Category Archives: charity

charity

A life update

#28MilesInFebruary, charity, life, the universe, and everything, still alive

It’s been a busy week so there has been a distinct lack of posts.

I’ve been on a two day union event this week at Wyboston. It was a great event and very useful and inspiring. The only draw back was the luke warm evening meal, and a white americano that just a hot watery milky drink.

This union event was also a big deal for Dolly. It was her first overnight with mum. I was wondering how Dolly would handle it, and also how mum would get on with three dogs sleeping on the single bed in the living room.

When I called mum Wednesday morning to see how they got on I needn’t have worried. Instead of the usual phone call while I’m away (for whatever reason):

Mum: did you sleep ok?

Me: yes

Mum: well I didn’t your dogs wouldn’t settle and wouldn’t let me sleep.

It went completely different. Mum actually got some sleep, and managed to find space to sleep with all three on the bed.

With this first test passed with flying colours. I’m not worried about the two nights away for the health and safety course in a couple of weeks.

I did play some games last Friday. And hopefully I’ll get to talk about them in the next post.

I’m continually left speechless and amazed by people’s generosity when I see how much that has been donated for this 28 Miles in February.

The current total is £279!

That is such an amazing amount.

I’ve said previously I thought that when I signed up I didn’t even think I’d get close to the initial £150 target.

Then when that target was passed I thought it’d be cool to hit £200. But now with £300 so close. I’m just wow. How is this possible?

I really am touched, and so proud of my friends and family who have given so much to something I’m doing in memory of Nan. We all know how close I was to Nan, and how much she meant to me. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to express my gratitude to everyone for their generosity. The words “thank you” don’t seem enough. But at the moment they are all I have. Thank You.

If people are in a position to donate, and feel they would like to then I’m really appreciative of that, and very grateful for the generosity.

Just Giving Link

Facebook Donation Page

Back to work

#28MilesInFebruary, charity, life, the universe, and everything, still alive

Returning to work on Wednesday after basically two weeks off was a bit of struggle.

I’d gotten used to the relaxed, gentle start to the day. Ok my waistline wouldn’t have taken much more of the breakfast routine. The ham I cooked not only gave mum and me a couple of meals (ham, egg, and chips). But also was a major part of my breakfast. Along with eggs, beans, the best black pudding I’ve ever had from Stornaway (part of an amazing hamper that was sent to me by Duncan’s parents), and sausage. So not quite the full English. But still bloody good.

Dolly feels like she has always been with me. She has fitted in that well.

Obviously Dolly has had to adjust to the work day routine. Which she has done really well. Better than me I think!

Mum did hurt her shoulder Thursday lifting Dolly onto her bed. Luckily mum seemed back to normal the next day.

I need to say a big thank you to all those that have donated so far. The initial target of funds to raise was £150.

This figure was a default when the charity set up the donation pages when I signed up.

I didn’t think I’d even get close to this total.

But the generosity of my friends and family I actually reached that target on the 2nd January.

The actual current amount raised so far is £168.

Which is amazing. I’m stunned.

I’m taking a low key approach to fundraising because I know how difficult times are for folks financially. I don’t want people to feel pressured to give money. I’d much rather people are made aware of the charity Alzheimer’s Research UK, the work they do, and the impact of Alzheimer’s and dementia has not only the individual with it, but also the loved ones around them (often acting as the carers).

If people are in a position to donate, and feel they would like to then I’m really appreciative of that, and very grateful for the generosity.

Just Giving Page

Facebook Donation Page

BCB Crusader Mk1 Cooking System

#28MilesInFebruary, #backtothehills, Camping/hiking gear, charity, Cooksets, fund raising, hiking/backpacking/camping, outdoors

Here we are with my second new setup for making a brew whilst out on a walk or even a meal. But this is equally at home on a backpacking trip also.

The BCB Crusader Mk1 Cooking System isn’t the lightest cooking system by a long shot.

