Duncan's soccer aid drive

Bannatyne’s Health Clubs across the UK will be ‘keeping it up for Soccer Aid’ this weekend (22/23 May) to raise money for UNICEF’s crucial work helping children around the world.



Bannatyne’s has organised a range of fundraising activities at its 60 UK health clubs to support UNICEF’s Soccer Aid initiative, which is being spearheaded by pop star and football-fanatic, Robbie Williams.



Members who raise over £50 for UNICEF will be entered into a special Bannatyne’s prize draw to win a pair of tickets for the celebrity Soccer Aid football match on June 6 in Manchester. The prize also includes an invitation to a VIP reception at Old Trafford before the game.



Among the activities planned for the weekend of 22 and 23 May, Bannatyne members will be taking part in sponsored ‘keepy uppy’ challenges. Using a football or a balloon, members will use their feet, legs, arms, chest and head to juggle a ball without letting it touch the ground – the longer they can do it, the more money they can raise.



Bannatyne’s will also be hosting a simultaneous spinning class at its 60 UK health clubs. Over a thousand members from across Britain will take part in the cycle-based challenge on Saturday 22 May, which will start at every health club at 10am.



Bannatyne’s is backing Soccer Aid after it named UNICEF as its primary charity for the next three years. Company chairman and founder Duncan Bannatyne is a UNICEF Ambassador and has visited a number of the charity’s programmes around the world to support its exceptional work.



Some of the money raised by Soccer Aid will be used to help children affected by the earthquake in Haiti. Duncan was due to visit Haiti with UNICEF the week the earthquake struck and he has committed to raise money to support the charity’s work in the country.



Duncan Bannatyne said: “We’re encouraging all our members to ‘Keep it up for Soccer Aid’ and help millions of children worldwide through UNICEF’s work.



“Every minute of every day, children die from common diseases like measles, diarrhoea and malaria. Millions of children don’t go to school, or have food, shelter or clean water.



“Children all over the world suffer from violence, abuse and discrimination, are forced to work in dangerous conditions and denied the chance to play. This is wrong, but through the work of UNICEF we can help to put it right and the lives of these children can be dramatically improved.”



Nigel Armstrong, Managing Director of Bannatyne Fitness, said: “The ‘Keep it up for Soccer Aid’ activities we’ve organised should be great fun and raise money for an extremely important cause. Whether they’re going to use their football skills, endurance on the spinning bikes or take part in any other ‘Keep it up for Soccer Aid’ fundraiser, our members will be helping to make a real difference to the lives of children.”



Michael Newsome, Director of Fundraising for Soccer Aid said: “Bannatyne’s have truly risen to the challenge. Across the country, people from all walks of life will be keeping it up for Soccer Aid’, which is fantastic! With every spin of the wheels, with every header, toe-tap and goal, children across the world will benefit. What better motivation is there to get fit, join in and have fun whilst getting sponsored to make a lasting change to children’s lives. Tune in to ITV 1 on June 6 so see what a huge difference these activities make.”

NEW GOVERNMENT

Graham writes.....the new Government's agreement document has been of interest to many of Recognition's clients. I've also had requests for details from both the Lib Dem and Conservative manifestoes. Already a number of our clients have been in the media commenting on the Cameron Coalition. Charlie Mullins of Pimlico Plumbers gave a great reaction in Business Matters Magazine; Tony Earnshaw of UK Commercial Cleaning was on Radio 5 Live; Duncan Bannatyne has been tweeting; George Rafferty of NOF Energy has been giving views on the outlook for nuclear power. We are at the early stage of planning a big IOD event in the North on the day of the emergency budget (which if it is 50 days on Tuesday will be 30th June). Now the Government is formed the media will have new aspects to write about it, scrutinising the detail of policy, and our clients will all be using Recognition to give their views, whatever they may be.

Publicity at the election is not just for politicians!

This video is timely, it is Gordon Brown - not the THE Gordon Brown - making good use of the publicity surrounding the general election. Recognition produced this You Tube video which has received coverage in regional media. Other clients to get involved with the election were Duncan Bannatyne - who backed Gordon Brown's Labour Party and Charlie Mullins, of Pimlico Plummbers and Tony Earnshaw of UK Commercial Cleaning who backed David Cameron's Conservatives. We also placed our client Jon Sturrock of Arlington Financial in Hartlepool on the BBC's 5 Live national radio economy debate. All earned the respect of the media and good coverage for getting involved in the debate.

Strictly New Business

Graham writes.....a successful PR initiative in Darlington which promotes three of Recognition's clients: Lingfield Point; Henderson Insurance Brokers; and Arlington Financial.

The event was a combination of Dragons' Den and Strictly Come Dancing - Strictly New Business gave three new businesses the chance to win a package worth in excess of £10k! Click the video for details.

Also great national coverage for The Priory - which was featured on national BBC Radio 4, BBC TV and Radio 5 live as well as a host of UK papers - for its deal with UK athelitics.

