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Hello and welcome to a special episode of Happy Mum, brought to you by our wonderful friends at Matalan. Now we all know how milestone heavy this time of year can be, and let's be honest, there is absolutely no bigger challenge for us as parents than starting a brand new school year. It can feel like a complete whirlwind of emotions and a massive juggle for the whole family. But that is exactly why Matalan is here, to help both you and your gorgeous children feel as enthusiastic, prepared and as confident as possible for that walk through the school gates. And I am absolutely obsessed with their beautiful Confidence Caravan, which is travelling to stores across the UK between the 15th and 30th of August. Just bring your Matalan back-to-school uniform and receipt along and they'll sew a personalised Confidence label right inside with your own unique message. It is the sweetest, quietest little reminder tucked away to let them know they're supported every single day.

Okay, so Gail, thank you so much for being here today. Let's start with your career with the NSPCC. You've been there for 10 years now. Yes, December. So if anyone wants to send me some flowers or a big cake, that would be lovely. Yeah, so I started at the NSPCC back in 2016 and I actually came from commercial radio, 20 years there. So I joined as the media manager for the north of England and I stayed there a few years. And then an opportunity came up to cover a maternity for a local campaigns manager covering the whole of Scotland. Right. And that was brilliant. I ran a big talk pants campaign in Western Isles, Shetland and Orkney. So if any one of them are listening, hello, guys. It was a brilliant time and I really enjoyed it. And I did a neglect campaign in Edinburgh and Glasgow. And I said, I don't really want to go back to the press team. And luckily a position came up in Yorkshire, Humber and the North East and I've been doing that for about four or five years running campaigns with young people designed by young people tackling all sorts of issues from professional curiosity to healthy relationships to Talk Pants, which I'll talk about more because Matalan, big supporter of Talk Pants, which is just amazing.

So where does Matalan come into play? Because that relationship between Matalan and NSPCC has been a 20-year relationship. That's a long, a long length of time. It's amazing. Since 2004, and you know, over £12 million raised. And I'm based at the Leeds base up at Childline. But when I first joined the NSPCC, I was the media manager for the north of England. And the Hargreaves family set up the Liverpool Service Centre and Childline base there. It's a brilliant building in the shape of a hug. And so they've really kind of, because the NSPCC started in Liverpool all those many years ago, 1800-whatever it was, and then it's moved national. And the partnership between the NSPCC and Matalan is right across the United Kingdom. And they've helped with all sorts of offers that we have at the NSPCC, not only Childline, but we have the Helpline, which is for adults. And I think a lot of people think the helpline is just the number to ring if you want to report something, so to speak. But it's a really great resource. We were talking earlier about reaching out for help. So if you're a parent out there and you're struggling, struggling to cope with your baby crying maybe, or you know, there's issues around online safety, ring the NSPCC helpline. You know, the trained professionals there can talk you through. It's a really great parenting resource. And they've helped also with school services in the past. But the big one that I've been involved with since 2016 is the Talk Pants campaign, which is just, it's my favourite campaign of all the NSPCC works.

I was just picking up some sandals week before last. They've got these brilliant bags for life with pants, pantasaurus on them and everything. So I'm a bit of a, I like my bags for life. That's amazing. But there's a really nice bag for life. It's only £2. And on one side it's talk pants and on the other side they also support a children's hospital as well. So it's really great. But I was talking to a mum in Grimsby and you can get some pants stickers and she puts them on her chest of drawers in her child's room because it was always a battle trying to get the child to get dressed in the morning. But now they sing the pants song, they talk about the parents' rules as they're getting dressed and it doesn't feel so much like a battle. So it's a really great way of talking about a very serious subject.

OK, guys, let's just take a quick break to talk about Matalan's brilliant Confidence Caravan. This is so amazing. I love it. Wait until you hear this. It's hitting store car parks across the UK for just one day each stop between the 15th and the 30th of August. You just bring along your pre-purchased Matalan back-to-school uniform and your receipt. Then you and your kids get to choose a special confidence-boosting label with a personalised message and get it sewn right inside their uniform. It's this tiny reminder tucked away in their collar that travels with them every single day. Oh, I just love it.

And finally, don't forget Matalan's wonderful Confidence Caravan. Head to Matalan's socials to find out whether it's coming to your nearest store in Bilston, Swindon, Luton or Preston.

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Pop quiz, what's in your kid's lunchbox? At Whole Foods Market, they've already done the studying. Over 300 food ingredients are banned from their shelves. No hydrogenated fats in the peanut butter and no high fructose corn syrup in the cookies. And for sandwiches, there are no synthetic nitrates or nitrites in any of their deli meat, so you can pack lunch boxes with peace of mind. Get back to school ready at Whole Foods Market. Let's listen in on a live, unscripted second grade.