There are two versions of the cook system from BCB. The main difference between the two are the crusader cooker and cup. The Mk1 crusader cup has a capacity of 750ml, whilst the Mk2 has a capacity of a litre. I also think the Mk2 crusader cup is lighter. The crusader cookers are also very different. The Mk1 is much shorter and meant to be a solid fuel only stove. While the Mk2 is taller, more ventilation, and can use multiple fuel sources. Whether that’s solid fuel, alcohol burners, or even a fire.

I’ve gone with the Mk1 version because it is a shorter form factor compared to the Mk2.

A brand new Mk1 cookset from BCB comes in at £95. However you can pick used ones (army surplus) much cheaper. For your money you get the following: “Plastic Mug & Water bottle (Osprey / NATO), Crusader Cup Lid, Crusader Cup, Crusader Cooker, Zulu Belt pouch, Fireball Flint and Striker” (plus some solid fuel blocks).

It is possible to use a Trangia with the Mk1 Crusader cooker if you use an alcohol stove cross stand (see the photos below).

How the crusader cup would be used with the crusader stove
The plastic Osprey water bottle, plastic cup, lid, and ferro rod
The Crusader stove
How the Trangia can be used with the Mk1 crusader stove
Everything inside minus the Trangia
How the Trangia can be used with the Mk1 crusader stove a better shot
The inside of the pouch showing the little pocket
The belt pouch
The official plastic lid and the third party (eBay) metal lid

Ok the water bottle has a capacity of a litre, and its companion plastic mug has a capacity of 500ml.

Compared to the Boundless Voyage titanium cook set in the previous post this is heavier. For starters it has the water bottle and mug which the other set doesn’t have. Oh and the handy ferro rod. And to be fair you would need to have if using the other set. Otherwise I don’t think the difference in weight if considering just the cooker and crusader cup, although heavier is too big.

The advantage this has over the Boundless Voyage setup is you can use just solid fuel tablets with it, with no need for a meths burner. Saving a bit of weight there. Granted not a great deal. But still.

For the record I also have the Mk2 crusader cooker. So for me that is also an option. But also shows you can just buy the bits of this system that you want quite easily. It’s also possible to replace the plastic crusader lid with a third party (usually custom made, see photo above) metal lid.

What I like also about this setup is it’s literally bombproof. After all this is designed for use by the British Army. It’s meant to be able to take a lot of abuse.

Well that’s the brief look at the BCB Crusader Mk1. I think I have at least one other newish one to share in another post. So more to come.

Boundless Voyage Titanium Cookware Set

#28MilesInFebruary, #backtothehills, Camping/hiking gear, charity, Cooksets, fund raising, hiking/backpacking/camping, outdoors

This is the first in a series of posts where I will look at recent purchases that can be used as a cookset for backpacking/camping. These are cooksets for a single person, not intended for cooking for multiple people.

I think any of these cooksets covered in this and future posts would be great in a day pack for a walk, or possible backpacking trip.

Yet again a YouTube video got me ordering more gear.

This time it was the Boundless Voyage Titanium Cookware Set.

What do you get for your money? For starters you get an 800ml canteen cup aka a pot, a mesh storage bag, a lid for the pot, and what they describe as a wood stove. Like some of the canteen sets out there this cooker allows you to have a fire to do your cooking. However for me that would be a last resort.

The problem for me with using this type of cooker/stove with a fire is the scar it would leave behind. Not very leave no trace. Yes you could use something to place this on to try and avoid that. But I think it would still leave a mark on the ground.

Everything inside
Wood stove
folding titanium spoon, and a BCB Fireball Flint and Striker
Goshawk OP-100
800ml canteen cup aka a pot
800ml canteen cup aka a pot
Goshawk OP-100
Wood stove
Lid
Mesh storage bag

My preference for heat source would be a Trangia or some other alcohol/solid fuel stove. The stove then acts like a windshield and pot support.

The lid itself for the canteen isn’t very tight fitting.

What I like about the pot is that you have the handles on the side plus the handle to hang it with. Although to be fair I’m more likely to be using this handle to remove the pot off the heat than hanging it over an open fire.

I’ve not weighed it but it is listed as weighing in at 230g.

