straight males that enter these gay clubs trailing after these girls, are often the same group of people that homosexuals go to these clubs to avoid. These are the same people that shout abuse to us in the street, threaten both ourselves and our partners and more importantly attack us when we are helpless. It’s these groups that we seek to avoid and yet these “seemingly harmless” hen parties are the ones attracting them and putting us in danger.

I’ve heard comments from straight females before saying, “if only you were straight!” and “It’s such a shame all the good looking guys are gay!”. These comments are the ones that gay males come to clubs avoid. On the flip side to that, if I had £1 for every time a straight male has come to a gay club and claimed he can turn me straight and buy me a drink I’d probably be able to buy myself a full round for the night.

Unfortunately, within society these gay venues start to get a reputation as being “cool” or “trendy” places to hang out. That means that the first bus of “straight tourists” are already on their way ready to drive out the gay community. This may seem like an exaggerated take on the situation but it does happen and was exactly the case of Sunderland’s “Retox” in 2008.

Ultimately the point I am trying to put across is that gay clubs are not zoos for you to take pictures with topless men, or screech when you see a drag queen. They are communities that we rely upon for support, safety and more importantly security. So next time you decide to take a trip to a gay club, ask yourself why you are really going there and remember we are not tourist attractions we are people just like you.

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International Transgender Day of Visibility

Tomorrow (31st March) is International Transgender Day of Visibility and with trans issues becoming so much more prominent in society today it shows a generation more concerned with awareness.

A few months ago I covered the Transgender Day of Remembrance at The University of Salford and looked further at transgender statistics.

The data I found then was just as shocking as the statistics I have uncovered this time around for the transgender population of America in 2014.

Although these figures are from 2014, these issues are still strongly affecting the transgender population across the world. 

This is why the International Transgender Day of Visibility was founded in 2009 by Michigan-based transgender activist Rachel Crandall. The holiday was created as a reaction to the lack of LGBT holidays for transgender people.

The only known celebration before this is the Transgender Day of Remembrance which is centered around mourning the loss of transgender people to hate crimes and therefore did not celebrate the lives of those who are living.

As a result of this the holiday celebrates transgender people and raises awareness of the discrimination that the community faces worldwide. 

This year, I ask each of you reading this article to take a few moments from your day to help raise awareness of this holiday by posting a status, picture of tweet using the hashtag #MoreThanVisibility 

All it takes is for one person to start a movement, and without that first person nothing would ever happen.

“If you really care about starting a movement, have the courage to follow and show others how to follow.”- Derek Sivers

Click Here for the link to Transgender Day of Awareness Article

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Ten Reasons why being single on Valentine’s Day Rocks!

Yes, we all know it’s coming, and let’s be honest those in retail don’t get a chance to forget! Valentine’s Day is only a couple of days away and for the last month or so we have had Valentines chocolates, roses and teddy bears shoved in the faces of us bitter singletons.

But not all hope is lost, there’s plenty of reasons why being single on Valentine’s day tops spending it with your partner. Here’s a little list I’ve compiled that I’m sure many of you can relate to.

1. Save Money

Let’s put it simply, if you don’t have a valentine you don’t have to buy any fancy gifts or surprises for them! If you’re a student this is a win-win really! There’s no need to smash open your piggy bank that now only holds pennies (because you broke in to it the other night so you could buy £2 Vodka Doubles at the club). Instead sit back and watch all your friends that are in relationships beg you to buy them drinks at the club next week whilst you proudly wave around the only £10 note you own.

2. No Plans

If you don’t have a valentine you most likely won’t have any plans for the night! (sorry!) This means you can sit at home with a tub of ice cream and a copy of The Notebook, or you can hit the town and try and bag yourself a “cuddle buddy” for the night. Not being in a relationship means you’re not tied down for the night and you don’t have to scramble to book some fancy dinner at a restaurant whose name you can’t even pronounce! And this leads on very nicely to number three…

3. No stress!

Because you have no plans, you simply have no stress! You don’t have to go in to a blind panic wondering what Lynx set your fellow will wince less at, or accidentally buy the whole Lush store in order to please your girl! No valentine means you can have the night to yourself with maybe the only problem being what flavour ice cream you should single-handedly attempt to eat a whole tub of…

4. You don’t have to worry about burning the house down

Let’s be honest, we’ve all watched at least one film where we have wondered how on earth they didn’t burn the house down with all those candles! Seriously, how do they even manage that? What if one of them goes out? Do you have to keep patrolling around the house to make sure nothing is burning? It all seems like too much effort to me, and being single means you don’t have to hold your breath whilst attempting not to choke on the over powering scent of vanilla.

