We got an exciting delivery in the post today – a crocodile!

Yes a crocodile!

Not just any crocodile – our very own Good Little Company crocodile Herbie!

The lovely folks at furrytails who specialise in bespoke hand made soft toys made him especially for us – thanks furrytails we love him!

Woooo hooooo! Yeeeee haaaa!

You’ve done it!

Thanks to all our lovely customers we’ve managed to donate a whopping 2 million meals to the people who need it most – yipee!

Everyone at GLC HQ is delighted and we just want to say massive thanks to all our customers and well wishers for their support, we’ve had lots of lovely emails, letters and calls this year and we look forward to hearing from lots more people in 2010.

Best wishes for 2010 from all of us at The Good Little Company x

Christmas is getting very close and at GLC HQ we are all getting in the festive mood, wearing santa hats and whistling Christmas songs while we work!

We know not everyone is going to be having lots of fun this Christmas, that’s why we’ve doubled our donations to Christian Aid for December, so everytime someone buys a pack of our sausages we’re donating 28 staple meals to the people who need it most.

Thanks so much to everyone who has been buying our sausages, so far we’ve donated a whopping 1,793,375 meals. Fingers crossed with your help we’ll be hitting 2 million meals very soon!

We hope that maybe you’ll have some tasty Good Little Sausages with your turkey dinner on Christmas day or have some Great Big Sausages for Boxing day brunch and someone else will benefit whilst you have some yummy sausages.

Wishing you a very happy Christmas from all The Good Little Company team!

Everyone at GLC HQ loves Christmas! But we all agree it can be hard work trying to think of exciting and inventive gift ideas for all our friends and family. That’s where Christian Aid comes in!

Present Aid by Christian Aid is an ingenious catalogue filled with fantastic present ideas.

There are presents to suit all budgets and all ages. If you need a present for a keen gardener you can buy a watering can for £12, seeds and tools for £18 or even plant a forest for just £30. Or if you’re searching for the perfect pressie for a teacher you can furnish a classroom for £51, supply a teacher for a term for £96. Other great gifts include a beehive for £24, a flood survival kit for £20, 16 ducks for £25, we especially love the 3 pigs for £24 and the 80 meals for just £10.

The person who you buy the gift for will receive a nice card telling them what you have donated on their behalf and how communities in the developing world will benefit.

So rather than trawling the shops and spending hours in queues this festive season, stay in, light the fire, put your feet up and relax with a nice cup of hot chocolate (or maybe a glass mulled wine if you’re a grown up!) and buy some great presents online, by phone or by post from the Present Aid catalogue. Not only will your present be completely different you will be making a real difference to the people who need it most this Christmas.

Whatever you buy, the money received is directed to one of five project funds: Agriculture and livestock, Emergency and disaster, Healthcare, including HIV, Training and education or Water and environment.

To give something unexpected this Christmas visit http://www.presentaid.org/ or call 0845 3300500

(Please make sure you place your order by 12th December)

From 9th – 16th December lots of lovely people will be taking part in the Christian Aid bike ride from London to Copenhagen for the UN Climate Change Conference.

Sponsorship raised for cycling the 140 mile journey in 3 days will go to help Christian Aid’s work in developing countries whilst is also raising awareness of climate change which is likely to affect poorer countries more than us.

Ben, who’s just turned 15, is taking part and paying for his own tour costs so that every penny raised goes direct to Christian Aid.

We think this is fantastic!

If you’d like to support Ben please click on the link below to sponsor him http://www.justgiving.com/Ben-Tait?ref=nf

Or to find out more please see http://www.christianaid.org.uk/images/london-copenhagen-brochure.pdf

Good luck to Ben and all those taking part!

By the time Christmas comes we’re hoping to have donated 2 million staple meals to the people who need it most, so we’ve decided to double our donations for December. Every time someone buys of pack of Good Little Sausages or Great Big Sausages we’re donating 28 staple meals through Christian Aid.

As part of our drive to get to 2 million meals by Christmas we’re also running competitions on a number of radio stations across the UK. Our prize which is perfect for sausage lovers, includes a cast iron griddle pan, a sausage cookery book, some sausage turning tongs and a £10 Waitrose voucher so you can purchase some Good Little Sausages or Great Big Sausages.

Here’s a list of some of the radio stations taking part incase you want to try your luck at the competition.

