The principle behind TARKA is so obvious and so powerful that you wonder how it took so long for someone to see it. Rufus Gordon saw it. Being an ex-Army officer, he acted on it too, setting up TARKA LONDON in 2017 to provide classes for nursery school children in West London. Not to drill them in maths and English, but to do fun, physical exercises which stimulated their imagination and dexterity. The concept struck an immediate chord with Notting Hill parents and TARKA was a hit. We caught up with Rufus to ask how things have developed at TARKA in the last two years. Has TARKA stuck to its principles and continued with the kinds of classes it started off with? We’ve certainly stuck to our principles but we've also adapted to what parents told us they need. So where we originally catered for 3-5 year olds during term time, now we also have ‘younger classes’ for the 18 months to 3 range because we realised that in this group there were very few activities available. We've also added TARKA Troopers (our alternative to nursery), TARKA+ (for 6+7 years olds), holiday classes in 3 different venues, and a mentoring service where we supply a tutor/minister of sports and entertainment to take on holiday with you. In essence, from 18 months to age 8, we have everything covered! You must have added loads of staff? Yes, the team has grown and is still growing. We started off male-heavy and soon realised it wasn’t the way to go, so we now have women on the team too. It takes a long time to train up to the ‘TARKA’ way and we are blessed with a core staff of around 16 who have been with us for a while now. Leonora, our latest signing, came in this Summer – she is simply phenomenal with the children and a huge asset.
 When you started, all the classes took place at St Francis of Assisi in Notting Hill. What other locations do you have now? We still run out of Notting Hill but have added classes in Knightsbridge, Chelsea and Fulham. We are always on the lookout for new venues in different locations as we want as many people to experience TARKA as possible. 🧩

Chilly Dippers, founded by Liv Sharron, is a social initiative focusing on the physical and mental health benefits of cold-water swimming. It was set up by Liv Sharron, a student in her final year at Edinburgh University. Liv, why did you set up Chilly Dippers? I was inspired by so many students having mental health issues with no real space to talk about it. Knowing how good for you cold-water swimming can be, I challenged people on Instagram to find some water, record their swim, and tag three friends to spread the word. Over the cold Easter months, that’s exactly what they did. Students all over the country plunged into icy lakes and rivers, and experienced for themselves how cold water increases adrenaline and endorphins within the body – making you feel you’re on cloud 9! When did you first experience the positive effects of cold-water swimming? I've always been a swimmer and have taken dips all over the country but especially in (cold) Scotland with my family. I love the whole ‘in the moment’ experience and how it washes away the stresses and strains of life. As a student, when I'd worry about what my friends were thinking or had deeper existential crises, I’d head for the beach 20 minutes away for a solo swim and would instantly feel the anxiety lift when I slipped into the cold water abyss of the sea! Your body enters ‘fight-or-flight’ mode, where it is made to prioritise YOU and your life! How do you stay afloat? How do you stay warm? It makes you realise that day-to-day anxieties are trivial. Does medical evidence support your contention that swimming in cold water is good for health? Yes, it confirms that the shock of cold water sends endorphins (the happiness hormone) around your body, as well as pumping red blood cells to get your body working properly. Your body enters ‘fight-or-flight’ mode. How do you stay afloat? How do you stay warm? It makes you realise that day-to-day anxieties are trivial. When was the first Chilly Dippers swim and how did it go? The first one was in early March 2019 – Baltically chilly even by my standards! To my amazement, 80-100 students turned up at 9 in the morning, half-naked, and ran into the North Sea 🌊

