Some of the Barclays Cycle Hire bikes will even be wearing their own poppy, as the usual branding space will be replaced with poppy stickers.

The initiative is part of London Poppy Day, raising money for members of the British Armed Services, past and present, and their dependents. Volunteers will be collecting donations at stations across London tomorrow, and look out for several bands playing in Central London locations including Canary Wharf and Leadenhall Market.

London will mark Remembrance Day with special services and events on and around 13 November 2011.

London RIB Voyages have teamed up with Children in Need and children’s charity Brainwave to give deserving families a complimentary trip on the Thames.

If you’re around the London RIB Voyages launch site from 22 October, look out for Pudsey Bear who’ll be in and around the pier, meeting passengers and posing for photos. Don’t be surprised if he asks for a donation in return!

Pudsey will also messing about on the river with Thames Clippers and City Cruises during Children in Need week (22-28 Oct).

Look out for more information nearer the time on www.londonribvoyages.com

The Foundling Museum has embraced heartache and hope in their latest exhibition, Threads of Feeling. The show displays some of the tiny tokens that mothers left with their babies when they gave them up to London’s Foundling Hospital in the 1700s.

The hospital was founded by Thomas Coram who wanted to give abandoned children a decent life. Children were accepted anonymously so women were not publicly shamed into abandoning their babies elsewhere, but mothers were encouraged to leave a small token which was then added to the admission books with the details of the child.

The tokens on display include ribbons, fabric scraps and baby clothes. The scraps range from plain rough worsted to the occasional piece of fancy silk brocade, indicating the mothers came from all levels of society. It’s a fascinating glimpse into the fashions of the period.

Although there are about 5000 textile tokens in the archives, there is only room to display a small number of them in this exhibition and it really left me wanting to see more.

One of the most touching pieces is a crudely embroidered felt heart which indicates how reluctant the mother was to give up her child. The exhibition and the museum are both incredibly moving. I felt quite emotional on the train home, and will be reflecting on my visit for a long time.

When you’ve seen Threads of Feeling, head upstairs and explore the main collection to find out what life was like in the hospital, and what happened to the children after they left. You’ll also find out about the work of the Coram charity who still support and bring hope to disadvantaged children today.

To link the theme of threads throughout the building, VV Rouleaux‘s Annabel Lewis has created a waterfall of ribbons and bows which cascades down through the stairwell of the grand staircase and looks absolutely stunning.

Threads of Feeling at the Foundling Museum 14 October – 6 March. Adults £7.50, concessions £5, under 16s free. www.foundlingmuseum.org.uk

Congratulations to the London Wetland Centre nature reserve, which has just recruited its 200,000th member.

And that member is keen wildlife photographer, Rachel Andrew. Rachel recalls many happy childhood visits to one of WWT’s other centres in Washington, Tyne and Wear. She chose to join the Trust after a day out at London Wetland Centre with her family earlier this year.

London Wetland Centre thanked Rachel with a special private visit to the reserve on Monday before it opened to the public. Rachel and her family then took a tour of the beautiful Wildside area of the site with Adam Salmon, the Centre’s reserve manager, where they were lucky enough to spot green sandpipers and hear Cetti’s warblers singing.

General manager Martin Senior presented Rachel and her family with a special hamper of WWT goodies.

Rachel said, “We became members of the WWT in order to support the work that they do and to be able to enjoy the centre throughout the year, as it is a fantastic location for wildlife photography. We really enjoyed our day at the centre where we discovered how much work goes on behind the scenes to make the London Wetland Centre such a special place for birds, animals and plants – and for the visitors like us who come to enjoy seeing them.”

Martin Senior, General Manager said, ”We are delighted that Rachel chose to join WWT here at London Wetland Centre. Our members are really important because they ensure we can carry on protecting wetland wildlife. Rachel and her family will now be able to come in as often as they want and see how the reserve changes throughout the year.”

Find out more about the WWT London Wetland Centre

Here’s a video of the London Elephant Parade, ahead of tomorrow’s auction.

Do you fancy buying one of these babies? Tickets to the Elephant Parade Grand Auction & Champagne Brunch on 3rd July are still on sale for a meaty, but manageable £75.

You can also bid online: find out more here.

If the prices are still a bit steep for you, why not pop down to Carnaby Street or Selfridges, where you can buy miniature elephants (from about £27) and the official book until the end of July. Or take a look at the elephant parade online shop.

If you enjoy making them as well as eating them, you might be interested in a little cupcake-based competition…

The Primrose Bakery is asking baking enthusiasts to design and create their own cupcake recipe. The winning cupcake will be sold in the Primrose Bakery for five days in July, with £1 of each sale donated to charity Wellbeing of Women.