Aston FM Birmingham
Metro Radio Tyne & Wear
96.4 The Eagle Guildford, Surrey
96.4 FM The Wave Swansea
Premier Christian Radio Greater London
Swansea Sound
Minster FM York
Waves Radio Peterhead
107.6 Kestrel FM Basingstoke
Radio Maldwyn Magic 756 Mid-Wales
Sovereign Radio 107.5 East Sussex
107 The Bee Blackburn, Hyndburn & The Ribble Valley
Radio Jackie South West London and Surrey
107.9 Bath FM Bath & North East Somerset

Last week we went to the Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association annual dinner and we had a really lovely time!

Thanks very much to NIFDA Chairman, Richard Moore for being so kind as to mention us reaching 1 million meals donated in his opening speech and also to Michael Bell, Executive Director who took the time to have a photo taken. We also want to say a big and well done and a huge thankyou to Joan Sherman, PA to the Director for organising such an enjoyable and successful event!

This Sunday 18th October the Christian Aid team in Belfast are having their Annual Laganside walk and we would like to encourage as many people as possible to come along!

Registration is taking place from 2.30-3.00pm at the visitors’ centre adjacent to Lock-Keeper’s Cottage and parking is available at Cooke/Inst. Rugby Club Car park (access on left past Ramada Hotel, Shaws Bridge).

Absolutely everyone is welcome and the route is suitable for buggies and wheelchairs and just incase it’s a chilly day there’ll be some well deserved coffee to warm you up plus entertainment at the Lock-Keeper’s Cottage!

To take part it’s just £5 per adult and £10 per family – well worth it to help the world’s poorest people whilst having a nice Sunday stroll.

If you would like to register early or find out more about sponsorship details please contact Ann McIntyre at Christian Aid’s Belfast Office on 02890 381204 or email (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Really hope to see you all there!

We are absolutely delighted to announce that thanks to all our very lovely customers and our friends at Christian Aid we have now donated over 1 million staple meals to the people who need it most – yipee!!

Huge thanks to everyone who has bought our sausages, because for every pack sold we give someone in a developing country the means to grow enough food to have a staple meal, every day for two weeks, that means that 14 staple meals are donated everytime someone buys a pack of our sausages!

We’re not just stopping at 1 million meals – we hope that with your help we will have donated 2 million staple meals by Christmas!

If you’d like us to donate a meal (or 4!) on your behalf, for free, then please follow us on twitter, become a fan on Facebook, join our email mailing list or post our video on your blog (don’t forget to email us to let us know you’ve posted it on your blog). We don’t even mind if you trick us by doing all 4 — in fact, if you do, we’ll donate 4 meals on your behalf!

If you’d like to find out more about Christian Aid and their Poverty Over campaign visit http://www.christianaid.org.uk/

A big GLC hello and thank you to all our new customers who have taken the time to get in touch and tell us what you think of our sausages. We are delighted to receive your feedback and it is wonderful to know that so many people are enjoying our tasty sausages and supporting our partnership with Christian Aid.

Thanks to all of you lovely people it is hoped that by next week we will have donated over 1 million staple meals to the people who need it most!

Many thanks from The Good Little Company, Christian Aid and of course from all the people you are feeding!

We all had a wonderful time at Garden Gourmet!

Thanks to everyone who came to see us and who tried Good Little Sausages and Great Big Sausages, we’re delighted that you enjoyed our sausage samples and the tasty hotdogs too. Thanks for all the lovely feedback and positive comments, it makes it all worthwhile!

We especially want to say a big Good Little Company hello! to our two facebook fans who were first to our stand when the event opened on Saturday. We were over the moon to meet Good Little Company fans and to know that other people are as excited about the launch of Great Big Sausages as we are! You made our day thankyou!

(If anyone else wants to become a fan you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter)

Happy eating to all of you who bought packs of our sausages over the weekend we hope you’ll love them!

We are delighted to announce that The Good Little Company is going national!

Good Little Sausages and Great Big Sausages are launching in 150 Waitrose stores across the UK today – we are VERY excited!

We really hope that the nice Waitrose customers will enjoy them as much as our lovely customers in Northern Ireland do.

(Details of the 150 Waitrose stores will be added to our website very soon!)

We’re at Garden Gourmet in Botanic Gardens in Belfast this weekend, it’s on Saturday 19th & Sunday 20th from 12.30-6pm both days.

