HellenicChild profile picture

HellenicChild

Greek Educational Children's Products in the UK!

About Me

MyGen Profile Generator

Hi! I'm Claire and I'm 30. I'm married to Christian Mayne (Makeitfolky & DJ Christian Mayne) and we have a daughter, Ellie, who is 5 years old. We live in Cambridge.

I run a business called HellenicChild which specialises in selling Greek Educational Children's Products. We have Greek Children's Books, ranging from baby boardbooks like Greek Baby Einstein to the latest Greek Harry Potter translations (look out for book 7 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - COMING SOON). We also have Traditional Greek Costumes, Greek Flashcards, Greek children's DVDs, Greek Computer Games for kids, Greek Baby Albums, and Greek Toys & Dolls like Alexa the Bilingual Doll from Language Littles and Taki the Greek Talking & Singing Teddy Bear. We also have many bilingual (Greek & English) products.

I am 3/4 Greek and was born and raised bilingual in the UK. My Mum, who is 100% Greek, taught my brother (Rob) and me Greek when we were young, and I'm glad she did as it makes me feel closer to Greece. When my daughter Ellie was born in 2002 my husband Christian and I decided I would teach her Greek, but I found it more and more difficult as she got older. I couldn't find anyone selling Greek children's products here in the UK, so I decided I would do something about it! That's when HellenicChild was born. I set up my own website www.HellenicChild.com in 2005 and it has proved very popular amongst the large Greek community living in the UK and Greeks from all over the world. I also sell my products on eBay.

All our products are aimed at children and young adults aged 0 to 18 years old. There is something for babies, toddlers, children and teenagers. We're very proud that the products we sell are of a high quality which will help your child learn Greek and also teach him or her about Greek culture. If you speak Greek and want to teach your child Greek then we've got what you want. If you have a younger relative like a cousin, niece, nephew or grandchild then one of our books or toys would make a wonderful gift. You'll also feel great knowing that you're helping to promote Greece and the Greek language.

My daughter is five years old now and speaks Greek beautifully. This is great because it means that when we go to Greece to visit the relatives, she doesn't feel left out, can play with her cousins and join in conversations with the family.

If you are part of a Greek speaking family, or if your children are taking their first steps in learning this rich and wonderful language, you'll find all the tools you need at HellenicChild to enrich their world with Greek language, customs and traditions.

We aim to send out your item within 24 hours of receiving your cleared payment. All our items come with a full money-back guarantee. Just return them in their original unused condition.

If there's anything in particular you're looking for then please let us know. We're always updating our stock. To contact us please email [email protected]

Cheers,

Claire

..

My Interests

This is me. This photo is the best one I could find. It was taken at the Towersey Folk Festival in August 2006. That's where I met Jim Causley for the first time and he's a lovely bloke.

I like cooking, eating well cooked food (that doesn't mean posh food. That means REAL food), olives, cheese (especially feta and brie), learning languages, watching tv, going to the cinema, buying clothes and shoes (which girl doesn't?) dancing and amateur dramatics.

I really enjoy acting, singing and dancing and have done amateur dramatic stuff with The Sawston Players including Murder Mysteries, One Act and Three Act Festival plays. I also love musicals and for the past 3 years have performed in The Cambridge Corn Exchange's summer musical. I was in West Side Story in 2005 in the chorus, Annie The Musical (in the chorus AND as a Boylen Sister!) in 2006 and The King and I as a wife of the King.

I am also currently running the MySpace page for another musical I did this year at The Junction 2 in Cambridge from 1st - 4th August and The Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 12th - 18th Aug. Check it out:

Before I had Ellie I was a private tutor teaching Greek, French, Spanish and EFL (English as a Foreign Language).

I love watching my husband Christian when he DJs. He's the best DJ in the WORLD!

