Author Archives: Ethos public relations news

Accordion Pin Badges

We have worked with accordion teacher, Craig Bradley, to design and commission a set of three metallic accordion pin badges in copper, nickel and gold.

New accordion pin badges – click for bigger image

These hand-finished button accordion pin badges are made in England and are an ideal gift for accordion players, performers, and enthusiasts.

Says Craig Bradley: “Musicians are often very proud of the instrument they play and until now there haven’t been metallic button accordion badges available to buy, whereas there are plenty of violin, guitar and even piano accordion badges available. I’m very glad to say there are now!”

The design is based on a real button accordion – know as a bayan accordion – used by one of Craig’s students, so these accordion badges are unique and are not available anywhere else.

“As far as I know these are the only button accordion pin badges available in the UK and are ideal gifts for accordion teachers to give to students. The three different metallic finishes on the badges can even make them suitable as a three tier award system.”

Made of base metal plated with copper, nickel or gold, these accordion pin badges were made in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter by a family firm and are each hand polished to give them their distinct look and finish.

These badges are being produced at a time when the button accordion is enjoying something of a revival, even amongst classical musicians, due to the versatility of the instrument and its rich sound. According to Craig, many people think of the accordion as a folk instrument, mainly used to play traditional folk music (and it is used extremely effectively for this purpose) but, thanks to its range, the instrument is equally suited to classical pieces.

The badges cost £5 each, or a set of all three colours costs £12 (the prices below include postage and packaging in the UK). Accordion teachers and music shops looking for larger quantities should contact us for prices.

Click here to purchase online from the Ethos public relations shop

They can also be purchased by calling us and sending a cheque. Please call 07970 875907 for further details.

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What’s on – Easter Sea Shanty Festival

What: Easter Sea Shanty Festival
Where: National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire
When: 18 – 20 April 2014
Web: http://www.shanty.org.uk/our_festival

The fourth national Sea Shanty Festival takes place at the National Waterways Museum in Ellesmere Port over the Easter weekend (18-20 April 2014).

Coinciding with the Annual Boat Gathering at the museum, the Shanty UK festival brings together nearly 100 performers in seven different venues within the museum for three exciting days of singing, concerts, boat trips, museum tours, nautical poetry, puppet-making and face painting.

According to Julia Batters of Shanty UK, the festival is designed as a fun event for the whole family. Julia said: “The UK has a long tradition of sea shanties and maritime singing and our annual festival is helping to keep this tradition alive for future generations.”

The highlight of the festival is two concerts taking place within the museum on Friday and Saturday nights, which feature a number of acts from across the UK and Europe.

Entrance to the National Waterways Museum for the Sea Shanty Festival and Annual Boat Gathering costs £6.50 for all three days (10am – 5pm). Tickets for the evening concerts are £10 each night and can be reserved online at http://www.shanty.org.uk/our_festival

Easter Sea Shanty Festival

The fourth national Sea Shanty Festival takes place at the National Waterways Museum in Ellesmere Port over the Easter weekend (18-20 April 2014).

Coinciding with the Annual Boat Gathering at the Museum, Shanty UK, the organisers of the Festival are hoping that many of the boaters will come and join in throughout the weekend.

The Festival brings together nearly 100 performers in seven different venues within the Museum for three exciting days of singing, concerts, boat trips, museum tours, nautical poetry, puppet-making and face painting. Most of the music and events during the Easter weekend are free to boaters once moored within the Museum’s grounds.

According to Julia Batters of Shanty UK, the Sea Shanty Festival is designed as a fun event for the whole family. She said: “The UK has a long tradition of sea shanties and maritime singing and our Festival helps keep this tradition alive for future generations.”

The highlight of the Festival are two concerts taking place within the Museum on Friday and Saturday nights, which feature a number of acts from across the UK and Europe. Tickets for the evening concerts are £10 and can be reserved online at www.shanty.org.uk.

Latest news on charity-pr.co.uk

The latest news story on our sister website, www.charity-pr.co.uk, is about a new campaign to help get more people online.