5. You don’t have to try and impress someone

As a follow up from the candles, you don’t have to try and impress anyone when you’re single! If you want to sit in your pyjamas with no make-up on, or lounge around in your old underwear with a beer, there’s no one to tell you that you can’t! Plus, if you do decide you want to impress someone, it can always be yourself! I’m pretty impressed with myself when I manage to finish the Dominoes Feed 4 for £5 alone…

6. You can treat yourself!

Who said Valentine’s Day has to be all about couples! Instead of spending money on someone else, “treat yo self” to something special! What about that game you’ve been after for weeks, or maybe that dress you’ve been eyeing up on the mannequin? This is the perfect time to spend your money on yourself!

7. Half price Valentine’s Day chocolates

The best thing about Valentine’s Day is that at some point they have to reduce all the chocolate, teddy bears and other gifts that people didn’t buy! This is the perfect opportunity to snag yourself a bargain and get some cheap chocolate! Yeah it might have some crummy message on the front about true love, but who cares? Chocolate is chocolate, right?

8. You don’t have to share your bed

Don’t you hate it when you’ve just got in to a relationship and now your days of sleeping like a starfish are over as you adapt to life on the edge of the bed. When you’re single you can sleep however you want! Heck why not sleep diagonally and take up as much space as possible, it’s your bed at the end of the day!

9. You can choose what to watch!

Whether this is at the cinema (which I would avoid because there WILL be couples), on the TV or on Netflix. When you’re single the choice is yours and the possibilities are endless as you don’t have to awkwardly watch Love Actually for the fiftieth time, or pretend that you enjoyed a whole Lord of the Rings Marathon.

10. You don’t have to worry about being dumped!

I had a friend who got dumped on Valentine’s Day, but not only that, it was her birthday too. Double ouch! When you’re single you don’t have to worry about this, in fact there’s not really a lot you have to worry about on Valentine’s Day which is why being single rocks so much!

So all in all it can be great to spend Valentine’s Day with a partner, but I think it’s so much better to spend it with your single friends and family!

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My 2015 Memories

This past year I have had some amazing memories and 2015 has been a fantastic year. I’ve achieved more this year than I think I’ve ever achieved before. I met some amazing people this year and had some fabulous days out! Here’s a few of my highlights:

The Fitties!

This Spring was the start of me trying to get fit and healthy! Thankfully I wasn’t the only one with this mind set and my work decided to start a running and swimming club. This club, known as “The Fitties” has helped me in so many ways and with 2016 I hope to start this again! I spent my evenings after work, running and swimming and making every effort to get healthy. I loved every minute of it and I cant wait to start again!

A Weekend in London

In the Summer I spent a few days in an apartment with my best friends! The six of us, known as ‘The Muggles’ stayed together running around around relaxing around London. We started the trip off by competing in pairs to play the Monopoly game, where you visit the Monopoly locations. We also visited the Sky Gardens and visited some of London’s nightlife, I cant wait to do this again in 2016!

Going to University

2015 was definitely my year as I got accepted in to my dream university! I worked so hard in order to be accepted in to the University of Salford and I was so excited to finally meet my flatmates, one of which I had known for a few years online. So far University has been one of my best decisions and I love the city that I’m in!

Moving to Manchester

Moving to a new city has probably been one of the biggest changes I’ve had to face in 2015. From a small countryside girl, to the new girl in a big city, I’ve had a lot of adapting to do! I’ve already met some amazing people and had some amazing nights out! I’ve grown to love this city and I can’t wait to explore more of it in 2016!

Christmas

This is the first time I’ve spent some of my Christmas away from home and its been a new an interesting experience! I’ve cooked a Christmas Dinner with my flatmates and spent Christmas Day with my family and I wouldn’t change either of them for anything in the world.

Back Home

I’ve finished off the year at home with my friends and family! I’ve been on nights outs, bowling and had a good catch up. I’m going to miss them all when I go back to Manchester in January but it’s been amazing to be back and spend time with everyone again!

