Category Archives: Events

Internationally acclaimed Monaco Boys Choir tours Britain

The world-famous Monaco Boys Choir is touring Britain in July and will be performing at a number of venues to raise funds for charity.

Monaco Boys Choir

Monaco Boys Choir, “Les Petits Chanteurs de Monaco”, is one of the world’s leading youth choirs and is celebrated internationally for its repertoire of classical and traditional works. The choir is embarking on a three-week tour of Britain, organised by Janet Redler Travel & Tourism, and will be performing at venues across England and Scotland.

The choir was established by Prince Albert I of Monaco in 1904 and is comprised of 30 boys, aged between 9 and 18 years of age. Today, under the patronage of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco, and with the generous support of the Monaco Government, the choir performs charity concerts all around the globe.

Monaco Boys Choir gives an average of 40 concerts each year and has visited more than 40 countries. Its musical repertoire includes sacred works by the likes of Bach, Mozart, Fauré and Mendelssohn, as well as traditional folk songs and French chansons.

The choir has performed at venues such as the Kennedy Centre in Washington, the Opera of Shanghai and the Conservatoire Tchaikovsky in Moscow. It has also performed at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and at the UNESCO General Conference in Paris.

Janet Redler, Chief Executive of Janet Redler Travel & Tourism, said: “Monaco Boys Choir is a world-famous youth choir and we are delighted that they have chosen Janet Redler Travel & Tourism to organise their tour of the UK. The choir’s performances are a wonderful showcase of Monaco’s cultural and artistic heritage, and the concerts are not to be missed!”

Janet Redler Travel & Tourism has a long history of organising group and concert travel in the UK and recently arranged a highly successful 19-day tour of the UK for almost 100 members of the Starfire Singers from California.

Performances will take place at:

Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula, Tower of London (Sunday 7 July)
The Swiss Church in London (Monday 8 July)
Church of Notre Dame de France in London (Thursday 11 July)
St Chad’s Cathedral, Birmingham (Friday 12 July)
All Saints Church Baschurch, Shrewsbury (Sunday 14 July)
Selby Abbey (Monday 15 July)
Paisley Methodist Church (Thursday 18 July)
St Mary’s Roman Catholic Cathedral, Aberdeen (Friday 19 July)
All Saints Church, Maidstone (Tuesday 23 July)

To find out more and for booking details, click here.

Conference: Can co-operative deserts bloom?

Ethos public relations is proud to be supporting a conference in the New Year addressing the issue of co-operative deserts and how new co-ops can be helped to bloom.

Future Co-ops 2019, which takes place on 1st and 2nd February 2019, will address how the co-operative sector can grow.

Not everywhere is created equal. There are some well-known pockets of success in the UK where co-ops flourish – big cities, small towns, north and south. But there are plenty of co-op deserts too.

We’re all agreed we want more co-ops, better co-ops and, sometimes, bigger co-ops. Particularly in co-op deserts. But no fairy godmother’s going to wave a magic wand, so what do we, as a diverse sector, do with what we’ve got?

Join Co-operative Futures in Birmingham on the 1st and 2nd February, where they’ll be working with Central England Co-operative’s talented Think:Digital innovation team, using their new insights and participatory problem solving techniques in a fun and effective way to explore new, practical actions that participants can all take away to help co-op deserts bloom!

According to Jo White of Co-operative Futures, the organisers of the event, co-operatives can be found right across the UK but their distribution is uneven.

“Future Co-ops 2019 will focus on why these geographic imbalances exist and how we can all help create the right environment to make new co-operatives flourish.”

Early Bird prices online available until Christmas.

Where: Hillscourt Hotel & Venue in Birmingham

Info: https://futures.coop/future-coops-2019

New PR package for charity events

Ethos public relations has introduced a new PR package to help charities promote their events.

Director Shaun Fisher said: “Ethos public relations is passionate about helping charities, community groups and voluntary organisations get publicity for their activities. This isn’t just because it is our business but because we have a commitment to highlighting the valuable contribution made by charitable and voluntary action.

“Over the years, we have seen, and even attended, a wide range of charitable activities that haven’t been as successful as they could have been. Often this is because of time constraints, a lack of appropriate communication and marketing or simply a lack of organisational capacity.

“For most local charities part of the problem of organising a successful event is budget. Not many voluntary organisations can afford the rates charged by large public relations businesses. But that’s where Ethos public relations can help. As we are committed to helping local community efforts flourish, we are offering a bespoke package for local charities seeking to ensure their events are a success.”

For a set fee of £200 including VAT, Ethos public relations will discuss your event with you and give their opinion on the idea, work with you to ensure it is communicated suitably on your website, Facebook and Twitter, write a press release for your local media and upload it to appropriate listing sites and advise on photography.

Shaun Fisher added: “This whole package should not only help you get more visitors or participants to your charity’s event, but will free up your time so you can focus on the important job of putting the event together.”