I love being a Mum although it's pretty tough sometimes. No-one tells you beforehand how hard it is. Ellie's beautiful though and has a great sense of humour. We enjoy watching musicals and Disney films together (especially Oliver! and Finding Nemo).

I'd like to meet:

Anyone friendly - and anyone who wants to buy my Greek educational products, of course! I'd also love to meet Eugene Trivizas. He's great! And Damon Albarn. What a genius!

Music:

I love Blur! I'm a huge fan and I once paid £150 for a 7" copy of Wassailing Song on eBay. Worth every penny. I like The Beatles, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys (basically all 60s good sounds), Crosby, Stills and Nash, Bob Dylan, Madonna, Sheryl Crow, The Doors, Duran Duran, Lenny Kravitz, Paul Weller and The Jam, early Stevie Wonder, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, The Charlatans, Supergrass, Oasis, Stereophonics, Pulp, most Brit Pop (I was an Indie babe), funk & soul (James Brown, Aretha...) and all the great music my husband Christian plays when he DJs at Fat Poppadaddys!

Oh, and folk music is cool too. I like Eliza Carthy, Jim Causley, Mary Humphreys and Anahata, Spiers and Boden (they kick ass), Bellowhead, Mawkin, Park Bench Social Club, Nancy Kerr and James Fagan.

Movies:

I LOVE MOVIES!

From comedies (Spinal Tap, Some Like It Hot, Groundhog Day, When Harry Met Sally, Parenthood, Barefoot In The Park, French Kiss, California Suite) to thrillers (ALL Hitchcock - what a genius!) to musicals (The Sound of Music, West Side Story, Grease) to 80s chick flicks (Dirty Dancing (nobody puts Baby in the corner!), Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Pretty Women), to 80s Brat Pack (The Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink, St Elmo's Fire) to horror (The Omen, The Exorcist, An American Werewolf in London).

Films are great. Films are entertaining. I also love a good cry. My favourite weepies are Kramer vs Kramer, Love Story, Stand By Me (I only cry at the end, but boy, do I cry!), An Affair To Remember and E.T.

Other films that I think are great are Gosford Park, Million Dollar Baby, The Godfather (only 1 and 2 though), Annie Hall, Taxi Driver, Heat, Ronin, Shirley Valentine, Breakfast At Tiffany's, Almost Famous, American Beauty, Leon, The Lost Boys, Boogie Nights, Jaws, As Good As It Gets, Angela's Ashes, Catch Me If You Can, Heathers, Chocolat, It's A Wonderful Life, L.A. Story, Erin Brockovich, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Saturday Night Fever and Shallow Grave).

I also love Aliki Vouglouklaki. She was fantastic!

But probably my all time favourite film is Goodfellas

Television:

Eastenders (been on it as an extra with my daughter Ellie 3 times!), Peep Show, The Apprentice, No Angels, Desperate Housewives, Hustle, Sex and the City - I loved that show so much and really miss it.

Books:

Cookery Books; Nigella Lawson, Delia Smith, Jamie Oliver, Gary Rhodes, Linda McCartney (I'm veggie). Also, a great book is Honey From A Weed by Patience Gray. All about her travels around the Med picking up proper local recipes from real people. Read it - it's excellent. Biographies and Autobiographies I'm reading Madonna: An Intimate Biography by J. Randy Taraborelli at the moment. Very interesting. Funny books (like Stephen Fry's The Liar). My favourite book is probably Maya Angelou's I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. We had to read it at school when I was doing my A Level English (back in 1992) and I've loved it ever since. Read it - it's brill!

Heroes:

My husband Christian! He's the best!

My Mum. Thank you for everything!

My brothers Rob and Alex.

And my Nan in Greece who's 84 and still full of life. She's given me all her recipes (Greek food - Yum!) and taught me almost everything I know about how to be a good wife. For example, she told me to always make sure I'm looking my best for when Christian comes home from work so that he won't go off me and look elsewhere for another woman. Might sound rubbish, but it's worked so far!