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Lucy Spraggan talks to Sophie’s Picks

So a few weeks ago, “journalist” Kieran Barnes wrote an article titled “ Lucy Spraggan is performing at the Union again” for the online newspaper, The Tab. The article was written for the Sheffield region of the student run paper and questioned why the supposedly ‘unknown’ 2012 X Factor contestant was returning to the Student Union bar.

The article was spotted by Lucy and tweeted out to her 628,000 followers and shared to her 345,000 fans on Facebook. This is where I came across the article and asked Lucy herself if she would like to be interviewed by myself.

I will be the first to admit that this is probably not one of the best interviews in the world, and YouTube seems to have reduced both the audio and video quality for the footage. However, as this was my first interview and I was very ill I’d say it’s not disastrous! 

Lucy was absolutely amazing throughout and so lovely to talk to her! I just wished I’d been far more prepared and better at editing! Hopefully, Lucy will let me interview her again in February for her acoustic tour and I’ll be far more experienced and prepared with my questions! 

However, keep your eyes peeled on this space as I will be uploading a reel of all my out takes including some great behind the scenes with Lucy herself!

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Transgender Day of Awareness

On Friday 20th November the University of Salford held its first ever Transgender Day of Remembrance. The event, was an opportunity to reflect on the needs of Transgender people and a time to mourn the members of the community that have been lost around the world to hate crimes and transphobia.

A wide range of free events took place in the Students’ Union Activities Hub and Faith Centre in University House, with volunteers on hand at the door to give away freebies. The itinerary kicked off at 12pm with Gender Identity Training and was shortly followed by an event hosted by Sparkle, who host the world’s largest transgender event.

The University also had a similar stall running at it’s MediaCityUK Campus.

The University also showcased a Transgender Film Festival, run in association with Queer Media Ltd. The event played a range of  short films based around transgender topics and ended the session with a feature film – A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story.

The night started to draw to a close with the help of the Gender: The more you know event , which was hosted by Salford’s LGBTQI+ society and explored a range of subjects ranging from genderqueer to famous trans figures.

The presentation spoke about the issues the Transgender community experience everyday and included real life stories from some of the speakers about their transgender lives.

The event also ended with an impromptu game of musical chairs whilst students got to know more about each other and transgender issues.

The night concluded with a candle lit ceremony in which guests were able to light candle to remember those in the trans community who have lost their lives from hatred or suicide.

The candle lit vigil was led by Rev Phoebe Grace from Eternal Life Community Church, Manchester. The event ended with the planting of a plum tree at University Grounds and will symbolise the trans community when the purple tree later blooms.

The day was run in partnership with the Students’ Union, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI+) Student Society, Salford City Council, SALFOOD, Sparkle andOut in Salford.

However, the battle is never over with the Trans community, and it is important that we raise awareness to the issues in which they face. The infograph below puts in to context some of the daily struggles for Transgender people.

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The Dots- Interview with CEO and Founder Pip Jamieson

Pip Jamieson is the CEO and Founder of the website "The Dots". She has spent the last 15 years living and breathing the creative industries. She started her career as an economist but quickly jumped ship in the creative industries; first working on the Brit Awards then for MTV in various roles around the world. 

So for those that don’t know, what is The Dots?

I guess the easiest way to describe The Dots (www.the-dots.co.uk) is it’s a bit like the creative version of LinkedIn. We exist to help amazing people across the creative industries promote themselves online…. but most importantly connect to amazing career opportunities be it a client, collaborator or job… essentially helping creatives make money :-)

How was The Dots founded?

We started the platform because while I was Head of Marketing at MTV, I was finding it really hard to connect with amazing creative talent and freelancers. At the same time my then colleague Matt Fayle, who was Digital Director for Viacom, was constantly being asked by creatives for advice on getting up and running online. 

What we realised was that all these people and companies wanted their online presence to lead to something. If you were a creative individual or freelancer, you were trying to build your personal brand, find collaborators, find a client or a job. If you were a creative business, you were trying to build your brand, promote your projects, connect with clients or hire talent.

So our vision was not only to create a platform that was easy for creative individuals and businesses to promote their work online – but most importantly connect that work to some form of commercial outcome. 

