Is your purse full of Loyalty Cards?

If you tipped your purse out would you be surprised at how may Loyalty Cards you have collected over the years?  But do you actually use them to their full potential and do you actually know what it means when you do use them.  I think the answer you would come up with would be no to both questions.  Don’t worry you are not alone.

With points, rewards and cashback schemes being offered by all the major department stores, supermarkets and a variety of other big brand chains we need a bag just for all the loyalty cards on offer.  Have you ever been behind someone paying for their goods and watch them route for a handful of cards before they find that shops loyalty card.  Have you been ‘that’ person?  I am guessing you can answer yes to both too.

These are the regular ‘Loyalty Cards’ that have found their way into my purse and out of the eight above two don’t get used, four occasionally, with the other two on a weekly basis.  Do I know what perks they can offer me – yes I have a fair idea of most of them.  So let’s take a look at the ones that deserve to take up room in my purse.

Boots Advantage Card allows you to collect 4 points for every £1 you spend and the points you accumulate can pay for future purchases.  Not a regular Boots shopper but over time my points do build up, and especially around Christmas shopping time and I normally find I can treat myself to a little something special once the New Year starts.

Tesco Clubcard have a variety of options to gain points with purchasing in store and online being the best way to collect points at 1 point per £1 spent.  You can also collect points on fuel although you only get 1 point for every £2 you spend.  Points are converted into clubcard vouchers and you can use instore, or turn into days out vouchers, cinema tickets, or vouchers to eat out.  I think I have used my Tesco Clubcard vouchers for most things and definitely worth collecting if you have children and like the zoo.

Nectar Card works similarly to Boots Advantage Card and can be used in Sainsbury’s, Homebase, Ebay and British Gas.  Mine gets used solely for Sainsbury’s where you get 2 points per £1 spent in store and online.  Points add up to a cash total with 200 points equalling £1 and my points are being saved to use at Christmas, and something I am sure many customers decide to do.

Costa Coffee allows you to collect five points for every £1 you spend, with each point being worth a penny and can be used for future coffee and cake treats.  Whenever a shopping trip is arranged there is always a visit to Costa Coffee, so for me this one has to stay.

Why not take a look at what is in your purse and see if they should stay or go and make room for a loyalty card that is going to be worth carrying around.

National Storytelling Week

It is said storytelling began a very long time ago when man collected words and spoke to lift life through fables, tales and stories, often accompanied by hand movements and facial gestures.  Nowadays storytelling is a huge part of life that starts as early as the infant years and continue through life until the last years of life.  Storytelling is not just for entertainment, it can help aid bereavement and therapy, support learning difficulty and special needs groups, to even improving communication in the business world.  The act of sharing stories between storyteller and listener feeds the imagination and is continued to be passed from one generation to another.

Today sees the start of the 14^th annual National Storytelling Week which is run by The Society of Storytelling.  It begins today Saturday 1^st February and last until the following Saturday 8^th February.  The aim of the National Storytelling Week is to spread the ‘word’ and promote ‘the oldest art form in the world’ – storytelling.  You might have seen posters in your local library or art gallery with details of how they are celebrating National Storytelling Week, or if you have young children their school may have decided to include National Storytelling Week in their school week.

You can find out where and when events in your area are taking place on The Society of Storytelling website http://www.sfs.org.uk/ where there are lots of information and resources for everyone to use.

Why not have your own storytelling event and help spread the word.  All you need is your imagination and a willing audience and it doesn’t matter if it is 1 person or 100 people, keep the joy of storytelling alive and pass the ‘word’ on.