May 2023 – Sheepover at the Farm Animal Sanctuary, and best buys for Link to Hope shoeboxes

The Farm Animal Sanctuary

The Farm Animal Sanctuary has opened for weekend visits (from 13 May). (Manor Orchard Farm, School Lane, Little Middleton, Evesham, Worcester, WR11 8LN.)  Tickets can be purchased via their website.  A great chance to meet the animals up close and help support the work of the sanctuary.  You will need to take your own refreshments.  Meet the newest animals to be rescued and find out their story. The main photo is of the latest unexpected arrival – Chip. He will be able to live out his life without being taken from his mom, and not end up at an abattoir.

Their first Sheepover of the year is the 3^rd June, again tickets can be purchased via their website.  ‘Bring a tent and spend a night at the sanctuary with our rescued animals! A truly unique experience where you can get to know our animal residents on a deeper level and see their individual personalities shine. A great family night out!’

There is another Sheepover planned for 22^nd July and then their Animal Freedom Festival is on 19 and 20^th August. 

Link to Hope

The Family and Elderly Shoebox calendar focuses on Toiletries for May.  Toothbrushes and Toothpaste, and soap and a flannel are all essentials for every shoebox, so it’s worth trying to find good buys as soon as possible, especially with the way prices seem to be going up every month.  The other toiletries suggested on the calendar are shampoo, safety razors, and small scissors.

You could also add hand cream or body lotion, body spray, or a shaving cream.  Shower gel is also a possibility, but soap and shampoo are generally more useful. 

The cheapest toothbrushes are from Tesco, Sainsburys, Asda and Morrisons – who all  have a pack of two toothbrushes for 25p, and One Below/One Beyond have had packs of 8 for £1.00 but availability varies. (The Sainsbury, Morrisons and Asda toothbrushes are white, but the Tesco ones contain one white and one green)

Primark have a pack of 5 toothbrushes for 75p and One Below/One Beyond do have packs of 6 toothbrushes for £1.00.  Poundland have some packs or 3 or 4 toothbrushes for £1.00, and Morrisons have a pack of 4 different coloured toothbrushes for £1.00.

Toothpaste best buys are Sainsburys, Asda, and Tesco who all have their own brand toothpaste at 50p for 100ml,  and they all have Aquafresh at 80p for 75ml.  They along with Morrisons also have several other toothpastes for £1.00.  Aldi have their Dentitex brand at 62p for 125ml, and Lidl have their Dentilux brand at 59p for 125ml and another for 62p for 125ml.

Despite an increase in price Tesco are still the cheapest I’ve found for bars of soap.  Their individually wrapped bars of soap are currently 30p each (they were 15p last year!, and 20p in January and 25p in April this year).  That is still cheaper than any other soap I’ve found.  Asda and Sainsburys have packs of 4 bars of soap for £1.35.  Aldi normally have packs of 4 bars of soap but nothing is showing on line and I haven’t checked recently as I normally buy the Tesco soap as it’s individually wrapped.

For face cloths/flannels Asda had a slight reduction for a couple of months with 2 for 75p but they are now 2 for 80p but that is still cheaper than a lot of stores and they come in a variety of colours.  Tesco and Wilko both have sets of 4 face cloths for £1.50 so roughly 38p each, but only come in grey or white.  If you just want to buy one flannel then Morrisons sell a grey face cloth for 50p, or Wilko sell one for 55p in pink or white, but they are also selling 4 for the price of 3. 

I find that shampoo is a difficult one because of the size restriction of 300ml.  Personally, I only buy toiletries that aren’t tested on animals (anywhere in the world) and don’t include animal ingredients and try to find ones with the Leaping Bunny logo.  Most of the cheaper own brand bottles are 400 or 500ml so need decanting to smaller bottles.   Sainsburys have their own brand of coconut shampoo for 85p for 500ml.  Asda have their own brand Coconut or Apple shampoo for 500ml.  Asda also stock XHC Argan oil shampoo 99p for 300ml, great as it doesn’t need decanting but more expensive than the larger sizes!  Tesco stock their own brand Coconut, Apple or Tropical shampoo at 85p for 500ml.  Aldi have Coconut or Raspberry shampoo at 75p for 500ml.  Aldi also sell a 3 in 1 men’s- hair, face and body wash for 55p for 300ml so the right size.  Although it says it’s a men’s product it smells suitable for male or female, and I’m buying them for my elderly shoe boxes.  Morrisons have a 2 in 1 shower gel and shampoo in Sea Minerals & Fennel at 95p for 250ml. 

I tend to avoid adding shower gel, unless it’s a multi use product that can be used as shampoo, and I generally don’t add conditioner unless I’ve been given any small hotel guest bottles.  That’s my personal choice but it’s based on some of the information I’ve seen on the Link to Hope website, especially where people don’t have access to showers. 

Several places still have 10 safety razors for £1.00 including Poundland, One Below/One Beyond, Sainsbury and Tesco.  B&M have packs of 5 Bic razors for 55p.

Bargain Buys this month.

My best buy this month has been some pencil cases for 29p, and a purple tea light holder for 37p.  I also bought a pack of 8 tea lights for 50p, and some scented tea lights 12 for £1.25 which aren’t the cheapest but good if you are just doing one or two shoeboxes, all from Poundstretcher. On their website they also advertised some good deals on men’s socks, but my local store didn’t have any of the deals available.  

One other suggestion to help keep costs down is to join your local Freegle or freecycle group.  I picked up some knitted toys and some dolls and a hot water bottle cover and when I explained what they were for and some of the other things that go in the shoeboxes they gave me a bag with notebooks, and felt pens etc that their daughter no longer needed.  I also picked up some candles last week.  Now I’m waiting to hear if a pair of gloves, hat, thin scarf and tape measure are still available on Freecycle.   

Till next month.