What makes The Dots different from other rival companies

LinkedIn has nailed corporate networking but it has some massive shortcomings for people that work in the creative industries. On a basic level it is built around an individual’s resume, but a creative’s calling card is their portfolio of work – which is what The Dots puts to the forefront.

On a more fundamental level, creatives have different networking preferences to corporates. LinkedIn has been designed so to meet people in the real world first and then manage those relationships online i.e it’s built around first and second degree connections. What this means is that LinkedIn is a closed network where you can only view people’s profiles if they’ve either accepted your request to connect, or you pay LinkedIn.

What do you see in the future for The Dots?

Our vision is to become the leading professional networking platform for the creative industries globally, equivalent to LinkedIn for the corporate sector. We’re on a mission to generate one million commercial opportunities for creative professionals by 2018; helping build a stronger, more profitable and diverse creative sector.

What changes (if any) do you think need to be made to the creative industry to help connect creatives and freelancers to commercial  opportunities?

Our industry is primarily driven by word of mouth. The challenge of this, is it leads homogenous creative teams but if we want to remain on the cutting edge of creativity, we need diversity of ideas, skills and backgrounds. I guess that’s why we started The Dots and launched a program of Portfolio Masterclasses. We wanted to connect talent with opportunities, irrespective of where they went to school, their ethnicity or background.

To visit The Dots or find out more at Pip Jamieson:

https://the-dots.co.uk/ 

Pip Jamieson’s Profile

[sophiespicks]

Earlybird Review

I’d like to first start this review off by giving a shoutout to my postman who posted this snack box (which contained edible food) in my dustbin. Yes, ladies and gentleman you did read that right, he posted it in my dustbin, that was full of rubbish, because I was not in and it didn’t fit through the door. So my snack box did have a slight whiff of old food and garbage, but I soldiered on and risked dying of some horrible dustbin contracted disease as a result of it.

Anyway, Earlybird were kind enough to supply me with a taste box containing 5 of their tasty snacks and two teas. The box is beautifully packaged and seemed to survive its ordeal through the UK postal system including silly postmen! Earlybird believe that art creates a new snacking environment which will help ease your mind and make your break more peaceful. Each of their tasteboxes contain a beautiful design on the inside created by up and coming artists. You can review some of the artists on their website at EB Gallery, and they are always looking for new designs.

As well as providing you with beautiful art, Earlybird also send you a ticket containing links to artist tour dates or even free downloads! Although this currently isn’t available they are looking for new artists so again get involved!

Earlybird selected the snacks for me and included a selection of fruits and nuts. Earlybird have developed the concept of sending 5 tasty snacks so that you have one for each day of the working week. Each of the snacks is measured perfectly to keep your calorie intake controlled and act as a boost to keep cravings at ease every day of the week. The snacks are made and created by Earlybird, and they are always looking for new ideas as well as reviews on yours snacks, so they can improve both your experience for your next box as well as everyone else.

So Earlybird sent me:

Amuesli Sprinkle

This is a Swiss-inspired muesli made up of oats and plenty of juicy fruits, nuts and seeds. This snack contains no added sugars and is suitable for vegans. If I’m quite honest I’m not actually a fan of muesli so I gave this one to my mum to add to her Greek yoghurt and blueberries and she said that it was very nice. (great review I know)

Snockers

This is Earlybird’s healthy take on a Snickers bar and I highly recommend this one to you! The snack is flaked peanuts mixed with caramel fudge, milk chocolate and chopped dates. This was literally the best snack I had because not only was it a healthy take on a popular chocolate bar but it actually tasted amazing!

Milky Berry Shot

This snack contains cranberries mixed with blackcurrants and white chocolate. To get the full effect from this snack eat it all mixed together rather than picking pieces out, because it’s truly yummy when you do eat it this way.

Sweet Cherry Soul

This snack was not my favourite, it contained juicy cherries soaked in apple juice, caramelised pumpkin seeds, roasted hazelnuts and sweet cranberries. The cherries were far to sour and needed something sweeter to balance the taste out. Sorry Earlybird but this one was not my favourite :( 

Sweet Red Pepper

I enjoyed this snack, mainly because I’m a massive fan of nuts! This snack is honey red pepper cashew nuts and sunflower seeds with flame raisins and roasted and salted edamame beans. This snack is great because it is both sweet and savoury but spicy at the same time. It’s also got a pretty good kick to it with the spice!