Michael Lakin is the founder of 🌠 Starlight Design, the event company best known for its spectacular firework displays but also hugely experienced in lighting, sound, theming and scene construction. Michael, when you graduated from Cambridge, did you ever imagine that 30 years later you’d be organising the fireworks for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee? No, I started the company as a specialist in lighting for large private events and Cambridge May Balls. However, I had always loved fireworks from childhood when I used to stay in the South of France with my aunt and watch the Cannes international fireworks display. Doing the lighting at parties I got to see the firework displays and comparing them to what I had seen in France I decided they were seriously lacking in spectacle, so I set out to teach myself about fireworks. It was with a huge sense of achievement that in 2001 and again in 2002 (for the champion of champions) Starlight was invited to take part in the Cannes competition and won it both years. Were there particular challenges when you did the Diamond Jubilee event? Yes, the site was incredibly tight and all the large shells had to be moved into position at the last minute after the garden party guests had left. They were installed in cages which were towed onto the immaculate lawns by quad bikes but the final computer connections and checks had to be carried out in a very short space of time. All the smaller effects were set up on the roof so had to be carried up there by hand across a series of walkways. Security issues added to the complications. What are you most proud of in your career? Obviously the Queen’s Jubilee was a huge honour. Likewise designing the show for the Singapore Youth Olympic games. However the thing that really makes me proud is seeing the enjoyment and amazement on people’s faces after seeing our shows. Who in the events business do you most admire? Lady Elizabeth Anson because she was really at the forefront of the party business and to a large extent responsible for making the party business what it is today.

Georgia, can you pinpoint the time when you first took an interest in alternative healing? Since I was a teenager, I’ve been trying out all sort of ways to be happier and healthier. I signed up for a massage course at school as an antidote to exam pressure, trained with the student Samaritan service at Oxford and took up regular yoga in my twenties. It’s been 27 years so far with the same teacher. I only know because I have a photograph of myself doing a shoulder stand, nine months pregnant with my son Freddie! When I had four small children, I found that reflexology, kinesiology and acupuncture helped me to be kinder and more patient. Energy work was so fascinating and so powerful that it seemed a natural step to start training. The energy healing which you practise now is a form of psychic healing. Is it an ability that can be taught or does it have to be ‘in you’? I truly believe that everyone is capable of being a healer, and everyone is psychic to some extent. If you have ever comforted a small child, cheered up a friend or diffused an argument, that’s healing. If you’ve ever felt that a place or person feels “not quite right,” that’s tapping into your psychic ability. Tuning into energy is just like cooking. Some people are natural cooks and can instinctively produce delicious feasts. But we can all make toast and cups of tea, and we can all learn more skills. When did you realise that you could do it? Everything moved up a notch when we moved to a haunted house. Our two year old kept complaining about a boy with a green face in his bedroom, our nanny saw an Edwardian family in the drawing room and I had to take action. Every psychic person who helped us insisted that I was exceptionally psychic too. I was dubious, but started training at the College of Psychic Studies on South Kensington and discovered they were right. Are there some illnesses or ailments which energy healing is particularly suited to? Practitioners have different skills. I seem to be particularly good at decluttering emotional baggage. It shows up in my clients’ energy field like dense blobs. I can’t see it, but I can feel it strongly under my hands. Full interview in bio 🙌🏻🙏🏼🙌🏻

Jamie, how did you get started in metal sculpture? When I was 18, I did a holiday job in Cornwall for a local blacksmith. He taught me to weld, grind and hammer metal into shape. Without that basic grounding, I couldn’t do what I do now.
 What was the first piece you ever did? A horse’s head based on the marble horses which adorn the Parthenon in Athens, when I was 19. Did you know immediately that metal was the the material you wanted to work in? Yes. What I love about scrap is its variety. It comes in so many different shapes and colours and sizes, and that helps the creative process – when you can’t see a route forward the scrap shows you the way.
 Where do you find it all? Farmyards, blacksmiths, mechanics, scrap heaps - even the odd discarded scaffolding bracket found on the street. Do you keep records of what’s gone into each sculpture? e.g. from an old Morris Marina, from a factory in Bradford etc? Having collected so much scrap in the past it is hard to keep a detailed log. There are definitely a few pieces in each sculpture that I have an attachment to – often because I have tried and failed so many times to use them. One client gave me a car to take to pieces and there are little bits of Aston Martin DB4 in a few of my sculptures after a successful scrap run to a specialist garage. So they might be worth something one day! Some of your pieces like 'Leaping Cocker' seem to defy gravity. How do you manage that? Mounting a sculpture is a vital part of the finishing process. In the case of the leaping cocker I had to ensure that the internal structure was strong enough to take the weight when it was fixed on struts into the ground. Any public commissions yet? Yes, one of my favourite commissions is ‘Monty the Orangutan’ which is in The Eden Project’s Rainforest biome. It is in the south east Asian section of the rainforest and tells the story of the impact that unsustainable palm oil farming has on the species and habitat it lives in.

