Without Evelyn Lauder there would be no pink ribbon breast cancer awareness symbol and research could be years behind where it currently stands.

Evelyn Lauder and her friend Alexandra Penney, came together to fulfil a small project, financed by Leonard Lauder to give away the pink ribbon bows at make up counters to raise awareness of the importance of breast examinations.

As we all know this grew into many more associated fundraising products and organisations, such as Breakthrough Breast Cancer, which then come up with other ways of raising funds, such as Pink Ribbon Bingo.

Every fund raising route is vital in the fight against this disease. There is now a whole month of the year set aside that is known worldwide as Breast Cancer Awareness month and the Pink Ribbon symbol needs no explanation as to what it represents. However, at the start many people thought it was linked to AIDS awareness.

Many things have helped to make the Pink Ribbon the iconic symbol it is today, including high profile fashion magazine features and star endorsements ensuring that people were talking about it.

Pink Ribbon Bingo perfectly harnesses players desires to have a good time and help a good cause at the same time – without Evelyn Lauder money raising opportunities such as this would not exist, but they result in much needed extra funds being directed towards essential research.

One item really jumped out from the pages of BBC news this morning and really made me laugh out loud!

Have you thought about what will happen to all your digital information when you die? At first sight that might not seem like a something funny to laugh about and there is a serious point to be made. Not many people will have considered what will happen to their all the accounts they sign up to online as a matter of routine these days and family members may have no way of accessing the information should the worst happen.

Many people have online gaming accounts such as sportsbetting, poker or online bingo, there are the music fans that have iTunes accounts, film fans that subscribe to LoveFilm and the like, not to mention all the precious photographs that might be stored as well as books and films that have been purchased. Without careful planning all could be lost.

What about all those people that operate online businesses with loads of different domains. Family members would have no way of knowing how they all operate.

However, a new online service called – wait for it – iCroak, has been set up to help people through this dilemma. If they have their way all future last will and testaments will feature sections that say something like, “To my husband, I leave the balances of my Foxy Bingo, X Bingo and William Hill Bingo accounts – now you can see what I was doing it for every night, enjoy”.

For a fee the user can nominate a ‘Guardian’ and when the person dies the Guardian will be able to access the online information through the iCroak service. The service will also delete any embarrassing memberships should this be required! They have covered all the bases here.

Can you believe that a study has found that in Britain alone we are storing at least £2.3 billion in online gaming balances, music, film and subscriptions. It also found that only one in ten people has made provision for how this would be accessed should they die.

I must admit it’s not something I’ve ever thought about, but they have a point. While I wouldn’t want my pictures to be lost I’m not sure my online bingo balances are going to be a loss to my family – see graphic above, lol.

Richard Branson has been in the news again recently as his holiday home on Necker Island has been hit by lightning and destroyed. As if that was not enough his elderly mother and oscar winning actress Kate Winslett were in residence at the time.

Kate is reported as being quite the hero of the hour, having escorted Mrs Branson to safety at the height of the drama as the fire caused by the lightning strike took hold of the building.

Everyone managed to escape unhurt thankfully, but at least bingo players can still enjoy the bingo gameplay in the Necker Island bingo room at Virgin Bingo. There is no smoke damage here or risk of falling debris, just views of a beautiful island paradise, inspired by this desirable holiday location, and friendly bingo roomies.

Necker Island may cost a fortune to hire as a holiday destination and be only available to the rich and famous, but the same is not true of its bingo room counterpart. This is a networked room at Virgin Bingo and offers a variety of different priced tickets from just 5p each, but offers some big money prizes.

No tickets to the actual Necker Island here, but a way to visit the Virgin Bingo Necker Island for some great online bingo – click here.

I am sure I am not alone in that I sometimes find myself in the position of wanting to play bingo, but finding the dosh does not stretch as far as it might, especially if luck is not on my side.

Last night I found myself in just such a situation and as such I was scouring my e-mails for the free bingo offers that come the way every now and then of players that deposit at a site as a thank you. These exclusive free bingo rooms tend to be less well populated and with better prizes than many free bingo games available to all comers.

Last night I had access to depositor free bingo rooms at Paddy Power Bingo and at Rehab Bingo. There were probably more I could have joined, but here’s a tip for anyone that is a member of a few bingo sites – keep a note of where you’ve played and when they send you e-mails with the offers you are entitled to and write down the details so you don’t forget when and where they are!

I was lucky in that the Paddy Power Bingo room opened at 8pm and closed at 9pm and the Rehab Bingo free bingo started at 9pm until 10pm. Now, I have to confess to not really paying much attention to these offers in the past, but being so close together it brought into perspective how such offers can vary in value.