We regularly update the news on the site, which is designed specifically for charities. The website outlines the PR and marketing support we can offer charities, and provides communications tips and information which we hope not-for-profit organisations may find useful.

Ethos public relations has worked with a number of charities for over 15 years, helping to promote their services and secure media coverage.

As well as helping charities make the news, we are equally passionate about helping charities get their messages out to the public. If you would like your charity news to be published on the charity-pr.co.uk website, please email us your story so that we can consider it. A great photograph also helps!

OBE for Action For Kids Founder

Sally Bishop OBE

We are delighted that Sally Bishop (Mrs Sally Hayes-Smith), Founder and Executive Director of Action For Kids Charitable Trust, has received an OBE in the New Year’s Honours.

Ethos public relations is proud to have worked with Sally for many years and we think Sally fully deserves this recognition for the hard work she has put in to creating and developing the charity.

Over more than 20 years, Sally has provided hope and inspiration to many disabled young people and their families and we are pleased to send her our congratulations. Thanks to Sally, thousands of disabled young people have received mobility equipment, work experience and other opportunities that they might otherwise not have had access to.

We are also happy to hear that long-time Action For Kids supporter actress Lynda Bellingham also received an OBE in this year’s honours.

Season’s Greetings

Season’s Greetings from Ethos public relations

Season’s Greetings

We would like to wish
all our clients, suppliers, friends and their families
the very best for 2014

We will be contactable throughout the Christmas and New Year period, so do get in touch with any media requests.

Can we thank you all for your support over the past 12 months, and we look forward to working with many of you during 2014. If there are any communications projects, such as videos, media relations or websites, that you would like our input on, please do get in touch in the New Year for an informal chat about how we can help. You can see some of the services we offer at Ethos public relations by clicking this link.

We are already looking forward to working on a number of interesting and exciting new projects next year as well as helping to promote the work of existing clients.

Saltire Awards Recognise Young Volunteers

Five volunteers at a Mossburn community organisation have been recognised for their efforts.

Sara Cummings, Rebecca Penman, Kayliegh Warwick, Juanita Wilson (Manager, Mossburn Community Farm), David Coulter (CEO, Third Sector First), Chireille Scott, Stacey Pointer (Saltire Ambassador, Third Sector First).
Photo credit: Bob Geddes

The young people volunteer at Mossburn Community Farm, Hightae, which looks after misused, abused, neglected and unwanted animals, ranging from the domestic to the exotic. Now their volunteering work has been rewarded with a Saltire Award.

Rebecca Penman, Chireille Scott and Sara Cummings have achieved awards for completing 500 hours of volunteering, while Emily Mears and Kayleigh Warwick have achieved their 100 hour awards.

Together the five young people have given over 1700 hours of their time to Mossburn Community Farm – that is equivalent to 212 working days.

Says Juanita Wilson of the farm: “As a voluntary organisation, volunteers are essential to us. They make the charity what it is and without them we wouldn’t be able to care for all the animals we do.”

The time given by the young people helps to improve the quality of life for the animals by ensuring they are fed, watered and cleaned out. Rebecca says the most memorable moment for her was when she found Treena, a one hour old foal in the field one morning. For Kayleigh, her most memorable moment was when she met Treena and was able to help her learn to suckle.

Volunteering has brought all of the young people greater confidence and has allowed them to make new friends.

David Coulter, Chief Executive of Third Sector First in Dumfries, which delivers the awards in Dumfries and Galloway, said: “Volunteers are the lifeblood of voluntary organisations and charities and we are proud to support these awards which recognise all the hard work put in by young people. Without volunteers many community organisations simply couldn’t carry on their essential work and Dumfries and Galloway would be very much poorer for that.”

The Saltire Awards recognise the contribution of young volunteers in Scotland and are open to all young people aged 12 to 25. To find out more and to enter visit www.saltireawards.org.uk.

Find out more about Mossburn Community Farm at www.mossburn.org.

Anyone interested in volunteering in Dumfries and Galloway can contact Third Sector First to find out more about local opportunities at www.thirdsectorfirst.org.uk.

Social investment boost for North East cycling business

Big Issue Invest provided a loan to help The Cycle Hub refurbish its premises.