📚 Santa Montefiore grew up on a farm in Hampshire and went to Sherborne School for Girls. There, she "wrote stories for my friends, imagining romances between them and the spotty youths they fancied at Sherborne Boys’ School." Aged 19, her Anglo-Argentine mother arranged for her to work on an estancia on the Pampa for a year. She immediately fell in love – not with a polo player but with the country. "I lost my heart to those flat, humid plains and still, after 5 books, I have not managed to retrieve it." What's the title of your latest book? The Secret Hours. Can you describe the plot to us in one sentence? 17 year old Arethusa Deverill left Ireland for the USA in 1894 and never returned. After her death, armed with her diary and a very strange request, her daughter travels to County Cork to discover the secrets of her mother's past. What is a typical day when you’re in the middle of writing a book? I run round the park with my dog at 8am. I'm at my desk by about 9.30. I light scented candles, put on my playlist of music specifically chosen for that particular book, close the door and disappear into my imaginary world. I have a light lunch at home, walk the dog, then keep going until about 5pm. I do Pilates twice a week at that time. I'd love to say that's my daily routine. It's rare to get a day without interruptions and other commitments. But that would be my ideal day. Are you a better writer now than when you wrote your first book? Absolutely! I don't read my first few novels, ever, because I'd want to edit them. I wrote my first novel at 25. I'm now about to turn 50. I've written 21 novels. You could say I've learned my craft, but I'm still learning and growing as a writer, and always will be. One can always improve. Is reader feedback part of the satisfaction or does it not matter very much? Reader feedback is important, but ultimately you have to write for yourself and not think too hard about those 'out there' who are going to judge you. I get lovely emails from fans so I know what they like about my novels. I never read Amazon reviews. What the eye doesn't see the heart doesn't grieve for! I please myself and write from my heart. ❤️

Back in 2017, Archie and Emma Dennis were both working in the property business in London but yearned for something different. For Archie, the family farm just outside Stamford was exerting a strong pull. Emma, meanwhile, had entrepreneurial stirrings. Two years later, they have just launched – ‘The Nest’, a brilliantly conceived twist on glamping just a few hours from London, but in other respects a world apart Inspired by the luxury camps in Kenya where Emma’s family have a home, they set aside the most beautiful area of their Lincolnshire farm overlooking a lake, and have created a haven for anyone who wants the beauty and serenity of the countryside without giving up an ounce of creature comfort. The two lodges, ‘Pinkfoot’ and ‘Cuckoo’, each sleep up to 6 guests, and are positioned far enough apart to provide privacy for two families, but close enough for a single group. Each has a king-size bed, a twin room and a two-person cabin bed. Outside is a large deck with comfy seating, perfect for an alfresco breakfast, evening cocktail, or late-night Scrabble marathon. “Most glamping tents are narrow and deep with the beds and baths at the back,” says Emma. “We wanted stunning views from every room so ours have wide fronts and open sides. If you roll up the canvas, you can watch birds sweeping in over the lake while having breakfast, lazing on the sofa or even lying in the bath at sunset.” Hopefully our photos make clear how much thought and effort Emma and Archie have put into their venture. What may not be obvious are the White Company linen, the ultrasoft pillows, the piping hot water, the cupboard full of board games, the fully-stocked kitchen, the rugs and throws to keep you warm, and the fact that as well as a wood-burning stove you have an electric hob. They could so easily have stinted on some of these things, but they didn’t. It so works. And that’s without even mentioning the farm tours which Archie gives in his old Land Rover or the fishing lessons to guests with young families. Or that you can bring your dog for a small supplement. In the Nest, Archie and Emma have created something special. Our advice: get cracking!