At Paddy Power Bingo I was playing for prize pots of £10, with one line at £2, two lines at £3 and the full house at £5. An hour later I was playing at Rehab Bingo for a one line prize of £10, a two line prize of £20 and a £70 full house. As it turned out it didn’t really matter to my bank balance what the prizes were, as Lady Luck is not smiling on me at the moment and the prizes all went to other lucky players.

The prizes at Paddy Power Bingo may have been smaller than at Rehab Bingo, but they do offer a lot of free bingo opportunities at the site and barely a day goes by without free bingo being available somewhere on the site.

The message here has to be to make sure to sign up for all the newsletters and communications from the bingo sites you join and take advantage of them all, you never know when you might need them. It also pays to know which of the sites you are a member of that have generous free bingo offers – some of mine include Sing Bingo, William Hill Bingo and Mecca Bingo – both for all comers and depositors.

Of course, I can’t forget my ultimate fall back site that offers free bingo all the time, whenever I need it – FreeBingo.co.uk. They never let me down and are on hand 24 hours a day should I want to play bingo in friendly surroundings. I think I might be seeing my friends in the FreeBingo rooms quite a lot this summer!

Incidentally, it just goes to show the seriousness of what is going on regarding the rioting being experienced in certain parts of the UK, in that there was no other topic of conversation in the chat rooms at any of the sites I visited las tnight. Universally, everyone was appalled by what was happening and Sky News was the channel of choice for most to find out what was going on. Many had family and friends they were concerned about that might be at work or travelling in the areas affected.

I hope everyone was ok and that the situation returns to normal soon.

The press are speculating that the name is linked to top brow fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar as a nod to Victoria’s new career as a fashion designer, or after author Harper Lee, who wrote To Kill a MockingBird, but the conjecture about the number seven is endless.

It could be because it used to be David’s playing number for England and Manchester United. If so, wouldn’t it have made more sense to saddle one of the boys with it?

It could be because she was born in the seventh month and she weighed 7lb 10oz and was born at 7.55. It could be because the couple are in seventh heaven now they have their little girl with them and possibly their family is complete.

There could be endless reasons that brought them to this unusual name, but it could be some time before the couple reveal the thinking behind the name and put us all out of our misery.

The question we have been asking in the WhichBingo office, however, is, “Will this become a new bingo number call sometime soon?” Lucky Harper Beckham, Number 7, anyone? I quite like the sound of that personally.

Anyway, congratulations to Victoria, David and the boys on the safe arrival of Harper Seven Beckham from all at WhichBingo.

Good Hair Day

I love a good gossip and this is some of the best around right now. After five weeks Cheryl Cole has finally found the courage to face the world again and she did it in some style. Not some grand awards ceremony or film premiere, but a simple trip to the American Embassy for a visa had the online world ablaze and the papers all fighting for a picture.

Why? It turns out Cheryl has a new hair style. That’s all it takes these days to set the airwaves and newsprint alight. Cheryl turns 28 today and, in a classic case of starting afresh that many a woman will understand, she has ditched the sky high look that she unveiled at the start of the ill fated (for her) American X Factor auditions (see below) and has opted for a simple, ash blonde, long bob.

Now, the look takes years off the Geordie lass, but the only discordant note in this makeover for me is the fact that she has reportedly done it to make ex-husband and love cheat Ashley Cole happy. With all she has been through recently, why go backwards girl, move on and up. The pop beauty would surely have no trouble attracting a new man that would treat her right and with the respect she deserves.

A quick poll around the office shows a definite male/female divide, however, as far as the new hairstyle is concerned. While the ladies love it, the men are not so keen for some reason – they say it makes her look more ‘normal’. As far as us ladies are concerned that must be the benefit – if Cheryl can look normal, that means it might be easier to match her style.

Anyway, Happy Birthday canny lass (there’s a good online bingo name if ever I heard one, although it would probably be CannyLass1,399,455, lol) and all the best for a fresh start.

If you want to get more of a gossip fix while enjoying bingo online, then Gossip Bingo is a good place to be – they never miss a juicy bit of news to pass on to roomies.

For this reason it is a big money industry selling products that claim to get rid of them. The latest is going on sale at John Lewis and I say: ‘Shame on you John Lewis’. This store usually has an impeccable record for the product lines it carries, but this time they seem to be just jumping on a bandwagon to sell ‘Arm Sculpt’ at £59 for a 100ml jar.

Ladies, be warned. There is no scientific proof that any cream can shift fat. It may be able to improve the appearance of the skin itself temporarily, but shifting fat is all about diet and targeted exercise. Believe me I know. I have spent the last nine months honing and toning and that is why these false hopes really wind me up.

What’s more the manufacturer, Rodial, has previously been in trouble with advertising standards with regards to its similar claims for a tummy tuck cream that was brought to market, funnily enough, just after Christmas. At least the online bingo sites we deal with tend to adhere to the findings of the ASA when they fall foul, like tombola bingo and 888ladies bingo as we have previously reported, and they don’t do the same thing again.