The event is packed with lots of lovely food, pretty flowers and plants as well as music and entertainment, cooking demonstrations, craft stalls, plus face painting and a magic show. Entry costs £3 for adults, £2 for concessions and under 16’s go free!

We’re very excited that we’ll be showing off our nice new packaging for Good Little Sausages and what’s even more exciting is that Great Big Sausages will be making their first debut in Northern Ireland!

During Garden Gourmet we’re doing a super duper sausage offer where you can buy two packs of our tasty sausages and an eco-friendly Good Little Bag for just £5. Oh and incase anyones hungry we’ll be selling yummy hotdogs too!

Hope to see you there!

Great news for all Good Little Sausage fans – we are delighted to announce that Good Little Sausages are now on sale in 6 lovely Spar stores. Yippee!

Good Little Sausages are currently on sale in the following Spar stores:

• Ashury
• Brackenvale
• Dundonald
• Malone Road
• Rathgael
• Templepatrick

We’re crossing our fingers Good Little Sausages will be flying off the shelves and that soon they’ll be rolled out to lots more Spar stores all over Northern Ireland – we’ll be sure to keep you posted!

We are delighted to announce that since launching The Good Little Company in April this year we have donated over half a million staple meals (601,286 staple meals to be precise!) to the people who need it most.

The 5p we donate to Christian Aid every time we sell a pack of Good Little Sausages means that we are able to help lots of families, so we’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has bought our tasty sausages and supported Christian Aid’s food security projects. Not only have you been eating healthy, wholesome, super yummy sausages you have been assisting people in developing countries such as Malawi to grow their own crops to feed themselves and their families!

We would also like to say a big well done and a massive thank you to the NI Scrambles Club who have played a key role in enabling us to help so many people, the NI Scrambles Club event held on our grounds in June raised a whopping £1400!!

Pictured above: The Good Little Company visiting Forthill Farm to present a nice shiny cup to John Adams, chairman of Castlewellan Show along with Kenny Gracey, Forthill Farm and some of his lovely rare breed Saddleback pigs.

We’re all really looking forward to the Castlewellan & District 42nd Annual Agricultural Show takes place this Saturday 18th July 2009 at Castlewellan Forest Park.

There’ll be plenty to see and do; classes for cattle, sheep, pigs, horses, ponies, donkeys, goats, poultry and dogs, plus family fun competitions, a craft marquee and food marquee as well as a wide range of rural pursuits including sheep shearing, stick making, vintage tractors, birds of prey, archery and bee keeping and lots, lots more…

The Good Little Company is delighted to sponsor the Pig class and support the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Remember to look out for our nice shiny cup which they’ll be presenting on the day.
If you’d like to find out more have a look at:

http://www.castlewellanshow.com/

http://www.rbst.org.uk/

Photo of a pupil from Oakwood Integrated Primary School, Dunmurry, Belfast enjoying Good Little Sausages

The Good Little Company recently supported a brilliant initiative organised by South Eastern Health & Social Trust (Health Development Dept) and Colin Neighbourhood Partnership. The aim of the “Take your parent/carer to school day” event was to promote health and well being within the communities in the Colin area of Belfast. The P1 children in seven schools; The Good Shepherd Primary School, Christ The Redeemer Primary School, St Mark’s Primary School, St Kieran’s Primary School, Scoil Na Fuiseoige (Irish School), Oakwood Integrated Primary School, St Luke’s Primary School had lots of fun taking part.

The event included physical activities such as Kung Fu classes and mini circuit training giving parents and children the chance to get fit together whilst having fun. The children then made healthy smoothies, for themselves and their parents, and enjoyed the “Wally and wise” puppet show which was held by action cancer to teach them in a fun way the damages of smoking and not covering up in the sun.

Next came our Good Little Sausages which had the children (and adults) queuing up for second helpings – we’re delighted everyone enjoyed them! After the sausages the children were shown a presentation from the dental hygienist on how to care for their teeth and they all received new toothbrushes.

At the end of the day the children returned to their classrooms and their parents were able to look at the displays and talk to Community Reps on programmes taking place in their communities.

Feedback from parents, schools and teachers involved has shown the event was a huge success so well done to South Eastern Health & Social Trust (Health Development Dept), Colin Neighbourhood Partnership, the schools and everyone who took part. We really hope all the children and their parents will continue to enjoy keeping fit and eating healthily – especially now they all know they that fitness can be fun and healthy food can be tasty!