Click here to find out more and if you would like to work with Ethos public relations to give your charitable work the boost it deserves, give Shaun a call on 07968 211664 or email info@ethos-pr.com.

“Act now to ensure children don’t lose memory of grandparents who were Far East Prisoners of War,” says national charity

“Within a generation, children will have forgotten about their grandparents’ suffering as far East Prisoners of War,” warns Paul Watson, chair of national charity COFEPOW (Children and Families of Far East Prisoners of War).

“As World War Two fades into history, young people are in danger of forgetting about the horrific suffering of many of their grandparents and great-grandparents as prisoners of war in the Far East,” he says.

Now, to mark the anniversary of 75 years since the Fall of Singapore in the Second World War, COFEPOW is launching an Education Programme to help ensure youngsters grow up knowing about the huge sacrifice many of their relatives made in the Far East.

Paul Watson says: “One of our functions at COFEPOW is to educate future generations so that our brave ancestors are never forgotten. As a result, we have created this exciting new initiative to help students understand what happened, whilst giving them the opportunity to experience different learning platforms to develop transferable skills for their future – skills such as confidence, teamwork, creativity, communication and working to deadlines.”

Working in teams, students will be tasked with preparing a television news report explaining that the war is over in the Far East and that all those held as prisoners will be released and sent home. In order to prepare their news report, students must find out as much as possible about the life of a Far East Prisoner of War.

Once complete, schools will need to send the filmed news reports on DVD to COFEPOW, who will judge all the entries and choose a winner. Students that take part will receive a Certificate of Achievement and the winning team will receive a special COFEPOW VJ Day 70th Anniversary Commemorative Medal for their school.

Paul Watson adds: “Members of COFEPOW are relatives of those who fought and were held captive in the Far East in World War Two. Whilst many of the prisoners are no longer with us, as relatives we saw first hand the lasting effects that the time in prison camps had on these men and women – both mentally and physically.

“We are all extremely proud of our loved ones for their war effort and we strive to ensure that what they went through will always be remembered and respected. By creating this competition, we feel we are helping the next generation to understand a little bit more about the Forgotten War.”

The programme was prepared in collaboration with Jayne Greene, who is experienced in producing education packages for schools and is a volunteer for COFEPOW.

The COFEPOW National Enterprise Competition for Primary Schools will run from 11th November 2017 (Remembrance Day) to 15th February 2018 (the anniversary of the Fall of Singapore).

If you are a teacher, school governor, or otherwise involved in delivering the national curriculum at primary school level, and would like to find out more about this new initiative, you are invited to attend the launch of the COFEPOW Education Programme at the National Memorial Arboretum on Wednesday 15th February 2017, commencing at 1pm.

To secure your place at the launch, please email COFEPOW Secretary Alan Wills at alanwills@blueyonder.co.uk. To find out more about the project and for schools to enter please visit the COFEPOW website https://www.cofepow.org.uk/schools-competition.

Future Co-ops Conference 2017

A conference that takes place in February will be addressing the post carbon landscape from a co-operative perspective.

The conference, entitled Post Carbon Co-ops, aims to bring co-operative activists together with activists from other progressive organisations to debate some of the key issues facing our future.

The current energy bonanza based on fossil fuels cannot go on forever. Climate change reasons apart, fossil fuels are not inexhaustible. New extraction methods such as fracking promise false hope and renewables can never recreate the massive energy surplus that oil, coal and gas have provided.

The post carbon landscape will impact on all areas of everyone’s lives, from access to food and transport, to energy and manufacturing. Post Carbon Co-ops will examine how co-ops can provide solutions.

Dr Mark Simmonds from Co-op Culture, who is one of the keynote speakers at the Future Co-ops conference, said: “In these times of economic uncertainty, resource depletion and climate change, the one thing we can be sure of is that the world will become a very different place in the short to medium term.

“Energy descent, in particular, will increasingly become a fact of life. We need to think strategically about the co-operative response to this challenge. How can communities co-operate to build resilience? What does a post-carbon co-operative economy that can survive and thrive, look like?”

According to Jo White of Co-operative Futures, the organisers of the event, co-operatives have led the way in offering solutions to emerging crises and the co-ops of the future need to start planning for the post carbon landscape.

“We are looking forward to welcoming a wide range of activists to Post Carbon Co-ops in February and we are hoping to move the debate forward on positive co-operative solutions for a low carbon future.”

Post Carbon Co-ops takes place on Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th February 2017 at Jurys Inn in Cheltenham and delegates can book their place online now.

Cae Post celebrates 30 years

Over 100 people gathered at Welshpool Town Hall recently to celebrate Cae Post’s 30th birthday.

Danielle Brown MBE

Cae Post welcomed supporters, customers, employees and beneficiaries to the event to mark 30 years of creating work opportunities for disabled and disadvantaged people.