Rodial seem to be making the exact same unfounded claims for this miracle bingo wings cream.

Steer clear is my advice and start lifting those tins of beans a couple of times a day instead!! Oh! and can we make sure that no-one tells Foxy Bingo that bingo wing cream might be popular or we will likely see the fox putting his name to one of those too in the not too distant future, and giving it away as an online bingo prize, lol!!

Great Offer

It’s been reported in a lot of quarters that although we have just enjoyed a lovely long weekend during which the weather wasn’t that warm and that saw lots of people glued to their armchairs, online bingo sites were not as well populated as would have been expected.

To be fair online bingo has had quite a lot to battle against in recent days. Boredom is a good reason to reach for the laptop for an exciting game of bingo. However, events have transpired that meant many people were far from bored. It has been the most newsworthy few days for months. So although millions had enforced holidays, they didn’t want to miss a bit of THE wedding that was far more interesting than many expected, terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden was shot dead and sporting legends Henry Cooper and Ted Lowe died.

In addition many people decided to get together with friends and spend time with family. All very commendable, but supposedly detrimental to the online bingo world.

Well, I logged on quite a few times over the weekend to different sites and I found lots of people taking full advantage of the myriad offers that we had been told about in the weeks leading up to the wedding.

One of the biggest was the William Hill Bingo £10k daily giveaway. This alone saw the Community Room at the site more populated than ever before, reaching a peak of nearly 500 players when the ball count hit 50 numbers every day. Unfortunately I am not one of the lucky people that is £5,000 richer, but I did benefit from about £27 in free bingo bonus from the consolation £5,000 every day I took part and was playing when the jackpot was won – that’s not bad. I will be using some of those funds to be in the free bingo room tonight that’s for sure if Superbooks are available.

The Mecca Bingo, Gala Bingo and tombola bingo offers were also well populated, so thanks guys, I for one had a lot of fun with you this weekend – playing between ironing, gardening and watching TV you helped keep me sane, if a little poorer. Never mind, there’s always next time. Keep up the good work.

I’m now hard at work looking for the next best thing in online bingo – if you see something you’d like to share be sure to tell us.

I have got to the stage where the term ‘Royal Wedding’ is starting to put me to sleep. Speaking of sleep I see Kate Middleton is supposed to be having the ‘oops I’ve forgotton something, walking down the aisle naked’ dreams’. To be fair who can blame her. Billions of people around the world watching – I think the girl is entitled to feel on show and vulnerable.

Anyway, back to the the online bingo news and some of the ‘offers’ surrounding the event don’t do much to perk me up from the snoozefest. For instance..

Paddy Power Bingo has been looking for people to send photos to site to be next Wills and Kate for 100BBs.

Love Your Bingo also asked for pictures,this time family wedding pics for 1000 points.

Jackpotjoy offered guaranteed cash for gifts. Players need to spend £10 bingo £20 slots to get £1 bonus every day for 5 days, plus £5 extra if they manage it over all 5 days.

It’s a good job all these sites have plenty of other great games and big giveaways to balance these less generous ones. For instance Jackpotjoy is running a big money 90 ball bingo game at 10pm on Friday 29th with a total giveaway of £13,000 and Paddy Power is giving away a total of £10,500 between 7pm and midnight the same day.

On the other hand there are sites like Chit Chat Bingo that are sticking faithfully to their normal agenda that sees plenty of great offers around the site for players to enjoy, without having to tag it with a ‘royal’ theme. See the WhichBingo news pages for more info.

However, we can give all these bingo sites the benefit of the doubt and focus on the fact that many of them are just trying to enhance the social and getting to know you side of the online bingo world. The more they know about their players the more they know about how they want to play the game and can tailor any offers accordingly. We will all benefit in the end.

In the future loyalty is going to be vitally important as there is not a bottomless pit of people looking to play bingo online. So these types of offers are probably just opening shots in a long running battle for regular custom.

Anyway, enjoy the Royal Wedding or just enjoy the day off if you have been lucky enough to benefit from it and as ever, win big.

The email contained the following links, all of which are great places to donate money to help the people in Haiti:

UNICEF:www.unicef.org.uk
ActionAid:www.actionaid.org.uk
British Red Cross:www.redcross.org.uk
Oxfam:www.oxfam.org.uk
World Vision:www.worldvision.org.uk
Save the Children UK:www.savethechildren.org.uk
Action Against Hunger: www.actionagainsthunger.org.uk
Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC):www.dec.org.uk
Merlin:www.merlin.org.uk
Salvation Army: www.salvationarmy.org.uk

At a time when the world’s attention is rightly focussed on Haiti, it is great to see bingo sites doing their bit to get behind the appeal for aid.

BingoBoy