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.

 

Fundraising for stem4

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Last November I was asked to take part in a fundraising activity to raise money for teenage mental health support charity stem4, with agency Terra Ferma Media and our client Diespeker. Diespeker is a long-time supporter of the charity and I’ve written about their fundraising efforts over the years – but this was the first time I took part in one.

I often donate to clients and friends taking part in fundraising, but I’ve not had much time to get involved myself (apart from when I was a child and took part in a sponsored silence – wonder if the mums put their heads together to arrange that). This time I thought it would be great to challenge myself. The event was the Malta Marathon. Now, I’m not a runner and I never will be, but the event included a half marathon walkathon option of 13 miles (21km) which suited me, as I walk my dogs daily. I trained as much as I could in the miserable weather over the winter, trying to walk longer distances. My best distance was about 7 miles walking at about 3 miles per hour. At that rate I was never going to complete the walk in the 3 hours 45 mins required to be in a medal time. But that wasn’t the point for me.I flew to Malta with my Terra Ferma Media colleagues, David and Kaz, where we joined the other team members from stem4 and Diespeker – there were 36 of us in total aiming to raise £10K, some running the marathon, some the half marathon and the rest of us taking part in the walkathon. Diespeker sponsored the accommodation which was the lovely Radisson Blue Hotel. We were lucky enough to have a day’s sightseeing, taking in Mdina and Valletta. We woke to an amazing sunrise on the day of the event – the marathon runners had already left as their start time was early. We took a minibus then a coach to the start line at Mdina and then there was no turning back! Walking 13 miles doesn’t sound too much like hard work, but when we started I realised that the pace was going to be a lot faster than I was used to. I have a short stride so every so often I broke into a jog to catch up with my team mates. It was a pretty hot day so the water stops were much appreciated and I felt very professional taking a wet sponge and squeezing it over my head. My earplugs went in at around the 9km marker and I spent the next 12km walking, jogging and dancing to the soundtrack from Guardians of the Galaxy.

The last part of the walk was along the seafront and when I saw the 1km marker I knew the end was in sight. I was totally shocked to see the time – 3 hours 21 mins, almost a whole hour quicker than I was anticipating. And then – a medal was thrust into my hands. I felt elated and very proud of myself and my teammates. We’d all coped with pain and blisters but kept going. David, Kaz and I raised £1450 which went towards the total raised, over £10,400.

Someone asked me the other day if I’d do it again. I immediately said no. But…. it’s like childbirth, a short time later when the pain has faded then you start to tell yourself you really could do it all again!

stem4 is a charity that really does offer much needed support to teenagers – but also their families and carers, education professionals, school nurses and GPs through the provision of mental health education, resilience strategies and early intervention. Well worth the blisters!

Client Fundraising

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It is always really uplifting to help clients shout about their fundraising. It’s not only good for the clients but great to raise the profiles of the charities they are supporting. Most choose local charities that mean something to them on a personal level.

Otter Garden Centres always have impressive fundraising totals. All the branches choose their own charities and last year these included RNLI Torquay, Shekinah Plymouth, Yeovil Freewheelers and Hospiscare, which was Ottery’s charity of the year. The Ottery team raised over £11,500 for Hospiscare, a superb total that was well received on social media and in the press.

Chilcotts Auctioneers also has a great relationship with Hospiscare. Every sale day Chilcotts hands over the kitchen to the charity, who sell cakes, bacon butties, teas and coffees to people attending the auction. Since this started in 2011, the ‘cafe takeover’ has raised in excess of £17,500.

Rusty Pig, too, fundraises for Hospiscare, and was recently in the news with Higher Wiscombe after a fundraising dinner and jumblebee auction raised over £3,000. Robin Rea from the Rusty Pig is a big supporter, as the charity helped his father at the end of his life.

Tickety-Boo in the meantime is fundraising on a smaller scale for Exeter Leukaemia Fund. The fundraising is mainly based around food, of course! The most recent campaign was just before Christmas when the entire proceeds from a week’s worth of mince pie sales went towards ELF. The ongoing total is now at £750. And who can forget that Tickety-Boo’s boss, Stuart, took part in a Kilimanjaro climb to raise money for Pete’s Dragons, Cystic Fibrosis Trust and the Lullaby Trust.

The Family Law Company has supported various charities while I’ve worked with them, including Force Cancer Charity, domestic abuse agencies Spitz and Safe, Plymouth Parent Advocacy Project and Citizen’s Advice. Fundraising activities have included a Santa run, a tandem skydive, the Nello and an annual skittles challenge – all very active! They also have bake sales and a cream tea event.

The Volunteer Inn is always amongst the top fundraisers for the Carnival Committee, the organisation that keeps Ottery St Mary’s crazy Tar Barrel event rolling out each year!

While I always donate to these charities and support fundraising efforts of my clients, this year, it’s my turn! Next week I’m taking part in a Walkathon in aid of teenage mental health charity stem4. The tough part is that it’s taking place in Malta, where it’s looking like 18 C and sunshine….! My team, Terra Ferma Media (the agency I work with in London) has just achieved the fundraising target of £1,000 – but more is always welcome. Follow the link here to donate.

Well done to everyone who puts time into fundraising for charities. I know that every penny is appreciated.