The event was hosted by BBC Radio Shropshire presenter Jim Hawkins and the special guest was Danielle Brown MBE, Double Paralympic Archery Champion from Telford.

The celebration of Cae Post’s achievements was also attended by Glyn Davies, MP for Montgomeryshire, and the Deputy Mayor of Welshpool Cllr Hazel Evans.

John Harrington

Best known these days as a successful business recycling thousands of tonnes of materials each year from the homes and businesses of Powys and north Shropshire, Cae Post was originally set up in 1986 as a community organisation to create work for people with learning disabilities.

Speaking at the event, John Harrington, one of the Founders and current Chair of the Board of Trustees, said: “When a number of volunteers came together to set Cae Post up, they were pioneers, innovators, social enterprise visionaries. Our aim back then – as it still is – was to provide meaningful and worthwhile activity for people whilst making the world a better place in environmental terms.

“It’s easy to forget how the world of recycling has changed. In 1986 there was no kerbside collection for recycling in Powys. Today, there’s a whole industry set up to deal with our waste and separating valuable materials. Cae Post plays its part in this industry but with a massive difference: our endeavours help people gain valuable experience in the work place.

“Cae Post cannot alone create the work opportunities needed by people who, for whatever reason, face disadvantage in the labour market. The work that we have done needs to be taken up by many more businesses and organisations – but we will carry on playing our part and speaking up for those who need these opportunities.”

John concluded: “We might be in our 30th year, but there is so much more for us to do. We are up for the challenge and we will work hard well into the future to help those people who find it difficult to enter the world of work to find meaningful job opportunities.”

To find out more about Cae Post and the work it does, click here. To read about their 30th birthday celebrations, click here.

70th Anniversary of VJ Day sees charity membership swell

An increasing number of relatives of Far East Prisoners of War have been joining national charity COFEPOW (Children and Families of Far East Prisoners of War), as the country prepares to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of VJ Day.

COFEPOW was set up to ensure that World War Two Far East Prisoners of War are never forgotten and the charity has seen a 10% increase in new members over the past few weeks as more relatives of those incarcerated in the Far East during the Second World War join to honour their relatives’ heroic past.

New member Tracey Marinelli from Derby says that she joined COFEPOW to be part of the VJ Day commemorations.

Tracey Marinelli joined COFEPOW to take part in the VJ Day commemorations

She said: “My Grandfather, Flight Sergeant John Price, was a prisoner of war in the Far East and was one of the lucky ones who made it home after the war. He kept a diary throughout his time in the Far East, written on cigarette packets and scraps of paper, but back in England he never talked about being a POW. I think it is so important that we remember.”

Says Paul Watson from COFEPOW, the 70th anniversary of VJ Day is a very important one. “Sadly many of the prisoners of war who returned from the Far East are no longer with us and so younger people often do not know about this important chapter in our history. The suffering of many was immense and our new members will be joining others who want to ensure that the suffering they went through is not forgotten.”

Following the fall of Singapore to the Japanese on 15th February 1942, almost 200,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers became prisoners of war in the Far East. Thousands of these left Singapore on prison ships – “hell ships” – to be used as forced labour in other parts of Asia. Nearly 10,000 of these men died building the Burma-Thailand railway with many more dying as a result of starvation, barbaric treatment and tropical diseases.

There will be events across the UK to commemorate Victory over Japan Day 2015 this Saturday, including in Horse Guards Parade in Central London and a Service of Remembrance at Lichfield Cathedral, with an Address by Terry Waite CBE.

For more information about COFEPOW visit www.cofepow.org.uk.

Book launch to raise funds for COFEPOW

A new book about the experiences of a Far East Prisoner of War is being launched in London on Tuesday 28 July, with 30% of the proceeds going to national charity COFEPOW.

The launch of Benedict’s Brother and the Benedict’s Appeal takes place on Tuesday 28 July in London, in conjunction with COFEPOW, at Foyles bookshop and the Victory Services Club. The charity’s supporters and all those interested are invited to go along.

The acclaimed “Book of the Year” novel by Tricia Walker is based on the story of her great uncle who was a Far East Prisoner of War and Tricia has kindly agreed to donate 30% of the book and film proceeds to COFEPOW (Children and Families of Far East Prisoners of War).

COFEPOW is a national charity dedicated to to keeping alive the memory of Far East Prisoners of War and raising awareness of the suffering they endured.

The event takes place from 9.30am to 1.30pm at Foyles on Charing Cross Road, and then from 3.30pm to 5.30pm at the Victory Services Club on Seymour Street.

Sea Shanty Festival in Ellesmere Port

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

Over 3, 000 visitors are expected to visit the Festival during the weekend, and visitors will be able to explore the National Waterways Museum, listen to the shanty singers during the day and find out more about the seafaring traditions of the North West.

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, face painting and much more.

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 www.shanty.org.uk/our_festival

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.