To this cook set I’ve added the Goshawk OP-100 alcohol stove, a folding titanium spoon, and a BCB Fireball Flint and Striker.

Plus at just shy of £38 (from Aliexpress) this isn’t bad value for a cookset.

This is a nice compact cook set that doesn’t take up much space. The only thing I’d need adding to this is a cup of some sort.

28 Miles in February: Why?

#28MilesInFebruary, charity

I decided to do something.

After seeing an Alzheimer’s Research UK ad on Facebook for a fundraising event. I thought I can do that.

But more importantly I have a personal link to this. Mind you I could make a personal link to one of the many Cancer, Mental Health, or Animal charities as well.

So why this particular one for Alzheimer’s Research UK?

I’m doing this one for Nan.

There is not a day I don’t miss her.

Nan was never diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or dementia. But she had (most likely) dementia.

Luckily during those declining years before Nan passed away she still recognised myself and mum. However we still had to watch as Nan deteriorated physically and mentally.

In the early days of Nan’s dementia I would be asked daily if I had a car, and who the red one outside belonged to. Sometimes it would be more than once during the day I got asked it.

Often in the later stages Nan would regress to being a child wanting her parents. It was heartbreaking hearing mum tell her they were no longer with us. We even had to constantly remind her she was in her own home.

There would be times when Nan would get angry with mum for no reason and try to hurt her or spit at her. Nan had no strength to do any harm. But I would often just hug her and tell her that I loved her when she was like this. I think it helped her calm down.

The two attack chihuahuas were great companions for Nan. Although how Loki ended up with her dentures on more than one occasion I’ll never know.

In the final years I was unable to visit my son because the distance was too great to do in a day. It took two of us to look after Nan. Particularly to get her on the commode. So my only contact during that time was several phone calls a week with him. I even had to give up working for the final couple of years to be a full time carer.

I used to bake mainly for Nan. After a sourdough loaf came out of the oven I’d take it round to show Nan. The act of touching the warm loaf with her hands used to bring her some pleasure. As did holding a hot mug of tea. Although Nan barely had a mouthful or more of whatever I baked (getting her to eat was a struggle). I baked for her. I’ve not baked since she passed away.

So yes it’s hard having to watch a loved one going through such a horrible slow, cruel death.

And that is why I’m doing this challenge of walking 28 miles in February.

I’m doing it for Nan. For those also going through the same. And to help find a way to prevent others having to go through the same.

If you are in a position to support me I’d really appreciate any donation you can spare. Or if you are unable to you can still help by sharing this post on your social media places.

You can donate in either of these two places (links below)

Just Giving Page

Facebook Page

There will be posts in the run up to the start of February about my prep, and how I plan to tackle the challenge. Then during February there will be progress updates.

Thank you so much for any support you can give and for reading this.

United Against Dementia Charity Game Night

charity, Fenland Gamers, game night

It’s on very very rare occasions that we at Fenland Gamers charge to attend a gaming session. It’s in the clubs dna, we don’t believe in charging people to play games. As gamers our games are expensive enough, and it’s hard enough getting them to the table without having to pay to do that.

But for the second time only we ran a session that required those taking part to hand over some dosh. Like the previous time we had a really good reason. We were gaming for charity. So the money paid was really a donation to the charity we were raising money for.

The charity chosen this time was the Alzheimer’s Society who are running an Autumn Gaming event to raise money and awareness for Dementia.

There are a lot of great charities out there. And to be fair I could have gone with several that had a personal link of some kind. But this one had that personal link also. So when club member and manager of our hosting establishment asked if we would run something for this particular one, we jumped at the opportunity.

So last night was the night we chose to hold our charity gaming evening.

Our hosts for the evening were our most excellent regular hosts The Luxe Cinema.

We started off the evening with a couple of rounds of the ‘filler’ game No Thanks! while we waited for Nathan to turn up. It’s a classic, and rightly so. And the evening started off as I hope the rest of the evening would be going with me winning.

As my victory celebrations were coming to an end there was still no sign of Nathan. So we went ahead with playing Wingspan with the first expansion for the game (that had only just arrived through Jonathan’s letter box that morning).

