We recently handed over a £1000 cheque as part of our sponsorship of the 17 year old athlete, and have pledged to continue our support right up to the 2012 games.

Hannah’s bid for glory is becoming increasingly likely after an intensive winter training program and new coach seem to have paid dividends, with a string of fantastic results already this season including breaking the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m World Record in her classification this weekend. In fact, she broke three World records which were held by top UK athlete and Olympic Gold medallist Deborah Brennan, who was also racing in the events.

Hannah had this to say about Leisuredays continued support,

“My competition schedule has increased a lot this year in the need to get qualifying times for the 2011 World Championships that will lead to the 2012 games. The money helps me get to and compete in all these vital races and also have the equipment I need to perform to the best of my ability.”

One of our Directors Louise Wilby, visited Hannah at her local training track in Halifax to hand over the £1000 cheque,

“Myself and everyone at Caravan Guard and Leisuredays have been hugely impressed by Hannah’s accomplishments over the last few years – her dedication to the sport is astounding and we’re extremely proud to be able to support her at the beginning of what we hope will be a long and successful sporting career.”

Hannah is a mixed distance athlete and as well as her World Records in shorter distances also won the Virgin Mini London Marathon and recently took silver in the 10k BUPA Great Manchester Run, just behind Paralympic Bronze medallist Shelly Woods.

Our 70 members of staff are kept up to date with Hannah’s progress and racing results with regular emails and photos being sent through by Hannah herself – she says it’s a two way street and that knowing the whole company is behind her is a real confidence booster.

“The Caravan Guard and Leisuredays staff are there to support me every step of the way. They are interested in all my achievements and are there to celebrate them with me. Everyone there is friendly and full of encouragement and so their well wishes and hard work to help me achieve my dream keep me going even through the long hard winter months of training.”

Have you tried herbs and salad crops in baskets or tubs? They are much easier to keep tidy this way, you have the pleasure of eating what you’ve grown and if you sow seeds regularly you can be eating your home grown crops all season long.

You can grow several varieties of herbs in a strawberry planter. Mint is best planted in a tub on its own as it has a nasty habit of rampant growth. Rosemary is a fairly hardy perennial shrub. Most plants are ideal in multi-purpose compost but thyme prefers well-drained soil.

You could try sowing basil and sweet marjoram in individual pots but in cold areas they may do better on a sunny windowsill over the summer rather than out in the garden. If you grow them in the garden they will like the hottest, sunniest and most sheltered spot in your garden.

Mint, lemon balm and chives form large clumps very easily. With herbs and salad growing in pots on your deck throughout the season means that you can just pull a handful of lovely fresh herbs just as you need them.

Lettuce is a dead easy-to-grow fast growing crop, so you can sow the seeds several times over the season but try choosing varieties that you pick a few leaves at a time rather than a whole lettuce. Try growing different colours in a pot and mix with rocket which adds a peppery bite to salads. Radishes grow well in pots too.

Be careful where you put your tubs as hot summer sun causes greens to turn bitter and go to seed quickly. If the weather is consistently over 85 degrees F, move your container to an area that gets cool afternoon shade.

So what happens if you leave your holiday lodge or static caravan for a few weeks at a time during the summer? We’ll it’s always worth asking your neighbour to keep an eye on it or just take the risk that the garden will be OK. Or you can be pro-active and install an automatic watering system that gently pumps water from the tap to your plants using a simple network of narrow pipes and outlets hidden in the garden. This can be controlled manually or by a timer and can be as simple or as sophisticated as you want. They can work from a water butt, but are more efficient and use less water when you install a garden watering system from your mains water tap. Now that you aren’t standing over a hosepipe, or heaving watering cans around you could play some garden games; anyone for badminton, skittles or dominoes?

How do you make use of your garden at your holiday home? Let us know by submitting a comment below.

Leisuredays are thrilled to announce that Hannah Cockroft, a budding Paralympic athlete from West Yorkshire who we sponsor, has this weekend (27th May) broken a World Record in the 400m!

Hannah was competing in the ‘Knowsley Disability Athletics Challenge’ when she broke the 400m World Record in her classification by over 2seconds – beating the previous record which had stood since 2002.

It’s a huge achievement which crowns a string of positive results, all of which help her bid to compete in the London 2012 Paralympics. ‘UK Athletics’ had this to say about her:

“Cockroft’s World Record 400m performance at the UKA Disability Athletics Challenge event in Knowsley was an incredible result for the 17-year-old who won UK School Games 100m gold in 2008 and the Mini London Marathon wheelchair race for the first time in 2009. She reduced Deborah Brennan’s previous world mark of 1:07.68 – set back in 2002 – by over two seconds.”

Hannah also competed in the 10k BUPA Great Manchester Run yesterday and came in 2nd place behind Paralympic Bronze medallist Shelly Woods, and ahead of Paralympic athlete Anne Strike – a fantastic achievement for a budding athlete of just 17.  