Graham writes.....It was good to see the Newcastle Journal printing a massive feature about a real North East success story in Darlington. Recognition has been promoting shopsafe.co.uk for a while now and its success is really impressive.

www.shopsafe.co.uk, the North-East based online shopping directory has continued to grow with a 16% increase in page views by visitors in its tenth year.Having received 1,673,989 page views in January 2010, www.shopsafe.co.uk has vastly outgrown its modest start when it received 32,950 page views ten years earlier.During the same time, the number of monthly visitors has grown from little more than 9,400 to in excess of 304,900.Now, around 10,000 visitors a day use www.shopsafe.co.uk to access 4,000 retailers, including the likes of Hamleys, Next, Amazon, Marks & Spencer and Nike. Each site has been checked for security and ease of use before being accepted onto the directory.The directory was launched only a year after Google and web giants such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter were not to appear until years later. The likes of Boo and Clickmango, big names in their day, were among countless victims of the dot com crash of March 2000.However, the key to www.shopsafe.co.uk’s success has been offering a service which continues to provide visitors with what they want – a reassuringly safe online shopping environment.

New staff at Recognition

Graham writes.....Thanks to new clients coming on board, Recognition has added two new members to its team and awarded a promotion to employee, Michelle Bond, who has already been with the firm for two years.

Experienced Public Relations Consultant Kimberley Walker, 26, has a Public Relations degree and five years experience in the field. Kimberley is currently working on a diverse range of clients including leading healthcare provider, The Priory Group, nationwide commercial cleaning experts, UK Commercial Cleaning and leading health club provider, Bannatyne Fitness and Spas.

Melanie Smith, 23, who has a degree in Media and Cultural Studies and completed the National Certificate for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) at Darlington College, has joined the team as PR Executive. Since graduating Melanie has had experience working for BBC Radio Tees and Stockton Borough Council.

Michelle Bond, 23, has worked for the company since she graduated with a Media and Popular Culture degree. She joined the company as PA to the Partners, furthering her formal qualifications by studying for a Professional Certificate in Marketing. Michelle joins Melanie as PR Executive and will offer support to the Senior PR Consultants.

NEW JOBS FOR NORTH EAST - SOME GOOD NEWS!

Graham writes.......I was delighted Recognition was chosen to promote a major new jobs announcement which featured in the national and regional media and on TV.

The GT Group Ltd based in the North East of England is to create 200 new jobs over four years and safeguard over 200 more after securing forward sales commitments of £200 million for its revolutionary engine emissions control systems.The specialist engineering product design and manufacturing company, based in Peterlee, County Durham, has secured the commitments, spanning the next five years, for its ground-breaking systems, developed in partnership with the world’s leading on and off highway diesel engine manufacturers.

You can see our video here:

Wensleydale Cheese gets Chris Evans endorsement

Graham writes.....celebrity endorsements are great things. Even better when they are unsolicited. Chris Evans' chatter on his Radio Two breakfast show was a great boost to real Yorkshire Wensleydale Cheese at a time it is being increasingly listed in supermarkets. The radio star had visited the visitor centre in Wensleydale during the summer as part of a private trip to the Yorkshire Dales. We regularly send people like Chris, and his predessor Sir Terry, cheese to sample. Anyhow, the result was a gret endorsement which we circulated to all media especially the supermarket trade press. It is entirely appropriate we do this as the farming community in Wensleydale is absolutely reliant on the creamery performing well and the rurtal economy is under constant presure. Thanks Chris.

Click the video to see/hear his comments.

Corus - The Times features our clients' views

Graham writes.....The Corus closure in Teesside has dealt a terrible blow to manufacturing in the area and afflicted thousands of families with job losses. Recognition has several clients locally and they have been affected too; both financially and, let's face it, emotionally as the bad news affects everyone who works in the Tees Valley.

We arranged for the big issue of the future development of Redcar to be the subject of a major article in The Times. This featured our clients Iain Sim of Coast & Country Housing and Keith Hunter. It is a positive feature despite the bad news.

You can read it properly by clicking here: http://www.recognitionpr.co.uk/journalistarea-story.asp?id=7764

Recognition devise competition to promote office space for start ups

Graham writes........Budding entrepreneurs from across the North East are being offered the opportunity to win a year’s quality office space at Darlington’s prestigious Lingfield Point business park.‘Strictly New Business’ is the brainchild of Marchday Group plc, owners of Lingfield Point. The aim of the competition is to reward the entrepreneurial spirit of the North East and encourage anyone thinking about starting their own business to take the plunge.In conjunction with Business and Enterprise North East, Marchday is encouraging would-be business owners to pitch their ideas to win the superb prize.In true reality TV style, a selected number of finalists will feel the pressure when they are invited to present their business proposals in front of a live audience to a panel of respected and established local business people. Each contestant will be marked by the individual panellists and the person with the most points will win the prize and become the latest occupier of Lingfield House. The prize includes rent, rates, service charge, buildings insurance and utilities. Office insurance will be provided by Henderson Insurance Brokers.