Surprisingly Jonathan had gone a different route to the one I would have gone for a first play with an expansion like this. I would have just used the new expansion so we got to see what it had to offer. Jonathan had mixed it in with the base game. Which is fine, no problem with that at all. After all that’s how it’s designed to be used.

We did get to see some of the new birds and mechanics introduced by the new expansion. Sadly luck of the draw meant we didn’t get to see any of the new end of round scoring conditions.

It’s great to see European birds now in the game. With the new mechanics, new bonus cards and end conditions, it’s more variety for an already great game. And to be honest if you have both, something you shouldn’t be playing without, even with new players. The new overhead to learn and teach is so negligible it’s not worth even considering.


I did use the WingMate scoring app for the first time ever. Which looks beautiful and totally in keeping with the look and feel of the game. However I’m not totally sure about the flow of the app when doing the scoring. But it was a single use, and I need to play with the app more first. But as you can see from the screen grab above Jeff won. With Nathanial and Jonathan drawing for last place.

Next up saw us diving for treasure in Deep Sea Adventure. What can I say about this? I managed to walk that fine line between pushing my luck and getting the treasure back to the surface and running out of oxygen and dropping my loot to the sea bed. In other words I won.

After the underwater adventures it was time to be artisans and create some stain glass windows in Sagrada. Although I did feel like I was being punished and handicapped by my secret objective card. After all how else would you interrupt having to score the sum of the yellow dice you have in your stain glass window? That’s the card Jonathan should of had with his unnatural love of playing that colour.

But after creating our beautiful stain glass windows the scoring judged Jeff’s window to be the most awesome to behold.

Our evening of gaming for charity ended with a couple of games of Rhino Hero. That saw Jeff win the first game, and then share the victory with Jonathan for the second and final game.

We had a great evening of gaming for charity.

Thanks to Jonathan you get to see some wonderful photos below of me on my journey to becoming full unkept hobo dwarf.

Games played: No Thanks!, Wingspan (with new European expansion), Deep Sea Adventure, Rhino Hero, Sagrada

If you feel that you would like to donate to our Just Giving page to help the Alzheimer’s Society fight Dementia you can click HERE.

I’d like to end this post with a big big thank you to those that donated and played, to those that only donated, and our hosts and their staff at The Luxe Cinema. Your generosity and support was most appreciated.

A big thank you to Jamey Stegmaier,

charity, news

So the Stonemaier Games charity auction happened. Up for grabs by the winning bids (there were 10 lots) were the amazing looking, 4 sets of Scythe metal mechs signed by designer Jamey Stegmaier.


This blog was one of the content creators chosen to be promoted by Jamey and to nominate a charity to raise funds for.

The charity I chose was Sane.

I’d like to use this post to thank Jamey for doing this, and allowing me the opportunity to raise funds for something so personal.

If you read the blurb I wrote for the auction you will see how personal it is. This September just passed was the 30th Anniversary of my Dad committing suicide. To be able to raise money in his honour thanks to a very generous donor on bgg, Jamey and Fullfillrite is amazing. The fact I can also pay tribute to my brave friends and family who battle daily with depression and anxiety also is unbelievable.

Naturally one or two people that saw a post a few months back on a gaming Facebook forum, and close friends and family now will be crying bullshit, and my blurb also hints at it also. It’s true what I wrote above. That is the reason why I chose Sane. But and I find this part hard, because I’m not as open about this as my brave friends are. I find the really personal stuff hard to talk about. And there is still that stigma about mental health no matter what media campaigns are run. This is a “metoo”. I’m not going to go into specifics or my history, but suffice to say I am more than familiar with the struggles that my brave friends and family are going through that have depression/anxiety.

Words really can’t do justice to how I feel about Jamey having given me this opportunity to do something positive in Dad’s memory and for my friends and family. I’m overwhelmed by the generosity of the winning bid, the person who made it is incredible. A big thank you doesn’t seem adequate. But thank you.

Normal flippant, irrelevant, and boring MtG and gaming posts will resume tomorrow.