For all you Good Little Sausages fans there’s a special promotion in Tesco NI stores from 1st – 21st July where you get your hands on 2 packs of our super tasty, healthy Good Little Sausages for just £3.50 (saving a whopping £1.48!). So if you love them lots and lots or you’re having a BBQ or you want an extra pack to pop in the freezer for emergencies or maybe you haven’t tried them before then now is the time to get some!! Enjoy!

It’s the Sea Bangor Festival this weekend Saturday 13th – Sunday 14th June and we think it’s going to be a fantastic, fun packed weekend for the whole family to enjoy!

There’ll be lots of exciting things to see and do, why not step aboard the Tall Ship ‘Thalassa’, have a look at the model boats, learn something new and interesting in the Curiosity Spot or enjoy the nautical street theatre. Children are sure to have lots of fun playing in the Kids Tent and the Food Tent will definitely have some tasty delights on offer.

If you’re in the Food Tent be sure to pop by and say hello to our lovely friends from The Bay Tree Holywood, they’re selling our healthy Good Little Sausages in yummy hotdogs or if you fancy something sweet make sure you try the cinnamon scones!

This is sure to be a terrific event and it’s FREE!!

It’s on from 10am-6pm both days, for more details contact Bangor Tourist Information Centre on 028 9127 0069 or email (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

http://www.baytreeholywood.co.uk

http://www.northdown.gov.uk

The Northern Ireland Classic Scrambles club has organised a two-day charity motocross event on Friday 12th & Saturday 13th June and we are delighted that they have decided to donate all profits from the weekend to our lovely friends at Christian Aid!

The event is being held at the Finnebrogue estate (near Killyleagh) which boasts massive acreage of rolling hills – perfect for vintage and classic motocross! It is hoped the event will attract an International field of competitors for what is becoming one of the fastest growing sports in the province with rider numbers increasing almost 3 fold in the last year. Up to 100 Riders are expected from Scotland, England and the Republic of Ireland to join the local boys as they take on the spectacular County Down terrain.

A full racing program has been put in place including Grade A, B and C pre77, pre 68, 500cc and 250cc classes as well as full junior and Sidecar support races. Racing on Friday evening is scheduled for a 6:00pm start through until 9:00pm and Saturday racing should commence at 11:00am until approximately 5:00pm. Please note that the Saturday competition will form part of the Norman Watt Classic Championship so points are available to all club members, while prizes will also be awarded for aggregate performances over the two days as usual.

Catering Facilities are expected for both days and camping is available.

Further information about the N.I Classic Scrambles Club can be obtained from the club on 028 91872958 or the Secretary Davy Buckley 07775653940.

Pictured in the photo (left to right) is Ex GP rider Laurence Spence (Riding on Friday evening) Sidecar crew is Peter and Michael Buckley, Arthur McMullan, and NI Classic Scrambles chairman Tom Rutherford. Photo taken at Finnebrogue Estate by Trevor Lindsay.

http://www.niclassicscramblesclub.com

We’re loving the work of super-happy Belfast-based clothing company Tee and Toast, especially the nod towards cult Norn Iron food. Who doesn’t want to declare their appreciation of toasted Veda on a t-shirt? Get down to St.George’s Market on a Saturday and peruse their wares or buy online.

Come and visit us at the Balmoral Show next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (13th – 15th May). You can find us at the Food Pavillion at stand FP13. We’ll be doing tastings of our lovely Good Little Sausages and we even have a special show offer of 2 packs of Good Little Sausages with an eco-friendly Good Little Bag all for just £5!

We also want to hear your thoughts on what products we should be launching next – so we’re leaving it up to you – the discerning (and handsome) public to cast the final vote on which product gets made next. By voting you also have a chance of winning some Good Little Goodies too.

Hope to see you there!

All of us in GLC HQ were moaning about how we should be fitter and healthier. Then the answer came to us… it was in our own back garden. We decided to climb the highest peak in Northern Ireland, Slieve Donard and raise some money for Christian Aid week while we were at it. So an energetic(ish) bunch of men, women and children set off on Saturday morning for a fun day of walking in the scenic Mourne mountains of County Down.

Some of us made it half-way until parental duties kicked in and the kids gave the parents an excuse to head back down. Seventeen brave souls carried onwards and upwards, only stopping at the Mourne wall for a wee picnic of tea and choccy biscuits to help keep the energy levels up. When we finally we made to the top the views were stunning – Wicklow hills to the south and Scottish highlands to the east. It was well worth the wobbly legs.