English Breakfast Tea

Nothing beats a good ol’ cup of English tea! Not really a lot I can say about this one other than I’m a massive lover of traditional tea so this one went down a treat! Also I love the tea bag itself as it was made from an organza style material.

Mint Lime Tea

This is definitely an unusual combination, but I think it definitely works! The tea contains Peppermint, spearmint, lime leaves, lemongrass, safflower petals. I boiled it for 3 minutes and did not add any milk and I think it was such a soothing and refreshing brew, especially as I’m not usually a fan of flavoured teas.

Once again thank you to Earlybird for providing me with this box, and if you would like to give on a go for FREE then try out my share code indie-4009 and you can try one out yourself!

Check out Earlybird online:

https://earlybird.fm/

[sophiespicks]

Crossing Paths by Niall McDiarmid

Today I received a copy of Niall McDiarmid’s “Crossing Paths” to pass on to a friend of mine. In early 2011, Niall McDiarmid set out one quiet Sunday afternoon armed with his camera. Niall planned to take portraits of people close to his home in South London, except it didn’t quite end up like that!

On the first day Niall travelled right across London taking portraits of the people he met whilst talking to people along the way. 

Niall’s journey slowly expanded each day and he began travelling across Britain photographing interesting people. Niall photographed more than 800 people, travelled over 50,000 miles and stopped at more than 120 town’s right across England, Scotland and Wales.

One of those places he visited was Margate, the town in which he met my friend’s two daughters, Poppy and Daisy. The twin girls were photographed by Niall whilst out with the grandparents and were adorned in matching pink polka dot coats and purple leggings. The girls were aged 11 at the time and snapped at The Parade in Margate.

Niall McDiamid sent me a copy of the book to pass on to the girls after I discovered the photograph had been published in Niall’s book “Crossing Paths” in 2013. The book is available on Amazon and is definitely a fantastic book for painting a portrait of the people of Britain.

If you would like to find out more about Niall McDiarmid or Crossing Paths, check out the video below or some of the links on his website.

Website: http://www.niallmcdiarmid.com/

Book: http://crossing-paths.co.uk/

Buy the Book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crossing-Paths-A-Portrait-Britain/dp/099269700X 

[sophiespicks]

Kent Pride 2015

This weekend, Margate’s beaches will be graced with the presence of the “Kent Pride Parade”. 

The event which takes place on Saturday 29th August hopes to attract members of the gay and transgender community from across the country.

The event has been organised by Tony Butcher, who runs Canterbury’s only gay venue, Limes Lounge and Diner along with the help of Vikki Childs.

Thanet District Council have been very supportive throughout the planning and organising of the event which is expected to draw crowds of over 20,000 on Saturday.

Mr Butcher said it would be a family-friendly celebration.

“What we are planning is a smaller version of Brighton’s Gay Pride day, and there will be a real carnival atmosphere with floats of drag queens, colourful costumes and lots of music and dancing.

“But it is not just for gay people: everyone is welcome.

However, not everyone supports Kent Pride and days before the event local residents have received flyers opposing the parade.

The sender of the posters currently remains anonymous, but organisers and residents have taken to Facebook to voice their views about the stunt.

Robert DJ Thacker commented on Facebook: “Only uneducated, bigotry people would stoop so low!! Is this a classification for hate crime??!”

Whilst Nelly Jerahmiah Em said: “This is Crazy!! But this is the reason such events are held! Everyone should remember the roots of Pride!”

Others have fought back against the posters and plan to make the event even bigger than already planned.

Mikey Moo Moo Lee wrote on Facebook: “I’m going all out now, must get an even bigger flag and wig for the march!”

Hannah Wotten also wrote: “I won't keep my kids away gonna [sic] dress them up even more now”

The event will continue to go ahead despite the anonymous attacks, and organisers plan to make it a day to remember for everyone!

For more information on the event check out:

Website: http://www.kentpride2015.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kentpride2015

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kentpride2015

Limes Lounge and Diner: https://www.facebook.com/limeslounge

[sophiespicks]

TLC “If Katie Hopkins Ruled The World” (Series 1, Ep 3)

Filmed: Monday 27th July 2015

Aired: TBC

Rating:  ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ (Out of 5)

Sometimes the thought of Britain's most hated woman running the country scares us, but then we all remember the Thatcher days, right?