My Epic Long Friday!

charity, Fenland Gamers, fund raising, game night

My work day usually starts at approximately 5am, with me waking up to the days news on Radio 5 Live playing. This Friday it was 4:45am. So it was the tail end of Up All Night playing.

The dogs then get let out to answer the call of nature. I have a bath listening to my current audio book American Gods. Which I’m still listening to as I make my first coffee of the day using my Aeropress. I savour my coffee while watching the latest episode of Scandal, and eat a couple of chocolate chip brioche. 

After Mum collected the dogs I got dressed, packed my work stuff, and hit the road for work.

I’m listening to classic 8-bit chip tunes from the likes of Galway, Hubbard and Whittaker  for the Commodore 64 as I bounce around the Fenland back roads.

My second mug of coffee for the day is at work as I troll my friends with horror stories of my mums cooking. They aren’t biting today. I’m going to have to try harder.

My logic for the day is to stock up on calories for the nights endurance gaming! So I nip along to the college restaurant to buy a breakfast bap (sausage, bacon and egg). But I luck out, they are doing a full breakfast (add beans, mushrooms and fried bread to the mix) for £2.50. Fantastic value. 

The previous day the Rey starter for Star Wars Destiny had arrived. So I’d taken both starters and the playmat to work for myself and Dale to play lunchtime.

I’d been watching a lot of Destiny videos during the week to have a good idea of how to play the game.

Damn I hate you FFG. 
After our “learning” game I just want to get some boosters, crack them open, build some decks and play them.

So that may spoil how I feel about the game. But yes I liked it.

We were a bit slow playing, I think this was the first time Dale had played a game like this. But the game isn’t too complicated. There is a nice flow to the game. I take an action, you take an action, repeat.

I like the pass action, so you can wait and see. Well unless the other player also passes and that then ends the round and you are into upkeep. 

Having the base with an ability is cool. Plus all the mechanisms round it. From the roll off for who gets to select the base to use for the game (both players bring one to the table), the one selected chooses first player, and the player going second gets two shields. Then in the game claiming the base is an action, allowing you to use the bases ability, it then means you go first next round. However it also means you can not do any further actions that round. When to claim is a very tactical decision. Being first next round may be more important than still doing stuff in the current round.

What’s nice is you have that Magic/Netrunner construction element building your thirty card deck. Ok we didn’t get to do that because we were playing with starter sets. But you also have the dice element giving you that Dicemasters feel. For me this is a better Dicemasters. Which is a game I really enjoyed.

The two starters are great to play against each other. Why they only give you one Finn die I don’t know. His character can have two. Just having that bit more flexibility in the starters would have been good.

But still this game for me lives up to the hype. I’m hoping once supply issues have been solved this will be a regular thing between Dale and me.

Classes finish at 4pm. I packed my games I had at work that I thought I’d need over the Easter holidays. And then loaded my car up with my games and my gaming table that I use at work.

My drive home is a different route than in the morning. It’s still across the Fenland landscape but using the main artery. It’s not as busy in the evenings as it is in the mornings.

When I hit my home town, the Capital of the Fens, I pull into Lidls to stock up on supplies for the nights gaming. For £14 I got a lot of stuff. 

At home I quickly changed. Got a selection of games together to take with me. Loaded up the car, and headed off into the night to play games.


Earlier in the day I had promised that I would donate ten pounds of the realm if Jonathan didn’t play yellow all night. A true trial for him, because yellow is his favourite colour, and he always plays yellow if available. 

Chris had also made a commitment to pay a £1 for each game he lost. Would we be able to gang up and deny Chris wins for charity?

We knew Diego wasn’t going to arrive until between 7:30 and 8pm. So the nights gaming started off with a game of Mint Works.

It was the perfect game to start with. Quick to play, quick to teach. And the perfect duration, because Diego turned up whilst we were playing. But didn’t have long to wait because our game was near the end. 