A special mention must go to Tara (10) and Sara (14) the youngest members of our team to make the 849m hike to the very top! And of course to Lucia the only one of our factory staff to make it the whole way to the top. Well done everyone!

(Oh and by the way Dom fell in the river on the way back down but don’t tell him I told you!)

We’re currently twisting arms and raiding piggy banks for sponsorship money, we’ll keep you posted on the amount raised once we’ve counted the final pennies.

A fantastically sausagey time was had by all at the launch of the Good Little Company at Nick’s Warehouse. There was a great atmosphere and lots of lovely compliments. We really appreciate the support from everyone who came. You can see more photos from the party here

Special mentions and big thanks go to:

- The lovely team from Atto for all their help in making sure everything looked great and that the party ran smoothly.

- Nick from Nick’s Warehouse and all his brilliant staff for the very tasty Good Little Hotdogs and the Good Little Sausages with onion gravy and mash and let’s not forget the yummy jelly and ice cream!

- Deborah Doherty from Christian Aid Ireland for her ongoing encouragement and for her inspirational speech about the amazing work that Christian Aid does.

- Sharon Gilmore from Food Standards Agency NI for her support and guidance and also for her kind words at our launch party.

Look out for the GLC giveaway roadshow – we’re at Springhill Tescos in Bangor tomorrow from 2-6pm so come and get some free Good Little Sausages and have a chat.

We are very proud of our Good Little Sausages and one day during a taste panel we thought to ourselves – these sausages are so good they deserve an award!

So, we entered a competition.

We entered the Northern Ireland food and drinks industry (NIFDA) awards; they’re a bit like the Oscars but with more tractors in the car park. (Only joking – it’s quite fancy really).

The Good Little Company team all got dressed up nice and went along to the awards ceremony at the Ramada hotel in Belfast, where we had the red carpet treatment. We were so excited and nervous some of us could hardly eat our dinner! When it came to the results for our category, Best New Product Small Company, we all held our breath. Our fingers (and toes) were crossed the whole time and it paid off!

We won Highly Commended. Hooray!

The judges said our sausages have “good texture and flavour,” are “good for kids” and taste “delicious.”

We’re absolutely delighted to have won such a prestigious award. We got presented with a lovely glass award and we keep it pride of place in our office. It’s great to get recognition for all the hard work that has taken place to develop the Good Little Company brand and the innovation behind Good Little Sausages.

Think big, act small; that’s what we always say!

Yikes. A giant Dalek has appeared on Black Mountain. Fear not, apparently it’s made of bed sheets and is a stunt for a sci-fi convention being held in Belfast. Nice work!

(via BBC news)

Get the tent out! I don’t believe there is a better combination than camping and cakes. We can’t wait to try out these mini citrus campfire cakes from Alicia Lynn Carrier – they look so simple and fun to make.

Victor and Susie is a children’s book from design studio Brighten the Corners, illustrated entirely from type. It tells the story of Victor the snail, who has a hole in his shell – and Susie, his friend, who nurses him back to health with steady supply of love and lettuce…

The book is available in bookshops or from the Brighten the Corners online shop (£5).

We love getting our hands dirty and now that the sun is starting to creep out from behind the winter clouds it’s time to get stuck into making the garden a haven of colour and healthy things.

There’s nothing more satisfying than cooking the food you’ve grown yourself and watching your garden bloom. There are lots of ideas on how to get the whole family involved at www.gardeningwithchildren.co.uk and the BBC website.

You can even try out your ideas with a virtual garden before you start digging

(Our favourites are peas in the pod).

The Festival of Fools is will be making Belfast’s collective jaw drop in amazement from Thur 30 April to Mon 4 May as the festival’s kooky characters infiltrate the city centre.

The chaos begins in Writer’s Square, opposite St. Anne’s Cathedral, on the evening of Thur 30 April with a contemporary telling of Don Quixote performed by one man and his mechanical fire breathing horse.

Get lost in the centrepiece of this year’s Festival – a giant installation of a maze, populated by bizarre characters, the City Hall lawns.

Keep your eyes peeled at Victoria Square for a family of mountain gorillas, living gargoyles, a band of surreal musicians, mythical creatures and even a Man in a Box.

All street performances are free and there are spellbinding theatre events too. For more info on who’s doing what when and where tel. 028 9033 3003 or check out http://www.foolsfestival.com.