Giveaway!!! Sirocco Recipe Book by Sabrina Ghayour

Have you ever meant to send a thank you note for a birthday gift and left it so long that it is now closer to your next birthday than the previous one? That happens quite often to me. The intention is there but time has a habit of rushing by far too quickly to the point that it gets embarrassingly late.

And this has become another example of something happening embarrassingly late... When Sabrina Ghayour's second cookery book, Sirocco was published back in 2016, I actually bought TWO copies of it with the intention of keeping one for myself and hosting a blog giveaway to share the second copy with one of our blog readers.

I am a massive fan of Sabrina Ghayour as I believe she has done wonders for bringing Persian cooking to the fore, first with her debut cookbook Persiana, and then with Sirocco and more recently with her third cookery book, Feasts. 

All the while inspiring us to try eastern inspired cooking through television appearances, at live demos and through her own supper clubs.

We had the pleasure of meeting Sabrina back in December 2014 at a Christmas supper club she ran to raise money for Jamie Oliver's Fifteen foundation. The food was incredible, needless to say, and meeting Sabrina an absolute delight. Her passion for food, flavours and cooking was evident to all and combined with her no-nonsense down to earth personality and awesome sense of humour make her an amazing person all round! I've been following her Instagram for all these years and again the way she connects with people is a pleasure to see - responding to questions and comments and always with sincere honesty often lacking on Instagram these days.

Little did we know back in 2014 that just a few months later our whole lives would be shaken up with Miss T's diagnosis of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. She was only 2 years old at the time. Having suffered from the same condition myself since the age of 10, I was utterly shocked that all these years later the same comment kept coming up when people heard of Miss T's diagnosis "but I thought only old people got arthritis." Thirty years on and knowledge of this cruel, painful, crippling disease has not increased.

So it has become my passion to do all I can to raise awareness of arthritis in children. It is NOT the same as adult on-set Rheumatoid Arthritis and entirely different from age-related osteoarthritis. If left untreated the consequences can be devastating including irreparable joint damage and deformity and even blindness caused by Uveitis which is a condition that children with JIA are at a high risk of.

The first step in prompt diagnosis and treatment is increased awareness both amongst the general population and even amongst the medical profession, that children and young people can and do get arthritis.

Sadly there is still no cure for the disease but the Juvenile Arthritis Research project, a charity that was set up this year with the core aim of finding a cure, is working hard towards it.

And when a young man called Alex (we refer to him as Amazing Alex because the challenge he has set himself is truly mind-blowing) heard of Miss T's condition and the multitude of treatments she needs just to enable her to walk, he decided to do something about it.

He is running 250 miles in a period of 2 weeks to raise funds and awareness for Juvenile Arthritis Research. That works out as an average of 18 miles PER DAY!!! I did say it was totally mind blowing. You can find out more about what Alex is doing at www.give.net/Run250

You may be wondering how all this links to this giveaway? Well the main reason that I just couldn't find time to run the giveaway until now is the sheer volume of appointments and treatments that Miss T needs taking up masses of my time. I've always wanted our blog to be used for good in some way and raising awareness of what Alex is doing seemed the perfect way.

So as well as all the usual options on Rafflecopter, there is also an option of heading over to www.give.net/Run250 and sponsoring Alex for his #Run250 challenge. It needn't be a huge amount - as little as £1 will help to make a difference. What is so amazing about what Alex is doing is that it is raising that all-important awareness as well as funds.

It is NOT ESSENTIAL to donate to be able to take part in the giveaway. The donate option gives extra entries (so please only complete that option on Rafflecopter if you have donated) but there are plenty of other options to complete for entries too.


a Rafflecopter giveaway
Please note this giveaway is not affiliated with Sabrina Ghayour, Mitchell Beazley Publishing, or Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. We purchased this product ourselves and wanted to give it away via our blog to one of our readers.

The Rafflecopter widget should be straightforward to use, but if you need any more information on how to use Rafflecopter please visit Di Coke's guide.

Listed at Superlucky and Prizefinder.

Terms & Conditions:  (1) Open to UK residents only aged 18 or over.  (2) Entry is only through the RaffleCopter form.  (3) Bulk or automated entries not permitted.  (4) Entries must be received by the closing date (14 October 2018).  (5) By entering, you agree to accept and be bound by these rules.  (6) The winner will be selected at random from all valid entries.  (7) The winner will win the prize as set out in clause (16), and is subject to availability and may change.  (8) No cash alternatives.  (9) Winners will be notified by email after the draw.  (10) Prizes not claimed within 14 days of the prize winner being notified may be redrawn and awarded to a new winner.  (11) TheBeesleyBuzz reserves the right to cancel or change the competition or any of these rules at any stage, if deemed necessary in its opinion, or if circumstances arise outside of its control.  (12) Winners agree to their names being used for promotional purposes.  (13) The judges’ decision will be final, and no correspondence will be entered into.  (14) The prize will be sent to the winners' UK address only. (15) The prize will be sent direct by TheBeesleyBuzz using a recognised national carrier. TheBeesleyBuzz can accept no responsibility for loss of or damage to the prize during transit. Should this occur, the winner must notify TheBeesleyBuzz immediately so the issue can be resolved with the carrier. Once received, the prize is the responsibility of the winner. (16) The prize is a copy of 'Sirocco' by Sabrina Ghayour.