Picture this…

You get a text from your child's school informing you that there is an outbreak of chickenpox. You know straight away that you’re going to have to cancel that BBQ at the weekend at your parents’ house and you’ll have to re-arrange that playdate at their cousins, because your sister-in-law is pregnant.

Back in ancient Egypt, if Egyptians found head lice on themselves they would shave their entire bodies to get rid of them.

In the 60’s, parents in the UK would often pour harmful remedies, like gasoline, on to their child’s hair. Now?

Parents are notified of an outbreak, everyone checks and combs their child’s hair every 3 days for 2 weeks, and then pray they never return.

From desperate, to dangerous, to doable.

There are just THREE DAYS to go until the Delicious Doncaster Food and Drink festival returns, and we caaaaaaannot wait!

After another night of trying to sleep in the fiery bowels of Mount Vesuvius, we believe the time has come to sound the traditional klaxon of British Summertime:

🚨IT'S TOO HOT NOW 🚨 Britain is at a crossroads.

Mums across the country have eaten nothing but 'picky bits' for days.

Is THIS really what we want all of our meals to look like?

80 years ago, one man’s single trip to the toilet led to the capture and imprisonment of 36 people.

We think there’s something we can all learn from this story. Now, in Doncaster, we know a thing or two about this subject.

No crass jokes though, please – we are talking about the fact that the inventor of the flushing toilet, Thomas Crapper, hails from our fair borough.

Hello you.

Yes, you!

Do you know what you remind us of?

This creature, called a Tardigrade. Now, if you judge the Tardigrade purely by its appearance, you might not be thrilled with the comparison.

Don’t worry, there’s only a PASSING physical resemblance between you two.

After his wife passed away, this man single-handedly carved a tunnel through a mountain.

We think we can all learn something from his incredible story.

It’s time for another #coronavirus-related history lesson from Doncaster Council. This amazing person was called Dasrath Manjhi.

Born in India, he was a labourer from the village of Gehlaur.

We feel like people could do with some good news to focus on this week, so what INCREDIBLE timing that today is #NationalSandwichDay.

Did you know about Doncaster Council’s little-known, incredible connection with the sandwich, though? Let us tell you more. Can ANYONE honestly say they don’t love the humble sandwich? Whether meaty, fishy, cheesy or salad…y, you simply can’t go wrong.

Well, we're betting not many of you know that people across the world have Doncaster Council to thank in part for the creation of this staple dish.

After today's #Woolworths drama, we have decided to capitalise on this wave of 90's nostalgia by announcing that we are bringing back Gladiators.

Doncaster will see events such as Hang Tough, Vertigo and Powerball, culminating in a gruelling Eliminator at the Mansion House. (The UK media picked up on the unsubstantiated @UKWoolworths announcement today, so we're hoping they'll do the same here.

That way, we can trick them in to covering the actual stuff we want them to ⬇️)

In 2017, a man running the London marathon showed some of the most incredible sportsmanship ever.

We think it’s a story we all need to hear, as we wait for today’s announcements about #coronavirus restrictions. It was April 2017 when runner David Wyeth was running the London marathon.

Just 300 metres from the end, his race was run. His legs had turned to jelly, and he was at the point of collapse.

You think the last few months have been monotonous for YOU? Well, let us tell you a story.

It’s about a church in Germany that has been playing the same piece of music WITHOUT STOPPING for two decades.
#coronavirus #covid19 In 1987, composer John Cage wrote a piece of music –the catchingly titled ‘Organ² / ASLSP’ – and it contains an instruction that the piece should be played ‘as slowly as possible’.

From tomorrow, we’ll have to wear a face covering whenever we go into a shop.

Lately we’ve seen a lot of different methods for wearing a face covering.

Some great, some not so great.

So here are some notes on how NOT to wear one…

[THREAD] 👇 ‘The Bruce Forsyth’

It’s NOT nice to see this, to see this nice.

If we’re wearing a face covering it needs to be over our mouth and nose; clearly just on the chin is too far south on the face map.

Who fancies a night out with Doncaster Council?

Pubs, bars and restaurants are re-opening this Saturday, and things will be quite different when they do.

Luckily, your dreams have come true: the local government is here to enjoy your night out with you!

Let’s do this. First of all, we know what you’re thinking – you never thought you’d be having a night on the town with the local council.

Listen, we know how to let our hair down too! We like a raucous quarterly team meeting as much as the next person

We need to talk to you about the NHS test and trace system, but in a way that's engaging and interesting to everyone (especially younger people).

It took several brainstorming sessions, but we finally nailed it.

Everyone, meet your new best friend, Justin Case. How do we explain Justin?

He’s hip, he’s happening, he appeals to both the business community AND youth culture.

I mean, he wears his cap BACKWARDS! How whacky and cool can you get?

We have a little thread for you that starts off cute, then gets VERY SERIOUS in the middle, and then ends up cute again. It's a real rollercoaster of emotions for a Wednesday lunchtime.

Are you ready?

Here we go. 😍 CUTE SECTION 1😍

We were made aware of a wonderful little guy called Grayson, who takes bin bags and a litter picker on his walks every day.

So, there we have it.

We still need to keep our distance, but that minimum distance has been reduced from 2 metres to 1 metre, from 4th of July

But what does 1 metre actually look like?!

Luckily, we're here with some measuring systems that any Doncastrian learns as a child ⬇️ Anyone who grew up in Doncaster will know the undeniable glory of freshly-baked chocolate concrete and pink custard. Yes, really.

Little did we think that four trays of this beautiful stuff could one day help us save lives.

It’s a rainy, miserable day in Doncaster, which has got us thinking.

During #coronavirus, have you wondered why rainy days can make things seem so much harder to deal with?

Well, allow this local council to be your biology teacher for the afternoon 🧬☔⬇️ At the start of the #coronavirus lockdown (if you can remember that far back!), we were blessed with BEAUTIFUL weather.

It seemed like the sun shone solidly for the first few weeks as we all adjusted to this new way of life.

Just over 80 years ago a threat of a very different kind was keeping families apart, yet pulling local communities together, all across Britain, just like today.

It’s time for another Doncaster Council history lesson. In September 1940, the United Kingdom was at war against the Nazis.

This month marked a shift in the Nazi aerial war against Britain.

The bombing night raids began…

The story of a swimmer called Gertrude Ederle is exactly what we all need to read this week.

Why?

Let us explain. Gertrude did something ground-breaking in 1926, and we think she should be everyone’s new hero during #coronavirus.

The story of her determination and quiet grit is especially important for us to read at the moment.

On 13th June 1997, a man named Steve Kerr took a very important shot in a very important basketball game.

Steve’s story can teach us a valuable lesson about how we react to #coronavirus.

It’s time for another history lesson from Doncaster Council. Anyone who has binge-watched #TheLastDance during Lockdown probably didn’t expect Doncaster Council to be tweeting about Michael Jordan and Co’s exploits, and linking it to a global pandemic.

Nevertheless, it’s happening.

Here we go.

Today is the start of #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek.

Looking after your mental health is ALWAYS important, but during a global pandemic it really is vital.

Here are a few things that may be helpful if you feel like you’re struggling… Our 5 Ways to Wellbeing webpage contains just that…

5 areas to concentrate on to help improve our mental health:

✅Connect
✅Be Active
✅Take Notice
✅Keep Learning
✅Give

There are loads of resources and information under each area. Have a look: doncaster.gov.uk/5WaysToWellbei…