To enter, post your recipe and cupcake photo onto the Primrose Bakery’s Facebook page, to be judged by the Primrose Bakery panel. You have until 14 July 2010 to enter.

Wellbeing of Women raises money to improve women’s health through research, education and training.

It all began last December when a Facebook campaign put Californian band Rage Against the Machine’s song Killing In The Name at the top of the UK single charts, beating X Factor winner Joe McElderry to Christmas number one. It was the first time in five years that a winner from the TV talent show ( as well as producer Simon Cowell) had not enjoyed a Christmas No. 1.

More than 180,000 people applied for tickets to the concert via an online lottery. I was one of the lucky 40,000 winners, but that didn’t stop several hundred ticketless fans scaling the fence.

It was a star-studded list of support bands including punk-veterans Gallows, hip-hop superstar Roots Manuva and gypsy-punks Gogol Bordello, who warmed up the crowd.

The crowd was ferocious when RATM came on stage and the band didn’t disappoint. Their rendition of popular 1992 track Bullet in the Head confirmed the band had lost none of its raw energy.

RATM called Jon and Tracy Morter, the couple who orchestrated the Facebook campaign, on to the stage in order to present a cheque — 100% of the proceeds from the Killing In The Name single were donated to the homeless charity Shelter.

Zach De la Rocha then paid tribute to the British punk tradition with a cover of The Clash‘s White Riot.

Finally the band left the stage before the encore, and the sound system pumped out X Factor winner’s single The Climb, while quotes from the newspapers filled the screens recounting the countdown to the Christmas Number one single sales. The words flashed up: “YOU Made History” as the the band rejoined the stage to play their biggest hit and last song of the night, Killing in the Name, and the crowd went wild.

If you love street art, good causes and animals, you’re in for a treat this summer.

From May to June, London will see an innovative fundraising campaign take to the streets in the form of an Elephant Parade.

Two hundred and fifty life-sized baby elephants will take to the streets of our capital, all hand-painted by an assortment of artists and designers.

Artists taking part include:

• Marc Quinn
• Diane Von Furstenberg
• Alice Temperley
• Lulu Guinness
• Julien Macdonald
• John Rocha
• Jack Vettriano

After being displayed in all their finery at various London attractions, the elephants will then head to one of London’s great green spaces together as an exhibition. They’ll then be auctioned off to (very careful!) new owners at Sotheby’s in July. The auction aims to raise more than £1m: the money goes to 15 UK conservation charities working in Asia.

I chatted to a very cheery Lulu Guinness at the launch this morning. She’s very passionate about the cause, and seemed to have had a ball creating the design for her elephant.

“At first, I’d her in these kisses, but it ended up looking like it had chicken pox or something,” she told me. “So it was back to carefully placing the blots; it needed to be kept simple. I hope people walk all the way around it, to get the full effect of the sculpture. I want people to think she’s been smothered in kisses, like a form of adoration.”

I asked Lulu if she minded which part of London her elephant went to. “Not at all. I’m not that complex! I’ve recently had a pop-up shop in Carnaby, and I think the people there have requested my elephant for Carnaby Street, which is lovely. I think she’ll be great there.”

Look out for Lulu’s elephant, plus 249 others dotted around London come May! Check out more Elephant Parade launch photos on flickr.

This weekend, celebrate Mothers’ Day with your mum in Covent Garden.

Some of the UK’s hottest pop stars will be taking part in a one-off event called Music for Mums, in support of Marie Curie Cancer Care – a free gig to celebrate Mother’s Day in Covent Garden’s Market Building.

Pop down between 12pm and 5pm on Saturday to see

• Gabriella Cilmi
• Pop Star to Opera Star winner Darius
• Gary Barlow’s latest muse Camilla Kerslake

All the acts will be performing in support of Marie Curie Cancer Care.

There’ll also be two more very special artists announced on the day, so follow @CoventGardenLDN on Twitter and www.facebook.com/CoventGardenLDN for more info.

Even the most dedicated of emailers could be persuaded revert to paper and ink missives with these supercute new stamps from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. The new stamps feature 10 former residents who have now been successfully rehomed.

Royal Mail commissioned the stamps to help celebrate Battersea Dogs and Cats Home’s 150th birthday this year.

The charity started as a home for lost and starving dogs in 1860. Then, in 1883, it began taking in cats as well, and remains true to its original aim to “never to turn away a dog or cat in need of help.”

Take a look at the video below to hear the stories of the 10 celebrity pets and their new owners:

Battersea Dogs and Cats Home takes in 12,000 animals every year, so if there’s room in your life for a furry friend, why not consider rehoming one? Or if you have a less than sympathetic landlord, there are lots of other ways to help the charity.

The stamps are available at all Post Offices and online at www.royalmail.com/stamps.