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Where to start with my highlights of 2021?

Who remembers when we locked down in 2020 and we all thought it would be about 6 weeks? Well, it’s now the END of 2021 and here in England, we are possibly facing another lockdown in January. Coronavirus is here to stay, but at least we had a few more freedoms afforded. Despite us still living in the Covid-19 era, I had a really good year in 2021, and I wanted to share some of my highlights of 2021 with you all.

Charity Raffles

You’ve probably already read my blog about how much I love VibePay. Not only does the app make it incredibly easy to run online raffles, but the community I have met through their following on Twitter are some of the most amazingly kind and generous people I have ever met. One day last year, I just decided to run a little raffle on my Twitter profile. The support I received made them grow and grow. The first raffle raised £70 for Young Minds, the most recent raised £600 for My Name’5 Doddie. We were in the fortunate position last month that a company sponsored the prize money, which will also happen in January. To make it easier to read the raffle numbers sheet and see how much has been raised, the prize money that goes to the individual is always donated by myself or a company. This then means ALL of the money raised through ticket sales goes to the winners chosen charity, and as 1 number is £1 you can see how many numbers which is how many pounds. In 2021, we managed to raise £1381.00 for various charities. If you would like more information on which ones we helped and what they do, you can see it on my Raffle Round-Up Sheet. Here is the link to the current raffle:  https://twitter.com/Kelly_Jackson88/status/1478030414438674437

The community I have on Twitter

This year has been pretty tough on me. Because my physical health has not been good, it also has am an impact on my mental health. I’ve always loved engaging with my followers on Twitter, but some of the people I have met in the last year have been incredible. The little community we are all part of is made up of some of the kindest people I have had the pleasure of knowing. I’ve even had people check in on me if I haven’t been online for a couple of days. I know people are quick to point out the negatives of having online friends and don’t get me wrong I adore all of my friends in real life, but it is also a lovely feeling to feel cared for by people who live miles and miles away.

Getting a promotion

I often talk about my day job at an advertising agency, because I love it. There is no better feeling than being happy to go to work. In 2020 I got promoted to senior which is like a supervisor-type role, but in 2021 I got promoted to manager. My job can get quite stressful, but I am one of those people that manages to keep a clear head, despite the fact I suffer from anxiety.

My free holiday to Lefkas

The travel industry has suffered so much during the pandemic. I have to admit I have no idea how some of the holiday companies can afford to stay open. This is the main reason I would never have expected Jet2 to fulfil a free holiday I won to Lefkas in Greece, at a Jet2 blogging event in 2019. To celebrate the launch of the new destination, they had a Greek cooking class in London and a quiz all about Greece. The prize was a free holiday for two to Lefkas, with more or less everything included. So you can imagine my surprise when I got an email to say they wanted to get it booked.

Obviously, there is a lot more detail in my review of Porto Galini, but I can safely say on this post also, I would count this as the best thing I have ever got through blogging. We got the hotel, flights, transfers, breakfast and dinner for free as part of the prize. The resort was breathtaking and the holiday itself was incredible. Jet2 are a great holiday company, I will be booking through them again.

Working from home

Because Coronavirus has taken lives and had a negative impact on people, I want to say away from saying there have been “benefits” to the pandemic, but I have to be truthful with my readers, the working from home aspect has had a very positive effect on my lifestyle. We’ve been told the minimum amount we need to go into the office is two days a week. For a start, that saves me just under 3 hours per day. Essex to Shepherd’s Bush is a bit of a journey. Working from home helps me to get more done as well. Due to the fact my boys (and by boys, I mean my cats, who feature heavily on my Instagram), wake me up at 6 am, if I have a lot to do, I get up, have breakfast and a coffee and I can be cracking on by 7 am. We don’t start until 9.30 am, but using my “travel time” I can log on before anyone else is online and get up to date on stuff without people asking me questions, as other people are very rarely online at this time.

If you like my blogs, feel free to buy me a coffee and make my day as I don’t get paid for this 

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