March Blog

It's actually getting quite hard to know what to say now, I think I'll start by expressing my delight at last night's 'Clap for our Carers' and say "that's what we Brits are made of!" Amazing, made me tearful and made me so, so proud of our NHS and the public support they so deserve.  

So, as you know from our social media posts (and via the amazing http://www.milfordonseanews.org/), we are doing all we can to stay safe, but also to ensure we’re making ourselves available to the ‘at risk’ community, which also includes my own mother.

Coming together as a community

We are proud to be part of our village’s ‘COVID-19 Mutual Aid’ Group, a group set up by like-minded locals to help the vulnerable and elderly should they need it. We’ve divided up the village, each taken a section, and delivered notes through doors offering help and adding our phone numbers.

I have had some lovely chats with a few ladies so far, it’s very satisfying when they realise they are just a call away from help, or just a chat if they’re lonely, if they need it.

I also have one lady who has just asked me to call her every day, just for a chat, which I’ve done and it’s just such a lovely experience as she’s such a fascinating lady. I now look forward to that daily call!

Here are our numbers once again if anyone needs a chat, or any help:

    Landline - 01590 643765                         

    Clare - 07515 711617                       

    Glenn - 07950 933466

Please DO NOT hesitate to call us, any time.

Make someone's day with a No64 gift box....

This item was the idea of one our lovely customers and so we can’t take the credit for it, but we would like to put it out there to you as it’s a lovely gesture and it made the recipient very happy.

So, our customer called us and asked if we could make up a gift box for a friend of theirs to cheer them up, what a lovely thought and surprise for that special person! She suggested an amount and I made up a selection of goodies, wrapped them beautifully, and then sealed them in a box ready for collection / delivery.

And so we thought why don't we offer this as a service? We've done 3 so far and the response has been amazing, the feeling of cheering someone up, making someone happy with a little gift, is so satisfying, especially at times like these....

To give you some ideas we’ll be posting images of suggested gift box contents daily on Instagram (@no64bh) and Facebook (No64 Biscuit House) and so hopefully you follow us and can see what people are ordering for their friends, family, work colleagues, or even a local ‘at risk’ person to cheer them up.

And here are a few suggestions to get you started....
 

A No64 Biscuit House Gift Box, to cheer someone up. Contains a card (of your choice), a Choc-Affair bar of chocolate, a Priddy Essentials hand cream and a bar of soap.

 

No64 Gift Box (suggestion No.1)

No64 Gift Box 1 contains a bar of Choc-Affair chocolate, 'Priddy Essentials' hand cream and soap bar, and a card (of your choice).

A No64 Biscuit House Gift Box, to cheer someone up. Contains a card (with a seed packet), a Vanilla Fly scented candle, a glass tea light holder, a Lene Bjerre artificial plant and a Choc-Affair bar of chocolate.

 

No64 Gift Box (suggestion No.2)

No64 Gift Box 2 contains a Vanilla Fly scented candle, a Lene Bjerre artificial plant, a glass tea light holder, and a bar of chocolate and a card with a seed packet.

A No64 Biscuit House Gift Box, to cheer someone up. Contains a card (with a seed packet), 'Priddy Essentials' hand cream, pump soap and soap bar.

 

No64 Gift Box (suggestion No.3)

No64 Gift Box 3 contains a pump soap, a bar of soap and a hand cream, all from Priddy Essentials, and a card with a seed packet.


Remember, these are just suggestions, you can choose anything you like, or you can give me a budget and I'll send you some suggestions. There's no charge for gift wrapping and packaging and if we don't need to use a courier for delivery, that's free to you too.

There are various delivery options which we can decide upon which best suit you i.e. our courier service, we could drop it on a doorstep or specified safe place, we could arrange for you to collect it (safely), etc. 

And don’t forget, you could give a No64 Voucher, which means your special recipient could choose their own gift, or they could book a video tour (see below), and they could pick their gifts virtually! How entrepreneurial are we??

And finally, it doesn’t have to be a No64 gift box, I’m sure if you contacted any local business and suggested the idea to them they would be only too pleased to work something out with you so that you can surprise that special person during these dark days.

As independent businesses we all need your support.

If you would like to have a look around the shop to choose the contents of your gift box........"but how can I do that if you're not open?" I hear you ask, well here's our next fun idea to help with these 'stay at home' times.....

Fancy a virtual tour of No64 Biscuit House from the comfort of your own home?

Some of you will have seen our Instagram post regarding us offering a virtual shopping experience at No64. It’s just a bit of fun during these times of us all being stuck indoors, staying safe of course.

Now I must stress that we are only doing this as we live in the same building as our shop and so we do not have to travel anywhere, and neither do you.

So, here’s how it works. Let us know you would like to have a virtual look round the shop (there’s no pressure to buy anything I might add!) by giving us a call, emailing us, or via the enquiries section on our website.

We can then agree a time, if we’re not available straight away, and we’ll either film you a walk-around video and send it to you OR do a ‘live’ tour via Facetime, WhatsApp, or any other available App we can use on a smartphone.

If you see anything you would like to buy we can then take a telephone card payment, send you a PayPal invoice, give you our bank details for you to make an online payment, or by any other means that suit. We’ll then arrange delivery, to suit your needs. Here's an example...
 


.....I hope you like it.

We’re suggesting this as we’re here, in the building, and we still need to do everything (safely) we can to generate an income, and you’re no doubt at home and would be happy to have a bit of fun during these testing times and so we thought…..why not give it a try?

To be clear, we are not asking you to come to the shop (you can’t, we’re closed!), we are suggesting a video / virtual tour to be enjoyed from the safety of your own home. And I want to stress, safety is our top priority, we are following the regulations of Public Health England and the World Health Organisation.

So, fancy giving it a try? Get in touch if so…..now, where’s my hair brush and makeup as I need to look my best for your video experience!!

Time to upcycle that piece of furniture, or project piece?

Finally, we’ve already had loads of Annie Sloan paint orders as many of you have projects at home you could be getting on with, and a lot of these orders have been generated by us posting images of our Annie Sloan room…

We have all colours in all sizes and all the accessories you could need (waxes & finishes, brushes & tools, books by Annie Sloan, etc), all you need is a something to paint!

And, if you’re new to Annie Sloan we’re here to help with any questions or queries you may have, over the phone or via email. If you would like to read a more detailed post look no further than our 'Buy Annie Sloan online' post / tweet.....enjoy!

So, what are you waiting for? Dust off that piece of furniture, get your brushes out, and let’s up-cycle!


Well that's it for March, apologies if it's a little long but these are truly unprecedented times and there's so much to say. So stay safe, protect yourself and your families and, if you can, do please continue to support your local businesses. 

Glenn & I both miss you all terribly and we can't wait for this thing to be over so we can re-open our doors and see you all again.......and never again will I not cherish every second of our little business, and this wonderful village!

Lot of love and best wishes,

Clare

Clare Southcombe-Holmes
No64 Biscuit House co-founder & Commercial Photographic Stylist

 

Clare Southcombe-Holmes, founder of No64 Biscuit House and Commercial Photographic Stylist.

 


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