Turf It Forward!

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Earlier in the year I started working with HCT Turf, a turf specialist based in Topsham. The work involves keeping social media ticking along, e-newsletters, writing fresh content for the website, and creating PR opportunities.

For a couple of years, HCT ran a lovely campaign, Love Your Garden, which asked locals to send in photos of their gardens in all their glory. For each photo received, HCT made a donation to Living Options Devon. I decided to mix things up a bit and use their specialism – turf – as the driver for a new campaign, Turf It Forward.

The premise of the campaign was the chance for community groups, sports clubs, schools, charities to win up to 150 sqm of turf. This included the installation of the turf, a major job in itself. Step up campaign partner, County Grounds Maintenance, who offered to support the installation of the turf.

Nominations could be made by the public or the organisations themselves. Word spread via social media, press coverage, e-newsletters and a targeted email campaign.

The campaign kicked off in July and, in October, the winner was chosen by Richard Hockley from HCT with input from other members of staff and Sam Burdick from Country Grounds. Everyone was delighted with the choice of Hospiscare, our local hospice charity, who provide an incredible service for end-of-life-care.

Hospiscare’s Estates Manager Sharon Ewart applied for turf to reinstate part of the garden lawn within the hospice garden at Searle House in Exeter, which was damaged when an old pergola was removed. In addition, there’s a second area to be turfed by the front entrance, a section of lawn that became very patchy during the dry summer months and hasn’t recovered.

I visited Searle House with Steff Dennis from HCT to see the areas and take photos for the winner announcement. I’ve been to Searle House before but never seen the garden. It’s absolutely lovely, a beautiful, peaceful spot for patients and their visitors to enjoy. And it will look even lovelier when the new turf is in place.


We missed out on media coverage as there were rumblings about the commercial aspect of the campaign. However, promoting HCT was never an aim – what made this campaign just a bit special was Richard’s genuine philanthropy. At the beginning of the campaign he said: “With so much negativity in the world at the moment, we really want to do something positive to bring a bit of joy.”

 

Three people with a mound of chocolate Easter eggs donated to Exeter Foodbank

‘Fresh’ eggs for Foodbank

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With Easter just around the corner, an idea popped into my mind for a nice bit of PR for my Straight Marketing client, The Fresh Accountancy Company.

The word Fresh married nicely with the word egg – leading to Easter eggs. How about donating Easter eggs?

I’ve donated to Exeter Foodbank via networking groups before, so they seemed a good charity to approach. I wasn’t sure if they’d jump at the idea of an Easter egg donation, as they tend to supply practical foods like pasta and tinned products. But I was wrong. Operations Manager Teresa Pollard was delighted with the idea. Fresh founder, Tom Baker, generously offered to buy 100 eggs.

These were duly ordered and arrived at Fresh’s offices in Clyst St Mary. Teresa asked if we could deliver them nearer to Easter – meaning the Fresh team had to fight off any chocolate cravings! On April 9, I met Dave and Ben from Fresh just across the road from the Foodbank in Cowick Street, Exeter. We piled the eggs into two Foodbank trollies and negotiated a hairy road crossing, not losing any eggs on the way.

Teresa was so pleased with the donation and told us about the way the Foodbank operates; for example that people can’t just walk in, they have to have vouchers from organisations like Citizens Advice and children’s centres.

She said: “The truth is foodbanks shouldn’t be needed, but while they are, it’s important to make sure that the people we serve are treated with dignity and supported beyond the provision of food. The Exeter community is so supportive of our Foodbank and we are always amazed by the generosity of donations from individuals, schools and colleges, stores, and the local business community, including Fresh.”

Thanks to Dave and Ben for helping with the delivery, and Tom for agreeing to the donation.

 

Malta fundraiser 2025

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On February 23rd I took part in the Malta Half Marathon (walkathon) for the third time, raising funds for client Diespeker’s chosen charity, stem4, as part of the Terra Ferma Media team with agency boss David and photographer Nina.

Last year (when I didn’t take part due to illness), it lashed down and everyone was soaked! This year, the sun came out and the temperature was perfect for a high speed walk of 13 miles from Mdina down to Sliema. I was delighted to achieve a PB of 3 hours 24 mins 32 secs, aided by some great tunes – ELO and 70s disco! I was even more delighted with the fundraiser total we raised between us. With an initial target of£1000 we reached just under £1700. Just brilliant.

We were also fortunate to have time for some sightseeing, taking the client to visit the island of Gozo which meant taking the ferry, great fun! After the Diespeker team left, we stayed on for a few days for a mix of business chats and more sightseeing. All in all a fantastic experience, and there was talk of a return visit next year and a possible excursion to Scicily.

From temperatures of 16 to 18 degrees C, we returned to the UK and a bit of a freeze! However the sun soon came out, and although not as warm as Malta, there’s definitely a sense of Spring in the air. Long may it continue!

25 years for Optix Solutions

25 years for Optix Solutions

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A huge congratulations to Optix Solutions for reaching your 25th anniversary on July 20th.

The Exeter-based marketing company has done brilliantly to reach this milestone, having weathered recessions and the impact of Covid.

As there are 25 members of staff, it seemed fitting to mark the 25th anniversary with a very special pledge, with each member of the team being given a day over the next 12 months to use for volunteering with a local charity or CIC. Having worked with Optix on PR and content for the last two years, I have become very aware of the business’s genuine commitment to social responsibility which helped them to win the top Boutique Agency in Campaign’s Best Places to Work awards last year. So I’m looking forward to hearing about some of the volunteering experiences.

I was also delighted to be invited to the company’s 25th celebrations at Winslade Park venue, The Forge on July 21st. It was a lovely sunny day, the food was amazing and it was great to hear founder Al Banks talk about the early days and the company’s journey. And to witness how co-founder James outclassed MD Rob in the battle of the loud shirts!

Optix founder Alastair BanksBattle of the shirts

 

Here’s to the next 25 years!

Exeter Today

Exeter Daily

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Ho Ho Hospiscare

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Just before Christmas I was pleased to help out with PR support for Ho Ho Hospiscare, a lovely initiative by Rusty Pig and Mazzard Farm Cottages in Ottery St Mary with help from volunteer fundraiser, the irrepressible Toni Hiscocks.

Hospiscare, like many charities, has struggled during the pandemic with so many fundraising events being cancelled. There’s a lot of love for the charity locally, and Robin from Rusty Pig in particular because of the help given to his family when his dad was at the end of his life. It always strikes a chord with me too, as the local hospice in Southampton was amazing when my own dad was terminally ill back in 1986.

The event was an online draw – donate a tenner and be in with the chance of winning the top prize of a break at Mazzard Farm’s superb holiday cottages, plus a feast at Rusty Pig and a hamper supplied by Knights Farmshop. Local businesses donated vouchers for runners up prizes. I took a pic at Mazzard and sent out the press release pronto to the usual suspects. The initial target was £500 and we all watched as this was easily reached and the total started rising steadily…. So Rusty Pig and Mazzard Farm offered a second top prize if the fundraising reached £2,000, this time with the addition of an afternoon tea at Coldharbour Farmshop.

Just before the draw, the total had topped an amazing £2,300. Added to this was a donation of £250 from PASC, an organisation providing support for self-catering businesses. So the final total was £2,550, a 400% increase in the original target. The draw was made on Facebook Live at Rusty Pig, but I’m not sure anyone minded who won – everyone was so thrilled with the amount raised! I snuck out a follow up press release just to tell the world how amazing the folk of Ottery are. Another show of community spirit, just in time for Christmas.

Pre-event

Post-event