To read more from UK Athletics about this weekend’s results, or for further info, visit http://www.uka.org.uk/media/news/may-2010/24-05-10-world-records/

Turkey doesn’t have to be just for Christmas; with Easter just a few weeks away, another time for family get-togethers, this recipe is ideal as it can be prepared ahead leaving you time to Hunt the Easter Eggs and it’s easy to carve too.

En croute means baked in pastry and don’t feel guilty about buying ready to use pastry for this recipe; life’s too short to make puff pastry!

You must leave the stuffed turkey breast to cool completely before you wrap it in the puff pastry.

Preparation:     30 minutes (plus cooling and chilling)
Cooking:     1 hour 50 minutes
Serves: 8

What you need:

2 x 500g/1lb 2oz British Turkey boneless turkey breasts
2 tablespoons olive oil, (plus a little extra for greasing)
125g/4½ oz Portobello or white cap mushrooms, peeled and finely chopped
½ red pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
100g/4oz fresh breadcrumbs
1 egg, beaten
Salt and black pepper
550g/1½ lb ready to use puff pastry
Milk or beaten egg, to glaze

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

Heat the oil in a pan and add the mushrooms. Fry for 5 minutes, then add the red pepper and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl. Stir in the parsley, breadcrumbs, beaten egg and seasoning and leave to cool.

Spread a large sheet of foil onto a large roasting dish and brush with olive oil.

Place one turkey breast in the centre, cut side up and spread with the stuffing, pressing it down in an even layer. Lay the second breast on top, cut side down.

Wrap the foil around the turkey, folding the edges over to make a tight seal. Now pop it in the oven and cook for 1¼ hours. Leave it to cool completely before unwrapping the turkey.

Roll out about one-third of the pastry into an oblong, and lift it on to a baking sheet. Place the turkey in the centre – the pastry should be large enough to leave a border of about 2.5cm/1inch all around. Roll out the rest of the pastry large enough to cover the turkey. Brush the pastry edges with milk or beaten egg and press them together to seal. Decorate the parcel with any pastry trimmings, and brush these with milk or beaten egg to fix in place. Now chill the pastry wrapped turkey for 30 minutes or until you are ready to cook it.

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Brush the pastry with milk or beaten egg to glaze and bake for about 25 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Serve it with a selection of vegetables.

Tip: When cooking the pastry-wrapped turkey, use a baking sheet with a lip, or a shallow roasting tin, to prevent any juices that run out burning on the bottom of the oven.

© The British Turkey Information Service

BBQs should be fun, simple and easy to prepare and grill and whatever you cook in the kitchen you can easily do on the barbie! BBQs don’t have to be sausages and burgers and whilst spontaneous BBQs can be fun, it does help to do a bit of forward planning and preparation.

Best Barbecue Safety Tips

• Position BBQs on a sheltered, level site, away from anything that might catch fire – especially your holiday home!
• Make sure that you preheat your barbecue to the correct temperature before you begin cooking.
• Take care when using knives and scissors. Minimise distractions by preparing food inside your holiday home before guests arrive and before the alcohol starts flowing.
• Only use BBQ fuel or lighters to light the BBQ – never flammable liquid such as petrol or paraffin.
• Never leave a BBQ unattended; keep children and pets away from the cooking area.
• Never move a BBQ while it is alight or hot – wait until it has cooled and empty ashes onto bare garden soil, not into the bin.
• Keep a bucket of water or sand nearby in case of emergencies
• If your barbecue has a lid, use it as it’s really useful for keeping the internal temperature constant and making sure your food is evenly cooked.
• Avoid food poisoning – cook meat and poultry until piping hot throughout, the juices run clear and there are no pink bits. Invest in a meat thermometer suitable for use on a barbecue.
• Clean your barbecue properly after every use. If you don’t, next time you use it you’ll be cooking on top of last weekend’s grease. Cleaning a barbecue is easy if you know the technique, just set your barbecue to the highest heat possible, and then after it stops smoking use a good quality wire brush to clean the cooking grate.

Tasty Starter!

This is one of the simplest starters that you can prepare on the barbie!

Fresh Asparagus with Parmesan and Lime dressing

You need:

• 16 asparagus spears
• Juice of 1 lime
• 30ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 15ml balsamic vinegar
• A small wedge of Parmigianino Reggiano
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper

Mix together lime juice, oil and balsamic vinegar plus half of the salt and black pepper and use to coat asparagus spears.

Grill asparagus slowly on medium heat, turning frequently and baste occasionally.

Remove asparagus once cooked through and lightly cover with shavings of Parmigianino. Drizzle over the remaining lime, oil and balsamic vinegar, season with salt and black pepper to taste.

Refreshing Cocktail

If you think of Grand Marnier as a liqueur then surprise your guests and try a refreshing cocktail.

You need:

• 25ml Grand Marnier
• 25ml Elderflower cordial
• Soda water

Fill a tall glass with ice and add the Grand Marnier and Elderflower cordial. Top up with soda water and stir well. Garnish with slices of fresh orange and strawberries. You can make it a big jug, too, if you like.