A new training programme from The Sleep Charity has been launched to help us get better sleep

Sleep is vital for our health and wellbeing, and yet 40% of the adult population have experienced sleep issues, which go on to impact their mood, behaviour, concentration, and overall productivity. Even so, if you’re going through difficult phases with sleep, it can feel as though there is nowhere to turn, and few solutions to the problem.

In a survey conducted by The Sleep Charity, 57% of UK adults shared that they felt there is a lack of support for people with sleep issues, and 48% went on to say that companies should offer support for staff who are having trouble sleeping.

According to the NHS, upon visiting a GP to talk about a sleep problem such as insomnia, they will usually try to uncover what the cause may be, and then refer you to the right treatment. For example, you might be referred to a therapist for cognitive behaviour therapy, which may help change thoughts and behaviours around sleeping. Sleeping pills are also sometimes, though rarely, prescribed for a few days or weeks at most.

In a bid to offer practical support, The Sleep Charity has launched a five-part course which explores a range of topics including sleep psychology, insomnia, menopause, mental health, and ageing.

Developed by leading sleep science expert, Professor Jason Ellis, five modules each work through the topics, asking and answering questions such as, what is normal sleep? How much do we need? And, how do sleep problems develop?

“We are delighted to be working with Professor Jason Ellis on these courses, truly focussing on adult sleep and the effects that ageing, menopause and mental health issues can have on sleep and overall wellbeing,” said Lisa Artis, The Sleep Charity’s deputy CEO.

“We've had some incredible feedback from our Workplace Sleep Ambassador training courses and wanted to expand our training options specifically for those working and supporting adults to further empower the whole nation to sleep better.”

The courses come following on from a time when there was an increase in the number of people struggling to fall asleep during lockdown – with a study from King’s College London and Ipsos finding that more than half of people experienced some form of sleep problem during that time.

“Not surprisingly we are all experiencing mounting levels of stress,” explains psychotherapist and Hypnotherapy Directory member Ann Hamilton, told us at the time.

“Stress can make it difficult to concentrate, enjoy emotional balance and restful sleep. Increased cortisol elevates the stress response and shifts the sleep-wake balance in the brain, which increases sleep fragmentation and ultimately leads to insomnia.”

If you would like to learn more about The Sleep Charity’s new modules, visit thesleepcharity.org.uk, or you can call the National Sleep Helpline on 03303 530 541, calls are charged at your standard network rate.

Grab a spoon, you are going to want to eat this Whipped Cream Frosting straight from the bowl, or go ahead and dive in with fresh strawberries!

Easy Whipped Cream Frosting

Whipped Cream Frosting is perfect for rich cakes as the frosting is not too sweet. You know the one bite and done frostings that you scrape off of the cake? You won’t be scraping this off.

It adds just the right amount of sweetness, especially when paired with dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate. The light sweetness goes so well on angel food or citrus cakes like lemon too.

If buttercream is sometimes too heavy for you, whipped cream frosting is the answer. The biggest difference between the two is that the whipped cream is light and airy as opposed to the heavy richness from the butter base of buttercream.

When using whipped cream frosting you will need to store the frosting in your refrigerator and keep it cool. You can plan for the cake to be good for 2-3 days. It will start to dry out after that and your frosting will likely weep.

I also suggest sticking with one-layer or two-layer cakes. It is a softer icing and does not form a crust so using it for that wedding cake tower would not be recommended.

Whipped cream frosting is perfect on chocolate cakes, such an easy dessert that no one turns down. Hershey’s Chocolate Cake is truly the most versatile and easiest one-bowl chocolate cake recipe I have ever made.

This Chocolate Crazy Cake is one of the easiest cakes you’ll ever make and you don’t even need any butter or eggs to make this recipe.

If you haven’t yet tried the unforgettable Chocolate Quinoa Cake, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. There isn’t a hint of “quinoa” taste to the cake and it’s also the easiest gluten-free cake you can make without any special ingredients required.

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In the past five years, over 7 million teacher days have been lost due to mental health issues, particularly heightened during the pandemic. Unsuitable workloads, pressure, increased class sizes, and low pay could all be to blame

In the last year, studies by the Observer have revealed that teacher sick days are up by 7% across council-controlled schools in England and Wales, with this number up nearly a fifth compared to the same period three years ago. Areas particularly affected include Kent and Hampshire, with Kent seeing 91,679 teaching days lost in the 21-22 school year.

Existing pressures, such as increased class sizes, coupled with a below-inflation pay rise proposal, have taken a toll on teachers’ mental health and wellbeing. The impact of the Covid pandemic has also heightened the issue, with Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Munira Wilson commenting: “The Covid inquiry must also look into the impact the government’s mishandling of the pandemic had on the mental health of teachers and other frontline workers.”

During the pandemic, many teachers have had to take on extra work, leading to burnout. If this pressure continues, the existing teacher shortage could be set to worsen. As it is, 40% of teachers leave their jobs within the first 10 years of qualifying, according to Julie McCulloch, Policy Director at the Association of School and College Leaders.

Despite the upcoming Covid inquiry, which is set to launch an ‘Education Staff Wellbeing Charter’ off the back of it, there is a risk that the crisis could get worse before it gets better.

So, what can we do about it? Here, Dr Julie Smith discusses how to manage burnout.