Charlie Agar 🐎 What’s your job, Charlie? I travel the world breaking in polo horses. I’ve spent a lot of time in Argentina, worked the last two winters in Australia where the horses are often completely wild, and will be spending this winter in Spain. Describe the breaking process to us. The first step is to get close enough to put a head collar on one of the horses. Often this can only be done with a lasso. When I’ve got the head collar on, I halter-break them, then I have get them used to having weight on their backs, so I start with towels and bags and work up to the point where I can lie across their backs, pick up their legs and maybe put a saddle on. Through all this, the most important thing is to show that I am not going to harm them. Once I’ve got on top and have taught them left and right with the head collar, I just open the pen door and ride them. Do horses have widely different characters? Definitely, every horse has things that it’s good at, just like us. Some have the ability to be extremely good and go a long way in their polo life and others maybe not so. What is the most satisfying part of your job? Working with an agile horse that has a steady mind and the ability to do anything. But also meeting good people connected with nature and their culture. When did you realise you had a special talent and who did you learn from? I’m not sure I have a special talent .... what I would say is that as a boy I worked hard trying to be with and work under the right people. I knew if I kept my mouth shut and my eyes and ears open I would be alright. Maybe the only talented thing is having self control and knowing that you don’t need to over-complicate things. Keep it simple. As far as mentors are concerned, an Argentine called Roberto Vinent was very good to me when I started out and I learned a lot from him. Another breaker who is freakishly good is an Australian called Jim Board who I also broke with in Argentina a few years ago. But you can learn lots of things from lots of people and that I have done. And of course, you never stop learning...

DAME 🌺🌳 A few years ago, Celia Pool and Alec Mills had a simple but brilliant idea. Billions of plastic tampon applicators are thrown away every year and cannot be recycled. Why not make a re-usable one! they thought, and while we're about it, let's make it chemical and plastic-free. So that's exactly what they did. Now, their elegant and very eco 'D' system is right at the front of the fast-growing 'femtech' market. We talked to Alec about his and Celia's eureka moment and how they runed it from an idea into reality. Alec, how did you get involved with tampons in the first place? It was at dinner with my now co-founder Celia and she had just had a baby. I asked her what the stress points were and she said small things, like forgetting her tampons and having to go back to the shops with her baby strapped to her chest to buy them. I suggested she had them delivered... a few bottles of wine later we'd come up with a period subscription service called Sanitary Owl. A few months later we had several thousand customers but saw first-hand the amount of chemicals and plastic that goes into tampons. We turned to our investors and told them that we simply didn’t believe in the products we were delivering. So we stopped selling other brands and put our minds to rethinking the tampon industry. Reusable period options like menstrual cups and reusable pads were available but weren’t being used. We wanted to create a product that required minimum habit change and maximum comfort. Two years later we launched the world’s first reusable tampon applicator and organic biodegradable tampons. Our mission is to make periods better for women, and the planet. Have you found it challenging being a male founder of a brand that focuses on women’s sanitary items? Not really. I think in many ways it helps being outside the industry looking in. For decades women have used the same period products as their mothers and never thought to question what goes into them. That said, there are only two times I ever wish I was a woman (that I'm prepare to share). The first is that I've spent thousands of hours designing and refining our products but will never get to use one! ...

