200 Degrees Acts of Kindness lets you swap hygiene products for coffee

Those fantastic people at 200 Degrees Coffee are enabling their equally fantastic customers to help those who are less fortunate than they are.

How? They are going to let their customers donate hygiene products in exchange for coffee throughout its coffee shops this Christmas season.

Why? Because the sad reality is that many people in the UK simply do not have proper access to basic hygiene products. And this problem, points out 200 Degrees, has been made worse by the pandemic.

So 200 Degrees is inviting its coffee loving customers to bring new, unused, unopened items like deodorants, soaps, shower gel, shampoo, period products, baby care items, shaving foam, household cleaning products and other hygiene basics into any of its premises. 

200 Degrees will then work with local charities within each city to make sure they are distributed to local people in need.

They'll be hosting a Swap Shop on Wednesday 8 December, asking their customers to bring in personal hygiene products at any of its coffee shops, in exchange for a free cup of coffee.

The teams in each of their coffee shops have chosen local charities, which includes Manchester's Booth Centre,  a community centre offering support for people impacted by homelessness, and Helping Hands, Birmingham which provides food, blankets and other essentials to homeless people nightly.

The team at 200 Degrees are continuing to spread kindness with other initiatives including its ‘12ish Days of Christmas’ campaign, which will see surprise gifting of all sorts of experiences, messages of kindness on takeaway coffee cup lids and rewarding some of its loyal customers with 200 Degrees goodies.

Will Kenney, who is the commercial director at 200 Degrees Coffee, said: “The festive season should be a restful time of year for all, but sadly there are many thousands who face difficult circumstances, instead.

“Acts of Kindness is about us trying to make a small, positive difference to people who are having a tough time and also thanking our customers for being brilliant.

“The Swap Shop alone will collect much needed products that will be distributed to the amazing communities around our shops.”

To find out more about 200 Degrees and their 15 coffee shops please visit them at https://200degs.com/.

Their coffee shops are located in Nottingham, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Leicester, Cardiff, Sheffield, Lincoln, Liverpool, Manchester, York and Cannock. https://200degs.com/pages/our-coffee-shops.

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Have a Gusto ethical and delicious Christmas

Once you taste Gusto Organic drinks, you'll understand why it's won so many awards.

Gusto Organic deliver a range of eight tantalising adult-focused soft drinks, guaranteed to bring a sense of occasion to celebrations this Christmas.

Perfect when experienced neat, as a thirst-quenching treat, or accompanying premium spirits as a zippy mixer. Each drink offers a unique blend of flavours made only using  the finest ingredients. There are zero free artificial colours, flavours and sweeteners and guaranteed to bring pleasure in every sip.

Plant-based and vegan, Gusto’s drinks are not only made with an ethical conscience by supporting farmers around the world with its Fairtrade mission but are also packed to the brim with taste, making them the perfect tipple for every guest.

You should begin Christmas Day with Buck’s Fizz by pairing Sicilian Blood Orange with Champagne or Prosecco, a traditional drink to kick start festivities. Gusto’s Sicilian Blood Orange is made with organic blood oranges from the slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily, using whole orange pith and peel, blended with blood orange juice, creating a super orange blast from the sun-drenched South, bringing a wonderfully diverse zesty flavour.

Designed for discerning drinkers and citrus lovers, Gusto Organic boasts the world’s finest lemonade as a healthier alternative to mainstream lemonades - Sicilian Lemon with Yuzu blends a hint of yuzu magic, sweetened with Fairtrade agave, Fairtrade apple juice and a light touch of organic grape juice and with just 100 calories per bottle and its low GI won’t leave you with a sugar high. It’s also the perfect partner for Gin this Christmas.

For those thirsty for a more complex, quintessential adult soft drink, Fiery Ginger with Chipotle is sweet, hot, zingy and dry. It is also a superb mixer with Vodka, or for that legendary ‘Dark n Stormy’ with Rum. 

Made with organic ginger juice from China, blended with ginger from both Nigeria and Indonesia and sweetened with organic, Fairtrade apple juice and organic, Fairtrade blue agave from Jalisco in Mexico. To elevate the taste further, it packs a punch with Mexican chipotle – a wonderful smoked chilli that offers heat, a little smoke and a wonderful hum on the taste buds.

For the cola nuts around the Christmas table, Gusto’s award-winning Real Cola, Naturally Slim Cola and indulgent Real Cherry Cola, use Cola nut from the rainforests of Africa, which balances the flavour of its cola drinks, adding a bitter note to counterbalance the sweetness of the agave. Cola nut also mildly stimulates and revives you in a completely natural way. 

"While many big brand colas use synthetic caffeine derived from ammonia and phosphoric acid, known to damage bones, Gusto Organic uses the revered cola nut for its natural active ingredient theobromine to stimulate, which translates as ‘Food of the Gods’. Gusto’s Naturally Slim Cola sits at only 55 calories a bottle, also one to reach for calorie reduction, based on natural plant-based ingredients only and no artificial sweeteners.

Coined ‘the perfect hangover cure, its Original Energy and Lemon Energy drinks should be the go-to drinks to boost energy levels naturally, enjoyed over ice, or as the ultimate mixer. Gusto Original Energy is a unique energy drink– ‘no nasties’ 100% natural and powered by Amazon guarana, African cola nut and 14 Chinese herbs for strength, focus and wellbeing. For a different tangy taste sensation but the same stimulation, Lemon Energy contains whole crushed organic lemons, including crushed peel with Amazon guarana, powerful adaptogen Siberian ginseng and a sweetening blend of organic grape, agave nectar and apple to keep you partying without the hangover!