How to deal with burnout

We can all experience burnout if we overdo it, whether in our personal lives or at work.

Before practising techniques to combat burnout, it’s important to recognise the signs and symptoms in the first place:

• exhaustion
• distancing yourself from others
• negative attitude toward work
• lack of motivation
• physical symptoms, such as aches and pains

Stress and burnout are related, though not the same. Burnout is chronic stress. If you’re stressed at work, you might feel like your workload is too demanding and you have a lot of pressure, but this feeling typically stops once the workload calms down. Being burnt out often means you feel as if you are completely drained of your energy and have nothing more to give. The goal is to recognise your stress before it escalates into burnout.

Once you’ve identified you’re stressed or burnt out, try to understand the root cause of it and discuss how you’re feeling with your manager, HR, or your colleagues. If it becomes too much, you may consider finding a different job.

It’s also a good idea to set boundaries at work, and stick to them. For example, ensure you log off at a certain time and try to avoid doing work tasks at home. It can be easy to quickly start

The Chocolate Quinoa Cake has the texture of a traditional cake, yet no special flours are required. This is pure, sweet Chocolate Cake.

This cake has blown my mind. Just writing about it here makes me grin as I think about how perfectly moist, rich, and chocolatey it is.

Quinoa Chocolate Cake

When I first saw this recipe, I did a double-take because I had never before run across anything quite like it. A flourless chocolate cake made with quinoa?

I first heard about a Quinoa Chocolate Cake over at Mel’s Kitchen Cafe almost 10 years ago. The recipe is originally from Quinoa 365 and even if you think you hate quinoa, my friends, this cake is going to change your mind. I say that without any doubt at all.

I make a Flourless Chocolate Cake at least a couple of times a year and it is one of my favorite recipes. The Chocolate Quinoa Cake, on the other hand, has the texture of a traditional cake, yet with no special flours required.

All you need is a couple of scoops of cooked quinoa. While I was initially very skeptical, I assure you that you absolutely positively can NOT taste the quinoa in this recipe.

Chocolate Quinoa Cake

This cake wowed both my family and our dinner guests who are accustomed to eating traditional sweets. Even knowing that the cake was made from quinoa, I couldn’t detect an odd taste or texture.

(And you know just how fussy I am about GF desserts and any odds textures or smells – some of those gluten-free flours are pretty bad!)

You don’t have to take my word for it either. There are dozens of 5 star reviews of this recipe at the bottom of this post.

This Quinoa Chocolate Cake has become a go-to dessert for many people who don’t normally cook or bake gluten-free, but enjoy being able to surprise friends with a gluten-free option without having to keep specialty flours and starches on hand.

This, my friends, is pure, sweet, and tender chocolate cake. After eating a slice the next day for breakfast, I sent the rest of it to the office with my husband. This is a very dangerous cake.

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Allotments exist to offer everyone the opportunity to grow their own food, so, what do you need to know?

If you’ve never stepped foot on an allotment before, at the very least you’ve probably passed one by. Squeezed in between housing estates in the centre of cities, on the outskirts of towns, and down spiralling pathways in villages, an estimated 330,000 allotments across the UK offer local residents their own plot of land where they can grow their own food, cultivating a ‘good life’ while they’re at it.

And, post-lockdown, interest in allotments is higher than ever, with the National Allotment Society revealing that 40% of English councils responding to a survey reported a ‘significant uplift’ in applications to join waiting lists, with one council – Hyndburn, in Lancashire – seeing an astounding 300% increase.

It’s easy to understand why this trend is happening. In lockdown, many of us slowed our pace of life right down and were forced to reconnect with the simple things in life. Add to that a desire to ‘eat local’, to understand more about where our food comes from and, importantly, the incredible wellbeing benefit of being out in nature that many of us have experienced first-hand, and you have the perfect conditions for the self-sufficient dream to blossom.

The good news is that, in theory, there’s enough to go around. While many may choose to grow food in their gardens – in 1908, the Small Holdings and Allotments Act came into force, meaning that local authorities must provide sufficient allotment space for the public to grow food where there is a demand for it. Updated in 1925 to protect these spaces further, this legislation is still very much active today, and preserves citizens’ rights to grow their own food, holding the door open to anyone who wants to have a go.

While waiting lists can be rather lengthy, sometimes stretching up to 18 months, costs can be relatively low, ranging between £25–£125 per year depending on the location and facilities on site. Total newbies work side-by-side with expert old-timers, and the community spirit that flourishes on allotments is second to none, as knowledge is passed around without hesitation, plant swaps will have you tucking into new experiences, and annual shows will bring out a healthy dose of competition.

Sounds appealing? Here’s a quick run-down of three key things to consider:

1. How much land are we talkin’?

Allotments are traditionally measured in ‘poles’ – also referred to as ‘perches’ or ‘rods’ – which is an ancient measurement that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times. Generally speaking, the standard allotment size is 10 poles, which is the equivalent of 250 square metres – about the size of a doubles tennis court. It’s a fair bit of land, but if you feel intimidated by that, there are a number of options available. You could share the plot with someone you know, or you could reach out to others who are on the waiting list. Or, you can cover up some of your plot with weed-suppressant material, and work on it bit by bit until you get the hang of things. Be warn