I think this was the first time in the games I’ve played so far that’s ended with a draw. Which meant Chris and I had to go to the tie breakers to determine a winner. The first tie breaker was for the smallest neighbourhood gets the win. We drew that also. Then it went to who had the most mints left. Bugger Chris won the tie breaker, and the game.

Chris wins: 1 loses: 0

With the win stolen from me on a technicality, the only thing to console me was the amazing cake that Diego had bought with him that he’d made.

Our first big game of the night was Jonathan’s game of the year for 2016, The Voyages of Marco Polo. I totally screwed up my tactics for this game. Which was why I came last. Nearly lapped on the points front by Chris. Even now I’m disgusted at myself for how bad I did. I didn’t even have the excuse of being tired! But still another victory for Chris, another pound lost.

Chris wins: 2 loses: 0


Our second big game of the night was Great Western Trail. I got my tactics spot on in this game. I bought only two additional cows. Instead I went for station bonuses, using certificates to boost my money at the market, and maxed out on the engineer and the railroad guy, and building buildings. For me Great Western Trail played much better as a four player game than a two. Oh I won this one. Making up for my poor effort in Marco Polo. 

Chris wins: 2 loses: 1


Great Western had taken us from about half ten to gone one in the morning. We were going strong. Not a sleepy head insight! 

Saloon Tycoon was next to the table. Once again I under performed and came in a miserable last. I could possibly use the excuse I was tired to explain it away. Or I was still in shock I’d won Great Western Trail. But it was during our play of Saloon Tycoon that Diego gave us our comedic moment of the night when (and I paraphrase here) he said “feck off”. It appeared to be aimed at Chris who had just taken a card or character from him, but in reality it was Diego swearing at a poor card draw (iirc). But it was hilarious and the source of much merriment at his expense.

Chris wins: 3 loses: 1

We decided to switch it down a gear during the early hours of the night by playing Imhotep. Tactically I was awful once more. This game night seems to have a running theme of me screwing up my tactics. But at least this time Diego took the honours, denying Chris a victory.

Chris wins: 3 loses: 2

You know what’s a good idea at gone three in the morning? Having Chris teach everyone else a new game. That game being  Mission: Red Planet. I’d like to play this when I’m less tired before saying much about it. I have a thought or two on it. But I’d like to make an opinion not clouded by lack of sleep.  But the winning machine of the night Chris walked away with the win.

Chris wins: 4 loses: 2


Our final game of the night was The Castles of Mad King Ludwig. I did very well on this, surprisingly well considering. And only just lost to you guessed it Chris. 

Chris wins: 5 loses: 2

So our 7pm to 7am gaming session for the NSPCC Big Board Game Day ended. No one had any sleep. No bad tempers due to lack of sleep. Everyone had a great time playing some awesome games (none of that Hasbro stuff). We raised some money for a good cause. And I got some of Diego’s cake to take home.

There is only one way to wrap up such a trial of human endurance. Yep Jonathan and I headed off to the local Wetherspoons for their generic signature fried breakfast. Not shown the side order of black pudding I ordered.


After stuffing our faces we headed off to our respective homes.

Once home and reunited with the Wolfpack I ended my sleep deprivation trial of 28.5 hours by falling asleep (a three hour nap).

I know these posts are only worth reading so that you can get to the pictures of me at the end. So I’m not going to disappoint. Thanks Jonathan for taking them.

At time of writing we raised £130 plus the gift aid on top of that for the NSPCC Big Board Game Day. 

Big Board Game Night Tonite!

charity, Fenland Gamers, fund raising

Tonight’s the night.

Yep tonight a few members of The Fenland Gamers board gaming group will gather together to play games and raise money for the NSPCC, as our part of their Hasbro sponsored Big Board Game Day.

We will be rolling dice, moving tokens and drafting cards from between 7pm tonight and 7am Saturday morning. 

Yep that’s 12 whole hours of cardboard inspired fun. Which is something I haven’t done before.

If you’d like to donate money to the NSPCC to show support for our mad plan, we have a Just Giving page set up HERE.

There will be photos from throughout the night on my Instagram account, which you should be able to see HERE. I might even do the odd live stream as well! But no promises on that.