Founded by Craig Sams, (the entrepreneur behind Green & Blacks) and Will Fugard, CEO and alchemist in chief, Gusto Organic has harnessed both European and global markets with their organic, Fairtrade and refined sugar-free soft drinks. Not only possessing a raft of Great Taste Awards, the brand was voted the No.1 Ethical Best Buy Soft Drinks brand in 2020 by Ethical Consumer Magazine and are also a proud sponsor of sporting events across the calendar year.

"At Gusto Organic we pride ourselves on producing the finest tasting soft drinks, which are the antithesis to mainstream fizzy drinks, our organic and Fairtrade drinks offer complex aromatic flavours with ingredients of exceptional provenance. No weird chemicals, artificial sweeteners or excess sugar; there’s a Gusto for every Christmas moment. Every one of our fully recyclable glass bottles supports Fairtrade farming projects around the world, they taste great, and they do good, the Gusto way.

The Gusto Organic range is available online from Ocado, Abel & Cole, Amazon, Holland & Barrett, Farmdrop, Gusto Shop and at Fortnum & Mason, Waitrose Farm Shop, Wholefoods, Eversfield Organic and many premium natural trade retailers & farm shops across the UK. RRP from £1.89

Update to That's Christmas

We have made a slight update to the That's Christmas site.

For some unknown reason the search function vanished.

Upon noticing this we decided to re-introduce the search function so visitors can now search for whatever they need to make this Christmas a very special Christmas.

Also, when you purchase something that you have seen mentioned on That's Christmas, please do mention us when you do.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped us source Christmas goodies over the years that we have been working on That's Christmas.

And if you have a product or service that you'd like to see featured here on That's Christmas, for free? Please email thatschristmas@mail.com.

Make it a Habulous Christmas this year

What is Habulous?

A spokeswoman for the brand tells That's Christmas: "Habulous ceramics are all individually handmade by Nicky Edmunds; mugs, vases, storage containers, jugs and many other decorative and useful pieces for your home."

She adds: "Most items are thrown on Nicky's potters wheel, although from time to time she will also hand build. Her pieces of work all reflect the time, energy and skill that she puts into them. Every piece is unique and crafted with care."

She said: "The jellyfish air plants are unique to her and are proving to be very popular indeed."

I must admit that I have long admired pottery items, especially handcrafted works. My only experience with traditional pottery came about by working in the archaeology unit of the Ironbridge Museum which includes craftsmen and women using traditional techniques to make pottery items before firing them in a kiln.

My favourite event, however, involved digging out a large bottle kiln and find the pawprint of a cat on one of the bricks on the base used for the kiln when the bricks had been left out to dry before baking!

However, let's return to Habulous, shall we?

The pottery items sold under the Haboulous brand are nothing short of astounding.

Handmade Ceramic Mug Moorland Series which costs £25.00. Or if you preference is for a ceramic tumbler, then the Handmade Ceramic Tumbler Moorland Series at £22.00 will be more to your liking.

Handmade oil pourers, handmade espresso mugs, handmade ceramic hanging planters (limited edition, so do order these now!) dome vases, jugs, treeline broaches, there's actually something of a match to the limited edition lidded pot with Moorland trees decoration.

Or what about a gorgeous handmade ceramic soap dish? Or perhaps you are looking for something different for your kitchen? How about some nice ceramic bowls? Or a large ceramic bowl? A very dinky and exquisite mini vase? A small jug ideal for the table?

An amazing range of handcrafted pottery items, I think you'd agree? But that's not all that's available!

There are truly unique jellyfish air plants, wax melt burner sets, handmade ceramic hanging bird feeders, handmade jewellery, cards and more. 

To learn about the full range please visit https://www.habulous.co.uk/.

Fantastic Services make Fantastic Gifts!

 

Fantastic Services make Fantastic Gifts! 

What is Fantastic Services? It's a rather unique company that offers over 25+ services to in excess of 50,000 customers every month. 

A spokesperson said: "Some of the services we provide are mobile beauty and wellness, domestic cleaning and gardening. We serve domestic and commercial clients in London, the South East, and the North West." 

They went on to say: "There are just a few things you can compare to the feeling of knowing that you don't have to worry about the house cleaning. We allow our customers to have somebody else do the chores before or after a big party at home. We allow them to enjoy the warmth and cosiness of their homes without exhausting themselves with wiping and vacuuming before that."

Now Fantastic Services are offering a very special, personalised gift voucher that you can send as a very special Christmas gift for someone you love. Or why not self-gift so you can make sure your house or flat is gleaming and ready for your Chirstmas Party?

Gift vouchers are available in £50, £100 and £150 amounts.

To learn more please visit them at https://www.fantasticservices.com/.

Personalised NASA Astronaut Helmet with Movable Visor

Everyone loves space and your little astronauts will be mission ready with this ultra cool Personalized-NASA Astronaut Helmet with a Movable Visor!

The realistic looking Astronaut Helmet can be personalised to order with your child's name on it and  it complements other items in the Aeromax Astronaut range which includes Personalised Astronaut Suits, NASA Hoodies and NASA Bucket Hat also available. Available from Etsy and eBay.

(Personalised) NASA Astronaut Costume with Cap

This cool Astronaut Dress Up Costume is perfect for the budding astronaut and includes a NASA style cap.

You can also personalise the costume so kids will feel as though they are part of a space shuttle adventure - lifting off into outer space! 

Embroidery is in Black - similar to the NASA Logo. The NASA Astronaut Costume is available in both Orange and White in a variety of sizes: Age: 2-3 4-6 6-8 8-10 12-14