In this guest post, Dilys Morgan, founder of GrandparentsNow.com, shares a few holiday tips for those travelling with three generations of family.

We all look forward to the summer holidays – and it’s becoming increasingly common for three generations to holiday together, often with grandparents footing the bill and hiring a villa, or holiday home for the duration.

Holidays like this can work out brilliantly:  the parents have a chance for some respite from their children while grandparents step up to the plate and entertain them.  Grandparents get a lot of good quality time with their beloved grandchildren.  And the children get spoiled!

But we all know that living at close quarters isn’t always easy – and it can be hard for both grandparents and parents to adjust to sharing the same space, working out how to divide the labour, ensuring that no one feels either put-upon or left out.  So here are some of our top tips – gleaned from our own experience and those of people we’ve met and talked to through GrandparentsNow.com.

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World First Managing Partner, Martin Rothwell, has been voted one of the top business people in the south west.

Each year, Insider Media publish their snappily titled 42 under 42, where they identify 42 of the south west’s finest entrepreneurs and business leaders under the age of – you guessed it – 42, based on nominations from senior industrialists and professionals. It’s a great achievement.

“It’s a great honour to be selected,” reflected Martin. “But it’s not just about me, it’s also down to the support I get from the entire team at World First – particularly the Customer Service team, who are on the frontline handling calls every day and giving our customers the very best experience possible.”

Martin was singled-out for his twenty years of experience in the travel insurance industry and for the hands-on role he takes with the business. The breadth of cover provided by World First was recognised too, along with the fact that we are one of the few travel insurers to offer comprehensive policies to travel-lovers with medical conditions, right up to the age of 100.

Nice to know you’re in safe hands, isn’t it?

Be part of our success story and visit www.world-first.co.uk for your travel insurance.

UK border staff are due to strike this Thursday (10th May). Find out what your rights are if the disruption affects your travel plans as well as what World First customers are covered for by their travel insurance.  

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Following our recent post about MS Week 2012, Jo Sopala from the MS Trust writes a guest post about the ins and outs of MS and reveals some creative ways you can get involved.

More than 100,000 people have multiple sclerosis (MS) in the UK and 57 more people are diagnosed each week. It is a lifelong, debilitating condition which is extremely variable and unpredictable. MS is usually diagnosed in young adults between the ages of 20 and 30, just as people are making life choices about careers, family and relationships.

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Poland and Ukraine aren’t known for their indigenous population of wild dogs. It’s perhaps just as well for Roy Hodgson, given that one poor result in the Euros this summer will have the football media queuing up to throw him to the wolves. 

Yes, against most expectations in the football community, West Brom’s Roy Hodgson will be the man to lead the Three Lions in the Euros this summer. It’s a surprise appointment. And one that some might call managerial suicide given that the England job has been such a poisoned chalice over the years. But whatever happens to Hodgson, we’ve got the travel insurance that will give you the peace of mind to concentrate on nothing but football if you’re heading out to Poland and Ukraine this summer.

Here’s a breakdown of what we can give you. Strength in depth? You bet.
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There are 100,000 people in the UK who could tell you first hand. Yet multiple sclerosis remains a condition that most know little about. That’s why the MS Trust is keen to raise awareness of the condition, which affects the nervous system.

MS Week runs from 30th April to 6th May and aims to help everyone understand a little more about multiple sclerosis. What better time for us to share the good news that we can give travel-lovers with MS the holiday cover they need at a price that’s fair?

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March brought another exciting instalment of our monthly travel writing competition, My World First. Anna Mochnacka from Barcelona made us hope we never have to visit the Doctor in Laos. Barnaby Davies got more than he bargained for when he visited an Austrian salt mine. And Beverley Keenan from Blackpool reminded us of the frustrations of lost baggage.

That’s not all. In what will no doubt surprise plenty of male readers, 1,000 camels weren’t enough to lure Charmaine Brown’s husband into selling his other half during the Essex couple’s holiday in Morocco. Eleanor Bransden from Littlehampton added to her self-proclaimed ‘extensive’ repertoire of embarrassing gaffes while travelling in Greece. And we were as perplexed as Bryan Poynton from Surrey when we read about his Nepalese meal of apple pie…and chips

While Jonathan Wallen from Newport pushed his stamina to the limit 2,000 ft above sea level in Southern Peru, Kate Daniel found her paradise when she swapped Grimsby for the Maldives. And last month’s winner, Mandy Huggins, had a close encounter with a deadly snake in The Gambia.

We’d like to say a big, big thank you to everyone who entered. But there could only be one winner. The judges’ decisions are in. March’s winner was a writer who had a very memorable train journey through Russia. And that’s putting it lightly. Congratulations to Paul Bingley from Suffolk. Here’s his Kindle-winning entry…

You might want to cross your legs.

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Ready for a shocking statistic? 75% of people around the world living with a bleeding disorder do not receive the treatment they need. That’s just one of the messages that the World Federation of Haemophilia is hoping to share on World Haemophilia Day. April 17th will see events take place across the globe to raise awareness of haemophilia and other bleeding conditions. And while medical standards are very good here in the UK, general awareness of the condition is patchy. Perhaps that’s why it remains difficult for haemophiliacs to get good, affordable travel insurance. World First can help.

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Following last week’s post on Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, the campaign’s creators, Bowel Cancer UK, write a guest post about the signs and symptoms of the condition and tell us why the campaign is so important.

Bowel Cancer UK is encouraging men and women to be aware of the signs and symptoms of the disease this Bowel Cancer Awareness Month – April 2012.

Bowel cancer (also known as colorectal or colon cancer) is the second most common cause of cancer death in the UK, affecting both men and women. Every year over 40,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer and more than 16,000 people die of the disease. But this doesn’t have to be the case. Bowel cancer is very treatable, especially if it’s caught early. That’s why awareness of the symptoms is so important. Read the rest of this entry »

Off on your travels this Easter? Great! Here are a few things you should make sure are ticked off your holiday checklist before you get cracking…

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