This week I attended the television recording of "If Katie Hopkins Ruled the World" and it was safe to say I was not disappointed. I had high hopes for the show before I attended, being a fan of Katie and all, the show was full of humour, 'banter' and even the proposal of a fight from an audience member! 

The show offers an insight in to what the world would be like if Katie were able to make the rules, the audience then votes on whether these rules should be passed or not by using interactive remote controls.

The security was tight to get in and they confiscated so much stuff from my bag that it barely fit in the tiny "evidence" bag I was given to put it all in. At one point I was expecting the security guard to ask me to drop my pants and bend over because of how strict they were! However, in the words of Katie Hopkins, "I don't think anyone wants to see my foo foo!"

The studio set was beautiful and I especially loved the bright colour scheme. Whoever designed the set deserves an award and at the very least a well done! It was very interactive, with animations moving across the screens and I'm sure it will look great in HD!

The audience was raring to go, thanks to the warm up act provided by a guy who I think said his name was Mark? Either way he had us laughing and joking before the show had started and even managed to offend a few audience members before Katie got to them! 

The show is presented by Katie Hopkins with Mark Dolan acting as a judge and keeping everyone in check, and the guests on this episode included, Daily Mail Journalist Liz Jones, comedian Paul Foot and TOWIE and reality TV star Gemma Collins.

Without giving away too much about the show before it is aired, Katie and her guests discussed five different ‘laws’ that included:

Men should propose to women

Button up in the workplace

If you're not groomed you're doomed

Fat tax for fat flyers

Baby on board signs should be banned

The show definitely heated up during the talk on a fat tax, with one audience member even challenging Katie Hopkins to a fight, with the support of the audience! However, no matter what the newspaper’s say there was no challenge between Gemma Collins and Katie Hopkins, as Gemma agreed with Katie on pretty much all her views!

Katie Hopkins is described as “Britain’s most hated woman”, however after meeting her and being able to watch her show, as well as see the behind the scenes, I can confirm she is far from her title. Katie was humorous and more importantly entertaining way before she was rude to anyone. She had the whole crowd laughing and cheering with her, which was something I did not expect to hear.

Katie Hopkins was extremely sweet at the end of the show and came and said hello to Simon Rickards (@SiRickards) one of her fellow “Fat Club” members, as well as saying hello and hugging myself, and all who were waiting! I really hope that I get the opportunity to attend another *recording as I really enjoyed myself.

The show is all about getting people to voice their opinions and helping people to say what they think. The show is a great conversation starter and I would recommend everyone to at least give one episode a go before judging it.

*I did receive tickets for the next day but was unable to go, so hopefully I’ll receive tickets for another showing.

[sophiespicks]

Black to Basics

This week, Britain’s youngest MP for over 200 years spoke for the first time in the House of Commons. The 20 year old Scottish National Party MP, Mhairi Black gave an inspiring maiden parliamentary speech amongst her peers on Tuesday.

Ms Black managed to defeat shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander at the 2015 election whilst still studying as a student at Glasgow University. Mhairi fought for her place from the beginning and delivered a worthy speech in Parliament.

Ms Black’s speech triggered a round of applause from the SNP MPs around her, as a result breaking the tradition that MPs do not to clap in the House of Commons.

Mhairi Black hit home with some truths during her speech including the issue that she is the only 20 year-old that the Chancellor is prepared to help with housing costs, because she is an MP. Mhairi used humour and honesty to conduct her speech and was confident throughout.

I have a lot of respect for Mhairi Black as she is only a year or so older than myself. Mhairi has used humour a lot throughout her campaigning.

[1]Along with other LGBT MPs from the SNP, she expressed her support for marriage equality prior to the referendum in Ireland. Asked about her decision to "come out", she replied "I've never been in".

Ms Black has used her age and wit to her advantage and I feel she will be making a huge impact on the future of not only the SNP but politics in general. Mhairi has brought politics back in to the hands of the people, and especially the young adults.

Mhairi Black is refreshing to watch in the House of Commons and I look forward to seeing her make a difference with politics in her constituency of Paisley and Renfrewshire South

[1] Mhairi Black MP- Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mhairi_Black