A social enterprise dedicated to getting more of us cycling across the North East has secured funding to assist with the refurbishment costs of its new premises.

Situated beside the River Tyne in Quayside, The Cycle Hub is a social enterprise that promotes and facilitates cycling, complete with bike hire facilities, café, bike shop and repair workshop.

The Cycle Hub was co-founded in 2012 by Newcastle’s Cycle Centre and cycling holiday company Saddle Skedaddle after the two groups saw the need for a place where Newcastle’s growing cycling community could meet after a ride. Since it was established, The Cycle Hub has created new six jobs and has already provided advice and support to many local people about the health benefits of cycling.

The Cycle Hub secured a £25,000 loan from Big Issue Invest, the social investment arm of The Big Issue.

“In many ways, being a social enterprise is just like being any type of business,” says Emma Hallington, marketing manager for The Cycle Hub and Saddle Skedaddle. “But it can be difficult for traditional lenders to see that our aims go beyond just profit, and so they are sometimes wary to lend to us.”

That’s where Big Issue Invest comes in, says Rod Jones, Regional Director for the North East and Cumbria at Big Issue Invest.

“As a lender we exist to help worthwhile social businesses get the access to funding that they need to grow and develop their businesses so that they can help more people.

“We have enjoyed working with The Cycle Hub and their ambitions to get more people out cycling is one we can all support.”

Adds Emma: “We all know that cycling has the twin benefits of improving people’s health, if they take regular exercise, and reducing traffic congestion, if more people commute by bike. It really is a win win situation.”

According to Rod Jones, funding for social businesses can be hard to get, as many commercial lenders have no experience of lending to organisations that are not all about making a profit.

He says: “Businesses like The Cycle Hub play an important part in delivering services that our communities need, but aren’t usually provided by commercial operators. That’s where Big Issue Invest comes in, to help lend to this sort of business.

“At a time when 15% of UK small businesses rate access to finance as the most pressing issue they face, Big Issue Invest is here to support social businesses in the North East, be they charities, co-operatives or social enterprises like The Cycle Hub. People can find out more at our website www.bigissueinvest.com.”

Accordion website is music to our ears

We recently worked with Manchester-based accordion and piano teacher, Craig Bradley, to launch his new website.

Craig Bradley offers accordion and piano lessons in Manchester.

As well as working with Craig to copywrite and design his new website, we organised the photography that appears on his website too.

Craig has over 30 years’ experience playing the accordion and has been teaching music for over 20 years.

Music lessons make a good present and gift certificates for music lessons with Craig Bradley in Manchester are available from Craig’s online shop on the new website.

Craig offers accordion lessons in south Manchester and teaches both accordion and piano up to – and beyond – grade 8.

Craig is also an accordion performer and it was important to design his new website so that he could add new content to the website himself. In future, he is looking to add details of new products, such as accordions for sale and live performances, as well as tips about learning music.

If you are looking for accordion or piano lessons in Manchester, why not take a look at the new site at www.craigbradley.co.uk and get in touch with him?

NB: Craig now has a new website at https://craigbradleymusic.co.uk.

Supporting the Connect2013 conference

John Swinney MSP speaking at the Connect2013 conference in Dumfries

At Ethos public relations we were very pleased to be able to help Third Sector First with their recent Connect2013 conference in Dumfries.

As well as attending on the day and helping to tweet updates from the conference, we managed the production of a printed programme for the event and media relations in advance.

Over 200 people came along to the conference – probably the largest gathering of the third sector that there has ever been in Dumfries and Galloway.

John Swinney MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth in the Scottish Government, gave the keynote speech and explained that he wanted to see a broader range of social enterprises in the Scottish economy.

Organised by Third Sector First in partnership with Dumfries and Galloway Council and NHS Dumfries and Galloway, Connect2013 brought third sector organisations in Dumfries and Galloway together with the public sector and provided a forum for voluntary organisations, charities and social enterprises to influence public policy. Connect conferences are set to become an annual event in the Third Sector First calendar.

We wish Third Sector First well for future conferences.