🧶🌟Brora 🌟🧶 is that rare phenomenon – a successful British fashion brand which is traditional but also innovative, is adored by its customers, and has stayed independent. How did Victoria do it? When your first shop opened, was it your ambition to grow to 20+? I opened my first shop in Chelsea’s Kings Rd in 1995; it was my baby (before the three girls) and has been part of the family ever since. I thought I’d never open a second shop, let alone a fleet of them! Was there a breakthrough moment in the company’s life? We had a very lucky kickstart; 6 months after founding, there was an article in a daily newspaper – pre-internet days – that compared our cashmere to 10 other brands and we were ranked in the number 1 spot! It was a brilliant affirmation of our cashmere and our reputation just took off. What decision are you most proud of? To make as much as possible in the UK from the start. We were sourcing sustainably before the word was associated with fashion and it has been a pleasure to work with so many incredibly talented and local craftspeople since day one. It has also kept me close to home and able to form meaningful relationships with suppliers. What's the hardest thing about business? Paying fixed rents on shops. I wish landlords worked more in partnership with tenants taking a percentage of trade, benefiting from the highs and riding the lows together. It should be more of a collaboration. What’s the worst mistake you’ve made? I’ve made many, I’m sure. Cashmere hot pants?! Seemed like a good idea at the time... Actually opening shops in 'bling' places with disposable income thinking they’d love us and realising too late that we were way too understated to appeal. Our lack of logos was commercial suicide! If you hadn’t been en entrepreneur, what would you like to have been? An art teacher What single piece of advice would you give a fledgling entrepreneur today? You must be decisive, passionate and fair. Thank you Victoria ❤️🧶🙌🏻

Summer Lovin’ ☀️

⏰Waking up an hour earlier and needing your coffee?⁣ ⁣ OVER UNDER - COFFEE ☕️ AND ESPRESSO MARTINIS FOR ANY OCCASION 🍸⁣ ⁣ ☕️ Ed runs Over Under coffee shop in Earls Court. They make the best coffee.⁣ ⁣ ☕️ Customers kept asking if Over Under did a mobile service for parties. Finally, Ed said yes!⁣ ⁣ ☕️ Ed has a natural energy and sense of fun - having him and his team at your party is a great addition⁣ ⁣ ☕️ Bad coffee anywhere is a no-no, don’t let it be served at your event! ⁣ ⁣ www.JenksandCo.tv

❣️Feel it in our fingers... 🖖🏼 we feel it in our nose👃🏽!

CHELSEA CAKE COMPANY - BESPOKE CAKES 🎂 ⁣ @chelseacakecompany ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Why we ❤️ Chelsea Cake Company...⁣⁣ 🍰 Nessie, founder of The Chelsea Cake Company, clearly loves what she does and is totally dedicated to giving her clients the best possible service⁣ 🍰 The cakes she and her team make are spectacular to look at, but also delicious! ⁣ 🍰 The bigger the challenge you set, the better her designers and bakers and sculptors like it⁣ 🍰 Unveiling a truly original and personalised cake is a special moment at any event!⁣ ⁣⁣ See full interview with Nessie on www.jenksandco.tv 🎥⁣

SHARKY AND GEORGE - CHILDRENS AND ADULTS BESPOKE PARTY PLANNERS 🎈 @sharkyandgeorgeevents ⁣ ⁣ Why we ❤️ Sharky and George⁣ 🦈 Started by George and Charlie who have built a talented team of party planners and fantastic entertainers⁣ 🦈They have done 100’s of events but every one they bring new ideas and huge amounts of enthusiasm⁣ 🦈They do all kinds of games: classics like 40:40, treasure hunts, discos, movie-making, cooking, role-playing, sports … tailored to you or your child!⁣ 🦈They bring all the food, equipment, gadgets and props with them. Zero hassle for you!⁣ ⁣ Let Charlie and George tell you all about it on www.jenksandco.tv 🎥

GEE BROTHERS - BESPOKE STATIONERY ✏️ ⁣ @geebrothersprinters ⁣ ⁣ Why we ❤️ Gee Brothers...⁣ 💌 A family firm run by Andrew and Georgina⁣ 💌 40 years experience in design and print⁣ 💌 Studio in Clapham where you can visit to pick your style⁣ 💌 Total commitment to quality and service!⁣ ⁣ See full interview with Andrew on www.jenksandco.tv 🎥⁣